"Good job, Archer!"

Yeosang clapped and cheered as his baby started to crawl towards him on all fours, the tiny boy was finally starting to crawl on his own at 7 months, which meant Yeosang would have to baby proof the house so he didn't crawl in a cabinet or bump into a corner.

Baby proofing. Mingi was supposed to do that..

Yeosang feels something heavy tug at his heart as he picks Archer up, and as he looks down at his son's fox like eyes that the baby inherited from his father, Yeosang smiles at his happy babbling. It's been about a week since the group departed, and Yeosang's definitely felt the impact of not only Mingi, but the rest of the packs absence. Without his fellow omegas and alphas, Yeosang's felt highly anxious, and he suspects it has something to do with his strong maternal instincts and the lack of pack communication. He feels incomplete, but his life line has definitely been Yunho.

A part of Yeosang is glad that he had to stay behind with him, so he'd have someone familiar in the house with him while the pack is gone. But Yeosang can tell the beta's been hit the hardest out of the two of them, without Hongjoong he seems almost empty, a fake smile and polished words are all Yeosang gets out of him. He still eats regularly and gets enough sleep, Yeosang makes sure of that, but Hongjoong needs to come home soon, all of them do. But it seems that Yunho's slowly been warming up to the lions they've been living with for the past few days. Soyeon left behind two of her stronger deltas, Yena and Chaeyeon, to hunt and protect everyone in the house, and a sigma named Yujin to help with Yunho's pregnancy and the two babies now in their care.

For the first two days of the lions being in the pack house, Yunho wanted nothing to do with them, to the point where he would stay in his room and only leave to use the bathroom and eat. But one day, he started to feel back pains, the same ones that Hongjoong would massage away, so Yunho was prepared to suffer in silence. Yeosang voiced his concern to Yujin, the prides healer, and she immediately started working on a medicated paste for Yunho's back. After Yeosang convinced Yunho that it wasn't poison and that it would help him, he allowed the omega to rub the paste into his aching muscles, and after about a hour, he felt just as good as he did when Hongjoong massaged his back. Ever since then, Yunho kept a open mind to the lions in his home, and everyone started to get along better and become more well acquainted, even Archer.

Since Soyeon left the rest of her pride behind, that also included her recently born daughter, Yuna. Archer has taken quite a liking to the young lion cub, to the point where he'll cry if he hasn't seen her in a few hours and must take his afternoon nap in the same crib as her. Yeosang finds it adorable, and he's thrilled that his baby is interacting with someone close to his age, but he doesn't know how Mingi will react when he returns.

Yeosang sighs as he stands up from his recliner he was relaxing in, Archer tight in his arms as he opens the back door to the pack house and goes to sit on the stairs. He can't help but stare at the treeline, hoping that his pack will walk through the trees, everyone happy and healthy. After a while, Yeosang hears the door open, and he turns his head to see Yunho stepping outside and waking towards him. "What are you doing out here? I thought you weren't feeling well?"

"I'm better now, I just needed some rest. But you don't seem alright. You're clinging onto Archer again." Yeosang grins as the beta sits beside him, the baby in his arms babbling happily as he tries to crawls into his uncles arms. Yunho smiles as he gently takes the baby from Yeosang, being careful to mind his bump as he gets Archer comfortable on his lap. "What's up with you? Everyone's wondering why you were out here, and they were too nervous to check on you."

"I'm fine, I just needed fresh air."

Yunho doesn't buy his excuse but nonetheless, he looks out onto the treeline with the same hope in his eyes. The same hope that his pack will come back soon.

"If those four never came here, what do you think our lives would be like right now?" Yunho ask as he looks to the shed that Jongho and Seonghwa were cutting up deer meat just a week earlier. A sudden sense of sadness fills him when he takes in the possibility of the omega not coming back, and he pushes the thought aside as he looks to Yeosang for an answer.

"I don't know, but they're family. No matter what, we took them into our pack for a reason, the eight of us are a team, and it just feels..wrong without them. It's like we were meant to be a pack..I feel as if we all found each other for a reason."

"Yeah, I feel the same. I miss our family."

Yunho sighs as he hands Archer back to Yeosang, his feet starting to ache again as he stands to go back and fold more laundry. As he's about to open the door, Yeosang lets out a loud gasp, and suddenly he's standing on high alert as Yunho sees fear in his golden eyes, his scent starting to become sour and distressed.

"Yeosang? What's wrong?"

"Somethings wrong. I can feel it."

•••

"WOOYOUNG!"

"JONGHO!"

It all seemed to happen in slow motion. It seemed as if San blinked and suddenly his mate was crumbled under a pile of wood, and Mingi was struggling to stand as the impact of the throw knocked the air out of him.

He looks over at Seonghwa, and the look of anger and sadness in the omegas eyes sets off the realization.

He needs to save his mate. He needs to save his alpha, Jongho is in trouble.

It's like he can't stop himself from shifting, and he can feel that somethings..different. He can't even explain it. But he can sense that Jongho is alive, and that he needs help. San lets out a howl so loud he can feel the ground under him shake, and he realizes that Seonghwa has shifted too, and he's howling just as loud and deep with him. He doesn't waste anymore time as he starts to grasp giant chucks of wood in his mouth and throw them to the side, almost as if they're pieces of paper. San doesn't stop to look, but he knows that Seonghwa is doing the same, almost as if the both of them have super powers all of a sudden.

San can hear commotion in the background, it sounds like more fighting, and Seonghwa's mother screaming. But San can't stop to look, he won't stop until he finds Jongho and makes sure his mate is safe.

When Seonghwa pulls back a long pillar, he sees the back of Jongho's head, and San immediately growls as he rips the remaining wood away from the alpha. He can sense Seonghwa beside him, all the strength in his body being used on the last thing putting them between their mates. Together, they both throw the heavy platform to the side without effort, and suddenly, without thinking about anything else, San's beside Jongho's body gently dragging him off Wooyoung by the collar of his shirt. The alpha can see in the corner of his eye that Wooyoung is fine, and at some point Seonghwa has shifted back, but he can't pay attention to them as Jongho's in his jaws unresponsive. He gently drops the alpha on the ground, and he starts to whine as Jongho doesn't move and flops on the ground like a rag doll, his body heavy in San's arms. San holds back his tears as he grabs Jongho's face,

"Jongho wake up, please wake up, don't do this to me!"

"Jongho...Jongho please no!"

San looks up as he sees Wooyoung crawl over with the last bit of strength he has, and he puts his hand over his mouth as he holds back a sob. "Y-You can't save me and then not be here to see your pup be born! Wake up!"

San tries to calm his nerves as he checks Jongho's pulse, and he sighs in relief as he feels a flutter under his fingers. "I think he's okay..I think he just got knocked o-"

San's words get cut off when he hears Seonghwa scream, and his head whips up to see the omega being dragged by his hair by his mother. Her eyes are flashing blue, and she's using all her willpower to force him to submit.

Just as San's about to jump to help the omega, he hears a pained howl, and he looks over at Mingi as the alpha struggles to hold his ground against Seonghwa's father. The Alpha has obvious injuries, and he won't last much longer without some type of help. The pack alpha is too strong for him.

Almost as if the gods are punishing him for an extreme crime he's committed in a past life, suddenly Wooyoung kneels over on all fours gripping his bump, his breathing short and labored as he struggles to hold himself up.

San can't process what he needs to do.

Everyone needs his help.

Jongho. Seonghwa. Mingi. Wooyoung.

He feels like the world is crashing around him, yet at the same time it's frozen in place, and he doesn't know what to do.

***
Written by sueoku