Wooyoung shivered as he leaned into San and tried to pull his blanket closer around him. He sniffed, earning a soft squeeze around his waist.

But there wasn't a lot of emotion behind it.

The omega looked at both betas and felt his heart constrict. They both looked so heart broken and lost after the fight earlier that day. And now they were sitting outside of a strange house with only the promise of protection from the resident alpha and the threat of violence from his Luna.

With the main part of their own pack was missing.

When Jongho hadn't shown up after a few hours, Wooyoung had wanted to go look for him, but San just held onto him and forced him to stay.

None of them spoke. For hours.

Shortly after Seonghwa had brought them the blankets, Mingi came out of the house and limped into the forest. Wooyoung stared at the spot where the Alpha had vanished and sat up a little straighter.

When the smell of burnt wood hit his nose, he stood up, not letting San hold him back anymore. He ran forward as soon as he saw his alpha storming out of the shadows. He was cradling his hand close to his chest and looked like he was mad again, but Wooyoung didn't care. He was just happy to see him.

The omega and alpha came to a stop, standing about a foot apart, and waited for Mingi to limp past. Once the front door closed, Jongho's façade broke and he whimpered in pain, leaning forward to rest his head against Wooyoung's shoulder.

The older wrapped his arms around around the alpha to hold him for just a moment, his wolf spinning with worry.

"Let me see." Wooyoung said, coaxing Jongho's hand away from his body. It was turning black and blue and there were still some open wounds, which told Wooyoung the alpha had spent some time as a wolf.

Hongjoong came out with a first aid kit and collected their dishes while promising to bring Jongho some food while Wooyoung led Jongho over to where they had set up next to the house.

Tensions were high as San moved to sit next to Yunho and they both looked at the ground.

Jongho hissed as he sat down and closed his eyes while he let Wooyoung start to treat his hand and other wounds. The alpha never flinched as Wooyoung gingerly dabbed at his scrapes. He did, however, whimper when Wooyoung worked to wrap his hand.

No one spoke the entire time.

When Wooyoung left to go see if Mingi's pack had any ice, Jongho took a deep breath and turned to his betas. He didn't even know what to say. It broke his heart when neither one would look at or even acknowledge him.

So he did the one thing alphas hardly ever did.

Jongho threw aside his pride and got down on his hands and knees, keeping his one hand off the ground, and pressed his forehead to the back of his hand. "I don't deserve your forgiveness, but I hope you'll at least accept my apology. I never intended to hurt either of you. I was upset and let my anger get the better of me... I've let you down as an alpha..."

Suddenly, Jongho felt his chest constricting as tears came to his eyes.

He was so weak... And now he was groveling at the feet of betas. His wolf growled at him, wanting him to stop and be the powerful alpha he was. And normally he would have listened to it. But that is what got him into this mess in the first place.

Instead he let the tears flow free.

His shoulders shook from both his sobs and the cold. "I'm s-so s-sorry..."

Jongho wanted nothing more than for his pack to forgive him. He couldn't care less about Mingi, but he couldn't stand this.

He cared for them too much.

Just when he was about to give up hope, two sets of arms enveloped him and pulled him up from the ground. The alpha lifted his eyes to meet with Yunho's soft brown ones first. He was sucking on his bottom lip as he reached out a large hand to cup the side of Jongho's face. They looked at each other for a moment before the beta leaned over and gave him a soft, wet kiss.

San leaned into him and pressed a few kisses against his neck.

Jongho placed his hand over Yunho's on his cheek and leaned into the kiss a little more, letting out needy whimpers as he turned it into multiple kisses. He tried to say sorry between each one, but it just came out spluttered and incoherent.

Especially once he turned to kiss San too. The younger beta moved closer to him to press their bodies together.

The alpha's tears never stopped, even when both betas pressed their faces to his neck.

"Deep breath." San whispered. "Deep breaths baby."

Jongho did the best he could to calm down. The only reason he probably did was because Wooyoung appeared and carefully took his injured left hand and placed a bag of ice that had been wrapped in a towel on it.

