San was exhausted.

Even after their little makeup session, Mingi and Jongho bickered the remaining two and a half days it took to reach the city the zoo was in. All he could think the entire time was how annoying Alphas could be when they were upset. They had no ability to think rationally.

And it was because of that thinking that San was now standing by himself in front of the zoo. It had sent Jongho into another frenzy when he suggested it, but his reaction ended up proving San's point even more.

Mingi and Jongho were not in enough control to handle being in a zoo full of humans. None of them knew what to expect when they got inside, and neither of them needed to 'wolf out' and cause a panic.

Unfortunately, the motel they were staying at was just out of range of their link, so I San was on his own for this one. He tried linking Yunho and Wooyoung as soon as he stepped into the zoo, but he got no response. He didn't know if it was from the time apart, or the constant noise from everyone talking, but whatever it was gave San a constant headache.

His senses were all out of sorts. He couldn't focus on any one scent and his head was pounding. It was too much. San whimpered and stepped off to the side and pressed the heels of his hands to his temples. "Jongho..." He bent his knees and took a few deep breaths, trying to calm his racing heart.

No one stopped to ask if he was okay. They were all in their own little world, only concerned about what animal they were going to see next.

He needed to get somewhere quieter to try and focus. None of them had ever heard of or experienced a zoo before, but San decided it had to be the worst place for anyone of their kind to end up.

Forcing himself up on shaking legs, San stumbled down one of the busy paths. The humans around him jostled him back and forth and would give him odd, disapproving looks if he got too close to them or their kids.

A few of the animals would cry out in alarm if he got too close to their exhibit, as if sensing what he really was. The humans ate it up though because the creatures were doing more than just standing there.

At one, a bear reared up on its hind legs and roared, trying to show that it was in charge.

San just glared at it and kept going.

He stumbled around for a while longer, still trying to clear his overworked mind, when he picked up on some kids running past him.

"Hurry up! I want to see the new wolves before things get new crowded!"

"They aren't new, they've been here for a couple of weeks."

"Well I haven't seen them yet, but I hear they are HUGE!"

San hurried after them, making sure to stay focused on their voices in the crowd. Everything seemed to slow down around him when he saw an exhibit in front of him that drew the biggest crowd.

There had to be almost a hundred humans gathered around, if not more, looking into a giant exhibit filled with bushes and rocks. Two sides of it were cement walls, designed to look like the side of a mountain, and a deep trench separated the other two sides from the humans.

A large, clear barrier divided part of the exhibit.

San's eyes fell to the smaller side and he had to cover his mouth when a sob threatened to escape him.

Yunho, Hongjoong, and Wooyoung were huddled together in the far corner. It looked like they were sleeping at the moment.

A few wolves were pacing on the other side of the barrier, showing interest in the three newcomers.

While pushing his way through the crowd, San tried to reach out to the trio, but he still couldn't get through for some reason.

He was about to just shout one of their names when something else caught his attention.

"Now here you will see the newest wolves that we are working on introducing to the pack. Our scientists are very excited about this discover because they believe it may be a new species of wolf that has not been discovered yet. We here at Utopia Zoo take great pride in our Wolf Rehabilitation and Research program. These three were picked up in the area we obtained rights to so we could study the local population and learn what we need to do to help them thrive." A woman was saying in front of him. Several people were gathered around her, listening intently and snapping pictures of the wolves. "We have been recognized several times for the amount of care and time we put into making sure our wolves have the best diet, stimulating activities, and medication we can provide."

"What will happen with the new wolves? Why are they separated like that?" A man asked.

"They are separated right now so our established pack can get used to their presence. Wolves run on a ranking system, and we don't want to force any of our wolves out of it if we can help it. The new ones need to be accepted if they are going to get along with the others. From what we can see, the three of them are already in their own mini pack, the two larger ones tend to take care of the smallest one. Now things seem to be going ok, in a few minutes here you will see our Wolf Handlers bring in one of our alpha males to meet the new ones. They have been trying to get interact every day now."

"What will happen if they are accepted?" A little girl shouted, earning some chuckles from the crowd.

The woman smiled at her. "Then they will be officially a part of the pack and will have a new family." She straightened up and looked at the adults. "We will also work on getting them into our breeding program, one of the best ways to study wolves is to watch how they raise their young."

San couldn't listen to anymore. His heart raced the entire time the woman spoke, and she increased the urgency of getting his pack out of here.

If they were going to start studying them... Bad things could happen.

He started to push his way through the crowd again, but hen he was suddenly engulfed by people starting to get closer.

Inside the enclosure, Yunho had risen onto his feet and was looking at one of the walls were a gat was situated.

San watched as two men led a large male through and let Yunho walk forward to investigate.

It was like he wasn't even scared or worried about the wolf...

Hongjoong watched for a moment, then snapped at Yunho's tail to get his attention.

The younger beta looked at him and his ears fell back.

One of the handlers kept ahold of the wild wolf, while the other one slowly worked his way around to where Wooyoung was still laying on the ground curled into a small ball. His dark brown coat stood out against the flowers he had chosen to rest among.

Hongjoong was too busy with Yunho to notice, and Wooyoung just lifted his head up to watch.
San shook his head and tried to reach out through the bond again, but there was too much going on around him. It was like he couldn't focus his mind enough to be able to use it...

The man had reached Wooyoung by now. The omega tried to push himself off the ground, but he winced and collapsed. The man knelt next to him and started to gently pet his head.

San felt like something shattered within him.

What was wrong with Wooyoung?

And why were Hongjoong and Yunho just letting that man get so close?

Yunho finally noticed what was going on and turned to snarl at the man. His hackles rose and he lowered his head. The wild wolf pulled against the collar around his throat, almost as if he was going to jump to the man's protection.

There was so much going on, San didn't know what to think. To his surprised and shock, the man held up a hand to Yunho and spoke gently to him, while keeping another hand on Wooyoung's side.

Wooyoung extended his neck, straining for Yunho. The older hurried around to nuzzle the back of Wooyoung's head, but he kept his eyes on the man the entire time.

San knew he could stand there and watch all day, but he needed to go fill Mingi and Jongho in on what he had seen and heard.

He turned and started to push his way through the crowd, trying to fight his way out of the chaotic mess he was in the middle of.

Their pack was in danger, and Jongho wasn't going to be happy when San voiced his fears of something being wrong with Wooyoung.

But the worst thing of all... Was that they were running out of time.

••••••••

Written by flamewhipper