A/N: check bottom for TW

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It had been pitch black out for hours, the dead of night, and something told Donghyuck he had to go to Mark's. 

It was just a feeling, a premonition. But the tugging in Donghyuck's heart just, sort of, made him do it. Even if his parents were home, even if he got caught. He had a feeling Mark would want him there.

So as quietly as possible Donghyuck slid out of his bed, pushed open the window, and climbed his way out of his cabin. 

it was freezing out but Donghyuck ran through the cold wind in his pajamas, knowing the warmth of Mark's home would take the chill away. And when he finally reached Mark's window he pushed open the fogged up glass and hoisted himself inside, it was. He shut the window as quickly as he could, not wanting to make Mark even colder than he already was, and breathed a soft sigh of relief. 

Maybe his warmth was due to the blazing fire in the small room, the only light in its pitch black. But maybe it was Mark's handsome, beatiful sleeping face. 

Donghyuck smiled as he gazed at him even as his heart panged. 

Before Mark's heat Donghyuck really, truly thought Mark was getting better. He was still slight and skinny and frail but there was color in his cheeks and his skin wasn't like ice to the touch. 

But once Mark's heat ended...all of that had gone away. 

The extra meat he'd gained fell off his body. The chill returned and he was paler, more colorless than even before Donghyuck came back into his life. His voice was gruff and most of the time when Donghyuck came over after school, Mark had just been napping, not reading like he did before his heat. He was getting worse and they both knew it. 

And it was obvious, even just by looking at his mate's sleeping frame. 

It hurt him to see Mark like this. It hurt because there was a chance this all came from their heat, their love, that experience Donghyuck cherished so much in his own heart. He couldn't help but blame himself, a little, even though Mark would've gotten a heat whether or not Donghyuck was in his life. 

But Donghyuck sighed deeply and kicked off his shoes. These moments with Mark were precious. He couldn't waste them. So he pushed aside that horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach and crawled into bed next to Mark. 

His omega was shivering but as soon as Donghyuck wrapped his arms around him he relaxed, just a little bit, Donghyuck steeling himself to that feeling of ice on his skin so that he could give his Mark the warmth he needed. Mark breathed a soft, sleepy, sigh of relief and Donghyuck pushed aside the collar of his pajamas with a smile. There it was, on his neck, the mating mark. And Donghyuck really smiled. 

"D-Donghyuck?" Mark mumbled, his eyes briefly blinking open. 

"Yes, its me," Dongyuck answered ever gently. 

"Mmh...'m glad you're here." 

"I'm glad to." 

