It felt like there was no progress being made. Not when the roaring fire continued to consume the forest with a vicious hunger.

Mingi groaned as he stared at the flames. What the hell were they supposed to do??

Jongho was still freaking out. He'd been dragged further away by Namjoon, Chan, and Gunhak so he didn't end up hurting himself.

And Hongjoong was pacing, forehead creased with fear and he kept picking at his lips.

Everyone else was still looking around the area to see if there was a way through or something that could help them.

"Hey! Look!" Hyunjin yelled, drawing everyone's attention. He was pointing toward the far edge of the fire.

Where several shiny, silver flashes started to appear between the trees.

"It's the Androids." Yeosang gasped. "They've come to help!"

"It's about fucking time." Yunho growled as he threw another large handful of dirt on the flames closest to him.

Mingi's eyes drifted to his friend and he had to fight the whine threatening to escape his throat. Every instinct in his body begged him to pull the Beta away from danger, to protect him... But he knew that Yunho would fight him.

"Let's go see if we can help." Someone else called out, but Mingi couldn't tell who it was.

Not when his wolf started screaming at him that something was wrong.

He froze in place, eyes scanning the forest for whatever was happening besides the fire.

Hwanwoong was safe, running with the other members of Oneus, so that wasn't the problem...

A loud groaning sound made him flinch. It echoed in his ears and vibrated his chest.

Move!!

Mingi started to run toward the Androids as well, but he halted in place once he saw a tree starting to fall over.

"YUNHO!!!"

The Alpha bolted. It felt like he was running through sludge and flying all at the same time as Yunho turned to look at him in slow motion.

Anger flashed in his eyes, but as the groaning grew into a horrible roar, his head turned to look up at the tree that was falling in his direction.

"Yunho!!" Mingi screamed so loud that his voice cracked. He forced himself to take longer strides. He could feel his adrenaline coursing through his body, and as his fear grew, the feeling or running through sludge started to vanish.

Once he was close enough, Mingi lunged forward the last few feet and slammed into Yunho, knocking him out of the way mere seconds before the tree smashed to the ground right where he'd been standing.

The two of them rolled a little bit, but Mingi did his best to keep his wits and was able to propel himself a little more so he could get on top of Yunho and keep him from rolling into the fire.

A rush of heat blasted them, though, and both of them hissed from how close they were.

Mingi took a few shallow breaths. His lungs burned and it was too hard to breathe properly, but he powered through it to help pull Yunho up and away from danger.

His wolf urged him to get further and further away, so he did, herding Yunho until the air was finally clear again and he felt like he could relax just a tiny bit.

Then he pinned Yunho against a tree and grabbed his face with both hands. "Are you okay? Are you hurt? Tell me where it hurts."

"Mingi-"

"I didn't mean to hit you so hard; I just didn't know what else to do!"

"Min-"

"I couldn't let you get hurt, I just couldn't-" Mingi's voice was cut off suddenly...

By Yunho's lips.

It took a few seconds for his brain to catch up, but once it did, he couldn't believe what was happening.

Until a small whimper came from the Beta as his hands fisted the front of Mingi's shirt.

With a desperate whine of his own, Mingi pressed Yunho to the tree harder, caging him in and trying to show the Beta that he was safe now.

But that's when he noticed the kiss was starting to turn salty...

Mingi pulled back and felt his heart drop when he realized Yunho was crying. "Yun? What's wrong? Are you hurt??"

"I-I'm s-s-so s-sorry, Min..." Yunho sobbed. He leaned forward to press his forehead to Mingi's shoulders and clung to him.

Before Mingi could answer, he noticed movement from the corner of his eye and he looked over to see Hongjoong and Yeosang running over, panic in their own wide eyes.

They slid to a stop and looked like they wanted to say something, but when they realized what was happening, they paused and simply glanced at Mingi.

The Alpha wrapped his arms around Yunho, bringing one hand up to cup the back of his head and keep it close.

He let the older cry. Words died in his throat as feelings welled inside.

It felt so good to have Yunho in his arms again after going for... just how long had it been since Yunho had stopped talking to him? He knew it wasn't very long, but it had felt like centuries...

Comfort. Protect.

Mingi let himself fall into his instincts and lowered his head just enough to brush his nose over Yunho's scent gland.

Sweet, sweet honey forced its way into his senses and he felt Yunho shudder at the motion.

"It's alright. You're safe now." Mingi whispered. His breath ghosted over Yunho's neck, leaving behind a patch of goosebumps.

"M-Min..."

"I know." The Alpha continued to whisper.

At the sound of leaves rustling, Mingi tilted his head just enough to see part of his pack moving closer.

"The Androids have contained the flames." Hoseok said. He rubbed the side of his neck then said, "I'm sorry, but the rest of your group left. I couldn't get them to wait."

Mingi's stomach lurched for a second, but when he tried to move, Yunho's grip on him tightened.

