Yoongi didn’t dare close his eyes. He sat by his mate’s side – clutching the beautiful omega’s hands as if he would slip away if he let go. It was terrifying, seeing the stunning creature that his soul – and the wolf down in his soul – loved so much already.

He could remember Jimin as a pup – the two of them truly stuck together thick and thin, through good and bad. Of course, at that time, he only had an inkling that maybe what he felt was just a bit different from his brother’s affection to the younger boy – but he was young and foolish enough to believe that they had enough time to figure it all out. That was what his mother said at least when he asked one day, quiet and shy. He had always been a bit reserved, even so young, but at the time, his friends could see the cheerful little kid inside him.

When his friend was stolen, ripped away from his side – one day he was there, happy and smiling and the next he was just gone as if he had never even existed – when his Jimin was taken from him, he swore to become an alpha that could get him back.

He soon found out that while he was able to keep the first part of his promise, the second was impossible. There was no way, not even for a pack full of strong, enraged alphas to find those that had been stolen. There was a saying, something the old omegas that had been along long enough to remember the world where it was just starting, where the first few pups were being dragged away by men dressed in dark furs and eyes as dark as the night sky. “Once a pup is stolen, he can never be found.” It was simple (maybe it had been more complex years ago, or just a chat for young ones to whisper as they cowered under their mothers’ furs, praying that it wouldn’t be them next.) but too true.

Once stolen, a wolf was lost. And usually, it meant that they would never meet those that loved them again.

“And yet, here you are,” the alpha uttered quietly, his voice breaking the silence. Eyes on the pale face of his one and only love, he whispered another prayer to the Moon.” if only one more day was given to me by his side, I would be glad. But please, don’t take him from me so quickly. Allow him to see me just once last time. And let him be in peace.”

“You’re praying to the wrong one,” Taehyung crouched down by the alpha and flinched when the older snarled in response.” hey, don’t worry, okay? I want him to be better, too. But I don’t want him to… leave us. You don’t understand, but we really shouldn’t be so hurt. We wanted to come back here. We tried to hard and he still…. he still had to sacrifice himself. It just wouldn’t be fair if he never got to see the sun again.”

“A pup as young as you shouldn’t know so much about death,” Yoongi muttered, and it was true. Especially young omegas were sheltered in his pack – they were treated like the jewels they were, adored and spoiled. He knew well that the younger’s pack was the same – if not worse. As a child, he could remember wondering why his brother was treated so differently (and Namjoon voicing it many times, the curious pup that he was), but slowly, came to understand. Omegas were rare now, as so many of them were stolen at a young age. Those that stayed…

Were precious, to say the least.

“You don’t understand, huh. We’ve faced this many times. But it’s not so easy to find a foe you cannot see, and I’m sure you know that as well. But it’s not so long that they still have power over us. We broke it, I think.” The pup was a pitiful sight, really. Yoongi could see many bruises and cuts in his skin on parts of his body that weren’t covered by furs. And there was something odd to the way he spoke and acted, almost as if he was uttering in a foreign tongue the alpha could understand but never comprehend fully.

“Try and sleep, pup.” the older muttered finally, and couldn’t help but stifle the barest hint of a yawn, his eyes glancing at his beauty’s peaceful face.

“I will. I won’t tell you to, for I’m sure you won’t. But don’t worry too much about him. He’s much tougher than you think. That’s why I’m still alive, you know. Because he was always there to protect me when they threatened to toss me out. I’m a little weird, they said. Speaks so much, they said. But he… he always helped me.” Taehyung slowly changed into his wolf form as he spoke – maybe it felt more comfortable for him to rest that way. He wasn’t small, particularly (not for an omega at least), but his bones stuck out too clearly through his fur and it made Yoongi sick to the stomach. Usually in his pack, most omegas were slightly on the plumper side – and that was all he saw when he travelled as well to other territories. They could be slim, but never so…

So sickly.

He barely dared to glance at his own love, frowning as he could count ribs even through the fur that covered Jimin’s torso. This was never supposed to be like this – the two of them were supposed to grow up happy and mate once they were of age.

And yet there they were, and the alpha was almost sure his omega wouldn’t survive until the next day.

