Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

PART I — A Fool's Pride

Contrary to popular belief, Chifuyu doesn’t have anything against alphas— not really.

Ever since he came of age, he’s been the target of many an alpha from neighbouring packs’ interest in courting him, but he’s turned them all down.

Some, because they were downright rude. There was an alpha who kept pursuing him, even after three refusals, until Chifuyu drew a sword and chased the guy out of their territory. Others, he simply didn’t feel that connection with. They were objectively handsome and kind, funny and courteous, getting on great with his mother and the kids in his pack, but when it came down to it, Chifuyu just didn’t see himself spending his life with them.

By the time he’s seen twenty-five winters come and go, he made his peace with going through life unmated. His mother is still young, would most likely lead their pack for many years to come, so Chifuyu figured that by the time age took a toll on her, he’d just pick a beta from their pack he got along the best with and settle down then.

It’s for the best, anyway. Belonging to a pack without an alpha, and being his mother’s only son, a lot of the responsibilities that would usually be the head alpha’s became Chifuyu’s— by choice and necessity, a duty he carries with both pride and difficulty.

He learned how to keep his omega under wraps, ignores his instincts without too much trouble, even when the occasional alpha drops by with the intention of making him their mate.

The omegas of his pack try to comfort him, tell him that when he meets the right alpha, he’ll know, somehow, magically.

Only sometimes does Chifuyu allow himself to hope for that. His mother used to tell him stories about how his dad courted her for an entire year, not because she didn’t want him, but because he felt it was the right thing to do.

Whenever Chifuyu finds himself hoping for that, the kind of romance his parents had, one that managed to withstand even death, he shakes it off the next morning. There is always something better to do, and slowly, with changes happening all around their land, more and more weeks pass between each time Chifuyu allows himself to dream of a mate.

It becomes a dormant longing, slumbering deep within a part of him, the same part he also confines his omega to.

His own wants change; his focus shifts to what his pack wants. When the first attack on their village happens, he realises it’s all been for the best, living his life disconnected from his instincts, pushing them all down.

When the first people start dying, he can’t afford to give in to the aching want to be protected. Chifuyu simply picks up his sword, and protects those he loves instead.

It’s a clear day. The sun is filtering through the tall trees that surround them, pale light harsh on the snow that covers the earth. In this clearing by the frozen river, the forest isn’t too dense. There is no way for them to get ambushed— Chifuyu should be able to hear or see any invaders coming longer before they could even think to surprise him.

“Stay where I can see you!” Chifuyu warns the children, but they’re already running off towards the river. He chuckles and trudges after them, fur boots sinking into the snow as he does, his sword steadily bumping against his leg where he’s bound it around his waist, safely tucked away under the leather belt he wears.

Despite his mother’s warnings, he has foregone his wolf form. As an omega, his wolf really isn’t meant for combat. While shifted, he’s light on his feet, durable for long treks, has thick fur to keep pups warm, but fighting… He’s too small, his canines less vicious, and overall not strong enough to even dream of taking on a bigger opponent and winning.

Over the past few months, even the youngest in their village have grown accustomed to seeing all kinds of weapons, forced to adjust to a life that’s constantly endangered by the pack slowly encroaching on their territory.

They are less familiar with seeing wolves as their protectors. The betas are usually out on patrol and whenever they do linger around the village, it’s a clear sign that there’s real danger closing in on them.

If Chifuyu had shifted to his wolf, it would have unsettled the pups greatly.

Chifuyu watches them as they play in the snow, two boys and three girls, while he swipes some snow off a large rock, taking a seat on it once it’s cleared.

It’s rare these days for them to play without worry, to venture outside of the village’s safety. But it’s been a few days since an attack, the few betas that are still unharmed are out on patrol, and for the first time in the season, the icy winds have calmed their endless roaring, settling long enough for the snow to turn their lands into a white and sparkling paradise.

There couldn’t have been a more perfect day for the children to play around in the snow and enjoy the innocence of their childhood.

Seeing their smiling faces again, even in the midst of uncertain times, Chifuyu decides that it’s worth the risk to be out here, even if just for a little while.

“Fuyu!” The smallest of the five, Kiho, gets his attention. She struggles through the snow to stand in front of him, a mighty pout on her face. “Rei threw a snowball at me!”

“Did not!” The little boy comes stumbling after her, hands flying everywhere in outrage.

Chifuyu smiles at them, at the traces of snow on both of their fur coats. It doesn’t take long for Saya and Miyu to come running up too, the four of them standing together, an angry little mob before his rock. They’re loudly retelling the events that transpired, how Saya definitely did not see Rei throw the snowball at Kiho, while Miyu, his sister, details how her brother definitely did the crime.

“Ouri?” Chifuyu calls, drawing the attention of the boy that’s fallen behind, seated by the bank of the frozen river. “Did you see what happened?”

He is the oldest of the bunch and up until a few weeks ago, the loudest and rowdiest, showing all the signs of being the first alpha to present in their pack in a long time. That was before his parents were killed in an attack. Now, he sits in the snow and draws patterns into it with a stick. Only when Chifuyu calls his name does he slowly lift his head, like he hadn’t even noticed the commotion.

Ouri looks between the four children, then up at Chifuyu again. He takes a deep breath, like he’s getting ready to answer, but then his eyes widen, and cold fear clenches its fist around Chifuyu’s heart.

Slowly, Ouri lifts the stick he’d been drawing with and points it to something behind Chifuyu. The other four children fall silent, their eyes widening as well.

It hits Chifuyu, then. The smell of blood in the air, the crunching of snow being stepped on. Unmistakable, a dangerous oversight, but Chifuyu can’t dwell on the guilt that immediately flares up. He jumps from his rock and spins around, one hand flying out to shield the kids, the other drawing his sword and pointing it forward.

“Ouri!” he barks, hearing the crunching of snow to know the boy is rushing closer. “Take the little ones and don’t look back!”

They don’t protest, not when three wolves come out from behind the tree line. Three betas, from what Chifuyu gauges, their scent heavy with that of the pack that’s been invading their land, the smell mixing with the blood dripping from their maws. Their growls are low and deep, loud enough to be heard even over the panicked cries of the children.

The smallest of the three moves first, its eyes jumping to the kids. Chifuyu side steps, still nimble on his feet despite the deep snow he’s standing in.

It jumps forward, tries to get past Chifuyu, but is caught by the sharp point of his sword. The tip cuts into the wolf’s flank as it jumps and it goes down with a shriek of pain. It lands heavily, its dark blood mixing almost beautifully with the snow.

Chifuyu throws a glance back, sees the kids hurrying out of the clearing, in the direction of home. That’s good. He’s glad they won’t have to see him stepping forward to drive his sword deep in the wolf’s side— won’t see him smile as the beast howls in anguish and struggles until it heaves its last breath, more blood blooming in the snow around it.

The thundering of paws close in, the other two wolves howling in outrage. One dodges past the rock, the other runs over it to ready itself for a leap through the air, and Chifuyu knows he can’t dodge both of them.

He zeroes in on the easiest target, the wolf that chose its path on the ground. He waits until the last moment, jumping out of the way and cutting into the wolf’s side. The strike hinders its approach. With a yelp, it loses its balance and the force of its own speed sends it flying left, out of the way for however long it stays down.

The other wolf, slower in its approach, but smarter while doing so, jumps from the rock and pounces on Chifuyu, too fast to dodge.

It topples him over with its massive body and as they both go down, manages to sink its teeth deep into Chifuyu’s shoulder, easily cutting through the coat he wears, biting down from collarbone to shoulder blade.

The weight of the wolf on top of him forces Chifuyu onto the ground. The impact knocks the breath from his lungs and the body pinning him down stuns him into temporary paralysis. He can’t properly breathe, choking on a scream.

The wolf rips away the material of Chifuyu’s coat and then sinks its teeth in again. This time, the pain is nearly blinding and it rips a hoarse scream from Chifuyu’s throat as he thrashes against the wolf’s jaws.

For a moment, Chifuyu thinks this is it. He will either get his throat ripped out in the next moment or be suffocated under the wolf’s massive weight, struggling and gasping for air. He prays the wolves leave enough of him intact for his mother to recognise his body.

Suddenly, the wolf lifts its weight off Chifuyu, its teeth ripping through Chifuyu’s flesh until it releases him. The world spins as searing pain explodes on the left side of his body where the wolf had bitten down. All Chifuyu can do is lie there in the snow, gasping up at the sky, desperate to take in lungfuls of air.

One of the wolves lets out a blood curdling shriek. A heavy thud nearly shakes the ground. With effort, Chifuyu pushes himself up into a sitting position to see the wolf lie a few metres away, motionless in the snow. Chunks of Chifuyu’s flesh and bits of his coat are still stuck between its massive teeth, maw agape with the last sound of agony it made. It twitches one last time before going completely still.

With a gasp, Chifuyu sees that its throat is bitten through.

The last wolf comes into view, skidding to a stop next to its fallen companion. It howls, pained and drawn out, before settling its eyes on Chifuyu again. The wolf lowers its head, drawing up into an offensive stance, ready to pounce and take revenge for its fallen companions.

Another growl reverberates around the clearing. It comes from behind Chifuyu and is deeper, more menacing. It shakes the trees, sends snow toppling down from their branches.

Chifuyu freezes, body going rigid in recognition.

An alpha.

It growls again, footsteps dampened by the snow as they come closer.

Chifuyu closes his eyes. He tries to imagine the village he grew up in, the friends he loves. No matter what, he doesn’t want his last moments on Earth to be filled with fear.

The snow crunches as the alpha approaches, impossibly close to its target, its heat radiating so strongly, Chifuyu can feel it even through the thick layers of his clothes.

Hot breath fans over the wound in Chifuyu’s shoulder, exposed to the biting winter air. He whimpers in fear, tries to make himself smaller and shrink in on himself as best he can, and keeps his eyes squeezed shut.

In his last moments, he thinks of his mother, her bright eyes and dazzling smile, the sound of her laughter and how warm she always feels whenever she wraps him up in her arms.

Chifuyu breathes out and makes peace with his fate, but the bite to end his life never comes.

The alpha moves on, its heavy paws dragging noisily through the snow.

Chifuyu snaps his eyes open and whips his head up, gaping at the sight of the alpha. It’s easily twice the size of the betas. Maybe triple the size of Chifuyu’s own wolf. Its fur is a deep black, a stark contrast against the snow. Every hair on its body is raised to make itself appear even bigger.

It's still growling as it approaches the beta. It stops in front of Chifuyu, shielding him with its massive body. It stands steadfast, growling and snarling at the other intruder, yet its stance is nearly playful, tail slowly swaying from side to side, like it’s looking forward to the fight.

Despite everything in Chifuyu screaming at him to move, he remains frozen in the snow, staring at the alpha’s back. The world fades away— the throbbing pain in his shoulder, the fear about the kids’ safety, concerns about his own life, everything.

Because the alpha glances back at Chifuyu and with just one glance, sends his instincts into overdrive. His omega forces itself to the forefront of his thoughts, thrashing to take control of Chifuyu’s body, to roll over and bare his neck, to whimper and submit under the alpha’s dominating stare— to allow himself vulnerability, and have that be cherished and protected.

When Chifuyu doesn’t move, the alpha bares its teeth in a snarl and jerks its head to the side, in the direction the children went.

It’s Chifuyu’s wolf who spurs him into motion, drowning out his omega’s whining to present for the alpha.

He clutches his shoulder, winces at the pain, and runs.

Chifuyu stumbles into chaos when he gets back to the village. The few betas that hadn’t previously been injured in attacks are running around, shouting commands back and forth, clearly in a rush to get ready and fight.

At first, no one seems to notice him stumbling closer. It’s Ouri who does, the boy suddenly appearing and sprinting at him, shouting at the top of his lungs for the others to come and help.

It takes everything for Chifuyu not to collapse on the spot— from the pain, the shock, the relief of seeing all the kids’ faces as they come running to him.

The next hours pass in a blur of pain and bitter medicine. Their healer, an elderly omega, stitches up his shoulder with steady hands, muttering at him for being so careless and scaring his mother.

Chifuyu takes the scolding and is careful not to flinch too much whenever the needle passes through his tender skin. The medicine has taken away the worst of the pain, reducing it to a dull sting whenever he focuses too much attention on his shoulder.

When the elder omega is done, Chifuyu dares to lean over a bowl of clear water and gets a good look at the wound. He flinches. It’s not pretty. Red and swollen, bloody at the edges, teeth-marks perfectly mapping out where the wolf had bitten down— from his collarbone, running up towards his nape, and though he can’t see it, he knows the wound extends back down part of his shoulder blade.

It’s a miracle its teeth didn’t break the skin over Chifuyu’s scent gland, and while betas don’t usually mark omegas, he can’t help but wonder if that’d been the wolf’s intention— a show of dominance, even if the effects wouldn’t have been the same as a real mating bite.

“Your mother wants to see you,” the elder grumbles, breaking Chifuyu out of his nauseating pondering, cleaning her needle in a shallow bowl of water. “Tell her that if I have to patch up another wound today, I won’t take kindly to it.”

Chifuyu gulps, stumbling to his feet a little unsteadily. “I’ll tell her.” Despite her grumbling, he bends over to kiss the omega’s head. “Thank you.”

“Yeah, yeah.” She swats at him with a smile. “Get out of here.”

With heavy feet, Chifuyu walks through the main road. He spots the kids’ families sitting outside their huts. The little ones barely notice him, too busy getting coddled by their parents. It brings a smile to Chifuyu’s face to see that Ouri is looked after by a few of the beta men.

Stepping into his mother’s hut and seeing her expression wipes that smile off his face immediately. Her eyes are bloodshot, she’s clearly been crying, and she looks ready to finish the job the three betas weren’t capable of.

“Why were you in human form?” she asks the minute Chifuyu lowers himself onto the floor in front of her, kneeling and keeping his head down. “You could’ve prevented so much injury if—”

“What, ma?” Chifuyu sighs, glaring at the ground. “And get mounted the second an alpha shows up?”

She averts her eyes, blue and clear. “They can do that to you in your human form, too!”

“It wouldn’t have made a difference.” He carefully raises his head, looks his mother over, her shaking frame, the fear she so clearly tries to hide behind her anger. “If they want me dead, it doesn’t—”

“Don’t say that.” She shakes her head, tears welling in her eyes again. “Don’t even entertain—”

“I’m sorry, ma.” With a sigh, Chifuyu shuffles forward. He ignores the glare sent his way and cuddles up next to his mother, careful to keep his injured shoulder to the side. “It’s okay. I’m home now.”

They spend a long time in silence. His mother scents him thoroughly, almost like he’s a pup again, and pretends she’s not crying while doing so. She keeps scolding him under her breath, using her favourite accusation— that he’s just as careless and idiotic as his father was.

“What happened?” she finally asks, one arm wrapped around Chifuyu to keep him leaning against her. “How did you get away with only a chewed up shoulder?”

Comfortable against his mother’s side, Chifuyu finally takes the time to recount the day. The betas appearing out of nowhere, how he failed to pay attention and endangered the kids, a memory that brings bitter tears to his eyes. He doesn’t bring that up, though, more than well aware that his mother probably pieced that part of the story together. His mind drifts to the giant alpha and something like heat flares up in the pit of his stomach.

“There was an alpha,” he mumbles. “For some reason, it didn’t attack me.”

“Did it belong to their pack?”

He considers the question. None of the wolves that attacked so far hunted alone, unlike the alpha, at least at first glance. On top of that…

“It didn’t smell like them,” Chifuyu says slowly, wracking his brain for any other details. “It seemed stronger and healthier, too. Ripped one of the betas throat’s out like it was nothing and then put itself between me and the last one without hesitation.”

His mother shifts and carefully sits up a bit more, making sure to keep supporting Chifuyu’s weight. “Do you think it was a lone wolf, or did it come from a different pack?”

Chifuyu shakes his head. “I’m not sure.”

“I’ll send someone out in the morning to look for traces of the alpha,” she decides with a nod. “I’d like to thank the person that rescued my son.”

It’s not long after that she sends Chifuyu back to his own hut with some herbal tea to help him sleep. When he dreams, it’s of thick, black fur— a comforting presence all throughout the night.

When he wakes the morning after the attack, Chifuyu spends a long time staring up at his ceiling, rather than rushing out of his hut like he normally would.

Going outside would mean running into people. It’d mean getting bombarded with all the questions he managed to dodge the day before, complaining of pain and a headache to make a escape to his hut, to suffer in silence.

On the other hand, the bite on his shoulder is throbbing. That alone should be reason enough to force himself up and into their healer’s hut to drink some tea that’ll soothe the pain.

At the same time, there is something oddly satisfying about the pain. So he stays right there. Lying on his bedding, arms and legs spread out wide. He keeps his mind occupied with counting the planks that make up his ceiling, then counting the different veins in the wood, following their winding paths with his eyes. He wonders if he should replace the plank with its rotten corner.

It doesn’t take long for him, or rather, his omega to get bored of this morning activity. Gradually, so subtle and sneaky that Chifuyu doesn’t even notice it until it’s too late, a whine starts to build at the back of his throat. He swallows it down the moment he becomes aware of it and brings up a hand to press into the bite wound on his shoulder.

A mistake.

Immediately, his omega jumps to the forefront of his mind, spurred on by the spark of pain, by the memory of the day before. It begs him in a pathetic and needy tone to let his thoughts stray back to his dreams, to the alpha.

Chifuyu frowns and starts counting out loud, eyes wandering past the different knots in the wood. His omega perks up in near-violent excitement and he can’t help but laugh at himself.

“Not the same,” he mutters with a sigh, dragging a hand down his face. “Not the same at all.”

A knot is a knot, that treacherous voice in his head whispers, the same voice that somehow takes control of Chifuyu’s hand, sending his fingers creeping down as his mind fills with much filthier thoughts about one very specific part of the alpha.

Getting aroused by looking at knots in wood is definitely a new low. He lies there for a moment longer, blinking up at his ceiling, wondering when exactly he became such a disgrace, and then is up and dressed in record speed.

Realistically, he knows he can’t outrun his own omega, but he can try. And try he does, rushing around his one-room hut, tying his boots and shrugging his heavy, bear skin coat on.

The crisp morning air brings some clarity. He rubs his hands together, breath coming out in small clouds, and considers if he should wear gloves.

Remembering his wooden ceiling, he decides he doesn’t really deserve comfort.

A fresh layer of snow coats the world around his hug. The few people that kept their residence in this part of the village have already left their huts, leaving the area quiet and empty.

Walking past the huts, it’s hard to distinguish between occupied and abandoned homes. Even the ones that haven’t had people living there for years are kept in pristine condition, under his mother’s orders.

Chifuyu has never been sure if she wants it that way so they’re always ready for new people, or to keep a desperate hold on days long gone, trapping their village in this strange mix of past and present.

Chifuyu’s hut stands at the very end of the path. Back when he chose it, it was to have some privacy and a sense of independence. Nowadays, he could take any of the huts and still live without direct neighbours. Of the thirty or so huts that stand on this lower mountain ledge, only eight are still occupied.

It’s part of his morning routine to actively ignore the sadness he feels when he passes them all. Instead, he chooses remember a different time, when he was younger and their village was still bustling with life, even if he knows his first, conscious memories don’t hold a candle to the way things were before his birth, but they’re all he has.

His memories come to him in vague flashes of laughter and chatter, of people sitting out on their porches and greeting him with soft smiles. Back then, he wasn’t aware of their dwindling numbers, going from somewhere in the two-hundreds, to just shy of a hundred, leaving them where they are today, barely fifty.

At the end of the ledge, where a stone-paved path will lead him down into the main part of their village, he takes a moment to look out over the lands that stretch far beyond. From here, he can mostly see white treetops and mountain peaks, as well as the winding river that streams down the mountain, through their village and into the valley. He knows that along it lie several smaller villages, hiding in the safety of the forest.

Villages under the command of different alphas, but united under his mother’s lead, and before that, tied to his father by both loyalty and friendship.

At least, they used to be. It wasn’t that long ago that Chifuyu could stand in this exact spot and see smoke billowing up from these neighbouring packs’ homes, but after the attacks started, it didn’t take long for all of them to leave. One by one, not even the love for his father’s ghost enough to make them stay. Generations of companionship lost after their pleas for his mother to leave with them fell on deaf ears— all understanding of her resolve not the leave the land where her mate is buried behind, but unwilling to risk their own people’s safety for her decision.

Everything he knows about his father, he knows through stories. He died shortly after Chifuyu was born, protecting his pack like a true alpha. The stories that are told about him are ones that detail his kindness and bravery.

For the longest time, his father’s legacy is what kept them all loyal to his mother, choosing to follow her despite being an omega, despite her refusing to even entertain another alpha after her mate’s death.

A dying legacy, as Chifuyu has come to find out over the past months. He still isn’t sure if he blames the other packs for leaving.

There is resentment, of course, for the sake of his mother. Chifuyu knows that leading a pack has never been what she wanted to do. He knows that it weighs on her and wears her down, especially now, when their strongest fighters are still recovering from past attacks. She always holds her head high, but her body seems to tremble all the time and she is sure to cover her scent with a mixture of mud and flowers to hide her constant worries.

For her, he is angry. But no matter how hard he tries, he can’t quite seem to share her grief when it comes to people slowly abandoning their once-strong love for his father.

With a sigh, he turns his head away from their abandoned land and continues his way down the mountain.

With each crunching footstep, he shakes off his troubling morning and focuses his mind on the day ahead, as dreadful as he fears it’ll be.

There are a few people about in their main square. Their greetings are devoid of the usual cheer— solemn nods and well-wishes as he passes them.

He glances to his left, taking note of some signs of life in their communal hut, then to his right, where the omega hut stands in between two smaller buildings.

Around this time, most of the nosy omegas are probably having their morning tea with his mother. He knows she hates dealing with them on her own, but, not as much as he’d hate dealing with them, period.

Glancing around one more time to make sure no one is in need of specifically Chifuyu’s help, he slips to the right and prays it’ll be only young families in the omega hut.

His gamble pays off, and he finds the hut cleared of anyone who might have judgement to pass about what happened the day before. Within seconds, he’s swarmed by the pups, their parents all too happy to let him handle them while they ready themselves for the day.

With Kiho in his lap, Miyu and Saya clutching each of his arms, and Rei shyly asking if he can see the bite on Chifuyu’s shoulder, he can almost forget everything that transpired. The pups are safe. They don’t seem too shaken up.

The reassurance of seeing them, holding them close and kissing their heads, is enough for a while. That is, until his own mind helpfully reminds him that he wouldn’t have anything to worry about, if he’d done a better job in the first place.

Clearing his throat, Chifuyu shakes his head at Rei’s request and makes up a lie about his injured shoulder being bandaged underneath the many layers he wears.

The pups file out after that, herded by Miyu and Rei’s parents. Chifuyu watches them go with crossed arms, leaning against the doorpost.

“I know that face,” he hears next to him. “You’re blaming yourself.”

Chifuyu rolls his eyes. He doesn’t bother looking at Yasuna, Saya’s mother. She’s only a year older than him. Mated to one of the betas that’d grown up with them at a young age and pregnant within the same year.

“Stop trying to read my damned mind,” he grumbles. “Not blaming myself for anything.”

“Language,” she chides, ruffling his hair. Chifuyu pushes her off with a scowl. “Seriously, Fuyu. We all thought it was safe.”

Easy for her to say, he thinks bitterly, her shoulders unburned with carrying responsibility for it.

“Don’t you have better things to do, Nana?”

“Don’t you?” She steps in front of him, hands on her hips. “Stop sulking, if you’re not blaming yourself.”

Chifuyu puffs up his chest. “I’m not sulking!” She’s taller than him, even when he raises up on the tips of his toes, trying to look intimidating.

“Sure.” Yasuna presses a finger into his chest, easily pushing him off-balance. “Gran’s searching for you.”

“Course she is.” Chifuyu sighs. “Should’ve faked my own death.”

She smacks him upside the head, and then smacks him again when he makes an affronted sound. “Don’t joke about that.”

“Sorry,” he drawls, kicking at the floor a bit.

“You’re such a brat.”

“You’re a brat.”

“Real mature.” She huffs and pulls him into a hug, ignoring his hiss when she presses into his injured shoulder. “Glad you’re safe.”

Chifuyu grumbles half an insult under his breath, tilting his head to the side so she can nuzzle against him, her scent soft and comforting.

“Behave today,” she says, pulling back. After a smile, she steps back, twirling around to saunter into the square. “Gran! Fuyu’s awake!”

If he were shifted, all the hair on his body would’ve raised in alarm. With wide eyes, he sees the old omega stumble out of her hut, using a thick, wooden cane for support. She looks around before her eyes settle on him. They narrow, honing in on him like a predator looking for its prey, and Chifuyu shoots up straight.

Yasuna glances at him over her shoulder and winks.

With heavy feet, already planning his revenge on Yasuna, he drags himself over to the elder omega. They all call her gran, even though her own children have long since left the village and she isn’t really related to anyone.

Her eyes are sharp amidst the wrinkles on her face, disapproval always lingering in them. She likes to say she’s too old to hide her emotions.

“You worried your mother,” she croaks when he’s close enough. “What were you thinking, you careless pup?”

Chifuyu swallows down his grumble and bows his head. “I wanted the little ones to have a nice afternoon in the snow.”

“Well, how nice it must have been.”

“Yeah, well— ow!” He jumps back when she raises her cane to smack his shins again. “What was that for?!”

“Don’t talk back to me!” she snaps, raising the cane once more. “You weren’t even shifted!”

Chifuyu clenches his jaw. “I am better with a sword than my wolf is with its teeth,” he grits.

“You shouldn’t even have been out there.” She huffs and shakes her head, her tone softer when she adds, “what good is an omega in the face of danger, pup?”

“I killed one of them…”

“You shouldn’t even be thinking about killing.” She gets that look in her eye, the one that lets Chifuyu know that he’s about to be reminded, once again, of his never-ending rejection of any alpha that finds their village. “When will you finally—“

“Fuyu!”

Chifuyu closes his eyes. His shoulders sag in relief. Blindly, he spreads one of his arms, smiling when familiar weight presses into his side.

“Where were you?” Ouri asks softly, both arms winding around Chifuyu’s middle. “You promised me you’d teach me today, at dawn, remember?”

“Teach him what, omega?”

Chifuyu opens his eyes and smiles sweetly. “How to mend his own clothes, of course.” He threads his fingers through Ouri’s hair. “In case he presents as an omega. Can’t be too prepared for a life like that.”

She looks between them, eyes narrowed. “Well, I’m not done—“

“C’mon!” Ouri pushes at Chifuyu, grinning at the elder omega. “Sorry, gran. He’ll be by later, okay?”

“Promise!” Chifuyu calls over his shoulder, allowing Ouri to push him further ahead, away from her. “After dinner!”

They wait until she flicks her hand dismissively, grumbling under her breath, and then take off in a sprint, fighting giggles as they dash up the road.

At the communal hut, they take the path on its right, winding further up the mountain. Chifuyu’s mother watches them go with crossed arms and a smile, shouting a reminder for Chifuyu about a meeting he’ll have to attend later.

He shouts back his agreement, already pulled along the winding path. It’s well-travelled, paved with stones and swept clean from snow, trees on their left, the rocky mountainside on their right.

The path climbs higher up the mountain. They pass the hot springs on their way and climb higher still, until the stones come to a stop and the path turns into a dirt trail, buried under pristine snow. Their pace slows considerably after that, trudging through the deep snow, following the path they know by heart, even when they can’t see it.

By the time they reach the top of the path, they’re both flushed and panting for breath, but the sight is worth it every time.

They can see the valley stretching out now, densely forested, snow-covered tree tops as far as the eye can see. White mountain peaks loom in the distance, growing higher and higher. The valley is the last stretch of land before their guardian mountain blocks off entrance on all sides.

A river peeks out between the trees, narrow and still in the valley, growing wilder as it streams down, past the hot springs, into their village. If they pushed on for longer, they’d eventually reach a steep cliff, where a roaring waterfall cascades down past the rocks. Thankfully, they won’t have to go as far.

