The winter months were settling in early and it had the whole pack on edge. No one was completely sure there would be enough food to get the pack through winter, especially since Jongin was expecting his litter soon. Everyone knew how much food a baby litter needed, and how much food Jongin would need to recover. Even with reassurances from the Alpha that he had everything under control, there were worried rumblings within the group.

            Sehun did his best not to be jealous of Jongin and Kyungsoo, or of any of the other couples in his pack. He doubted he would ever find a mate, even a lousy one. That didn’t stop him from fantasizing about having someone to come home to, or being someone’s to come home to, he just wanted stability. It was only by some cruelty of God that he had been born weaker than the rest of his pack. He had what the humans knew as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, probably with some other issues but he couldn’t stand being in the sterile human’s doctor’s office for too long. It had been a huge risk for him to go seek human help anyway, but he knew he was different from even other werewolves. The only one who knew of Sehun’s predicament was the Alpha, and the moment the results came back he swore Sehun to secrecy. The Alpha could not have his pack looking weak, having let a sick wolf stay within his ranks. Alpha was too warm-hearted to kill him though. Sehun supposes he would have appreciated that more, instead of being left to be lonely and exhausted for the rest of his days trying to hide his pain.

            “You could always move in with me and the other unmated Omegas, Sehun. I don’t know why you keep yourself isolated anyway. Now that it’s going to be cold you should stay with us.” Baekhyun offered during a visit to Sehun’s small tent on the outskirts of camp.

            “If I’m going to be alone, I might as well get used to it.” Sehun countered with a shrug. Baekhyun groaned.

            “For god’s sake Sehun, you aren’t always going to be alone. You’ve just barely come of age! You haven’t even ventured outside of our pack! If someone your age is convinced they’ll never meet anyone how do you think I would feel.” Baekhyun crossed his arm and gave a heated stare down at Sehun, having stood up during his speech. Sehun pulled on his arm to get him to sit down again, feeling too exhausted to stand up and face him. He counted himself lucky for being an Omega because then at least he didn’t have to try and assert his dominance anywhere.

            “I know, I’m sorry. I know you’ll find someone, you’re so pretty and outgoing. I’m not worried about you.” Sehun reassures. Baekhyun finally allows himself to be pulled down to sit with Sehun again.

            “You shouldn’t worry about yourself either. In fact you should let other people worry about you. Perhaps, and this is just a non-related example, you come and join us at the Omega's den!” Baekhyun offers again, not letting himself be deterred. Sehun rolls his eyes at Baekhyun’s peppy antics.

            “If I get really unbearable cold, I promise I will come snuggle with you in the Omega's den.” Sehun relents. Baekhyun takes this as a victory and gives him a beaming smile.

            “Don’t think that leaves me satisfied, Sehun. You have to promise me you will visit me at LEAST twice during this winter.” Baekhyun says, his face still glowing with victory. Sehun lets out a deep sigh before giving a hurried “okay fine” to sate the older man. Baekhyun kisses the top of his head lovingly before standing up again to leave.

            “Now I will leave you to your ridiculous isolation as you prefer. Remember that you promised!” Baekhyun waved to Sehun before leaving out the front of the tent. Sehun had never ventured into the Omega’s den. It was where the majority of Omegas spent their free time. Alphas and Betas were not allowed in that area of the camp because many felt that the scent of all of the Omegas together would be too much to handle.

When Sehun had come of age and realized his position as an Omega was around the same time he realized he was different than other members of his pack. Even after sleeping he found himself worn out as though he had just been out running. He found himself unable to stay out by the fire during post-hunt celebrations as long as everyone else. He could never keep up with the dances that took place, and after having collapsed in one hunt he had declined every hunt after that, afraid he would do so again. Upon this realization of weakness he decided to take a trek into the human world where more medical technology exists. He knew there was a potential for things to go terribly wrong but he was tired of not knowing, and of not being able to contribute anything. If the doctor’s realized something was off about him, he could run away and simply forget the whole thing. If they didn’t figure out about his wolfy-half then maybe he could get the answers he was looking for.

It ended up paying off, the doctors never knew about his wolf side, and were able to tell him a little of what his ailments were most likely. Even science isn’t an exact science though, so the doctors let him know there was room for error. They wished to do more testing, and to assign Sehun with a doctor he could consult with at any time (supposedly for the rest of his life). This frightened Sehun enough that he declined all offers of continued support and ran back to his pack where only a few had realized he had been gone for several months. The Alpha knew, and welcomed him back without a show. They spoke together at length about the news, and thus Sehun kept himself in isolation as punishment to himself for weakening the tribe, and the Alpha kept his secret safe.

The other Omegas in the pack wondered if maybe Sehun had done something offensive during his time away, so offensive that the Alpha sentenced him to a kind of quasi-isolation as punishment for his crimes. Since neither of them every spoke on the matter, this rumor was the most widely believed.

Sehun shivered as a breeze that carried the oncoming winter came through the open door of his tent. He leaned over to pull it closer shut, and then lay back in the furs that were on the floor. His mind wandered momentarily into thoughts of a faceless loving mate that comes through the tent flap, cold and shivering, to be warmed up in the tired, but loving arms of his Omega. He feels a couple tears involuntarily falling down his face, but tries to think nothing of it. After all, all he is, is tired.