A searing pain in his head is what woke Jongho up sometime the next morning.

He groaned and curled in on himself to block out as much light as he could, then twisted a hand around to pinch the bridge of his nose.

Even the few hangovers he'd had in the past weren't nearly this bad...

What the hell had they done last night?

A gentle hand brushed through his hair, and he immediately recognized the delicate touch of San.

"Jongho?" The older whispered. His tone held a hint of pain to it that immediately alerted Jongho, causing him to open his eyes and sit up.

Which he immediately regretted when the room started to spin.

"Oh, fuck." He scrunched his eyes shut and started to fall forward.

"Easy, I've got you." San caught him and helped support his weight so he didn't fall to the floor again. "Are you alright? We've been a bit worried, you're the last one to wake back up."

The younger took a moment to think about what San's words meant. He was the last one...

Right... all of his hyungs had passed out at some point yesterday...

When he opened his eyes again, he took a slow, deep breath. The coppery tang of blood suddenly overwhelmed his senses, and he flinched even as his heart started to race.

Who was hurt? What had happened??

"Jongho, please, it's alright." San held up his hands. His forehead creased with concern, and he tilted his head a little.

"But I smell blood. Who- "

"It's coming from you." San grabbed his hands to prevent him from standing. The touch almost seemed to burn, and while Jongho wanted to focus on it, he also noticed the dried red blotches all over his hands, arms, and clothes.

Oh.

Now that he took a second to focus, he could smell the deer's scent still on him as well. He'd feinted before he'd had a chance to clean up.

"Everyone else is awake?" He asked, slowly looking around the room. "Yeosang-hyung and Mingi-hyung?"

San nodded, a small smile finally tugging at his lips. "They seem fine this morning. Just a little disoriented like yourself. Sangie, Yunho, and both Hyungs were awake before everyone else, then Wooyoung and I woke up at about the same time. Mingi has only been up for ten minutes or so. They are all outside getting some air."

Jongho licked his lips and nodded. He inhaled again, then paused when he thought he smelled cherry blossoms.

"Why don't you go shower and change, then we can sit down as a pack and decide what we want to do today." San suggested, then stood and stretched his arms over his head.

"Did Seonghwa-hyung get a chance to clean up?"

San hummed. "That's apparently the first thing he did once Yeosang helped him get up." He added with a fond chuckle. "He was absolutely disgusted that he fell asleep with blood on his clothes. Although... he's not nearly as bad as you..."

Jongho looked down at himself again and grimaced. "Yeah, well, he wasn't the one doing all the dirty work. I'll be back down shortly."

With a quick nod to his hyung, Jongho ran up the stairs two at a time. He was surprised to find that he seemed to have a little more energy this morning despite having slept on the floor.

In the shower, he spent a great deal of time scrubbing at the blood on his hands and arms. Although, he wasn't sure if it was to make extra sure the blood was gone, or if it was to simply admire how firm they felt.

"He's looking good."

A camera zooms in to focus on the toned muscles of the showering boy.

"Yes, it's already enhancing his natural physique. He's going to be a prime example."

The two men watch as he runs his hands over his arms and chest, a curious look crossing his face.

"Has the bidding started?"

"No, we are waiting on Madame Curator to give the word. But there has been much interest on The Market."

"Just as we expected."

The boy steps out of the shower and starts to towel his hair try, showing off the flexing muscles.

"What has sparked the biggest interest so far?"

"The Omegas, of course."

A dark chuckle follows the statement.

"Our source in Korea really did well with this group. The others, too, but I sense something... special."

"Yes... I'm curious to see what the other Observers have to say at our meeting at the end of Week One."

"I suppose that will depend on who makes the cut."

Once he was finished with his shower, Jongho stepped into the room he shared with San and pulled on a pair of sweatpants and a loose t-shirt he'd packed.

As much as he didn't want to, he was going to have to throw out the other clothes, which meant one less outfit to wear here...

But he'd make do somehow.

He found the others outside sitting or standing in a circle either on the deck or in the grass, just as San said. Wooyoung was the first to look at him when the front door closed behind him, and he patted the spot next to him where he was sitting on the front steps.

