You rolled onto your side, feeling the sheets against your bare skin as you propped your head up, smiling sadly at the man that lay beside you. It was going behind his back, both of their backs. You knew it wasn’t the right thing to do, but you couldn’t help whom your heart belonged to. As the Omega of your father’s pack, you had always known you would be married off to another pack and therefore tried to protect your heart from others, not wanting to hurt anyone or yourself whenever the time came. As an Omega and an Alpha’s daughter, you were twice as vulnerable, and so your father had planned since your birth to marry you off to another pack’s Alpha. It would not only protect you from being hurt due to your status, but it would also mask that you were an Alpha’s daughter. Your family had tried to hide your status as an Omega from everyone, due to it being bad appearance upon your father, but it was hard to.

When you were told you were betrothed to Jiyong, Alpha of the pack that titled themselves Big Bang, you started to feel as if your life was coming to an end. You didn’t want to be married off or mated, and while your brief interaction with Jiyong had you sure he would never hurt you, you were afraid of being under another Alpha’s rule. For the months you were sent to see Jiyong, so that you could get to know each other, there were several times where you were left with the Beta while Jiyong dealt with Pack business. The first moment you saw Choi Seunghyun, your heart raced faster than it ever had. It seemed like it was your first true rush of adrenalin and all you wanted was to get to know him. Over the next few weeks, you found yourself falling for him, something you tried to keep yourself from doing but you just couldn’t help yourself. Seunghyun was perfect and you felt like the two of you were soul mates. You were both made for each other and something within you was changing. You found yourself possessive and more volatile than any Omega should be. Your stomach fluttered with a need that was unfamiliar and it had you more than stumped. Fast forward a couple of months and here you were, lying beside a disrobed Seunghyun. It was the first time you had ever been this exposed and not shifting forms. It was so intimate and being the first night you and Seunghyun actually slept together, it made it all the more heartbreaking that you were going to have to end it. You reached over, running your hand through his hair before leaning over and pressing your lips against his temple. You heard a groan emit deep within his chest and saw his eyes blinking their way open. His slid his gaze over to you, a lazy smile gracing his lips at once.

“Morning, love,” his voice was laced with sleep and you felt your insides turning to mush at the huskiness. He rolled onto his side and pressed his lips against yours, running his hand through your hair tenderly, “Did you sleep well?”

“I slept fine,” you replied softly, nuzzling your nose against his before rolling out of bed, rising to your feet and dressing with unnatural speed. You felt Seunghyun’s eyes following your every move before you heard him get up, doing the same. He came behind you and wrapped his arms around your waist, pressing his lips against your neck.

“You’re upset.” It wasn’t a question. Seunghyun knew your moods better than even yourself, something you found yourself loving.

“This is bad, Seunghyun,” you turned in his arms, resting your palms against his chest, “I’m betraying not only my promise to my father, but Jiyong’s trust. It may not be what either of us want, but they have a promise. Going against that… it feels wrong.”

“Do you love me?” It was a simple question with a not so simple answer.

“I do, you know I do,” you pleaded softly, tears making their way to your eyes, “But we can’t be together, Seunghyun. You know that as well as I do. If Jiyong or my father found out… We’d both be dead meat.”

“Damn both of them,” he said quickly, pulling away from you and pacing the room, running his fingers through his hair in frustration, “You’re mine, ______. Don’t you understand that? I love you. We were made for each other. Us wolves mate forever and you are my beginning and ending. It’s you or no one, love. I don’t care what they say!”

“Seunghyun, dearest,” you hurried over to him, pulling his hands from his hair and holding them between yours, “You know as well as I do that you can’t go against Jiyong. He’s your Alpha and you’re his Beta. You care for him as if he were blood related. You know you won’t hurt him and we can’t make him hurt you. That would eat him inside out, knowing that he harmed not only his second-in-command, but his best friend.”

“So we’re just suppose to live in misery?” his voice was filled with angst as he looked at you, his brow furrowed, “You’re doomed for a life of a relationship without love and I’m suppose to sit back and watch the love of my life live my dream with another?” You rested your head against his chest, your arms going around him as tears built up once more.

“I don’t want to be with anyone but you, Seunghyun,” you said softly, feeling his arms go around you, holding you to his chest tightly, “but we were doomed from the start. We knew this would have to happen eventually.”

“_______,” he tilted your chin up, pressing his lips to yours hastily before pulling away and sighing, “There’s absolutely nothing we can do?” You blinked away the tears and shook your head slowly, “I’ll never love another. You will always be my everything.”

