"What are we supposed to do?" Yeosang asked from behind his hand.

The smoke was so thick it made his eyes water and burn. He couldn't see more than a few feet in front of him.

The rest of his pack shook their heads and all started to move away from the dangerous flames.

"Can we try to go around?" Hoseok called from where he was surveying one side.

"Possibly! But there's know saying how far this goes." Namjoon growled and stumbled back a few steps.

"We have to do something!" Jongho started looking around frantically.

Then everyone started talking at once, all trying to find out a way to get to their trapped packmates.

Felix was the first one to suggest digging out a line in the ground to keep the fire from getting closer to their cabins.

But a few minutes later, Mingi froze in place and gasped. "The pond! The pond!" He said, then started running in that direction.

Yeosang and a few others followed after him, running as fast as they possibly could to their destination.

It was still hard to breath though. All of them had to slow down to cough at least once. Hyunjin even had to lean against a tree to support himself so he didn't fall over.

When they reached the pond, Mingi grabbed the buckets they'd been using to put fish in and started scooping up water to hand to the others.

There were only six, and they couldn't exactly run back with them, so getting back to the fire was tedious and even Yeosang was struggling with how heavy it was.

How the hell were they supposed to put an entire fire out with only six buckets?

As they returned to the fire, everyone who had stayed behind was either clearing anything flammable or throwing handfuls of dirt on the flames.

By some miracle, a small path was starting to form.

"Concentrate there!" Chan ordered. "We are just going to cut through!"

Yeosang had a hard time keeping up with everything going on, but it was clear that a system was starting to form without much direction.

Everyone took turns going to get water, and the groups were split up three and three so there was almost a constant stream of water being put on the flames.

Those not doing that still continued to throw dirt or clear foliage.

The forest itself was being consumed, though...

A few trees started to topple over, filling the air with loud groans right before they crashed to the ground, sending a rush of flames into the air.

"This is hopeless!!" Youngjo yelled at one point after almost no progress had been made for several minutes. "We are only going to get ourselves hurt!"

"No! I won't stop!" Jongho roared, even as he had to cover his mouth again when a plume of smoke blew in his direction.

The pack exchanged looks, then started to slowly move away from the fire.

Namjoon was the one to grab Jongho and Mingi quickly joined in. They both fought against the distressed Alpha with all their strength, the older even needing to lock his arms around Jongho to pin his arms to his sides.

"Jongho, calm down!" Namjoon ordered, his eyes flashing bright red.

Hongjoong, Yeosang, and Yunho rushed forward to try and calm their Alpha down as well.

His anger and fear poured over into them, causing the stress of the situation to grow even more.

"Let me go!!" Jongho wailed, throwing all his weight into trying to get away.

"We will find another way." Mingi promised. He towered over the younger and tried to block his view while helping Namjoon get him further from the flames.

"No- No! He needs me!" The younger's voice broke and he finally fell limp.

Yeosang felt his chest clench, falling into the pain of his Alpha, and the pain of his own heart knowing that Seonghwa was trapped as well.

He glanced over at Hongjoong, who looked just as upset...

"Jongho, the fire is too dangerous." Chan said softly, coming up behind Hongjoong to loop an arm around his waist. "We tried. We will find another way."

A horrible sob left Jongho's throat as his head fell forward. "N-No... SAN!!"

"The next phase is in place, but Ma'am, the fire-"

"What about it?"

"It's getting out of control. It's spreading faster than we anticipated. Soon it's going to start threatening the entire arena."

Madame Curator sucks on her teeth for a second, then sighs. "Send the Androids. At least get them to contain it."

"Right away!"

Seonghwa didn't know what to do.

San hadn't moved from his spot on the cave floor and he hadn't stopped whimpering either.

He was in so much pain... but he couldn't tell Seonghwa what was causing it.

Even with his new eyesight tinging the world in blue, the Beta could see that San was incredibly pale.

It had come on so suddenly...

What if he was sick?

What if he had caught some kind of disease?? Could they get sick from different things now that they had their wolves?

Seonghwa let out a soft whine of his own and leaned over to brush his fingers through the younger's hair. "San-ah... what can I do?"

A cry of pain answered him, bringing tears of fear to Seonghwa's eyes.

"N-Need... him." San whined before curling into a tight ball.

"Baby, I'm sure Jongho is doing everything he can to get back here..."

The younger started to shake his head and whine again.

Seonghwa glanced at the sealed entrance one more time. With a soft kiss to the side of San's head, he hurried back to it and started sliding his hands over the fallen rocks.

Try.

When his wolf started to urge him, Seonghwa ground his teeth together and found a section with smaller rocks and started to push or pull at them.

A few shifted in place, tumbling down to the cave floor. Each slam of rock on rock sounded like a gunshot to the Beta and he flinched while taking a step back.

He surveyed the wall once more, looking for any kind of opening he could use, any weak spots...

But there were several larger boulders on the bottom that he would never be able to move on his own. Any other smaller ones were wedged pretty tightly in place.

Seonghwa tried to push at a few more spots, throwing as much strength into it as possible.

