It was still the break of dawn as the orange male continued to drag the limp body of the younger, mercilessly bitting down as hard as his jaws permitted on the latter’s cuff. The rain came down softly, lightening up as the first haze of light came pouring out from the horizon. He grinned to himself, as the promise of the alpha’s praise hung in the air. Since last night their alpha had been distracted, what had caused this was beyond him, but for the first time ever he had seen a totally different side of Kris. He was confused at the sudden change but glad that Kris had looked the happiest in months. He, Suho, and Chen had gone out hunting in the morning, but not without forgetting the alpha’s order.

*Flashback*

Kris had trotted in from outside with a lingering scent stuck onto him. The pack knew it wasn’t wise to question the alpha on his personal matters, so instead they reported to him that they would be hunting the following morning. Kris looked alarmed but quickly regained his composure. He nonchalantly told them “If you find any intruders-... bring them back“ He hesitated, opening his mouth to speak but closing it again. “Just remember to be careful when you go out hunting tomorrow morning, especially you Chanyeol, don’t get too excited” Kris said giving a stern look towards the flame orange male. Kris knew that the pack would kill on sight and this was the only way he could keep the black male alive without questions being asked. The pack had all felt that their leader was hiding something from them, but didn’t ask.

Chanyeol nearly let go of the prize in his mouth, inches from hitting a tree. He shook his muzzle, steering clear of the tree as he dragged the body sideways. Even though the black male had been large in size, Chanyeol was still proud of the fact he was bigger. Surprisingly enough the male had been light, judging from his looks.

The small bark brown wolf slowly approached Chanyeol out from behind the thick of the trees, as his mate Suho slowly trailed behind him.

“Did our little baby Chen get bitten by the big bad wolf?” Chanyeol teased, as he finally put the black male down

“Back off Chanyeol!” Suho snapped

Chanyeol playfully jumped back from the clenched teeth of the brown wolf’s mate. “I was joking, no need to take me so seriously “Chanyeol pouted. “Are you ok Chen?” He said, suddenly serious, with a worried look on his face. He may be immature but he cared about his pack mates more than any one else.

“Yeah I’m fine. That one has a strong bite, I think he nearly bit my tale off,” Chen said.

Chanyeol walked over to him to inspect the damage done. “Wow that looks pretty bad, I’m sure Lay can do something about it”

Suho who had been keeping quiet this whole time had been his eyes fixated on the limp body of the black male. His eyes burnt with a tinge of hatred of the younger.  If the alpha hadn’t gave them orders the night before he would have shredded the intruder’s body to pieces. He diverted his attention when he felt someone his face. He turned to meet Chen’s eyes.

“But-“ Chen cut him off before Suho could finish his sentence “it’s ok Suho, he was just following his instincts, I don’t want Kris to do anything to you if he finds out you disobeyed him”

Suho opened his mouth to argue, but stopped himself, knowing Chen was right.

Sharp pain stabbed Tao’s body as he slowly opened his eyes, groaning at his wounds and the sunrays cutting at his eyes. He felt his body burning up and head spin when he tried to stand up. Realising that he had caught a cold from the previous night made him sigh in frustration. Tao looked over his body assessing his injuries; he did not like what he saw. His back bore a long gash, he felt throbbing pains in one of his legs and bite marks and scratches were littered all over his body. Most of the mud had hardened and were stuck to his fur. He looked like a mangled stray. Blood was still pouring from the wound on his back even though the other minor injuries had stopped bleeding. Looking up, he strained his neck to check his surroundings.

Only then did he feel it.

It was like his neck was on fire

The pain burned through his skin and muscle and hit him straight in his core.

It was probably his neck that sustained the greatest injury.

Toa whimpered as he quickly lowered his head back on the ground, trying not to move again. He was only able to shift his eyes around the cave he was trapped in, with blinding sunrays decorating the outline of the boulder that block the entrance. Tao was lying near the entrance, darkness greeted him on the other side of the cave, unable able to see the end. He prayed that he would be able to see Luhan, D.O, Xiumin, Baekhyun and Sehun again. He wanted to call for them desperately. To tell them that he was ok, that he was still here, and that he was still alive.

“You’re finally awake” a voice called from the darkness

Tao growled a warning from his position, tensing up.

“Don’t worry I’m not going to hurt you” the voice chuckled as it came closer into the light.

An amber brown wolf emerged from the pit of the cave, trotting gracefully towards him. Tao only managed to calm down when he felt that the new wolf was really not a threat.