Mark's eyes fluttered back shut and with a lingering caress to his gaunt cheek, Donghyuck fell asleep too. 

~~~~~~~~~~

Donghyuck awoke when it was still mostly dark out. 

It took him a second to remember where he was, listening. It was completely silent. Normally, Donghyuck guessed, Jaehyun and Doyoung would be preparing for the hunt. But they had both pleaded with Taeyong to stay home at least in the mornings, ever since Mark's heat and disappearance. They, too, knew Mark's condition these days was just getting worse, and worse, and worse. 

But it was silent. The only sounds in the room were the fire and his own breathing. 

Donghyuck jolted up to sitting; Mark. 

His heart dropped into his stomach. He couldn't hear Mark breathing. He wanted to throw up. He had to check but he didn't want to. He was already crying for 's sake. 

But Donghyuck took a shallow, shaky breath and turned to look at his mate. 

He was completely still. Even the rise and fall of his chest was absent and in one last, desperate attempt to keep himself afloat Donghyuck stuck his finger under Mark's nose to see if he could feel the air from his breathing, but, nothing. He let his trembling fingers touch Mark's limp wrist, his neck, but there was no pulse to be felt. 

It was real. This whole moment Donghyuck had been afraid of dealing with, not letting himself think about, was here. 

Technically, he knew it was coming all along. He had known it and Mark had told him, repeatedly, that this was their fate. But part of Donghyuck had refused to listen. Part of Donghyuck always thought Mark just magically might get better, and that they could have a life together, and even if Donghyuck had to take care of Mark a little they would still be happy together. At one point, there had even been a chance. But since Mark's heat Donghyuck should have known, should have come to terms with it. 

But he'd just wanted to be happy with Mark. 

The weight of the moment finally hit Donghyuck like a ing punch to the gut and he slapped a hand over his mouth, covering a silent scream, tears streaming down his face uncontrollably. His heart throbbed and Donghyuck knew his body would react to this as much as his mind would, he loved Mark to the moon and back and his body knew that. His body felt his pain, felt the feeling of losing a mate and Donghyuck kind of felt like he was going to die too. 

Donghyuck fell off of the bed but he didn't even notice, the crash reverberating throughout the cabin but Donghyuck just sat there on the floor, not knowing where to look, what to do, how to feel other than empty. Like half of himself had been snatched away. 

The crash was soon followed by the sound of running through the house and loud chatter, but Donghyuck couldn't hear. His ears were ringing. He felt like he wasn't even there. 

But he returned to earth when Doyoung and Jaehyun slammed open the door to the room. 

"Donghyuck? What are you-" Doyoung spoke before Jaehyun noticed Mark, and froze. With shaking fingers, Jaehyun did everything Donghyuck had done: tested his pulse, his breathing, looked at his chest. 

"M-Mark..." Jaehyun stuttered, shaking the dead body of his son. "Mark..." 

Doyoung's jaw dropped and he just stared at that ground. Jaehyun looked over his son, his face, his neck, before pulling down the collar. 

Donghyuck was basically in another world but he noticed when Jaehyun released a breath, looking from the mating mark on Mark's neck to Donghyuck's shaking, sobbing, silent figure up against the wall to his own mate. He beckoned Doyoung closer and Doyoung gave it only the briefest of glances. It was clear that they now understood everything but Donghyuck couldn't find the will in him to give a , in fact, to care about literally anything at that moment except the loss of his darling Mark. 

It was so quiet. Nobody could speak. It was like Mark's own silence left all of them speechless, even with tears streaming down all of their faces. Their cries and sobs were silent in the dark gloom of Mark's old room. 

But finally, Jaehyun broke up. He turned to Donghyuck with a voice controlled into emotionless stability. 

"Do you want to carry him to Kun's?" Jaehyun asked. 

Donghyuck nodded. "Yes," he choked out, in between sobs. 

So Jaehyun and Doyoung stepped aside so Donghyuck could pick him up. It wasn't the sweet koala bear hold Mark had given him when they'd ran away for Mark's heat. No, all Donghyuck could do was scoop him up, bridal style, still not even able to think about anything else but keeping Mark comfortable in his hold. It didn't matter, but it was all Donghyuck could think about. 

"Let's go," Jaehyun muttered, and the three walked out of the cabin into the cold morning air. The air was refreshing and it was nice not to be trapped anymore in that ing stuffy, overheated house. But it didn't make Donghyuck feel better. 

