Seonghwa sighed heavily and ran his hands through his already disheveled hair. His right leg bounced rapidly.

If things were bad before, they were so much worse now.

His pack was in shambles...

Eight of them were still missing.

They were in a strange place and didn't know who they could trust.

Wooseok had just shattered any kind of self control Jongho had, so now they had an unhinged alpha on their hands.

And he was starting to worry about the other three omegas in his pack...

He glanced over at where Wooyoung was sitting on the other end of the couch. The younger looked incredibly pale and was completely ignoring his son, who was gently shaking his arm.

Just as Seonghwa was about to go ask, Yeosang walked in the front door with Gunner, Rhodey, Stephan, and the twins.

"What happened?" Gunner asked, hurrying over to kneel in front of his mother. "What's wrong with Uncle Jongho?"

Yeosang came and sat next to them, his honey scent sour with distress. "Wooseok told him a Seer claims they are Soulmates."

A stifling silence filled the cabin.

They all knew the importance of that term, how much it could change everything.

"Is it true?" Stephan stepped forward. Every muscle in his body was tense, showing that his inner alpha was struggling with how much dominance was coming from the larger bedroom.

Everyone turned to look at Wooyoung and Chan, the only two who had witnessed what had been said.

Wooyoung lost even more color and started to tremble a little bit, but he showed no signs of having heard what Stephan had asked.

Instead, Chan sat up a little straighter and spoke. "Wooseok seemed to believe it. I didn't sense any lies when he spoke."

"How dare he do this. How dare he!" Seonghwa slammed his fist into his thigh. "Especially with knowing all we've been through."

"Easy, Hwa." Yeosang said softly. "We don't need anyone else to loose control."

"What do you think is going on with him?" Gunner glanced at the bedroom door, bristling a little.

Yeosang pursed his lips and exhaled sharply through his nose. "I think it's a combination of several things. The shock from what that bastard said would have triggered his wolf in many ways. It's hard to say whether or not it recognized the word or if it felt anything, but it would want to be ready to protect him. And then throw in the array of emotions that I'm sure started flowing from Yunho would send it on a frenzy. Plus, Jongho's never truly been the same after being forced into submission by the Colonel's grandson."

"You're right." Seonghwa agreed, eyes falling to the floor in defeat. "He wouldn't be able regain control as easily as before."

"Is Uncle Yunho alright?" Lizbeth asked from where both she and Lorelai were tucked into Stephan's sides, almost like they needed him to help stand up. "That had to have been hard for him to hear too..."

Seonghwa bit his lip, then reached out to his pack mate. Yunho? Are you alright?

Anger bristled through the link, causing everyone except for Stephan and the twins to flinch at the same time and hiss.

Yunho, please, can you answer me? Are you alright?

I'm fine. The beta answered softly after a minute. Even through the link his voice trembled a little. I... I don't know what to do.

What is he doing? Yeosang asked, leaning forward to brace his elbows on his legs.

He... He's got me pinned in a corner and won't stop scenting me...

Mine. Beta. Mine. Jongho's unhinged voice entered the link. Deep, rumbling, and terribly out of control. MINE. Mate. Protect mate.

Seonghwa and Yeosang exchanged a worried look before Seonghwa tried reaching out to Yunho in a private link. Are you safe? Has he hurt you?

No, he hasn't hurt me. It's like he's trying to hide me away from everything. Hwa... I don't... What is happening to him?

Take a deep breath, honey. Your stress is probably not helping him right now.

I can't help it. Yunho whined. Seonghwa knew he was probably crying in the other room and it killed him that he couldn't go comfort him. Why w-would he stay with m-me if Wooseok is-

Don't. Don't do that to yourself, Yunho. I know this is a lot to handle, but Jongho needs to you stay strong for him. You have a lot of history together, he's not going to leave you for Wooseok.

A whimper came from the bedroom, instantly alerting everyone to some kind of change. Gunner and Chan both sprang to their feet, moving themselves between the bedroom door and the rest of the pack, while Stephan just moved the twins and Rhodey behind him.

Yunho! Yeosang called out, half rising from the couch.

I-I'm f-fine. Yunho whined. He's r-really gone. He's clamped d-down on my mark.