“My name is Lay, and you have had the unfortunate experience of being chased down by my pack”

Tao had finally been able to raise his head in a way that didn’t hurt his neck.

“My name is Tao and I think I did a pretty decent job of fighting off your pack” He managed to say, trying to sound as confident as possible.

“I can see that from the wounds that were on Chen this morning” Lay chuckled “And why may I ask are you in our territory?”

Tao remained silent, avoiding the question. He knew that his pack members may be out looking for him and he didn’t want to draw attention to them. But he somehow felt that Lay could be trusted, even though they had only met for the first time. “I got split up from my pack”

“How did you even manage that” Lay snorted

“How would I know” Tao growled back, annoyed at the question.

Lay sighed slowly walked forward, stopping to lie down next to the injured male.

“I’m not really one of those wolves who fixes problems with violence” Lay answered the younger’s puzzled looks. “I’m more a healer of sorts. I have a gift for it,” He said proudly. Tao looked bewildered at Lay’s behaviour, wondering why or how that the members of the pack were so different.

“Here, I’ll look at your wounds for you” Lay offered standing up the access the younger. As he bent down to away some of the blood, Tao flinched away from his touch. Scared.

“It’s ok. I’m not going to hurt you” Lay said gently “We can go to the lake first and wash off some of that mud” he suggested

Tao gave a weak nod and was helped onto his feet by Lay. The older supported the younger, sticking to his side, trying to act like a crutch. Even though some of Tao’s blood mixed into the amber brown pelt, Lay didn’t mind. He saw Tao as a stray puppy that needed help, young and vulnerable.

Although his pack was ruthless and so was he when the situation required him to be, he would never turn a blind eye on an injured wolf.  No matter who it was.

Lay left Tao’s side for a moment to effortlessly roll the boulder aside, letting the sun wash in. Tao and Lay slowly made their way outside. Trees surrounded the cave and a lush green ring that was dotted with the promise of spring. Despite the stressful situation Tao felt the wind and the scent of the trees to be relaxing. It calmed him.

They hobbled along the riverside until they hit the sand bank. Tao slowly limped towards the water’s edge and dipped his right paw in. He flinched at both the sting of his wounds and the ice-cold water. Lay chuckled as he guided Tao in slowly, letting him adjust to the temperature of the water. Tao laughed as the mud, dirt and blood that have been stuck on his fur, disperse into a murky cloud around him. Lay shook his head at Tao’s childishness but muffled a laugh.

“Still haven’t found them yet?” Luhan panted, exhausted from running laps around the forests.

“No” D.O said a worried look still plastered on from the night before. He had lost sight of Tao, and for some reason Tao hadn’t heard his desperate calls. D.O had searched from him all night before deciding to head back to Luhan and report what had happened.

He had caught up with the alpha by tracing his scent and following it all the way back to their territory. The moment D.O told Luhan what had happened, he thought he would have had his head ripped off.

“How could you lose him!?” Luhan roared, “You were suppose to look after him. You know how dangerous stranger territory is and you still let him out of your site!”

D.O didn’t let the alpha’s aura of dominance affect him. Not when Tao was at stake.

“I’m worried about him too!”

This shut Luhan up completely, surprised at the sudden outburst of his delta that had always been the first to follow his orders. 

D.O in a breath, daring not to make a move. Hoping that he wouldn’t anger the Luhan further.

But instead of his anger increasing, Luhan let out a big huff and muffled an apology. “I’m sorry...I’m just really worried about them right now” Luhan whimpered. D.O was shocked at Luhan’s reaction but understood that right now he wasn’t the strong and skilled leader he knew but an overprotective brother that had just lost his two youngest.

“Don’t worry, we will definitely find them” D.O said confident of his words “Even though they are young, they have learnt to think, hunt and fight for themselves”

D.O knew that some of those words were lies and were for Luhan’s sake as well as his. The sound of these words eased some of his worries for the time being. But he knew very well that these lies would soon shatter and break if they aren’t able to find them both soon. 

Sooooo sorry I haven;t updated in a while T-T

I have been drowned with work from tutors and school

My coming week is all full of exams and speeches

but as soon as they are over I will update as much as possible

I hope you enjoy this chapter!!!! 

Thank you to all the new subscribers (<3 )

old subscribers and readers 

( ^ ~ ^ )

Sehun and Kai should be introduced in the next chapter as well as Kris

Thank you all for reading!!!!! ^0^

exotichime <3