Chapter Text
JUNGKOOK
Jungkook had been dressed like a bride.
That was the only way to describe it. He picked at the lace wrapped around his wrists, trying to find a stray thread to pull. Maybe it would unravel the whole thing and no one would want him then, just a tangled boy worth too much trouble to make whole again.
No, he thought with a derisive snort, staring at the line of omegas fidgeting nervously beside him. The alphas pacing behind the closed glass doors would just see an easier target, naked and trapped, and then he’d truly be out of luck.
Jungkook hadn’t expected to be here. No, he was supposed to be free from Capital interference, but just last year they had extended the eligibility age of Omegas to twenty-five for the annual Choosing, so once more he had stood helplessly beneath the blinding sun waiting to see if Capital guards would choose his name. The square had been emptier than usual - omegas weren’t as scarce in the outer towns, not like they were miles away in the shining metal-coated Capital, but Jungkook realized that maybe the rumors were true. Maybe omegas were a dying breed everywhere, especially young fertile ones.
Jungkook flinched when a guard stepped in front of him, looking stern. “Stop picking at your outfit,” he snapped, and Jungkook’s hands fell to his sides. His skirt, made from the same delicate lace as his top, swayed at the movement. It felt strange to be out of his usual leather pants and loose linen blouse, the uniform of the outer towns. His legs felt cold from the breeze swirling their ankles, picking up the flimsy fabric with every gust of wind.
Omegas in the Capital wore things like this, because they didn’t have to work. They didn’t even have to be outside, not if their pack alphas decided they shouldn’t, so perhaps this would be the last time Jungkook even felt fresh air around his legs. Maybe this would be the last time he ran from something, the last time he even had to stand of his own accord.
The thought left a bad taste in his mouth, and he wished he had been able to drink water before he was herded out to stand before the dark, menacing forest. Jungkook had been treated to the grandest meal of his life last night, tables overflowing with the most decadent offerings he could imagine, but everything had tasted like ash in his mouth. Jungkook felt nauseous just thinking about it now, but this morning his stomach had growled and he had been laughed at when he asked about breakfast.
Apparently hungry omegas were more desperate to be caught. Jungkook wondered if the alphas participating in the chase on behalf of their packs knew that the omegas would be weaker. Surely that would hurt their pride? But the entire thing was a fabricated chase anyhow - Jungkook stood before towering trees and knew that the grandeur was an illusion. The forest was encased by impenetrable, unclimbable walls, meaning that the omegas in their lacy outfits didn’t even have the chance of actual escape. No, Jungkook’s best chance was to hide high amongst the branches and hope the alpha chasing him was too fat to climb up to him, and too impatient to wait him out. Jungkook would probably fall to his death eventually, but it would be by his own body’s failure rather than the slow death awaiting him in the Capital homes.
Jungkook chanced a glance at the alphas pacing behind the glass walls. They looked massive, bodies rippling as they flexed and stretched their arms. They were all naked, because this was a hunt and what were clothes if not inhibitors in a chase? Jungkook knew his own outfit was meant to make him easier prey, the white lace a stark difference from the moody bark of the trees. The chase spoke to the baser urges of a society stripped of animalism, because there was no need for hunting in the Capital.
Every year, the Capital brought omegas from the country outskirts for alphas to integrate into their packs. Within the impenetrable walls of the Capital, the elite resided in opulent mansions and made decisions from the comfort of their homes, decisions that trickled down into the small neighboring towns outside of the Capital. The towns which supplied their food and their furniture and their coal, and received food scraps, government guards and incessant demands in return. And when physical items weren’t enough, the Capital demanded fertile young omegas.
Because for the past one hundred and fifty years, omegas had not been born within the Capital.
It stumped doctors and researchers and leaders alike. How could these powerful families, these packs of alphas and betas, not produce one omega offspring? Most packs had one omega already, but they were either not conceiving, or having multiple more alphas and betas instead. And now that decades had passed without a Capital-born omega offspring, they had been forced to find their desirable omegas from amongst the scattered towns outside their polished walls.
Jungkook was born an omega. It hadn’t mattered in his day-to-day life - he still grew up getting an education, still had to help his brothers and sisters with chores and learning the family trade, still met with friends and kissed boys behind the schoolhouse and snuck out to celebrate his birthday under the stars. It only mattered once a year, when Capital guards gathered all omegas in the square and chose one to be sent to the Capital.
They paraded it around like it was an honor to be chosen. Jungkook knew it wasn’t though, because the omegas chosen always cried as they were torn away from their families. And they never returned. Propaganda from the Capital were meant to portray chosen omegas as lucky figures, pampered beyond belief and dripping in jewels, but everyone outside the Capital laughed at their idea of luxury. What was the benefit of being draped in diamonds if no one but a strange alpha could ever see you?
