Hongjoong woke up to an empty room. He was tired and an uneasy blanket of dread weighed heavily on his body.

He'd been having such a wonderful dream about being in his studio and working with his hyungs on their next comeback...

Only to wake up and realize he was still in the game, laying in a strange bedroom, with Yunho's empty bed next to him.

How much longer was this going to last? How was the company doing? How was his family? How were everyone's families? Did anyone even miss them?

Hundreds of questions battered against him, making him feel even wearier.

But he had to get up. He had a duty to the others to lead them and take care of them. So with a groan, he rolled out of bed and stretched his arms over his head.

The scent of sage surrounded him, slightly muted, but still there. Maybe Wooyoung had found some and was using in with breakfast?

Curiosity winning over, Hongjoong emerged from his bedroom and stumbled down the stairs while yawning and scratching his stomach.

"Morning, Hyung." Yeosang greeted, looking up from where he was curled up in one of the living room chairs.

"Morning, Sangie." Hongjoong walked over to him and ruffled his fluffy hair, still messy from sleep. "Is everyone else awake?" He turned toward the kitchen, searching for the source of the sage he'd smelled earlier.

"Almost. San-ah went to go check on Wooyoung, he's a little slow getting up."

Hongjoong frowned. "He's not getting breakfast ready?"

"No, Seonghwa-hyung went out to the shed to see if maybe some of the dried meat is ready so we get a little something this morning. I suppose we will have to see how the day goes. Maybe we will get lucky and they will feed us."

The older snorted and shook his head. "Keep thinking positive, maybe one day it'll actually be true." He teased.

"One of us needs to be optimistic around here." Yeosang flashed a small smile.

Hongjoong started to say something, then stopped when the front door opened and Mingi, Jongho, and Yunho stepped through all talking at once.

"The area looks- "

"-lots of people- "

"-need to be careful."

Hongjoong held up a hand to get their attention and all three of them stopped in place. "What's going on?"

"We popped out to see if we could find out anything about today." Jongho said, then he stood up and puffed his chest out with pride. "We found a small area that's been built just south of the courtyard that looks to be where the wrestling and archery events may be held."

"It's huge!" Mingi adds, throwing his arms out wide as if that was enough to prove his words. "And there are stands on either side, like they are expecting anyone not participating to come and watch."

"And there are a lot of Androids there, so my guess is that they will be there to help keep guard." Yunho finished.

Yeosang stood as they spoke and moved to Hongjoong's side. "Were you able to see how many other groups are entered?"

All three of them shook their heads. "The list was gone." Jongho said with a slight scowl. "But that doesn't matter. We just need to focus on ourselves."

While Hongjoong agreed, he couldn't help but frown a little. "You... You went and did all this... without telling me?" His voice caught in his throat while he spoke.

Normally, his team would all come to him for his opinion since he's their captain. They always valued what he had to say, always wanted to make sure they were making the right decisions or seeing if he could suggest something different, always making sure he was okay with what they wanted to do.

Jongho was the first to react, standing up a little straighter and tilting his head back just slightly. "You were sleeping, Hyung, and I wanted to go check a few things to prepare for today. I wanted to make sure we knew what to expect."

The smokey scent of charcoal started to fill the air, stifling and overwhelming, and Hongjoong felt the sudden urge to back down.

It startled him enough that he took a couple of steps back and looked down at his own hands, as if they held the answer to what had just happened.

"I promise we were careful, Hyung." Yunho said, frowning a little with concern.

"We were." Jongho confirmed. "And I would have protected them if someone had attacked us. I took care of everyone."

Hongjoong's eyes flicked up to meet Jongho's and an uneasy feeling swirled in his stomach. He still felt hurt, betrayed even, which he absolutely hated.

Of course they didn't need to ask his permission or run everything by him. They were their own people, and he was just feeling petty and selfish.

Maybe it was time for him to give up control...

"I know you did." He whispered finally. "Thank you, Jongie." His eyes fell to the floor one more and he turned away from the others.

To see Yeosang watching him with worry written all over his face. "Hyung..." He breathed.

Hongjoong forced a smile, then walked past him toward the kitchen.

