Mingi leads the pack he's in charge of through the forest, knowing they'll be getting to the outskirts of Essence soon. Mingi's senses start to become a bit distracted at an unfamiliar lemon scent coming from somewhere. He knows it's none of his alphas' scent. He feels a small tugging on his heart the closer they're getting closer to it. The anticipation is building from not knowing where this citrusy scent is coming from.

Mingi can hear his heart pounding in his chest, but he doesn't let it distract him too much, knowing he must continue to lead his pack. Excitement is filling his body because he knows his parents would tell him how before they even met each other, they would be able to smell each other's scent from extreme distances. All of his family's fated mates have been like that.

Mingi knows he shouldn't be excited in a time like this, but he's waited so long to finally meet his other half that he can't help it. Will they really meet today, or are they just nearby?

The closer they get, the stronger the scent becomes and Mingi's head is becoming more and more clouded with curiosity of where his fated mate is and a branch breaks beneath his foot. He's looking a slightly different way when he hears his packmates start to sprint and Mingi immediately kicks himself back in gear, running with his pack towards a group of wolves that seem like they're patrolling.

Next thing Yunho knows, he's being pinned down on the forest floor by an extremely large wolf he knows is an alpha, "HELP!" Yunho yelps through their link and all of his packmates instantly rush over and a fight breaks out. All of the alphas are at each other's throats and Yunho can't seem to get out from under this large brown wolf on top of him.

Yunho's wolf cries for help, wanting to get out from under this unfamiliar wolf he can only assume is one of Bloodbane's alphas. Yunho nips at the wolf's neck, attempting to distract it to get away, but the alpha doesn't budge.

Yunho's eyes widen and his heart is racing in what he can only assume are his final moments. He never even got to help. He could never do anything. He couldn't help his father, he couldn't even help his own pack at this time of need. All he could ever do was try, but it was never enough, Yunho thought. The alpha on top of Yunho is about to go in to rip his throat out and all Yunho can do is try to accept his inevitable fate at the jaws of the enemy.

Until suddenly, the wolf on top of Yunho is thrown off of him and hits a nearby tree with enough force to take the entire tree down. Whimpers can be heard in the distance from the flung wolf and Yunho lies cowering on the cold forest ground.

"Do NOT touch him!"

Yunho's eyes widen at the booming and powerful voice that echoes throughout the forest, it seems to make even the trees shake. All the smaller animals had already scurried off from all of the destruction the wolves had caused

Yunho turns his head, looking towards the cause to see a gigantic dark grey wolf and his entire body feels like it's about to burst. Yunho's mind becomes empty, only to be replaced by the wolf he's staring at's appearance and his nose to only be filled with that invigorating scent of rosemary he's been focused on for the last half hour.

The dark grey wolf comes over to Yunho as quickly as he possibly can, their gazes connecting instantly with one another and their eyes seem to flash differently than their original color. Yunho's body is overwhelmed by the power of the dark grey alpha in front of him, suddenly feeling like he must never leave his side.

What is this feeling...? Yunho questions, but he already knows. His own body knows just as well as his wolf who this large alpha standing in front of him is.

"M-Mate," Yunho's wolf chokes out through the pack link, unable to actually speak in his wolf form.

The dark grey wolf nuzzles into Yunho's neck and inhales his own sweet lemon scent - the act sending shivers throughout Yunho's whole body. Yunho finds himself falling in place with the other wolf when he feels himself being hit with a new link as the dark grey wolf attaches himself to Yunho.

"My fated mate, at last..."

Yunho hears the deep voice invading his mind and he's immediately comforted by the sound, "Fated mate...?" Yunho restates, his mind barely able to comprehend anything at the moment.

The two wolves in the middle of the forest don't even seem to notice the continued fighting happening around them. Yunho doesn't answer the questioning voices from his other packmates asking him what he was doing and what in the hell he just said through the link.

The dark grey wolf nods his head into Yunho's neck once again, making a humming noise before backing away and finally taking a look at all of the chaos happening around them.

"Stop."

The unfamiliar wolves all cease their attacks on Yunho's packmates and turn to face the dark grey wolf in question.

"Mingi, what is going on?"

"What the hell?!" The wolf that had attacked Yunho asks, walking angrily up to Mingi.

Mingi growls at the wolf that gets up in his face, moving in front of the small omega he found to be his fated mate, wanting to protect him.

"He's my fated mate. Stop all attacks this instant or else you'll be severely punished."