Jungkook’s name had never been chosen when he was eligible, and he thought he was clear from ever being subjected to this torment. The Capital wanted fertile omegas, they wanted young omegas, they wanted impressionable omegas. So every omega was eligible from the age of fifteen to twenty-one, and Jungkook had escaped the dreaded fate and gone on to live his life and take over his family’s butcher shop responsibilities without a care towards the Capital Choosing day.
Until the announcement came that eligibility had increased to age twenty-five.
He still couldn’t quite believe it. The announcement had come three days before the annual Choosing day, only two months before Jungkook’s twenty-sixth birthday. Why would Capital alphas want such an old omega anyways? Were omegas still not giving birth, or had those alpha babies born from previous attempts finally come-of-age and were now demanding their own omegas?
Jungkook pictured some snotty eighteen year old alpha chasing him through the woods and shivered. They would hate him. His shoulders had gone broad, his legs and arms toned from work, his individuality expressed through the tattoos on his arm (the piercings in his ears and brow and lip had been removed, but the designs on his body could not be). He looked nothing like the young omegas on either side of him, shifting uncomfortably in their lacy dresses, small and fragile and scared.
Jungkook was big and sturdy and fearless. No alpha would want him, they couldn’t. He’d be a black mark on their perfect packs!
He’d feel hopeful if there weren’t exactly nine omegas in line beside him, and exactly ten alphas pacing behind the glass walls waiting. A burly tattooed omega was better than no omega, maybe.
Jungkook wished he could stop looking at the alphas, his cheeks going ruddy each time he spotted the heavy knots between their legs, but it was like an impossibly bright string dragging his eyesight back each time. He never made eye contact though, not until he glanced one last time.
NAMJOON
Being on this side of the glass made the short hairs on Namjoon’s neck prickle uncomfortably. The room was too small for ten aggravated alphas, the scent almost nauseating as it settled in his nose. He would have to wash himself and his omega off completely before heading back to the pack home, or else Seokjin would complain incessantly about the stench. And he was restless because of the scent too - not just the physical effects of it, but because of how it provoked his alpha’s territorial need to protect and fight.
Alphas within the Capital rarely had a chance to release their monstrous nature, the society too advanced for animalistic urges to reign, so the Claiming had become their one opportunity to give into those suppressed needs. Namjoon had seen his pack alphas become agitated in the months leading up to their Claiming Day. Yoongi had been a young, wild thing who snarled at everyone in his path until he brought Seokjin home, and Hoseok had been important enough to demand two omegas of his own (the universe always had a way of knowing, because now Namjoon could not imagine Taehyung without Jimin or vice versa).
But Namjoon, the youngest of the alphas within the Bangtan pack, had never felt the urge.
He bore the shame quietly, even though he knew his pack worried for him. Alphas usually felt the urge to claim an omega by their late teens, but Namjoon had gone through his teenage years without ever feeling differently. And as his twenties passed him by, he thought something was wrong with him. He felt no crazed urge to hunt, no restless desire to sprint wildly through the woods surrounding the Capital, no need to claim and nurture and protect.
“You’re fine,” Yoongi said plainly when Namjoon went to him at twenty-five, suddenly terrified of going through life without any need to hunt and claim an omega. Was something wrong with him as an alpha? Was he actually a beta? “You have a knot, you’ll one day need to use it. Be patient, Namjoon.”
And Yoongi was right - less than three years later, Namjoon had suddenly awoken with the snarling desire to have his own omega, as if a piece of his soul had suddenly torn off and ran away. He was lucky Hoseok had such sway over the government, being the son of the first general and training to take his command, because his name suddenly shot to the top of the applicant list. And now he stood here, naked and desperate and wild, ready to chase his omega.
He was the eldest of the bunch, but Namjoon felt a sense of pride as he glanced around his competition. He had always been bigger than his peers, both in height and in broadness, and his evenings spent sparring with Hoseok or running with the maknaes had done his body well. Any omega would be happy to have him, surely.
At the thought, Namjoon glanced back out the window. The omegas looked frightfully cold, the sunshine that usually spread across the Capital hidden behind heavy clouds that promised rain. As an alpha, Namjoon’s body heat would keep him comfortable, but the omegas were delicate already, and he wanted to snarl at the idea of them being uncomfortable and alone. The lacy gowns were no protection either, though it made them exceptionally beautiful. Namjoon eyed the different bodies - all shapes, all sizes, all manner of tanned and pale, scrawny and…
Namjoon’s gaze caught on one omega, who stood almost a head taller than the rest. He was a mess of contradictions - his cheeks rounded and soft, but his brows furrowed in what looked like annoyance; his lips pink and delicate, but the edge caught between sharp teeth as he looked forward; a collar, made of the same white lace as his dress, was tied loosely around his unblemished, straight neck, a stark contrast of softness against the sharp planes of his collarbone; beneath the sleeves of his dress, his right arm showed dark designs from shoulder to wrist, his fingers even littered with markings. Jimin had tattoos, but none quite so obvious. The boy must be able to withstand high levels of pain, Namjoon thought approvingly. He wouldn’t need that trait anymore, but it spoke to his character.
