When morning came, Yeosang felt incredibly on edge. A lot was riding on them doing well today. Doing well and doing it fast.

Winning the competition as a whole would do wonders for them, especially if his theory of what could be happening to them was true...

At that thought, his eyes flicked over to where San and Wooyoung were tying their shoelaces and whispering softly to each other.

While Wooyoung had woken up feeling better, he didn't have the little twinkle in his eyes he normally carried. And both he and San looked pale, or almost sickly in color.

They moved slower, too, like they were sluggish or couldn't fully focus on what was happening around them.

And on the other side of things, Jongho and Mingi were bouncing off the walls with energy. Both of them were ready to start the scavenger hunt and huddled in a corner going over strategies with each other.

"I don't think we should split up." Jongho was saying. "I know we could cover more ground, but I'd feel more comfortable knowing we are together, especially if one group happens to get lost. We only have one map."

"Good point." Mingi pursed his lips. "Maybe one day they will sell walkie-talkies or something else we can use to communicate with each other."

"That sure would helpful, we need to remember to look for that, even if we keep one here for whenever some of us go to the courtyard."

Yeosang took a moment to study both of them and just how much they'd changed.

Jongho had always been strong and built well, but now he looked even bigger, and his muscles were definitely more defined. His shirt seemed to fit tighter too.

And Mingi had similar changes. He'd never had the muscle mass of Jongho or even Yeosang himself, but now... now it looked like he'd put on in months of work in only two days.

Yeosang was willing to bet that Mingi's abs from a few years ago had returned, and those had taken many, many hard, laborious workouts to obtain for his special comeback performance.

Everyone else, on the other hand, hadn't seemed to change much. Hongjoong seemed a little more reserved, which was unusual for their captain, but Seonghwa and Yunho seemed pretty much the same.

And Yeosang hadn't felt any different either, other than maybe being a little more sensitive to his surroundings.

"Are we ready?" Jongho's voice cut through Yeosang's thoughts, and he looked at where the younger was standing by the front door.

The entire pack stepped toward him, nodding eagerly.

"Great." He clapped and rubbed his hands together with his own excitement. "We have the map, we have a general plan to follow, and we have our end goal in sight. Just stick together and keep your eyes peeled."

Hongjoong took one step forward and bowed his head a little before speaking. "From what we can tell, we need to head south of here and find something marked with an 'A'. They gave us a few landmarks to look for, the main one being a tree that's been split in three."

"I'm guessing we will come across other packs." Jongho continued, standing up a little straighter in a way that Yeosang could only describe as confident but protective. "Let's just ignore them and keep to themselves as much as possible. The quicker we can find our items, the more points we will earn."

When no one tried to argue with him or voice any other thoughts, Jongho led them outside to await the now familiar tone signaling the start of the event.

"Are you doing alright?" Mingi asked Wooyoung when the younger moved a little closer to lessen any strain on the leash connecting them.

"Yup! I'm good." Wooyoung smiled up at him then scrunched his nose. "These leashes are getting on my nerves though. They are going to make today challenging."

San nodded from next to Jongho. "We just need to pay a little more attention."

"Yes, please let us know if we are going to fast or if you're uncomfortable." Jongho looked between the two of them with concern. "Especially you, Hyung," he looked at Wooyoung and reached out to take his hand.

Yeosang noticed how the touch seemed to make Wooyoung perk up a little and a soft smile tugged at his lips.

Suddenly the tone sounded, and they all flinched. Both Yeosang and Seonghwa slapped their hands to their ears and whimpered a little.

But they all snapped to attention as soon as it stopped.

One nod from Jongho is all it took for them to move in perfect sync, falling into their now familiar formation of Jongho and Mingi leading the way, Yeosang and Yunho covering their backs, Seonghwa and Hongjoong on the outsides, and all of them forming a circle around Wooyoung and San.

Their deep knowledge of each other made it so they almost didn't have to speak while running through the trees.

Jongho merely had to move his left arm for his pack to angle toward the left.

