“Xiumin? Where are you? Are you here? Please if you can hear me say something” Someone shouted sounding really upset and almost pained. Xiumin could tell they were in wolf form as the voice wasn’t heard by his ears but rang in his head. Xiumin couldn’t let him find him. As much as he wanted to howl and be found he had to stay hidden, forever.

Xiumin turned so that his back was facing the entrance to the cave he was hiding and sheltering in. He did this for lots of reasons, the main being that he hoped his dark brown fur, keeping him warm in wolf form, would camouflage him into the darkness of the cave. He had to stay hidden and everything depended on him not being seen or heard.

“Xiumin, please? I have to find you before I die with worry. I know you are out here somewhere I can feel it. It doesn’t matter how much you shield your mind or mask your scent, I’m going to find you or die trying. Xiumin, I love you” the wolf said sounding confident but still desperate. A tear rolled down Xiumin’s cheek. The words he had long to hear for so long had just come from the wolf he wanted to say them. As much as he loved the other wolf it couldn’t be, that was why he had left. He curled up a little tighter and just let his tears fall. He should be happy but he couldn’t be. He didn’t think he would ever be able to feel whole without the other wolf but he knew that the other wolf would risk everything by being with him and he just couldn’t let that happen however much it hurt him.

“Xiumin ... Please just help me find you quicker. I can’t go back to the pack now either, alpha told me that if I follow you then I would also be a deserter but I don’t care. As long as I’m with you I don’t need other pack mates, just you, I only want you because I love you so much” The wolf said getting closer to the cave. He saw the cave and thought that it would be the next best place to look as it was the only shelter for miles. He just wanted to see Xiumin again, to hold him close and to have him near.

Xiumin knew that the other was close, he knew he was going to be found in a matter of seconds. He let the tears he had been trying to keep in fall. He wanted this so badly and he knew that he couldn’t be mad at his mate for following him and becoming a deserter of their pack. He would have done the same if he was in the other’s position. Also what would be the point in him trying to keep the other away when he no longer had the pack to go back too? What would be the point in them both being upset and alone when they could be together and happy and it would no longer effect his lovers position and allegiance in the pack that had so readily thrown him out. The other wolf was right behind him now. His mate was only a few feet away. Xiumin’s heart began to race as he closed his eyes, with tears still falling and took a deep breath.

“Chanyeol” Xiumin addressed his mate turning his head around as far as he could to see his mate but without changing his body position. Chanyeol was right next to him now looking down on his mate with wide eyes. After a moment or two Chanyeol walked around the other side of Xiumin and lay down to look at what his mate had been trying so hard to hide.

“Why didn’t you tell me? How did you hide this the whole time?”  Chanyeol asked his mate not looking at him as he was unable to pull his eyes away from what the other was curled around. Xiumin’s eyes also couldn’t look up from what was nestled between him and his mate.

“I’m sorry. I knew that the alpha would kill them. No-one was allowed to mate until he had an heir but then when I figured out I was in pup I knew if I wanted to keep them that I’d have to leave. I knew that as the beta you had responsibilities to the pack and I was going to ruin what you had to work so hard to get. For you to work up to beta from the bottom, I was so proud of you and I didn’t want to be the one to ruin that, to ruin everything you had worked for. I didn’t want to leave you because I love you more than anything. But I couldn’t get rid of them and I couldn’t let them get killed, I knew this was my only option and as much as I didn’t want to leave you I knew that the fact that I had the pups, a part of you with me, I could find the courage to leave” Xiumin said still looking at the 3 pups that were snuggled into him.

“Xiumin, I’m the one that’s sorry, sorry that you had to do this alone. What kind of mate am I that I didn’t notice you were in pup? What kind of father does that make me? You should know that I would go to the ends of the earth for you. Being beta is an honour but it means nothing if you’re not my mate, nothing at all. I love you so much and you can never, ever leave me again, okay? I couldn’t stand it” Chanyeol looks up and says to Xiumin who looks up too.

“Thank you Chanyeol, I love you too. You’re the best mate anyone could ever ask for. I won’t leave you again I promise” Xiumin says his younger mate’s muzzle. “So shall I introduce you to the pups?”

“Our pups and yes please” Chanyeol says his eyes gleaming.