He was beautiful, Namjoon realized. And his alpha approved completely too, simmering beneath his skin and ready to pounce. Namjoon couldn’t look away, not even as his omega shuffled in the cold air and glanced towards the glass wall containing the Capital alphas.
It took only moments, his omega appraising the small group of pacing naked alphas, before their eyes met.
The omega’s eyes widened, and Namjoon wondered what thoughts lay behind those beautiful dark lashes.
JUNGKOOK
The alpha’s hair was buzzed close to his skin, leaving no room to hide his terrifying expression. Jungkook’s breath caught as their gazes met, the sensation of being watched so openly leaving his skin crawling uncomfortably. He was wide and tanned, his muscles jumping out from beneath his skin as he flexed - unconsciously maybe, because his expression did not even change. His chest was at least a palm’s width wider than the alpha beside him, his nipples dark and pointed, and his stomach rose and fell with each measured breath. Jungkook tried not to look any further, because an alpha so impressive in stature would surely be impressive everywhere.
This was the alpha to run from, Jungkook realized, frozen in the determined gaze. This was the alpha who would come after him, and he was not some gangly eighteen year old who could be goaded and outsmarted. Jungkook shivered as his skirts flipped around his ankles again, suddenly cold all over.
The guards stepped forward again, their hands held aloft. Jungkook forgot for a moment what they wanted, his heartbeat racing even after he broke gaze with the alpha behind the glass. Beside him, an omega reached up with shaking fingers to untie the rope of lace from his neck, dropping it a moment later in the guard’s gloved hands.
Their scents. Jungkook wanted to scream, but his throat was closed up in fear. The guard stood before him, his hand open and waiting. Jungkook wondered how far he would get if he fought, but he knew it was useless. Even if he fought the guard in front of him, dozens more stood around the perimeter. And he had the crazed feeling that fighting would only make the alphas more distressed, making him a target for their hunt.
Jungkook’s fingers shook as he untied the thin band of lace from his neck. It dropped into the guard’s waiting hand, and then disappeared into a box held by another guard. After the omegas were given a head start, the box would be tipped upside down in front of the alphas, a mishmash of scents to spark their hunt.
Jungkook desperately hoped his scent was indiscriminate enough to confuse the broad, dragon-eyed alpha. That was his only chance.
When the collars had all been collected, the guards stepped aside for their leader to give final instructions. “You are given a ten minute head start,” he said with a twisted smile. “Use it wisely.”
And then an alarm sounded, and Jungkook was running before anyone else could stop him. He chanced one more glance at the glass wall, meeting the alpha’s eyes one last time. With any luck, it would be the last time Jungkook saw him.
NAMJOON
Yoongi and Hoseok had sat Namjoon down the day prior to the Chase. “You need to be careful.”
“I’m always careful,” Namjoon lied. Hoseok and Yoongi exchanged an amused look. “I mean, sometimes I trip -”
“Not quite what we’re talking about, but you’re on the right track,” Hoseok said, patting his hand gently. “Your alpha has been quite agitated these past couple weeks, we’ve noticed it particularly around the omegas. Herding them into rooms, stealing their clothes and blankets, snapping at them when they ask questions.”
“Have I?” Namjoon groaned, letting his head fall heavily into his palms. “I didn’t mean to!”
“We know,” Yoongi said gently. “And they know it too, they’ve been through this before. Remember how Hoseok wouldn’t let Jimin and Taehyung out of his room for almost an entire month after they joined our pack? We all get a little crazy about this, and you have spent most of your years immune to the crazed alpha archetypes.”
“And during the Chase,” Hoseok continued, still absentmindedly rubbing Namjoon’s skin. “You will be surrounded by nine equally-wild alphas, all chasing after the same prize. It gets violent, Joonie. You have never known violence, we’ve kept you protected too well.”
And it was true. The trio had grown up together knowing one day they would be pack. Within the Capital, alphas were raised knowing they would live apart from their birth families as they joined other packs, compatible alphas who sought to fix their imperfections and become stronger together. Namjoon and Hoseok had been the same age in school, and even from a young age they did not try to dominate each other using fists, but rather words. Hoseok had the privilege of growing up amongst the elite, his father the first general of the Capital army, but he did not boast about it. Namjoon respected that, and moreover respected Hoseok’s natural inclination to lead through gentle advice and firm instruction rather than fighting like the other young alphas. They became quick friends, partners in everything from youth.
And Yoongi, the next-door shorter alpha who looked unthreatening yet could both verbally and physically win every fight he found, became their pack alpha. Together, the three alphas held weight in physicality, intelligence, and connections, and became a registered pack when Yoongi became eighteen and could claim the pack alpha status.
So yes, they had protected Namjoon from violence and the untamed nature of alphas. But it had come for him regardless, sneaking up like a snake about to pounce, and had unleashed a wild urge Namjoon had never experienced before.