“Thank you,” Chifuyu pants, an insistent stab in his side that he tries to hide. “For getting gran off my back.”

“You’re welcome, old man,” Ouri teases, prodding Chifuyu in his side and picking up his pace, trotting up ahead.

Chifuyu curses at him with a grin. At a much slower pace, he follows after Ouri.

They follow the hidden path down into the valley, surrounded on all sides by trees. It’s quiet here. Close to their village, but the climb is laborious enough for most people not to bother going up this far unless they really have to.

Their destination lies hidden between the trees, a clearing on the side of the river. A rocky riverbank and a snowy plain. A single hut stands just in front of the tree line, formerly used as a heat hut, but abandoned since because of its remote location. Most omegas didn’t feel safe, so they built one closer to the village years ago, at a location that doesn’t require a long climb.

In summer, when the snow is melted, it’s a nice spot to nap in. A flat rocks overhangs the river, big enough to stretch out on completely, lulled into sleep by the soothing sound of the waterfall.

Now, in winter, it’s an oasis of fresh snow and undisturbed peace, overlooked by the guardian mountain.

Chifuyu seeks it out as often as he can. Alone, in his younger years, later choosing it as the spot to spend his heats, and even later still, with Ouri.

Since the death of Ouri’s parents, they haven’t had the chance to come, and Chifuyu only realises his mistake of not making the time when he watches the boy putter around in the snow, carefree as a child his age should be.

“They were mean about you last night,” Ouri calls over his shoulder, digging around in the snow, close to the hut.

“Yeah?” Chifuyu smiles. “What’d they say?”

“That you’re reckless.”

Chifuyu rolls his eyes and drags himself closer to Ouri, to help him look for their practice weapons, buried under the snow.

“They can say what they want. Been a good omega my entire life.” He nudges Ouri. “You think I’m reckless too?”

Ouri shrugs. “Don’t think you’re reckless enough.”

“Oi.” Chifuyu pushes him back and chuckles when Ouri trips, falling backwards in the snow. “You’re fourteen, way too young to be speaking so wisely.”

Ouri grumbles out a curse word that has Chifuyu whipping around.

“Who taught you that word?!” he bellows, tackling Ouri back into the snow. His heart swells when the boy squeals with laughter, the joy it sparks strong enough to ignore the pain in his shoulder.

“You did!”

“Liar! I never curse!”

They wrestle around in the snow for a bit, gasping with laughter. Chifuyu decides to play nice, lets Ouri pin him down, and then shoves a handful of snow in his face when he lets his guard down in the face of fake victory.

“You say that again and I’ll make a nice rug out of you.” He grins at Ouri’s spluttering and pushes him off. “Damned monster.”

“Maybe you should watch what you say around me!”

Chifuyu waves it off and scrambles back to his feet. He hears Ouri get up as well and without looking back, shrugs off his coat to fling it in his direction.

“Put that on.”

“Won’t you be cold?”

“Listen to your omega.”

He digs around a bit more and finally finds their wooden swords.

“Fuyu?” Ouri asks, appearing at his side. “Why don’t you ever give ‘em a piece of your mind? And don’t say—“

“You’ll understand when you’re older.”

Ouri growls and rips one of the swords from Chifuyu’s hand. “Old people are the worst.”

“Watch it, you.” Chifuyu steps further into the clearing and points his sword towards Ouri. “Never pick a fight with someone who wields a sword better than you.”

“Unfair,” Ouri mumbles, taking his stance just as Chifuyu taught him, knees bent and shoulders straight, sword clamped in two hands. “You’ve had a century longer to practice.”

Chifuyu disarms him with one easy swoop of his sword. He watches it fly from Ouri’s hands and land neatly in the snow.

“Stop calling me old and show me what I taught you.”

They spar until they’re panting and Chifuyu managed to knock the sword from Ouri’s hand at least a dozen times more. Every time they do this, the pup gets a bit better, his stance steadier and his technique cleaner.

But he seems distracted today, making mistakes Chifuyu knows he taught him better to avoid. So he lets Ouri disarm him once, to build the kid’s confidence, and then calls it a day.

Rather than make their way back to the village, they sit on the flat rock overlooking the river and take turns chucking stones into it, to see who can make the biggest splash.

Every now and then, Ouri tries to shrug off Chifuyu’s coat and hand it back, and each time, Chifuyu pulls it more securely around Ouri’s shoulders.

“I don’t like it,” Ouri says, after they’ve run out of rocks and are simply lounging, leaning against each other. “When they’re mean to you.”

Chifuyu sighs. “Yeah, well, it’s not my favourite thing in the world, but it’s alright. Nothing for you to worry about, pup.”

“I don’t worry,” Ouri huffs, “I just— I don’t like it. When I present as alpha—“

“Alpha?” Chifuyu knocks their shoulders together. “You’re way too short for that.”

“I’m almost taller than you!”

“Everyone is taller than me.”

“Yeah, but, I’m still a child, so—“

“Exactly.” Chifuyu slings an arm around Ouri’s shoulders and pulls him closer. “You’re just a kid, love. You focus on eating enough and getting bigger, yeah?”

Ouri wrestles himself loose and gets up to his feet. He plants his hands on his sides and glares down at Chifuyu. “When I’m alpha, I’m gonna force everyone to be nice to you!”

“Yeah?” Chifuyu squints up against the sun to look at Ouri and smiles, no doubt in his mind that he’ll cast a mighty big shadow one day. “Then you’d be a terrible alpha.”

Ouri’s shoulders fall. “Hah?”

“Alphas don’t force people, pup,” he says softly. “They guide their people. Make the hard choices us omegas don’t wanna make. They protect, and sure, they can have a firm hand, but they never force anyone to do anything.”

“But—“

“C’mere.” He opens his arms and waits patiently for Ouri to nestle against him. Unpresented as he is, he still has a faint newborn scent clinging to him, mixing with the undertones of his mother’s pine and his father’s flowers, lingering even after their deaths.

“You let me handle gran and all the others who’re mean to me, okay?” he whispers into Ouri’s hair, letting the boy nuzzle against his neck. “I’m big and strong, Ouri. Nothing they say can hurt me. Save your bravery for the little ones and let me be brave for you.”

Ouri sighs. “‘M not brave.”

It’s something he’s been saying often since the death of his parents. It breaks Chifuyu’s heart a little more each time he hears it.

“Nonsense. You’re the very most bravest ever.” Chifuyu presses a kiss to the top of his head and tightens his hold.

“Am not.”

“Are too.”

Ouri huffs and turns his head away. “You should act your age.”

“You should act your age.” Chifuyu grins when Ouri groans and throws his head back. “When I was still a tiny little pup like you—“

“Hey!”

“—my biggest concern was catching the biggest fish. And what do you do? Whine and lose fights against me! You’ve never even held a fishing rod.”

“Have, too!”

“Nuhuh.”

“Yeah-huh!”

Chifuyu laughs when Ouri wrestles himself free with a big, dramatic scoff. The pup turns his back on him and crosses his arms.

“I caught a salmon once!”

“Sure you did, honey, and I regularly meet with the spirit of the mountain to get drunk. They told me you gotta be nicer to me or they’ll come eat you.”

Ouri turns back and makes a point of rolling his eyes in the most exaggerated way he can muster. “You’re dumb.”

“Makes two of us.”

Chifuyu sticks out his tongue at Ouri’s scowl and pushes up to follow after him, fighting a grin at the boy’s stomping.

The cold is slowly getting to him without his coat, so he trots up to Ouri and slings an arm around his shoulders to direct him back in the direction of the village.

“Thank you,” he says, tightening his grip when Ouri tries to struggle free, “for guiding the pups back for me yesterday.”

Ouri stops struggling. He nods and presses closer.

And I’m sorry, Chifuyu thinks, that I put you all in danger in the first place.

Years old regret, growing stronger for each day he’s confronted with reality, over and over again. Painfully aware that he is quickly running out of ways to keep them all safe.

It takes six days for their scouts to return with news. A pack has settled not too far from their village, a journey of only two days. When he approached them, their leader seemed friendly.

Chifuyu talks the possibilities over with his mother and a few of the oldest members of their pack. By nightfall, they send another member out to propose a meeting.

While they wait for confirmation, Chifuyu spends his days resting up so his shoulder can heal. It scars over quickly, helped by a mixture of herbs and oils, but it’s an ugly reminder of his own failure.

As the days pass, an ominous feeling constantly lingers in the back of his mind, so he takes to sleeping with the rest of the omegas instead of his own remote hut. Some of his worries are quelled when he lies between the people he’s known all his life, cuddled up closely with Miyu and Saya, but they come back full-force when the messenger they sent out returns.

He brings with him a quiet beta from the other pack, a man with scarring on both sides of his mouth, who will accompany Chifuyu and his mother back to his pack.

The ominous feeling grows when Chifuyu prepares for the journey to meet this new pack. For reasons he can’t quite explain himself, he says goodbye to everyone with tears in his eyes.

Saying goodbye to Ouri is the hardest. The pup clings to him, tears brimming in his eyes, and they spill over when Chifuyu cups his face and kisses both his cheeks.

“You’re in charge while I’m gone,” he whispers, squishing Ouri’s cheeks. “So remember what I told you. A good leader?”

“Always asks for help,” Ouri finishes around a sob.

“That’s right. You be good, pup.”

He lingers near the entrance before they leave the village behind, looking over the familiar huts, the paths and the winter-hardened plants, the snowy mountain peaks in the distance.

It shouldn’t be more than a week, at most, before he’s back, but Chifuyu makes sure to commit everything to memory nonetheless, slightly nauseous when he turns to follow after his mother.

The journey is an easy and uneventful one. Shifted to their wolves, less dependent on human needs, they cover a lot of distance in a relatively short amount of time.

They pass the other packs’ abandoned villages as they pass through the valley. With his enhanced sense of smell, Chifuyu can still pick up the faint traces of their scents. Not only that, but he’s overly aware of the sadness tinging his mother’s, and until they’re far away from their territory at the foot of the mountain, he makes sure to stay pressed to her side.

During their first day of travel, Chifuyu almost forgets why he usually avoids shifting unless it’s strictly necessary, but it hits him the second day, as they’re getting closer to where this new pack set up camp.

While shifted, his humanity gradually fades into the background, until he’s running on mostly instinct. That second day, it means that his wolf takes over more and more, and in this more animalistic state of mind, it’s natural to think the world is more dangerous than it really is.

But, perhaps even worse— while he’s shifted, his omega gets free reign as well, and it doesn’t take long for Chifuyu’s mind to be overrun with thoughts of the alpha that came to his rescue.

It makes for an exhausting day of travel. He’s either on high alert, both his wolf and omega convinced that he’s something weak, something that needs to be protected by the other wolves they travel with. Or, he’s frantically going over every detail he can remember about that day, desperate to find something new about the alpha to cling onto— but all that lingers is the smell of blood.

By the time they reach the other pack’s camp, Chifuyu feels like two different people. Himself, the one that’s focused on the task at hand, and his omega, who keeps pushing on and on, restless and fuelled by the instincts that Chifuyu always fights so hard for to keep suppressed.

The beta, Sanzu, leads Chifuyu and his mother to a bonfire, near nightfall. He leaves them with a bundle of clean clothes to change into after shifting back to their human forms and explains that he will call the head alpha.

There are two logs on either side of the bonfire. After dressing in the clothes, just slightly too thin and not really suited for the dropping temperature, Chifuyu and his mother take a seat on the log closest to them, and wait.

“You will let me do all the talking,” his mother says, for the nth time so far, always soft enough to make sure only they heard. “If you even think about opening your stupid, impulsive mouth, I will make you sleep outside for an entire moon cycle. You hear me?”

Chifuyu watches a few embers fly up into the rapidly darkening sky. “Yes, mother.”

“Do not yes mother me, Chifuyu.” She pokes him in the shoulder, just underneath his still-tender wound. Chifuyu curses and flinches away from her. “Give me your word that you won’t!”

“I said yes, didn’t I?” he hisses back, glaring daggers at her. “I’m not gonna do anything stupid, I promise!”

Before she can scold him again, two voices pick up in the distance. When the wind turns, a dark scent carries its way over to them— the clear presence of an alpha. Chifuyu sits up more straight and from the corner of his eye, sees his mother do the same.

The pair that approaches them from between the thick of the trees do so without any threat in their posture. The alpha, a blond man who wears only loose, cotton pants, showing off his built physique despite the cold, is all easy smiles and holds out his arms when he’s within hearing range.

“Don’t look so stiff,” he says, voice surprisingly high. “You’re guests. Relax.”

The beta that accompanies him, who is dressed appropriately for winter, simply nods in their direction and stays standing while the alpha takes a seat on the opposite log. “This is Manjirou,” he announces with a nod. “Current leader of the Sano pack.”

“Don’t be so formal, Kisaki,” the alpha scolds, turning to pull his beta companion down on the log with him. With a smile, he faces Chifuyu and his mother again. “Call me Mikey.”

True to his promise, Chifuyu keeps his mouth shut while his mother introduces them politely, explaining where they came from, and expresses her gratitude to the alpha for seeing them.

Mikey stays silent while she talks, though he seems deep in thought. His eyes occasionally jump to Chifuyu, who can’t help but flush a bit under the attention.

“So,” Mikey finally says after a brief moment of silence, “you’re the omega I heard about? You killed a beta all on your own, right?”

Chifuyu glances at his mother and simply nods.

“Cat got your tongue?” Mikey asks with a grin.

“No.” Chifuyu smiles back. “My mother simply instructed me to keep my mouth shut, and I intend to honour her wishes.”

“Chifuyu!” she hisses, jabbing him in the ribs.

Thankfully, the alpha just laughs, loud and long, throwing his head back while doing so. He regains his composure with a chuckle. “Alright. I can appreciate a son following his mother’s orders. In that case, let me turn my attention to you,” he looks at Chifuyu’s mother. “What really brings you here tonight?”

“Well,” she shifts in her seat, righting her shoulders. “Is it safe to assume that the alpha who killed the other two betas belongs to your pack?”

Mikey nods. “He sure does. I hope he hasn’t been bothering you guys?”

“Not at all. I’m grateful that he took care of the beasts that intended to kill my son and the pups of our pack.” She lays a hand on Chifuyu’s arm. “I owe my son’s life to him. If there is a way to honour him—”

“Trust us,” the beta, Kisaki, cuts in, “that won’t be necessary. That alpha’s ego doesn’t need any more fuel. He’s already a bother to deal with.”

Mikey tuts. “He’s not that bad.”

“He’s pretty bad,” the beta deadpans.

“He considers you a friend.”

“I am not to blame for his delusions.”

Mikey laughs again. Not a single thing about him screams intimidating alpha and hope blooms in Chifuyu’s chest, hope that they have come across the kind of man that will listen to their request and possibly even fulfil it.

“Can I ask,” Chifuyu’s mother speaks up, “what your intention is in these lands? Do you wish to settle here?”

The mood shifts, but not unpleasantly so. Mikey adjusts where he sits, his expression changing to a more serious one. “Would we be welcomed, or chased out?”

“I wouldn’t prevent anyone from settling peacefully. If you wish to make a home out of these woods as well, we would gladly welcome you.” She smiles and leans forward a bit.

Kisaki purses his lips and leans back, the darkness of the night sky falling over his features, giving him the appearance of someone much older than he likely is. “I take it that the other pack slowly gaining territory in these woods is giving you trouble, then?”

“They have.” If she’s taken aback by the beta’s observation, she doesn’t show it, as graceful as ever. Chifuyu’s heart swells with pride and he scoots a little closer, nearly purring when he feels his mother’s hand come to rest on his. “It’s part of the reason why we came here, but I have the feeling you already know that.”

The beta simply nods.

Mikey makes a gesture with his hand, face still relaxed, urging Chifuyu’s mother to continue.

“Truthfully, all the packs that used to live alongside us have left months ago with the coming of these intruders. We’re the only ones left, and without an alpha’s protection, it’s been hard to—”

The alpha holds up a hand, stopping her in her speech. “You’ve managed to keep this pack at bay without an alpha?” When she nods, Mikey whistles low. “That’s impressive. Not to say— I mean, my brother’s an omega and he lead the pack before me. It’s just, from our encounters with this pack, they’re strong and lack any kinda morality.”

Mikey falls quiet for a moment, staring into the fire. Night has truly fallen and from between the trees, Chifuyu swears he can see twinkling eyes staring at them, most likely the other wolves from the pack. Strangely enough, surrounded by this many strangers, he doesn’t feel threatened.

“So, you are asking us for protection?” Kisaki asks, tone neutral, but not unkind.

Chifuyu’s mother nods. “More than that, we would seek to build a partnership with you. We are small, but we have much to offer— rich harvests and skilled hunters. There are also a number of vacant huts that your omegas and pups would be welcome to stay in while you build up homes here.” She grins, a little twinkle to her eyes. “Not to mention, we could teach you how to dress appropriately for winter. The temperatures drop even more harshly where we’re from.”

Chuckling to himself, Mikey stands up. He takes a moment to grab a nearby log and lays it in the flames. “I will admit I have been thinking of expanding our territories and settling here, even despite these terrible temperatures.” He looks at Chifuyu’s mother with a matching grin before his expression settles into a more serious one. “We’d drive off these invaders in no time.“

Mikey sighs before continuing. “But the issue is that this pack’s not going to roll over easily. If we really wanna settle here, I’d need some of my strongest fighters by my side, and that’d leave my pack back home exposed for longer than I’m comfortable with.”

Chifuyu feels his mother stiffen up next to him, and his own heart sinks.

“It’s not that I don’t wanna offer you the protection that would come with us settling here,” Mikey continues, “and lemme say— I would gladly drive this other pack off and form an alliance. What you’re offering seems good, resources and new friends. But we never meant to stay here for longer than necessary while we scouted out the land.”

“Unless…” Kisaki stands up as well. “There is someone you could task with looking over the pack, Mikey. That’d give you the security needed to safely settle here.”

The alpha quirks a brow, clearly amused. “You mean…” He shakes his head. “He’s made it clear that staying back would bore him to death, and I don’t wanna see the guy die just yet.”

Kisaki nods, eyes darting to Chifuyu and his mother for a moment. “That is true. His desire for blood far outweighs his interest in settling down, but… You will agree that he causes more trouble than he’s worth and leaving him back home would make settling here easier.”

“Get on with it, Kisaki.”

“What if you gave him an incentive to stay back, for now?” The beta steps closer to Mikey. “You’re still his alpha. He will listen to you.” His eyes drift again and stay on Chifuyu. “What if he had a mate, pups to look after? Don’t you think that’d give him a change of heart?”

It takes a second for the implication to settle. Chifuyu’s eyes widen when he realises what the beta is getting at, the same moment it seems to dawn on his mother. She stands up, scent spiking.

“My son is not part of this—”

“Mom.” Ignoring the sinking feeling in his stomach, Chifuyu pushes up to stand by her side. “Please, let them finish.”

The alpha looks from Chifuyu to his mother, a small smile on his lips. “Has your son helped in attacks against this hostile pack, before one of my guys saved his ass by the river?”

His mother is shaking her head, the smell of his distress rolling off her in waves.

“I have,” Chifuyu says, forcing the words past his lips, heart beating wildly in his chest. “I have, yes.”

“See?” Kisaki gently nudges Mikey. “He’s turned up his nose to every single omega so far, but… In confidence, he has told me that what puts him off about them is their docile nature.” The beta nods in Chifuyu’s direction. “Maybe this one’ll be different. He doesn’t even smell like a typical omega.” He smiles, a little wry. “No offence.”

Chifuyu grimaces back. “None taken.”

“With him back there, you and the other alphas would be free to expand our territories further, Mikey.”

The alpha nods, humming his agreement. He looks Chifuyu over slowly, from head to toe. It makes him squirm, feeling overly exposed under Mikey’s dark eyes, like he can see straight through him.

“You’d be willing to leave your home?” Mikey asks, softly. “It’s a long journey. It won’t be easy to come back here and visit, not for a long while, at least.”

Chifuyu swallows thickly and looks around the dark trees, the glittering eyes hiding between them. He’s never been more than a week’s travel away from home. All he’s known is the thick trees in these parts, the hard and cold ground. The thought of leaving that all behind for an alpha he doesn’t know, a pack he doesn’t know, leaving his mother all alone, it scares him more than anything before.

But the ache in his shoulder reminds him of his failure and how he isn’t suited to keep their pack safe, no matter how hard he tries.

“I can trust you to look after my mother?” he asks instead of directly answering Mikey’s question. “I can have your word that— that if I leave, no harm will come to my her, or our home?”

The alpha nods. “You have my word.”

“Chifuyu…” His mother looks at him, wide, blue eyes pleading. “You don’t have to do this. We can find another way—”

He shakes his head and forces himself to smile. “It’ll be okay, ma.” Chifuyu takes her hand and looks back at Mikey. “Would I— would I be able to meet him, before…”

Mikey nods and looks at Kisaki. “When do Kenchin and the others return?”

“Shouldn’t be more than a day.”

“Perfect!” Mikey claps his hands and stands, extending his arms out to Chifuyu and his mother. “You can stay with us until the hunters return. I will send some of our strongest betas to keep an eye on the borders to your lands.”

His mother still looks horrified when Chifuyu glances at her, but with her lips pressed together in a tight line, she accepts the alpha’s hospitality and thanks him for his generosity.

Chifuyu tries, he truly does, to extend his gratitude as well, but when he opens his mouth, no words come out. With heavy feet, he follows them to the camp, and accepts whatever may come. For his mother, for his pack, he will bear it without complaint.

Chapter Text

The wolves that listened in on the conversation the night before are shifted back into their humans the following morning. They don’t bother hiding the fact that they were eavesdropping and come by one by one to extend their condolences for pack members lost in the fight against the hostile shifters.

One of the alphas who hadn’t joined the hunt, Mitsuya, stays with them the entire day. He tells some stories about how Mikey runs his pack— how he has multiple alphas under him, all happily following their head alpha, with very little power-struggle present within their pack.

It puts Chifuyu at ease, just a little. What Mitsuya tells him about their village in the south is positive, painting a picture of spare forests, grassy plains, and beaches within walking distance. With a smile on his face, he tells them about the omegas that they left behind, how they’ll be kind and welcoming to Chifuyu.

The temporary camp Mitsuya shows them around isn’t much to look at— a few shared huts that would be easy to break down again, littered around a clearing. Several fires roar, around which a few pack members sit, huddled together to stave off the cold, underdressed for the cold temperatures.

Their miserable state pulls at Chifuyu’s heartstrings and he finds himself shrugging off his thick coat, one that he made with the fur of a bear he killed himself. Without hesitation, he lays it around the shoulders of an alpha woman who looks to be around his mother’s age. She has long, dark hair and when she smiles in gratitude, one sharp canine peeks out over her lips.

They sit with her until the sky starts darkening, Chifuyu’s mother pressed between him and the woman, who introduces herself as Ryoko and proudly tells them about her son, who had to stay behind despite his demands to join Mikey.

“It’s not easy for an omega,” she says just before they ready themselves to move on, reaching out to take Chifuyu’s wrist. “Is it? The life you sometimes find yourself living despite your best efforts.”

Chifuyu doesn’t miss the sad look in his mother’s eyes when they bid Ryoko a good night. He insists the alpha keep his coat and when Mitsuya leads them to the separated area to meet Mikey, a strange feeling blooms in Chifuyu’s chest. It takes him by surprise, the sudden hope that this arrangement works out— not just for his own pack, but for this one as well, so they get the best possible chance to thrive in a harsh winter and unfamiliar lands.

With the stars shining brightly in the clear night sky, they find Mikey by the fire, welcoming them back with a smile. He motions for them to take a seat on the log next to his, and in a hushed voice, tells them that the hunters are set to arrive soon.

Mikey explains that he’d discuss it with the alpha first and warned Chifuyu that if the alpha resisted, he wouldn’t force him into anything.

It brings Chifuyu equal amounts of peace and distress— knowing Mikey is a kind leader, but at the same time, the possibility that he can get rejected, with all the consequences that’ll come with that.

After that, Mikey turns his attention to the rest of the pack that’d gathered around the fire, making the crowd laugh with the stories he tells, their leader and his easy charm pulling them all in.

On his end, Chifuyu tries his best to pay attention, but with each passing second, he knows the moment where he’ll meet his future mate comes closer, and it’s hard to focus when nerves flood his entire body, putting him on edge.

In the middle of Mikey’s story, voices pick up in the distance, alongside a mix of scents, muddled together to form something distinctly alpha. Before Chifuyu can process what that means, several men come walking into the circle.

It’s easy to spot the alphas among the group of six. Two of them, one broad and tall, the other even taller, but considerably less muscular. They both have black hair hanging past their shoulders, though the shorter one takes a moment to pull his up into a ponytail, showing off the shaved sides of his head.

The other alpha looks at him while he does so, visibly scoffing and rolling his eyes. Though tall, he lacks any of the usual characteristics Chifuyu would think of when picturing an alpha. Despite that, he carries himself with the arrogance of a prime alpha, not even glancing in their direction.

They’ve clearly just shifted out of their wolf forms, completely naked and with something wild clinging to them, carrying their own scents as well as a lingering presence of the forest, deep and earthy. They’re worlds apart from the alphas that Chifuyu has encountered before and he can’t stop his heart from missing a beat, his breath from hitching slightly.

Chifuyu hears his mother clear her throat at their states of undress and that snaps him out of it, dragging his eyes away from the tallest’ alpha.

The other hunters, four betas, carry with them a large boar, which is quickly handed off to Sanzu and Mitsuya to deal with. They don’t waste time getting out knives to set about preparing the boar for roasting.

One of the betas, a tall man with dark skin and bouncy curls, glances at Chifuyu while he’s pulling on his clothes, winking when their eyes meet.

Chifuyu scoffs and looks away, eyes drifting back to the two alphas. The taller one is just baring his teeth at the other and immediately gets swatted in the back of the head. For a moment, the tall alpha puffs up his chest, squaring his jaw and stepping closer to the bigger alpha, but he seems to change his mind at the last moment. They share a glare before both pulling on a pair of pants.

The other three betas barely acknowledge the group after they’ve gotten dressed. If they notice two new scents while they pull on the clothing that’d been laid out for them, they don’t let it show.

Mikey stands up when the tall alpha simply nods at him and then goes to walk away, to the other area of their temporary camp, away from the people.

“Hanma,” the head alpha calls, making the other stop in his tracks. “Come here and talk to me for a moment.”

Something like recognition sparks in the back of Chifuyu’s head when the tall alpha approaches, but no matter how hard he tries, he can’t explain the strange feeling of familiarity.

The alpha drags his feet, clearly unhappy about being called upon. His chest, littered with many scars, rises and falls with a deep sigh when he stands in front Mikey. They stare each other down for a moment and then Mikey stands with a smile, leading the alpha to sit a little further away, out of earshot.

The other alpha watches the two go before he glances in Chifuyu and his mother’s direction. He frowns, like he isn’t sure if they’re strangers or not, before something lights up in his expression. The man takes his time tying his pants before making his way over.

With a grunt, he wrestles his way between them, and turns to Chifuyu.

“Heard a lot about you,” he says, voice deep and pleasant, warm like the fire they’re sitting by.

“Wish I could say the same.” Chifuyu smiles and subtly reaches behind the man to pat his mother’s back in reassurance, easily picking up the distress in her scent. He’s not sure if this is the alpha that’s meant to be his mate, but judging by looks alone— Chifuyu can’t say he’d mind all that much, rational thought and worries momentarily overruled by his omega threatening to burst out from the proximity to a strong alpha.

“My name’s Draken,” the alpha says. “If you two are still here, I take it Kisaki’s predictions were accurate?” He turns his head to the other side, addressing Chifuyu’s mother. “You’re a strong woman and an impressive leader, making it this long on your own. I hope Mikey offered his help?”

Chifuyu drowns out their conversation, somewhat happy to be excluded. His eyes keep getting drawn across the fire, to where Mikey is in deep conversation with the other alpha, Hanma, who looks less than pleased about the subject matter they’re discussing.

