The wheels of the convertible came to a squealing stop, sending grass and dirt flying through the air and hitting anything within a five foot radius. Tao barely remembered to put the vehicle in park and turn off the engine when he arrived at the farmhouse. He jumped out and joined the pack that was all standing outside together.

“His car is definitely gone,” Junmyeon confirmed, barely acknowledging Tao’s arrival.

“But when could he have left?” Chanyeol frowned.

Baekhyun blew air out from between his lips. “I’m sure it was sometime last night. My phone’s been missing since then, but Hae In refuses to fess up. I’m pretty sure that she gave it Luhan to track her phone and find his mate.”

“Of course your mate is involved,” Kris grumbled.

“She’s just trying to do what she thinks is right-”

“And letting Luhan take off to a hunter camp without any backup is helping?” Tao shouted.

He was absolutely furious. None of them - probably not even Kris - would be able to survive a mission like this on their own. Sure, wolves were faster and stronger than the average human, but against a group of highly trained assassins, they could be captured and even killed. He’d heard plenty of horror stories in his travels of hunters taking wolves prisoner and torturing them, experimenting on them as if they could figure out the mysteries of his species. They were made of magic and nothing could unravel that fact. At this point, he didn’t know if one situation was better than the other for Luhan if he were caught.

Baekhyun stepped towards Tao, teeth bared and fists curled. “She was doing a better job of helping than any of you. Luhan was right, if it was your mate, Tao, you would have been long gone, too.”

A roar ripped out of Tao’s throat and he leapt towards Baekhyun, barely held back by Jongdae and Jongin. “Leave her out of this!”

“Tao, calm down!” Kris snapped. The flash of red was enough for Tao to stop fighting against the hold on him. He tore his arm out from Jondgae’s still tight grip.

Turning away from Baekhyun so he wasn’t still tempted to throw at least one punch, Tao looked towards the alphas. “So, when are we going after him?”

“The eleven of us can’t just go charging in there,” Junmyeon stated. “That’d be too noticeable and do more harm than good.” His eyebrows were pulled together so tightly, it could hardly be seen where one ended and the other began. His arms were folded across his chest and his fingers were digging into his biceps, making his knuckles turn white.

Junmyeon wasn’t used to being disregarded like this, his requests so blatantly ignored. But he should have expected it. They all should have. He never really ordered Luhan to stay put, just saying simply that the pack as a whole wouldn’t be going. Luhan taking off like this should not have been as shocking as it was. But as upsetting as that was, that wasn’t what was putting Tao on edge. Maybe it was more due to the fact that Luhan didn’t take Tao with him. All he had to do was ask and Tao would have left with him without thinking twice. Going after the hunters would have been beneficial in two ways for him: he could make sure that Luhan was safe while getting his mate and at the same time guaranteeing your own safety before Tao fought to get you back. He still felt like a complete fool for taking the “noble idiocy” route, but now he had to live with his choices until he could fix his mistake. And grovel. Lots and lots of groveling.

“So, what? We just leave him there to fend for himself?” Sehun’s eyes had a glassy overtone to them, even though he was obviously trying to hide it. Tao knew what was going through his head: he’d just gotten his best friend back for barely two years after a long absence and now he might lose him again… for good this time.

“No,” Kris shook his head. “A small group of us will go and get him and… bring the hunter back as well if we can’t convince him to leave alone.” Acidic hatred dripped from the last part of his sentence.

The fact that one of Kris’ pack members - one that he was extremely close to at that - was mated to a hunter was a rough thing for him to accept. He’d carried that anger around for so long – ever since his parents were killed – that he didn’t know how to disassociate it from Luhan’s mate. And Tao didn’t blame him. It would take a long time for all of them to accept her into the family beyond a tolerating level.

Tao opened his mouth to volunteer but he was cut off before the first word came out.

“I’ll lead the party,” Kris explained. “And yes, Tao, you can come along.”

Tao smiled. Excellent.

“And me,” Sehun declared.

Junmyeon shook his head. “No, Sehun, you’ll stay here.”

“But-”

“You’re too emotional,” the alpha explained. “I can see it written all over your face.”

“Tao isn’t exactly rational either!”

“But he’s good in a fight,” Kris countered. “And he can focus long enough to finish it. Can you really say the same?”

Sehun looked back and forth between the leaders before huffing and stomping off into the house.

“I’ll go talk to him,” Yixing offered before disappearing through the door. Tao understood why Sehun was upset, but that was completely drowned out by the pride he was currently feeling. Kris might not have meant it as praise, but Tao was struggling not to beam. He needed that to his ego right about now.

“One more person should still go with them,” Kyungsoo said. There was no way he was going to volunteer. Dana might be doing a hundred times better – almost a completely different person from the one Tao originally met – but she still would worry and Kyungsoo wasn’t going to leave her and backslide all her progress.

“I’ll go.”