All the alphas surrounding him now - with their sweat-soaked brows and reddening eyes and twitching noses - would be violent in a moment, ready for a chase. Namjoon wondered if they, like he, had already chosen an omega just by sight, and if any of his competitors had set their sights on the beautiful, tattooed, scowling omega.
They would not win him. Namjoon would hunt until his omega was shaking beneath him, and may the gods protect any alpha who tried to get between him and his tattooed prize. He watched the omega untie the band from around his neck and drop it into the box. Namjoon wished he could smell it already, and worried for a moment that he wouldn’t know which lace belonged to his omega.
The guards pulled back and motioned to their leader, who stepped forward for final instruction. “You are given a ten minute head start,” he said with a twisted smile. “Use it wisely.”
Namjoon didn’t flinch when the alarm echoed through the room. He watched the omegas scatter, their bare feet pushing into the mud and grass and sending dirt flinging up behind them onto their pristine white skirts.
His omega was the fastest, already reaching the band of trees that made up the perimeter. Their eyes met one last time, and Namjoon saw grim determination on his omega’s beautiful face. It made him smile.
Namjoon knew exactly how he would find his omega’s scent amongst the others. His omega was angry, his omega was stubborn, his omega was strong. And his scent would surely lack the twinge of fear and desperation of the young boys and girls left in his trail, would instead reek of courageous resolve to win over the alphas. It would smell delectable, like the most wonderful challenge Namjoon had ever faced.
“Nine minutes, alphas,” a guard said lazily, his hand hovering over the button that would release their glass encasement. “A claim means a bite, don’t forget.”
Namjoon’s teeth ached at the words, already eager to find their way into corded muscle. He couldn’t wait.
JUNGKOOK
Jungkook cursed everything - the constricting bodice of his gown, the branches that whipped against his skin, the gnarled roots of the gigantic trees that towered above him, the mud that squelched between toes. But more than anything, he cursed the Capital and all the alphas that resided there, who believed beyond everything that they were entitled to this.
“Fuck,” he swore again, blood welling on his cheek from a stray branch. That would leave his scent behind as a trail to follow, just like the sweat that flung from his hair and landed on leaves, and just like the footprints in the soft ground. He needed to calm down and think.
Jungkook came to a stop, his breath coming in pants. How to give himself enough lead away from the alphas without marking his path so obviously? He looked down at the soft mud between his toes, wriggling them to keep warm and focused. This was muddy ground, which had to mean it rained recently, or… Jungkook glanced up, trying to focus on the noises of the forest.
There was a river nearby, with any luck. A river that would wash away his scent and take it somewhere else, and he could hide amongst the leaves. He followed the soft sounds of rushing water until the mud softened even more and the branches thinned out to reveal a wide stream. The water moved quickly over the glossy rocks, stretching as far as Jungkook could see before seeming to curve ahead.
This was his chance. Jungkook stepped into the water, hissing as it curled over his feet like thousands of tiny icicles. It washed the mud down the river, and Jungkook bent over to cup some in his hands, bringing it over his head until his hair was wet and matted against his forehead. It helped a bit with the scent, stripping the sweat from his skin until he was shivering. After a moment, Jungkook tugged at the sleeve of his dress until the lace ripped, wincing as the sound echoed through the woods. He brushed it over his neck - too obvious? No, it smelled so much stronger for it - and then let it fall into the rushing brook.
Jungkook watched the lace slide down the river, and then watched it catch on a rock about twenty-feet ahead. That would help, hopefully. An alpha with a one-track mind would see the lace and make the assumptions Jungkook wanted them to make. He watched the lace struggle to untangle itself from the pointed tip of the rock, entranced by the soft beauty of the forest.
But then the alarm sounded once more.
“Shit,” Jungkook gasped, turning on his heel and almost losing his balance in the water. The alphas had been released. He could imagine them running towards the box of lacy collars, their naked bodies taut and shaking with uncontrollable possessiveness. They would fight over the lace, surely - Jungkook had seen a couple alphas in his small town give into their animalistic urges, usually at night when inebriated and fighting over money or a woman. Jungkook pictured them on their hands and knees, pressing their noses into shredded lace until they caught a scent they liked.
And then they would run.
Jungkook could run too, he just needed to be faster. He sent one last look at the lace down the river and hoped it would be enough. And then he lifted his skirts and ran through the water in the opposite direction.
NAMJOON
It was chaos. Hoseok and Yoongi and both warned him it would be, but Namjoon had never been able to visualize how messy it would be. The box had been torn apart, and even then alphas dived at it, the scent imbued into the cardboard enough to drive them crazy. Namjoon felt it too, the swirling lust and greediness that took over him at the fragrant scents, made stronger by the fear each omega had experienced. The fear seeped into the cloth and made it stronger, urging the alphas to chase.
But Namjoon had been raised better than these animals, and he stood tall and controlled as he took stock of the madness. One alpha had already run off with torn lace into the forest, but Namjoon knew instinctively it was not his omega’s scent. He tried to sift through the overpowering scents until he found a hint of stubbornness, the sweet decadent smell of someone with daring strength.