Between Draken and the other alpha, Chifuyu hopes that his nape isn’t being promised to the one sitting with Mikey. It’s clear he has an attitude, occasionally baring his teeth to his head alpha, only backing down when Mikey’s growl reverberates around the clearing.

“Was on his own for a long time,” Draken says next to Chifuyu, as if he could read his thoughts. “Been with us for a couple of years. He’s strong, capable, useful to have around, but never really learned how to be part of a pack.” He hums and shakes his head. “Kind of a pain in the ass, really.”

Chifuyu swallows and momentarily forgets that Draken wasn’t present for the meeting with Mikey and Kisaki. He turns to the alpha and tries to sound neutral. “Is he the alpha I’m meant to be mated to?”

“What?” Draken whips his head around, eyes wide. “To Hanma? No way. That’s—”

The alpha never gets to finish. Mikey interrupts with a loud shout to draw everyone’s attention to him, already standing up while the alpha next to him seems to seethe in silence.

“Everyone who isn’t me, our guests, Kisaki or Hanma, please take dinner to the rest of the pack.” The alpha smiles, all boyish charm under the light of the stars, and waves them off.

They all clear out in an instant. Draken schools his obvious shock at Chifuyu’s question and nods in parting, a tight smile on his face.

With heavy feet, Chifuyu follows his mother around the bonfire. Together, they kneel on the ground in front of Mikey, Kisaki and Hanma, who have taken up equally formal positions on the soft grass.

Robbed from distractions, Chifuyu is forced to face the thumping of his heart and how tight his chest feels. Gone is the speculation about who Mikey was talking about the day before— the alpha that might become his mate is sitting right across from Chifuyu, staring him down with slightly narrowed eyes, his fists balled up and resting on his knees.

It stays silent for a tense moment. When no one speaks up, Mikey, seated in the middle, clears his throat and elbows the alpha in the ribs.

Hanma’s sharp eyes drift to the side, eyeing his leader warily, before settling back on Chifuyu. “My name is Shuji Hanma,” he grits out, forcing a smile that doesn’t reach his gleaming, yellow eyes. “Thank you for coming all this way.”

To keep from replying in the same hostile tone, Chifuyu reminds himself of his home— the kids, the people he loves, the ones who he’s doing all of this for. “My name is—”

“Yes, Chifuyu,” the alpha cuts in. “Mikey told me.”

Chifuyu raises a brow and snaps his mouth shut. He feels his mother shift next to him, the edges of her scent souring slightly.

“Are there no alphas in your pack?” Hanma asks, tilting his head up slightly.

Before his mother can speak, sharply inhaling in the way Chifuyu knows doesn’t bode well, he lays a hand on her arm, squeezes softly.

“There were in the neighbouring packs.” He levels the alpha with a cold stare. “I simply had no desire to take a mate.”

Hanma scoffs. “That makes two of us, then.”

“Yet here we are.”

“Yes,” he almost growls. “Here we are.”

Kisaki sighs heavily, a hand coming up to pinch the bridge of his nose. “While I’m glad we’re all in agreement to the events of the past, perhaps we want to cast our eyes to the future. Hanma.” He turns to the alpha, doesn’t flinch away when a glare is directed at him. “You agreed to consider it.”

“I am considering it.” The alpha sniffs, like a petulant child. Chifuyu feels his eye twitch at his attitude. “Though answer me this— why am I the one only being considered for this?” He looks at Chifuyu, chin tilted up again in infuriating arrogance. “Did you request me specifically?”

Chifuyu has to choke down a mocking laugh. “I didn’t even know you existed until tonight.”

His statement seems to confuse the alpha, who cocks his head to the side, brow furrowed. “You mean…” He shakes his head and sighs, expression back to neutral. “Foolish omega.”

“Don’t insult my son in front of me,” Chifuyu’s mother snaps, laying a hand on Chifuyu’s shoulder, baring her teeth for a moment. After that, she turns her attention to Mikey. “I appreciate your offer, Manjirou, but perhaps this is not the path we must walk together after all.”

A petty part of Chifuyu agrees, staring at the arrogant alpha across from him. He needs to remind himself, rather forcefully, of everything they would risk— the lives of many, the future of their pack. “Ma,” he manages to get out between his clenched teeth, “Kisaki, Mikey. Would you allow us a moment alone?” He shoots Hanma a venomous smile. “Perhaps it’s easier to reach an agreement without spectators, alpha?”

Hanma smirks, a mean expression on his face, and nods.

“Absolutely not—” Chifuyu’s mother begins, though she cuts herself off when he turns to face her, smiling gently.

“Ma,” he whispers. “Trust me, please.”

Everything about her body language makes it clear that she does not trust Chifuyu in the slightest, but she still allows herself to be lead away by Mikey, back to the main area of their camp. She throws one last look over her shoulder, a cutting glare that carries all the warning she intends for it to, before she disappears between the trees.

Then it’s just Chifuyu and Hanma, kneeling opposite one another.

They both take a moment to seize each other up. If Chifuyu lingers longer than strictly necessary on all the scarring littered across Hanma’s chest, no one but him has to know.

“Can’t say I know a lot of unmated omegas who’d willingly be left alone with an alpha,” Hanma begins their conversation, shifting to a less formal position— leaning back on his hands with his legs crossed. He grins, sharp canines gleaming in the moonlight. “You’re not scared I’ll just have my way with you now that your chaperone’s gone?”

Chifuyu frowns, mildly taken aback by the way Hanma’s attitude switches up, from indifferent and arrogant to whatever beast he tries to present himself as now. “I’d like to see you try,” he shoots back cooly. “I’ll rip your arm off, snap it in two and stab you with your own splintered bone before you’d even be able to get your dick out.”

Hanma whistles, low and annoying, grating on Chifuyu’s nerves. “That really the kinda way you wanna talk to the guy who’s thinking about doing you a favour?”

“A favour?” Chifuyu scoffs. “Can’t imagine people lining up for you with a face like that. Let’s not get it twisted here and pretend I’m the only one in need of some charity.”

His yellow eyes narrow, lips twitching into half of a scowl. “Don’t push your luck, omega,” he growls. “I’d be happy to change my mind and let you live with the guilt when your pack’s torn to shreds.”

Something tells Chifuyu it’s an empty threat, that he’s facing the type of man that wouldn’t even give him the time of day if he hadn’t already made up his mind about this. But still… He isn’t willing to gamble the lives of those he loves over some petty personal feelings.

He takes a deep breath and imagines exhaling his own animosity. Grovel a little, like a good omega, he can do that. Appeal to the guy’s ego. For his pack, he’ll do anything. Even beg.

“I’m— I’m sorry, alpha. I appreciate you considering this,” Chifuyu says, fighting to keep his voice even. “If you agree to this, I will be forever indebted to you and Mikey. We have small kids in our pack, a few pregnant omegas. I want them to be safe and protected.”

Hanma looks at him, something intense in his stare, almost predatory. “Don’t you omegas dream of more than mating for strategic purposes?” He raises a brow, a silent challenge. “Is your pack really worth giving yourself to me?“

“Yes,” Chifuyu says, not even needing to think about his answer. “They are worth everything, alpha.” He averts his eyes, staring off into the dark trees that surround them. “Many of our strongest fighters are wounded, some have died. Had I known years ago that this would happen, I might’ve accepted a courtship that came from affection, but…” Chifuyu looks away. “It doesn’t matter.”

A mocking sound comes from Hanma, something between a scoff and a chuckle. “How noble. Though I fail to see how this might benefit me.”

“Don’t you alphas dream of continuing your bloodline?” Chifuyu asks, unable to keep the mocking tone out of his voice when he throws the alpha’s own words back at him. “You look older than me. Unmated. Your instincts must be screaming at you to take a mate, or you wouldn’t be sitting here.”

Hanma raises an eyebrow. “Never considered myself a slave to my alpha,” he says slowly, something calculated in the way he enunciates each syllable. “But, I will admit, it has been growing restless during my ruts. Quite a pain to deal with, even though there are a lot of omegas lining up for me.”

“I’m sure there are.” Chifuyu takes a deep breath, swallows down the insults he wants to spit out at the alpha. “Yet you remain unmated, so I think we can agree that we both have something to offer. I can sleep easy knowing my home is protected by Mikey, and I will give you something to mount during your ruts, maybe even pups if you manage to put them in me.”

Something dark flashes across Hanma’s face. “You’ve got a foul mouth for an omega.” He narrows his eyes more, lip curling up slightly. “You barely smell like one, too.”

Loathe as he is to admit it, the scowl on Hanma’s face beckons the light of the fire to it, casts looming shadows over the alpha’s surprisingly delicate features. For a moment, Chifuyu is drawn in, unable to look away, forced to notice how Hanma’s eyes nearly seem to glow.

With a scowl of his own, Chifuyu shrugs and looks away. He focuses his attention on the fire and follows the dancing flames with his eyes. “No one has ever accused me of being a typical omega.” He glances at the alpha. “Your decision?”

“I’m twice your size,” Hanma mumbles, though he moves closer. “My pups will tear you in half while you bring them into this world.”

“That’ll still give my pack at least nine months in safety.” Chifuyu sets his jaw, stares Hanma down. “I’d let you rip out my heart if it means they’ll be able to live peacefully for even just a week longer.”

For a moment, it looks like Hanma is going to say something, brow deeply furrowed, but then he sighs and holds out a hand.

“Your wrist, omega.”

It’s an old custom, from what Chifuyu remembers, remnant of a time when settlements were few and far between, and matings were more often than not arranged. He supposes it’s fitting for their situation, not that different from a time when omegas were nothing more than traded goods.

“Worried I’m gonna run away?” he murmurs, laying his hand, palm up, in Hanma’s.

The alpha scoffs, bringing Chifuyu’s wrist up to his lips, breath fanning over the thin skin when he speaks. “I’d rather not have your mother kill me in my sleep. If I already lay some sort of claim on you, I hope she’ll be willing to spare her son’s future mate.”

“You overestimate her mercy.”

Hanma glances up at him, teeth already scraping over Chifuyu’s skin. “It’d take weeks for this mark to fade after I die, and you’d be in pain the entire time. I’m sure that I’m not overestimating her love for you.”

Everything about his self-satisfied, arrogant tone pisses Chifuyu off. He narrows his eyes and swallows down the urge to growl. “Just do it.”

There’s no final confirmation, no last question asked. Hanma clamps his teeth over Chifuyu’s wrist, right where his scent gland is, and bites down, not quite as deep as a mating bite, but deep enough to break the skin.

A surge of warmth runs down Chifuyu’s spine, but before he can fully explore the feeling, Hanma is drawing back again. He gets up without a word and extends a hand to pull Chifuyu up, but doesn’t meet his eye again.

They leave the fire together with distance between them. Chifuyu’s wrist aches from the bite Hanma left him with, but his instincts keep the worst of it contained, pain easily overpowered by his omega’s deep contentment that comes with the promising bite.

It might not be a full claim, but it’s enough for his scent to carry the undercurrent of Hanma’s— enough to serve as a reminder that soon, Chifuyu will no longer belong to only himself.

They leave at the break of dawn.

Mikey sent the others out during the night, already on their way back to Chifuyu’s village. His mother will be accompanied back by Mikey and Draken. The kind alpha from the night before, Mitsuya, was sent out back to the pack in the south, to bring the news before their arrival.

The conversation before they are meant to leave between Chifuyu and his mother is not as tear-filled as he imagined it to be. She gives him a long speech filled with advice and words of encouragement, but spends the most time detailing a mixture of herbs that could kill Hanma if he ever harmed a single hair on Chifuyu’s head.

After that, she accompanies him to the border of the camp, a hand on his shoulder and her head held high.

“Tell the kids I’ll miss them,” Chifuyu says. “Let Ouri live in my hut when he comes of age, but don’t let him trash it, okay?”

She shakes her head and takes his clothes as he undresses, preparing to shift. “He’ll come of age in five years. You can tell him that yourself.”

Even with Mikey’s promise of an eventual reunion, Chifuyu isn’t sure if he can fully allow himself to believe his mother’s words, would rather not let hope cloud his every thought of ever seeing his home again.

Chifuyu starts stretching out his muscles, mentally preparing himself for the excruciating pain that comes with shifting, when he picks up Hanma’s scent. Slowly, he turns to face the alpha, who has four betas by his side, most likely the ones from the night before, already shifted.

As he nears, Hanma’s eyes slowly rake down Chifuyu’s body, his expression blank.

If Chifuyu lied to himself, he’d say that he doesn’t care. Let Hanma look him over without so much as a twitch to his face. Who cares? He doesn’t care.

But, if Chifuyu were honest and would take a moment to check-in with his omega—which he doesn’t, of course—he might find that it stings, Hanma’s complete disinterest. A whining voice in his head is spurring him on to put himself on display a bit more, to see the alpha’s gaze shift, maybe darken with arousal.

An incredibly stupid thought. As he’s done countless times before, Chifuyu ignores it and pushes away the lingering ache of disappointment.

Thankfully, of the betas approaches with a wagging tail, its fur a mix of greys and browns. It circles him a few times, drawing Chifuyu’s attention away from Hanma.

“He’ll stay by your side,” Hanma explains, tone flat, standing in front of Chifuyu. “His name is Ryusei.”

“Hi, Ryusei.” He extends a hand to the wolf, who presses his wet nose against it in greeting. “You make it sound like you won’t be, Hanma?”

Hanma nods, turning his head to stare off into the tree-line. “Correct. I’ll stay close, but outside of the group.”

Three of the other betas crowd around him, large wolves with grey fur.

“You and Ryusei will depart now. Chonbo, Chome, Choji,” he points out the betas as he names them, “will leave shortly after. I need to talk over the last details with Mikey and will catch up eventually.”

“Why?” The question leaves Chifuyu before he can stop it, instincts all over the place at the prospect of being separated from the alpha during their long journey, treading into unknown territory with betas he doesn’t know.

Hanma looks at him. It’s clear he isn’t interested in answering questions.

“You promised to take care of my son!” Chifuyu’s mother sneers, stepping forward to poke a finger into the alpha’s chest. “Why are you delegating the task?”

To Chifuyu’s utter shock, the expression on Hanma’s face changes when he looks at her— it softens around the edges and he bows his head slightly. “This is the formation we usually hunt in. I trust these three with my life, and Ryusei has proved himself trustworthy, too.” He gently takes her wrist to get it away from his chest. “This is the safest way.”

“If any harm comes to him and you weren’t there to protect him,” Chifuyu’s mother spits, not placated in the slightest, “I will skin you myself and turn you into a rug. You understand me, pup?”

Hanma nods, a little stiffly, and cranes his neck to the side in submission.

“That’s right.” Her voice shakes around the edges and she trembles where she stands. “If one drop of his blood hits the ground, I expect someone else’s to flow— whether that’s yours, alpha, or your opponent’s, I do not care.”

When the alpha nods again, she rounds on Chifuyu, who takes a step back and brings up his hands. “Ma…”

“You!” She stalks forward and pulls him into a crushing hug, squeezing the air from his lungs. “Your father did everything I told him to. An alpha is nothing without their omega, Chifuyu, you remember that.” She drops her voice for only them to hear. “Don’t you dare roll over for him, you hear me? Remember how I raised you.”

“How could I forget?” Chifuyu squeezes her back, lets his mother’s comforting scent wash over him and tries to soak it up the best he can, knowing it will be a long while before he’ll get to smell it again. “You practically beat it into me.”

She chuckles wetly. “You rotten child. I love you.”

“I love you, ma.” He inhales one last time before stepping back. “Take care of yourself.”

With his mother’s scent still fresh in his nose, Chifuyu shifts, suppressing his whines while his bones break and bends themselves into the shape of his wolf. He shakes the discomfort off, trots a few circles to stretch his legs, quickly getting used to the heightened senses.

His mother watches him with a fond smile, extending her hand for Chifuyu to nuzzle into. He circles around her and rubs against her legs, the last opportunity to scent her.

A low whistle sounds around the clearing. Chifuyu’s ears twitch in the direction it’s coming from. He turns to face Hanma, who crouches down and holds out a hand. In wolf form, it’s hard to hide his emotions, body language a dead giveaway. It’s with flattened ears that Chifuyu walks over to the alpha.

The alpha reaches out a hand and grabs him under the chin, looking Chifuyu over with a small frown, doing absolutely nothing to ease his apprehension. “White fur doesn’t camouflage well, Ryusei,” he says without taking his eyes off Chifuyu. “Keep that in mind.”

Ryusei trots up and sits down next to Chifuyu, body relaxed, tail wagging behind him and bumping into Chifuyu’s with each swipe. He sticks out his head and yawns, satisfied, when Hanma pets his head, a gentle gesture he only extends to the beta.

Hanma stays crouched for a moment longer, looking between them, before standing back up with a small groan. With a jerk of his head, he dismisses them, his presence and commands domineering and nearly impossible to ignore, even in his human form.

With Ryusei at his side, Chifuyu makes his way over to the tree line and waits there for further instructions, letting the beta scent him a little in the meantime, getting acquainted with each other, though Chifuyu can’t keep his eyes off the alpha. It’s something he blames his wolf for, overruling any rational thoughts in the presence of an alpha— now mostly focused on following commands and appeasing him.

Another jerk of Hanma’s head, and the other three betas are dragging themselves up from where they’d been lazing around and stand in front of him. As he did with Ryusei, he pats the betas’ heads one by one, looking at them closely, sure to make eye-contact and keep it for a few seconds.

So soft, Chifuyu almost misses it even with his enhanced hearing, Hanma instructs them. “When he’s my mate, you’ll answer to him as your omega. Treat him as if he already were.” He pinches one of the betas’ ears. “Keep him safe or I’ll rip these off your head. Understood?”

It’s more than clear that his words weren't meant to be heard by the rest of them. When Chifuyu glances over at his mother, nothing about her stance shows that she heard them, and Ryusei also lacks any kind of reaction to them.

In the end, Chifuyu chalks it up to an alpha’s natural instincts to protect, probably spurred on by the weak connection between them, courtesy of the promising bite he’d left on Chifuyu’s wrist.

A long moment passes before Hanma looks back up at Chifuyu, expression guarded, and then nods at Ryusei.

After a final glance at his mother, who smiles despite the tears in her eyes, they are off.

Chapter Text

The journey stretches over several weeks, every day much or less the same.

After only six days of travel, the ground starts to unfreeze and the temperature slowly but steadily rises. It takes a while to adjust. Each night, Ryusei is kind enough to run his fingers through Chifuyu’s fur, helping him gradually thin it out and prevent matting from the rapid shedding he’s going through, now that winter mellows out the further south they get.

The further down they go, Ryusei becomes more and more careful in the paths he chooses, making sure they follow those with the most foliage, the beta keeping Hanma’s warning about camouflage in mind.

For the majority of the time, it’s just the two of them. They become accustomed to each other’s wolves and seamlessly fall in line with each other while they travel during the day. After the sun sets and the forest falls quiet, save for their panting and footfalls, they set up camp. On that particular night, it happens to be a cave, the entrance mostly hidden from view by thick bushes.

Ryusei, as it turns out, is a considerate and pleasant companion to have. Apart from making sure Chifuyu doesn’t turn into a matted ball of fur on legs, he leads them to safe shelters every night and sets up camp swiftly, catching small prey and sitting close to Chifuyu while they wait for them to roast over the fire.

It was Ryusei’s idea to shift back each night, so they can spend time getting to know each other. And get to know each other, they do.

Somewhere near the end of the first week, Ryusei’s true personality shows itself. He was kind and funny before, but he gradually turns into an overexcited puppy, even as a human. He doesn’t shut up for even a second, telling Chifuyu stories about the pack and badgering him with a million intrusive questions.

They start off innocent enough.

“Was it love at first sight between you and Shuji?”

“No. I hadn’t even met him when I agreed to be his mate.”

“Oh. So, do you like him?”

“He hasn’t shown me a likeable part of his personality yet.”

The dry answers don’t deter Ryusei from pressing on and on, until Chifuyu snaps at him, and the beta tones it down just a little bit.

After that first week, they’re finally joined by the rest of their party. The other three betas join them one night, a little after they’ve settled down in their shelter. They mostly keep to themselves, resting a little ways away, just out of earshot. Unlike Chifuyu and Ryusei, the betas stay shifted to their wolf forms the entire journey.

“Shuji probably instructed them to,” Ryusei says during the second night after the betas joined. “He doesn’t really believe in our human form’s fighting prowess, even though I broke his nose with my useless little human fists once.”

Chifuyu looks up from staring into the fire, quirking a brow at Ryusei. “You broke an alpha’s nose and lived to tell the tale?”

“Shuji’s just a big softie. He would never harm a single hair on my head.”

“Yes, I would.”

Chifuyu jumps slightly and coughs to cover it up, stretching out his arms to show he definitely meant to do that. In his defence, Hanma’s voice is deep and the alpha managed to creep up on them, approaching from behind. He shoots Ryusei a glare as he walks past, making his way around the fire to sit across from them.

Adding to his embarrassment, seeing Hanma naked brings a flush to his cheeks. At least it’s dark and therefore, hopefully, unable to be seen.

“Why didn’t you, then?” Ryusei teases, sticking his tongue out when Hanma growls at him. “It’s okay to admit you love me, y’know.”

Hanma stares back, a little blankly, and then shakes his head. “Did you catch any food?”

“Already finished it.”

“Great.”

“It was really nice.”

“Don’t care.”

Chifuyu wrings his hands together as the two continue to bicker back and forth, unease creeping up his spine. His omega is raging inside his head, wounded and sad, because so far, Hanma hasn’t so much as looked at Chifuyu. No glance or even a twitch in his direction.

It’s not that he was under the impression that they’d be the best of friends, but this treatment seems cold, even for their arrangement. He wasn’t expecting a lot, but it doesn’t feel like it’d be too much to ask for the alpha to at least greet him, maybe even check if Chifuyu is doing alright.

He stands abruptly and finally catches Hanma’s attention, his eyes slowly lifting to meet Chifuyu’s.

“I’m tired,” he announces, holding Hanma’s gaze for a moment before turning to look at Ryusei. “I’m gonna get some sleep. Thank you for looking after me today.”

That night, Ryusei cuddles up for the first time, wrapping an arm around Chifuyu’s waist to pull him close. Perhaps it should be a little uncomfortable, because they’re both naked, but it’s way too soothing to worry about that.

“Don’t mind him,” Ryusei whispers in the dead of night, nuzzling the back of Chifuyu’s neck. “I’m glad you’re joining us.”

The next morning, Hanma and the other three have already left. The three betas return that same night, but Hanma stays away. He joins them a few nights later, again disinterested and silent for the most part, and then leaves before they wake again.

So far, Chifuyu hasn’t gotten a single glance at the alpha’s wolf and it keeps his own wolf incredibly occupied. Not even the incredible sights they pass on their journey, from the vast valleys to the highest mountain Chifuyu has ever seen, can distract him enough from all the questions he has.

“Is he… shy?” Chifuyu dares ask Ryusei, nearing the end of the second week of their journey. “Is his wolf embarrassing in appearance? Some kinda runt?”

Ryusei looks at him with wide eyes, a grin already creeping up on his face. “You’re asking me if Shuji is shy?” Chuckling to himself, he scoots closer to Chifuyu and throws an arm around his shoulders. “We’re talking about the same Shuji, right?”

“Why else isn’t he showing his wolf?” Chifuyu grumbles, pushing Ryusei away from him. “Or even showing his face regularly.”

As he’s been doing every time they’re in human form, Ryusei ignores the attempt to be pushed away and stays plastered against Chifuyu’s side. “His wolf’s no runt, lemme tell ya. As for why he’s barely showing his stupid face, who knows? I’ve learned not to question whatever goes on inside his head.”

“Right.” Chifuyu gnaws on his bottom lip, several questions burning on the tip of his tongue. “So, is this… what I can expect? All the time?”

Ryusei presses impossibly closer, no regard for personal space at all. “You mean his sour attitude and overall bad personality?”

“Some might call it stoic and mysterious, I guess, but yeah.”

“Depends.” Ryusei shrugs. “He can’t stand being around other alphas, generally, always picking fights. Is okay to betas. Doesn’t really talk to omegas.” He hums, as if deep in thought. Chifuyu has come to learn that’s almost never the case, the beta just likes to take dramatic pauses. “From what I know, Kisaki talked him into joining. He wasn’t used to living in a pack and still kind of isn’t, but he’s not…” Ryusei smiles. “He’s not some brute. Not gonna force himself on you or anything. Unless you’re into that, of course.”

Chifuyu growls when the beta nudges him with a smirk. “I’m not, thanks.”

“Suit yourself.” Ryusei shrugs with a smile. “I’m not here to judge your sexual preferences.”

From that point on, the beta makes it clear that he does intend to judge Chifuyu’s sexual preferences. He asks about them at the most inappropriate times, though Chifuyu never answers.

The worst of them, he saves for a night near the end of their journey. Admittedly, they’ve grown a lot closer. Ryusei talks so much, Chifuyu doesn’t really get a moment of quiet to reflect upon his choices so far, or think about how far from home he is. Here and there, he’s told the beta a little bit more about himself, personal stories. His first kiss, what kind of lover he prefers in appearance, and the handful of alphas that tried to court him throughout his life.

But Chifuyu has barely talked about his sexual experiences, and Ryusei seemed fine with letting that subject slide. Until they’re joined by Hanma for the first time in a couple of nights and they’re seated around a campfire together, in the entrance of a cave that’ll serve as their shelter for the night.

“Say, Chifuyu,” Ryusei starts, pretending to inspect his nails. “Are you a virgin, by any chance?”

Chifuyu freezes up and from across the fire, Hanma raises his head, eyes narrowed. The alpha’s scent spikes in annoyance, easily overpowering the smell of burning wood.

“Don’t ask him inappropriate questions, you pest,” Hanma hisses, sitting up straight, puffing his chest out in a display of dominance that doesn’t work on Ryusei.

“I’m just making conversation.” Ryusei waves a hand and shuffles closer to Chifuyu, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “I’ve made quite the effort of getting to know your future mate a little better during our travels. We’re, like, very close already. He doesn’t mind, do you, Chifuyu?”

Chifuyu shrugs off Ryusei’s shoulder and glares at him from the corner of his eye, not quite willing to turn his attention away from the alpha in his current state, something about his stupid omega desperately wanting to soothe Hanma.

“I do mind, actually.”

“See!” For once, Ryusei takes the hint and backs off a little, creating some distance between them. “No issues here, Shuji. You can stop trying to intimidate me. You’re about as scary as a pup to me.”

Hanma deflates, just a little. “I’m glad you two are close, but please, talk about those things when I’m not—”

“C’mon,” Ryusei cuts in, “isn’t there some part of your alpha instincts that wants to know how many knots he’s taken before?”

Everything about that statement is so horrifying, Chifuyu doesn’t even know what to say in order to shut Ryusei up.

“Shuji’s never spent a heat with an omega before, you know,” the beta rattles on, ignoring how Hanma’s face slowly darkens again. “You got enough experience to show our poor little alpha how to take care of an omega in heat? Maybe you can tell him how other alphas fucked you?”

Chifuyu takes a deep, calming breath to keep control of his flaring anger, reminds himself that it’d be a terrible idea to strangle Ryusei. Just as he’s calmed a little, Hanma’s next words make his anger spike again, so suddenly he nearly feels dizzy.

“I don’t need him,” Hanma sneers in Chifuyu’s direction, as if he was the one to bring up the subject, “to show me anything.”

There’s Chifuyu’s own anger about being addressed like that, and his omega’s wounded rage about being rejected, deeply insulted at the implication that he’d be denied the opportunity to care for the alpha, to nurture him and protect him in a moment of vulnerability.

Chifuyu doesn’t try to fight those instincts like he usually does, too busy standing up and glaring down at Hanma. “Then you must be delighted,” he spits, “that I am a virgin, so you can play the big, all-knowing alpha and guide us through my heat.” With a growl, he turns on his heel, and storms off, deeper into the cave.

That night, he sleeps alone. Ryusei has enough sense to stay away. The anger keeps the embarrassment and humiliation he feels at bay, and eventually wears Chifuyu down enough to fall asleep.