“As you will be mine,” you replied, hugging him around the neck tightly, pressing your lips to his once more, “I’ll never love anyone again, Seunghyun. Only you.”

The day of your wedding drew closer and closer, and with each passing day, the void in your heart grew greater. Seunghyun had started avoiding you after that day, trying to distance himself from you so that it would be a little easier, but it only made it that much harder. Jiyong was always watching you but you couldn’t understand what he was thinking. You felt like he was hiding something and it made you worry that he knew about you and Seunghyun, but if he did, he made no comment or pass about it. You spent most of your time in Jiyong’s territory, confining yourself to your room, trying to avoid running into Seunghyun. You wanted to see him so bad, but you knew it was best for both of you if you didn’t. You heard someone knock on your door and told them to enter before seeing Jiyong pop his head around the door.

“Are you busy?” his words came out low and even though he wasn’t doing it purposely, authority resonated through his voice. It was what Alpha’s could do. They were able to stop any one of their pack members with a single word, if it held enough power in it. Jiyong just radiated dominance from his pores, that’s how powerful he was.

“Not really,” you replied, pulling the blanket that you were wrapped in around you tighter. You felt uncomfortable around him, but it was something you were going to have to get used to. You would eventually have to mate with him… it was only a matter of time.

“Good. May I come in?” you nodded and watched as he entered, shutting the door behind him and lingering around it before walking over and setting at the edge of the bed, “The planners were wondering if just your family was coming to the wedding or if your entire pack was. We have room for ten, but if we need more we can accommodate.”

“I assume the entire pack,” you said softly, sitting up and sliding slightly away from him, “My father usually never leaves the pack alone without him or his Beta, who is my cousin, so I assume everyone will travel here. Shall I call him?”

“You can do it later,” he said, standing up and looking around the room, seeming uncomfortable for the first time since you met him. You didn’t even know he was capable of feeling that way. “Have you had lunch? Maybe we can get to know each other a little more?” You wanted to cry. You wanted to say know. You wanted to be in Seunghyun’s arms or curled in the dark alone. You didn’t want to be with this man in front of you, no matter how nice he has been, but you couldn’t get what you wanted, so you nodded and got up, letting him lead you out of the house and down the street. It wasn’t a long walk until you came to one of the town’s cafés. You went inside and sat in a booth towards the back, ignoring the stares of the local humans and the few shifters that were dining there. You sat down as Jiyong sat beside you, watching your every move.

He knew everything. He knew that you had been sneaking around with Seunghyun for the past few months and that this entire week his Beta had been avoiding you. He wanted to withdrawal his promise to your father, but it was blood bound. He made an agreement and breaking that… it could be detrimental. Your father had been a great ally to have so far, he didn’t want to see what it would be like to have him as an enemy. He sighed and ordered for the both of you, ignoring the scowl that appeared on your face as he took charge before it flitted away quickly. Four months ago, you would have never done that. As an Omega, you would have never done something that could be seen as an attack, but he’s watched something change your attitude over this time. A biological change as well. He smelt the change in the pheromones inside you every time he walked past you, and he knew it was due to your relationship with Seunghyun. He had a strong sense of smell, so smelling the change in your body wasn’t hard for him, but he didn’t know how to describe it. It was unlike anything his pack had ever gone through. Those women who had began carrying a child went through changes that every shifter could sense, it was natural for their scent to change, but this was unlike this. It was more feral, almost as if you were taking on his Beta’s status, but that only happened when two were mated. It was unheard of without the mating ritual, and never this strongly so soon. He remained silent the entire dinner, going against his original thought to get to know each other, but he was distracted. Something was different and not knowing pissed him off a bit, but he forced himself to remain calm around you. He would never hurt an innocent pack member, especially an Omega. While most looked at them as the bottom of the food chain, he saw something different in them. They were the piece to an unfinished puzzle. He noticed how his pack had become less hot-blooded since you arrived. They began feeling as if it was their duty to protect you, and it was. That was why he agreed to this arrangement in the first place. Your father was embarrassed of an Omega, despite it being his own daughter, but Jiyong felt the need to protect you. And in that, the only option was to mate you into the pack.

“Jiyong?” your voice drew him from his thoughts and he looked up, furrowing his brow as he waited for you to speak, “I asked if you were done?” He looked to her now empty plate and back down at his. He had apparently finished his food while he was lost in his thoughts. He nodded, placing his fork down and throwing cash down on the table before leading you out the door. He saw him before you did, and felt the anger rolling off his Beta as he noticed them walking together. He narrowed his eyes at his Beta, watching him carefully as Seunghyun fought against his instincts to show Jiyong who you belonged to. Jiyong felt sadness coming off you in waves as you saw Seunghyun across the street. You turned your head away, missing the anger and possessiveness that flashed in Seunghyun’s eyes. Jiyong watched as his Beta finally made a decision and crossed the street, stepping in front of him, their chests touching in what was quickly understood as a challenge.