There. Namjoon caught the edge of lace between his fingertips, dragging it from the crazed alpha fighting for scraps. The material had already been torn in half, but Namjoon brought the fragrant lace to his nose anyways, taking a deep inhale. Apricots, orange blossoms, the tender sweetness of vanilla. And anger, pride, a defiant wildness that longed to be contained. Namjoon craved to taste his omega and see how deep his flavors ran. His tongue ran over the shredded lace and scent blossomed in his mouth like a promise.
This omega was his, and he had run straight into the woods without fear. Namjoon pushed aside another alpha and followed his omega’s steps, the forest engulfing him with welcome arms.
JUNGKOOK
It took almost ten minutes to find a tree he could reasonably climb. Jungkook put his foot on the gnarled knot and jumped again, his fingers scrambling to grasp a branch before he could fall the ten feet he’d already climbed. His dress caught on every knob and twig, and he cursed the damned thing once more as he tugged it up. The sound of ripping made him wince, the echo ricocheting into the distance. How soon would the alphas trek through this part of the forest?
Jungkook wondered if the mud would’ve made for a makeshift scent blocker, but it was too late now. He hauled himself up one more time onto a branch wide enough to straddle comfortably. Don’t look down, he thought warily, ignoring his own warning as he glanced towards the ground. It felt impossibly far away, and his stomach turned.
But better up here feeling dizzy than down there feeling exposed. Jungkook reached for some leaves and tugged them off their branch, feeling stupid as he rubbed the soft plant against his neck. It was better than nothing, he reasoned, sitting back against the unforgiving trunk. Now to wait them out.
—
Jungkook knew his impatience stemmed from nerves, but being stuck up in the trees was awful in so many ways. He could feel bugs crawling over his ankles and wrists, and he tried his best not to flinch when a new one climbed onto him. Every rustle from the birds or gusts of wind made him tense, and he felt useless up here, like overly-confident prey. Perhaps he should’ve stayed in the water, or tried to find the wall keeping them trapped here, or even burrowed into a cave -
Snap.
Jungkook froze, staring down at the ground. He could barely make out shapes through the clumps of leaves in his way, but he could tell there were no animals in sight, as if they knew the dangers lurking. An alpha was prowling, and Jungkook was sitting twenty feet above him.
“Smart one, aren’t you?”
The alpha’s voice was deep, rumbling through the silence. Jungkook held his breath, too scared to make noise. “Tearing your dress was a smart move,” the alpha continued, and he sounded approving. “Another alpha found it, you know. Took off running down the river, didn’t even take a moment to think about it. They all think omegas are brainless creatures.”
And you don’t? Jungkook wanted to snap, but he bit his tongue.
“But you’re not stupid, and you’re not weak. Not as weak as the rest, anyhow.” Jungkook could see him now, the shaved dark hairs looking like a target from this high up. The alpha was leaning now against another tree trunk, looking idly at the ground as if the foliage interested him. “Your scent carries more than you know, however, and anyone with half a mind left would know that the stray lace was simply a distraction.” The alpha took a deep breath, his eyes closing serenely. “You think I cannot climb trees?”
Jungkook bit his lip to stifle his gasp as the alpha’s gaze turned upwards. His eyes flashed with the movement, and for a moment he looked exactly like the wolf of their ancestors.
“You wouldn’t risk it,” Jungkook said back once his heartbeat allowed him to. “I could fall, and then what would you be left with?”
“An injured omega with no chance of escape.”
“Or a dead one.”
“You do not want to die,” the alpha said calmly, still leaning against the tree lazily even as his gaze was sharp. “And I would not let you.”
“You all think you’re gods,” Jungkook scoffed, tightening his grip around the branch. “You cannot keep a person from dying when they fall from trees.”
“I would catch you, little omega, and then you would be in my arms like you are destined to be. Now why don’t you come down and make it easier on us both?” The alpha smiled, and his teeth glinted in the filtered sunlight. Jungkook hated to admit it, but the man was beautiful.
“Don’t think I will,” Jungkook said after a moment, staring down at the alpha with his own twisted smile. “Why don’t you climb up instead?”
“Ah, you think me dumb,” the alpha said calmly. “You have the upper hand up there, I have the upper hand down here. I think I can wait for hunger or exhaustion easier than you can, little one.”
“You don’t want me,” Jungkook tried next, because the alpha was right. Jungkook would soon get fatigued, his body would fight him to sleep, and he would fall to his death or into his captive’s arms. “There’s prettier omegas in this group, alpha. Go find them instead.”
“I hunted you,” the alpha replied, sinking down onto the ground with his long legs kicked out in front of him. “You are the omega for me. My pack will adore you, cherish you. I will cherish you.”