The next morning, Hanma is gone, and Ryusei is already shifted to his wolf form. He rolls over on his back, showing his vulnerable underbelly, at the first sight of Chifuyu.

They settle the situation after Chifuyu also shifts. He lunges at Ryusei and works him to the ground, until the beta is whining and yelping, immediately rolling over again when Chifuyu lets up. Still growling, he lets Ryusei lick his face and groom him until the worst of his anger dissipates.

For the rest of their journey, Hanma doesn’t join them again.

Chifuyu counts the days until they reach the village. At least, he tries. Each one seems to stretch on more than the last, his body slowly overtaken by fatigue, not used to covering distances this great.

When the twenty-fifth night passes and he feels ready to topple over the next morning, weighed down by the aching knowledge of how far from home he is, Ryusei informs him that they’ll reach the village that day, and they don’t even have to hurry along to make it. They take their time with breakfast before shifting and it’s with some renewed energy that they set out together.

The last day of their journey together is the easiest. Now that they’ve crossed into familiar territory, Ryusei feels more comfortable taking the main road, leading Chifuyu past vast rice fields and clear little creeks. The scenery is so different from what he’s used to— greener and more lush. It’s clear these lands don’t know the harsh conditions of winter, thriving all year round.

They waste some time in a deeper part of a river, wading in the water and biting playfully at fishes that pass them until they’re drenched. It’s there that Chifuyu watches the last white tufts of his winter coat drift away, the thick fur carried by the current until it disappears from view.

Admittedly, he dries way quicker than before, warmed by the bleak morning sun, but he can’t shake the feeling that he just lost an important part of himself, something to tie him to his home.

The thought must change his scent. Before sadness can fully wash over him, Ryusei is at his side, pushing his wet nose against Chifuyu’s and then rubbing their faces together. He keeps at it for a while, periodically sniffing around until he’s satisfied with his own work, and Chifuyu must admit— he feels a lot better when they leave the river behind.

They reach the village just after the sun reached its highest point.

They make a sharp turn at a cluster of rocks and suddenly it appears, a broad path that leads them through the trees, past a huge, wooden post, and before Chifuyu knows it, they’re approaching a large wooden building, standing at the centre of a rounded clearing.

The dirt here is flat and neat, either by upkeep or made naturally by the many people that pass by it regularly.

It’s relatively quiet. A couple of omegas sit by the main hut, out on the deck, peeling vegetables and chatting amongst themselves. They raise their heads when Ryusei and Chifuyu enter the village, but stay seated, not alarmed in the slightest.

With a jerk of his head, Ryusei trots onwards, heading left from the clearing onto a new path. After a short walk, it branches off into two roads, and they take another left. The road stretches on for a bit before a field comes into view, farmland surrounded by two roads, lined by different, small huts.

Chifuyu sniffs the air but doesn’t pick up on any particularly strong scent. He figures this is where the betas of the pack live and follows Ryusei to a hut near the centre of one of the roads. It’s more crowded here, people sitting near their huts, working in the fields, or standing on the road making small talk. Some greet them as they trot on by, all friendly faces and calm demeanours.

With a hop, Ryusei makes his way onto the wooden porch of the hut, and together, they shift back, groaning from the pain until they’re laid out on their backs, next to each other, staring up at the wooden underside of the roof that extends over the porch.

“Welcome home,” Ryusei pants after a moment of catching their breaths, pushing himself up to lean over Chifuyu with a grin. “Well, my home, at least. I’ll show you around in a bit.”

Ryusei is kind enough to lend Chifuyu a change of clothes until he can make his own. The shirt falls to mid-thigh and he needs to tie the pants around his waist twice, but he’s grateful for them, glad to be dressed again for the first time in weeks.

The inside of the hut is square, with a stone fire pit in the middle. It’s sparsely furnished— furs and blankets against the far wall, some shelving hanging above it, and a low chest directly next to the door, out of which Ryusei pulled their clothing.

“When I’m not busy, I like to spend my time in the communal hut,” Ryusei explains as they make their way back to the main clearing. “That’s the big building we passed earlier. It’s usually brimming with life, but I’m guessing the omegas are sticking together in their part of the village with most of the alphas gone.” He shrugs. “Safety in numbers, or whatever.”

“Will they all stay here?” Chifuyu asks, looking around as they walk. The road they’re following is lined with trees on all sides, the sun filtering through the overhanging branches. It’d be hard to get lost here. Even though the entire territory is endlessly bigger than Chifuyu’s own home, there are only a few roads leading to the different areas within the pack.

Ryusei hums. “Some will, some won’t. If I had to take a guess, though, I’d say Keisuke will try to join Mikey again, but he’s just had a kid and was already told to stay here, so… Prepare yourself for some dramatics later.”

“Is that the head omega?”

“Gods, no, spare me just the thought of it, please.” Ryusei visibly shudders, attaching himself to Chifuyu’s arm, holding on as if he might faint at the mere idea. “I couldn’t take orders from that guy. It’d kill me. Do you want me to die, Chifuyu, is that it?”

After weeks of travelling together and having the beta, naked and gross, against his side at all times, Chifuyu wouldn’t exactly be opposed to being rid of the guy, but decides against telling the truth. “So, who is head omega?”

“Mikey’s sister, Emma. Bless her, really. She’s mated to Draken, but he’s always at Mikey’s side. Don’t know how she does it.” He slings an arm around Chifuyu’s shoulders and pulls him closer, ignores the attempt to be pushed away. “She’s nice, you’ll see. Everyone is. Mostly everyone. Honestly, the least nice person here is the one who’ll be mounting you every other day, huh?”

Chifuyu figures it wouldn’t be the best look to shudder at the thought, so he simply ignores Ryusei’s words and focuses his attention ahead.

They wander back into the clearing. The omegas from earlier are still sitting by the main hut. They’ve put their vegetables and peeling knives away, heads turned in their direction as they make their way over.

Now that they’re closer, Chifuyu can spot a little girl, no older than half a year, sleeping in one of their laps— a man with long black hair, who smells like an omega but certainly doesn’t look the part. He leans back on his hands and looks at Chifuyu with one brow raised, nothing friendly or warm about him.

“I thought Mitsuya was kiddin’ when he said Mikey actually found someone to pawn off to Hanma,” he says, voice gruff and deep. “True then, that he’s staying up north?”

The woman sitting next to him, with thick and unruly, blonde hair, jabs him in the side with a glare and stands, dusting off her dress before extending a hand to Chifuyu. “Don’t mind his manners,” she says with a smile, hand soft and warm when he shakes it. “Glad you made it here safely, Chifuyu. My name’s Emma, and this is Keisuke and Keiko.”

They exchange some pleasantries. Easy conversation about their journey, Chifuyu’s home, the situation that brought him here. Emma is kind with her answers, but doesn’t hesitate to kick at the omega, still seated with the kid in his lap, whenever he mumbles out a rude comment.

By the time they breach the subject of Hanma, Chifuyu and Ryusei have both taken a seat, the latter now holding the sleeping Keiko to his chest, who hasn’t stirred the entire time.

“You don’t know how far behind he is?” Emma asks, raising a brow. Some of the sweetness in her voice started slipping the moment Hanma was brought up.

“Seems about right,” Keisuke huffs, crossing his arms. “Sending you two out on your own and then taking his sweet time trudging behind.”

Chifuyu swallows, doesn’t even realise he’s been rubbing the bite on the inside of his wrist until Emma’s eyes snap down to it.

“Let’s not scare him, Kei,” she says gently, smiling at Chifuyu. “I’m sure he had his reasons. For now, we’ll get Chifuyu settled in and the moment Hanma returns, we’ll make our plans for the future.”

Just like his mother taught him, and because Chifuyu doesn’t like to feel useless in the first place, he takes one of the peeling knives and grabs a sweet potato. Focused on his task, he lets the conversation the other three are having fade into the background, vaguely noting that Ryusei is retelling parts of their journey.

Five potatoes in, a particular part of the conversation catches his attention, and Chifuyu raises his eyes to find Keisuke already looking at him.

“—mint?”

“Sorry?” Chifuyu puts the knife down, turning more fully to the other omega.

“I asked why you smell of mint? Not your typical omega scent.” Keisuke narrows his eyes. “You usin’ a blocking mud, or something?”

“This is just how I smell,” he says at the same time as Ryusei’s: “Shuji likes mint, anyway.”

Chifuyu snaps his mouth shut, refusing to process that information.

“How do you know he likes mint?” Keisuke asks, or more like accuses.

“Because I talk to him,” Ryusei answers slowly, like he’s talking to a pup. “You should try that sometime.”

“Don’t wanna.”

How is Chifuyu supposed to feel, knowing the alpha likes mint but has still refused to look at him with even a sliver of interest?

“He’ll be head alpha in, uh, yesterday. Get your over yourself, Kei-su-ke.”

It’s probably best to not waste too much energy dwelling on this new information.

“I don’t care if he’s head alpha. He’s an idiot.”

“You’re an idiot.”

Chifuyu nods to himself and decides to forget all about Hanma’s preferences, even though forgetting feels like ripping a piece of fresh meat from his omega’s mouth.

“How’d you get that scar?”

Ryusei and Keisuke fall silent when Emma speaks. Chifuyu snaps his head back up, staring at her a little dumbly, mouth hanging open.

“Hopefully not during your journey?” she continues when Chifuyu just gapes at her. With a snicker, she reaches out to tug at the neckline of the shirt— and he remembers that it’s way too big on him, that it exposes his shoulder, showing off the nasty scar that stretches over the skin there.

There’s a moment of hesitation, and it must show on Chifuyu’s face, because Emma is already halfway through reassuring him that he doesn’t need to share the story.

He looks at each of them. Keisuke’s eyes have slightly softened, Emma is smiling, and Ryusei looks at him with innocent curiosity, like the guy didn’t ask Chifuyu three nights earlier if he’d ever shoved a fist up his own ass to imitate an alpha’s knot.

They’re part of his pack now, or rather, he is part of theirs.

So, Chifuyu tells them. He keeps the story limited to facts only, skipping over the guilt that’s been haunting him ever since, the same guilt that had him immediately accepting Mikey’s offer, desperate to make amends for his own failure.

“Mitsuya already told us some of it,” Emma says softly after he’s done. “I’m sorry you got hurt, but I’m glad it brought you to us.”

Chifuyu smiles and nods, even if he doesn’t fully share the same sentiment. He still appreciates Emma telling him. Then, the words fully settle and curiosity tugs at him. “Was it Mitsuya, then? The alpha who stepped in?”

The three share a look, secretive and somewhat hesitant.

“No,” Emma says after a beat. “He just heard it from the alpha, but— Mitsuya wasn’t the one who saved you.”

It’s clear that none of them have any intentions of sharing the alpha’s identity, and Chifuyu doesn’t push. Like he does so often, he pushes away the insistent voice begging to know which alpha it was, and picks up the knife to continue peeling potatoes.

For the rest of the day, Chifuyu can distract himself from his own thoughts by focusing all his attention on getting to know his new surroundings. Later, he promises himself, he’ll mope around and take a good few hours to miss his home, his mother, and the colder temperature that doesn’t leave him sweaty all over.

The path that leads off the right from the main hut opens up into another small clearing, circled by several small huts and a bigger one at the head of it, the entire area surrounded by thick trees and heavy foliage. It’s slightly more crowded there and Chifuyu realises it’s the omega’s area. Some discomfort eases as he’s shown around— it reminds him of home, and he can imagine it will feel like it soon, too. There’s a few kids running around, varying in ages, their parents sitting by their huts, keeping an eye on the little ones while working on various things.

Chifuyu gets a chance to glance inside the biggest hut while Ryusei chats with an omega who introduces himself as Souya, whose soft voice contrasts wildly with his hard expression. From just that glance, the biggest hut looks comfortable, a large fire pit in the middle, surrounded by furs, blankets, pillows, all things needed to make a comfortable, big nest for omegas to sleep together.

After that, they get the news that the three betas have returned and with them, Hanma as well. They rush through the rest of the tour in order to get back to the main area.

The main road, as it turns out, leads in a circle around the communal hut, behind which stands Mikey’s hut, hidden by trees. Only one more road branches off the main one, leading to a part of the forest that’s surrounded on three sides by a roaring river, where omegas can safely spend their heats in a secluded hut.

Ryusei only tells Chifuyu about where the few pack alphas live, on the biggest and most sparsely occupied piece of land within the pack’s territory, separated from the betas’ spot by another part of the river, reached by crossing a bridge and walking for quite a while before reaching the first hut there.

“Hanma’s the closest to the outside border,” Ryusei explains while they wander the main road, back to the communal hut. “It’s a nice spot. Close to the river, long walk from the rest. You guys’ll have all the privacy you want there, as a newly mated pair and all.” He winks at Chifuyu, but misses the way his expression falls at the reminder of what’s to come.

Any hope he might’ve had that Hanma just needed a bit of time to warm up was quickly trampled by the stories he’s heard throughout the day and the looks of sympathy he got whenever the person they were talking to realised who Chifuyu’s meant to be mated to.

None of them were exactly unkind, describing the alpha as dedicated and trustworthy, but no words were wasted on his personality in relation to others, almost as if no one really knows him, giving Chifuyu shrugs and blank looks whenever he asked about his future mate.

They reach the communal hut with a few others and make their way inside. Low tables are scattered around, the pack seated on the floor around them. At the head, in the back of the hut, Emma sits, leaning on the table with a lazy smile. Next to her, Hanma sits, a fur slung over his shoulders, but otherwise naked.

Chifuyu goes to follow Ryusei, to sit with a few other betas, but Hanma’s eyes find him and in them, a clear command lies— his place is there now, at the alpha’s side. He tries to keep his head up and ignore all the stares while he walks over, sitting down next to Hanma somewhat stiffly.

The meeting is long and somewhat tedious, but Chifuyu tries his best to pay attention.

Emma explains the pack’s plans for the future and then asks each member present what they wish to do— stay here, or join Mikey up north. As Ryusei already predicted, Keisuke loudly demands to go as well, but after some back and forth between him and Emma, he settles, clearly unhappy with the decision.

Chifuyu feels for the other omega, finds it admirable that he’d be willing to migrate such a large distance with a small pup in tow, and is glad when Keisuke’s mate, a beta named Kazutora, manages to soothe his anger with soft whispers and touches.

A considerable group of omegas chooses to stay behind, banding behind the first one to speak up— a small man named Takemichi.

“That’s good,” Emma says when Takemichi is done talking, “you can show Chifuyu the ropes in my absence.” She goes on to explain that she will be joining her brother as well. “I’m not willing to be away from Draken for an extended period of time, and Mikey needs me to beat some sense into him from time to time.”

Most of the betas present decide to stay as well. The group that had any desire to join Mikey had already done so when he left in the first place.

The only other alpha present, Mitsuya, who Chifuyu belatedly recognises sitting next to one of the tallest omegas in the room, explains that he’ll be an in-between, travelling between the north and south to relay messages and help out where he’s needed.

They agree to start preparations the following day. After that, food is brought out and the night blurs together in a few different faces coming up to their table to introduce themselves to Chifuyu, extend their congratulations to Hanma, or ask Emma questions about practical matters.

As the evening turns into night, the meeting-turned-gathering gradually dies down. A few times, Chifuyu glances at Hanma to see if he makes any move to excuse them from the table, but he stays where he is until the last members have trickled out and Emma has taken her leave as well.

Only then does he stir, shifting from his cross-legged position into a kneeling one, laying his hands against the table in front of them.

“When is your heat supposed to come?” the alpha asks after a beat, keeping his eyes down.

“Around the first full moon of spring,” Chifuyu mumbles, wringing his hands together. “Might be later if my omega needs longer to settle and feel safe.”

Hanma nods. “We’ll mate then. I heard it makes the bite less… unpleasant.” He sighs and gets up, pulling the fur secure around his shoulders. “I take it you can find your way back to the omega hut on your own?”

“What?” Chifuyu stands as well. “I won’t sleep with you?”

Slowly, Hanma turns to look at him, shoulders stiff. “You want to?”

Want would be a strong word, though Chifuyu doesn’t voice that thought out loud. “I just assumed that it would be expected of me, or, uh, us.”

“Look. Once Emma leaves, I’ll be in charge, and in extension, you will be in a different position than the others as well.” Hanma runs a hand down his face. “I don’t intend to completely change the way things work around here, but I’m not as big on tradition as Mikey is. So in terms of what’s expected of you— that’s up to you and me to decide. I couldn’t care less what the pack expects you to do.”

On the subject of expectations, that wasn’t what Chifuyu expected to hear, at all. Part of him assumed that Hanma would want him to behave in a certain way, conform to whatever the alpha decided is the proper way for an omega to act. He shuffles his feet a bit, hands wringing into the material of his shirt. “So…”

“So,” Hanma grunts, clearly done with their conversation if the way he turns to walk to the entrance of the hut is any indication, motioning with his head for Chifuyu to follow, “sleep with the omegas. Get used to this place. The sooner your omega settles and your heat starts, the sooner you—” He stops by the entrance and looks over his shoulder, lips pressed together in a tight line. “You want pups, yeah?”

Chifuyu nods without really considering the question. He figures it’s better to distance himself from his true wants, because he does want pups, has always loved them— just never imagined he’d have them in a situation like this.

“Yeah. So, let’s focus on that.” With another curt nod, Hanma turns, ready to take the path to the left and make his way back to his own hut.

“You don’t want to spend this time getting to know each other?” Chifuyu slaps a hand over his mouth as soon as the words leave his lips— he had not meant to say that out loud and is almost embarrassed about the tiny bit of his own desires that hide within those words.

Hanma stills, turning his head sideways, though he doesn’t look back at Chifuyu. “We have the rest of our lives to get to know each other,” he says, a hint of mockery in his tone. “Go recover from the journey. Get your body ready for pups. You look like you lost some weight.”

With those words, he leaves Chifuyu standing by the communal hut, disappearing down the path with large strides.

“It could’ve been worse,” Chifuyu mumbles to himself, turning the other way to start the short walk over to the omega hut. “It could’ve been so much worse.”

In the chaos of the pack preparing to leave, Chifuyu doesn’t get a whole lot of time to dwell on the strained relationship with Hanma, or even feel homesick.

The pack involves him from the first day, having him running around doing errands; in between mending clothes and building a steady ration of food for the pups that’ll join the journey, there isn’t a lot of downtime.

It’s a good thing, of course. Like this, he gets to prove himself to his new pack mates, get to know the ones that’ll stay behind, and learn how the pack runs things around here.

Aside from Ryusei, he’s quick to strike up a friendship with a few of the others as well.

There is Takemichi, who explains to him that while all the omegas come together to take care of each other and the kids, there’s also a sort of buddy system.

What that means, Chifuyu finds out during the first night, is Takemichi cuddling up to him with his son, a four-year old boy named Yuren with big brown eyes and soft auburn curls, who supposedly takes after his alpha mother, a woman named Hina who is currently visiting a neighbouring pack.

In a more practical sense, it also means Takemichi sticks by Chifuyu’s side and promises to show him around. But the cuddling is the real treat and he’s glad to have Takemichi and Yuren around, the two easing some of the pain that had coiled itself around Chifuyu’s heart.

True to his word, the next morning Takemichi shows how seriously he intends to take this task of showing Chifuyu around, trying to explain why it’s a great idea for the two of them to stick together.

“Because you immediately imprinted on me?” Chifuyu jokes, carrying Yuren on his back, the boy’s arms clasped around his neck.

“I didn’t imprint on you. Gods,” Takemichi snaps back, hunching up his shoulders.

Together, they explore the full territory in a more leisurely way than he did with Ryusei, taking the time to stop by several people for more elaborate introductions than they had the chance for the previous night.

The angry-faced but soft-spoken omega, Souya, turns out to be the healer of the village. He has his own hut by the communal area, shared with his mate, an arrogant and slightly ill-tempered beta who introduces himself as Rindou, and then doesn’t really spare Chifuyu a second glance.

They both have brothers, an omega couple, Nahoya and Ran. The former in charge of the food and always in high spirits, but with the foulest mouth Chifuyu has ever encountered, and the latter— well, he doesn’t see him all that much. Takemichi tells him Ran sleeps most of the day, in the private hut he shares with his mate, and doesn’t care much for getting his hands dirty.

Chifuyu also meets Mitsuya’s mate, the tall omega named Hakkai. Both of them are always in the company of two younger girls who haven’t presented yet, who turn out to be Mitsuya’s younger sisters.

The first three days they spend preparing, Chifuyu spends the most time with Mitsuya, his sisters, Yuren and Takemichi, patiently teaching the girls how he used to weave baskets and bags at home. They’re sweet, energetic, and remind Chifuyu of the younger girls he helped raise back in his own pack. With Mana and Luna, he feels yet another part of his heart heal, and he’s glad to know they’ll be staying in the village with Hakkai.

On the last day, most of the big chores are done, and Mitsuya kindly asks Chifuyu to give him, Hakkai, and the girls some space on their final day together in a while, and of course he complies, even offers to take over their chores so they have nothing to worry about.

Takemichi had taken Yuren to help out with gardening, and Chifuyu takes it upon himself to collect laundry and clothes that need mending from a few of the betas’ houses, and then makes the walk back to the omega hut. It’s a sunny day and for the first time, Chifuyu is able to enjoy the warmth, slowly getting accustomed to this new climate.

His leisurely stroll gets disturbed the moment he nears the omegas’ area, a pup’s distressed wailing gradually rising in volume the closer he gets. It doesn’t take long to find the source.

Outside of the omega hut, Kazutora stands, trying to soothe his daughter, rocking her while walking around, keeping her close to his chest. Even from afar, Chifuyu can see that Kazutora’s expression is just as desperate as hers, definitely not helpful in calming Keiko.

One of the few things Chifuyu never fights is his omega’s immediate instinct to take care of pups, and it’s with a smile that he approaches the pair.

“Hey, Kazutora.” Wide and panicked eyes meet Chifuyu’s, red-rimmed, as if Kazutora had been crying along with Keiko. “Want me to take her for a moment?”

“Oh, hey, no, that’s— we’re fine, just, she’s just—” Kazutora keeps stammering, barely audible over Keiko’s crying. He tries to shush her, presses a kiss to the top of her head— nothing helps.

Chifuyu watches them for a moment before he sets down his basket. “You wouldn’t be a bad father for handing off your screeching infant,” Chifuyu says, holding out his hands. “They tend to prefer omegas at that age. That has nothing to do with you doing anything wrong.”

Kazutora’s worried expression melts away a little. After some hesitation, he hands Keiko over. “Thank you… I’m not really good with a lot of noise, so, uh, she tends to overwhelm me a bit.”

“I hear you,” Chifuyu mumbles, bouncing Keiko a little. Slowly, her wailing quiets down into sobs. “No one likes a screaming pup. Isn’t that right, Keiko, huh? Be a good girl for your papa.” He glances up at the beta. “Is it okay if I scent her?”

After a nod of agreement, Chifuyu raises Keiko a bit to rub their cheeks together, the girl settling more and more as he does so. By the time he rests her against his chest, her hiccuping sobs have stopped, the only evidence of her hysterics the red splotches on her chubby cheeks.

“Why don’t we take her to the river?” he suggests to the slightly awkward-looking beta. “Grab her a new diaper, new clothes, get her all washed and happy again.”

Gradually, Kazutora’s tenseness fades, shoulders sagging. He nods again, more sure that time, and runs inside the hut to grab the items.

Chifuyu makes Kazutora carry his basket of laundry, a fair trade-off for carrying the heavy girl. They chat idly on their walk, and he finds out that while Keiko is very loved and wanted, she was sort of an accident— both of her parents assuming that a beta had lower chances of knocking up an omega in heat.

“I wouldn’t trade her for the world,” Kazutora tells him, sitting on the riverbank and dutifully scrubbing the clothes for Chifuyu. “But she can be a handful. Definitely Keisuke’s kid, y’know?”

“I’ll take your word for it.” Upon their arrival, Chifuyu immediately took a seat in the shallow water close to the bank, sitting cross-legged on the soft ground. Keiko happily splashes around, supported by his hands around her middle. “Where is Keisuke?”

Kazutora’s entire demeanour changes. He puffs up his chest, rights his shoulders, a grin spreading on his face. “He joins the hunts,” he gloats, “so he’ll be back tonight, probably, unless they’re delayed.”

“Hunting omega,” Chifuyu whistles low and smiles when Keiko squeals in excitement at the sound. “Impressive.”

Softness swipes over Kazutora’s face. “Yeah. Kei’s mom is an alpha and she raised him like one. His wolf’s huge, too.” He grins. “Some people think it’s off-putting, but I think it’s hot.”

Keiko laughs when Chifuyu covers her ears, sure to send Kazutora an over-dramatic, exasperated look.

“Don’t talk about her dad like that,” he fake-hisses, happy to see Kazutora throw back his head with a laugh. “You’ll traumatise her.”

“She’s not even six months old yet,” the beta giggles. “Can’t understand a word I say, right, love?”

Keiko wiggles in Chifuyu’s hold, babbling and slapping at the water.

“See?” Kazutora winks. “I can talk just fine about how her big, strong father still riles me up with just a single glance.”

Chifuyu sticks out his tongue. “Gross.”

A creepy grin spreads across Kazutora’s face. He’s completely stopped doing the laundry, instead creeping closer to the river’s edge. “Not your thing?” he drawls. “Aren’t you made to be attracted to big alphas?”

“Just because—“ Chifuyu covers Keiko’s ears again. “—my ass was made to take a knot, doesn’t mean I’m into the big, buff, dumb, knothead alpha types.”

The dismissive statement does nothing to wipe Kazutora’s smirk off his face. “Well, lucky for you Hanma’s human form isn’t that muscled then. Only his wolf’s big. Well, that and—“

“Haven’t seen his wolf,” Chifuyu snaps, glaring at the beta. “And I don’t care about his…” He mouths the word to preserve Keiko’s innocence, even if she probably doesn’t understand speech fully.

Kazutora laughs again. “Sure, if you say so.”

Chifuyu decides it’s high time to change the subject. “Keisuke seemed upset that he couldn’t join Mikey.”

“Yeah.” With a more serious expression on his face, Kazutora focuses on the laundry again. “Mikey’s family to him. Would kill and die for him, so it’s, uh, he would’ve done anything to join him. But Keiko, she’s too young for a journey like that, y’know, so…” He trails off, and Chifuyu gives him time, has the feeling that Kazutora’s not done talking yet. “I think he hates it sometimes, being an omega, everything that comes with it. You know, he spent years trying to mask his own scent, but the sweetness of it always broke through.”

Understanding dawns on Chifuyu, remembering the sharp tone Keisuke used to ask about his minty scent, the inquiry about masking mud. He carefully cups handfuls of water over Keiko’s head, gently rinsing the impressive mop of black hair she already has. “I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Can’t imagine what it’s like,” Kazutora continues, smiling at Chifuyu, though it has a sad edge. “The amount of sacrifice that just comes naturally to you guys. Omegas, I mean.”

It doesn’t, Chifuyu wants to say. It doesn’t come naturally at all.

But he decides the day is too lovely for such gloomy thoughts, and smiles down at Keiko, lifts the girl and kisses her on the forehead.

“It’s not all bad,” he says instead. Deep down, he hopes that someday soon, he’ll believe that himself.

On the evening before part of the pack is set to depart, Chifuyu gets in close enough range to Hanma for them be forced to actively acknowledge each other’s existence.

They all share an elaborate dinner of roasted vegetables and different kinds of animals in the communal hut. At least this time, they’re not forced to sit up front with Emma, instead tucked away by a table near a wall, joined by Keisuke, Kazutora, and Ryusei.

Keisuke had approached Chifuyu, Keiko in his arms, with a scowl on his face.

“Thanks for helping Tora out yesterday,” he said. “Really appreciate it.”

The couple sat down, then, and Chifuyu figured that perhaps, that’s just how Keisuke communicates. He could get used to that.

