The adrenaline is pounding in his ears and his muscles are tense from the anticipation but he keeps going, ignoring the pain in his left shoulder. Walking up to the enemy with such little back up is one of the most dangerous things he’s done, but it’s a necessity.

In order to protect what’s his; the land; the people; his pack; his mate- especially Jongin, it must be done. Blaidd snarls fiercely in agreement.

His father walks at the head of the ‘v’ formation, Kyungsoo behind him to his left, and Leanne to his right. Jadzia is just behind Kyungsoo and there’s another wolf behind Leanne. They approach Jadzia’s father slowly, a huge looming figure, one of the biggest wolves he’s ever seen. Perhaps even bigger than his father. Maybe that’s why they’re so confident they can steal from them.

Kyungsoo can smell fear seeping from Jadzia behind him, which combined with her already bad-enemy-smell is kinda gross; she must be afraid of her father. And the large wolf beside him is probably her brother which means she’s turning on her own family. This is essentially a death-wish for her, and Kyungsoo finds a new respect for her once he realises this. He also wishes that there weren’t so many things punishable by death for their kind.

The enemy alpha is positively pungent, his strength and dominant pheromones permeating the cold, early morning air. It makes his hair stand prickle. Kyungsoo is glad that he didn’t have to fight him, even though the battle was brutal for everyone. He may or may not have sugar-coated it a little for Jongin. In his defence, Jongin is liable to do stupid things when worried.

He’d had another chunk torn out of him; one that Kyungsoo had called just a scratch on the phone not twenty minutes previously. It twinges now as he remembers the lie, the muscles screaming at him to not move, but he ignores it. He can’t help but feel like he’s lost his touch since he hasn’t been practicing as much lately, he got away unscathed last time.

This is much worse than the injury he sustained protecting Jongin and his mum at his house, but whatever pain he sustains doing this job is worth it if he can stop Jongin getting hurt again. Blaidd agrees, crouching minutely in his gait, ready to spring at less than a moment’s notice.

They stop about ten metres away from them, where they can easily hear whatever may be said by the opposing party. He sincerely hopes that his father has got this under control, as he has no idea what to say. He needs to pay attention to what he does, for future reference.

When wolves communicate, they don’t use words- obviously. They use a combination of body language and barks for more urgent meanings, like ‘stop’ and ‘wait’. It’s a lot simpler to speak as a human, but in conflicts such as these, it’s easier said than done to transform first. It gives the opponent the upper hand since human forms are so much weaker than their canine counterparts.

The enemy’s alpha’s body language currently speaks of open aggression: forelegs widely braced, haunches raised, head tilted forward and teeth bared slightly. Even knowing he’s one of the strongest wolves he knows, physically at least, the enemy’s dark, penetrating glare sends a shiver down Kyungsoo’s spine.

He can hardly imagine growing up with this beast as a father, but perhaps he seems friendlier as a human. The two alphas stare each other down, letting out the slightest growl, barely audible even to wolf ears. Now it’s down to who will cave first. This could take a while, and he’s not allowed to break concentration, not even for a second.

Taking the pain and boxing it away, he shoves it as best he can into the deepest recesses of his mind where he can barely feel it, only a distant throbbing, and stares Jadzia’s brother down. He’s never met him before, only heard about him vaguely from Sehun. He’s ing huge.

His heart’s beating at the speed of sound, and the adrenaline coursing through his veins is making him oblivious to all but the four wolves opposite. When one of them twitches, even minutely, Kyungsoo follows the movement with his eyes. All of them turn, perfectly synchronised, to a point behind Kyungsoo. When Kyungsoo lets himself relax just enough to be more aware of his surroundings, he recognises instantly the familiar sound of someone shifting.

Jadzia. Jadzia is human- or half human, at this point- behind him. She is the first to fall, which means it is only natural that everyone else follows. Soon enough, her brother leans forward and his human body fights its way into existence. After that, its like dominos; Kyungsoo and Leanne, the other backup, and finally the alphas.