Jungkook scoffed audibly. “I think we’ll have different definitions of cherish.” He picked at a scraping piece of bark until it tore off, and it fell down impossibly fast onto the soft mossy floor. It bounced, and Jungkook winced as he imagined his own limbs hitting the ground - he doubted he’d bounce so easily. “This is the lamest hunt ever,” he said for good measure when the alpha began to pick at a leaf.
“Maybe from your angle,” the alpha smiled. “But I’m enjoying the view nonetheless.”
Jungkook scowled when he realized his dress had shifted up to the tops of his thigh. “Fuck you,” he grumbled, arranging the fabric so that it swung back over his legs. “You’ll never make me submit.”
“I will,” the alpha promised, and the wind carried the words high to where Jungkook sat perched. “And it will be all the sweeter when you do.”
NAMJOON
Namjoon had never felt so at peace.
He had always appreciated nature - the musicality of it, with the birds chirping and the leaves swaying and the creek rushing in the distance; but also the tranquility of being part of something so established, so commanding. Despite his own power within society, Namjoon would always bend his knee to the strength of nature.
And the omega clinging to the branches above him would bend soon too. Namjoon could smell the omega’s distress, the wind carrying it down like a gift placed in Namjoon’s waiting hands. It had been almost an hour, but Namjoon knew he would have to wait much longer for such a stubborn boy to realize he’d lost. His back ached from sitting against the trunk down here, so he could almost imagine how sore his omega would be once he came down.
Namjoon had been keeping up a one-sided conversation, but hadn’t received a response.
“You’ll like our pack too,” he continued after a moment, twirling a leaf between his fingers. “Jimin and Taehyung have been with us for five years, Seokjin-hyung almost ten.” Namjoon remembered when Yoongi had gone to his chase and came back home with the gangly, beautiful Kim Seokjin. He had been angelic even covered in mud and leaves, his alpha too possessive to allow the guards to wipe him down, and he had cowered behind Yoongi for almost a month, bending down to hide behind his smaller alpha.
Namjoon and Hoseok had been fascinated by Seokjin, the quiet, beautiful omega who bore their friend’s mating bite. But fascination had soon turned to fond annoyance when Seokjin found his confidence as the pack alpha’s omega - and found his voice, which was used most frequently to tell them what to do and to scold Namjoon for always breaking things.
It might’ve gone over worse in a stricter pack, but Hoseok and Namjoon were young enough to find commonality between themselves and the beautiful omega from the outer districts, and a tentative camaraderie blossomed into true friendship.
When Namjoon shared this with his omega in the skies though, the boy just scoffed loudly. “It’s true,” Namjoon tried, smiling at the sweet noise of frustration. “He’s a wonderful head omega, he dotes on Taehyung and Jimin. He’ll adore you.”
“Not the selling point you think it is,” the boy called back, and Namjoon was surprised to hear how high his voice pitched at certain points, a musicality of his own. The omega’s voice matched his sweet face, and Namjoon could easily imagine the way it would rise and fall in ecstasy or anger.
“What would sell you then?” he asked back curiously, and the boy scoffed again. “Surely you want to live a comfortable life -”
“I did,” the omega spat back. “You Capital alphas are ignorant of what’s outside your walls, and if you asked your other omegas, I’m sure they’d tell you.”
Namjoon thought about that. Taehyung and Jimin and Seokjin had never complained about their lives within the pack or within the Capital, though they had caught Jimin comforting Taehyung for the first year, the youngest always near tears at a moment’s notice. That had passed, and Namjoon knew how difficult it must be to miss home, but this was life. He didn’t see his family much anymore, not since he’d sworn his allegiance to his new pack at the age of eighteen alongside Hoseok. It was expected, to leave your familial home and enter your own.
He wanted to convey this to his omega, but he doubted it would go over well. Instead, he tried to change the subject. “Do you often climb trees?”
The omega was quiet for a moment. “Not often,” he finally said, amusement evident in his voice. “But when the situation calls for it, seems I can manage well enough.”
“You must be strong.”
“Too strong for an omega?” His boy sounded hopeful, and Namjoon smiled at the attempt.
“Of course not. What others might see as an unfavorable quality, I find very appealing.”
“Lucky me,” the omega grunted, and Namjoon smiled wider.
“I’m stronger anyhow -”
Snap.
Namjoon’s eyes narrowed, his head whipping to the left, trying to find the source of the noise. It was not difficult, but it made the rage in Namjoon swell up so quickly his head swam with it. An alpha was approaching, his intention clear.
JUNGKOOK
Jungkook hadn’t even heard the snap, not until the alpha at the base of the tree - Namjoon, Kim Namjoon, youngest alpha of the Min pack, like any of this was supposed to mean something to Jungkook, who hadn’t even wanted to know anything about the damned alpha intent on mating him - stood up to face some unseen enemy. Jungkook watched with bated breath as Namjoon seemed to ripple with intention, his fingers curling into fists even as the rest of him stood tall and unbothered.
“Namjoon-ah?”
