"HELP!!!"

Jongho was out the back door in an instant.

He sort of recognized the voice, but some instinct in him took over and he knew he needed to go investigate.

Especially because his first thought was that something had happened to Wooyoung...

The fear for his Omega drove him to scan the forest behind their house for the source of the voice.

"Jongho!"

His head whipped to the right and his stomach twisted into horrendous knots so quickly, he thought he was going to puke.

Seungmin had Chan's arm draped over his shoulder, helping the Alpha walk while he clutched his side. Both of them had blood on their faces and Chan's fists were covered with blood as well.

Next to them was a sight that truly did make bile rise up the back of his throat.

Changbin had Yunho thrown over his shoulders. It looked like he was in bad shape himself, but Yunho wasn't even conscious...

Jongho rushed forward to take his Beta, his entire body thrumming with the speed of his racing heart. "What happened??"

"We were attacked." Seungmin winced when Chan groaned with pain and tried to readjust his grip to focus on Jongho.

"What?!" Jongho snapped, anger surging within him.

His eyes flicked around to look at all of them and that's when he realized...

Wooyoung wasn't there.

Red.

That's all Jongho saw, and he was about to start demanding answers or go and find Wooyoung himself, when a hand gripped his arm and squeezed.

"Alpha. Stop."

He turned to see Hongjoong standing next to him, looking just as terrified, but he also had the aura of the captain they'd all grown to love and respect.

Even as a small part of Jongho wanted to snap at the Beta for defying him and speaking to him like that, he was able to cage that beast for now, so he could listen to his captain.

"Good. Thank you." Hongjoong continued. His steady voice didn't match the way his hands shook, giving away how hard it was for him to stay in control. "There's nothing we can do right now. Let's get them inside to help them and we can figure out our next steps."

As much as he didn't like the answer, and he showed it by growling with displeasure, Jongho forced himself to nod. He turned in place to take Yunho from Changbin, allowing the Beta to gently wrap an arm around Chan to support him on his other side.

Jongho and Hongjoong led the way to the back door where Seonghwa and Yeosang were waiting with worried expressions.

The two Betas helped everyone inside, both of them looking constantly at Yunho with extremely worried expressions.

"Stick to the kitchen and dining table." Seonghwa said, stepping out of the room and returning with towels and a first aid kit seconds later.

With Hongjoong's help, Jongho carefully lowered Yunho into one of the chairs that had armrests and started looking him over.

His nose looked like it was broken, accounting for all the blood on the lower half of his face and his shirt, and his left eye was incredibly swollen. At least three knuckles on each hand had busted open as well, but it was hard to tell for sure with how red and sticky they both were.

"I think at least one rib is broken..." Seonghwa's voice came from next to him and he looked over to see that the older was examining Chan.

"No shit..." The Alpha groaned.

Jongho snarled in warning and Chan just held up one hand in weak surrender without lifting his head.

"What are we supposed to do?" Yeosang asked with a quivering voice. "W-We don't know h-how to- to- to do anything for these kinds of injuries!"

It was true. Whenever they'd had any kind of accident, a sprained ankle, broken finger, twisted knee, strained muscle, pinched nerve... anything at all, a full medical team would appear within minutes with everything needed to examine and help them.

And if they didn't, they were taken to the nearest hospital to sit with a doctor.

Assuming their lives were similar enough, Jongho would be willing to bet the members of Stray Kids were in the same boat.

"Let's just start by getting as much blood off as we can." Hongjoong suggested. "Hwa, can you get a few large bowls of water for the rags?"

Seonghwa nodded and did as he was asked, returning a couple of minutes later with everything they needed.

He, Yeosang, and Jongho worked diligently to try and patch up the wounds on everyone in front of them, but with their limited knowledge, they didn't trust themselves to do a good job.

No one complained, though, besides the hisses and winces of pain.