They moved like a pack.

Hongjoong was left in charge of the map, so when he called for them to stop after a few minutes, he unrolled it and surveyed the area. "Alright, I think we are about here." He pointed to one spot, then traced a path along the parchment. "If we go this way, we should find the tree soon."

Jongho leaned over to study it, then nodded. "Lead the way, Hyung. Let's go a little slower so we can keep an eye out."

Yeosang kept his place at the back with Yunho and started to turn almost in full circles as they walked.

Something didn't feel right...

And Yunho seemed to sense it too. He made eye contact with Yeosang and they both frowned. "It's too quiet."

"Yeah, I don't like it." Yeosang rubbed one of his arms nervously. "Shouldn't we have run into someone by now? Just how big is this place?"

But then, as if someone was listening, a twig snapped, and their entire pack froze.

Jongho and Mingi both hunched over a little, at the same time passing Wooyoung's and San's leashes to Hongjoong and Seonghwa.

"Wait!" A voice called out, making all eight of them turn in that direction.

Surprise shot through them when they saw Youngjo step out from behind a tree with his hands raised in the air.

"It's just me. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to startle you." The Oneus alpha looked a little ashamed and lowered his head a little.

Yeosang immediately recognized it as a sign of submission.

Jongho seemed to recognize it too and he took a step forward. "What are you doing here?"

"Looking for our first item." Youngjo said, then motioned behind him. The rest of his pack stepped out from the shadows, huddled together around Hwanwoong. "We didn't want to cause any problems."

Hongjoong placed a hand on Jongho's shoulder, causing the younger to look at him and lock his jaw. But then he relaxed his stance a little and nodded.

With his alpha's permission, Hongjoong turned to face Youngjo and offered a small smile. "That's what we are doing too. How is your search going?"

"Alright, though we are a bit lost."

Seoho laughed a little and rubbed his neck. "We aren't the most skilled with figuring these things out."

Youngjo sighed and turned back to the others. "Yeah, I don't have high hopes for us finishing well. But... I wanted to ask if maybe you'd consider a truce?"

That was the last thing any of them expected to hear from their fellow idol, and all eight members of Ateez exchanged puzzled looks.

"We are already near the bottom for finishing." Youngjo continued. "The only way we'd even place in the top ten is if we won this event I think, and there's no way that will happen." He looked over his shoulder at Gunhak, who nodded once. "But we know you could win it all. I know outside of this place we are rivals, but in here things are... different."

"We've been studying the rules." Keonhee added. "And we know we are at a disadvantage in many ways."

"How?" Yeosang asked, his thoughts going haywire.

Keonhee's eyes flicked toward Youngjo for a second. "For one, we are a smaller pack. Bigger than some, yes, but smaller than others. And... we only have one Omega."

Hwanwoong clenched his jaw at that statement and looked to the side. Wooyoung and San also reacted to the statement, shifting a little closer to each other.

"Why does that matter?" Hongjoong asked.

"Don't you remember, Hyung?" Yeosang said before anyone else could speak up. He turned to face his pack, eyes falling to San, then Wooyoung, and his chest tightened. "Omegas are worth points... the more Omegas a pack has, the more points they will gain and the higher the rank will be."

Hongjoong visibly paled, indicating he had forgotten that rule. It was understandable, there had been a lot going on... but Yeosang had spent some time going over the rules late at night when he couldn't sleep.

"Someone already tried to take Hwanwoong from us." Youngjo said, his voice shaking a little.

"What?!" Jongho and Mingi said at the same time.

"We weren't paying attention during the wrestling." Gunhak's deep voice rumbled with rage, and he tightened his grip on Hwanwoong's leash, even as the omega placed a comforting hand on his arm. "And someone bumped into us. I lost my grip and then he was gone."

"They only reason we got him back..." Youngjo looked at Jongho. "Is because you halted the games when someone grabbed Wooyoung. We think it might have been the same pack, but we aren't sure."

At the reminder, Jongho took a step closer to Wooyoung, his lip curled in a snarl. "So what is it you are proposing exactly?"