Yunho's eyes are filled with fear when the wolf that attacked him comes up to the dark grey wolf's face, knowing they all must be talking through their own pack link. He forces himself to look away when the hateful eyes of the wolf that attacked him stare deeply into him. He knows that look of hatred all too well.

Yunho's nudged by one of his own packmates, taking him out of his own thoughts, "Yunho, what is all of this? Why did they stop attacking us?"

"Did you call that scum your mate?" One of the more injured betas question through the link towards Yunho.

Yunho isn't even completely sure what is going on, himself. The only thing he is sure about is that this dark grey alpha standing ground in front of him is his mate. He's always heard the stories about Essence's ancient leaders finding each other to be mates, soulmates. He's heard about the way they would describe one another in the most beautiful and poetic ways. All the children of Essence would look up to them in hopes of being able to find their own soulmates.

But Yunho never would've thought he would feel that feeling that Essence's ancient leaders had felt so long ago... Until he saw him. His body still hasn't stopped tingling from when his mate first laid eyes on him and his wolf is over the moon, begging for him to stay in contact with him at all times and to never leave his side, for he will protect him until death.

The rosemary scent he had been smelling... It had been him. Yunho can't help it when his eyes automatically go to look at the dark grey wolf, "What's your name...?" Yunho asks through his and the new dark grey wolf's link.

The wolf turns around to look at Yunho when he hears his gentle voice enter his head, his eyes looking like they twinkle as soon as they settle back on Yunho, "Song Mingi. What is your name, my love?"

"Jeong Yunho."

A perfect name, Mingi thinks to himself as he admires his shy mate. Jeong Yunho... Mingi thinks about the meaning of his name and hums in delight since it seems to fit him perfectly. Quiet and gentle... He senses something more powerful within his mate though, but he cannot quite put his finger on it. He has a lot to learn about his newfound love, and he knows he will gladly wait forever to learn everything about him.

Mingi seems to forget all about his own packmate that came up to him to focus all of his attention onto Yunho, "What is my love doing out here with all of these alphas? You could've gotten hurt," Mingi nuzzles his face back into Yunho's neck, taking in more of his lemon scent that he can't seem to get enough of, "You almost did get hurt by one of my own pack members... But don't worry, you will never have to worry about getting hurt ever again now that I'm here by your side, Yunho."

Yunho melts into Mingi the moment the alpha says his name, it sending sparks through his veins. Yunho hums into Mingi's dark grey fur, "Y-You're from Bloodbane, aren't you?" Yunho asks nervously, looking up into his mate's beautiful brown eyes, wishing he wasn't fearing the worst.

Mingi nods, "The one and only, my love," he answers self-assuredly, but he soon realizes how close they were to Essence, taking an even closer look at his beautiful mate and the wolves gathered behind him.

Oh shit.

Mingi starts to understand their situation, having been mind-blocked by the feeling of finding his fated mate after all of these years. His fated mate is from his rival pack... Yunho is a member of Essence... Those dirty magic users that Bloodbane has been wanting to get rid of for so long. The whole reason Mingi and his pack are out here in these woods in the first place. They were going to attack them and wipe them out through war.

But now...

Mingi is staring down into his mate's sparkling eyes and he knows that he won't be able to go through with any of it. He's not going to be able to destroy the grounds where his mate grew up. He's not going to be able to destroy the people and family he's spent all of his life with. He can't take his precious mate's happiness away like that.

Mingi has to find a way to call off this war, and fast.

"Father, we must stop this war at once," Mingi tries to send to his father, Minseok, but he doesn't get an answer. They must be too far away and it causes Mingi to grit his teeth, fearing that they might already be on Essence grounds.

Mingi looks back towards his mate, "Yunho, can you lead me back to your pack?" He tries, hoping that they'll be able to get there in time before the destruction and ruin is already upon them.

Yunho nods in agreement after taking a few moments to think. He knows that their head alpha will think of him as a traitor when they first get there for bringing one of Bloodbane's own straight into their grounds, but Yunho knows it might be the only way to save what's potentially left of his home. He begins to fear for his father and for Kyelin the longer they run, but every grazing of Mingi's fur against his own seems to ease his nerves.

It's all going to be okay, right...?

~

Yunho leads Mingi back to Essence's grounds as quickly as they can possibly run in their wolf form. Yunho is shocked, but not surprised when Mingi's wolf keeps wanting him to go as fast as he actually can go, but he has to lower his speed a bit to stay with Yunho. He is the one leading him there, after all.

Yunho keeps his speed up, using up all of his energy to get back to Essence -- and they arrive...

Just not as soon has they had both hoped they would.

