Jungsu told him a day later as he was going through a physical exam by their only Omega doctor, that the head Alpha had banned any other Alpha or Beta from trying to court him, effectively putting his claim on Jimin.

“Omega rights my .” Jimin muttered as the doctor poked and prodded at his back.

To say Jimin was furious that his right to be courted by any Alpha or Beta he wanted had been taken away was an understatement. By the time the Doctor had declared him fit for bearing pups and vaccinated for the upcoming winter, the head Alpha was waiting at his cabin with a small bouquet of roses and Jimin’s temper was at an all-time high.

His friends had always said Jimin was like a bomb when he got angry, and his eyes flared a dull red when he saw the head Alpha standing at his door. “I don’t want to see you.” He growled. He was not a submissive who would just bend over and take the first suitor to show interest!

“You have no choice.” The head Alpha said, his voice nearly a rumble from his wolf trying to calm and sooth Jimin’s wolf. “No other Alpha or Beta will attempt to court you.” His eyes gleamed as he stepped closer to Jimin.

Jimin felt the siding of the house hit his back and sweat started to gather at his temple. The head Alpha was too close for his liking, but he knew if he tried make the head Alpha move, he’d pay for it with his life.

“I did not say I wanted to be courted by you.” Jimin’s voice was icy with anger. His wolf growing agitated against the elder wolf’s attempts to placate him.

The head Alpha sighed, mumbling, “I didn’t want to resort to this, but you leave me no choice.” The roses fell to the ground as the head Alpha suddenly pressed Jimin against the house, his body pressing up against the Omega.

The head Alpha was taller than Jimin, and much stronger as he pinned Jimin to the house, forcing the Omega’s head to turn to the side. Jimin’s wolf whimpered as he involuntarily submitted to the head Alpha by force.

A stinging in his neck made Jimin howl, even though he knew his efforts to bring help would be useless. He’d just been marked against his will and that, he knew, was against pack protocol. The action made his anger blaze white hot and he found the strength to push the head Alpha away from him with force.

The head Alpha grinned as he fell back from Jimin’s sudden attack, his mouth gleaming with blood as Jimin’s hand raised itself to his neck, coming away bloody. “You !” Jimin snarls, his eyes going blood red. Jimin doesn’t even realize his leg is smashing into the head Alpha’s crotch until the man doubles over in pain, a surprised yelp coming out of his mouth.

Jimin lets his wolf’s instincts take over, and he sprints away from the head Alpha, the cabin that had been his home for barely one day, and heads towards the woods.

Which is how Jimin found himself 2 days later deep in the woods from his pack and his home, desperately trying to flee the Alpha who dared to defy his own pack laws.

“Psst. Hey, omega.” A deep voice whispered from above him, and Jimin nearly yelped in fright as a tall, lanky Beta jumped down in front of him, his eyes gleaming with mischief. “I take you are trying to run from an unwanted mating, yeah?”

Jimin nods, too surprised by the Beta to speak.

“I know this may seem strange,” The Beta begins as he helps Jimin climb up into the tree he’d just vacated. “But my name is J-Hope, and I’m an enforcer for the international council of Pack Protocol.”

“But you’re a Beta.” Jimin finally finds his voice, though it’s weak and hoarse from running for 2 days without proper food or water.

J-Hope nods. “Not all Betas are useless.” He tells Jimin, pulling his pack from his back and pulling out a bottle of water and what looks like some beef jerky, handing them to the Omega. “We must hurry though if we are to get you from your unwanted mate.”

Jimin can feel the throbbing of the bite mark on his neck ease a bit as he gulps down the water and inhales the jerky like its air. “Can you help me get away from him?” Jimin asks as J-Hope takes the trash from him, putting it back in the pack and slinging it on.

“Yes.” J-Hope tells him. “In fact, I can take you to a safe place where that guy won’t be able to hurt you.”

Jimin nods. “Please.” He isn’t against begging. “I don’t want to be mated against my will.” He can feel tears making tracks down his dirty face.

J-Hope smiles. “Those are the magic words. Follow me, be very careful, some of the branches are slippery from the recent rains.”

Jimin nods, determination crossing his face as J-Hope takes a moment, and then starts shimmying up the tree. The Omega stares for a moment before following, and quickly realizes that there is a small network of rope bridges between the trees higher up from the eyes of the head Alpha where they can’t follow a scent trail as they pass by something that puts out a small puff of smoke as Jimin passes it.

