Mingi felt like he was hit by a freight train. That was the only way he could describe how much pain he was in.

Especially his head.

The way it pounded and screamed at him made it impossible for him to open his eyes.

He groaned and tried to curl into himself, but even that seemed like too much effort.

"Min?"

The voice that he would always cling to, that would always pull him out of the darkness, called to him softly.

He reached out blindly, frowning when he didn't feel soft sheets but instead felt leaves rustling beneath his hand.

A soft touch grazed his cheek, followed by the sweet scent of honey.

"Silly Alpha." Yunho chuckled, even though his voice was a bit gruff.

"Silly isn't the word I'd use to describe things." Seonghwa's deep timbre came from Mingi's other side.

That was enough for him to open his eyes and sit up quickly as all the memories slammed into him.

Whatever face he was making must have been ridiculous because both Betas covered their mouths to try to hide their smiles.

He couldn't even think of what to say as he stared down at where Seonghwa was lying on top of a blanket with another draped over himself, then over at where Yunho was dressed and sitting up.

Both of them had bruises littering their body...

Guilt instantly slammed into Mingi and he started to shake his head.

"Hey, hey, it's fine. We are fine." Yunho said, reaching out to cup Mingi's cheek. "I promise. I'm just glad you're awake."

"How..." Mingi's voice caught in his throat and he had to swallow a couple times before he could continue. "How long?"

"You've been asleep for a few hours. How are you feeling? Do you think it's over?" Yunho asked.

"It had better be." Seonghwa grumbled.

The Alpha shrank into himself a little as he tried to sort through everything going through his mind.

Guilt for what he'd done to Seonghwa and Yunho, fear for the crazed monster he'd become earlier, shame for how he'd let it take over everything...

He could remember it all now.

Collapsing with the pain of his sudden rut, feeling the desire to go to Hwanwoong and be with his Omega mate, seeing Yunho and instantly changing his mind, pouncing on Yunho and pinning him to the ground, loosing himself to the unbreakable need to knot.

He hadn't wanted to stop, even when he'd knotted Yunho, all of his instincts had him still rolling his hips, tugging at Yunho's hole with his knot.

Which had been painful for both of them but he just couldn't seem to stop...

Thankfully Seonghwa showed up after two more frustrating rounds with lube and had taken Yunho's place.

The memory had Mingi whining a little and he leaned closer to Yunho. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked softly.

Yunho's eyes softened and he nodded. "A little sore, but I'll be fine. We should probably get back though; we've been gone too long."

Mingi groaned and rotated so he could stand, smiling a little when Yunho kept a blanket wrapped around him as well so he stayed covered.

Then the Beta went to help Seonghwa stand as well before the three of them slowly made their way back to the cabin.

Once there, Mingi was surprised that they didn't hear anyone else.

The three of them exchanged confused looks before heading to the stairs so they could shower and change.

But then Seonghwa gasped and stopped in place. "Joong! You're back?"

He rushed to the couch to kneel next to it and leaned over their captain, who scrunched his nose and groaned. "Hey."

An adoring, soft look crossed Seonghwa's face and he reached out to brush his fingers through the younger's hair. "Hey. How are you feeling?"

Hongjoong answered with a grunt, which Mingi could relate to perfectly.

"Is Chan doing okay?" The Alpha asked, hoping to get some kind of insight on how ruts went for the others.

"Yeah, he's overflowing with guilt right now so I'm sure he's smothering Felix at the moment." Hongjoong lifted an arm off the couch and waved his hand back and forth. "How are you?" He asked, trying to role his head back to find Mingi.

Before he could answer, Yunho laughed. "I think we can all agree we have felt better, so we can stop asking. Where is everyone else?"

"No idea. The place was empty when I got here."

Mingi twisted his lips to the side as a small flicker of worry started rise within him.

He lifted his arm up to check his watch, then startled when he noticed the perimeter alarm had tripped.

Cinnamon instantly filled the room, suffocating the three Betas to the point where they started coughing and had to move away.

"Min? What-" Yunho tried to ask but he was cut off when the front door slammed open.

"Where is he?!" Yoongi's deep voice boomed loud enough it could have made the house shake.

Mingi's fear tripled and instead of responding, he rushed past the older Alpha so he could get upstairs and put some clean, not torn clothes on.

He made sure to grab some for Seonghwa as well, chucking them at Seonghwa as he passed by, not stopping as he made his way to the back door.

Yoongi was already waiting for him, falling into step beside him without hesitation after barking an order at Jimin to stay put.

"What do you sense?" Mingi asked, focusing on the trees in front of him so he didn't crash into one.

"Terror. I didn't realize it right away because he's been dealing with all sorts of other emotions, but now it's all I can feel." Yoongi's voice was hard and determined. It was easy to see how focused he was on making sure his other mate was safe.

Mingi thought about what the older said and filed it away. If something else was going on, he would be sure to make sure Wooyoung would be okay there too.

But first, they had to figure out what was happening by their border.

Hopefully they wouldn't be too late...

.

.

.

.

"Man, they really know how keep us feeling desperate." Jin grumbled while looking at the pond.

He'd run out of bait about fifteen minutes ago, which was why Yeosang was currently digging around trying to find some worms.

"Hyung, stop being so dramatic." Taehyung whined. "It's just fishing! Can't we go do something else?"

"Are you really trying to get between Jin-hyung and his fishing?" Hoseok chuckled, then winked at Yeosang when the younger glanced at him.

That made him smile before he ducked his head and returned to work.

It had been fun listening to the three of them interact for the past few hours. They were so easy going, fitting together perfectly with their jokes and how they moved before the other had even finished speaking.

