Sunshine filters through the canopy of trees as Jessa slowly walks through the forest, hands reaching out to brush against the foliage that lay around her. She can feel the strength of the forest seeping into her body, bolstering her up as her body starts to fatigue against her will.

Jessa hates how her body has become slow, how she has to relearn how to do some of the simplest of tasks. Her old Clan leader, Bree explained that even though her druidic side kept her alive, she still has to heal before she can go full throttle again. That was 2 days ago.

A faint tendril of what could only be described as a tickle in the back of her mind has Jessa pausing.

That weird foreign presence comes to the forefront of her consciousness, and Jessa has to steady herself against a tree in order to fight off the sudden dizziness that accompanies it.

“What are you?” She murmurs out loud, frustration lacing her voice.

She expected nothing to answer her back, surprise shooting across her face as the tree behind her seemed to jump alive, coughing as if it had a bad cold. “I….I am lost.” It said, sounding confused.

Jessa’s heard of tree magic before, but never has she seen it happen in person. It could be the presence was that of someone in need calling out to her through natural channels. “Who are you?” She asks carefully, cautiously.

“I…do not know.” It replied. “Oh, I am not lost. Just…..misplaced.” The voice grew stronger, deeper.

Jessa said nothing as the tree bark seemed to mimic a face like shape. It frowned. “I need your help.” It said. “I need to fix what was once broken.”

It was a cry for help. Jessa took a deep calming breath. “I will help fix what was broken. Return what was lost. Where are you and are you human?”

“I….I think I am human. I am in a room with no windows, and a guard.” A pause. “The guard says we are in the Northern territories.”

The voice grew fainter, then just as suddenly as it started, it stopped.

A sinking feeling filling the pit of her stomach, Jessa turned and started heading back toward the Pack House.

And promptly woke up, sweat covering her body, her hands and feet twitching as if she’d really been walking.

Donghae comes into the room, taking a look at Jessa and putting something into her hand. “Take this.” He said gently, his dark brown eyes looking at her with an unreadable expression. “We’ve just had a call from Boa.”

**

Leeteuk sighs, knowing that Kangin and Jongwoon are going to have to be the ones dealing with a cranky and moody Kyuhyun when he informs the betas that Jessa will have to go with him, Hoseok and Siwon up to the northern border.

Jongwoon has been his least problematic beta, but Leeteuk attributes that to the younger’s soft personality and the fact he’s been away the past 2 years for military service.

Even though they are all werewolves, they are still required to do their 2 years of service, something that Boa absolutely refuses to let any wolf in her jurisdiction get away with not completing.

“You called for me, Alpha?” Jongwoon’s dark black hair stands out in contrast to his pale skin.

2 years of civil service work outside of Seoul meant Jongwoon was more likely to be sitting in the military office all day instead of on border patrol, or in the other units that saw more work. Leeteuk regards his newly released beta and smiles. “I have some pressing business that needs attending in the North that concerns Jessa.”

“And you want me to keep tabs on Kyuhyun while you are gone.” Jongwoon finishes.

Leeteuk chuckles. “Ah, I’ve forgotten how observant you are in the time you’ve been serving.” He comments. “Yes, you and Kangin along with the others will have to make sure Kyuhyun doesn’t do anything rash.”

Jongwoon smiles. He’d come home from his service to find things had drastically changed in the Pack house, and shocked that their most disrespectful member and the pretty druid had actually become mates in the time he was gone. “I think with Kyuhyun’s new job, we’ll be ok.” He assures Leeteuk.

Some of the Pack members have gotten jobs in Seoul to compensate for the funds they’d spent constructing the additional rooms in the Pack house, Kyuhyun being one of the lucky ones to have landed a job in an entertainment company writing songs for the company’s artists.

Leeteuk gives Kangin and Jongwoon specific instructions while they are to be gone, and then calls for a Pack meeting, waiting until everyone is there before anything is said.

“While we are gone, Kangin and Jongwoon are in charge.” Leeteuk says firmly, glancing directly at Jimin and Taehyung. Taehyung, despite being a gamma like Eunhyuk, still acts like an underage pup, causing more problems than Jungkook, whose birthdate is coming up fast.