Thankfully, the door to out back opened at the same time and Seonghwa came in with a couple of packages of meat. His focus was entirely on the door as he started to speak loudly, not noticing Hongjoong was standing there. "The dried meat isn't ready yet! So I got a couple of cuts we can fry up really quick and share! Oh!" He gasped when he finally looked up, jumping in place at the same time. "Joong, sorry, I didn't see you there."

"That's alright. Can I help?" Hongjoong held out a hand.

"Sure." Seonghwa smiled at him with his soft, loving smile that Hongjoong knew he could always rely on.

A loving smile that always took his breath away.

But that wasn't important right now, so he brushed it aside and followed all of Seonghwa's instructions so they could eat something.

By the time they were done cooking, Wooyoung and San had come down, dressed and looking rather nervous.

Everyone was...

Even so, they'd been through situations like this before, and they knew to push past their nerves so they could get fuel in their bellies, even if it felt like they might not be able to keep it down.

When the time came, Wooyoung and San accepted their leashes and followed their alphas out the door with everyone else taking up the rear.

No one spoke as they walked the now familiar path to the courtyard. Other packs slowly converged around them, but all kept their distance.

A few looked like they were just as nervous, while others stared at the strangers around them with peaked curiosity.

Seeing that made Hongjoong tense, and he noticed both Mingi and Jongho starting to grow more on edge as well.

The arena was just as had been described, and honestly it left all of them stunned and pausing with mouths open.

How had this happened??

It was like the grandstands had just appeared overnight, because there was no way this was built or brought in without anyone noticing.

An announcement came over speakers nearby, loud enough that the robotic voice echoed through the trees and could probably be heard for several kilometers.

"Attention packs! The event will begin in less than thirty minutes. All packs participating, please make your way to the main field for assignments and schedules. Any packs wishing to watch, please head to the stands and find a seat."

"Well..." Mingi said, rubbing the back of his neck. "Are we ready?"

Jongho turned around to face his pack and looked at each one of them. "I am. We can do this; I believe in each of you."

When his words made everyone stand up a little straighter, Hongjoong couldn't help but let his shoulders fall.

Normally he was the one giving the pep talk...

"And as long as we work as a team, which is what we excel at, I know we can win this!" Jongho finished by placing his fist in the center of their circle.

One by one, everyone else placed their hand over it, then they surprised Hongjoong by all looking at him in unison.

Some of his pride came back when he realized what they wanted.

"1, 2- "

"EIGHT MAKES ONE TEAM!" All of them yelled at the same time and threw their hands in the air.

It drew the attention of a few people around them, but at that moment they truly didn't care. Their bond as a team fueled the fire within and soon all eight of them were jogging to the center of the arena where other teams had already gathered.

They could see Stray Kids gathered in one corner of the arena, eyeing everyone with dark, calculating looks. Some ways away was Oneus, looking much softer and like they were a bit on edge or not quite sure what to make of the competition.

Other groups kept to themselves, forming small circles while still looking around to take in their surroundings.

Hongjoong took that moment to study other groups as well. He could pick out a few groups that may be bands or other groups, he definitely recognized a few 'B and C class' actors from America and a few other countries, and there were actually a couple of larger packs that he noticed now who actually had upwards of fifteen members gathered around.

They would be one of their biggest rivals, that much was clear depending on how judging went.

"I see them too." Jongho said quietly from next to him. "I thought we were one of the biggest packs here..."

"Let's not worry about it yet." Hongjoong whispered back. "Not until we know for sure we have something to worry about."

He and Jongho made eye contact and the younger nodded in agreement.

By his count, about twenty packs had entered the competition. Mostly men, but there were a few women scattered within the packs as well.

And almost no omegas.

Time passed by quickly, and soon a podium rose from one end of the field that held one Android.

Talking fell to hushed whispers and all eyes looked in its direction.

"Welcome!" The monotone voice called out and the Android held up its hands. "Thank you for coming to our first event. This is very important because it will give you a good feel for other packs and what you're up against. Don't forget that just being here means you're in a competition. By participating in the events today, you will give yourselves and edge over those who did not. Every pack who entered will automatically receive 100 points per pack member that competes."

The whispers intensified following these words.

"Any further points will be awarded based on how well you do in the events today, as you saw on the post yesterday. In wrestling and archery, when you lose the round, you are done in that event. Today will only be those two events. When they are finished, we will hand out clues for the scavenger hunt tomorrow. For now, please exit the field and stand on the sides, we will begin with archery."