All heads snapped towards the volition. Several jaws were hanging open as everyone stared in shock at Minseok, who didn’t seemed phased at all.

“B-but hyung…” Jongdae couldn’t finish his sentence, too confused as Minseok’s declaration.

Junmyeon shook his head, sighing, “Minseok, you don’t have to go. You’re barely all healed up and Jiyeon will kill us if something happens to you.”

“I’m the oldest,” was Minseok’s simple argument. “It wouldn’t be right for me to let one of the younger ones go. It’s about time I do my fair share in protecting this pack.”

“At the rate we’re going, there will be plenty of opportunities for you to do your share,” Baekhyun commented. Minseok simply shrugged.

Kris had a look of admiration in his eye. “It’s settled then. Minseok, Tao and I will go. Baekhyun, you said he had your phone?”

Baekhyun nodded. “Seems like it.”

“Then say your goodbyes,” Kris told Tao and Minseok. “Who knows when we’ll be back.”

Tao suppressed a shiver, not really wanting to think about any other alternative that didn’t involve them all coming home.

“I think it’s best if I await the wrath of Jiyeon when I get home,” Minseok joked. Kris snorted at the lame snip before looking towards Tao. The latter simply shook his head. He didn’t really have you to say goodbye to anymore.

“Okay, then. I’ll go explain to Evie and then we’ll head out.”

Tao released a heavy sigh and turned to look up at the sky. The sun was still high and shining in the bright blue sky. It was a normal morning to everyone else, but for the pack, it was a defining moment. They’d either comeback with another member of the family or there would be four empty seats at the table.

**

You made yourself go to class, simply because you couldn’t afford to keep missing the lessons. But even as you were present physically during class, you weren’t mentally aware of anything that the professors were saying. Your pencil never moved to record notes and you couldn’t even remember the general subjects that were being covered. You weren’t even sure how you made it home after your last class. Every action was done by muscle memory, needing very little help from you.

In the living room, you dropped your bag down on the rug and sat down on the couch. You stared at nothing, unsure of what to do now. Who even was this person wearing your clothes and living your life? You weren’t the kind to fall apart when a guy dumped you. Fine, so you dumped him first, but you were quick to back track and ask for forgiveness. So what had happened in Tao’s mind within the last twenty-four hours to make him decided the split should be permanent? Did he hate you now? You felt like you deserved it so you couldn’t blame him.

You weren’t going to fight for him. Anyone else might have, but you couldn’t bring yourself to unsheathed your sword and make him listen. You’d respect his decision and live with what you’d done; losing someone who you’d become so close to in just a few weeks and who you’d started to think about fitting into your future. Life was full of mistakes and it looked like this one would haunt you for a long time.

Knock, knock, knock.

Your heart jumped in your chest. The knock was hesitant, unsure, making you wonder who could be on the other side of the front door. Getting up slowly, you shuffled over to the door and opened it.

But on the other side was Kendall, not the blond haired boy you’d been hoping for.

“What do you want?” you snapped. She was absolutely the last person you wanted to see right now.

“I came to apologize,” she stated monotonously. It didn’t sound like she was actually sorry. You wondered on who put her up to this. Probably Wyatt.

“For what?” You crossed your arms in order to give off the signal that you weren’t invested in this conversation at all. “I was the one who made the decision, who suggested it outloud. All you did was walk away.”

The woman you’d called your best friend sighed. “I bullied you into it,” she admitted. “I was too upset to see it from your side, thinking that you’d done it all on purpose or that you just didn’t care. But….” She jutted out her bottom jaw. Apologizing was never her strong suit, the stubborn jerk. “But I can see now that you really do care for Tao and that you never would have done it to hurt me. So, you don’t have to break up with him.”

You scoffed. Really? Did she think that you’d put off what you said you’d do? “I already broke up with him.”

Kendall seemed surprised by that statement. “You did? When?”

“Yesterday,” you replied flatly. “But then I realized that I couldn’t sacrifice my whole life for you, so I tried to fix things with Tao this morning. And wouldn’t you know, he wants nothing to do with me anymore. I gave him up for you. I guess now we’re both just a bunch of losers, huh?”

“(y/n), I’m sor-”

“Save it. It doesn’t matter anyway.” Nothing said here was going to change the fact that you’d watched Tao walk away like he didn’t care anymore. Who knows? Maybe he didn’t. “I really want to be alone now, so please, just go.”

She nodded, turning around and walking back to her car without another word. You closed the door and sat down on the floor. Every word, every action, was just a little too late to be of any use. You’d live with the consequences of your own choices, even if that meant you’d be alone - no Tao, no friends - going forward and for a very unforeseen amount of time.

No more tears were shed. You were simply numb and that was a lot better than what you’d felt yesterday. If you were lucky, maybe you could just stay in this state and not have to feel anything for a long time. And then maybe you’ll begin heal.