"Don't." Jisung said next. "Half the group went with them so they have help. Is... he okay?"

With a small nod, Mingi returned his focus back to Yunho. The older's scent had turned slightly sour, which Mingi soon realized was because Hwanwoong had appeared with Dongju by his side.

They would have to sort that out later... but for now, Mingi had no intention of moving if that meant he could keep Yunho in his arms.

"The fire has been contained and should be out in just a few minutes."

Madame Curator sighs in relief and looks between all the screen showing Ateez's cabin, the forest, and the Androids in the area. "That did not go like I wanted."

No in the room responds, which is probably a good thing because she's about ready to bite someone's head off.

But then someone cries out in alarm and she starts looking frantically at all the screens to see what is happening.

They settle on the grouping showing the bedroom...

Her Omega had left his Alpha's lap and is now throwing up on the floor.

"He's getting worse."

"I don't understand what's causing it."

"What if he's actually contracted some kind of disease?"

"Is anyone else in the arena sick like this?"

The room falls into chaos and all Madame Curator can do is watch him purge and then collapse to the floor, like his body is too heavy for him to hold up. "Get ready to start the testing. This has become the new top priority."

Jongho managed to outrun everyone else in the pack.

He couldn't stop. Not when his mate needed him.

The large wall of boulders had him sliding to a stop. His eyes darted back and forth, taking in every detail he could.

What had even caused the rockslide? It seemed like it came out of nowhere...

But he couldn't worry about that now.

The Alpha stepped up to the barrier and yelled, "Seonghwa!! San!! Can you hear me?!"

There was no response, only the feeling of San getting worse.

Starting to panic, Jongho grabbed the nearest, smaller boulder and used his strength to start pulling it.

"Jongho! Wait!" Namjoon's voice came from behind him, but Jongho had no intention of stopping.

A groaning sound followed his next tug, followed by a shower of rock falling in his direction.

Once more, Jongho felt arms wrapping around him, dragging him further away from his mate...

He turned to roar at them, but Namjoon pointed at where Jongho had just been standing...

And the new pile of rocks that had taken his place.

"I know you need to get to San," The Alpha said, "But you can't let that stop you from thinking, Jongho. You're no use to him if you get yourself hurt."

Right. Trust.

Jongho still growled with annoyance but relaxed in Chan and Gunhak's grip.

"If we are going to do this right, we need to stop from the top and try to work our way down." Namjoon continued, glancing over his shoulder to study the destruction. "It may take longer, but it's safer."

"San may not have 'longer'!" Jongho yelled.

"What if they run out of air?" Hongjoong added, his own face pale with worry.

Seeing that, Chan let go of Jongho to go to his first mate, pulling him into a hug to try and comfort him.

Next to them, Yeosang eyed the couple for a second, then took a shuddering breath as his eyes started to water.

Pack.

Jongho ground his teeth together and took a long, deep breath.

As much as he didn't want to admit it, Namjoon was right. He needed to collect himself for the sake of his pack...

"Where do we start?" He asked, surrendering the situation to Namjoon with a slight bow of his head.

The older acknowledged it by standing up a little straighter, assuming command and turning to the pile of boulders. "Jongho, Gunhak, Youngjo, Chan, and I will carefully climb a to the top, testing different patches as we go. Everyone else who is comfortable, stagger on stable sections so we can hand rocks down to you. But be prepared to move at any time. We don't know the integrity, so one wrong move can cause the entire pile to shift or collapse."

The authority in his voice has the group standing up straight and nodding, all of them looking and feeling more confident.

For the first time since arriving, Jongho took note of who had come with him.

Hongjoong, Yeosang, Chan, Changbin, Felix, Minho, Seungmin, Hyunjin, Gunhak, Youngjo, Keonhee, Namjoon, Taehyung, Jungkook, and Seokjin.

Sixteen of them to dig out Seonghwa and San.

They could do this.

"Hyung I'm coming up with you." Jungkook said. He held up his hand when his Alpha tried to stop him and fixed Namjoon with a hard glare. "You know you need my strength. I'm not taking no for an answer."

Jongho had to admit the Omega had guts talking to his Alpha like that, but at the same time, seeing the way Namjoon gave Jungkook a loving gaze told him that this wasn't uncommon.

A single nod from the older had everyone rushing forward to begin working.

With quick but careful steps, Jongho heaved himself up boulder after boulder. Heeding Namjoon's advice, he took it slow, testing each one for movement before proceeding.

Once he was near the top, he picked a large one to stand on and began testing the area around him. Any rock he could pick up and move with ease, he turned to pass down to Yeosang, who'd taken a spot right below him.

Soon a few different trains were formed specifically for moving the smaller and lighter rocks. They excavated the larger, more dangerous boulders.

When the first one was cleared, Jongho, Jungkook, Chan, and Gunhak found a position around it while everyone else moved out of the way and used all of their strength to start pushing it.