Seungmin was the least injured and somehow he'd had luck on his side and his nose wasn't broken. Once the bleeding stopped and he was cleaned up, he assisted with wrapping Chan's ribs with Seonghwa. They both used the binding provided in the first aid kit, which was more meant for a sprained wrist or ankle and pulled it as tight as they could to try and give the Alpha enough support.

Seonghwa also used alcohol to clean and disinfect the wounds on his and Changbin's hands.

Yunho was another story... he was still unconscious and Jongho couldn't leave his side without risking him falling over.

"Can someone please tell me what happened now?" Jongho asked, trying so hard to keep the irritated growl out of his voice.

"We were on our way to see you." Chan answered. His voice was rough, and he was panting a little even though he was sitting. Every inch of his body was tense, giving away just how much pain he was in. "To talk."

"Minho found us." Hongjoong said, "We know, and we can deal with that later."

Chan's eyes flicked to the Beta and instead of some snarky comment, he just nodded and gave a pained but relieved smile. "We were in the process of walking with Jongho and the others when San had to be brought back here by Mingi. That's when they attacked."

"Do we know what pack it was?"

"No..." Changbin's shoulders slumped. "But I'll recognize them when I see them. It was three Alphas and three Betas."

Jongho's eyes widened, and he looked at Hongjoong, who was watching Changbin with an intense expression.

When no one spoke, Chan picked up the story again, his voice trembling. "They must have been scouting the area, because they specifically said they wanted our Omegas."

Then he sobbed, his head falling into the hand not hugging his wrapped side.

Jongho had never seen the man like this before... All the times they'd met had always been so hostile and full of tension.

Now Chan simply looked... human.

"Omegas...?" Yeosang whispered.

Changbin and Seungmin both bowed their heads in defeat.

"We had Felix with us too." Seungmin whispered.

The air in the room turned ice cold. Everyone could feel it. No one could stop it.

Had.

That one, miniscule word, was enough to drive the stake through Jongho's heart, confirming the fear he'd been trying to ignore since Chan and the other's had appeared out of the trees.

Had.

Thankfully Hongjoong, wonderful Hongjoong, was always the one to keep his head level in stressful situations. "So, this other pack took both of them?" He asked, unable to hide the strain in his voice.

Jongho started to hear an intense ringing in his ears.

It was like everything suddenly felt so much more real.

Up until now, he could almost, almost, trick himself into believing they were still on some kind of reality show... if he didn't think about Wooyoung's heat or the changes with his own body.

But now...

Wooyoung had been taken.

Something grabbed his arm and Jongho snapped, spinning around and swinging hooked fingers wildly at whatever was next to him.

Yeosang stumbled back, eyes wide with fear, and brought his hands to his chest. "S-Sorry." He croaked.

Jongho's vision blurred, the ringing grew louder, he couldn't process anything.

He could barely make out the members of his own pack gathering around him.

"Jongho-yah, you need to calm down. Please." Seonghwa said, daring to take a step closer.

How could he calm down??

He needed to leave!

He needed to go save Wooyoung!

"JONGHO!!"

The alpha froze and everyone turned to look at the stairs, where Mingi was leaning on the banister looking exhausted.

But his dominate roar had done something to snap Jongho out of whatever spiral he'd been falling into. He shook his head, even slapping his left cheek a couple of times, then stumbled back until he was sitting on the coffee table.

"How's San?" Yeosang asked softly.

Mingi slowly made his way down the rest of the stairs, his eyes fixated on where Yunho was still slumped over in his chair. "What happened??"

"There's a lot that needs to be explained." Hongjoong said, holding his hands up to command attention. "And we will. But how is San?"

"Fine, for now." Mingi sighed. "He's sleeping. I'm sure he will want Jongho as soon as he wakes up..."

The younger sat up a little straighter. "I can't do that right now! Are you crazy?? That's the exact reason this mess happened! Because you left Yunho and Wooyoung behind!"

Mingi's eyes darkened and he rose to his full height. "How dare you. Like you wouldn't have done the exact same thing if you were in my shoes!"