They reminded him of his own pack, his own family, and it made Yeosang so thankful for the life he'd been given.

There was once a time he could have been close with the members of BTS too, and he'd wanted to, but he'd realized that he wasn't quite what BigHit had been looking for.

Because of that, it was almost weird for him to be hanging out with them like this.

"Do you want dinner tonight, Taehyung?" Jin shot him a glare. "You could make yourself useful and help me. Or you could go set some traps and see if we could catch something else."

"Like we can really trust him to do that." Hoseok laughs, then shoves Taehyung's shoulder playfully.

"I can go with you." Yeosang offered. "I know where some traps are that we've already set up."

Taehyung beamed in his direction and quickly jogged to his side. "My hero." He said, throwing his arms around Yeosang. "Hyungie's are so mean to me!"

Jin shot a glare in their direction again but was quickly distracted when his makeshift fishing pole jerked in his hands. "Finally!"

With the eldest's attention elsewhere, Hoseok shoos the other two Betas away with a wink.

Their mission was thankfully very successful. Almost every trap had a decently sized rabbit caught in them.

While Taehyung held onto their prizes, Yeosang worked to reset each trap with trembling hands.

"How are you so good at this?" Taehyung asked, eyes wide as he studied everything the younger was doing.

"I don't know, honestly." Yeosang ducked his head to hide his blush. "I've always been good at small things like this. Even with my tremor. It's something I've worked hard to master."

"That's really impressive. It's hard to overcome challenges like that sometimes."

"Thank you." Yeosang stood after finishing the last trap and brushed his hands on his pant legs. "That's everything, how many did we get?"

Taehyung held up both his hands to show off the rabbits. "Plenty for now! Let's see," he twisted his hands to examine them, "Looks like we got nine."

Yeosang's lips quirked to the side. "Yeah, that should be enough for our two packs for a couple of days at least. I hate that it's so easy to lose track of the days here, otherwise we would have been set after the market."

"I get it." Taehyung's tone held a hint of sadness in it. "Honestly, I can't even tell you what month it is right now, other than it's fall. Days slip by too quickly."

The two Betas exchange an understanding look, commiserating in their shared unfortunate situation, before they started walking back.

"I wonder if we will be able to buy more arrows so we can hunt bigger game." Yeosang thought out loud. "Yunho is a pretty good shot."

"You guys have that little hut out back, right? Couldn't we smoke the meat or dehydrate it or something?"

Yeosang couldn't help but laugh at how hopeless the older seemed to be when it came to food.

Not that he was any better himself, but Yeosang had always been good at learning and picking things up quickly. And since day one of being in the games, he'd taken it upon himself to be the one to keep it together.

Someone needed to, especially with how out of whack everyone's hormones were.

"Yes, and we made a rack to hang pelts out to dry. A lot of it has come from books we've bought at the market, so really, we've had help."

When they get back to Jin and Hoseok, they are pleased to see two more fish have been added to the basket at Jin's feet.

At least they had plenty of protein now.

That made Yeosang feel a little better about their current situation.

His wolf liked it too. He could feel it stirring withing him, proud that he was providing for the pack.

"Hyung?" He asked softly, awkwardly, as he glanced at Taehyung.

The older hummed, looking up form where he'd been arranging the rabbits on a rock.

"What was it like... when your wolf appeared...?" Yeosang bit the corner of his lip and started twisting his fingers together.

"Weird." Taehyung said right away. "It took some time for all of us to get used to the second voice in our heads and the second set of feelings trying to rule our lives." His forehead creased as he continued to think. "Jungkook fought it the most. He's always had a habit of getting conflicted if more than one of us tried to tell him to do something, so having to battle his own voice was very challenging."

Yeosang tilted his head a little. "Yeah, it was hard for us to."

"But now I can't picture my life without it."

The comment surprised Yeosang and he opened and closed his mouth a couple of times.

Taehyung chuckled at the sight. "I know. It still surprises me too. But I mean it." He shrugged and a playful, boxy smile lit up his face at the same time. "I trust it. My wolf guides me and gives me comfort. If I'm every uncertain about anything, it always leads me in the right direction. It's also alerted me to changes with the others, like Jimin's and Kookie's heats or Joonie-hyung and Yoongi-hyungs ruts."

"You can do that?" Yeosang asked, intrigued by what the older Beta was saying.

"Mmm," Taehyung nodded. "I could even sense when Hobi-yah was starting to get sick one time."

"Yeah, that was impressive." Hoseok pipped in, walking over to throw an arm around Taehyung's shoulders.

The younger beamed and leaned into his side. "You're able to do it too, same with Jin-hyung." He turned to Yeosang and continued, "And you'll learn it too. I've come to discover that Betas are a lot more in-tune to the pack's moods and health than the Alphas and Omegas."

"I haven't noticed anything like that." Yeosang's lower lip pushed out in a small pout that made the other two chuckle fondly.

"It'll hit kind of suddenly." Hoseok reassured. "Just like the ruts and heats. Your body is still changing and getting used to it."

"I guess that makes sense."

The three of them made small talk for a little longer while Jin insisted on catching a few more fish before they packed up and started making their way back to their cabin.

When he looked at everything they'd caught, a sense of pride started to fill him, fueled by his wolf.

He was providing for his pack. He was bringing them food and making sure they were taken care of.

"There it is." Taehyung said next to him. A knowing glint sparkled in his eyes when Yeosang glanced at him.

For some reason, that simple comment made Yeosang's chest swell with pride.

Now that he knew he could do this, he was determined to continue providing for his pack.

He would take care of them and help protect them.

No matter what.