"We need to get in there." Gunner growled. "If we don't stop him, he's going to keep getting worse."

Seonghwa moved to stand behind his son and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Do you think you can take him?" He hated asking and he wished there was another way... but they needed to help Jongho somehow, and at the rate he was going, he could loose himself to his instincts and seriously hurt Yunho while believing he was protecting him.

Gunner nodded once and moved into a crouch.

Chan was the first to move after that, darting to the door and grabbing the handle. With another nod from the older alpha, Chan opened the door and stepped aside.

The chaos was instantaneous.

Jongho had roared as soon as the door opened and spun around, bent in a low crouch and his arms thrown out behind him to keep Yunho against the wall.

As soon as Gunner ran into the room, the two alphas collided and started grappling for control. Both their eyes were bright red, teeth barred, fists flailing.

"Yunho!" Seonghwa called, waving his hands frantically to beckon the beta over to them.

It took a couple of seconds, but Yunho swung around onto his hands and knees and crawled out of the room, whimpering when Jongho cried out for him to try and get him to submit.

But thankfully Gunner thought quickly and grabbed the older alpha around his waist. He swung him around, then threw him onto the bed, giving Yunho enough of a chance to get out of the room.

"Stand down!" Gunner growled, placing himself between Jongho and the door. "Now!"

Jongho's eyes were wide. Crazed. His nostrils flared, scenting the air.

"Gunner, get him outside!!" Yeosang bellowed. "Now! Now! Everyone get back!"

Just in time, everyone dove to the side as Gunner bolted for the door with Jongho on his heels. They followed him out, scattering on the porch to watch the two large wolves rolling around in the trees.

In a flurry of teeth and claws, both alphas tried to gain the upper hand.

"Chan! No!" Wooyoung cried out, reaching for his son and falling to his knees when he missed.

The young alpha shifted midair, something none of the kids had ever accomplished before, and darted forward to jump onto Jongho's back. He dipped his head down and grabbed a mouthful of Jongho's scruff.

It was enough of a distraction that Gunner was able to shove Jongho onto his side, then use his weight to keep the alpha pinned to the ground.

Jongho howled, an awful wail.

It was a cry for his mate...

Yunho whimpered in response and ran down the deck. Seonghwa didn't know if he should stop the beta or not. But the time he could have tried, Yunho was already almost there.

And so was Wooseok.

Yeosang called out a warning right before he and Seonghwa started running as well, fully prepared to take out the omega if needed.

Other members of Wooseok's pack started to gather around, confused by the commotion as Jongho continued to howl from underneath Gunner and Chan.

His pain and terror started to take over the pack link, feeling even stronger since he was their current head alpha.

So much was happening at the same time... Seonghwa felt his attention being pulled in several directions.

Which meant he missed Wooyoung running by in wolf form until he was already barreling into Wooseok.

The other omega shifted after the contact, shredded clothes fluttering down around his chocolate colored fur. He jumped away from Wooyoung, his eyes darting between Wooyoung and Jongho, but Wooyoung shook his head and snarled.

"What is going on here?!" Minhyung pushed his way to the front of the crown, along with a few other alphas from the council. He bristled when he saw Wooseok facing off against Wooyoung and immediately turned to survey what was happening.

"Please, call Wooseok back." Seonghwa pleaded. "We will explain everything, but he's not helping the situation!"

Minhyung looked like he wanted to argue, but he thankfully did as requested and called out to the omega.

Once Wooseok started to back away, his ears pinned to his head and tail between his legs, Wooyoung relaxed a little bit.

By now Yunho had made it to his mate and was kneeling next to his head. It had stopped the alpha from howling at least, but his eyes were still very red, showing he was still battling against Gunner's dominance.

And eerie silence fell over the crowd of bystanders. A line had now been drawn between the two packs. One that Seonghwa wasn't sure could be erased now that Wooyoung had attacked Wooseok...

A low growl came from Minhyung as he stalked over to Seonghwa and Yeosang, the two who were closest to him at the time. "Explain. Now."

It took only a matter of minutes for them to fill the alpha in on what Wooseok had told Jongho barely thirty minutes ago.

