The flight from the palace was one of the tensest moments Wooyoung could remember having in a long time.

Seonghwa never let go of his hand as he pulled him through the forest surrounding their home.

Their senses were always on high alert as they kept an eye out for any patrols, either from their own pack or one of the visiting ones.

That made it that much harder to try and get away.

There were a few times that they had to stop and turn a different direction to avoid a beta or an alpha that was roaming around.

Wooyoung was starting to think that maybe this was a bad idea.

It was only a matter of time before someone figured out that Seonghwa was gone... His mother or father was bound to check on him to see what his opinion was of all the alphas that had been there tonight.

His heart broke a little as he thought about seeing all those alphas trying to make a move on the older. It had been so hard to try to keep his composure during the entire evening when all he wanted to do was either tell them to back off or run from the hall.

It would have most likely been the later. Seonghwa had always been the more forward one out of the two of them.

That was one of the things Wooyoung loved so much about him.

He hadn't meant for it to happen. He had been hired on as a mere servant, tasked with looking after the royal family. But Seonghwa wasn't like his parents, and he had taken the time to get to know the staff. He knew each of their names and would greet them and ask them about their day when he could.

After some time, he started calling on Wooyoung more and more, asking for him personally.

At first, Wooyoung believed it was just because he was better at doing his job. But one night, as Wooyoung finished cleaning the older omega's room, he was asked to stay.

Seonghwa had approached him slowly, almost hesitantly, and all he did was reach out and take Wooyoung's hand.

They just stood there for a long moment, while they both tried to process what was happening. When Seonghwa used his other hand to lift Wooyoung's chin up to look at him, he had felt his wolf begging him to pull away and make this stop.

It wasn't an alpha or a beta touching him, so it wasn't right.

But the motion made Wooyoung's heart pound faster.

So when Seonghwa had asked Wooyoung to run away with him tonight, he immediately wanted to say yes, and his wolf wanted him to say no.

They both knew that if they were going to be together, it was going to be a struggle. They would have to help their wolves accept each other.

Wooyoung hoped that Seonghwa would be strong enough to convince his wolf, because he knew he would follow the older anywhere.

"We are almost there." Seonghwa whispered as he crouched down behind a tree. "Just a little further and we will be outside the pack border." He turned around and cupped Wooyoung's face.

The younger smiled at the contact and nodded.

They linked hands again and waited for the guard to pass by, then ran forward as fast as they could.

As soon as they crossed the pack line, link with their pack started to slowly fade away since they were leaving willingly.

And they didn't stop. They kept running for several minutes, not bothering to stay hidden now that they were outside the border. The goal was just to get far enough away that they could shift.

When Seonghwa started to slow, he pulled Wooyoung to him and pressed a kiss to his forehead.

Then they both stripped and shoved their clothes into their packs and shifted.

Seonghwa's white and tan flecked wolf looked stunning as he shook out his fur. He turned and licked the side of Wooyoung's face several times before rubbing his body along the younger's.

It was a struggle for both of them. The first instinct was to back away, even though their wolf still craved the contact.

After a few moments of giving affection to try and train their wolves, Seonghwa took the lead once more and they both fell into an easy lope as they continued to run away, carrying their packs in their jaws.

—

After several days of traveling, Seonghwa started to complain about not feeling well.

Wooyoung knew the older wasn't used to doing so much activity so he guessed that Seonghwa was just started to get exhausted.

We should find someplace to stay and rest for a few days. He suggested as they slowly picked their way through the trees.

Yeah... That sounds good. Seonghwa whimpered, lowering his head. His ears fell back as he let out a long sigh.

It's going to be ok. Wooyoung said, trying to stay strong even though deep down he was starting to worry. Neither one of them were hunters. They had been really careful with their food so they didn't go through it too fast, but they would run out eventually.

And they had yet to come across a human city to try and find more.

The younger omega licked the older behind his ears and let out a small whine.

I'm ok. I just need to get some sleep. Let's keeps going. Seonghwa lifted his head up and kept walking, but Wooyoung could see a little bit of a limp there.

After a few more hours, both of them started walking slower and slower.

But then Wooyoung spotted a small cave tucked away on the side of a mountain. It was still about a mile or so away, and with the progress they were making, it took them over an hour to get there, but there was no sign of any other wolf in the territory.

Which meant they could recover in peace. For now.

Wooyoung immediately shifted and started pulling out clothes for both of them. He unrolled the two small blankets and got them situated at the back of the cave. Then he went to get some pine tree branches and brushed them over the entrance of the cave after he was inside to try and cover their scent a little.

As he started to walk to the back, Seonghwa let out a long groan, spurring the younger to adopt a job as he hurried to his lover. "Hwa?"

The older omega was doubled over, clutching his stomach. "F-Fu... W-Woo..."

Wooyoung's heart dropped when he realized what was going on.

In their haste to get away, they hadn't been paying attention to the days, nor had either one of them been keeping up with their suppressants.

Seonghwa's heat had hit, and he had no idea what to do...

The older reached for him, and Wooyoung sat against the wall of the cave so Seonghwa could place his head in his lap. "It's going to be ok." He whispered.

They were going to just have to ride it out. But it also put them in an extremely dangerous situation.

Seonghwa's chocolaty scent would become ten times stronger, and it would attract any alpha that happened to be in the area.

If that happened... All this would be for nothing.

Wooyoung wasn't strong enough when it came to resisting or even just fighting an alpha. If the roles were reversed there was a chance Seonghwa might be able to resist because of his bloodline, but even that didn't make him immune.

"I'm s-s-sorry." Seonghwa whimpered as his face scrunched up in pain. "D-Don't leave..." He clutched Wooyoung's shirt as if that would hold him in place.

"Hwa, I would never leave you. You know that." Wooyoung whispered, brushing hair away from the older's forehead.

Seonghwa looked up and gave him a pained smile before trying to get closer.

The younger continued to rub his head and back, knowing that was about the only comfort he could give.

After a day, Seonghwa started begging for a knot. It broke Wooyoung's heart knowing he couldn't provide it.

In a moment of weakness, he started to doubt their relationship...

How could they function as a couple if they couldn't tend to each other's ever needs?

Now it made sense why mating with he same rank was illegal... It just caused problems...

But he did his best to keep a strong face off for Seonghwa.

As days two and three went, the older just got worse. Soon he was screaming in pain, as if he was trying to get an alpha's attention.

Wooyoung dared to leave the gave only once a day to run to a nearby stream to get more water for them.

He used his own blanket as a form of a rag, soaking the corner of it in water to dab at Seonghwa's burning skin.

Even with his doubts of their future, he would never leave Seonghwa. He loved him too much.

Wooyoung even started giving up his rations of food so Seonghwa could have more strength to get through this. The nurturing side of his wolf was proud of him for taking care of the omega, and it accepted becoming weaker if it meant the other would be ok.

Neither one of them slept well. For Wooyoung it was mostly the constant fear that an alpha would find them, he he was too scared to fall asleep.

Seonghwa slept off an on, thankfully, because he needed it. But it was never more than a few hours before he'd wake up in pain again.

As day five came to an end, Seonghwa finally started to show signs that his heat was almost over. He had been asleep for five hours now and didn't show any signs of waking up soon. He was sleeping on their 'clean' blanket, hands tucked under his head, facing away from Wooyoung at the moment.

The younger glanced down at him and ran his hand through the older's hair, smiling softly as the tiniest of snores started to escape him.

Wooyoung sighed and closed his eyes. He was so tired... But he knew he couldn't rest just yet. Not until Seonghwa was fully done with his heat.

Then they could try to figure out what their next step would be.

***
Written by flamewhipper