For the most part, Chifuyu is able to ignore the alpha at his side and keep himself busy entertaining Keiko. She’s a never-ending source of high-pitched sounds and squealing laughter, never sits still for even a second.

“It’s still hard to imagine something that cute came out of you,” Ryusei comments, eyes crinkled at the corners as he watches Keiko gnaw on one of Chifuyu’s fingers. “No offence, Kei, just— look at her, and then look at you.”

Keisuke, who’d been busy inhaling the meat off a piece of bone, raises his head to glare at Ryusei. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“That your face is ugly and your kid is cute,” Hanma grunts, shifting in his spot, knee brushing against Chifuyu’s under the table. “If I hadn’t seen you all gross and big with my own two eyes, I would’ve assumed you stole her.”

Something in Chifuyu’s chest constricts at those words. He internally curses at himself. Why would he care if, eight months into his pregnancy, his mate would no longer think he’s attractive? He wouldn’t. It wouldn’t matter.

Kazutora, who’d previously been staring off into the distance with his big unblinking eyes, stirs to life and bares his teeth at Hanma. “He looked beautiful.”

“Subjective observation.” Hanma shrugs, eyes narrowing at the beta across from him.

“Shut up. You’ll get it when he’s pregnant.” Kazutora nods at Chifuyu, who’d turned his attention back on the pup in his arms, trying to block out the conversation. “Gets your instincts going in a completely different way, Hanma.”

The alpha raises his brow. “Your non-existent beta instincts?”

“No, you moron. General fatherly instincts. That every normal person has.”

Chifuyu glances at Hanma and wonders if he possesses any of those. The thought doesn’t go far. Keiko reaches up her chubby little hands and grabs the front of Chifuyu’s shirt, pulling him down until she can rub her cheek against his, cooing while she does so.

“Don’t tell me that doesn’t rouse any warmth in your cold, empty heart.”

It’s only because Chifuyu is rubbing his own cheek against the top of Keiko’s head that he happens to catch Keisuke nodding in his direction. Still pressed against the little girl, he turns his head and immediately finds himself at the receiving end of one of Hanma’s intense stares.

Heat creeps up the back of Chifuyu’s neck, completely involuntary. More than anything, he wishes his omega would let him keep some of his dignity, instead of forcing the need to smile cutely at the alpha upon his subconscious. Not that he gives in.

“Pups are just cute,” Hanma says after a pause. He reaches out to take Keiko from Chifuyu, supporting her on an arm and looking her over with a slight smile. “Doesn’t matter who holds them.”

If Chifuyu’s omega hadn’t been trying to claw its way out of his chest before, it certainly does so now. The most primal of instincts roaring up at the sight of Hanma holding the pup.

Keiko babbles out her agreement, like she’s perfectly aware of the compliment. She almost tips forward, hands outstretched to reach for Hanma’s face, but he catches her before she loses her balance and rubs their noses together.

“Would it kill you to say one nice thing about your betrothed?” Ryusei asks, elbow resting on the table, head propped up on his hand. “He traversed the land to be with you and give you a cute pup of your own, y’know.”

Chifuyu kicks Ryusei under the table and shoots him a glare.

If Hanma is bothered by the comment, he doesn’t show it. “He traversed the land to save his pack from certain doom.” He smiles at Keiko, bounces her a bit on his arm, free hand coming up to gently squeeze one of her round cheeks.

The only one who doesn’t fall into slightly uncomfortable silence is Keiko, who giggles and grabs onto Hanma’s fingers, squeezing them in her tiny fist.

Rationally, Chifuyu thinks he wouldn’t have a lot of nice things to say about Hanma if the roles were reversed, but it still stings, the alpha’s complete neutrality and dismissal.

Later, when Chifuyu curls up next to Takemichi and Yuren, he recalls a time in his life when he yearned for the romance that came with courting and mating. A much younger version of himself surely wouldn’t have imagined that he’d end up promised to someone who barely acknowledges his existence.

Hatred, he could’ve worked with, has heard enough stories about omegas and alphas from rival packs finding themselves wrapped up in a passionate affair before eventually giving in to their deeper feelings.

But this? The complete emptiness in Hanma’s eyes whenever he happens to glance in Chifuyu’s direction? He doesn’t know what to do about that, or the aching emptiness that comes with it.

Chapter Text

To both Chifuyu’s shock and relief, it doesn’t take long for the pack to accept him as one of their own, even without a bonding mark.

They see Emma and the people joining her off at sunrise, and before the sun reaches its highest point, groups of pack members have already sought out Chifuyu several times.

True to his word, Takemichi is there to answer most of their questions, giving explanations to Chifuyu afterwards, trying to get him up to speed as fast as possible so he can fully take his place as head omega, his rightful place as Hanma’s mate, or so Takemichi tells him.

Back home, Chifuyu already carried most of the responsibilities, but that was for a pack of twenty, and this one is not only bigger, but they also have different systems in place to make sure everything runs smoothly.

“Each morning, you’ll make rounds,” Takemichi explains after sending two beta women on their way to fetch water for that night’s dinner. “See what needs to be done, who needs what, that sort of thing. After that, it’s mostly up to you what you think’s the best to do that day. I know Emma used to spend most of her time with the pups, but, y’know, I’m sure you can—”

“Hey.”

From their spot on the communal hut’s porch, they hadn’t even seen Ryusei approach, his scent not strong enough to be picked up until he’s close.

“So,” he says after he gets their attention. “Don’t shoot the messenger, but my neighbour’s roof collapsed last night, and it hasn’t been fixed yet.”

Takemichi frowns. “That’s not our concern. Ask Hanma what to do.”

“See, I did, and he kindly directed me to you guys.” Ryusei raises a brow. “I mean, lemme say, I know how to fix a roof, it’s just that I have other things to do, and it shouldn’t be my concern, but it’s not getting done, so.”

Back home, Chifuyu would’ve grabbed supplies and head out there himself, get it done within the hour, easy. Here, though…

“Who do we have available?” he asks, hoping that’s the right thing to do.

Takemichi shakes his head. “No clue. That’s Hanma’s area, not ours.” He looks at Ryusei. “Can you go ask him again, please?”

Ryusei throws his head back and groans. Kicks at the ground, swings his arms a little, grumbling as he does. “Fine. I guess.” He turns on his heel, looks back over his shoulder one last time with a glare, and then starts dragging his feet back in the direction of the alpha huts.

“Weird…” Takemichi mumbles, sitting down next to Chifuyu again.

Even with his limited knowledge, Chifuyu is inclined to agree.

Much to Takemichi’s chagrin, and Chifuyu’s puzzlement, it happens a few more times that day. First, it’s the pair of blacksmiths, two betas named Pah-Chin and Peh-Yan, reporting that they’re out of firewood. Takemichi tells them the same thing he did Ryusei; to find Hanma and sort it out with him. Their answer is also the same as Ryusei’s, that it was Hanma who sent them their way in the first place.

Then, it’s a beta woman who comes to complain that a fence around her land isn’t fixed and three chickens escaped, and how Hanma wasn’t helpful.

By the time dinner rolls around, he has a slight headache from all the questions and sour looks he received rather than Hanma, and Chifuyu has learned two things: which tasks he is in charge of, and which tasks Hanma is supposed to be in charge of, but failed miserably in.

Chifuyu can’t say he feels any sympathy, and sort of hopes that his dearest betrothed felt like a fool all day, getting all these requests he couldn’t figure out what to do about. He can vaguely acknowledge that he should be concerned for his future alpha, but as much as his omega whines about reaching out to look out for Hanma, he just can’t bring himself to really care all that much.

Besides, Hanma made it perfectly clear that he doesn’t want Chifuyu’s help.

Despite Hanma’s insistence to live free of the pack’s expectations, or however he put it before all but shunning Chifuyu from the general vicinity of his hut, he knows that it is expected of him to sit at Hanma’s side during dinner, at the head table.

Before Emma left, they joined others at their tables during dinner, but her departure forces them to take their places as, albeit temporary, head alpha and omega. They have to sit just slightly separated from the rest, at the head table that stands at the very back of the hut, and Chifuyu can’t say he’s looking forward to spending time alone with the alpha.

Hanma only nods in greeting when Chifuyu lowers himself onto the ground next to him. Takemichi explained earlier that it’s customary for the head omega to say a few words, reflect upon the day and extend gratitude for the pack’s work, so he does just that. He lists all the tasks that were accomplished, makes sure to thank everyone for their hard work, and gives his blessing to start eating. Which, thankfully, everyone immediately does, taking their attention away from him.

The tense silence they eat in is familiar, though it cuts deeper now that it’s just the two of them at the table, no distractions from anyone. Still, Chifuyu can almost pretend that they get along— that they’ve already reached a level of comfort with each other where words aren’t necessary.

It’s a sweet fantasy. One that gets shattered when Hanma speaks up.

“You settled in quickly,” he mumbles, halfway through most of his food, having kept his eyes on his plate the entire time.

Even if it isn’t a compliment, Chifuyu still takes it as one. “Better than you seem to do,” he answers casually, idly picking at a skewer of mushrooms. “Lot of people showing up to ask me for directions that aren’t mine to give.”

Hanma huffs. From the corner of his eye, Chifuyu sees him turn his head. “Just wanted to give you a chance to get a feel for the full list of tasks that need to be done in a day.”

Pups who just learned how to talk generally give better excuses than that. Chifuyu rolls his eyes and lets his food be, turning slightly to look at Hanma. “You have no clue how to run a pack, do you?” He raises a brow.

Hanma turns his head away and grumbles something under his breath.

“Sorry,” Chifuyu snaps, leaning closer. “What was that? Couldn’t quite hear you there.”

It’s a beautiful thing, seeing Hanma hunch in on himself a little. He’s pathetic and small like that, shoulders drawn up, looking everywhere but Chifuyu.

Comfort him, Chifuyu’s omega wails, and is promptly ignored.

“I said,” Hanma bites back, turning to glare at Chifuyu, “that I hope you can make yourself useful for the first time.” Clearly not a fan of being teased, then. “How did your parents do things? Maybe you can draw some more inspiration from them.”

Chifuyu sighs, forces himself to answer without too much animosity. “My father died before I could even stand, so.” He’s a bit taken aback when the alpha’s face softens, but ignores it. The last thing he wants is Hanma’s pity. “But I know how my mother does it. So don’t worry, you can keep up your tough alpha act and I’ll make sure things here are actually taken care of.”

It takes a beat for Hanma to respond. The softness slowly fades from his expression, until it’s back to the same bored look he usually carries. “Good. That’s the least you can do.”

With much more violence than strictly necessary, Chifuyu rips a mushroom off his skewer and stuffs it in his mouth. He almost cracks a tooth from how hard he chews it. Better that than to cuss the alpha out in front of the entire pack.

Upset alpha, that nagging voice in the back of Chifuyu’s mind unhelpfully provides. Comfort, comfort, comfort.

“The least you can do is pass some helpful skills onto our pups,” he hisses instead, much more vicious than he meant it to be, but it’s hard to be in control of his temper when part of his subconscious is practically begging for something that he’s simply not willing to do. “Maybe try and get to know your share of responsibilities, Hanma, before you call me useless.”

Chifuyu can’t bring himself to care about appearances. If he has to sit next to Hanma for one second more, he’s sure he’ll do something he’d actually regret. He gets up with a growl and grabs his plate, glares down at Hanma when he raises his head in question.

“Hope your cock does work, alpha,” he snarls, forces himself not to cower at the alpha’s darkening expression. “Good night.”

If anyone takes issue with Chifuyu storming off to sit with Ryusei and a few of the others, no one says so. They simply smile in welcome, and being among them at least takes the bitter edge off Chifuyu’s mood.

Eventually, Chifuyu leaves the hut with Takemichi and Yuren, carrying the sleeping boy in his arms while the other omega chatters about some gossip he heard during dinner.

He looks back, once, when he passes the threshold, and finds that Hanma doesn’t even so much as lift his head to watch him leave.

After that, they avoid each other even more, if that’s even possible.

More often than not, Hanma doesn’t show up to dinner anymore and leaves Chifuyu to his own devices. Of course, the alpha doesn’t even bother specifying what exactly he’s up to. It’s Keisuke who brings the news one bright morning.

He finds Chifuyu at the omega hut, where he’d just waved off a pair of betas who came to let him know what they’d be busying themselves with that day.

“I need you to get your alpha under control,” Keisuke snaps, sitting down with a huff. He’s wrapped in colourful fabrics, spanning over one shoulder and wrapping around his waist— the perfect sling for Keiko to nap in, only the top of her head peeking out where she rests against his chest.

“Formal complaints will be taken after noon.” Chifuyu leans back on his hands and crosses his legs, looking the other omega over. “But since you’re here… What’s the issue exactly?”

“What isn’t the issue, is a better question,” Nahoya’s voice pipes up from behind Chifuyu, startling him just slightly.

It wasn’t that different back home— the way omegas would just appear out of thin air the moment any sort of discussion took place. His mother explained that it’s an important part of any pack, how gossip keeps them safe, the exchange of information essential to make sure everything is going okay.

Still, it’s a bit unnerving, how Chifuyu finds himself surrounded by five omegas in the blink of an eye.

“He’s been restless,” Souya supplies.

“Even Ran noticed,” Nahoya adds, “which is quite a feat, considering he does nothing but sleep all the time.”

“It takes effort to be beautiful,” Ran snaps back at his mate, swinging his long hair over one shoulder. “Besides, I’m awake when it counts, and sadly, that means noticing that the annoying little pup’s been running around and making it everyone else’s problem.”

Chifuyu sighs, resigned to sit back and just let the others talk.

“He hasn’t been making it everyone’s problem,” Takemichi says, the last to have joined the circle. “Just been kinda…”

“He’s been making it my problem!” Keisuke waves a hand, drawing everyone’s attention to him. “Can you all shut up? Listen. Chifuyu. Your alpha has been running rampant, patrolling the borders every three seconds, and scaring off all the wildlife. Fix it.”

“Why?” Chifuyu asks, stuck on the first part of that sentence.

Keisuke’s anger flares in record time, his eyes narrowing and his teeth baring. “What do you mean why? You little—”

“What Chifuyu means,” Souya cuts in, shooting Keisuke a glare, “is probably the why behind Hanma’s behaviour, not why he needs to fix it. He’s not stupid, Keisuke.”

“Might be stupid if he needs to ask why.” Ran raises a brow. “Because you’re here, is why. You— you do know alphas get protective over omegas, yeah?”

Chifuyu swallows down a growl. “I know what alpha instincts are, thank you. I’m not some clueless pup.” He hesitates for a moment and then averts his eyes, feeling a flush creep up the back of his neck. “But can you still explain what that has to do with me being here?”

A chorus of groans sound through the group.

“You’re an unclaimed omega,” Souya explains, his voice soft, though he looks deeply amused, very much at Chifuyu’s expense. “He’s your alpha? Well, soon-to-be alpha.”

Chifuyu nods, still not fully connecting the dots. He knows the technicalities of it, but it’s not like Hanma has shown any concern for his wellbeing so far.

They all stare back, varying emotions on their faces, ranging from annoyed to expectant, waiting for Chifuyu to get it. But he doesn’t.

When it’s clear that he’s not catching on, a barrage of answers washes over him at the same time.

“He wants to keep you a virgin,” Ran deadpans.

“Doesn’t want anyone else to sink his teeth into your neck,” Nahoya drawls.

“I don’t care why he does it, just fix it!” Keisuke snaps.

“It’s because he cares about you,” comes from Takemichi and Souya, somehow the most offensive answer.

Chifuyu stares at them, one by one, and then stands up. “He doesn’t care about me.” He nods at the other omegas and then reaches out a hand towards Takemichi to pull him up as well. “ But I’ll talk to him about it.”

In the end, he doesn’t. It seems like a waste of time, considering Hanma most likely isn’t doing whatever he’s doing out of some alpha obligation. Chifuyu concludes he’s being lazy, as he seems prone to, trotting around the forest to avoid any real responsibility.

Trying to involve Hanma more in the day-to-day routine of the pack seems wasted energy as well. So Chifuyu doesn’t bother trying.

When pack mates show up asking for his advice about a task that should fall under the alpha’s supervision, he tries to think with them and come up with the best solution. Takemichi calls it a tad unconventional, but after a pointed glare, he drops it and helps out as best as he can.

While it might not be exactly ideal, it’s nothing he’s not used to— being in charge of two domains of work when it should be a shared burden. It keeps Chifuyu busy and distracted, has him so tired at the end of the day that he almost immediately falls asleep the second he lies down in the omega hut.

Like this, he doesn’t have to lie awake and think about his home or his mother, and he can pretend he doesn’t miss them all that much.

Weeks pass like that, focusing on work, connecting with different pack mates and gradually earning their trust and respect more and more.

On a warm day, early in spring, Nahoya finds Chifuyu while he’s working on mending a fence with Kazutora. They’d been sharing some casual gossip about Mikey when the grinning omega pops up out of nowhere, fingernails caked with blood as they always are, a result of being in charge of most of the prey alphas bring home— cleaning hides, preparing meat.

“It’s not polite to speculate about that kinda shit,” he grins, letting the both of them sputter out excuses for a bit before he raises a hand to shut them up. “Your alpha got hurt, Chifuyu.”

That must mean they got back from the hunt. It adds up with Nahoya’s dirty hands.

“Okay.” Chifuyu nods, turning back to the fence. “Send him my well wishes.”

Two pairs of eyes burn into his back. With a sigh, Chifuyu turns back to look at the other two.

“What?”

“You should go see him.” Nahoya rolls his eyes. “You know? Because you’re his omega.”

Chifuyu’s omega surely agrees, more than ready to drop everything and go running. “Why?” he asks, ignoring that part of his instincts. “I’m sure he’d hate seeing me and would recover much faster if left to his own devices.”

“Let me put this differently,” Nahoya says, crossing his arms and raising a brow. “Souya told me to come get you. Don’t disrespect my brother’s wishes. I’m ready to drag you there by your hair, but I’m willing to spare you the embarrassment if you put that hammer down right now and follow me.”

A few nights before, Nahoya got into an argument with Souya’s mate, the two nearly ready to rip each other’s throats out. He’s seen what the omega is capable of and would much rather not be subjected to his wrath.

Grumbling under his breath, Chifuyu hands Kazutora his tools, wipes his hands on his tunic and follows Nahoya.

They chat idly about Rindou on their walk, Nahoya venting some of his frustrations and tiring himself out with his heated ranting until they reach the main clearing, where he points Chifuyu into the direction of Souya’s hut, going to join the rest of the pack in the communal hut to continue preparing the catch.

Chifuyu drags himself there on heavy feet, noticing that Souya’s doors are opened slightly, but neither Hanma nor Souya are in sight. Chifuyu steps up on the deck, ready to slide the doors open further, when he picks up their voices.

“—going to tell him, Shuji?”

“No. Why would I?”

Chifuyu frowns and creeps closer, thankful that the sharp smell of burning herbs masks his scent.

“It might make him see you in a different light. Make this whole thing a little easier.”

“That’s exactly why I’m not telling him. I don’t want him to like me out of some sort of obligation.”

“Shuji…”

“Drop it, Souya. I’m serious. I know it’s a lot to ask, but I want some sincerity in this arrangement. If that means he’ll never grow to like me on his own, so be it. It’s better than knowing he’s— I don’t know.”

It’s the first time Chifuyu feels something positive, truly positive, at Hanma’s words. He slides the doors open when their conversation doesn’t continue, his chest feeling light, shoulders less hunched under the burden of his situation. Maybe, he’ll even ask Hanma what they were talking about, someday soon.

“Hanma” he says as he steps in, somewhat impressed by how naturally casual Souya and Hanma turn to look at him, masking their probable surprise well. “Heard you got yourself hurt?”

The stone fireplace on the far wall of Souya’s hut is burning despite the warm temperature, a small pot hung above it, emanating the strong herbal scent wafting around the hut. In the middle of the hut, Souya and Hanma kneel opposite each other, some bandages and bloodied rags strewn on the floor between them.

Hanma looks only a little banged up. He’s without a shirt, only his right side on display, unharmed. Some blood is streaked across his forehead, but the cut that runs across his hairline doesn’t look too serious.

“Found myself at the wrong end of a buck’s antlers,” he murmurs, turning where he’s seated to show off his other side. He’s bleeding from a deep gash in his side. Nothing lethal, but it looks painful.

“Is there a good end of a buck’s antlers?” Chifuyu wonders aloud, walking closer without waiting for an invitation. He moves around Hanma to sit by his injured side, eyeing the wound. Wordlessly, he grabs a clean rag and dabs at the blood running from it, shushing the alpha when he winces.

Souya is busy grinding a paste, and nods at the pot brewing above the fire. “Pour your alpha some tea, will you?”

Faintly, Chifuyu can register his omega eagerness to fawn over their alpha, and mixed with some of his own sympathy after seeing the wound— he’d be tempted to give in. But Hanma’s words ring around his head, I want some sincerity in this arrangement, and Chifuyu can’t trust himself to be completely sincere in his worries.

“He’s not my alpha yet,” he states, raising an eyebrow at Hanma, before crawling over to the fireplace to pour some tea regardless, grabbing a wooden cup and filling it with the ladle that’d been laid out next to the fire. The tea smells strong and must be unpleasant to drink— the thought makes him grin, just a little.

When he’s back at Hanma’s side, he hands him the cup and picks up the rag again, wiping away the fresh trickle of blood.

“Did you kill it?” he asks absentmindedly, keeping a close eye on how fast new blood wells after he dabbed it away.

Hanma shifts, averting his eyes when Chifuyu looks up at him. “No. Keisuke did.”

“Really?” Chifuyu keeps his tone casual, almost innocent. The wound isn’t bleeding a lot, so it must be somewhat shallow. He feels shamefully relieved about it. “You know, where I’m from it’s not unheard of for alphas to throw themselves into a ravine or drown themselves in a river after failing to kill an animal that harmed them.”

“That must be why your pack was without an alpha, then,” Hanma shoots back, taking a careful sip of the tea. He scowls at the taste and visibly shudders, but continues to drink when Chifuyu snaps at him to do so.

Souya looks a bit exasperated, but Chifuyu is glad for the conversation they’re having, feeling like it lacks the usual animosity between them.

“Absolutely.” He dabs the wound again, presses a bit more firmly and huffs out a quiet laugh when Hanma jolts and glares down at him. “Useless alphas, all of them. Glad to be rid of ‘em.”

“You must be sad that we’re away from your home and its customs, then.”

Chifuyu raises his head and lowers the rag. “I am,” he says, noting how Hanma’s eyes soften a bit. “Though not because I’d want to see you falling to your death. Drowning I’d be more partial to.” Softly, barely audible over the crackle of the fire, he adds: “Glad you got back here alive, alpha.”

They never end up discussing that admission again.

Three nights before the first full moon of spring, Chifuyu starts to feel the tell-tale signs of an approaching heat. Had he been less experienced, a little younger, he might’ve been able to deny it— chalk it up to a cold. But he knows this unease thrumming under his skin like the back of his hand by now.

He lies in the omega hut, one of the rare nights where he sleeps alone, Takemichi opting to sleep with his mate after she returned from her visit with a neighbouring pack, run by two alpha women, one of whom is Hakkai’s older sister.

Thankfully, Hina is the only other alpha around and nothing about her has been threatening so far, and Chifuyu trusts that she’ll keep her distance the closer he gets to his heat.

He isn’t sure if Hanma will give him the same treatment. It’s confusing. On one hand, he fears Hanma will drop his facade and finally reveal a dark and uncontrolled side to him, the kind of alpha from the horror stories he’s heard over the years, letting the beast inside him take control the moment he catches a whiff of Chifuyu’s pre-heat scent.

But on the other hand, and he chalks this up to his omega’s growing neediness, he sort of hopes that Hanma will lose control of himself, that his primal instincts will run wild the second he sees Chifuyu— maybe take him right then and there, wherever they might be at the time it happens.

They’re shameful thoughts, but just a single flash of that mental image has Chifuyu clenching around nothing, makes him just the slightest bit wet. He tries to ignore it, push away those sinful desires, but the harder he tries not to think about it, the more his omega takes charge. His mind fills with vivid fantasies, the question if Hanma is big everywhere, if he’ll manage to successfully breed Chifuyu the first time, or if they’ll have to go many, many, many times.

With a groan, he rolls over onto his back, hands gripping the furs he lies on. He has self control, he doesn’t need to give in to the pooling heat in his stomach, or the slick that’s wetting his sleep pants, or the way his cock slowly fills.

No need to acknowledge any of that. Or the fact that he hasn’t gotten off in almost a month, what with Takemichi and Yuren sleeping in close proximity every night. Why should Chifuyu care that everyone else is asleep on the other side of the hut, that it’s the middle of the night, that it really hasn’t been that uncommon to hear one of the others quietly bring themselves to orgasm— that it’s nothing shameful to do.

He shouldn’t care, and so he doesn’t care. Not at all. He cares just about as much as Hanma does, with his annoying smirks, his half-lidded gaze, and the lazy drawl of his voice.

Sighing and grumbling, Chifuyu rolls back onto his side and shoves a hand down his pants.

Just because he wants to sleep. Not because he can’t get Hanma off his mind, and most definitely not because a small part of him is sort of looking forward to his first heat spent in the company of an alpha.

The following morning, Chifuyu barely makes it past the highest point of the sun before he’s sniffed out, literally, by Rindou.

The beta is on his way back to the hut he shares with Souya when he passes Chifuyu, sitting out by the communal hut cleaning a pelt. He stops suddenly and snaps his head to the side, nostrils flaring, and raises a brow. “Bold of you to be out here while you’re in pre-heat.”

“Should I feel threatened?” Chifuyu shoots back, before the realisation sets in. It’s quite unusual for a beta to pick up on scents, and he tells Rindou as much.

“Souya taught me what to look out for,” he explains, hitching up the basket he’d been carrying. Rindou motions with his head. “Let’s go see him.”

Chifuyu sighs, but sets down his work to follow nonetheless. He prays he isn’t about to be subjected to some kind of invasive physical exam to determine his fertility before his heat hits. Most of his worries are eased when they reach Souya, who smiles at him in contrasting kindness with the usual frown on his face.

Rindou sets down the basket, filled with an assortment of different herbs, and takes a moment to rub his cheek against Souya’s before taking his leave with a curt nod.

“He grows them for me,” Souya says while Chifuyu walks up and sits next to him on the ground. “Got all the characteristics of an alpha, always wants to provide for me, but without the pesky ruts to go along with it.”

There’s a vague sting that comes with Souya’s words— makes Chifuyu resent, just slightly, how he has a beta partner more attentive than Chifuyu’s own cold alpha.

“Though, I wouldn’t oppose to a knot when I’m in heat,” he adds with a slight grin, grasping the basket and carefully sifting through its contents. “Speaking of, you looking forward to yours?”

“How could I not?” Chifuyu mumbles, watching as Souya starts sorting the herbs. “Sharing my most vulnerable moment with my kind and sweet alpha. Just last night he told me how much he loves me, and is so happy that I am here.” He meets the other omega’s eyes. “Can’t wait to be bonded to him for life and bear his pups.”

“You always joke when you’re scared?”

Chifuyu considers lying, but ends up nodding anyway.

“It’s okay to be scared. Even the most loving pairs get nervous before their mating.” Souya smiles, nimble fingers pulling the twigs apart. “I asked Rindou to bring you to me, hoping I can ease some of your worries by explaining some of the things that are about to happen. How did your pack handle the ceremonies surrounding a mating?”

There had been quite a few in Chifuyu’s time. He thinks back on them with a smile, always so happy to see a pair bonded from their love. Even now, the memories warm his heart, grateful that he was granted the opportunity to witness so many of them.

“The ceremonies were up to the couple,” he explains. “We just threw a big feast in celebration afterwards and built them a hut.”

Souya’s eyes soften. “That sounds lovely. We’re not as rigid as other packs, but there are some customs that Mikey kept in place.”

Souya explains that once his heat hits, a trusted pack member of his choosing will accompany Chifuyu to the area reserved for them, safe and secluded, granting him all the privacy he wants.

