(Okay, so school has got me so so so busy!!! I'm sorry for not posting very often... but that's why!!! And um, this is terrible so I apologize as well!!! And it's long so forgive me? Let me know what you think though please? Comments and constructive criticism are always welcome!!! Enjoy~) 

A normal hunt that was all it was supposed to be, a hunt. But now as Tao lay on the cold hard ground, a bear trap holding his front left paw in place and Jongin whimpering beside him, it was anything but. Jongin pressed his muzzle into the dark red fur of Tao's side whimpering and whining at his mate in worry. Tao whined back attempting to shift his body to better face his mate only to feel the claws of the bear trap pull through his flesh and causing fresh blood to flow. Tao grind his teeth in an attempt to keep any pained noises from escaping, he really didn't want to worry Jongin more than he already was.

Jongin whined as he stepped around Tao to take a look at the damaged paw that was trapped. With anther whine Jongin leaned down to attempt to the wound, to attempt to clean it. But as soon as he neared Tao let out a warning growl and Jongin jumped back. Tao didn't want Jongin anywhere near the trap; he didn't want Jongin to get himself cut by the offending trap. Jongin whined once again, but complied with Tao and instead moved back to lie down beside Tao, snuggling into his larger mates sides. Tao sighed as he laid his head down across Jongin's shoulders, letting out a slightly pained sigh before letting his eyes slip closed. He wanted Jongin to think he was okay so that his mate wouldn't worry, he didn't want Jongin to worry.

Tao lay awake as Jongin slumbered beside him. They were both waiting for the rise of the sun so that Tao could shift back to his human form and slip his hand out of the trap. But until the sun came up neither could slip from wolf to human. Tao sighed as he felt the edges of sleep begin to creep over him. The pain in his leg had becoming a numbing constant that his body didn't even register it anymore. The cuts in his paw and leg were deep; unable to heal due to the iron jaws still clamped down in his skin, but when he was free he knew Jongin would help clean the wounds which would speed the healing immensely.

Slowly Tao let sleep take over, his body finally beginning to relax, when the sound of cracking branches and rustling caught his attention. Immediately Tao's head shot up, ears pivoting to listen for the incoming intruder. Sizing up the incoming creature, Tao could tell that it wasn't something small, and that it wasn't something friendly. The low rumble of a bears snarl resounded through the darkness. Hackles raised, Tao growled in warning to the bear hoping it would be enough to scare the bear away. Panic set in when he realized that the bear wasn't shying away or heeding his warning, instead increasing its speed towards Tao and Jongin, who was still asleep.

Tao growled as the bear appeared from the brush, upper lip pulled back in a menacing state. His main priority was Jongin, Jongin who was timid and shy and couldn't hold his own against animals bigger than him; he had to make sure the bear stayed away from his mate. Jongin stirred from beside Tao, his eyes slowly opening still unaware of the danger until he heard the growl rip from Tao's throat. Jongin immediately looked up to see a large brown bear ambling towards them, a menacing look on its face and its upper lip pulled back in a snarl. Jongin whimpered and pulled in closer to Tao, his first instinct being to shy away and hide by his stronger mate. But the reality of it all set in and Jongin realize Tao was powerless against the bear with his foot caught in the trap. The fear that struck Jongin was immense, if Tao couldn't protect them then what?

Tao felt Jongin go stiff beside him and he immediately felt his own body tense. Jongin was scared, and he couldn't do anything about it. He wanted to comfort Jongin, lean down and rest his head in the youngers inky black fur and let him know it'd be alright, but he couldn't. Jongin began shifting beside Tao, standing up on wobbly legs and placing himself in front of Tao in an almost protective manner. Tao wanted to yell at Jongin, tell him to stop and to get behind him, but instead all he did was watch as Jongin snarled at the bear trying to make himself menacing. The bear immediately turned its attention to Jongin, snarling back and stalking forward. Jongin shied back on instinct before quickly gathering himself and growling back. Tao snarled as well, but it did nothing to stop the bear. Jongin snapped and snarled at the bear as it came closer and the bear in return stood up on its hind legs to bring itself to full height.

Tao watched in horror as Jongin lunged at the bear, successfully knocking the bear back but also further enraging the creature. Almost as if the world had turned in slow motion, Tao watched as the bear struck out against Jongin - its claws ripping into the soft flesh, cutting deep, of Jongin's side and throwing the wolf a few feet over. Jongin let out a pained cry as his body was ripped into then thudded against the hard ground, the bear getting up and ambling over towards Jongin. Tao was desperate to get to his mate, and to kill the bear, because he could see how shallow his breaths were coming and the thick red cuts that were pouring blood from the youngers sides.

It was a quick decision he had to make, it was either he loses his paw or his mate and obviously it wasn't going to be the latter of the two. Working fast Tao pushed his paw deeper into the trap, the adrenaline rushing through him numbing the pain, in order to hit the spring that rest at the bottom that would pop open the bear trap. As soon as his paw was on the metal bottom he pushed, ignoring the ripping of flesh, allowing for the trap to spring open and releasing him. Without a second thought Tao turned and launched himself at the bear, teeth bared and ears flat against his head, aiming for its throat in hopes of severing it's jugular. Latching his jaws into the bears throat Tao locked his jaws and bared down, feeling how the flesh shred like butter and the warm blood seeping onto his muzzle. When he thought he was deep enough he shook, shaking his head and the bears throat to truly severe and kill, sparing the bear no mercy for nearly killing his mate. The bear went limp in his hold and soon it's dead weight became too heavy so Tao dropped the bears carcass, moving to its hind fur and wiping off his muzzle.