They all stand , only looking at each other’s’ faces out of respect,

“Donghyeon,” his father’s adversary nods coldly,

“Alojzy,” his father returns the gesture. If nothing else they have respect for their opponent’s physical power, albeit grudging.

“Stay off my territory. This is the last time I’m going to ask; next time I catch you skulking around this side of the border I’ll tear you apart,”

“I’d love to see you try,” his lip curls in a disgusted grimace.

Kyungsoo’s father is about to make another debilitating retort, but he’s cut off before he can get any words out;

“Stop! Just, please! Stop with the petty rivalry, enough is enough.” Jadzia interjects; voice brittle, cold and more authoritative than Kyungsoo could ever pull off in her position, so he stays silent and watches this, whatever it is, unfold, ready to defend her if necessary.

“Shut it, turncoat ,” her brother comments, snarling through bared teeth his entire body language screaming ‘one wrong move and I’ll kill you’. Jadzia soundlessly mirrors him, not even looking. It seems like her teeth are slightly elongated, adding to her fearsome aura but that might just be the light,

“Do you want your family to die? Is that it? Because that is the only foreseeable outcome if you keep doing this,”

“It will not be our family,” Jadzia’s father blatantly threatens, a deep rumbling that unsettles Kyungsoo from his carefully cultivated anti-pain method. He won’t be able to fight well- or at all- like this, he thinks, as he feels the blood trickle, itching, down his bare skin. The shift ruptured any blood clots that might have started since the first wave ended. It really ing hurts.

“It will be both our families. Please, just stop it. Why are you even doing this?”

“I do not need to explain myself to a child,” he dismisses her without a single glance.

“Explain to me then,” Donghyeon takes charge of the situation, and Kyungsoo attempts to bring himself up and out of the hazy fog of agony so he can focus.

From the corner of his eye, Kyungsoo watches their exchange warily and notices her change in posture. She’s going to attack? He wills her not to do anything anyone would regret, but her muscles are tensing and un-tensing.

“We need space to run,” Jadzia’s dad says, condescendingly as though he were talking to a young child. That man has so little respect for anyone, and as a wolf it’s a wonder he’s even still ing alive.

“As do we,” Kyungsoo’s father counters, through gritted teeth, “and we are loathe to hand any over to you, simply because you think you can waltz in here from wherever it is you come from and take it from us.”

“We requested, politely, that you spare part of the grassland by the west spike,”

“We declined; go back home,”

“There is no home for us to go back to,” Alojzy stares him down, and Kyungsoo reckons someone could land a plane behind him and he wouldn’t notice.

Jadzia speaks up again, annunciating clearly out of blatant anger, “here’s an idea, why don’t you merge the packs? That way there will be no need for fighting at all, and there will be enough space for everyone to run. Isn’t it necessary for our species to stick together anyway? What can be accomplished from petty feuds? Only the decline of our kind,” her last words are spat out at her father, like she’s blaming him for everything.

Well, Kyungsoo supposes, he should be held accountable for a lot of the reasons they’re here.

Jadzia’s proposition isn’t unreasonable, exactly, and Kyungsoo himself isn’t adverse. And neither will the majority of the rest of both packs. The only problem is their fathers’ pride: there can only be one alpha. They’ll either have to come to precarious democratic agreement or fight it out.

Jadzia’s father literally spits at her. Kyungsoo finds himself growling in her defence, along with everyone on his side of the line. He guesses that’s the answer to that. They’re not going to relinquish control, yet they will still keep demanding what is not rightfully theirs. Now the only question is who will cave to the pent up aggression first.

-

hellooo~

i decided to update even though i should be studying 9dont worry i wrote this one a while ago im studying i swear. kinda)

did you guys mind the change in POV? (◍•ᴗ•◍)

as usual: ask.fm here and comment please im nice