Jongho growled at the act of defiance and rose to his feet again. "I wouldn't have left the others behind! I would have protected them like a good Alpha."

The tension snapped.

The two Alphas charged at each other, anger fueling their instincts.

It was all the others could do to keep them separated. Even Seungmin and Changbin stepped in to help pull them apart before either one got seriously injured.

"Wooyoung is gone because of you!!" Jongho roared, throwing all his weight forward to try and break free from Changbin and Yeosang's grip. "HE'S GONE!!"

Another break happened and Jongho collapsed onto his knees, ugly sobs causing his whole body to shake.

Everyone else fell silent, all looking at the youngest Alpha crumbling in front of them.

"I-I was supposed t-to protect him... I-I'm supposed to p-protect all of you! I-I've always s-said I would... I've f-f-failed."

All anger was forgotten as Mingi, Hongjoong, and Seonghwa all rushed forward to surround Jongho in their arms, along with Yeosang once Changbin stepped aside.

"We've never expected you to carry such a big burden." Seonghwa said, carding his fingers through Jongho's hair. "We've never asked you to."

The younger continued to sob, unable to find his words as pain, agony, and fear swallowed them one by one.

What were they supposed to do now?

It was clear that everything was going to change now... and they would have to truly give themselves to the game if they wanted to make it out...

"We should get back to our pack..." Chan's voice came from next to them, and Jongho did his best to calm himself down. He looked up at the older and frowned when he saw how injured he was.

"You can stay here a little longer to recover." Hongjoong offered. "There's... something I wanted to discuss with you anyway."

Chan eyed him nervously, then looked at Changbin and Seungmin. "Our territory isn't far. Do you think you two will be alright going to get the others?"

"I'll go with them." Yeosang said. "Just in case."

A small, grateful smile crossed Chan's face before he sank back in his chair, wincing and gripping his side a little at the action.

"Hurry back." Seonghwa whispered, reaching out to cup Yeosang's cheek. "And please be careful."

The younger Beta nodded, a slight blush tinting his cheeks, and he followed the other two out the front door.

Now that things had calmed down a little, Mingi shuffled on his knees to be in front of Yunho, rising up to gently touch his cheek.

His eyes stayed fixed on the older, though they slowly filled with tears when Chan started to explain what had happened after Mingi had left.

Guilt swirled in Jongho's stomach when he saw how distressed Mingi was starting to become.

He shouldn't have blamed the older... because it was easy to see that Mingi was blaming himself for Yunho getting hurt.

Slowly, he grabbed one of Yunho's hands and brought it to his own face to press his cheek into. "I'm so sorry..." He whispered.

"You couldn't have known it would happen." Seonghwa placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "None of us could. We can't blame anyone for something that was just... a cruel twist of fate and poor timing."

Jongho knew he was right. "I'm sorry, Mingi-hyung. I shouldn't have snapped like that."

The older didn't look at him, but he did nod once and that was enough for now for Jongho to breathe a little.

It wasn't long before the rest of Stray Kids came rushing through the front door, all of them surrounding Chan with worried expressions or tears in their own eyes.

Minho was the first to look him over, paling at the sight of all the bandages. "Binnie told me a bit of what happened, are you okay??"

Chan did his best to smile, reaching out to take Minho's hand. "I will be. Now that all of you are here."

His pack let out a collective sob and, despite his hisses of pain, all moved in to hug him in one form or another.

It was... touching. Jongho had never seen their group like this before. Though that made sense. The only time the two groups had ever interacted was at competitions, and the tension was always super high.

But...

Stray Kids had their own special bond, just like Ateez did...

Just as he was about to say something, Hongjoong stood and cleared his throat. All but Yunho gave him their attention as he moved to the front of the room. "Given the circumstances of what's happened, I'd like to propose something to everyone here. We came across an announcement in the square today that I think would benefit all of us, as long as both parties are willing."