“Why does Jessa have to go with you?” Jungkook asks, frowning. He’s sitting in between Jessa and Kyuhyun, as if he’s trying to keep Kyuhyun from touching her.

Jungkook had attached himself to Jessa without anyone realizing it, claiming she reminded him of his birth mother from his Parent Pack. Leeteuk found he didn’t have the heart to deny the maknae though it irked Kyuhyun sometimes.

Leeteuk nods at Jessa. “Since we are dealing with magical wards that are maintained by druidic powers, Jessa is needed to ensure they are intact and that the old druid who maintains them is still able to perform the task given.”

Jessa nods. “As my final act to the Clan I’ve been raised in, ensuring that the wards are being maintained is a priority.” She tells Jungkook, reaching out to smooth the hair away from his face.

Jongwoon can see the distraught look in Jungkook’s eyes as he turns toward the druid. Before any more objections can be made, Leeteuk dismisses those who aren’t going up North to their duties.

**

Tumangang, Northern Korea

Jessa’s grown a bit stronger the more she’s out in nature, amongst the very elements, but in this place where old magic should still be thrumming strongly with life and power, is nearly gone.

“I don’t like this.” She murmurs to Siwon and Hoseok.

Siwon sniffs the air around them, and growls suddenly. “I smell bloodsuckers.” He says to Hoseok.

Jessa takes a cautious sniff of the area, finding a musty, earthy smell that seems out of place amongst the mountainous area.

Hoseok grimaces and spits off to the side. “Nasty, foul beings.” He growls.

Jessa looks at the two. “What do they smell like?” She asks, feigning innocence.

“They smell like old graves.” Siwon says, eyes shifting as if he’s waiting for something to spring out at them. “Death, decay, like they’ve been rotting in an earthen grave for about 10 years.”

Jessa nods. “Makes sense.”

“Hoseok, keep alert. The scent could be fresh, or old.” Siwon tells the beta.

“Got it hyung.” Hoseok nods, his face pinched in concentration. It was odd, yet refreshing to see Hoseok being serious, especially since his younger pack mates aren’t around.

Hoseok might play himself off as the carefree, prankster beta with Jimin as his partner in crime some days, but Jessa sees in him a desire to put others at ease, a need to see people happy instead of sad.

She assumes it’s due to the trauma he’s seen from the Parent pack that he and the other younger boys have come from. None of them will talk about it, and it took some time to get the full history, but Jessa still doesn’t have all the details.

While Siwon takes the lead to protect Jessa, Hoseok takes the path behind her, as they progress to where her instincts are telling her the old druid lives.

The landscape hasn’t changed in a while, but Jessa can feel the subtle death of magic, as if they were stepping into an alternate world with no magic whatsoever. “Magic died.” She whispers, knowing that both betas will hear her.

Just as she spoke, Siwon halts. “Smell has gotten stronger.” He whispers.

Hoseok gets closer to Jessa, as the trio cautiously heads around the bend in the wide path.

“Holy mother of gods.” Jessa sinks to her knees at the destruction in front of them.

The old druid’s house had been torn apart. Shreds of furniture, books, linen and other things litter the nearly immaculate lawn in front of what once was a tidy cozy looking cottage.

The stench of decay and death are strong enough to make both betas gag at the smell, and Jessa knows that the mangled heap of blood, flesh and bone is all that remains of the druid who had cared for the wards.

A/N: Tumangang is the name of a real village/town/city in North Korea that probably within walking distance of the borders between North Korea, Russia and China, or at the very least a day's journey. 

To clarify, in this particular AU, there is no North and South Korea, but a Northern Korea and a Southern Korea, kind of like there is a North Carolina and a South Carolina in the States. There is a border between the two, but it's a soft border instead of a hard one like there is in our reality. So the Korean wars didn't happen, and there is no animosity between the two areas. People can come and go through the border, Northern Korea is not a dictatorship but a democracy, and totally not like the North Korea we know.