Ddung… Ddung…

The steady rhythm of Tao’s heart lulled Luhan into a light sleep. The beating was strong and the alpha knew that his beta will make it. Of course he would, he scolded himself. He was the strongest beta he’d ever met. With his mind clouded with sleep, Luhan tried to reach the others through the pack bond, he brushed against their consciousness lightly, assuring them of his support. He didn’t want to disturb them with speaking or even reading their minds. He trusted his betas, he trusted them to come home unharmed. His half-lidded eyes slowly drifted close. He was relaxed and warm, he felt safe.

***

The wolves tore through the bushes as they run, dodging trees and bigger rocks. The chase was on for a while, they started to get tired. Xiumin took the lead, he was the fastest, it was hard for the other two the keep up. They were lucky, that the brown wolves were much slower.

“We should turn left as soon as we can. We have to get back into our territory, I doubt they will continue to chase us there…” Chen’s voice was composed and calm, it helped to push down the panic level in the other wolves.

Xiumin took a sharp turn, paws skidding slightly on the muddy ground. Chen was right behind him. Lay slipped, two of his legs slid out from under his body. He tried to get up, but a sharp pain kept him down. The grip wasn’t strong enough, with a quick kick from his other leg the brown wolf’s jaw snapped close. It ripped open the flesh on his leg, but Lay pushed himself up, the panic blocked the pain in his system.

***
When Luhan opened his eyes he was curled to Tao’s side with the beta’s arm securely wrapped around his waist. The beta was still unconscious, his temperature was still higher than usual, but at least he wasn’t burning anymore. Luhan sighed and tried to sit up. He could feel that the others were nearby, he wanted to go and check on them. He had to pry open Tao’s fingers, they were digging into his hips.

When Tao finally let go the others were already inside. Luhan smelt blood, he almost tripped and fell down the stairs as he rushed down.

“What happened?!” He almost knocked Xiumin over to get to the couch were Lay was sitting. Chen was already wrapping a thick layer of bandage around his lower leg.

“We outran them, don’t worry. I slipped and one of those ers thought that my leg would be a great meal…”

“YiXing, language!” he rolled his eyes at Chen. The other boy didn't like cussing, even though he used the bad words too.

“At least we know he’s all right if he can use his foul mouth.” Xiumin grinned, ruffling the younger beta’s hair as he passed behind him. With a low growl he slapped the other’s hand away.

“Hey, you two, stop that. We have important things to discuss. First of all, how’s Tao?” Chen stood up with a slight frown. When they reached the house he checked the other beta through the pack bond, but his mind were all blank.

“He’s sleeping, regenerating I think. But he’s really out of it. He’ll recover, but I still worry. He was injured before, but he never had to sleep this deep to heal…” Luhan worried his lower lip between his teeth. He failed as an alpha.

“He’ll be fine, don’t worry. Let’s go and do a massive cuddle session, we all need that at the moment.” Xiumin patted his shoulder before heading upstairs with Chen at his heels. Luhan was left alone whit Lay, who tried to get up from the couch, failing miserably. He shouldn’t put much pressure on his injured leg, but his body was exhausted from the long running. He had to push himself extremely hard to keep up with the others.

Luhan rushed to his side, wrapping an arm around his middle, supporting most of his weight. They waddled to the stairs together, and the young alpha cursed the others in his head. After Tao, now he had to drag Lay up the stairs too.

“Yixing, you know this forest more than any of us. We weren’t on their territory, were we?” his voice sounded unsure. He never paid enough attention to his surroundings, so he didn’t really know the borders of the territories. He never wandered so far away from the house anyway, he could always get back home by using his nose instead of his sight.

“You weren’t. You were in the common lands, they had no reason and what’s more, no right to attack you. We should report them.”

“We can’t…” Yixing wanted to protest but Luhan shook his head. “We don’t know who they are. I… I can’t even remember their scent. And as an alpha, I would be the one who have to identify them. If the council ask me, I can’t say much. They were middle-sized brown wolves. That’s all.” Luhan sighed. He was really a bad alpha. He should’ve memorize their scents, so if he run into them, in the woods or in the city, he could recognize them. But no, he was so blinded by fear that he couldn’t even do that. A two year old wolf can remember others scent for Christ’s sake!

He tried to push down the anger that rose inside him when Lay looked at him with a slight frown he forced a smile and shook his head, implying that it was nothing. He was a horrible alpha.

He helped Lay to the bed then crawled on it himself, twisting and turning, pushing the others a bit till he could wiggle himself into his previous spot next to Tao. The latter’s arm didn’t wrap around him this time, but it didn’t matter. His pack surrounded him, and his wolf finally relaxed.

His pack was beaten, but they didn’t break. They’re gonna be fine.