“Whoever accompanies you will then deliver your undergarments to Hanma. They’ll smell of you, of heat, and it’s sort of the formal invitation for him to join.”

It’s customary for the alpha to bring an offering, though Souya murmurs that the specifics differ per alpha, and explains it isn’t his place to reveal too much about that.

After Chifuyu’s heat is over, Hanma will walk him to the river behind the hut, where they can bathe and enjoy their newly-bonded bliss, as Souya puts it with a little wistful smile, no doubt remembering his own mating.

“You’ll be free to spend a few days there, after your heat. Some alphas get very protective just after bonding and wanna keep their omega to themselves until it all settles.”

Chifuyu asks if Souya thinks Hanma will be like that too, but the omega just shrugs and shakes his head, once again stating that he doesn’t want to speculate about Hanma’s behaviour.

“Once you return, there’s a ceremony to fully settle your bond,” he goes on to explain. “It’s in front of the pack, nothing to worry about. It’s hard to explain what’ll happen exactly, so just follow our lead when that day comes.”

The words worry Chifuyu, and he urges Souya to try and explain more, rendering him silent while he thinks.

“You drink some tea together,” he eventually mumbles, “and that opens your mind and heart. After that, you just— hold hands and meditate, sort of. It binds you together outside of the physical world.” He smiles at Chifuyu. “It’s really beautiful, both for the bonded pair to experience and to witness as a spectator.”

Chifuyu nods, mulling it over. It sounds like an intimate ordeal, makes him slightly nervous, but he supposes that everything that’ll happen in wake of his heat will be intimate.

“Finally, after the ceremony, you’ll come to me. There’s some herbal tea that enhances your scent. Makes it easier to pick up if, uh, you’re pregnant.” Souya smiles in sympathy when Chifuyu flinches slightly. He puts down the herbs to gently lay a hand on Chifuyu’s arm. “Don’t worry about that for now. Focus on your heat, try to enjoy yourself.”

At Chifuyu’s silence, Souya creeps a little closer, leaning into his side. “Are you completely inexperienced?”

“I’m not having this conversation with you.”

Souya cackles when Chifuyu pushes him away with a grunt, immediately pushing into his personal space again. “Don’t you think it’s better to discuss this with someone? So you know what to expect?”

Warmth creeps up Chifuyu’s face. He’s sure he looks bright red, struggling against Souya’s grip. It’s not that he’s uncomfortable talking about it, not as inexperienced as he might come across, but that doesn’t mean that he wants to. In part because talking about it will make it more real, but also because he just doesn’t want to.

“I understand the mechanics just fine,” he snaps, pushing the other omega away again. “Penis, hole, slick, knot, seed, womb— I’m not stupid.”

“Well, don’t make it sound too enticing.” Souya snickers and backs off, shuffles over to his pile of herbs again. “Alright, last question, and then I’ll stop bothering you. Do you get wet enough during your heats?”

Chifuyu blinks, incredulous.

“I’m only asking because I have some oil, in case you don’t, that makes the slide easier.” Souya nods, solemn, but then gets a glint in his eye, a grin slowly creeping up on his face. “Just looking out for your wellbeing. I heard Shuji’s cock—”

With a speed that shocks even himself, Chifuyu is out the door, slamming it shut behind him with a high-pitched: “Goodbye, Souya!”

The night before the full moon, Hanma and his hunters return. The announcement of their arrival immediately fills Chifuyu with nerves, wondering how the alpha will react to his pre-heat scent, having managed to avoid each other since it started.

More than that, Chifuyu wonders how he will react to Hanma, now that he’s reaching the height of his pre-heat, threatening to spill over into a full heat at any moment. It’s with great shame that ever since his conversation with Souya, thoughts about Hanma have been at the forefront of his mind, too.

They range from completely harmless, wondering what their scents will smell like after they’ve bonded, to bordering on scandalous— fantasies popping up left and right that Chifuyu wouldn’t even dream of indulging in, not even under the influence of his heat.

It leaves him a little hot under the collar, to say the least, on top of being tired from the constant battle for control— being pulled between his rational brain and his omega. It’s a fight he’s familiar with, but it gets more tiring with his approaching heat, when his omega is at its strongest and most persistent.

Chifuyu gets his answer while he’s waiting for Hanma to join him for dinner at the head table, having gotten back from a patrol a little later than expected.

The moment the alpha walks in, Chifuyu’s breath falters and a shock runs up his spine. It’s clear that Hanma hadn’t taken the time to wash up, coming straight from the forest. He’s dressed in nothing but simple pants, his skin still glistening with sweat and eyes a little wild, a clear indication that he only just recently shifted from his wolf.

Heat spreads in the pit of Chifuyu’s stomach, just a small twinge at first, but it quickly builds, until he’s squirming just slightly.

Hanma doesn’t smell like himself. He smells of the forest, but it’s different from his own scent. It’s darker and richer, unfamiliar and precisely because of that, endlessly enticing.

After nodding at the rest of the pack, he sits down next to Chifuyu.

For a moment, he wonders if Hanma has poor eyesight. His pupils dilate the moment he’s seated, like they have a hard time adjusting to the dim light inside the hut.

Chifuyu observes him with a frown, noting that Hanma looks more tense than usual, but he doesn’t linger on it, honouring their agreement— he doesn’t care about Hanma and Hanma doesn’t care about him.

Still, as Chifuyu goes through the announcements and thanks everyone for their hard work, he can’t help but wonder if Hanma is really so impervious to his pre-heat scent.

Just the possibility of it leaving the alpha indifferent has his blood boiling, for once fully leaning into the feeling of rejection that his omega whines about.

“How nice of you to show your face,” Chifuyu hisses when he’s done, shoulders sagging in relief when all eyes are no longer on him.

“The moon is close to being full,” Hanma replies calmly, picking at his food. “And besides that, your pre-heat scent can be picked up even far outside of our borders.”

“Really?” Chifuyu turns to Hanma, forgetting for just a moment that he doesn’t like the alpha all that much. “That’s so embarrassing…”

Hanma looks at him with, dare Chifuyu say, genuine sympathy. “It’s just how your body works. Nothing to be embarrassed about.” He shrugs and turns his attention to his plate, picking it up and one-for-one, pushes the assortment of meat and vegetables onto Chifuyu’s plate. “It’s a good sign. Means you— your omega’s settled and feels safe. Ready to have pups.”

Back home, his mother used to comment on Chifuyu’s pre-heat scent, noting how faint it always was. It used to worry him, but she assured him every time that if he’d be ready, his scent would strengthen as well.

Chifuyu really doesn’t want to think about the implications of his scent picking up in intensity now, of all times.

“And if your scent hadn’t given it away—” Hanma continues, plate now empty, leaving him with only a plain bowl of rice, while Chifuyu’s is obscenely stacked. “—or the moon, then the slick you started leaking the moment I walked in would’ve been indication enough for your pre-heat.”

And just like that, their peaceful moment is broken. Chifuyu scowls and then hisses when Hanma chuckles.

“You’re such an ass,” he mutters, eyeing his overfull plate, not bothering to explore why it feels incredibly right for it to be that stacked, very pointedly ignoring his omega purring in the back of his head.

“You think I’m an ass?” Hanma asks, eyes all wide and mocking. “Here I was, thinking you don’t think about me at all.”

“I don’t! Gods. Are you always this insufferable?”

It takes a moment for Hanma to reply. He seems to actually consider his answer, staring off into the distance when Chifuyu glances at him.

“I think I am, yes,” he says, nodding to himself.

Chifuyu shakes his head in disbelief, annoyed at Hanma and annoyed at his own treacherous pre-heat thoughts— tricking him into thinking the alpha is almost endearing.

“Are you even eating when I’m not here?” Hanma asks after a somewhat comfortable silence, when Chifuyu is halfway done with the insane amounts of food that’d been dumped on his plate. “You’re still so… scrawny. How are you expecting to carry my pups if you don’t gain some weight?”

“You’d know I eat plenty if you joined dinner more often instead of running off to do whatever it is you do.” With a huff, Chifuyu stuffs a big piece of meat in his mouth, taking his sweet time chewing and ignoring Hanma’s stare burning into the side of his face. “Besides,” he manages with his mouth full, “have you considered that maybe, my pups will resemble me and not be so— stupidly tall as you are?”

He says it mostly to rile Hanma up, hopes to hit him in his fragile alpha ego— the mere suggestion that their pup would take after their omega parent should be insulting, or so Chifuyu thinks. To his horror, Hanma’s eyes soften when he turns to look at him, his lips tilting up slightly.

“If you wanted me to join dinner more often, you could’ve asked.” The softness is gone from his face, replaced with an arrogant little smirk. “You miss me that much, little omega?”

Chifuyu nearly chokes on his next bite, coughing and then flinching away when Hanma gently pats him on the back. He turns to glare at the alpha. “I’m just wondering what you’ve been doing that’s so useful while I’ve been out here making sure the pack functions.”

“Well, since you’re asking so nicely.” Hanma rolls his eyes. He takes a moment to lift his cup of water and set it down in front of Chifuyu, nodding at it while he still sputters around the food in his lungs. “I’ve just… been making sure there are no intruders lurking around.”

Good alpha, Chifuyu’s omega nearly sings, perking up violently, pawing at his insides to show their appreciation.

“Why would you do that?” he asks instead of singing Hanma’s praises.

Hanma sighs. “Are you stupid? I’m an alpha, you’re an omega in pre-heat, I won’t let anyone—“ He shrugs. “I’m prideful by nature. The rational part of my brain doesn’t care that you’re, ah, untouched, but trust me, my alpha does and would like to keep you that way until your heat.” His eyes slowly rake down Chifuyu’s body. “Until I can lay my claim on you, as they say. Instincts, hormones— you know how they work.”

Heat prickles where Hanma’s gaze drags. Chifuyu shakes it off, literally, like the dog he feels he is at the moment, getting way too excited about the attention— feels close to panting.

“Oh, I know, alright,” he mutters darkly, still wiggling his shoulders a bit to get rid of the last traces of warmth, glad Hanma rolls his eyes and looks away. More than well aware that the slight spike of his arousal hangs in the air, sweet and heavy, Chifuyu adds: “Don’t flatter yourself, Hanma. This is all hormones, too.”

Hanma shakes his head, smirking slightly. “Wouldn’t dream of it. I’m sure you’ll flatter me plenty yourself, when your heat takes over and leaves you begging for my knot.”

“Don’t hold your breath,” Chifuyu grits. “I’d hate to see you choke.”

Chapter Text

When Chifuyu starts feeling restless, shivers wracking his body and heat churning low in the pit of his stomach, he wakes up Takemichi and asks him to accompany him to the heat hut.

They do so in silence, Chifuyu’s jaw clenched tightly, nerves and scorching heat wracking through his body and setting every vein alive with it.

So far from the pack, the air is clear of their mingled scents. The crisp smell of morning hangs around them, providing some temporary clarity from the swirling thoughts clouding Chifuyu’s mind.

By the time they reach the hut, his pants are embarrassingly damp, the scent of his own heat heavy enough to reach his own nose. Takemichi doesn’t comment on it, just smiles kindly and waits outside while Chifuyu steps inside to strip himself of his clothes.

The hut is smaller than the other ones he’s been inside of. Its wooden interior is the same, but it lacks a large fire pit in the middle— instead, a stone fireplace is situated against the left wall. Opposite the entrance, another set of sliding doors is already opened, letting in the earthy scent of the forest, showing a small deck and the clearing beyond it.

A pile of thick furs and blankets are laid out in one corner, next to the sliding doors. Apart from those, the interior is barren, kept neutral with consideration for the different occupants.

From where Chifuyu stands, he can spot a path branching off the clearing, and he’s reminded of the river where he and Hanma are meant to bathe after his heat ends.

The rational part of Chifuyu’s brain can’t imagine the alpha guiding him down that path, but his omega yearns for it. It’s much harder to ignore at the cusp of his heat— aches for a warm hand against his lower back, steady and comforting, a protective presence at his side as they walk through the forest.

A light robe is hanging next to the doors. Chifuyu pulls it on with a hammering heart, feeling exposed for the brief seconds he’s naked inside this unfamiliar hut. Even now, with the robe hanging off his shoulders, he doesn’t feel any better. He folds up his slick-soaked pants, and then turns to slide the doors open again.

Takemichi accepts them with a smile, promising to bring them to Hanma right away. He tries his best to look encouraging, even though his bright eyes are filled with worry.

“It will be okay,” he promises, taking a step back. It looks like he might want to say more, the corners of his mouth sagging, but then he nods and turns.

Chifuyu can’t stand to watch him leave, so before Takemichi reaches the end of the path, he turns and slides the doors shut with a soft click.

He doesn’t know how long it will take for Hanma to arrive. It should be irresistible for an alpha, the invitation to join an omega in heat, but the few interactions he’s had with Hanma during his pre-heat don’t leave him with a lot of confidence. The alpha had seemed as unaffected and uninterested as ever.

By the time Chifuyu is done arranging all the furs and blankets to his liking, building a small but neat nest until his omega is content, his skin is coated in a layer of sweat, breaths coming out in pants, chest rapidly rising and falling.

The robe he wears feel uncomfortably damp, not to mention scratchy against his sensitive skin, so he strips himself of it and lays in his nest, both hands resting on his stomach.

It’s not his first heat, so he doesn’t panic at the ache that spreads through his limbs or how the fur he’s laying on gets steadily wetter with his slick. Chifuyu tries his best to breathe through it, knows that if he gives in to the burning arousal now, he’ll end up with a sore wrist before the worst of his heat even hits.

His omega, though, is displeased, clawing at his insides, whining and howling, seemingly more than aware that an alpha’s supposed to join for this heat. Chifuyu focuses his attention on calming the desperation, the need to roll over and present already, to be ready for whenever Hanma decides to show up.

“Not yet,” he whispers to himself, nails digging into the soft skin of his lower stomach, above where his womb is, trying to distract himself from the cramps. “Not yet.”

Night has come and gone, the dark sky bleeds into day, and Hanma still hasn’t shown his face.

Chifuyu is sobbing into the blanket, fear of rejection and the sting of loneliness burning under his skin, mixing with the feverish desperation of his heat. Halfway through the night, it became impossible to ignore the arousal, the scent of his slick heavy in the air, cock straining and leaking against his stomach.

It was with tears in his eyes that Chifuyu rolled over on his stomach, got on his knees and sank two fingers inside himself, hole wet and loose already, no resistance at all. He roughly fucked two orgasms out of himself like that before he couldn’t stop himself from crying, whimpering pathetically into the silence of the hut, every part of him begging and pleading for the alpha to show up. He never did.

He isn’t sure how much time has passed since the breaking of dawn. To soothe the suffocating need to be filled, he’s kept three fingers inside himself, laid on his side with one leg hitched up. His eyes burn from crying so much, and shivers from the fever wrack through him while it still feels like he’s burning up on the inside.

At least his mind is somewhat clear, the negative emotions too strong for his omega to fully take control and let the delirious haze of heat take over. His body still aches for an alpha, his alpha, hole clenching tightly around his own fingers, but his thoughts remain his own.

Chifuyu is trying to make peace with the reality of his situation—wonders how things will proceed now that Hanma has made his rejection official, hopes that Mikey will keep us his end of the deal despite of it—when he hears the sliding doors at the main entrance of the hut open.

The dark scent of alpha mixes with his own, a combination that makes Chifuyu’s cock jump, slick trickling out past his fingers. He can’t be bothered to be embarrassed about his position, spread open and on display in the direction of the door, not when his omega is nearly howling in relief.

“I’m sorry.” Hanma’s voice is low, barely audible over the rush of blood in Chifuyu’s ears, the frantic beating of his heart. “I had to—“

“Shut up.” He squeezes his eyes shut, angry at the tears still rolling down his cheeks and at the way his own body betrays him, every muscle relaxing now that the alpha decided to show his face. “Just— just get over here and get on with it.”

Chifuyu hears the rustling of clothes, but doesn’t bother opening his eyes when footsteps near. With a shuddering breath, he pulls his fingers out and wipes them on the fur he’s lying on. He goes to roll over properly, to get on his knees and press his face to the floor, but a hand on his back makes him freeze up, heart skipping a beat.

Every muscle in his body locks up, and as if burned, Hanma’s touch disappears immediately.

“Look at me, omega,” he murmurs, voice uncharacteristically soft.

“No.” Chifuyu shakes his head, turns it away. He’s shivering again, but this time it’s not just the heat. His omega has unhelpfully shut up, cowering in the depths of his mind. A new wave of tears roll down his cheeks when he recognises the new feeling for what it is— fear.

A soft sigh comes from Hanma. He touches Chifuyu again, making him jump, but the touch is brief, only guiding him to roll over onto his back.

Fingers close around his chin, firm but surprisingly gentle, and a thumb presses over his mouth. Hanma’s voice comes out in a growl, a clear command, while he tugs Chifuyu’s head to face him again. “Look at me.”

Chifuyu’s eyes snap open, immediately met with the sight of the alpha— completely naked, kneeling next to him just outside the edge of his nest. His expression is neutral, but his eyes give him away, pupils dilated, the yellow of his iris barely visible anymore.

The alpha’s half-hard cock rests between his thighs. The sight of it makes Chifuyu’s omega roar back to life, forces his breathing to heavy pants, eyes struggling to stay open.

“Chifuyu,” Hanma says. “I remember— you said you’ve never been with anyone, yes?”

It takes a moment to register the question through the haze. Chifuyu manages to bite down a whine when he realises Hanma is still outside of his nest, and then nods.

“Your scent.” The alpha frowns, fingers releasing their grip on Chifuyu’s chin, drawing back to rest his hands on his knees. “It’s souring. Are you—“

“Please,” Chifuyu chokes out, “get inside my nest and just get this over with.”

Hanma frowns. It looks like he’s about to say something, but then he sighs and averts his eyes. He mumbles something under his breath, crawling forward until he’s right there, spreading Chifuyu’s legs with a firm grip on his thighs, kneeling between them.

It does nothing to ease the racing of Chifuyu’s heart. He feels dizzy, both relieved and terrified at once, his omega fighting with his rationality. When he sees Hanma reach out a hand, like he’s about to stroke his fingers down Chifuyu’s chest, panic flares and he slaps the alpha’s hand away.

“Don’t,” he tries to growl, though it comes out more as a whine. “Don’t, don’t—“

Hanma looks as lost as Chifuyu feels.

“I’m gonna need to touch you at some point,” he says, voice strained.

The desperate panting of Chifuyu’s omega gradually changes. His vision blurs, bitter tears welling up again, until he’s sobbing instead. He squeezes his eyes shut, turning sideways to hide his face in the fur, curling in on himself as much as he can with Hanma still between his legs.

“Please, just do it,” he manages to choke out, struggling to breathe. His heart hammers painfully against his ribcage, wild and unsteady. “I don’t care— I just, please, I don’t—”

Every desperate plea he wants to force out gets drowned out by his crying. The sugared scent of heat gets overrun by sharp mint, the physical manifestation of his own distress. It makes Chifuyu cry harder, unable to escape the cold fear that grips him. It winds its treacherous hand around his throat until he’s gasping out stuttered breaths, chest constricting painfully while the shivers of heat still rage under his skin.

Just as he feels that the storm will never settle, that he’ll drown in this whirlpool of emotion dragging him deeper and deeper, a gentle touch to the side of his face chases away some of the heavy despair.

Chifuyu’s eyes snap open. He sucks in a breath, feels it get stuck in his chest, and he wheezes around it.

The next touch guides one of his legs so he’s no longer caging Hanma between them. It eases some of the blinding fear, being able to fully roll over and press his knees together, no longer on display for the alpha.

Then, the hands withdraw, and Chifuyu manages to look over to see Hanma shuffling to the side, keeping distance between them.

“I’m going to count,” Hanma says, voice deeper than the pit threatening to swallow Chifuyu whole, like a lifeline, breaking through the fog. “You’re going to breathe when I tell you to.”

Hanma sets a gentle rhythm. Breathe in, one, two, three, four, five. Breathe out, five, four, three, two, one.

After a few cycles, he instructs Chifuyu to roll over on his back and lay his hands on his stomach, to feel the way he breathes— and Chifuyu complies, eyes shut again, letting the low hum of Hanma’s voice be the only thing in his mind.

Everything settles more when he feels a blanket cover his lower body.

“I’m going to tell you something, and you won’t believe me, and that’s okay. Keep breathing, c’mon, in and out, that’s it.” Hanma waits a moment for Chifuyu’s breathing to regulate. “I don’t want to hurt you. Breathe in. I’m not going to hurt you. Breathe out. In order for me not to hurt you, you’re going to have to let me make this somewhat enjoyable for you.”

Chifuyu’s breath hitches again. He squeezes his eyes more tightly, fingers cramping over his stomach.

“Breathe in. I don’t want this any more than you do.” He takes a moment, hums in approval when Chifuyu keeps breathing. “I know you’ve sacrificed more than I could ever fathom. I know that what we’re about to do is yet another sacrifice, but—”

“You don’t.” Chifuyu swallows thickly, forces another breath in and then out. “You don’t know anything about me. What— what do you know about my sacrifices?”

With effort, he manages to open his eyes and turn his head, looking up at Hanma, taking in his position— kneeling again, hands resting on his thighs. The alpha raises a brow, nods for Chifuyu to continue.

“I hate you,” Chifuyu whispers, closing his eyes. Now that his mind is clearing of the terror, he can feel the heat licking up his spine again, tugging at the edges of his consciousness, ready to break out and ravage his body at the first sign of weakness, eager to take over control. “I hate that— that I need you.”

“Yeah?” Hanma chuckles, dry and devoid of humour. “The first words out of your mouth after I calm you down, and you don’t even bother thanking me?”

“Thank you,” Chifuyu spits out, twisting his fingers in the blanket, “for finally doing the bare minimum, now that you’re close to getting to stick your knot somewhere wet and warm.”

The words immediately fill him with regret, only heightened by the slight change of Hanma’s scent, going from deep and woodsy to something sour and burned. In any other situation, Chifuyu might have tried to apologise, but he can’t— if he gives in, if he gives away the slightest hint of vulnerability, the claws of his heat will dig into his skin to drag him under.

“You’re insufferable,” Hanma murmurs when Chifuyu keeps quiet, “and while I may usually want to strangle you, right now, I still won’t hurt you. So, I will leave it up to you.” He scoots slightly closer and leans in so he can stare down at Chifuyu, eyes narrowed. “Either you walk out of here unmated and unbred, and we can find out what the consequences for that will be, or, you meet me halfway, and we figure this out together.” A smile, dripping with acid. “The choice is yours.”

The choice was never Chifuyu’s, not really, and Hanma looks like he knows that, too. But with the alpha’s solemn expression staring at him, he can acknowledge, at least a little, that the choice isn’t Hanma’s, either. If there would ever be any common ground to be found between them, it would be this: both stripped of their power and autonomy, stuck in a situation neither wants to be in.

Not for the first time, Chifuyu realises that while he gained the safety of his pack from this arrangement, Hanma didn’t really gain anything at all.

Barely a second after that thought settles, the first wave of heat breaks through the barrier, forces itself out with a whimper. It’s a reminder of why they’re here, as if their nudity didn’t make it obvious enough. As the heat spreads, it breaks Chifuyu’s resolve— or strengthens it. He isn’t sure what his resolve was in the first place.

“Touch me,” he hisses between clenched teeth, meeting Hanma’s eyes and refusing to break eye contact.

It takes a beat for Hanma to reply. His eyes jump back and forth, searching Chifuyu’s face. “Where?”

“What? Aren’t you experienced with this, Hanma? You need my help to—”

“I do,” said simply, without shame or hesitation.

Whether he’s being sincere or simply appealing to the part of Chifuyu’s instincts that want nothing more than to care for the alpha— it doesn’t matter. It would’ve gotten the same reaction. Breath stutters in his chest, another whine leaves his throat, and before Chifuyu can stop himself, he’s grabbing Hanma’s wrist to pull him closer. “Scent me, you bastard.”

Hanma’s scent is unbearably strong when he leans in, hands braced on either side of Chifuyu’s head. It’s dark and musky, warm and, to his omega, soothing. He rubs his nose over Chifuyu’s nape, right over his scent gland, breath fanning against overheated skin, and then licks over it, a slow and broad stroke of his tongue.

It’s like a punch to the gut. The sensation trickles down, from a gentle spark to a wave of pleasure. It forces a moan past Chifuyu’s lips, has his arms flying up to circle Hanma’s neck, pulling him closer and keeping him right there. Each lick sends a shiver down his spine, until he’s trembling under the alpha, pathetic noises escaping him before he can even think to stop them.

The heat builds, steady but slow. When the next wave crashes over Chifuyu, he reaches up to grab one of Hanma’s hands and pushes it down, placing it on his hip. “Your fingers,” he whispers, turning his head and baring his neck more, silent pleas to keep scenting him. “Get me ready.”

Hanma’s fingers are longer and thicker, so they still provide a stretch despite Chifuyu already opening himself up earlier. Hanma moves his fingers with calculated precision, not a single motion too much or little. He crooks them up and twists them, draws breathy moans from Chifuyu with every finger he adds while still steadily mouthing at his scent gland.

A change in angle causes an abrupt surge of pleasure to crash into Chifuyu. He clenches around Hanma’s fingers, arching his back and crying out. His eyes squeeze shut, hips moving on their own to meet each thrust. Goosebumps erupt over his skin, everything suddenly too much and not nearly enough— he gets wetter, both from slick trickling out past Hanma’s fingers and his cock leaking against his lower stomach.

Every muscle in his body draws taut, toes curling against the fur, but before he can tip over and lose himself in it, Chifuyu barks out at Hanma to stop, and the alpha immediately obeys, drawing back from his neck and pulling out his fingers just a tad too quickly for comfort.

Chifuyu hisses at the sudden emptiness, but pushes past it, takes a moment to draw in a deep breath and get the pull of his heat under control again.

There is a question in Hanma’s eyes when he looks at him, but the alpha doesn’t voice it. He simply scoots back until there’s more distance between them.

They look at each other in silence, and Chifuyu isn’t sure what exactly does it— maybe their mingling scents, or the knowledge that he’s being allowed to call the shots, but something akin to understanding seems to settle between them during those few moments.

Chifuyu glances down, somewhat relieved to find Hanma hard, glad he won’t have to provide any help with that. “What’s the most comfortable position to do this in?” he asks, slightly out of breath.

“That’s different for everyone,” Hanma says, voice soft but firm. “Personally, I’d recommend getting on your hands and knees, but I will leave it up to you entirely.”

There is something primal about that thought, to present for an alpha, and Chifuyu lets his instincts take over, just for a little while, to quell the embarrassment he feels when he nods and follows Hanma’s instructions.

Once he’s on his knees, Chifuyu lowers himself onto his elbows, arching his back a little. He presses his forehead into the fur and closes his eyes, tries to keep his body relaxed when he feels Hanma move and settle in behind him.

In this position, Chifuyu’s temperature spikes again, leaving him shivering and softly whimpering, balling up his hands to keep some semblance of control. He breathes in and out a few times, refuses to give in to the desperation clawing at his insides.

“What are you waiting for?” he hisses when the alpha doesn’t move. It bruises his ego slightly, Hanma’s self-control when Chifuyu is in quite possibly the most enticing position for an alpha— or so he’s been told. He hates himself for feeling this way, angry tears welling up and dampening the fur he buried his face in.

“For your instructions, Chifuyu.”

Chifuyu sniffles despite himself, losing yet another shred of his composure. “Shouldn’t you be losing your self-control by now?” he mumbles, trying to buy himself some time, hoping to make peace with having to voice out loud what he wants Hanma to do, just for a little bit longer.

Hanma curses at him, sharp and loud. In an instant, a hand wraps around the back of Chifuyu’s neck, pulling him upright on his knees and forcing his head to the side so that can look at each other. Hanma’s eyes are wild when they meet his, and the alpha holds up his free hand where Chifuyu can see it.

“I hate you, too,” he spits, showing off how his hand trembles, and how his knuckles turn white when he makes a fist, still shaking. Still scruffing Chifuyu, he pushes his hips forward, letting him feel Hanma’s cock, pressing hard and hot against him. “I hate, just as much as you, that I need you as well.”

