If you have not read chapter eight, be sure to go back and read it! I'm updating twice in twenty-four hours - woo!

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Jiyong was utterly engrossed in crossing the river. One foot carefully placed in front of the other, arms held out for balance, hair hanging loose in his eyes – puffing up with each huff of breath he let out. At first it was easy to cross, because the trunk was so wide, but the further he went the narrower it became. By two-thirds across the water, the omega wobbled with each step because he could not fit both feet side by side. Behind him, he could hear encouraging murmurs from Wooyoung, who had always been the more graceful one between them and so was having little trouble keeping up with Jiyong. “This is the only time I wish I were a cat,” the omega muttered, even as he recovered from slipping on the mist-slick bark. “Skies. There’s a reason wolves don’t climb trees.”

Wooyoung humored him with a tight, breathless laugh. “Come on, Ji. Keep going. You’re nearly there.”

Had they not been in a hurry, Jiyong would have turned to pierce his cousin with a wry look. Instead, he simply continued along as best he could, just placing one foot in front of the other. When he came to the end of the trunk, he all but fell off and into Taecyeon’s waiting arms. The beta carefully set him out of the way before turning to help Wooyoung down – a move the alpha strangely permitted. Perhaps, Jiyong thought, it was because he did not want to risk being swept away. Or maybe he was being polite. Or, just maybe, he was starting to soften towards his mate-to-be. Jiyong knew that Wooyoung had his reasons for being so cold towards Taecyeon, but it hurt the brunette to see both his cousin and the gentle beta in so much needless anguish.

Thinking of his own mate, Jiyong moved to where he could see the distant shore. His eyes trailed along the trunk, searching for Daesung. About halfway across was Hakyeon, who was movingly lightly on four paws across the trunk. He had opted to have a lower center of gravity, thinking it might help him make the crossing more quickly. Jiyong could not help admiring the fine line of Hakyeon’s long black legs and the way they bled up into the beautiful red of his coat. Hakyeon was a type of wolf Jiyong had never heard of – a maned wolf – and had apparently come from the far eastern reaches of the land; his people were prone to wandering, he had explained, and rarely stayed as a stable pack. It was nice to see him embracing the Goddess’ ways and remaining in a pack, even though he had every reason to abandon the NeverNoon wolves to their anguish. Jiyong admired his resilience.

And there, trailing like the tail to Hakyeon’s comet, came Taekwoon. The man’s feature was, as always, set in a stony expression. Admittedly, Jiyong was still very shy around Taekwoon – not that he wasn’t shy around everyone – because of his piercing gaze. It felt like the delta could strip away a person layer by layer, carefully peeling back flesh and muscle and bone until he could examine the bare soul within. Jiyong found it more than a little unsettling. But, at the same time, the delta seemed strangely gentle. He had spent part of the night holding the baby, Tzuyu, and hushing her. Jiyong had even overheard the wolf singing a soft lullaby, one that sent the baby almost immediately to sleep. There had been such a look of tenderness on Taekwoon’s face that the omega had felt intrusive, as though he were watching a masterwork of glass being created. Jiyong sighed. He hoped the delta was able to have a family of his own, someday; chances were he’d be an excellent parent.

Continuing on down the trunk, Jiyong searched for the familiar form of his mate: broad shoulders, sunny smile, focused gaze. But, he was nowhere along the trunk. Frantically, the wolf twisted to make certain the alpha had not slipped past him while he had been daydreaming, but Daesung was nowhere to be found. Just as he was about to open his lips to ask someone where the pack leader had gone, the delicate omega caught the sound of growls echoing across the water. Fear shot through his veins, and every instinct in his body cried for him to drop to the ground, to hide from the awful sounds. And then his heart stopped. He knew the sound of that voice. Everything from the huskiness of the growl to the way it echoed in Jiyong’s bones made the identity plain even before he caught sight of his mate on the other shore. “Daesung!” Jiyong made to leap forward, clawing towards the log, when a pair of arms locked firmly around his waist. “What are you doing? Let go!” He lashed out with both feet and clawed at the forearms of his captor.

“Running over there won’t help him,” Taecyeon ground out, tightening his grip on the flailing wolf. “Be still, Jiyong! He’ll cross as soon as he can.”

Oh, those words.

Jiyong felt them burrow under his skin, filling every muscle in his body with electric dread. He could not hold still – he was overwhelmed with the urge to run to his mate – but Taecyeon’s grip was an impossible iron loop around his waist. A choked sob caught in his throat as Taekwoon landed on their side of the shore; the delta’s face grew more and more wan as the snarls grew in ferocity. “Please,” Jiyong begged. “Someone help him.” He clawed at the beta’s arm until his nails were raw and ragged, the blood making his grip slick.