The sudden cold shocked him and he sucked in a breath and sat back.

"Sorry." Wooyoung said quietly, withdrawing the bag of ice.

The four of them all sat back and exchanged awkward glances. None of them really knew how to continue, so San moved to the side and placed his hands on Wooyoung's hips to guide him over to sit next Jongho and continue to treat his hand.

"I understand why you did what you did." Yunho said after a long moment. "It doesn't stop it from hurting, because San and I gave up everything for you." Jongho flinched at his words. "But, we are a pack, and we will come back from this and be even stronger."

"Thank you." Jongho whispered.

"Okay, no more sulking please because I have something I've been dying to ask." Wooyoung cut in, making the other three smile at the innocent look on the omega's face. "How the hell do you all seem to know each other?! I feel very out of the loop right now.

Jongho couldn't help but laugh as he leaned into the omega and kissed his cheek. "I guess that would have been confusing to watch. As you know, the three of us came from the same pack."

"I was actually friends with Mingi first." Yunho said, almost with a hint of regret. "We used to be pretty close because my parents are some of the top hunters in the pack. But once he started taking his alpha training more seriously, I got closer with Jongho. And then I used to go hunting with Hongjoong all the time. We worked well as a team so they put us in the same groups."

"I'm just the weirdo who didn't actually know anyone until I met Jongho." San gave a crooked smile. "I knew of Mingi and Jongho, of course. They are... Were... Valentine's most prized sons."

Jongho looked away at his words but didn't feel the need to say anything so the beta continued.

"I used to hear the others talk about how amazing the two of them were and that they would grow up to be good head alphas. It wasn't until my parents passed that I moved in with Kennedy and Jongho." A sad tone entered San's voice and Yunho wrapped an arm around his shoulder.

"So your old pack works like ours? A head alpha and then his claimed omegas and betas?" Wooyoung looked at all of them.

"Kind of." Jongho sighed. "My father had his favorites and didn't like to necessarily share them with others. I have other brothers and sisters out there, some older who have gone on to start their own packs. But Mingi, being the son of my father's mate, out shined all the others. I'm sure I'm not the only one who is jealous of him, but..." His voice tapered off as his words caught in his throat.

Yunho used his other hand to take ahold of Jongho's good one. "Jongho received a little more personal attention because Kennedy is one of Valentine's personal favorites. He's always had a soft spot for Kennedy, and I could see it, even on the last day. So Valentine gave Jongho extra classes to try and shape him into a better alpha. But he gave Mingi more attention."

Wooyoung turned to look at his alpha, then leaned forward to rest his head in the crook of Jongho's neck. "Well he sounds like a fool. But in a way, I'm grateful, because if none of that had happened, we would have never met."

Jongho tilted his head slightly as his wolf stirred. The omega was right. Everything had led up to this moment. He smiled at the older and pressed his lips into the top of his head. "So what now?"

"That's up to you." San said, running a hand through his green hair and looking at everyone. "But we will follow you."

The youngest sighed. "I don't know what to do. But I know I want to find a place to build a home for all of you. I want to try and prove myself as a good alpha."

"I think we should stay here." Wooyoung said hesitantly.

Jongho tensed. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"I do. We are safe and we have other wolves to protect us right now. We've been offered a place to stay, we should take advantage of it for as long as we can." Wooyoung looked at all of them. "Even if it just for another night."

The alpha exhaled sharply but lifted a hand to cup Wooyoung's chin. "Okay." He whispered before pulling the older into for a quick peck on the lips.

The others all nodded and they settled down for the night. Jongho ended up in the middle of everyone. Yunho angled himself so that Jongho was laying on his chest, and that allowed San and Wooyoung to cuddled into both of his sides.

At that moment, he started to feel whole, and he made himself a promise that he would do whatever it took to take care of his pack. He had let them down today, and he would do everything he could to earn their trust, and maybe one day, their unconditional love.

••••••••

Written by flamewhipper