"How are you feeling?" Hongjoong asked as he got situated.

"Much better after my shower." Jongho said, not even flinching when Wooyoung moved to hug his arm.

A gentle, calming breeze caressed his face, bringing with it the scent of lilacs. He idly wondered if maybe there was a lilac bush nearby, maybe they could pick some flowers later.

"Well, I suppose now we need to decide what we want to do today." Hongjoong looked at the others and quirked his lips to the side. "As much as my gut tells me we should rest after what happened last night, something in me says we need to keep going strong to keep learning about this place and what it holds for us."

"I agree." Mingi piped in immediately. "Honestly I feel a lot better today so I'm good to go."

"Jongho needs to eat before we do anything." Seonghwa added, offering a kind smile to their youngest. He disappeared inside for a minute or so and came back out with a plate of pan seared meat and a few of the berries.

"Thanks, Hyung." Jongho said before digging in with a sudden ravenous hunger.

Seonghwa ruffled his hair before returning to where he'd been sitting in the grass next to Yeosang. "There's plenty more if anyone needs some before we leave. I'd rather us regain our energy than try to ration out now."

"The pond will be a huge help." Yunho looked at Mingi, concern evident in his eyes. "But the market was today, right? We should see what it has to offer."

"I already have the coins." Hongjoong stepped forward and held a pouch out to Jongho. "Which you should probably hang onto."

The younger scrunched his nose and huffed a sigh. "I really don't want to be Head Alpha..."

"Oh don't start complaining now. You know you secretly love being in charge of the money." Wooyoung teased, shifting just enough to try and tickle his side.

It made Jongho squirm in place a little even as a blush dusted his cheeks. He did, but he'd never admit it out loud.

"So the market," Yeosang said, regaining control of their planning, "And maybe we should see what other events or training there is? Should we split up again or go together?"

"I want to stay together as much as we can." Hongjoong rubbed his chin, his eyes focused on the leaves at his feet. "There's still so much about this that makes me uneasy, and I think if we are going to be around other packs, we should show them how big ours is."

Jongho felt a spark of pride light in him, and he sat up a little straighter. "I agree. Strength in numbers. Plus, more eyes means more things we can observe and take note of."

"Exactly." Yeosang nodded in agreement.

"Alright." Jongho stood, pulling a whining Wooyoung with him, and nodded to the rest of his pack. "Let's get ready to go then."

At the command of their Head Alpha, everyone gathered the few things they needed to head to the main square.

San and Wooyoung begrudgingly allowed Jongho and Mingi to attach their leashes and everyone was given a knife to wear at their waist.

Jongho made sure the coin purse was secure by looping the belt portion of his knife holster through the drawstrings and then tucking it inside the hem of his sweatpants to prevent it from jingling.

His instincts told him he couldn't take any chances.

The last thing they grabbed was one of the bows and a quiver of arrows. Yunho was the one to sling that over his shoulder with a soft, "Just in case."

When they were ready, Jongho looked down at his watch and noted that it was just after ten in the morning. Hopefully the market would be up and running by now so they could get a few things done.

He led the way, keeping a tight grip on San's leash.

Maybe it was just him, but the forest seemed more... alive. Everything seemed brighter, louder, clearer.

He thought he smelled cinnamon at one point, but he couldn't tell where the source could possibly be from.

They came across a few other packs on the road, most of them smaller than theirs and they immediately stepped to the side.

And each time Jongho had to fight the urge to growl. He had to shake his head each time and keep walking forward, refocusing his concentration on the task at hand and ignore the strange instinct, though he made a mental note to talk about it with the others tonight.

As they got closer to the main square, the sounds of people talking grew louder, as he'd expected them to do.

"Oh." Seonghwa whispered, stepping forward a little.

Jongho knew immediately what the almost sad note to his tone was.

The market looked just like the ones they were used to back home.

Several stalls had been set up in the courtyard, all manned by silver androids, with men and women milling around to see what was for sale.

All eight of them stood there for a long moment, soaking in the mixed feelings swirling within their hearts.