With the help of Jisung, Chan sat up a little straighter and tilted his head. "What are you talking about?"

Hongjoong's eyes flicked to Seonghwa, searching for the reassurance he always found in the older before he spoke again. "Alliances can be formed between two packs, pooling their resources, points, essentially forming one large, super pack. It mentioned something about a mating bond to make it official, though I'm not sure what that is. But I think we stand a better chance of surviving if we work together as one."

A few murmurs filled the room, but Jongho stayed silent. So did Yeosang.

An alliance would definitely change things. They'd have a bigger pack, which meant a chance for more points and more gold. Plus, more protection for their Omegas.

As much as he found himself wishing Hongjoong had consulted him first, Jongho stood and nodded. "I support it. I think it would be a good idea."

Hongjoong gave him a tight-lipped smile, then looked at Chan expectedly.

The older Alpha had his lips twisted to the side and was looking at each member of his pack one by one. Then his eyes lingered on an empty spot for several long seconds.

Felix...

"Alright."

Everyone in Ateez startled and Hongjoong was quick to say, "Alright? You'll do it?"

Chan sighed heavily. "Yeah, I think you're right. We need each other. Especially now. Let's find out what this mating bond thing is and then we take the next steps."

"I know what it is..." Yeosang said, eyes falling to the floor.

"Is this in your fanfictions too?" Hongjoong asked. "I didn't even think to ask, I'm sorry."

The younger Beta nodded and fidgeted in place. "I-It's alright... I was hoping they'd tell us about a different way when I saw mating was a thing in the rules... but now I know that's not going to happen."

No one spoke, waiting for him to continue despite how much he was struggling.

Yeosang groaned a little and pinched the bridge of his nose. "I hate you all so much..."

"Just tell us already, it can't be any worse than what we've already been through with Wooyoung and San's heats." Jongho said, doing his best to not snap.

He watched as Yeosang took another deep breath and pinched his nose harder. "Mating... it involves having sex with your chosen partner, and then marking them with a 'mating mark' to show you've claimed each other. Usually by biting over or around their scent mark on their neck." His other hand drifted to touch the area he was talking about on his own neck.

Silence, thick and heavy, filled the room.

"What the fuck?!" Minho exclaimed. "You can't be serious!!"

"I wish I wasn't." Yeosang said. "So, if a mating bond is required to form an alliance between two packs, then that can only mean one thing..."

He paused for a long moment, waiting to see if anyone had filled in the blanks.

Jongho thought he might, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything. He didn't want to believe it.

So Yeosang continued with an exasperated tone. "It means that someone from our pack will have to mate with someone in Stray Kids." Several gasps nearly cut him off, but he pushed through to finish, "And traditionally it's an Alpha from one pack choosing a mate from the other pack, usually a Head Alpha choosing someone to partner with."

Hongjoong looked bewildered. "That- No- I had no idea- This can't-" He sputtered, obviously trying to say this wasn't what he'd wanted.

But it was too late now. He'd already proposed it, though there was no way in hell that Jongho would want to do... that... with anyone in Stray Kids.

"I'll do it."

Chan's voice silenced everyone again and his pack turned to him with horror-stricken faces.

"Please forgive me, but if it will protect all of you, I'll do whatever it takes." Chan looked at his pack one by one again, raising a hand to silence any arguments. "I'm the only Alpha, it makes sense that I take this duty on myself. Plus, that means I have a little more pull." He added, looking straight at Jongho.

The younger bristled, a low growl rumbling in his throat.

Then Hongjoong lifted a hand to silence him. One look in his eyes asked Jongho to trust him, and even though it meant backing down to his Beta, Jongho conceded and stepped back. But he also sent the silent message saying that they'd be talking about this later.

"If there are no other objections," Hongjoong glanced around the room, receiving silence from Chan's controlled pack and uncertain looks from his own.

He nodded, then faced Chan square on.

"So, Alpha, who are you picking?"