After, semi, cleaning himself Tao immediately limped over to Jongin, checking to make sure nothing major was damaged or severed more than Jongin already was. When he established no main arteries or veins had been cut Tao immediately set out to clean the wounds, ever so gently over the immensely deep and large cuts on Jongin's side. A soft wet pressure to his injured paw caused Tao to jerk back in surprise and he looked down to see Jongin weakly trying to clean his own damaged paw. Tao dropped his head down to Jongin's, a long stripe up the youngers muzzle before gently nuzzling him and whining. Jongin tried to return the caring gesture but he was too injured and weak to even complete it. Tao whined worriedly, pushing Jongin's face away from his paw gently and began to clean at the cuts on Jongin once again.

Once he had completed this task Tao went and lay down beside Jongin, wrapping his own body around his mates to give the younger warmth and as a protective gesture. Tao whined once more and pushed his muzzle into the side of Jongin's neck. He was worried, scared even, for his mate. It was his fault Jongin was hurt now, his fault for being stupid and not paying attention to his surroundings and getting himself caught in a bear trap. With a huff and a whimper Tao allowed himself to succumb to the sudden onset of fatigue, falling asleep with his body tightly wrapped around Jongin.

The sound of an approaching animal woke Tao and he immediately perked up, listening for the incoming creature. A silver, almost white, wolf came into his view and began to approach the two wolves. Tao growled protectively causing the silver wolf to shy away. It wasn't until a large golden brown wolf put itself, protectively; in between Tao and the silver wolf did he realize that it was the alpha couple of his pack. Immediately Tao stopped protesting and laid his ears flat in a submissive manner. At this the silver wolf once again approached the two injured wolves, the alpha right behind him just in case, and began inspecting and assessing the injuries.

Tao watched as Joonmyun took in his torn paw and Jongin's beaten form before shifting into his human form, stark but that wasn't a fact to dwell on. "What happened to you guys?" Joonmyun asked as he took Tao's paw gently into his hands. It was when Tao whimpered and nudged his head in the direction of the dead bear and trap did Joonmyun understand. "Ohmy... Tao you guys could have been killed!" Joonmyun exclaimed as he moved away from Tao, placing his paw carefully on the ground, and moving to Jongin, who was asleep. "They're deep and it looks like an infection could be setting in, but he's okay." Joonmyun mumbled to himself as he brushed his hand, lightly, over Jongin's blood stained fur. "If you could the cuts clean he'd be alright. They're really deep and if infection sets in he could be in trouble." Joonmyun explained, addressing Tao. "And same with your paw. When he's awake and conscious enough he's going to have to help you too. That paw will heal fine but with the cleaning from your mate it'll speed it and give it a clean heal." Joonmyun explained as Tao made to get up and do as told. "Wait Tao not here, we have to get you guys back home. To clean it in the open, near a dead animal no less won't do you any good." Joonmyun said before turning to Kris. "We have to get the back to the village but you and I can't do it alone. Do you think you could summon the rest of the pack?" Joonmyun asked, if anyone else had spoken to the alpha as if giving an order they would have lost their head. But Kris nodded before moving off and letting out a long howl. "We're going to get you guys home where you'll be safe. Okay." Joonmyun told Tao in a soothing voice and Tao could only nod and wait for the rest of his pack to arrive.

It was evening and a breeze was blowing in through an open window but Tao didn't mind. He sat in an old arm chair, big enough for two, watching Jongin who was asleep in their bed. After the two had been dragged/carried back to their home Jongin had been woken up in order to help Tao's paw clean. It had been an effort but Jongin had managed the task before passing out again. Once Tao was done he moved to his younger mates side and began his own cleaning process, his tongue going over the cuts in soft even to cleanse it properly and pull out all infection. When that task was done Tao collapsed next to Jongin, his body tired and exhausted from the events that had occurred. He slept for a few hours before his body, having shifted to his human form along with Jongin while asleep, decided it didn't need sleep and instead to stretch and walk around. And that was how he got to now, sitting and rotating his left wrist in circles while watching over Jongin. "I'm so sorry this happened to you." Tao spoke out into the quiet of the room. "If I hadn't been so careless neither of us would have ended up like this, and you would have been perfectly fine." Tao apologized as he looked over Jongin's bare torso, long thick red scratches lay raised on his tanned skin.

"It's not your fault," a weak voice spoke and Tao jumped up, immediately making his way to the bed, when he realized it was Jongin. "It could've happened to anyone.. and that trap was hidden so well you couldn't have avoided it if you tried." Jongin told him, his voice soft and strained. "But the bear.." "Was something neither of us could have predicted. It's not your fault Tao. Please don't blame yourself." Jongin pleaded, cutting Tao off. Tao sighed as he sat down on the edge of their bed, fingers tracing over Jongin's skin lightly. "I wish I could have protected you. It should be me lying here torn up to shreds not you." Tao lamented. "No." Was Jongin's only reply. "No?" Tao echoed in confusion. "No. It shouldn't be you. You're always protecting me and taking care of me, I had to do it because I had to protect you this time." Jongin explained. "I protect because I love you, and cause you're pretty weak." Tao joked, and Jongin whined. "Am not." He mumbled, but Tao could tell Jongin was about ready to fall asleep again, having used too much energy talking. "You're right you're not weak, you're strong. Maybe not physically but you are strong in other ways. You're my rock. Now go to sleep. Rest. Your body needs it to heal properly." Tao explained as he leaned down and pressed a light kiss to Jongin's matted hair. "Sleep with me?" Jongin asked between a yawn, and Tao chuckled before slipping into the bed next to Jongin. "I love you." Jongin whispered before falling victim to sleep. "I love you too." Tao echoed to his now sleeping mate, before settling in and allowing himself to chase after the tail ends of sleep.

(*cries* I'm sorry for this....)