He was stunned, which gave Seonghwa a small bit of hope. With a quick motion, he whirled around to face Wooseok and said, "Is this true?"

The omega sat and bowed his head, causing Minhyung to pinch the bridge of his nose and sigh. "We will deal with this later." He turned back to Seonghwa with a pained expression. "Are you going to be able to get him under control?"

"We've been trying." Yeosang admitted.

They all turned to where Jongho was slowly calming down.

Gunner was fully pressing him to the ground, digging his nails into the dirt and growling lowly into Jongho's ear while Chan still had ahold of his scruff.

Seonghwa sighed in relief when he noticed that Jongho's eyes weren't red anymore. They were back to their beautiful, deep brown color and focused completely on Yunho.

"If you can't get him calmed down, or a handle on the situation, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

"What?!" Both Yeosang and Seonghwa said at the same time.

"But this was his fault!" Yeosang continued, whipping his arm straight to point at Wooseok. "We've done everything you've asked of us since being here, and all Jongho was going to do today was continue our scouting paths!"

Minhyung held up his hands, "I understand that. But I also can't have a rogue alpha tearing through my camp. I already said I would deal with Wooseok. This was reckless and irresponsible for him to do, especially since Jongho is already mated, however you are not part of my pack and therefore not my responsibility. And I do not want to have to resort to violence, because you're right, up until now you've done nothing wrong."

Seonghwa grabbed Yeosang's elbow to prevent him from saying anything more. They were on thin ice and needed to be careful... Then an idea came to him. "Do you have something we can use to make him sleep?"

Things happened quickly after that. Yunho was given a piece of meat laced with a sleeping potion which he managed to convince Jongho to eat. He was out in a matter of seconds.

Gunner and Stephan carried him inside and set him down on the bed, then Stephan rushed back to the other room.

Seonghwa noticed the twins weren't present and went to go check on them, his instincts on overdrive with the need to make sure his pack was alright.

He knocked on the door, which was still open, then poked his head inside to see Stephan leaning over Lizbeth and dabbing her head with a wet rag. "What happened??"

"After you went outside, she said she started to feel dizzy." Lorelai said from where she was sitting next to her sister.

Seonghwa looked over his shoulder, taking in what his family was doing. Yeosang and Rhodey were bringing food and water into the bedroom for Yunho and Jongho. Gunner was sitting on the couch talking with Chan about what had happened. And Wooyoung...

Wooyoung was still in wolf form sitting on the front porch...

The concern Seonghwa had for the three omegas started to rise again as he decided who to help first. A soft groan from Lizbeth helped him choose and he turned back to the twins. "May I?" He asked, looking at Stephan.

"Of course, please." The alpha stepped aside instantly to allow Seonghwa room.

"Hi, Sweetie." He said softly as he sat next to Lizbeth. A tiny smile answered him. "What other symptoms are you having?"

"Just the dizziness. Maybe a little nausea too." Lizbeth looked to her sister, who nodded in confirmation.

"And this has been going on for a couple of days, right? For both of you?" He added the last part while glancing at Lorelei.

Both girls nodded again.

Seonghwa closed his eyes and nodded. "I think I know what's going on." He leaned forward to rub Lizbeth's forehead and tried to smile.

It took both girls a moment to figure out what he was implying. A large array of emotions passed between them, the biggest ones being joy and concern.

Stephan seemed to understand, too. The second Seonghwa moved out of the way, he surged forward to kiss his mate.

Lorelei covered her mouth with a hand, tears pouring down her cheeks.

"Congratulations, Sweetheart." Seonghwa sat next to her and kissed her forehead, trying to offer some form of comfort. "Do you want me to tell the others?"

"No." Both girls said at the same time.

"Not right now." Lorelei continued. "Not until we know for sure and things have settled with Uncle Jongho."

Seonghwa nodded in agreement and acceptance. "You should at least let your mother know. He will be so upset already once he finds out I knew before him." He tried to laugh, but it ended quickly when the twins exchanged a worried look.

"Uncle Hwa, is Mama ok?" Lizbeth sat up, with the help of her mate, and glanced toward the living room.

That was something Seonghwa had been wondering for a few days now. All he could do was bow his head as the fear for his pack started to grow.

The fear that they were slowly crumbling apart.