Chifuyu can only stare, mouth slack, arousal slowly clouding every sense. A whine is building in his chest, and he trembles, overcome with the burning need to submit.

Another tug on Chifuyu’s neck forces him to focus on Hanma’s wide eyes again. “My self-control is hanging by the same thin thread as yours, don’t even try to hide it. Tell me what is and what is not okay for me to do, and stop this nonsense.”

There is a desperate edge to Hanma’s voice when he continues, finally releasing his grip. “I don’t want to hurt you. Please.”

Chifuyu moves before he can think. One moment, he’s on his knees. The next, he’s turning around and pushing the alpha down by his shoulders, until he’s lying on the fur. He takes a single moment to appreciate the view, to bathe in the surge of power that comes with seeing an alpha under him, and then swings a leg over Hanma’s hips, straddling him.

They stare at each other with wide eyes, both of their chests rapidly rising and falling.

Blindly, Chifuyu reaches behind himself, taking hold of Hanma’s cock and holding it steady while he rises on his knees, shuffling back slightly to line them up.

“Thank you, alpha,” Chifuyu chokes out, sucking in a deep breath before slowly lowering himself down.

They gasp, and then still, in unison. Something warm settles in the pit of Chifuyu’s stomach, easing the sting that comes with being stretched. He shifts and gasps again, feels Hanma’s muscles tighten where he laid his hands against the alpha’s stomach. The last remnants of reluctance melt away, like they were never there to begin with, leaving Chifuyu to question why he tried so hard to fight against this.

He closes his eyes and tentatively moves his hips. A moan spills past his lips at the slight drag of Hanma inside of him, sliding impossibly deeper, filling him in a way he couldn’t have ever fathomed would feel so good.

“Hold me,” Chifuyu gasps, and Hanma surges up immediately, one arm stretched out behind him for support, the other curling around Chifuyu’s waist to hold him close.

“Scent me,” he whispers next, tilting his head to the side, stuttering around an exhale when he feels Hanma’s tongue against his skin.

The arm around his waist tightens.

On shaking knees, Chifuyu draws himself up, whimpering as he does so, already overwhelmed at the feeling.

For a moment, Chifuyu stays there, lets himself enjoy the wide stretch around the head of Hanma’s cock, so much bigger than three fingers, and circles his hips slightly, moaning brokenly at the sensation. He feels the alpha tremble under him, panting out against the side of his neck, and Chifuyu falls in line with his omega for once— both of them entirely unwilling to torture their alpha any longer.

Tightening his arms around Hanma’s neck, Chifuyu sinks down again, slowly, enjoying every second of the slow stretch. He clenches down with another whimper, and then loses his patience at last, allows the feeling of needing to be filled to take over completely.

Hanma’s breath hitches in his chest when Chifuyu slams his hips down, and the tiniest growl leaves the alpha. Spurred on by the reaction, Chifuyu manages to find a rhythm that keeps drawing these little sounds out of Hanma.

He barely registers anything beyond the searing pleasure coursing through his veins; every thrust of Hanma deep inside him is putting out the fire that his heat initially ignited, the alpha bucking his hips up to meet Chifuyu on every thrust down.

They stay pressed together, chest to chest. They’re both sweaty from being so close, and slightly sticky from the slick trickling down, coating Chifuyu’s inner thighs and Hanma’s legs where he straddles him.

“’S good,” Hanma pants against the side of Chifuyu’s neck.

The modest praise sends shivers down his spine, has him clenching down on Hanma’s cock again, revelling in the groan it gets him. His mind gets overrun more and more with primal instincts, giving in to them eagerly. He slams his hips down and stays there, rutting up slightly against Hanma’s tensing abs, eyes rolling back and moans slipping past his lips, the slide of Chifuyu’s cock against Hanma’s skin made easy with pre-cum.

Hanma whines at the loss of movement, but true to their agreement, he stays still. He only ducks down slightly to press their cheeks together and brings up his other arm to circle Chifuyu’s waist as well.

“Sorry,” Chifuyu manages between moans. “It’s— you’re just— I feel you so deep, and it’s—” He breaks off into a whimper, the throbbing of Hanma’s cock too distracting to keep talking.

Only then does Chifuyu really feel the fatigue in his legs, and he allows himself a moment longer to stay there, grinding down on Hanma’s cock, panting softly against the side of his face. Tiny sparks flutter up Chifuyu’s spine, settle in his stomach, and make everything a little fuzzy. It spreads throughout his body, until his fingers and toes tingle with it.

He doesn’t even realise he’s babbling out apologies for his lack of movement until Hanma’s shushing him, one hand sliding up into Chifuyu’s hair, cradling the back of his head and holding him there, sweaty cheeks pressed together.

“Is okay, it’s okay, my sweet omega, ’s okay,” Hanma keeps repeating over and over again, turning his head slightly so his lips brush over Chifuyu’s cheek with every word. “All good, it’s good,” he whispers, feverish and fast, “you feel good. Just take— just take what you need.”

Those words send something akin to a tidal wave crashing over Chifuyu. It sweeps him up, unable and unwilling to resist. No sound reaches him, the rush of blood too overwhelming to hear anything else. The strain in his throat is the only indication that he’s moaning, or crying out, or whimpering— he isn’t sure.

Chifuyu’s orgasm hits with an unexpected amount of force. He’s sure he does cry out Hanma’s name right then, the last thing that consciously registers before his vision whites out, every muscle in his body tensing, wave after wave of icy pleasure rolling down his back, meeting the heat curling up his spine, clashing in overwhelming ecstasy.

When clarity returns, it’s to Hanma pressing soft kisses along the scar on Chifuyu’s shoulder, holding him with both arms still around his waist, the alpha trembling from the exertion to keep them upright and steady.

Even with the aftershocks of his orgasm, there’s still a burning need churning in the pit of Chifuyu’s stomach. His heat, not even close to being stilled, demanding attention, and flaring up even stronger than before, more painful this time.

With a whimper, Chifuyu catches Hanma’s attention. He lifts his head to meet Chifuyu’s eye.

“I don’t want to kiss you,” Chifuyu whispers, pressing their foreheads together and closing his eyes. He’s shivering, feels like he might implode at any moment, feels more fragile than he ever remembers feeling.

“Okay,” Hanma whispers back, arms tightening around Chifuyu’s waist. “What do you want, Chifuyu?”

Chifuyu shakes his head, tears sliding down his overheated cheeks. He can’t wrap his head around Hanma’s gentleness, his self-restraint and patience, doesn’t know how to handle it in the slightest. A new wave of heat washes over him, has him whimpering again and clenching down on Hanma, drawing a soft groan from him.

“Stay with me,” Hanma says, fingers sliding down to scratch softly over Chifuyu’s undercut. “Almost there. Okay?”

He adjusts slightly, carefully, and only then does Chifuyu register the persistent pull against his rim, bigger than the girth of Hanma’s cock.

A surge of heat much stronger than he last crashes into him. It forces all the breath out of his lungs until he’s gasping, instinctually pressing his hips down to get the swelling knot deeper inside.

Hands on his waist keep him still. Chifuyu whines and whimpers, tries to fight against them, panic rising when he feels himself being slowly lifted higher until Hanma’s cock is slipping out him.

“No!” Chifuyu reaches out and digs his fingers into Hanma’s upper arms. “No, no, please, please, I need—”

“I’m only moving us so it’s comfortable when I knot you.” Hanma’s voice is deep, close to a purr. It settles Chifuyu’s omega immediately and he nearly goes limp in the alpha’s hold, letting himself get turned around, back to Hanma, kneeling on the furs.

He’s still babbling, pleading with Hanma to knot him, scolding him for moving so impossibly slow, taking far too long to lay a hand on his back and push him down, an eternity between then and the moment he lines up his cock again.

A jolt of lightning shoots up his spine. Chifuyu scrambles against the floor, fingers grasping at nothing. It’s entirely different, being taken from behind, something primal about it. Like this, it’s easy to let his instincts take over, makes it less suffocatingly scary.

The heat takes control of Chifuyu’s body and mind. His whines and gasps mix with the sound of skin slapping against skin as Hanma buries himself deep with each thrust.

All that exists is them, in that moment. Pleasure sets every nerve alight, sparks shooting up Chifuyu’s spine, down his limbs, fingers curling into the fur he’s lying on. He aches for relief but can’t will himself to bring a hand down and grasp his own cock, too lost in the alpha’s relentless pace.

Chifuyu’s mind is pleasantly empty, like he’s floating somewhere outside of his body, and he doesn’t come back down until Hanma pulls him up, chest pressed to Chifuyu’s back, and wraps both arms around his middle, keeping him close.

The alpha licks over his scent gland, moaning as he does. His knot is almost fully swollen, catching on Chifuyu’s rim with each snap of his hips, so close to getting what he wants— but then Hanma stills, buried deep inside, panting against the side of his neck.

One of Hanma’s hands slides a bit lower, settles over his womb rather than his stomach. When he presses down slightly, it sends another jolt of white-hot pleasure through Chifuyu, his exhale breaking off into a whine.

“Gonna come,” the alpha heaves, nuzzling his face into the crook of Chifuyu’s neck and shoulder. He mouths at the skin there while simultaneously pressing his hand down harder, snapping his hips up again and burying himself impossibly deep inside of Chifuyu. “Gonna make you take my knot, omega.”

Chifuyu moans, helpless in Hanma’s hold, resting his head back against his shoulder. He shudders at the mere idea of Hanma finally knotting him. “Yes, yes—”

“Gonna fuck you full of my cum,” he growls, teeth scraping along Chifuyu’s shoulder, who cries out at another harsh trust.

Hanma shushes him, slowing the snapping of his hips to a deep grind. “Breed you like the good little omega that you are and knock you up–”

Chifuyu can’t stop the whine that escapes him, desperately pressing his hips back, babbling mindlessly and begging Hanma to keep going, but he’s quickly shushed with fingers wrapping loosely around his throat, a low growl reverberating against the tender skin of his nape.

“You’ll look so good,” he breathes out against Chifuyu’s ear, scraping his teeth over the shell. His hand slides down again, almost tenderly caressing the skin of his lower stomach. “Beautiful– full with my pups.”

At that point, Chifuyu isn’t even sure of what he’s saying anymore, crying out his agreement, mindless and overwhelmed at the same time, heat building in the pit of his stomach, spreading through his body until every part of him is set alight with nothing but pleasure and the deep rumble of Hanma’s voice.

“Everyone— everyone will know you’re mine,” Hanma nearly snarls.

“Yes, yours, alpha, breed me, breed me—” He pushes his hips back against Hanma’s, his eyes squeezing shut, “Please, alpha, want your knot, your pups, please, please—”

Whining, Chifuyu tilts his head to the side, baring his neck, isn’t sure if he’s still begging out loud or if the mantra of yes and please is only repeating itself in his own mind.

Hanma moans, lips brushing over Chifuyu’s sensitive scent gland. “I wanna say…” He cuts himself off with a groan, tightening his grip, grinding his cock deeper before he seems to regain some control. “I lied.” It comes out rushed and strained. “Earlier, I lied— Chifuyu, I’m sorry, I— I don’t hate you.”

With those words, he breaks skin, his teeth sinking into Chifuyu’s scent gland.

Everything freezes. The world stops spinning. He can’t move, can’t breathe, his entire existence narrows down to the sensation of the mating bite.

Then, it crashes into him all at once.

The swell of Hanma’s cock catching on his rim with each thrust, pushing and pulling on it, growing bigger each time Hanma forces it back inside. The last warning he gets is a low, guttural groan vibrating against him before Hanma noses at the side of his neck and buries himself with one last thrust, his knot too swollen to slip back out.

Hanma’s cock throbs, his knot pulsing with his release, spilling hot inside of Chifuyu. Wave after wave of cum fills him while he’s sobbing, begging for more, pressing down his own hand over Hanma’s to feel as his stomach starts to swell.

At the same time, a warmth spreads from Chifuyu’s neck, up to his head, down his spine, all throughout his body. The pain vanishes, every vein thrumming with comforting waves of that warmth. Tears well up in his eyes, overwhelmed by the onslaught of sudden emotion. It feels like every piece of him is safe, like he belongs.

Chifuyu’s body goes limp under that of his mate. Hands immediately tighten around his waist, holding him up. He lets Hanma move them around until they’re laid on their sides, locked together by his knot, still pumping Chifuyu full.

The initial light-headedness from the mating bite slowly melts into near scorching pleasure when Hanma licks over it. It’s like lightning, but soothing at the same time. He involuntarily clenches around Hanma’s cock, can’t stop the loud moan that escapes past his lips when the alpha presses his hips forward, cock impossibly deep.

“You feel that?” Hanma whispers, hand rubbing back and forth over the slight swell of Chifuyu’s stomach. “Feel how alpha’s filling you, breeding you like you deserve, pretty omega.”

It all peaks unexpectedly— Hanma’s words, his knot rubbing inside Chifuyu with each grind of his hips, the way he’s still spilling inside of him. All he can think about is how good it feels, how full he feels.

With a cry, stomach clenching and muscles locking up, Chifuyu comes, untouched, throwing his head back and accidentally knocking into Hanma, who makes a surprised noise, almost a laugh.

The alpha tightens his hold and resumes grooming Chifuyu until he stops trembling, meticulously dragging his tongue over every spot he can reach.

Chifuyu tries to form words, but only weak whimpers reach his own ears. He feels the content rumble of his mate against his back and reels from that realisation, just a moment, that they’re bonded now.

“Try to get some sleep,” Hanma whispers against the back of his neck. He keeps Chifuyu close with a hand around his waist and then lets that slide down, to lay against his lower stomach.

There is so much in that simple gesture, too much to comprehend. The last thing Chifuyu feels before he drifts off is immense relief, knowing that he can rest and that his alpha will look over him, keeping him safe with a hand against the most vulnerable part of him.

When Chifuyu wakes up, the world feels different. Everything is soft and hazy, feels familiar and safe, smells of just him and his mate. He’s floating somewhere between dream and reality.

Yet, there is something wrong, and after a moment of consideration, he realises it’s because he’s empty. A whine builds at the back of his throat and immediately, there’s warmth pressing along his back, a hand smoothing over his lower stomach.

“I’m here,” comes a soft voice behind him, and Chifuyu could cry with relief.

Words don’t form, no way to express how scared he was for just that split second, thinking that he might be alone. He blindly grasps for the body next to his, pulls the barely awake alpha on top of him, spreads his leg to make room.

“Fill me up again,” he pleads, reaching up to take his mate’s face between his hands. “Please.”

“Are you sure?”

Why wouldn’t he be? Chifuyu tilts his head to the side, pouting a little. He easily wraps his legs around the alpha’s waist to pull him closer, cants his hips up slightly. “Please, alpha,” he slurs, gasping when he feels the heavy drag of a cock against his hole. “Need you.”

His mate fucks him slowly like that— Chifuyu on his back, arms looped around strong shoulders, feeling every tremble from how close they’re pressed together. A mouth clamps down over his scent gland, sucking and licking at it until he’s whining, meeting every thrust effortlessly, until he’s crying out with another orgasm.

He only stays awake for long enough to feel the knot swelling again, stretching him out around it. Mumbling leaves him, but the words barely make sense, incoherent babbling about how good and full he feels, stroking the alpha’s back until his breathing calms down.

Moments of lucidity are sparse at the height of his heat. There’s just the blinding pleasure of being filled over and over again, surrendering himself to his alpha, trusting that he knows best, that he’ll breed Chifuyu the way he needs and won’t pull out unless absolutely necessary.

The bite on the side of his neck throbs reassuringly, the reminder that he’s taken care of, safe in his mate’s arms, in their nest, surrounded by their mingled scents.

Once, Chifuyu remembers blinking his eyes open and seeing his mate’s face close, and he couldn’t stop his eyes from sliding down, staring at the alpha’s parted lips, but before Chifuyu can lean up to kiss him, he’s leaning away, out of reach.

His alpha pulls out after that, leaves Chifuyu whining in confusion for a moment until he’s rolled over onto his stomach, sighing in contentment when his mate crawls on top of him and slides in again, groaning against his neck.

Chifuyu lets a purr escape him, feels how it makes the slow and deep drag inside him stutter slightly, his mate’s cock throbbing from it until he knots him again.

He’s sure something is being said, but no words break through the fog in his mind, and the simmering heat makes Chifuyu too sleepy to really worry about it.

The next time Chifuyu wakes up, he is comfortable. And he hates it. Curled up against Hanma’s side, cradled against his chest— it’s warm, comfortable, safe.

With a groan, he sits up, immediately wincing at how disgusting everything feels. The furs are both crusted and damp, somehow, and the skin of his inner-thighs feels tight. Chifuyu doesn’t even want to glance at them, feels nauseous just thinking about the different bodily fluids that must be caked on his poor body.

He looks around, blinking sluggishly. The hut is sharp again, no longer reduced to blurry shapes and colours. He feels some discomfort, but it’s not the same ache that had every muscle cramping up over the past few— how long has it been?

Shards of memories bubble up in his mind. Vaguely, he recalls the important stuff— the mating bite, and, well, Hanma.

It’s with dawning horror that Chifuyu recalls how he’d felt about his now mate at the height of his heat— barely seeing Hanma as a person separate from himself, mind overrun with mate and alpha. Just thinking about it makes him flush, heat rising to the tips of his ears.

With effort, he manages to turn his head.

Fresh out of his heat, but his system most likely still being ravaged by hormones, the sight of Hanma fast asleep does something to Chifuyu’s chest. Like heart palpitations. He decides it’s unpleasant, whatever it may be.

Because really, realistically, there is nothing endearing about the way Hanma sleeps, sprawled out on his back, arms stretched wide in either direction. He takes up most of Chifuyu’s carefully-built nest like this. Which should be annoying. But, somehow, it isn’t.

Fresh out of his heat, he’s still too connected to his omega and the instincts it wants to follow. That’s what Chifuyu tells himself when he reaches out to gently tuck a loose strand of hair behind Hanma’s ear.

Despite being careful, the touch is enough to wake Hanma up. He does so slowly, groaning and smacking his lips together, stretching out his already far too long limbs before blinking his eyes open. They settle on Chifuyu immediately and a dopey smile spreads on the alpha’s face.

“You’re back,” he rasps, wincing a bit at the sound of his own voice.

Chifuyu turns to face his mate and pulls up his knees. “Don’t think I ever left.”

“Debatable.” With a heavy groan, Hanma manages to upright himself as well, running a hand down his face. “Gods, I knew that in sharing a heat with you, a lot of cum would be involved— just kinda assumed you would run out eventually and it’d mostly be mine.”

“Gross. Shut up.”

Hanma snickers, but complies. He lifts his head, eyes strangely soft as he looks Chifuyu over. “How are you feeling?”

“Like I’ve been trampled by a herd of deer and then dipped in a lake of slick.” Chifuyu looks away from the unfamiliar expression on Hanma’s face. “And you?”

“About the same. Don’t think my dick’s gonna work in a long while. I mean, a long-long while.”

Chifuyu lets out a vague sound of acknowledgement, wrapping his arms around his knees.

“Did I hurt you?” Hanma asks after a moment of silence.

Slowly, Chifuyu raises a hand to press his fingers against his bonding mark. “The bite did,” he mumbles, looking back at the alpha— his alpha.

“Teeth sinking into skin will do that.” Hanma sighs. “I meant during—”

“I would’ve kicked you off me in an instant if you’d have hurt me.”

They both know it’s most likely a lie. Even if Chifuyu had wanted, he probably wouldn’t have been able to fight Hanma off him unless the alpha humoured him.

Hanma hums. “That’s good.” He reaches out a hand, as if to touch the bonding mark. “Maybe next time, we can—“

“If I’m not pregnant now, you mean?”

He immediately regrets his remark when Hanma flinches and pulls his hand back. Chifuyu feels his heart drop, unsure if that’s his own reaction or one that their bond makes him feel.

There’s a hurt expression on Hanma’s face, and Chifuyu wonders if he should apologise and clarify what he means— how a part of him isn’t sure if there might even be a next time in case this was a successful mating, or rather, how a part of him fears Hanma will go right back to ignoring him either way.

“Forget it,” Hanma snaps, pushing up to stand without looking back at Chifuyu. “Let’s just hope your womb has more common sense than you do. Won’t have to have a repeat of this in a while then, huh?”

Chifuyu stares at the wall ahead, curses the tears pricking behind his eyes when Hanma walks away. “The sentiment is entirely mutual,” he says, petty, hoping the words make Hanma’s chest constrict as painfully as Chifuyu’s did at the alpha’s words.

There comes no direct reply. Hanma strides over to the entrance and picks something up. He’s back in three large strides and flings a pouch of water and some dried meat at Chifuyu’s chest, who fumbles to catch it.

In his other hand, Hanma holds a bundle of wild flowers and twigs, and unceremoniously drops that on the ground as well.

“It’s a tradition here,” he says, voice hard. “It took me a while to find a stone that most closely matched the green in your eyes. That’s why I was late, should you wanna know.” He turns on his heel, all but storming over to the back entrance of the hut, sliding the door open with a huff.

Chifuyu swallows thickly. He can’t make himself look at the gift just yet and takes his sweet time drinking some water and tearing his way through two strips of the meat.

Once he’s out of distractions, thirst and some of the hunger sated, he carefully picks up the flowers.

They’re tied together with a piece of intricately woven string, patterns standing out against the material. In the middle of it, a stone figurine is tied, no bigger than the palm of his hand, just as detailed and carefully crafted as the string.

Jade, he recognises the stone to be.

The shape is somewhat abstract, and it takes Chifuyu a moment to identify it. Two wolves, both seated and with their heads tilted up in a howl. The larger one sitting behind the smaller one, its tail wrapped protectively around the smaller.

He gently unties the string that’s keeping the statue in place and lays the flowers down beside him. The wolves are heavy in his palm. Up close, they’re more detailed, patterns of their fur carved out with visible effort.

Chifuyu looks over his shoulder, to where Hanma is sitting out on the deck, his back turned towards him. Anxiety churns in the pit of his stomach at the thought of walking over and being met with the same coldness that’s been the norm between them for weeks.

It’s inescapable to face Hanma again, though, he knows that. They’re both filthy and could really use a bath. The figurine is proof that his mate at least somewhat cares about tradition, a realisation that fills him with both guilt and anger.

The wolves still lie heavy in his hand, and it’s what urges Chifuyu to stand up.

If Hanma hears him coming, he doesn’t show it. He simply stays seated, back rigid.

“We should bathe,” Chifuyu mumbles, coming to a stand next to him. “Will you walk me to the river?”

Hanma sighs and then chuckles dryly. Shaking his head, he pushes himself up. “Of course, omega,” he says, tone biting. “After all, tradition calls for it, doesn’t it?”

As Chifuyu lays down next to Takemichi that same night, he wonders if it’s also tradition for a newly bonded pair not to exchange a single word at the river, and for them to sleep in different huts afterwards.

Chapter Text

PART II — The Fall

It’s barely light out when Chifuyu wakes up.

He is sore all over, his legs aching even while lying down, a sting in his lower back and between his legs. He turns his head left to right, his neck stiff, moving with effort.

Takemichi and Yuren must’ve rolled away in their sleep, tangled around each other a little further away than they’d usually be. Chifuyu wonders if it’s because of his scent, no doubt smelling strongly of alpha.

With a groan, he sits up, blinking his eyes sluggishly, looking around the hut. The night before, he was able to sneak in after everyone was already asleep, and now, everyone is still asleep, thankfully. That means he can escape questions about his heat a little longer, and won’t be subjected to confused looks about why he’s here and not sleeping soundly next to his mate, still high on their post-mating bliss.

As quietly as he can, Chifuyu gets up and pads across the hut, quickly changing from his sleeping clothes to something more suited for the public, and sneaks outside.

The early morning air is brisk, raising some goosebumps on Chifuyu’s skin, but its a welcome relief from the usual heat of the day. Standing on the porch just outside the omega hut, he takes a moment to stretch out his aching muscles. As he does, he lists all the different names of plants and trees he can think of, just to keep his mind occupied and very far away from thoughts about his heat, and Hanma, and what he’d looked like, and—

“Pine,” Chifuyu grits out, “maple, cedar…”

His neck and shoulders are last, and while still muttering out trees, Chifuyu brings up a hand to hopefully massage at least some tension out. As he’s gotten in the habit of doing, he lightly strokes his fingers down the scar on his left shoulder, letting his hand glide back to touch his shoulder blade and remembering how it hurt when the wolf’s teeth tore through him, taking chunks of his flesh with it.

It’s long been healed, but the ache of what it represents remains— his failure, his weakness, the shame of knowing that even if he had wanted to do more, any action coming from him would’ve been useless, no matter how hard he would have tried.

With a sigh, Chifuyu drags his fingertips back over his shoulder, thumb pressing down into the muscle, sliding past the junction where his neck meets his shoulder, and then freezes completely.

Right there, under the pad of his thumb, he feels the edges of what will soon be another scar, though it’s barely healed now, still tender to the touch. It’s not that Chifuyu had forgotten about his bonding mark, but he also hadn’t exactly paid any conscious mind to it— let alone the placement of it, barely centimeters from the huge, ugly scar.

A strange thing happens, the longer he keeps his thumb pressed to it. For the first time, he can’t decide which part of himself he agrees with.

There is a bitter part that’s telling him that Hanma chose that spot to mock him, to add another reminder of his failure to keep his own pack safe. And then, there is his omega whispering to him, convinced that Hanma chose that side as a gesture of affection, a reminder that no matter what happens, he’s not alone— that his alpha is there to look over him.

Any other day, Chifuyu would promptly ignore his omega. Go with what he’d usually deem the more logical explanation— Hanma being cruel, in this case. But as he stands there, thumbing over his bonding mark, he just can’t seem to fully get behind that thought.

As he ponders both options, he catches himself turning his head in the direction of where he knows the alpha’s hut is, and the sudden pull he feels to go over there drags Chifuyu back to reality.

He jumps down from the porch and rushes away from the omega hut. He doesn’t know where exactly he is going, just knows he needs to get away, before his omega gets the best of him and he finds himself running to Hanma’s hut.

Three steps past the communal hut. That’s how far he gets before he spots Souya, already standing out on the deck of his hut, arms crossed.

Chifuyu freezes and stares back at the other omega. He wonders if Souya would run after him if he took off. Probably, judging from the cocky grin and the determination in his eyes.

With a deep sigh, Chifuyu drags himself over there, and exactly like he didn’t want, he can spot Ryusei approaching him from the other side, shouting his name and waving, far too excited for the occasion, not to mention for how early it is.

Groaning, Chifuyu subjects himself to his fate. Ryusei wraps him up in a hug the moment he’s close enough. With an arm around his shoulders, he drags him into Souya’s direction.

“They grow up so fast!” he half-yells, keeping Chifuyu in a chokehold against his side. “One moment, they’re a baby who’s never had a knot up their ass, the next they’re getting pumped full of alpha—”

“Shut up!”

Chifuyu elbows Ryusei in the ribs and growls when he laughs, immediately slinking back into Chifuyu’s side, crowding into his personal space like he seems so fond of doing.

They reach Souya like that, Chifuyu still growling deep in his chest, Ryusei laughing at him.

“Rindou is still asleep,” Souya fake-whispers when they’re in front of him, crossing his arms. “Keep it down, will you?”

Ryusei rolls his eyes but nods, his dark curls bouncing as he does.

“When will the others join?” he asks, squeezing off Chifuyu’s air supply by tightening the hold around his neck.

“Join for what?”

“Shouldn’t be long.” Souya smiles, purposefully ignoring Chifuyu and keeping his eyes fixed on Ryusei. “We could head out there already?”

“Head out where?”

Ryusei nods. “You got the supplies?”

They both have smirks on their faces, and Chifuyu sighs, deciding to humour them and play along.

“What supplies?”

“Let’s go.”