Another alpha broke through the trees, his body compact and significantly wider than Namjoon’s. This was how Jungkook had pictured the alphas of the Capital - well-fed until they looked about to burst - and he wore an expression that filtered slowly from bemused to cocky. “Has your omega gotten stuck in the trees?”
He glanced up with an obnoxious sneer and Jungkook rolled his eyes in annoyance. This alpha was as stupid as he looked. Namjoon seemed to think so too, because he chuckled humorlessly. “You may have better luck with an omega closer to the ground, Wooshik,” he murmured, walking slowly until he was between the other alpha and the tree trunk.
Wooshik frowned. “Why have you not climbed up to grab him?”
“And risk his life or mine?” Namjoon said with a shrug. “I would not leave that to fate.”
“Then order him,” Wooshik argued, glancing between Namjoon and Jungkook. “Use your alpha voice, command him to climb back down.”
Namjoon smiled, and even from his perch up high, Jungkook could tell it did not reach his eyes. “I would prefer my omega choose to come down willingly.”
Wooshik seemed even more annoyed now, shifting his weight back and forth. “That’s stupid,” he said finally. “Why would we have alpha voice if we don’t use it? Omegas are supposed to listen, it’s in their biology to follow our orders.” He looked back up to the tree. “Omega, co -”
“Stop,” Namjoon said immediately, stepping forward as he cut off the command. Jungkook could already feel his body begin to tense up, the tell-tale sign of an alpha’s voice forcing him into action, but Namjoon’s interruption kept him from having to follow the order. His heartbeat pounded in relief even as it sped up in distress as Namjoon stepped closer to the alpha.
Wooshik looked angry now. “You think you can stop me?”
“Yes,” Namjoon said. Wooshik’s face was now turning red and he stepped forward to meet Namjoon chest to chest (or rather, chest to clavicle, because Wooshik was a good few inches shorter than Namjoon). “Go find another omega, Wooshik. I have claimed this one.”
Wooshik snorted. “I don’t see a bite on his neck, Namjoon.”
There was a moment of quiet as Jungkook held his breath, the forest waiting with bated breath too as the birds grew silent. And then -
Wooshik threw the first punch, catching Namjoon in the shoulder. It barely caused a reaction, Namjoon shifting his weight slightly to hold firm, but that seemed to only spark Wooshik’s fury more, because suddenly fists were flying. Jungkook froze at the sounds of skin slapping skin and grunts of pain, but his fear lasted only a second before he began to move.
This was his only chance - he was not safe when either alpha emerged victorious, but Namjoon’s insistence to avoid using his alpha voice meant Jungkook had a slim chance of escaping from their view.
If Wooshik won… well, Jungkook resisted the urge to throw his hands over his ears as he tried to quietly shimmy down the tree. He would just have to cross that bridge when he got to it. The grunts were getting louder now, noises of pain echoing through the forest and so violent that Jungkook couldn’t help but flinch when he heard a snap. He hoped it was a leg, because then he could get away.
He was at the base of the tree when he finally turned around to look. Namjoon was bleeding now, the scent of his anger and power much more potent on the ground. But he was still standing, and Wooshik was kneeling in front of him, his limbs tangled painfully beneath him, and he was glaring up at Namjoon. There was a clear victor then.
Jungkook didn’t wait to see if Wooshik would be left alive, or if alphas from the Capital were truly as vicious as they believed they were. He turned on his heels and ran, ignoring the rip of his dress on the nearby branches.
NAMJOON
Namjoon had expected a chase.
His omega was fiery, his instincts warring with his abrasive and cunning personality, and somehow he was convinced he could make it out of this forest unmated. Plus the concept of chase and capture was a gift handed down from their ancestors, an ancient custom that still plucked at their subconscious. Namjoon not only expected it, but welcomed it. Blood dripped from his shoulder - Wooshik had managed to hit him with a rock - but it was not important now. He could still run.
He could still hunt.
There were shreds of fabric hanging from branches, and Namjoon grabbed one to bring to his nose. The omega’s scent was stronger now, which meant this lacy piece had been pressed against him intimately, and Namjoon was eager to press his face straight against the source. And it helped focus his nose on the scent of scampering omega. He could find the scent path as clearly as if it had been drawn, and it almost had. Namjoon smiled as he saw footprints in the mud, and he placed his own foot against it. Slightly larger.
Namjoon took a deep inhale of the lace again, and then took off to follow his omega through the woods.
JUNGKOOK
This was a fucking nightmare.
Jungkook felt like he was in a terrifying maze of his own making, the trees climbing over him like some gnarled rooftop, caging him inside like a rat forced to find an escape. His heartbeat pounded in his chest, so loud it rattled his brain and seemed to echo in the strange silence of the forest. It felt like a beacon, like echolocation calling out for the alpha hot on his heels.