Youngjo tensed a little at the show of dominance, but he didn't rise to the challenge. "Like I said, I'd like a truce. A partnership, if you will. We don't think we can trust anyone else, and honestly, we are grateful you were chosen too, because there is someone else here who knows, well, us. We will help you finish this task, and aid you in any other way we can, if you offer us the same in return when needed, along with protection."

Well... that also wasn't something they were expecting.

Yeosang turned to Jongho and Mingi and saw the two of them already leaning toward each other and having a silent conversation with their eyes.

He walked over to them and gently grabbed Jongho's arm to get his attention. "Jongho, I think we should accept."

The younger frowned. "What if it's a trick? This is too sudden." He whispered.

"I know, but what if they can help us? There's... There's more to this place than what was originally disclosed and..." Yeosang looked at San and Wooyoung again, his heart dropping a little when he saw Wooyoung leaning into San's side with a tired look on his face, "Jongho, I'm worried that something is going to happen soon."

"What are you talking about?" Hongjoong stepped in.

But they were interrupted when Youngjo cleared his throat. "Let us prove it to you. We will help you find your items, if you show us how to get there, and cut the time you finish in half."

All of Ateez exchanged looks, once again feeling overwhelmed by the choices presented to them and unsure of the consequences that could happen.

In the end, they all ended up looking at Jongho, even Yeosang. He knew this was their Head Alpha's decision to make.

Jongho seemed to know it too.

He nodded to Hongjoong, who pursed his lips before unfolding the map.

Filling in Oneus and coaching them through reading the map and looking for landmarks took a few minutes, but once they were ready, both packs were able to fan out a little bit to start scanning the area.

All four Alphas stayed close to their Omegas, while the Betas took the liberty to wander a little further away.

The teamwork ended up being a huge success. Keonhee found the split tree first, which held a token with an 'A' on it in the center of its trunk, along with the map to the next token.

As they made their way to the next one, the two packs even began to have a little... fun.

Yunho and Keonhee bounded ahead, both of them grinning as they used their long legs to race through the trees. Dongju laughed and looked at Gunhak for permission before he too ran after them.

They had only seen two other packs so far, but they kept far, far away once they saw the massive group of fourteen moving together.

And it was together that they found the next two tokens, one hidden in a group of bushes, and another hidden at the edge of a lake.

A lake.

So big that the far shore seemed almost hazy in the distance. The water lapped lazily at their feet, each refreshing sound whispering beauty, safety, peace.

Tears pricked the corners of Yeosang's eyes, and he shook his head. It was all a lie. He truly believed that now. The games, the competition... How could any of it be real?

He'd wondered about the size of the area before, and while knowing there was such a large source of fresh water was reassuring, it just drove in his fears.

"Guys..." He whispered; his voice ragged as he tried to swallow the lump in his throat. "Guys... I don't think we are go- "

"Well, well, well." A gruff voice said from behind them in very forced English. "What we 'ave 'ere?"

Both packs turned around to see a group of men and one woman, five in total. Three had watches on their wrists, including the woman, and two had necklaces. They looked to be a mixed pack, two of them with ebony skin and rippling muscles, one man and the woman with extremely pale skin and bright blonde hair, and the last man with slightly tanned skin. All were absolutely gorgeous, with flawless skin and hair, giving the impression that maybe they were actors that had been paired together.

"I zee pretty boyzzz 'oo 'ave lost zzere vay." The woman said, twirling a large portion of her blonde hair around her fingers. Her accent was so thick, Yeosang barely understood what she was saying.

"Or just wondered into the wrong territory." One of the other men said, his deep voice beautiful and silky.

Jongho tensed and moved so that both Wooyoung and San were behind him, and Mingi did the same. "We don't want trouble." He spoke in English as well in an attempt to keep the peace. Then he held up the map with his free hand. "The competition led us here."

"The competition 'e says." The first man chuckled, then turned to the others and started speaking what could have been German, but with his limited knowledge, Yeosang had no idea what language it actually was.