He walked beside Doyoung and Jaehyun. The three all took a slow pace, Doyoung completely buried in Jaehyun's arms, the beta holding onto his alpha so tightly. ...if Donghyuck felt bad, losing his mate, he couldn't imagine what it would be like to lose your child that you made. Donghyuck's tears fell onto the shirt of Mark's pajamas. 

"I can't even look at him," Doyoung tearfully whispered into the crook of Jaehyun's neck. 

"Me too, me too," Jaehyun answered. Donghyuck sighed, and they finally reached Kun's. 

Jaehyun stepped to the door and knocked, and Kun quickly answered. 

He grinned. "Hey guys-" The smile immediately fell off of the omega healer's face seeing Jaehyun, Doyoung, and Donghyuck's faces, and Mark's body in Donghyuck's arms. "Alright. Follow me." 

Kun led the three of them through his healing hut into the private room, shutting the door behind him. 

"Kun, please," Doyoung begged. 

"Donghyuck, can you put him on the bed?" Kun asked. Donghyuck could see in his eyes how destroyed Kun felt as well. But it was obvious he was trying to stay strong, keeping his healer stability, for the other three's sake. 

Donghyuck set him on the bed so gently, like he really was just asleep that Doyoung hiccuped a little. Quickly Kun looked him over, hiding his face from the rest of them. 

"Kun, please!" Doyoung repeated. 

"One moment, one moment..." Kun mumbled. Doyoung sobbed loudly and slumped over in the corner of the private room. 

"Kun, can you bring him back? Kun...Kun...he's not gone yet, right? You can bring him back?" Jaehyun spoke loudly. 

"Jaehyun-" 

"Bring him back!" The alpha cried. "Bring him back Kun!" 

Donghyuck just stared down at Mark's still body. Speechless, empty. Taking in the chaos around him, Jaehyun's anger, Doyoung's depression, Kun's clinical analysis, but none of it absorbed. He was simply a vessel. 

"Bring. Him. Back!" Jaehyun growled in the most alpha voice he could muster. Doyoung and Kun shuddered. 

"I can't!" Kun cried back. He finally turned to the other three and they could all see the tears shining in his own eyes. They all fell silent again. "I...I can't. He's been gone for hours." Kun hiccuped as the tears began to drip down his own cheeks. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." 

And with that Donghyuck and Jaehyun's tears started up again, quiet, shaking as they hid their faces from the other two. Kun cried for another moment or two more before swallowing back his tears and taking a deep breath. 

"I'm sorry," Kun repeated. "He...what a sweet boy, that Mark. What a sweet boy. I...this must only be making it worse. Let me...let me continue my work." 

With that Kun fell silent again, obviously expending so much energy to try and keep himself together. Jaehyun sighed too and walked to the corner where Doyoung was still sobbing, simply standing next to him. Donghyuck gave Mark another glance before walking to the opposite corner. He didn't want to make this more difficult for Kun; get in his way. 

It could have been minutes or hours when one of them finally spoke again. It was Jaehyun. 

"What did it?" He asked. 

"Uh?" Kun, clearly in his own thoughts, turned to Jaehyun. 

"Wh...what did it, in the end?" Jaehyun repeated. His voice was rough and quiet and completely broken. Donghyuck knew that if he spoke, he'd sound like that too. 

Kun sighed deeply and gave Mark another once over before his eyes landed on his neck. "It had to have been his heat. It must have been too much for his body to handle." 

Donghyuck sighed himself and let his head fall between his legs. 

"So wait...you're telling me that Donghyuck, who, clearly was the one who gave Mark this mark and mated him, was the one that killed my only son?" Jaehyun spoke, slowly, deliberately, his voice trembling. 

"You killed him?" Doyoung spoke, his voice shaking even harder than Jaehyun's. "You had ing heat with my sick son and killed him? Oh my god..." 

"ing disgusting ," Jaehyun growled. Donghyuck looked up, sensing the tension in the room, and saw Jaehyun's muscles all clenching, as if he was preparing for attack. 

"You motherer!" Doyoung screamed at the top of his lungs. " you! you Donghyuck! Selfish teenage alpha, who doesn't even care about our sick son! you!" 

And suddenly, Jaehyun charged. 

Now everyone knew Jaehyun was the best fighter in the pack so Donghyuck took a deep breath, readying himself. Jaehyun threw the first punch and Donghyuck managed to dodge it, luckily. 

"Oh my god," Kun breathed out. 