He could outrun an alpha from home easily - they were all raised the same outside the Capitol, alphas and omegas and betas learning to run and play alongside each other, physical work and manual labor distributed to all who could handle it regardless of subgender. Jungkook grew up fast and smart, but these alphas from the Capitol had been trained to hunt their entire lives. And they felt entitled to the prize they caught. Jungkook’s stomach twisted at the thought of what Namjoon would do once he caught him -
No, not once. If. ‘Think positively,’ Jungkook thought desperately as he weaved between tree trunks.
But then he broke through a line of trees, and stumbled into an open meadow.
“What the -”
Jungkook squinted at the outlines in the distance, bodies taking form between the waist-length weeds. Omegas hunched against their successful alphas, bodies heavy in the arms of strong victors. Jungkook’s body felt cold, the terror reaching up through his chest like an icy fist. He’d been herded to the finish line.
So stupid, Jungkook thought angrily, spinning around to disappear back into the forest. How could he not have noticed the branches thinning? It was too late though, because Namjoon was already walking through the tree line.
His chest was stained with blood, but the cut on his shoulder already looked like it was clotting up, which meant most of the blood on his arms and waist belonged to the other alpha. Jungkook felt entranced by the splatters, a pattern of violence and victory, Namjoon’s muscles taut from the fight and the chase and framed by dark red stains. A tiny part of Jungkook’s brain could not help but admire the alpha’s breadth, his thighs straining as he stepped forward - a miniscule part, a stupid part, but it was enough to make him pause like an idiot. Like a rabbit caught in the hypnotizing gaze of a wolf, staring down his predator, frozen not with fear but with fascination.
“Come here,” Namjoon said, holding out his hand. Jungkook flinched backwards, his feet sliding over dried grass and smooth pebbles. They were the only ones still in the field, and Jungkook wondered if all the omegas were accounted for. Did Namjoon have no other options?
Or did he not consider anyone but Jungkook? The thought shouldn’t have made him feel a hot lick of satisfaction, but his body was a traitorous thing.
“No,” he said, stepping back shakily. “I don’t choose you.”
Namjoon looked disappointed. But not resigned.
“You will be cherished, omega,” Namjoon said. “You will be part of one of the strongest and wealthiest packs in the Capital.” Jungkook scoffed, the noise getting stuck in his throat from fear of making the alpha angry, but a small sound still escaping into the quiet, breathless meadow. He saw Namjoon’s brow rise. “You don’t want that?”
“I want to go home,” Jungkook whispered.
“This is your home now.” As Namjoon stepped forward, Jungkook spun, his heartbeat pounding in time with his footsteps. The woods were just within reach, the leaves reaching out to grab him, willing to hide the pathetic, desperate prey from the big, bad wolf. But he was not fast enough.
His chest hit the rough, unforgiving bark of a tree, but a thick palm slid around his forehead to cushion the blow on his face. The impact took Jungkook’s breath away, and when he inhaled shakily, he could smell the blood of another alpha on soft skin. And beneath that, there was the unmistakable scent of triumphant, successful alpha, one who had finally caught what he’d been stalking.
Jungkook wanted to bite Namjoon’s fingers off and spit out the blood. But it would only make things worse - and in this world, Jungkook’s teeth meant nothing, his bite barely more than a puppy crying for attention. It was Namjoon’s teeth that mattered now, and Jungkook closed his eyes against the inevitable.
Namjoon twisted him around, the lace catching on the bark and twisting his arms behind him like a makeshift rope. “Open your eyes,” Namjoon murmured. Jungkook shook his head, squeezing his eyes tighter in defiance. He felt Namjoon sigh against his cheek. When had he gotten so close? The breath settled over his skin like a damp cloth, warming his already feverish skin. Jungkook wondered what he looked like, if his expression still held any actual defiance or if he resembled the caricatures of omegas in heat, their skin flushed and their necks displayed. “Open your eyes,” Namjoon said again, and this time he sounded pleading.
It almost worked. Jungkook felt his eyelids flutter, but Namjoon had not used his alpha voice, so he could still pretend like he maintained some control. He shook his head and felt Namjoon huff against his skin again, annoyed. It would be the little things now, Jungkook thought as he felt Namjoon’s thumb hold his skull hostage and tilt him back further. The little defiances, the little disappointments, that would become his only weapon.
This alpha would grow to hate him, and only then would Jungkook gain any upper hand.
Namjoon kissed his neck, right above his beating pulse, and then Jungkook felt sharp teeth rip apart his skin. He didn’t mean to, but he thrashed, his urge to escape flooding his mind with endorphins as he twisted against his captor, forcing the skin to tug harder and split wider. Blood poured down his throat onto the white shredded lace of his bodice, tiny rivulets of defiance that would disappear under water but always remain embedded in Jungkook’s skin.
Namjoon growled, and even as the blood loss made his eyesight fade to black and his stomach turn, Jungkook managed to growl back.
“You are mine,” Namjoon whispered against his skin as Jungkook faded, holding him tightly as his limbs went numb.
I will never be, Jungkook wanted to say, but darkness took him before he could speak.