Mingi was the first to speak, a gruffness to his voice caught Jongho off guard and he quickly turned to face the older. "So how do we want to do this?"

The hairs on the back of Jongho's neck rose a little and he squared his shoulders. "We stick together. Keep Wooyoung and San close to us and show them we have strength in numbers." He said, not really wanting to give the others a chance to argue with him.

He was fully capable of leading them safely through this. He was fully capable of protecting them.

Mingi's eyes narrowed a little and his jaw worked back and forth, but he eventually nodded.

"Just keep calm." Hongjoong added. "We don't need to get into any trouble. We should still take this time to observe."

Jongho glanced over his shoulder, acknowledging that he heard what his packmate had to say.

Then... all the tension he'd been starting to feel oozed away...

"Jongie, breathe." San whispered from right behind him while placing a hand on his shoulder. Wooyoung peered over his shoulder, looking just as concerned.

The younger did as he asked and shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Alright, let's go."

He took the first step forward and let the way down to the market. Once again, smaller packs moved out of their way. It was a strange feeling, but he guessed that by now most everyone knew how serious the games were and had all decided to play it cautious too.

Which was definitely wise because from what he could see, almost everyone else traveled in groups no larger than five, but threes and fours were more common.

When they made it to the outskirts of the courtyard, his nostrils flared when he caught the scent of fresh herbs and other supplies possibly needed for cooking.

So that was something that would be available to them...

He started to scan the different stalls, noticing each one had signs above them to let everyone know what was there.

One indeed had a variety of spices, herbs, and baking ingredients listed next to their price in gold coins.

Another stall had materials to make clothing like bolts of fabric, needles, thread, and instructions.

A few had materials for crafting weapons, two had survival materials like fire starters and tents, a larger one had a selection of fresh fruits and vegetables.

There was even one that had a small sample of books and arts and crafts.

"Well, they are providing us with some form of humanity at least." Yeosang huffed behind him.

Jongho fought a smile, knowing full well that his hyung was rolling his eyes along with the dry comment.

"It's expensive, though." Hongjoong noted, stopping to read the sign for the survival wares.

The fire starter alone was eight gold coins, and the tent was over twenty.

"I think we should get some more food." Wooyoung said quietly, peeking around Mingi's shoulder at the fruit and vegetable stall. "Something we can store, just in case we can't hunt again. We got lucky yesterday. Really lucky."

Jongho's eyes drifted from that to the survival stand again and noticed they also had waterskins for five gold a piece. "We should get a few of those, too. Then see how we go about earning more gold."

When no one argued with him, he approached that stall first. The Android looked at him with its silver eyes and said, "What would you like to purchase today, Alpha of Ateez?"

The title startled Jongho for a second and he took a small step back, but a quick touch from San had him collecting himself. "Four waterskins please."

"Wise decision. That will be twenty gold pieces."

Jongho pulled out the coin purse and counted them out for the Android. He reasoned that would give them one waterskin per pair, just in case they were separated for any reason, even though it took almost have their available money.

When the transaction was complete, the Android gave him the four waterskins and bowed its head.

"I'll hold onto them." Seonghwa offered, holding out his hand.

"Thanks, Hyung." Jongho handed them over and lead his pack to the food stall.

"Oh!" Wooyoung gasped, moving to step around Mingi when he noticed a selection of grains hidden off to the side. "This is perfect!"

"Hyung!" Jongho hissed, taking his hand when he noticed the Android of that stall straightening up a little. He pulled Wooyoung back behind Mingi and kept his voice low when he spoke again, "Just tell me what you think we need, but you need to be careful."

"But- "

Jongho's heartbeat spiked when he saw the Android take a step closer. He found himself fighting another growl, this time one of warning that he wanted to direct at the silver thing for coming too close to his omega.

Instead, he just shook his head once and cut Wooyoung off. "I know. But remember things are different here."

The older scowled defiantly. A spark of anger flashed in his eyes and he jerked away from Jongho so he could scan the stall again.

Next to them, San, Yunho, and Yeosang all stepped a little closer with worried looks on their faces.

"Young-ah, it's going to be alright. We are all still learning." Yunho placed a hand on his shoulder and squeezed.