Luhan’s eyes drifted close for the second time that day.

***

The alpha’s eyes flew open as he suddenly sat up, pushing some limbs off of his chest. The others grumbled and tried to settle down again. It’s in the wolves’ nature to always wanting to be as close as possible to their alpha, seeking comfort and protection, so Luhan had a hard time climbing out of the bed. But he had to go. His wolf was growling and pacing inside. When he was finally free from the blanket of hot werewolves – it wasn’t that cold yet, and he felt like burning under the heat – he could concentrate, trying to sense what made his wolf so agitated. His breath hitched when he found it.

Someone was on their territory. He could smell that he was in human form, but the smell was unfamiliar, and definitely alpha. A low growl erupted from his chest. You couldn’t just walk into another pack’s territory without asking for permission.

Even Tao’s eyes cracked open at his heavy reaction.

“What’s the matter, XiaoLu?” Chen pushed Xiumin’s head off of his stomach as he sat up, rubbing his eyes with one hand. They couldn’t feel it yet…

“Someone’s coming. I can’t recognize him, he could be our friend or also our enemy. We should go and meet him. Yixing, you stay here with Tao.”

“But…” Luhan didn’t want to use his powers, but his wolf forced him to use his alpha glare on them. When the redness from his eyes faded, he turned quickly to leave the room. His wolf didn’t let him bring the two already injured beta near new danger, even though the bite on Lay’s leg was almost healed completely.

Chen and Xiumin followed their alpha without a word, mentally preparing themselves for another fight.

He met the wolf halfway through the front yard. He was tall, probably the same height as Tao. Board shoulders, sharp features. He was definitely well built under the white shirt that was stretched on his chest. He didn’t seem to be crazy, but something was really off about his scent, his aura. It made Luhan’s skin itch.

“I heard that the new alpha is a pretty boy, but I didn’t except this. You look really fragile. And delicious too. I bet I could eat you up.” his tongue run along his lower lip, eyes looking over Luhan from the bottom to the top. He was intimidating.

“You shouldn’t talk like that about our alpha, in or own territory, we can easily rip you apart…” Xiumin stepped closer to Luhan, trying to shield him from the other alpha’s gaze.

“Shut up beta, I wasn’t talking to you.” his eyes flashed red, and Xiumin had to grit teeth to keep his words in. He shouldn’t insult an alpha they don’t know, he shouldn’t insult an alpha at all.

“Actually I'm here to apologize for my betas’ behavior. They only became wolves a few weeks ago, and they’re overprotective of our territory. You wandered too close to the border, that’s why they attacked you, they felt the need to protect what’s our own. I hope we can solve this problem without turning to the council.” He was staring right into Luhan’s eyes, the young alpha felt like he could see his soul, his wolf inside. He clenched his fists and looked away, finally being able to breath again.

“I don’t even know you, why should I believe in what you say?”

“I heard from my betas that you wasn’t on the top of the situation even though you were present the whole time. You have quite a large territory here, I don’t know if the council would be okay with an alpha owning so much land with so little power…” Luhan felt the bones crack in his fist. He was angry at himself, sure, but how dare some random alpha come here, to their own home and mock him, threaten him… Chen’s arm lightly brushed against his, and it was enough to calm the bubbling rage down in his alpha.

“The apology is accepted, though I don’t even know you and your pack.”

“You don’t know a lot of things, little alpha, but if you’re this curious…” the stranger chuckled as he stepped closer, into Luhan’s personal space. His betas growled, but the alpha didn’t care, he leaned down next to the other’s ear. “My name is…” his voice was barely a whisper, the betas couldn’t even make the last, most important word out. He smirked as he straightened his back, his lips again. "The others were right, you smell good too..." That voice sent a shiver down Luhan's spine, but he tried to stay composed. The wolf looked into his eyes again and turned around, saying good bye with only a wave of his hand.

“Xiumin, tomorrow you have to go back to the library, I know you can access books about packs and their members. Chen, I know that your friend circle is unusually big, you have to ask around a bit.” they nodded without knowing what they should search for.

“We have to gather everything we can about this Siwon guy. I think… I think he’ll challenge me…” Luhan’s voice trembled lightly. He could barely control his pack, he wasn’t ready to take a challenge. And when an alpha is challenged, he couldn’t back down.

Wohooo~ Finally an update~

I had a hard time deciding about the other pack, so that's why this took so long, sorry guys ToT

So what do you think, what will happen? OmO

Siwon really wants to challenge Lulu for their territory? OmO

Or he wants something entirely different? OmO

Please comment and hit the subscribe button if you like my story so far, it really makes me happy OuO 

Oh and if you're there to subscribe please upvote also~