There's large dark-colored alphas and betas fighting and already destroying pieces of the town Yunho had spent his childhood in. Yunho's eyes flash color as he sees his pack members fighting with all of their might against the Bloodbane wolves that have invaded their territory.

"EVERYONE STOP THIS INSTANT!"

Yunho's entire body shivers at the sense of Mingi's dominance as soon as they stop, making him want to kneel lower to the ground, but he doesn't. He stands strong, knowing Mingi must be yelling at all of his packmates through their link. All Yunho can do is hope and pray to the ancient leaders that they listen.

Mingi growls loudly to further convey his message through the pack link, and many of the members of Bloodbane do stop, but only from the surprise of Mingi's voice echoing through their minds.

Many of them stand ground and turn to see their head alpha's son standing at the opening of Essence with a smaller medium brown wolf standing beside them that they know is not one of their own.

While most of the wolves did stop to look at Mingi, some of the more aggressive alphas of Bloodbane continued their pursuit in fighting the wolf they were before Mingi came.

"IF YOU DO NOT STOP RIGHT NOW, I'LL BE SURE TO HAVE YOUR HEAD ON A PILLAR IN THE CENTER OF OUR GROUNDS BY TOMORROW!"

Yunho is unsure of what his mate just relayed to his pack through their link, but whatever it was was enough to make every single member of Bloodbane finally stop and begin to come over to Mingi.

"What is going on, Mingi?"

"Who the hell is that?"

"Minseok is going to have all of our heads if we don't go through with this attack."

Mingi seems to be fuming the more he examines all of the destruction that's already befallen Essence, but his body is soon set at ease when Yunho walks up closer to him and their fur grazes each other. This is what it feels like to truly have your fated mate? Mingi can't believe that he's been missing this important piece of his puzzle for so long, and he knows he's going to do everything in his power to never let him go.

"Where is my father?"

The members of Bloodbane all look around at each other in what seems like a discussion, but one comes forward.

"I saw him fighting with Essence's alpha a mile or so back."

Mingi nods, seeing the way his packmate shifts his head and he looks to where it leads.

Into the other side of the forest.

Mingi worries for Yunho's safety, but he knows that he will be able to keep him safe if they both go in search of his father. He will be the one that can stop this attack once and for all.

"Who is that?"

"Mingi, who is this brown wolf?"

"Why are you with one of those Essence wolves?"

Mingi turns his head back towards the group of his packmates and growls lowly, keeping Yunho behind him in an attempt to protect him from his own pack, "He's my fated mate. There will no longer be a war, you hear me? You better get your asses back to Bloodbane before you cause any more ruin here."

Yunho looks up at his mate with worry-filled eyes, "Mingi, is everything going to be okay?"

Mingi turns his head back to Yunho when he hears his soothing voice go through his mind, and he gently puts his snout to the top of Yunho's head, similar to a kiss on the forehead if they were in their human-like form, "Yes, my love. I promise to you that I will fix everything and there will be no more pain for you or your people."

Yunho nods, fully putting his trust into Mingi. He might've just met the man, but fated mates work differently than when just meeting a normal for the first time. He's meant to be with Mingi for the rest of his life. He knows it. His wolf knows it. It's in his blood, it's only his instincts. That's how Yunho is able to so easily put his faith and trust into Mingi. His body didn't need time to warm up to him, it's like he's known him his entire life even though that's not the case.

Yunho doesn't know any better feeling than the feeling he feels now that he's with Mingi. He doesn't even know what he looks like, he's now realizing. They've been in their wolf forms the entire time they've been together, and god does it really feel like a long time...

In reality, it's only been a few hours.

Mingi and Yunho run to where the Bloodbane wolf pointed out where Mingi's father was last seen. Yunho's body is completely worn out and he feels like he can't run much longer when Mingi finally comes to a halt in front of him.

Yunho stops himself and comes out from behind Yunho to a sight he wishes his eyes never had to see.

On the ground lies Essence's head alpha and above him stands the largest dark grey wolf he's ever seen in his entire life, looking quite similar to Mingi in coloring. Yunho knows that this wolf must be Mingi's father.

Yunho's lip quivers involuntarily at the sight of his head alpha lying on the cold ground, unmoving.

Mingi hasn't said anything or moved since he stilled at the sight in front of them. He knows what his father has done and he's too late. He curses himself heavily. Why is he always too late...?

Mingi slowly shifts back to his human form, pulling a robe from his backpack and wrapping himself, his eyes trained on his father as he steps forward with a hesitant tone to his voice.

"Father, what have you done...?"

End of Chapter Twelve