All he managed to achieve was bruising his shoulder...

With a frustrated groan, Seonghwa stumbled back against the opposite wall and clutched at his shoulder. "Fuck..."

A small whine from San echoed his thoughts, making Seonghwa's forehead furrow with concern.

He slowly made his way over to the younger and fell to his knees next to him. "San-ah... I can't... I can't move the boulders."

San didn't respond. In fact... He'd stopped making any sounds at all.

Seonghwa leaned forward, reaching out to him with the hand not holding his opposite shoulder. "San? San??"

Panic started to run rampant through Seonghwa's veins. One touch to San's forehead revealed that he was burning up.

What was he supposed to do now??

"S-San... Please t-talk to me." He begged, bowing over the younger and gently stroking his hair.

Sick. Broken.

Seonghwa let out a small sob.

How was he supposed to fix this by himself...?

"Androids are on their way."

Madame Curator nods, not looking away from the screens surveying the other packs. "Good. Start sending out messages to the other packs. We need to get started if we want to get to all of them."

"How exactly do you want us to phrase it?"

"Word it in a way that makes it sound professional. That it's a routine checkup that will start to happen. Something meant to make sure they are staying healthy while participating in the games." Madame Curator rounds on her employees and snaps, "I don't care!! It's your job to figure this out!!"

The people in the room scramble to do her bidding while the woman tasked with monitoring Ateez's pack house shuffles forward. "Three of them stayed behind. I think one of them is sick..."

Madame Curator's eyes widen and she follows the woman back to her room, where several of the larger monitors are focused on one of the bedrooms.

Her Omega was curled up on the floor, sobbing, while two members from Pack One hovered over him.

"Details. Now." She snaps.

"That is his mated Alpha. And the other Omega is also mated to the same Alpha. When the pack came into our camera range again, they were struggling to keep him calm, and he ended up passing out at one point."

New footage plays on the screen, detailing everything that was just said.

"What is happening to him?"

"We don't know, Ma'am... No one else has reacted like this before. Any of the other packs who reacted poorly to the serum were all throwing it back up or had unstoppable bloody noses as some of the worst symptoms. It almost seems like his pain is internal."

Madame Curator focuses on the screen as the members of Pack One do what they can to make her Omega comfortable. They surround him with blankets and pillows, but all he does is writhe in pain.

"Make sure that this pack is one of the first ones tested. I need to know what is happening."

Everything hurt. Burned. Ached. Throbbed.

All of it, rotating and happening at the same time.

It felt like he was falling, then flying, then spinning.

Or was it all happening at once?

It was too hard for Wooyoung to figure out... let along even try to think.

The only thing he could rely on was the soft touch of his Alpha.

It was also the only thing that could soothe him...

Yoongi's nimble fingers traced every inch of exposed skin. They burned and cooled at the same time, yet it was enough to keep Wooyoung calm.

Or... calmer.

"Wooyoung-ah, can you hear me?" The Alpha's deep voice tried to push through the fuzz in his ears. It was strained, worried...

Which made Wooyoung feel so, so guilty. He didn't want to hurt his Alpha, but... he couldn't explain what was happening to him.

Yet he did manage to answer with a small whine.

"Hyung, I'm scared." Jimin whispered. "What if something is seriously wrong?"

"It already is Jimin-ah. Nothing about this feels right..."

Wooyoung whimpered again and tried to force his eyes open. "S-S-Sorr..."

Strong arms instantly swept him up from whatever he'd been laying on so he could be cradled against something hard but soft...

Oh...

Alpha.

Yoongi's bourbon scent washed over him and a hand gently guided Wooyoung's face to his Alpha's neck. "Shhhhh, don't apologize, Young-ah." Yoongi whispered. "I just wish I knew what I could do to help you..."

"We both do." Jimin agreed, pressing himself close to both of them and started to pet the back of Wooyoung's head.

That felt nice...

It allowed Wooyoung to relax a little, though the pain, the emptiness, never stopped.

"Keep doing that." Yoongi said suddenly. "I think it's helping." His hands started to trace over Wooyoung's skin as well.

The younger Omega's eyelids fluttered and he managed to softly nuzzle against Yoongi's neck. "A-Al..."

"I'm here. I'm right here. It's going to be okay." Yoongi whispered. Slowly, he started to rock back and forth.

"We both are." Jimin said right before he started to hum gently.

It was one of Wooyoung's favorite songs. Serendipity. And even now, even with how gently he was humming, Wooyoung found himself getting lost in the beautiful melody and the enchanting sounds only Jimin's voice held.

A soft smile tugged at his lips, the first in several hours, and he opened his mouth to kind of nibble at the side of Yoongi's neck.

The Alpha gasps in response but doesn't stop what he's doing.

Wooyoung could sense some of Yoongi's stress start to fade through their link as well, which in turn made him feel a little better.

He could power through this... He could push through the pain, the agony, the despair if he had to...

But truthfully, he just wanted everything to end.

He didn't want to feel anymore...

Ever since signing up for this stupid competition...

Wooyoung wished that they had never agreed to come to this horrible place.