Jonghyun gently tossed another log onto the fire before returning to his seat beside Jinki, who handed him his plate of food once again. The moon was pretty, even with how little of it was illuminated up in the sky. There were three other fires in a half-circle at the base of the mountain. Farthest away were most of the pack Choi’s guards, then the most senior members of their pack directly to the right of the firepit they were sitting around. To their left was another group of guards from Jinki’s pack, all volunteers to protect him. Around this small fire with him was Jonghyun and his two closest guards, Kibum and Jongin, all betas. He had known all of them for so long, he was extremely relieved they all wished to come with him.

          Starting in the morning they’d head up the mountain, beginning the harshest part of their journey. A part of Jinki was excited, for he had already added five new flowers to his journal, the delicate petals pressed between it’s pages. The bigger part of him was uneased. He could feel the beginnings of his heat, the tingles along his skin, the headache that always formed leading up to it, and dull ache all over his body. It was coming, and it was soon, and Jinki wished with all his might he could be back home in his nest, safe and warm. 

          He looked up from his now empty plate when Kibum growled from his position to the left of him. Following the gaze of the guard, he found his intended mate's younger brother, Minho. He flashed a little smile, a bowl held in his hands. “I just came to see if you wanted more stew.”

          “No, thank you.” 

          He bowed his head, the firelight flickering over his soft features. “We have extra blankets if anyone may need them. It’ll get colder here than you’re used to.” 

          Jinki placed his plate on the ground beside him, folding his hands in his lap and nodding with a smile. “If you could have them brought over, I’ll pass them out to my men. Thank you.”

          “Will do.”

----

          Jonghyun leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, gazing as Jinki stepped over to take the blankets from the younger Choi brother. While both of the brothers were Alphas, there was something about Minho that made Jonghyun less likely to want to attack him if he got close to Jinki. Sooner or later, he’d figure out the skin-crawling feeling he got around Myungdae, but until then he’d focus on making this as easy as possible for his friend. As Jinki walked toward the fire their other guards were to pass out blankets, Minho bowed his head in Jonghyun’s direction before heading back to his family. 

          Jinki had barely had time to wrap his extra blanket around his shoulders and return to sit on the log before Jonghyun was commenting. “He seems nice.” 

          “Who?” Jonghyun tapped the blanket tips brushing against his thigh with how close they were sitting. “Oh, Minho? Yes, he does.” 

          The tips of Jinki’s ears were a bit red in the light of the fire, but whether that was from the conversation or the nip in the air, Jonghyun couldn’t tell you. “It’s alright to find him pretty.” 

          “Jonghyun!” Jinki hissed, elbowing him hard into the side. “I’m to mate with his brother.” 

          “There’s no harm in looking!” He huffed, scowling as he rubbed his side. “Why must you hurt me?” 

          “Not my fault you bruise like a peach, Jongie.” 

          He wheezed dramatically. “So mean.”

-----

          Laying over his thighs were his arrows as he ran his fingers over them before choosing one to inspect more closely. The leaves crunched under the pair of boots stepping into his peripheral vision, but before he could look up, a deep voice asked, “What do you need a weapon for?” 

          Following the boots up long legs and finally up to a very serious scowling expression twisting a handsome face. “What is the reason most people have weapons, Myungdae?” 

          The Alpha scuffed, arms crossing over his chest and the leather of his jacket creaking at the motion. “You have no need to defend yourself. That’s what the guards are for.”

          “I’ve saved many of the people who volunteered to come with me to your Pack. Maybe you’ll be the next person that me having a weapon saves.” With a shrug, Jinki deposited his arrows into the quiver and threw it over his shoulder as he stood with his bow in his left hand. A small smile is flashed up at him, a hand moving across his chest as Myungdae’s hands fall to his sides once again. The scowl melted from his face, dark eyes flicking up from Jinki’s hand to his face. “I think you should go check on your horse.”

          “Why?” Myungdae breathed out, breath swirling slightly visible in the cool morning air. 

          “Because your horse just ran away from your servant.” 

          “WHAT!” 

          If asked, Jinki did NOT giggle as the man twisted roughly and sprinted toward the escaping horse.

-----

          The snow was heavily falling now, shelter shifting from bedrolls and fur skin tents to caves. Minho leans against the front of it, the stone was cold and rough against his side, as he watches the omega and his beta friend throwing snowballs at each other down the slight hill from the cave. It’s obvious neither have seen snow, let alone this amount of the white freezing substance. It’s easy to fall into his thoughts about the omega, Jinki he reminds himself. He shouldn’t indulge in such thoughts, about how pretty the man is or how much he wishes he could ask what the beads in his hair mean, because he’s promised to his older brother. From the moment he had seen Jinki in that Great Hall, he was smitten, but he hoped the infatuation, the attraction, would go away as time kept moving.  

          He knows his brother has stepped up just behind him even before the man speaks. “Why has the hunt been canceled?” 

          Without looking away from Jinki, who was laughing as he fell backward into the snow after taking a snowball to the face, Minho pointed toward the fire pit just outside of the cave. The fire pit had been dug into the frozen ground and taken care of for years, to help cook meat and other things during travels up and down the mountain. “A buck was already shot for dinner.” 