His heart stuttered as Daesung came at last into sight; but, he was not on the trunk. Rearing up on his back paws, the alpha was a masterpiece of power in action: His beautiful golden fur was taut over his coiled muscles, and there was an aura about him that seemed to overwhelm the scene. It was as though the stock wolf had somehow grown in size, though nothing about his build had undergone a change. But even Hong Man’s wolves seemed to sense the difference. Rather than charge Daesung immediately, they had lingered in the tree line, whining to one another in uncertainty at the sight of the single wolf. There had been a fire in his eyes, one that burned with more intensity than even the firestorm from the night before, that caused their tails to tuck between their legs. He was a true alpha.

But, more terrifying than the lone wolf before them was the thought of returning to their master empty handed. Hong Man was ruthless enough in the best of moods; if their prey escaped, he would be unspeakably cruel in the punishment he offered. Surely they were enough to match a single, exhausted wolf. The snarls had begun when a mated pair had leapt forward and sought to dig their curved fangs into the soft flesh of Daesung’s throat. In a smooth motion, the alpha had slammed his body into one, pinning it beneath him, while kicking out at the other with his powerful hind legs. His attacker was sent tumbling tail over snout while Daesung dealt with the creature beneath him, fang and flesh meeting in a bloody gurgle. He had risen to his paws just in time for three other wolves to work up the courage to attack (they did not act in vengeance for the slain wolf, because compassion and loyalty had long been carved out of their hearts). Rearing back, Daesung had launched himself at them, rolling in a mass of claws and fur and growls. As he tore into the haunch of one wolf, he heard a distinct howl of sorrow across the water: The notes ripped raw and ruthless from Jiyong’s throat as Taekwoon followed his orders.

Soon the air was thick with the scent of smoke as wood was consumed by the relentless tongues of Taekwoon’s fire. The tree groaned as the flames ate away at its core, caught as much from within as from without, and one of the attacking wolves raced to try to cross the trunk. A yowl of pain filled the air as the wolf found the way blocked by fire; unable to press forward, it had ly to find the path behind ablaze as well. Pressing heat and smothering smoke soon wrought their final, fatal touch on the wolf, sending it crashing lifelessly into the water. Hissing, the trunk began to shift even as Daesung broke clear of the pile of wolves he had been buried in. He spared a glance across the water, his gaze latching immediately on Jiyong. The omega was clearly crying – his entire face flushed with upset – as he continued to try to fight against Taecyeon’s grip. Seeing Daesung looking at him, Jiyong let out another howl and seemed to redouble his efforts.

There has to be a way, Daesung thought, frantically scanning the trunk. But, the entire thing was engulfed in fire and had begun to collapse in on itself. He in a breath as another alpha crashed into his side, sinking their fangs into his shoulder. Rolling, he dislodged the wolf before recklessly running towards the water. Paws digging into the lichen-laced rock, the pack leader threw himself into the air – blood splattering on the stone in stark contrast to the dull grey. His body connected with the water in a shivering gasp of awareness. The cold water sunk itself into his fur, seeking to drag him beneath the surface like ten thousand grasping hands. Catching his paws beneath him, the wolf forced himself towards the surface – breaking clear with a sputter. Each of his paws pushed him above the water before the current drug him back under, death and darkness waiting for the inevitable exhaustion to set in. It was the thought of Jiyong, his face illuminated by the moonlight as they exchanged their vows, that brought the alpha to the surface again and again. He had only a wild hope that the tree would collapse and block the river just long enough to still the current, allowing him to make it to the other side. It seemed his prayer would be answered when the trunk shuddered as the fire cut cleanly through the wood, and it crashed into the water in a plume of smoke. But, Hong Man’s wolves were quick to notice that the water put the flames out, leaving the trunk partially clear. A brazen beta launched itself onto the blackened trunk – paws screaming out in pain – and began to race across. Daesung could not even choke out a warning as he fought to remain afloat, but Chansung, reliable Chansung, saw the danger.

Running to the trunk, the beta wrapped his hands about it and, using his tremendous strength, sent it toppling into the river. As quickly as Daesung’s hopes had risen, they were swept away by the rushing currents as half the trunk was cast over the waterfall. He was proud of the young beta: He had chosen the pack over the individual, just as he had been raised to. Jiyong and the others would be safe long enough to make it to the pack lands. Daesung’s limbs began to feel heavy in the water, sluggishly cutting through the froth and foam at the surface, as he continued to struggle towards the shore. His gaze yet again fell on Jiyong, as though the omega were a lodestone and Daesung mere iron drawn towards him. The omega’s lips were moving rapidly and his eyes circled in white; he was screaming for something. , , . The alpha pushed on towards his mate, his home. His legs stuttered in the water, and his head sunk beneath the water, the liquid rushing to fill his open mouth. Breaking the surface once more, he coughed in an attempt to squeeze the river water out of his lungs, and the rhythm of his paddling became unsteady, tangled like the plants that clung to the riverbed. He sank under again, this time longer, before he was able to fight his way to the top. Raising his head, he locked gazes with Jiyong once more – his heart turning cold as he realized this would be the last time he saw the beautiful omega.