“Don’t do this, Seunghyun,” you heard Jiyong speak lowly, dominance lacing his voice as you felt the commanding push, making you flinch back. You heard Seunghyun let out a deep growl and wondered how Seunghyun was able to deflect an order from his Alpha, unless… No. Seunghyun couldn’t be. You wouldn’t allow him too.

“I have to.” There was no room for argument in his voice and you looked up to see his eyes narrowed at Jiyong, “I won’t stand around and let this happen anymore. I’m through with being compliant and obeying what the Alpha wants. Not when she’s involved.”

“You know what this means, right?” You looked towards Jiyong, wanting to plead for him not to accept Seunghyun’s challenge. Jiyong was Alpha for a reason, and Seunghyun wouldn’t stand a chance against him. You could live your life not able to love Seunghyun openly, but to see him hurt or worse… You would never allow it.

“J-Jiyong, please…” you began, only to feel the mute command of silence sent from him. You shut your mouth quickly and watched as Jiyong seethed in anger.

“You understand what you’re doing, Seunghyun?” he repeated, waiting for his Beta’s reply. He didn’t want to do this, not to his best friend, but as Alpha he could not refuse an attack at his status. He couldn’t risk it.

“Of course I do,” Seunghyun finally replied and you could feel the signs of both of their bodies beginning the change. You looked around and noticed some human bystanders and tugged on Jiyong’s shirt gently.

“Not here,” you said softly, glancing to the humans. He followed your gaze before nodding, turning and heading off into the forest with Seunghyun in tow. You tried to follow them as quickly as possible but found yourself almost tripping in your haste. They finally reached a private clearing and Jiyong walked to the other side, turning around to face the two of you. You looked to Seunghyun and grabbed onto his wrist as he tried to step forward, “Don’t do this. He could kill you, Seunghyun.”

“I’d rather die by his hand than to be here to see you two wed,” he spoke softly, hoping that the Alpha couldn’t hear your conversation, “I can’t live apart from you anymore.”

“I don’t want to see you go, Seunghyun. I love you too much,” you felt tears surface and he quickly wiped them away.

“Don’t cry, love,” he glanced at Jiyong before sighing and leaning forward, kissing your forehead gently, “If I don’t live through this… I’ll wait for you forever, on the other side. I beg of you, don’t take too long, my love.”

“Don’t say that!” you gripped his arm tighter as he tried to step away, your voice going weaker as you started crying, “Don’t say that, Seunghyun. You don’t mean it. Just back out of it.”

“Too late for that, ______,” he kissed your forehead again before gripping your wrist, pulling your hand away from his arm and letting you go, striding forward. Your heart twisted tightly as you watched him start running, Jiyong matching his strides quickly before both of them jumped, bursting into fur instantly and colliding mid air. You tried to look away, not wanting to see the love of your life die, but you couldn’t pull your gaze away. You saw them tumble around the grass and jaws were snapping every turn. You couldn’t tell who was who until they pulled away and stood apart, noticing Jiyong was the bigger one. Seunghyun was covered in speckles of blood, as was Jiyong, but you didn’t know whose blood it was. You were about to call out for them to stop before they launched themselves at each other again, Jiyong quickly pinning Seunghyun underneath him. Seunghyun’s eyes went to you and he seemed to have a burst of energy. He bucked Jiyong off of him and snapped his jaw towards Jiyong’s neck, his teeth grazing the fur, ripping some of Jiyong’s skin off but not doing detrimental damage. You saw Jiyong growl loudly before turning on Seunghyun, snapping and biting onto his hide legs, bringing Seunghyun down whimpering. He pulled from Seunghyun and towered over him, his jaw opening and blood dripping from his canines. You gasped as you saw Seunghyun’s eyes flicker with life before dulling slightly. You let out a cry as you rushed onto the battlefield, using what momentum you had to knock Jiyong away enough for you to kneel by Seunghyun’s head.