          “Who?”

          “Your future mate.” 

          “What?” Minho finally slipped his gaze from the scene before him to look at his brother, raising an eyebrow as the man continued. “Who gave him the authority to go hunt?”

          “He was playing, Brother.”

          “Playing?”

          “Yes,” Minho gestured with an open palm to the source of the distant laughter, “Playing. Before anyone could think of assisting he had the buck skidding to a halt in the snow. Charged in because of the commotion it seemed.” 

          Minho wasn’t sure what he expected, but his brother giving a bark of a laugh was not it. “Nice try to pull one over. I bet it was those two tall guards of his.”

          “I assure you it was him. I saw it with my own two eyes.” Myungdae pressed his lips together, brow furrowing. “It seems you got yourself a very capable mate.” 

          He shook his head in disbelief as Myungdae twisted on his heel and headed deeper into the cave. Minho turned his attention back onto the wolves playing down below and smiled as the scene of a very damp Jinki scaling the hill came into view. He wiggled out of his jacket as he took a step closer to greet them. Jinki looked up, cheeks and nose red, his ears sticking out from his hair the same shade of rouge. “Hello.”

          “Here, this will help.” He pushed it once more when Jinki tried to refuse. Minho only let his hand fall back to his side after the man had taken the piece of clothing and pulled it on, his damp furs being passed to the Beta beside him. 

          “Thank you.” 

          “You need it more than me. Go sit by the fire to dry off completely. Food will be ready soon.”

          As Jinki walked away, holding the jacket tight around his shoulders, he glanced back, a smile on his face. So damn pretty, Minho wished he could scream. This was bad. Very bad. 

-----

          There were a dozen or so guards still awake, some at the opening of the cave and a few patrolling the land outside. They were half of his own people, the other from the Lee’s. He didn’t hold it against the other pack for not trusting his pack with protecting them all. Minho lazily moved his eyes over the cave, expecting only to see people in varying positions of slumber, but as far as you could go up against the wall, was Jinki sitting up. He had a lantern to his left, hair gathered over his right shoulder and fingers moving through the strands doing something it was too dark to make out. Against Minho’s better judgment he found himself pushing up from his sleeping bag. Making his way over without stepping on someone was a feat, but he managed.

          Jinki slowly looked up and it was unfair how beautiful he was even in the simple flicker of lantern light. Minho’s heart did the flipping thing as Jinki smiled. “I didn’t think anyone else was awake.” 

          “I find it hard to sleep in caves.” Minho quietly states, running a hand through his hair nervously. “The echoes freak me out.” 

          “Ah.” Jinki’s hands had fallen into his lap, covered by a blanket. For some reason, he looks to his right at whoever is sleeping beside him, before looking up with an even brighter smile. “Playing in the snow earlier has messed up my braids. You’re welcome to keep me company while I rebraid them.” 

          Folding his legs underneath him, it’s easy to relax across from Jinki. It’s then he sees the small blue bag, a few beads visible in the opening. “If you don’t mind me asking, what are those beads for? I see many of your people with them.” 

          “Oh, these?” He lifts the one he just removed from his hair between his finger and thumb. When Minho nods, he continues, “Each is handmade, with a different symbol depicting a feat you’ve overcome. You must earn each one.” 

          “And yours?” 

          Jinki picks the small bag up into his lap to pick one out, twirling it for a moment before holding it out. Squinting Minho can make out what looks like three rippling lines. “I got this when I swam the Rushing river upstream.”

          “What purpose is there to swim upstream?”

          “Gives you great breath control and upper body strength, but it’s mostly a right of passage a lot of wolves take in my pack. Or try to at least.” The bead was replaced, another picked up in it’s place. This one is handed to Minho, to roll down until it stops in his palm. He can feel how important each bead is to Jinki, it makes him grip it a little tighter as he turns it to see the symbol. On this one was a single curved line, a straight one bisecting it perpendicularly. “Archery. The higher you get in the trials, the more lines you have bisecting your bow on the bead.”

          “What’s your highest trial?” 

          “8.” A soft rouge brushes across his cheeks and nose, as his head dips. “I had to get another bead, the lines were too much for one.” 

          Minho gently grabs one of Jinki’s hands, carefully placing the bead in his palm before curling his fingers around it with a smile as the man meets his gaze. “They’re very beautiful. Thank you for sharing something so important to you with me.” 

          “Thank you for asking.” It’s a while later after Jinki’s returned to redoing his hair and putting the beads back that he speaks again, “I don’t think your brother is very fond of this arrangement.” 

          “Are you?”

          “I wish I had more time to get to know him before... Well, you know.” 

          Jinki’s fingers moving, twisting his hair with skilled familiarity, is almost hypnotic to Minho. “There should be more time, but patience as never been a strength of my brother’s or my father for that matter.”

          After the braid is tied, Jinki lets his hair fall back over his shoulder. “Thank you for keeping me company, but I think we should get some sleep. The second watch is about to begin.” 

          Glancing at the cave opening, Minho finds the guards are beginning to return from their patrols. Bowing his head as he raises, he bids Jinki goodbye. “See you in the morning.”

          “Goodnight, Minho.”

-----