He was sure, after all, that Taehyung was delirious. The pup was rambling in such a way that would make his head hurt.

His heart was already aching, and that was making it so much worse at well. He wondered if it would ever ease, but he already knew the answer. It had been there since the moment he realized that the omega he adored so much was gone – and it would be there until the moment he died. Even if his Jimin would have the strength to be by his side, it would never disappear (for it was all his fault, and this sort of guilt could never be erased).

Yoongi drew a sharp breath when a whine tore him out of the near-slumber state he had settled into, his eyes instantly settling on the omega’s now scrunched up face.

“No…” he heard, as his eyes settled on pale lips, frowning when he saw them mouth the same word once more. It was so powerful – was his love just merely in the middle of a nightmare, or was it pain that plagued his mind? He just didn’t know and it was putting him through agony as panic rose in his mind…

Just like the sun that was slowly climbing up the sky.

It was morning, and both stolen souls were still there, lingering with the pack, even if they were suffering so badly.

Seokjin was the one that found his brother in panic like that, trying to understand his omega – and the one that was also unsure about what could be causing the distress, for his wounds were clean and seemed to have even healed, if only a little during the night. None had opened and everything seemed good and yet…

Something seemed to be not quite right.

“We have sent a messenger to his pack,” the healer spoke softly, nodding towards Taehyung who was still sleeping soundly, his soft wolf-snored some sort of a reassuring buzz, a sign that he was still there. “I just wish we understood what exactly he means with what he has been telling us. He seems confident that they will make it, but I’m wary that he might just not understand what’s happening to them…”

“I’m also confused whenever he opens his mouth. It’s as if he comes from a different world and yet, he’s speaking out language. It’s odd, but I do believe he is naïve enough to think that they will… pull through.” the alpha seemed much older as he spoke, and it was clear that he was giving up. Maybe it was because he hated to see the one he loved so much suffer, maybe it was because he knew that all odds were against them all – whatever it was, it was hard for him to have hope.

And just as he thought about that, a shrill scream came from his love, shattering and loud as he shot up, his entire form trembling suddenly.

“No… don’t… please..” he pleaded but his eyes were glassy, and it was unclear who he was talking to. His breaths were jagged gasps and Yoongi was barely able to catch him before he was ready to fall back – he could have hit his head, could have gotten much worse..

The alpha felt his pain.

Maybe it was through the bond the two of them should have owned. They had the right so, for they had made for each other.

With Yoongi in mind, his omega had been created by Nature, morphed into the perfect little thing that would be adored and loved by his alpha. And the alpha had been formed by invisible forces into a person that could be cherished by the one he would give his heart to.

Why was the world so cruel that the only one who he could truly ever own in such a way had been taken away by him before he even understood it all?

Suddenly, it was rage that cursed through the alpha’s veins.

It was unfair.

It was unfair that he never had the chance to love his omega the way that he wanted to. That the two of them would never have the chance to live together, to dote and be doted on, to share memories and soon, more. That they would never have pups and a family and…

Something in Yoongi broke and he snarled.

He acted by pure instinct and ignored Seokjin’s yell when he gently propped up his mate again and sniffed at his neck, nuzzling the soft spot where his scent was the strongest, where he didn’t smell like blood and death and tears but just like him. Jimin. And maybe a little bit of his alpha as well, but not enough.

Never enough to the possessive soul that was awakening in the broken man.

“Don’t do that!” Again, he completely ignored his brother. Yoongi felt as if he knew what he was doing much better. He growled – low and threatening and maybe just a little dominating and didn’t even spare a glance at Seokjin.

His fangs bared, the wolf in him was yelling at him to do the one thing he should have done long ago, the one that he should have had the chance to do so.

Mark his mate as his.

Even if his omega was to die, to perish, to be swallowed by the darkness and death that hang around them, it would have been, not as a lost soul, but as an omega that was bound to the one that adored him.

And the moment his heart would cease its beating, his alpha’s would as well, for just with one bite, their lives would be linked forever – if one lived, the other would as well.

Maybe it was selfish of the alpha to do such a daring act, but deep down he knew that he was doing something right. He ignored the pleas of his brother and Namjoon as he lunged at him to try and tear him away and...

He bit down.