The action seemed to calm Wooyoung down a little and he sighed before turning to face the rest of his pack. "I think we should get as much rice as we can. Potatoes would be good too. At least to start with. They will be filling, and we can cook them in a variety of ways. If we have some extra, maybe some lemons at least?"

It was easy to see that his mind was starting to run wild with all the possibilities of what he could do to feed them and Jongho was quick to place a gentle touch on his arm. "Hyung, we only have thirty gold pieces left for now. I don't know that we should spend all of it right now."

Wooyoung pursed his lips as he tilted his head back to read the sign. Rice was listed for two gold pieces per pound and potatoes were three per pound... they didn't even have enough to get a pound of each for each member of their pack... Not that they needed that much, but it put things into harsh perspective for them since they weren't used to having to budget themselves when it came to food.

"How does two pounds of potatoes and five pounds of rice sound?" Wooyoung asked, turning back to the others.

Seonghwa started counting on his fingers and nodding. "So sixteen gold, leaving us with fourteen?"

"So little..." Hongjoong whispered.

Mingi huffed and crossed his arms over his chest. "What else are we going to use it on, though? The next market is in two days, I bet we can earn some more by then."

Before anyone else could speak, a disgruntled groan came from behind them. "Are you going to buy anything or not?? We're waiting!"

Jongho instantly tensed, along with Mingi and Hongjoong, and moved through his pack to come face-to-face with Chan. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me." Chan sneered.

A quick glance showed that Changbin and Jisung were flanking him, but no one else in the group was there.

"Bold of you to approach us when you're outnumbered." Mingi growled, stepping forward to tower over the other alpha.

Chan just chuckled and placed his hands on his hips. "I'm not scared of you. Once a loser, always a loser."

Now Mingi snarled, and suddenly he, Jongho, Chan, Yunho, Changbin, and Jisung were all lowering themselves as if preparing to lunge.

Then a high-pitched beep came from next to them that had everyone in the market flinching and covering their ears.

"There will be no fighting in the courtyard." Several Androids said at the same time.

All eyes were on the two feuding packs, followed by murmurs and nervous movements from others trying to move away.

Jongho stood up first, but he didn't relax his fists as he growled at Chan once more. "We will be done shortly."

He didn't give Chan a chance to respond before he turned to the Android at the stall and placed Wooyoung's requested order.

Everyone stayed silent while they waited, and once they had their things, Jongho threw the sack of potatoes over his shoulder and stormed out of the courtyard, still being careful not to tug on San's leash.

They were almost to the path home when Yunho called, "Wait! Look!" from where he'd been taking up the rear of their pack with Yeosang. He started to read the sign once the others had gathered closer.

Attention Packs!

Today and tomorrow, north of the courtyard, there will be a competition to test your strength and cunning.

Every pack who enters will receive an automatic 100 points per participant.

The Top 10 packs will receive points and gold coins depending on their placement.

10th place: 10 gold coins and 100 additional points

9th place: 20 gold coins and 200 additional points

8th place: 30 gold coins and 300 additional points

7th place: 40 gold coins and 400 additional points

6th place: 50 gold coins and 500 additional points

5th place: 60 gold coins and 600 additional points

4th place: 70 gold coins and 700 additional points

3rd place: 100 gold coins and 1,000 additional points

2nd place: 150 gold coins and 1,500 additional points

1st place: 200 gold coins and 2,000 additional points

All members of your pack are allowed to participate, but not all members will be allowed to sign up for every event.

Sign up starts tonight at 6pm. The event starts tomorrow at 8am and will go on for 2 days. Results will be posted at 6pm the end of day two.

Participation is not mandatory, but remember, at the end of this week the pack with the most points will be named Head Pack and be given additional benefits.

"Well, I guess we found out how we can earn more coins." Yeosang said.

Jongho smirked and looked at his pack. "Yes. Yes, we did. Let's get this home and talk about how we want to do this, then plan on being back at the courtyard right at six. Sound good?"

He received seven confident nods as anticipation seemed to buzz through all of them.

Competition was what they were good at.

There was no way they would lose.