“So, care to tell me what your story is, and who is the Alpha that’s chasing you?” J-Hope asks as they move along the bridge networks quickly some time later.

Jimin hasn’t heard the shouting from the head Alpha in while, not after they’d found the spot he’d stopped at, hearing a howl that sent Jimin and his wolf into trembling in fear that they’d figured out he’d gone up the trees. He looks ahead at J-Hope, who’d stopped for a moment to dig another bottle of water out of the bag, one for himself and one for Jimin.

Jimin takes a gulp of the cool water, smiling gratefully at the Beta. They start moving again, though at a slightly slower pace.

“He, my…ugh, where do I start.” Jimin says, frustration bleeding into his voice.

“Start at the beginning.” J-Hope replies easily, no malice or sarcasm in his voice.

So Jimin does, explaining how his pack functions and how he now remembers that the head Alpha had always seemed to hover around his family more than other families, the events that went down at his 16^th birthday, how the head Alpha treated him that same day and then the forced mark on his neck.

J-Hope stops at that moment, turning around. “Let me see the mark.” He says, no room for argument in his tone.

Jimin pulls down the front of his dirty shirt and bares his neck.

J-Hope hums. “Can I touch it?”

Jimin shrugs. “I don’t see why you can’t.” He replied.

“I only ask because I don’t think he bit down hard enough to hit the gland that will stimulate your body to complete the mating ritual.” J-Hope explains. “I want to feel around the mark to see for sure though.”

“What do you mean, a gland?” Jimin asks, confused.

J-Hope hums again as his fingers softly poke and prod the tender flesh around the teeth marks. “You are one lucky Omega.” He whistles a moment later. “He got pretty damn close to biting into the gland, but he either wasn’t trying too hard to mark you, or he’s gone senile.”

Jimin feels some of the tension leaving his body when he hears that. “You said there was a gland?”

J-Hope looks at him, confusion on his face for a moment. “Oh my god. That’s right. Your pack was one of the more isolated ones.” He says. “Let’s keep moving, we’re almost to the first safe house. I’ll explain things there once we get you into the system and cleaned up. I’m sure my friend Jin will want to treat that bite wound before it can become infected.”

They continue on, and a short time later, J-Hope starts climbing down the tree. Jimin’s sure they’re far past the boundaries that separate his pack’s territory from the others though he doesn’t stop being alert to any sounds other than J-Hope for fear that the head Alpha had somehow managed to find his scent from high up in the trees.

J-Hope moves off towards what Jimin thinks is a very large tree base, and taps on the bark before it slides away, revealing a door. “Whoa.” Jimin whispers, awestruck at the advanced tech. “I’ve only heard about this, but I thought it was still a prototype.” He says as J-Hope punches in a passcode on the keypad, unlocking the door.

J-Hope smiles sadly at him. “Brace yourself then. There are a lot of things that you are going to think are still being tested in the preliminary phase or just a prototype that have been in mass production for years.”

They descend down some stairs and Jimin nearly sighs in relief at the sight of a cot, and what looks like a fresh pile of clothes sitting on it. “Jin?” J-Hope calls out, a frown on his face.

A tall, slightly chubbier man walks out from around the corner of the room, a soft look on his face. “Ah you are back.” He says smiling. “I wasn’t sure what would fit so there’s some different sizes in the pile there.”

Jimin smiles awkwardly. “Thanks, uh…” He trails off, realizing that the other man hadn’t introduced himself, and Jimin didn’t want to assume it was this Jin that J-Hope had been talking about.

“Oh, I’m sorry! I forgot to introduce myself.” The man said holding out a hand towards Jimin. “I’m Kim Seokjin, but you can call me Jin.”

“He’s the doctor I was telling you about.” J-Hope adds, sliding the pack off his shoulders and tossing it onto the other bunk. “Hyung, he’s got a nasty bite wound on his neck, it didn’t break the mating gland though. Probably would be good for him to get a shower in now while I cook something nutritious for him and you can treat it, yeah?”

Jin nods. “I’ll show you to the showers. What is your name little one?”

Jimin wants to bristle at the term, but his wolf holds him back, reminding him that they’re being saved by these wolves and he shouldn’t be so abrasive to Jin. “Park Jimin.” He mumbles, feeling the exhaustion from the last few days creeping up on him slowly now that he knows he’s out of major danger.

Jin shows him around the shelter, surprising Jimin with how large the facility is considering they are underneath a large tree.