Mingi handed Wooyoung's leash over to Yeosang before he went to stand with Hongjoong, Seonghwa, and Yunho.

"Good luck." Yeosang said, looking at each of them in turn. His gaze lingered on Seonghwa a little longer than the others and Hongjoong couldn't help but shift in place a little.

They exchanged quick goodbyes with the rest of their pack, then made their way to where the other contestants were gathering.

There were enough bows that everyone could have their own, all of them exactly the same to keep things fair. Each one also had a quiver consisting of only three arrows.

When surveying his opponents again, Hongjoong noticed that Jisung, Seungmin, Minho, and Hyunjin were competing for Stray Kids, and Keonhee, Dongju, and Seoho were competing for Oneus. Other teams seemed to have only one or two participants, except for the large group he'd noticed earlier. It looked like they had eight people from their pack.

They were going to get so many points for just participating today... What other points had they earned already in the few days they'd been here?

That's when Hongjoong started to realize that maybe Stray Kids wasn't the only group they needed to worry about... If points were going to be awarded for pack size, then that other group would easily double what his own pack could earn every time.

"Hyung?" Yunho said softly, touching his shoulder. "Are you alright?"

Hongjoong's head snapped up and it took him a second to respond, but he managed to nod his head. "Yeah, just thinking."

"About what?" Mingi asked, tilting his head a little.

"How severely out matched we might actually be..." The older admitted. "We should find out what we can about that pack." He added, nodding to the ones that worried him.

Seonghwa followed his gaze and started to worry his lower lip. "How can we do that?"

"Listen for their name for now, maybe we will recognize it."

The other three nodded in confirmation.

Hongjoong felt his chest puff out a little, feeling happy that they were following his lead again. His instincts were always going to be to lead his pack, to know that he was needed.

As the minutes ticked by, Androids appeared one by one, each carrying a target and walking in a perfectly straight line. They moved across the entire width of the field, then jabbed the large targets into the ground at the same time before walking from the field.

"Archers, please step up to the line." The announcer called. "Only fire at the tone."

Hongjoong took a deep breath and notched an arrow, then drew in sync with everyone else.

Then, a loud, rather obnoxious, tone sounded that made him flinch. And he wasn't the only one. Several people around him also winced at the sound and ducked into their own shoulders as if that could protect their ears.

But Hongjoong did his best to recover and fired his arrow after another quick breath.

It pieced the target in the ring marked '8'.

He huffed a little and drew his next arrow, knowing he'd need to do better than that if he had any hopes of making it further in the competition...

Unfortunately, he didn't do much better, getting an '8' and a '7' on his next two shots, although it managed to get him through the first round of cuts when have the field was asked to leave.

Including Seonghwa.

The older gave them a parting wave before he went to join the others with a defeated look.

Hongjoong was eliminated the next round when he couldn't get higher than a '7'. He put his bow back with a growl and wished Mingi and Yunho good luck as he too left the field.

In the end, Yunho was the only one left in the final four. So was Hyunjin.

Everyone watched as he stared down the target in front of him and drew his bow. The loud tone didn't even affect him when it went off again, as if he was able to completely tune it out, and he fired the second it started.

His arrow pieced the bullseye almost directly in the center.

Hongjoong and the rest of his pack cheered for their friend, jumping up and down with joy. He was the only one that hit the center for the first shot.

Yunho spared them a quick glance and the tiniest of smiles before his eyes darkened again and he drew back for his second shot.

The tone went off again.

All four finalists landed a bullseye this time.

Yunho's only hope of winning was if he could it the center one more time. If he didn't, he'd at least tie with someone else...

A hand gripped Hongjoong's arm and knew that it was Seonghwa. He inched a little closer, not taking is eyes off Yunho. He couldn't even bring himself to blink.

He had to win this... If they wanted any chance of winning the competition as a whole, Yunho coming in first for archery would be a huge help, even though it had never been announced how the scoring would be done for each individual event.

The finalists drew their bows once more.

Seconds seemed to drag by, getting longer and longer, until all Hongjoong could ear was his own breath in his ears.

The tone sounded again.

And four arrows flew free from their bows.