“S-Seung?” You let out a cry and cradled his head onto your lap, brushing the fur on his neck and flinching when your hand became coated in blood, the same blood you were sure was his now. He let out a whimper, struggling to lift his head, bumping his nose against your other hand. You wound your arms around his and pressed your forehead against his, feeling fur transition to skin as Seunghyun returned to his human state before you. You felt a hand against your cheek and you looked down, seeing Seunghyun looking up at you. You pushed your cheek into his hand and let out a quiet sob as he grunted, using the last of his energy to push himself up, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you to his chest. His blood was soaking your shirt and jeans, but at this moment you didn’t care. The love of your life was going to die before you and you couldn’t see living without him. His words from earlier came to mind. Don’t take too long. You weren’t. As far as you were concerned, you’d be meeting him on the other side by the end of the week. You wrapped your arms around his body and hugged him tightly, sniffling when you heard him groan in pain.

“Don’t cry, love,” his voice came out in a whisper and his forehead rested against yours, “Remember what I said? I’ll wait for you. I promise we’ll be together again one day.”

“Don’t leave me,” you choked out, moving your gaze to his, tears rolling down your cheeks, “Don’t leave me here alone, Seunghyun.” He chuckled weakly, leaning closer and pressing his lips to yours. You pressed against him fervently, getting lost in the kiss until you heard him gasp slightly, pulling back and shutting his eyes in pain.

“It hurts, love,” his eyes opened and he gripped your cheek, “Let him end me now, okay? I want to leave and live in this moment forever. Maybe I’ll be in this same meadow when we meet again. In our next lives, I hope that we can love freely.”

“Seunghyun!” you protested, shaking your head quickly, “You can’t leave me.”

“My life here on Earth has come to pass. I’ll always be watching,” he kissed you once more and pulled back, “I love you, _____. Live happily until we meet again.”

“You’re not dead yet, ,” you heard Jiyong speak from where he was now standing, his arms crossed over his chest and glaring at Seunghyun, “Are you really willing to die for her?”

“Of course,” Seunghyun spoke quickly, whimpering as he stood up, swaying dangerously on his feet, “I’d do anything for her.”

“Anything except live, it appears,” Jiyong raised his eyebrow, tilting his head, and you noticed the bite mark in his neck where Seunghyun had taken a chunk of his skin. “You seem so ready to die. To ‘meet her in the next life’. Has it ever occurred to you that you could have just asked instead of going behind my back?”

“It’s not my right to ask that of you, Jiyong,” you looked up to Seunghyun, who was now glaring at the Alpha.

“But you could challenge your best friend over her?”

“I love her. She’s everything to me, Jiyong. If I don’t have her… nothing else matters,” your heart clenched at Seunghyun’s words and you found yourself wanting to mesh your lips together again.

“So, you love her enough to challenge me knowing that you weren’t going to survive?” his words came out slow, as if he was thinking over what he planned to do with his Beta.

“There was a slight chance that I would beat you, even if it was a small one,” Seunghyun replied, looking down at you, “I would do anything for that chance at being with her, even if it meant my life ending instead. A life without her isn’t worth living anyway.”

“Fine.” Jiyong replied, shrugging his shoulders, causing you to shoot up in confusion.

“Fine?” you asked, grabbing onto Seunghyun’s hand tightly, “What do you mean, fine?”

“Fine. If you two love each other so much, why should I get in the way of your happiness, when it clearly isn’t something I wanted to do in the beginning anyway,” Jiyong walked over, holding his hand out to Seunghyun, “You’re still my Beta. I defeated you. I won the battle, but you won the girl.”

“I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Seunghyun smiled weakly, clasping his hand around Jiyong’s, “But what about her father?”

“I’ll deal with that. She’s part of my pack now, through you, so it’s not like it is completely different from our pact,” he said, releasing Seunghyun’s and walking to you, taking you into his arms and hugging you, “You take care of him, okay? He is my best friend and Beta.” You nodded, hugging him slightly before releasing him and looking at Seunghyun. He was smiling softly at you, opening his arms just as you launched into his embrace. You wrapped your arms around his neck tightly, pressing your lips to his as relief and joy and love for him flooded through you. You vaguely heard Jiyong retreat into the woods, leaving you and Seunghyun alone. He placed several more kisses on your lips before traveling his lips across your face.

“I love you so much, _____,” you giggled happily as he hugged you tighter.

“We can finally be together, Seunghyun!” he chuckled and tightened his hold, pressing his lips to yours again before groaning and pulling back.

“I forgot that hurts to move,” he pulled away and your ran your fingers across his wounds before grabbing his hand and pulling him in the direction of his house, “Where are we going?”

“I’m going to patch you up and then we are going to start making plans.”

“Plans for what?”

“The wedding, of course,” you tightened your hand, turning and kissing his lips gently, “I’m not going to wait another second, Mr. Beta. You’ll find this Omega to be quiet the impatient pup.” He grinned at you, wrapping his arm around your waist and walking beside you.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way.”