There were a million things he wished he had thought to say to the omega during their lunchbreak. He could remember the way Jiyong had asked about his home, only to be told to simply wait until they got there. Daesung wished he could have seen the look on Jiyong’s face as he described the wide plains that would fill with fireflies on summer nights or the undoubted delight the omega would express when he saw the house his alpha built him as a symbol of his love. It would have been beautiful, Daesung thought, to grow old with the beautiful brunette – sharing their lives until the Goddess eased the life from their weary bodies. But at least Jiyong would have a better life in the mountains. His parents would take care of the omega as though he were their son, and perhaps one day he would find someone who could love him better than Daesung was able to. And that, perhaps, was the best he could hope for: that the Goddess would bless Jiyong with a mate who truly deserved him, not a sham of an alpha who could not even keep him safe.

His paws slowed in the water as he held Jiyong’s gaze one last time, wishing he could tell the omega how desperately he cared for him, imperfect though they both were.

Slowly, body aching, he slipped beneath the water and was swept over the lip of the waterfall – tumbling into the nothingness. 

Is there a sound a heart makes when it dies? Perhaps it would be a wordless shriek of agony, the sort that left the throat raw as tears streamed down reddened cheeks. Or, perhaps it would be the hopeless rattle of the last breath slipping through bluing lips, reverberating through the echoing stillness of the nothingness left in its wake. Or, perhaps it would be the choked prayer left unanswered, a whispered mutter unheard by even the deities who had breathed life into the now emptied soul.

Jiyong had no idea what sound he made, only that it was enough to draw a hush – even the vile throng across the water falling into stillness. He knew, logically, that there had to be sound coming from his open mouth, but his head was so full of despair that he could not even hear the sound of his own ragged breathing. There was not even a coherent thought, not even a name, that could pierce the silence raging its way through his mind. It was as though he had simply been carved hollow, scraped of every last feeling until only the fleshy dregs were left to slowly wither into intangible slime along the walls of his heart. But for all the silence in his mind, his sight burned with perfect clarity. Every detail, every fragment of the tableau played perfectly before his eyes in an endless repeat.

The moment Daesung had jumped, he had hoped – wildly and willfully – that his mate would be able to do the superhuman and fight the current. He prayed, with every fiber of his soul, that Daesung would be granted strength, that he would be sustained by the Goddess. Surely She, a being of infinite power, could spare a little wisp of her greatness to carry the alpha to safety. Every that brought the pack leader closer felt as though it had been drawn from Jiyong’s body, and by the time Daesung had breached the halfway point the omega was gasping for breath along with him. He felt more than saw Chansung remove the portion of the trunk – it sprayed the entire pack with water as it came in contact with the river’s roiling surface; his gaze could not be removed from Daesung for anything short of his mate’s salvation. As Chansung sunk to the ground, spent after his feat, Taekwoon ran to the shoreline. Stripping off his shirt, the delta seemed to be preparing to jump into the water and fight his way to his leader’s side. Hope stuttered bright and frantic between the slotted bone of Jiyong’s ribs. Yes, someone could swim to Daesung and –

His gaze met the alpha’s as Daesung sluggishly surfaced. The honey blond seemed to slow, as though he were swimming through thick molasses instead of a raging river, and in his eyes was a weariness so deep it froze Jiyong to the core. His mate sunk back underneath the water, and for breathless seconds he was nowhere to be seen. And then, there above the white crest of the lip of the waterfall, Jiyong’s eyes met Daesung’s. Taekwoon was wading out into the water, tears pouring down his stony face, even as their alpha vanished over the lip of the waterfall.

Daesung was…

Taecyeon’s grip loosened enough for Jiyong to collapse onto the ground in a puddle of tears and vomit. The omega’s entire body racked with the aftershocks of emptying his stomach on the ground; every molecule of his being seemed to reject the thought of living in a world without its mate. Around him the other wolves either watched in confusion or sank into their own despairing fits as the reality sank in that Daesung was… Oh Goddess, no. Jiyong sank his fingers into the mire, the bleeding ends of his fingertips hooking in the mud as though it could somehow draw him into the comforting nothingness of its embrace. But there was nothing: no respite, no comfort, no Daesung. There was only the utter anguish of being left entirely alone. 

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I'll just go sit over in that corner over there until you're done being upset with me. At this rate, I will hopefully have another update done this weekend. It depends on how quickly I can write a literature review ... actually, two literature reviews. Ugh, grad school. :/

If you liked it, if you hated it, if you're upset beyond reason, let me know in the comments! I seriously love hearing from you all. <3