And Donghyuck calmed down, a little. He shouldn't get all alpha right now; there was an omega in the room. He sensed Jaehyun and his own attack pheromones climbing higher so he willed himself to calm down. He gripped Jaehyun's fist in his hand, holding it back, trying to get the adult alpha to bring it down. 

"Doyoung! Jaehyun!" Donghyuck cried, still fighting against Jaehyun's strenght. "Yeah. Maybe the heat did kill him. But how much longer would he have lived anyways if it didn't happen? Would a few extra weeks have been worth it? To die without experiencing heat, or being mated, or love? Do you think it would have been ing worth it? And anyways," Donghyuck paused to sigh. "He would have had a heat anyways, whether or not I was there to help him through it. That would have put a strain on his body anyways." 

"Donghyuck is right," Kun finally spoke up. "If he was going to live to have a heat, it would be bad for him, no matter if he was alone or with an alpha. In fact, going through a heat without any alpha help probably would have been worse for him." 

Jaehyun and Doyoung fell silent again. They paused, just a few moments. And slowly, Jaehyun lowered his fist. He detensed and burst into sobs wracking his whole body. Doyoung followed and he got up from his corner to hold his alpha. 

The tears came back to Donghyuck's eyes too and he stood there, defeated, in the middle of that private room. 

And suddenly, the door burst open. 

"Oh my god, Donghyuck, what are you doing here? We've been looking for you for hours you just disappeared-" Johnny spoke, Taeil by his side as they began to step inside the private room. 

"Get the out of here," Jaehyun growled. Johnny tensed a little and Taeil looked worried. 

"Please," Donghyuck said between sobs. "Listen to him." 

"Oh my god, what is happening?" Taeil cried. 

"Guys guys guys guys guys," Kun mumbled and grabbed Johnny and Taeil, leading them out of the door. 

Donghyuck thought he heard the mumbling of Kun explaining what happened to his parents but Donghyuck couldn't really manage to give a , going over to Mark's body. He peered over him for a brief moment before looking at his even more colorless face, brushing some of his hair out of his eyes. 

Doyoung, too, stepped on the other side of the bed while Jaehyun hideously sobbed in the corner. 

"I'm sorry," Doyoung whispered. "You...you loved him too, I guess." 

All Donghyuck could do was nod back, as Kun stepped back inside. 

"Donghyuck, your parents really want to talk to you." 

Donghyuck gave his lover's body one last lingering glance before tearing himself away, walking out of the door to see his parents staring at him. 

"Oh sweetie..." Taeil said softly, hugging his son tightly. "Donghyuck, how could you have mated him? Given him the mark? You knew this was going to happen..." 

"I...we're really sorry, Donghyuck, but we can't believe you just...threw away a chance for a mated life. You can't give the mark again, you know," Johnny added. 

Donghyuck hiccuped and cried before taking a deep breath. "This...this is why I didn't tell you guys. You'd never understand. I just knew you two wouldn't get that Mark is all I've ever wanted. It's okay that I can't mate again. I'm okay with it, because I got to be with Mark for a little while." 

"But Donghyuck-" 

"Please listen," Donghyuck interrupted his father Taeil. "I'm never going to want anyone else anyways. I got to mate him. I got to make the end of his life happy and full of love. I got to be with him for a little while. It hurts now, but it's okay. He deserved that. I deserved that." 

"Donghyuck, when you get older, I don't know if you'll feel the same way," Johnny spoke. 

"Dad, papa, none of us know how I'll feel in the future. We just don't know. You're right, I might feel differently than I do now. But I think I'll always feel the same: that I don't regret it. I couldn't regret it. I'm glad I did everything I did." 

Taeil and Johnny let go of their son and looked at him, pain and pity in their eyes. Donghyuck knew all they did was love him. They just wanted him to have a good and happy future. It was hard for them to fathom that being tied to Mark forever was Donghyuck's happiness. But they were trying their best. 

"I...I need to be in there with Mark again. I'm sorry," Donghyuck said. He didn't even know he was capable of more tears but he could feel them springing in his eyes. "Just...go home. I might need a while." 

"Alright. We understand," Johnny and Taeil said, starting to turn away. 

"Wait," Donghyuck spoke. They turned around briefly. "I hope you know I can't regret it. I just hope you know." 

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A/N: I didn't want to spoil/ruin the shock factor of anything for people who dont need TW so i decided to do it this way for people who do. So...

TW: death and description of dead body (just a small and not too in depth)