His four packmates all chuckled, then took a few steps to the sides, fanning out.

Then the one who spoke the best English, one of the Alphas, took one step forward. "Game or no game, you are in our territory. We have the right to ask for tribute in exchange for letting you leave unharmed."

"What?!" Several of them said at the same time, both in English and Korean.

"Them's the rules." The other man said. Beta, but obviously either higher up in the pack or the other two men couldn't speak English.

The woman nodded from where she was at the end. "Yes. Give us one of your Omegas and vee vill let zee rest of you go."

"Not a chance." Jongho growled. "There are more of us."

Youngjo and Gunhak both growled, backing up the younger Alpha while all of the Betas moved in closer.

A stiff breeze blew in from the lake, mixing the scent of water with an overwhelming smell of charcoal and cinnamon.

Yeosang glanced at his Alphas and shivered when he saw how dark their eyes were. There was no way they were going to let anything happen to Wooyoung or San...

"Do you really want to test us, pretty boy?"

He would never be able to explain how, but Yeosang could feel the energy change he second those words left the man's mouth.

Jongho... Jongho snapped. Or something inside him did.

Everyone froze in place when he slammed one foot against the ground and roared.

Not a yell like anyone who's angry might have done... Not a cry of pain or frustration...

No...

It was a full roar that had birds fluttering in all directions and the opposing pack taking a step back in shock.

"You will not touch them!!"

The five strangers all exchanged looks mixed between shock and horror before they turned and disappeared into the forest.

An uneasy silence fell over the rest of them as they all tried to process what had just happened to Jongho.

But they didn't get much time.

Seconds later, Wooyoung cried out in pain and fell to his knees. San whimpered and held out his arms to catch him while Mingi and Jongho spun around, eyes wide with panic.

"Wooyoung!" Both Alphas dropped to their knees as well, hovering over where San was cradling Wooyoung to his chest.

Yeosang also ran forward, sort of acknowledging the rest of his pack doing the same, but he couldn't bother with them right now.

Not when all he could see what how pale Wooyoung was, how his eyelids fluttered, how sweat was already drenching his shirt. "Young-ah!" He fell to the ground and took his best friend's hand. "What happened?" He asked, looking up at San.

"I- I- I don't know! One second, we were watching what was happening and then... then Jongho... He..." San's words caught in his throat and all he could do was make a sound of distress. "Then Wooyoung just..."

"Breathe." Seonghwa said from behind San, stress pulling his face taught even as he tried to soothe the younger by rubbing the back of his head.

Yeosang's stomach twisted into knots when charcoal started to overtake his senses. And he didn't miss the way Wooyoung whined, desperate and almost needy.

"H- Hot." Wooyoung whimpered, barely opening his eyes to look at his pack. "H- Hurts..."

"What hurts?" Hongjoong asked.

"Everything." Wooyoung cried at the same time a burst of lilac filled the air.

Yeosang felt like he was going to be sick.

He knew...

He knew what was happening... and it wasn't good.

"We need to get him home." He choked out. He could feel his heart pounding in his head, and it made his vision blur.

"N-No!" Wooyoung tried to protest. When words didn't come, he pointed at the map still in Hongjoong's hands.

"We can't worry about that right now!"

"Sangie, what's going on?" Yunho asked.

A sob tore from Yeosang's throat and he bowed his head in defeat. "M-My theory was right. I was right."

"About what??" Several packmates said at the same time, making Yeosang sob again.

It was nearly impossible for him to take another breath... He didn't want to say it...

"Yeosang!"

Another sob wracked his body and Yeosang forced himself to inhale, slow, deep, but ragged.

He knew the next words that would leave his mouth would cause so much confusion. But they would also change everything.

He didn't want to...

For once he didn't want to be right.

"Wooyoung... He's not sick..."

Yeosang swallowed again, unable to look up at the rest of his pack or at Oneus watching what was happening with fear and concern.

He gave himself two more seconds...

"Wooyoung is in heat."