All four of them grunted and yelled, throwing their weight against the large hunk of rock bigger than all four of them combined.

Just when Jongho thought they stood no chance, the boulder shifted enough to start rolling down the pile with thunderous crashes.

It caused another mini rockslide to follow it, helping them out and clearing away more of the rocks.

The pack cheered, feeling a sudden rush of adrenaline at the success and they began to work a little faster, knowing their plan was working.

Jongho did his best to focus on the task at hand. It helped to distract him from the pain radiating from San.

If he didn't know any better... he'd say it felt like San was dying... but his wolf was confident that that was notthe case.

So Jongho clung to that small shred of hope. He pushed through his growing fatigue, pushed through his fear, pushed through his anger, and kept working steadily to clear away the boulders.

It was still slow moving, though, and it took a couple of hours for them to make any real progress.

But after pushing their fifth boulder down to the forest floor, a blast of air whooshed passed them and Jongho let out a strangled cry when a small opening appeared.

He dropped to his knees and called, "San-ah! Hyung! Can you hear me?"

Two pained, needy, scared cries answered him and Jongho lunged forward to try and crawl through the hole.

"Jongho!!" Seonghwa's voice reached him first and the Alpha paused.

"Hyung! I'm here! Are you alright? Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine, but San-"

Another desperate whine came from Jongho. "What's wrong?"

"I don't know..." Seonghwa was terrified, it was clear by his trembling voice and his incredibly sour scent.

Just then, Hongjoong and Yeosang appeared at Jongho's side and both of them called down to the Beta.

A devastated sob came next and soon all four of them were desperately trying to get to each other.

Which caused the boulder below them to begin to shift.

"Stop! Stop!" Jungkook shouted.

The group froze, calming down the angry boulder at the same time.

"We need to move." Jungkook kept talking, his focus shifting around the pile of rocks. "It's too dangerous right now, we should try to make the hole bigger and maybe start fortifying the boulders beneath us."

"Good idea, Kookie." Taehyung said from where he was standing near the base of the barrier. "I think I see a few spots where we can do that."

Jongho huffed but knew the Omega was right. "Hyung, stay back with San, we are going to make it safer for you to get out."

"Okay, that works because I don't know if I can carry him..." Seonghwa's voice echoed within the cavern and it was quickly followed by a desperate cry from San.

Jongho answered him with a cry of his own, trying to comfort his mate.

A rush of euphoria slammed into him through their link and Jongho's wolf rejoiced in knowing that their mate felt better just by hearing him.

Despite how much his muscles screamed at him to stop, Jongho used that feeling to continue on, working even harder to complete their task.

Another hour passed before they had an opening big enough that Jongho could go into the cave comfortably and make his way down to the cave floor.

He knew a few others followed him inside to survey that side of the rockslide, but Jongho didn't care who. He just ran forward, slamming into Seonghwa first and hugging him as hard as he could.

"Alpha." The Beta sobbed, clinging to Jongho, and trembling in his arms.

"I'm here, you're safe now." The younger whispered. He let his charcoal scent flourish, hating how much it smelled like that cursed fire, but knowing it would resonate with Seonghwa and San the most right now.

He could feel Seonghwa relax a little in his grip. It was reassuring enough that Jongho let go of the older, gave him one more concerned look, then ran to where San was waiting for him after Seonghwa pointed him in the right direction.

The hole they had created provided enough light that he had no trouble seeing his Omega curled up in a small alcove.

It also meant he could see how pail and sickly his mate looked...

"San..." He collapsed next to San and pulled the older into his arms.

The action was answered with a cry of pain mixed with the same Euphoria and San tried to hug him back, but his arms barely moved a few inches before falling limp at his sides.

"San-ah, can you tell me what's wrong?" Jongho asked, scenting his mate when his urges took over.

"H-Hurts..." The older whimpered. "A-Alpha... H-Hurts..."

"What hurts, Baby?" Jongho pulled away from San's neck and examined his body.

There were no cuts, no bruises, no sign of any damage done...

"A-Alpha..." San rasped, his eyes slowly closing. "A-Alpha... N-N-Need..."

A distressed cry came from Jongho the second his mate lost consciousness. He still had absolutely no idea what was plaguing San and it was driving him insane.

But a gentle hand pulled him from his thoughts and he looked up to see Jungkook and Namjoon standing over him.

"The way out is safe, let us help you get him out so we can go home." Namjoon said gently.

At first, Jongho didn't want to let anyone else touch his mate. Not in his condition.

But despite those thoughts, he knew he could trust his pack, so he nodded and the three of them worked together to carefully ease San's limp body through the opening in the cave wall.

Seonghwa was already outside, sandwiched between Hongjoong and Yeosang, which meant their pack was whole again.

Now they just needed to get home and figure out what sickness was plaguing Wooyoung and San...