They escort Chifuyu, grumbling and complaining, to the edge of the village. Souya is carrying a basket, keeping the contents hidden for now, and Ryusei is talking a mile a minute, giving them every detail of his week so far, obviously distracting Chifuyu from asking every few seconds where exactly they’re taking him.

Together, they walk the path that leads up to the village, leaving it further and further behind. They pass by the cluster of rocks that Chifuyu remembers from when he first arrived, but instead of following the path that he walked with Ryusei then, they turn the other way.

There is still a path to follow, but it’s overgrown, clearly out of use. By then, Chifuyu has already given up on asking where they’re going and just accepted his fate, wherever it might lead him.

The landscape changes the longer they walk. Trees grow sparser, more space between them, and gradually, the terrain grows less green and more rocky. It’s with some surprise that Chifuyu realises they’re nearing the foot of a mountain, though it doesn’t appear terribly high— it’s peak barely visible over the trees that surround them.

Now that he’s paying attention, he can see rocky walls in the distance, peeking out between the trees as they walk along the path.

After that, it doesn’t take long until the path leads them upwards. It’s here that they leave the soft soil of the forest behind and solid stone lines the path that they follow, slowly treading up the mountain.

Chifuyu’s legs are still incredibly sore, and just as he’s about to complain about the climb and beg that they shift into their wolves to make it easier, they reach a crossroad. One path leads them further up the mountain, the other keeps straight, leading them to what he assumes is a plateau.

Thankfully, Souya and Ryusei follow the latter.

They walk along a narrow edge for a while, the only thing keeping them from a steep drop a few low-lying bushes and scattered rocks. The path curves around the mountain and it doesn’t take long for them to reach its end.

Just as Chifuyu expected, the path leads them onto a small plateau, lined on all sides by trees, though the center is cleared. What he did not expect to find is the structure that stands on the opposite side of the plateau. It’s a small gazebo— a wooden foundation with four pillars holding up a thatched roof.

The real eye-catcher is the hot spring that lies before it, small and round, lined by stones and sparse greenery.

Chifuyu stands at the edge of the plateau, his mouth hanging open, trying to take it all in. The air on the plateau almost has a magical quality to it, seemingly alive, glittering with the steadily rising sun.

“It’s strictly forbidden for alphas to come here,” Souya explains, dragging Chifuyu from his perplexed state. “Quite beautiful, isn’t it?”

“It’s lovely,” Chifuyu whispers, taking in the stone path that leads to the wooden structure. “Why are we here?”

Even Ryusei’s voice is softer when he speaks, slinking in next to Chifuyu and pressing their sides together. “For you, of course.”

“It’s something of a rite of passage,” Souya goes on to explain, laying a hand against Chifuyu’s lower back to push him forward. “We take pups here before they present and, well, newly mated omegas and betas.”

Chifuyu reaches out a hand when they pass the hot spring, feels the hot air tickling his palm.

The gazebo is furnished with a low table, pillows strewn around it, and an altar lining the back, made from the same wood. Its surface is littered with an assortment of flowers, bowls of rice and fruits.

It’s on the table that Souya finally reveals the contents of his basket. There’s some dried meat and fruits, bundles of herbs that he’ll no doubt brew tea with, a bar of soap, a few knives and a comb.

“Hakkai will bring over the rest,” he says, taking his time organising the different items.

“Oh.” Chifuyu lets himself sink down next to the table. “This is— are you preparing me for the ceremony?”

Souya nods. “Ryusei’s quite talented with hair. Your undercut’s looking like it could use some touching up. In the meantime... Consider this our official welcome to you.” He looks at Chifuyu with a smile. “You belong with us now. This place, this day— it’s all about us repaying you for opening your heart to our pack.”

“It wasn’t really a voluntary thing,” Chifuyu mumbles lamely, already feeling heat creep up at the back of his neck at the prospect of being pampered and showered in attention.

“Especially because it wasn’t voluntary.” Ryusei plops down beside him, picking up one of the knives and inspecting it closely. “We’re happy you’re here, but to ease some of your worries, this is also kind of a gift to Shuji. Deliver him a pretty omega to do the ceremony with, get in our new head alpha’s good graces, you know?”

Chifuyu subtly scoots to the side a bit, away from Ryusei, who is now holding a knife in each hand. “Shouldn’t you have done that for my heat? Virgin sacrifice and all?”

“What is wrong with you?” Ryusei snaps, pointing one of the knives at Chifuyu. “Do you take us for the kind of underdeveloped wild beasts that hold any value to an omega’s purity? Feeling ourselves so important that it’s up to us to give away, like a gift?” He stabs the knife forward. “You’re a sick, sick man, Chifuyu.”

“No!” Chifuyu throws up his hands, flinching further away from the knife. “No, I mean—”

“He’s joking, Chifuyu,” Souya snickers. “We don’t do this for heats because, uh, you know, you get dirty during them anyway. This is a chance for you to get cleansed and ready to face your mate.”

Ryusei sighs and nods, withdrawing the knife. “Would be more fun if we did it before heats, though. Imagine sitting here all day, sharing a bottle of that plum wine your brother makes.” He grins. “You should really try it soon, Fuyu. That stuff gets your drunk faster than you can blink.”

“You tell me now?” Chifuyu can’t help himself and pouts. “Where was that wine when I just arrived here? Now I might need wait to try it for what? Nearly a whole year?”

Souya’s shoulders visibly relax. Chifuyu hadn’t even realised he’d been so tense. “Oh, good, so you two did end up having sex.” He smiles. “Do you think it caught?”

“I don’t know,” Chifuyu rushes out. He doesn’t feel any different, at least, and doesn’t want to spend too much time thinking about it. More than that, he wants to know why Souya would be so surprised that there is at least a chance that he is pregnant. “Why do you sound so relieved that we… you know?”

“Well, it’s just…” The tension returns to Souya’s shoulders and he curses under his breath, eyes shooting to the side. “Okay, what I’m about to say has to stay between us. Agreed?”

Ryusei nods eagerly. Chifuyu nods more hesitantly.

“Shuji may have… expressed some concerns to me, before your heat. He wasn’t really sure if you two would, uh, actually spend your heat together, or would just mate and leave it at that.”

Why would Hanma ever think that, when he’s made more than his fair share of crude jokes about it? Chifuyu frowns, stuck between calling Souya a liar or questioning his own memories.

“He knew you didn’t want to,” Souya continues, smiling tight-lipped. “Not really.”

“I wanted to… I wouldn’t have… I mean…”

“C’mon.” Ryusei chuckles humourlessly. “There’s a difference between duty and actually being hard for the guy.”

Chifuyu slaps him for the choice of words, but only because he knows Ryusei is right. Not for the first time, a vague feeling of guilt creeps up, the chilling knowledge that Hanma’s situation isn’t so different from his own.

After all, if it wasn’t for him, they wouldn’t even be in this situation. Hanma made it clear that if the choice had been his, he would still walk around unmated, one less burden to carry.

“Did he want to?” Chifuyu asks before he can stop himself, staring down at the table to spare himself from whatever truth might hide in Souya and Ryusei’s expressions.

“You should ask him that yourself,” Souya says.

He takes a breath after speaking, like he was going to say more, but he never gets the chance. Voices pipe up in the distance and Chifuyu knows that this is a conversation not meant to be had in the presence of more people.

The guilt still burns like a pool of acid in his stomach, threatening to rise and choke him, drag him down into a kind of darkness Chifuyu is suspecting he might deserve to end up in, but as he always does, he sets his jaw and forces it down, forces himself to keep going and not dwell too much on the present.

They all turn to look as Takemichi and Hakkai appear, bickering about something between the two of them. Takemichi carries a pitcher and Hakkai holds, with great care, a bundle of white and purple fabrics. The moment they realise they’re being watched, they fall silent, and hurry down the stone path, past the hot spring, until they reach the gazebo.

Despite the conversation and the lingering tension in the air, Chifuyu’s spirits lift when he sees them. They’re both grinning from ear to ear, clearly excited for what the day will hold, and it’s easy to smile when they both extend their congratulations for a successful mating.

For the better part of the day, they sit together around the table, drink tea, and swap stories back and forth.

Takemichi and Hakkai take turns talking tearfully about their own mating. Souya retells his own, though he keeps it slightly more contained, just smiling to himself whenever he mentions Rindou. During all of it, Ryusei touches up Chifuyu’s hair like he promised, grumbling under his breath about the stories being told while he works.

Chifuyu is happy to sit and listen, relieved that he’s not being bombarded with endless questions about his own heat and mating, everyone steering pretty clear of the subject.

By the time his hair looks less like a rat’s nest, according to Ryusei, they shared more tea and the conversation has changed to more general stories about the pack members, the sun is dipping lower in the sky, getting ready for its descent.

It’s then that Ryusei stands and announces that he’ll be leaving.

“I’m gonna bother Shuji until the ceremony,” he explains, dusting his clothes off, scowling at the generous amount of Chifuyu’s hair that flutters everywhere. “And take a bath, probably. Gross.” He plucks a tuft of black hair off his shirt and flicks it at Chifuyu with a grin. “I can’t fix his personality, but I’ll make him pretty for you, alright?”

With those words and a two-finger salute, he’s off, humming to himself.

The rest give Chifuyu barely one moment to breathe before they hone in on him.

After some protesting, Chifuyu realises he can’t fight all three of them off and subjects himself to everything they have in store.

The first part is the most humiliating. They make him strip down completely and Takemichi gathers water from the hot spring, pouring it over Chifuyu while he stands, lowly growling, and soaps himself up. At least the soap smells nice, light and floral, with an undertone of something herbal.

“He went easy on you,” Hakkai comments from his spot, seated on the edge of the gazebo. “No bruising, no nothing.”

It’s the first time his heat is brought up, albeit indirectly, and Chifuyu freezes, bar of soap pressed against his chest while Takemichi still pours water over his head.

With a curse, he shakes his head to get his wet hair out of his eyes and shoves the other omega back.

“Why would I be bruised?” he almost snaps, feeling a hot flare of— something. “He wouldn’t hurt me.”

It’s—apparently—the funniest thing Chifuyu could’ve said. Souya, Hakkai and Takemichi burst out in laughter, cackling and cooing at him both at once.

“What,” he demands, “is so funny?!”

Hakkai pulls himself together first, though he keeps snickering. “I meant bruises as in, fingermarks, maybe some hickeys.”

“Quite something, huh?” Souya hiccups, eyes filled with tears, a huge grin on his face. “That bonding mark.”

“Oh.”

Chifuyu draws up his shoulders and presses his lips into a thin line. That was— that was protectiveness, wasn’t it, what he felt? The need to jump to Hanma’s defence at even the slightest implication that he might not be a good alpha.

Sickening.

The bonding mark throbs dully on the side of his neck, mocking him, like it’s pleased it managed to trick him, because he was ready to lunge at Hakkai and defend his mate’s honour.

He’s always had a bit of a temper, but never like this, never to defend someone who really truly doesn’t deserve it. An alpha. It’s nothing short of humiliating, and what’s worse, Chifuyu hadn’t even noticed his omega jumping out like that. Almost as if it came naturally to him and wasn’t some infuriating biological reaction.

Grumbling to himself about acting like some territorial, love-sick omega, he snatches the pitcher of water out of Takemichi’s hands to rinse off the soap, and only then realises their laughter died down.

“It’s nothing to be ashamed of,” Souya says when Chifuyu glances at him. “It’s perfectly natural that you’d defend your mate.”

“Is it natural if I didn’t want to do it?” he snaps back, shoving the pitcher back into Takemichi’s hold.

Souya frowns. “What do you mean?”

“This stupid bonding mark is clearly messing with me!” Chifuyu throws up his arms, frustrated that he needs to explain this to omegas, who should understand him. “Blurring the lines between me and my omega, making me…” He shudders and lowers his voice. “Jump to Hanma’s defence.”

Takemichi steps out from behind Chifuyu so he can join the other two in staring at him like he’s stupid.

“Chifuyu…” he says slowly. “You are your omega. You’re one and the same. What are you talking about?”

A whine bubbles up before Chifuyu can stop it. He lowers his arms so he can wrap them around himself, suddenly feeling far too exposed. “I mean— c’mon, you guys know what I mean. Doesn’t your guys’ omega spur you on to do insane things?”

“Do you mean your instincts?” Souya gets up, keeping his movements slow and deliberate, like he’s approaching a wounded animal. “I don’t…” He glances at Hakkai and then Takemichi. “I don’t really categorise any behaviour as… an omega thing.”

Hakkai nods and stands as well. “I sometimes get the urge to growl at anyone who approaches Taka, but… That’s just me being a little possessive.”

“What? No.” Chifuyu shakes his head and takes a step back. “No, I mean— it’s different. I don’t want the same things my omega wants. It’s not, I mean, me, Chifuyu, that’s— it’s different.”

They all look at him with matching, sad smiles.

“Who told you that?” Takemichi asks, setting the pitcher down and taking a step closer, reaching out as if to touch.

Chifuyu jumps out of the way, and when did tears start welling up?

“No one told me that!” He tries to sound intimidating, but it might fail, considering how he needs to take a shuddering breath. “No one needed to tell me— that’s just how it is! That’s… that’s how it is.”

“Oh, Fuyu…”

“What?!” he snaps, glaring at Souya. “Don’t talk to me like that! It’s fine— this is fine. Stop looking at me!” He rubs at his eyes and growls, more at himself than the rest. “I’m not some pathetic— stop it!”

When he lifts his head, vision thankfully a little more clear, he finds the others standing closer to the gazebo, giving him space. They have the sense to school their expressions into something more neutral the moment he looks at them, quickly wiping the empathetic smiles off their faces.

“Why don’t you get in the hot spring?” Souya offers, his voice back to normal, no more hushed tones and overly sweet intonations. “You wanna hear about the time I broke Nahoya’s arm?”

“Yes,” Chifuyu sniffles, feeling a little silly and a whole lot pathetic when he shuffles over to the edge of the hot spring. “Yes, I do.”

The story isn’t all that exciting, and neither are the subsequent ones they take turns sharing, but Chifuyu appreciates it nonetheless.

It’s clear the other three are concerned by the way they keep glancing at each other, but they keep their worries to themselves, careful to keep their conversation light.

They sit on the edge of the hot spring, only their lower legs in the water, staying there while Chifuyu soaks in the water until he’s sweating from the temperature and more than ready to get out.

He isn’t allowed until the moon hangs in the sky and Souya declares that he no longer smells as strongly of Hanma, confirming Chifuyu’s earlier suspicion about his scent.

That time, when his omega forces itself to the forefront of his thoughts, feeling incredibly upset about not smelling like Hanma anymore, Chifuyu manages to catch it before he whines.

He doesn’t protest when Hakkai tells him to sit on the edge of the hot spring while he gently wets his hair again, soaping it up while Souya and Takemichi walk back to the gazebo.

By the time Chifuyu and Hakkai join them, his hair has been thoroughly washed and his skin is slightly shiny with oil, soothing his slightly oversensitive skin, still a little pink from soaking in hot water for hours on end.

Despite his earlier apprehension, Chifuyu has to admit that he feels refreshed, and he is sure to thank the other three omegas, earning himself soft smiles.

Takemichi hands him a bundle of undergarments, just a pair of thin pants and a sleeveless shirt, both soft against his skin, slightly sensitive after hours of soaking in hot water.

“You’ll be dressed in Shuji’s family colours,” Souya explains, motioning Chifuyu closer and nodding at the remaining clothes that lie folded on the table.

The first piece is simple— a linen blouse with wide sleeves that Souya carefully helps Chifuyu get into. Its material is a lilac colour and it reaches just past his hips. With practised ease, Souya ties a belt of the same material around Chifuyu’s waist.

“Purple represents a variety of things,” Souya goes on, turning to take the next pieces from the table. “Dignity and wisdom.”

Another belt, made of thick fabric in a darker shade of purple, and a pair of long, flowing pants. Chifuyu steps into them and holds up his arms as Souya carefully winds the belt around his him and goes to stand behind him, folding it closed around his waist.

“Power.”

The last article is different. It’s a short robe, much more elaborate than the rest. It’s shiny and soft, made of silk and dyed lilac. The edges are lined with shimmery gold.

“Ambition.”

Chifuyu scoffs but manages to swallow down a snide comment about how Hanma might want to put in a little more effort to live up to his family’s values.

If Souya notices, he doesn’t show it. He falls silent and waits a moment until Takemichi and Hakkai stand by his side. Then, he turns the jacket around, and Chifuyu can’t help but gasp.

In the centre of the robe, gold embroidery depicts the moon cycle, running in a circle. In the middle of it, two symbols Chifuyu doesn’t recognise stand out in stark black, made with thicker thread.

“It’s beautiful,” Chifuyu whispers, reaching out to run his fingers over the soft material. “What does this mean?”

“The Hanma family symbols.” Souya steps closer when Chifuyu doesn’t say anything, too lost in running his finger over the embroidery. “Sin,” he says, pointing at the left, and then the right symbol, “and punishment.”

Takemichi hums and lays a hand on Chifuyu’s shoulder. “Bit ominous, hm?”

“Yeah…” Chifuyu mumbles, stroking the symbol of Sin. He wonders what acts would precede such symbols, but the thought doesn’t go far.

“Mitsuya made the clothes!” Hakkai proclaims, abruptly changing the subject, puffing up his chest with pride.

Souya nods. “Shuji did the embroidery himself.”

The mental image of Hanma, with hands much bigger than Chifuyu’s, sitting down to embroider such an intricate pattern lets his worries about Sin and Punishment drift away. Warmth spreads through his body just thinking about it, and before he knows it, he’s reaching out to take the robe from Hakkai.

“I didn’t realise his family is important enough to warrant their own crest,” he muses, carefully putting the robe on. The material is cool against his skin, soft and light. Its sleeves are even wider than the blouse, elegantly fluttering around when Chifuyu moves his arms.

Hakkai turns to the table, bending down to pick something up. “They were important,” he says, clutching a a piece of string in one hand, the same gold as the lining on the robe. “His family— uh…”

He stops in front of Chifuyu and holds his hand out. “We don’t know all the details,” Hakkai mumbles, opening his hand and revealing, in the middle of the string, a pendant made of jade in the shape of a half-moon. He attaches the string to the insides of the robe, from one side to the other, holding it loosely together with the pendant resting just above the edge of the pants.

“They’re dead,” Souya chimes in, giving Hakkai a look. “Their lineage would’ve ended with Shuji if it hadn’t been for you.” His tone holds a sense of finality, and their conversation falls silent after that.

It’s not the first time Chifuyu hears mention of Hanma’s family—though it’d been mostly vague and offhandedly—but he never really stopped to consider that his mate has a history. Never fully considered the fact that he’s just as human, that he was a pup, too, once upon a time.

Chifuyu isn’t sure if that puts them on more equal footing, or if it only broadens the gap between them, if his own failure to realise this sooner somehow makes him less human than Hanma has been to him so far.

The moon hides behind the trees as they make their way back to the village. They walk in pitch-black darkness, save for the single lantern Souya carries, barely enough to illuminate their path.

It isn’t the first time Chifuyu has been in a forest this dark. He has always felt at ease, no matter the time of day, even when completely alone amongst towering trees.

Now, though, his skin crawls with every snap of a branch, shadows dancing in his peripheral vision that disappear the moment he turns his head.

He’d scold himself for his pathetic behaviour if he wasn’t so scared, creeping closer to Takemichi’s side, who seems completely at ease.

Chifuyu scours his memories for something comforting to grasp onto, but all his useless mind supplies are yellow eyes and a mean grin, and that only makes him feel worse.

He’s shivering like a pup, eyes darting around wildly, when Takemichi wraps a hand around his wrist to pull him closer.

“It’s normal to feel uneasy,” he whispers, pressing their shoulders together. “The soap, the oil— it’s got some ingredient that completely neutralises your scent and washed away Shuji’s. So close to your bonding, it’s bound to make you feel unsafe when he’s not around.”

“Tell me it fades,” Chifuyu hisses, clutching Takemichi’s arm. If this is what it means to be mated, turning into a snivelling coward, he might walk to the nearest river to drown himself.

Takemichi chuckles and pats his hand. “Couldn’t be away from Hina for the first few weeks, but, yes. It does settle a bit, eventually.”

“Oh!” Chifuyu whisper-shouts. “Oh, that’s wonderful. Can’t wait to depend on that—“ His stomach lurches before he can even finish his sentence and he snaps his mouth shut.

That’s definitely a first. It feels like he’s being smacked across the face by his own subconscious, violently suppressing the insults he was about to spout about Hanma.

“Shuji will be just as happy to have you clinging to him,” Souya says, looking over his shoulder, expression illuminated by the lantern— amused and unamused at the same time.

Chifuyu tries to growl, but it comes out as a whimper instead. “He better be, or else… Or else—“ His voice wavers and his bottom lip wobbles, even just thinking about the possibility of Hanma turning him away when he needs him.

Until they reach the village, Chifuyu decides to keep quiet, no longer trusting himself to say something reasonable while it feels like a war rages in his head.

Thankfully, the way back feels shorter, and it isn’t before long that Souya’s lantern illuminates the cluster of rocks that signals the entrance path to the village.

Chifuyu can’t help but subtly sniff the air, but they’re still too far out to pick up Hanma’s— the pack’s scent.

Only when they pass the wooden post does he smell the faint traces of something burned and wild, the scent that he’s come to recognise as—

Mate, his omega unhelpfully pipes up, mate, mate, mate.

It’s embarrassing how Chifuyu’s heart does a little leap, the corners of his mouth pulling up into a smile no matter how hard he tries to keep them down.

Now that the trees are less dense, the moonlight provides enough light for Chifuyu to make out silhouettes waiting by the entrance of the village.

He picks up the pace, doesn’t care about how pathetic it must look to the others. Rationality goes out the window when he recognises Hanma, and a sense of immense relief washes over Chifuyu when he comes to a stop in front of his alpha.

Hanma, evidently having fallen victim to his own instincts as well, exhales slowly, his shoulders sagging. He is dressed similarly to Chifuyu, though his jacket dons a darker shade of purple.

Just as Ryusei promised, the alpha does look pretty, the front of his long hair pulled away from his face and hanging loose in the back.

Suddenly feeling a bit self-conscious under his mate’s intent stare, Chifuyu swipes at his own bangs, trying—in vain—to tuck them behind his ears, where they stay a total of one second before falling back into his face.

He huffs and looks away from Hanma, hoping to hide the idiotic pout that forms on his lips, and folds his hands away in his sleeves.

“Why, hello to you, too.”

Chifuyu snaps his head back around. He hadn’t even noticed Ryusei standing next to Hanma, looking mighty smug with a little grin on his face.

To Chifuyu’s astonishment, Ryusei is sporting a split lip and a bruised cheek, though it doesn’t stop him from smiling widely and elbowing Hanma in the side.

“See?” the beta sing-songs, “I told you he’d be fine.” He turns to Souya with a smirk. “Last time I’m doing this, ya hear me? I’m done trying to hold alphas back from chasing after their mates.”

Chifuyu slowly looks at Hanma, who makes it a point not to meet his eyes.

“Chase after me?” he asks, voice pitching up despite his best efforts to sound normal.

If his heart beats erratically in his chest and his omega is ecstatic to know that his alpha wanted to come look for him, well, that is no one’s business, really. Not even Chifuyu’s own.

Hanma sighs and glances at him from the corner of his eyes, doing a terrible job at hiding that he is, once again, looking over Chifuyu to, apparently, make sure he is unharmed.

“Instincts,” the alpha mumbles to a chorus of snickers from the others, holding out his arm.

The relief of seeing Hanma slowly ebbs away with those sobering words. Of course. Instincts. That is what’s happening here. It isn’t Chifuyu who is happy to see Hanma, it’s his omega happy to see his alpha.

With a nod, Chifuyu takes Hanma’s arm, vaguely aware that the others file in behind them, letting Chifuyu and Hanma take the lead.

As they slowly make their way to the communal hut, more and more of the pack joins.

Keisuke, holding Keiko, and Kazutora, who nods at Chifuyu before he joins the group that’s following them. Then Hinata, together with Yuren and Mitsuya’s sisters, the younger girls staring up in awe.

The girls are the only ones not trailing behind. Mana takes Chifuyu’s free hand and he smiles down at her, glad for the distraction. Luna stays at Hanma’s side, clutching his jacket in one hand. She usually avoids him, not that fond of the alpha, but that night she chatters happily about how pretty their clothes are, clearly happy to see something that reminds her of her brother.

The communal hut is a sight to behold. Several lanterns litter the deck out front, glowing softly in the night. Warm lights streams out from the inside as well.

When they take the step up to the deck, Chifuyu gets his first glance inside. On a few of the tables, more lanterns stand, making the hut appear far more intimate than it usually does when it’s well lit.

Where the head table usually stands, now only two pillows lie on the ground, a teapot and cups set out by it.

“You know what’s about to happen?” Hanma murmurs, leading Chifuyu inside, Luna and Mana staying behind.

“Yes,” he mumbles back. “Souya explained, though…” It feels silly to ask, but the questions has been on his mind ever since the explanation. “He mentioned something about herbs, that they’d, I don’t know, have some kinda effect on us.”

Hanma hums. “What about them?”

They walk up to the pillows and then turn, standing side by side, watching the rest of the pack trickle in and take their seats by the tables littered around the hut.

“I just…” Chifuyu sighs. “They wouldn’t harm… I mean, I don’t know if, you know, but, uh.” He lays his free hand against his lower stomach, the other still curled around Hanma’s bicep.

Hanma seems to catch on.“You think I’d let you drink it if it wasn’t safe?” He scoffs. “They’re just herbs. Souya was probably exaggerating about their effects.”

With a sigh, Hanma pats the hand still clinging to his arm. “Don’t worry. Okay?”

“Don’t tell me not to worry,” Chifuyu hisses, pinching Hanma’s arm and forcing his lips into a smile at the murmured greetings of pack members who pass them on their way to a table.

“It was meant to be comforting,” Hanma mumbles, turning to look at Chifuyu.

“Well, it wasn’t.”

Hanma pulls his arm back. “Evidently so. Are you done complaining?”

“As a matter of fact,” Chifuyu snaps, “I was not—“

“Thank you!” Souya shouts, striding forward. “For coming, everyone.” He stops in front of them, back turned to the rest of the pack, and fixes them both with a stern glare before turning around to face the rest.

Under his watchful eye, they take a seat on the pillow, facing one another. Chifuyu fidgets around to get comfortable while Souya takes his time pouring the tea, giving them the unhelpful instructions to simply not fight it and let it wash over them.

For a change, they seem to be on the same page, rolling their eyes at each other while Souya drones on, and grinning afterwards. But then the other omega steps away, making his way to a table, and it’s just the two of them, sitting in front of an entire pack, about to partake in what should be quite intimate ceremonial tea drinking, as ridiculous as Chifuyu thinks it sounds.

As the true chivalrous alpha Chifuyu knows he isn’t, Hanma picks up one of the cups and hands it to Chifuyu, the grin now gone from his face, leaving a solemn expression.

The tea tastes surprisingly sweet on the first sip, and Chifuyu hums to himself, raising his eyes to check if Hanma is in agreement, and finds the alpha already looking at him over the rim of his cup, heated intensity in his gaze.

It takes about four big gulps of scaling tea for Chifuyu to empty his cup, desperate to distract himself from the way he flushes from just one look. When he sneaks a glance back up at his mate, he finds him drinking his tea with much more dignity, but no less rushed than Chifuyu did.

They set their cups down to the side. Chifuyu may or may not bend to the side a little more than strictly necessary to do so, cursing at his own heart to stop its erratic beating already. Of course it doesn’t listen, and it leaves him with no choice but to sit up straight and face Hanma.

And just like that, the moment their eyes meet, every worry he had fades away to the background. Hanma is looking at him again, another intense stare, but it’s different this time, somehow. It’s both more heated and incredibly tender, and Chifuyu can’t look away.

The trance is just as quickly broken by Hanma clearing his throat, eyes flickering down, Chifuyu following their movement, to where a pair of hands, palms upturned, is outstretched in his direction.

Right.

Feeling somewhat stupid, Chifuyu scoots just the slightest bit closer, their knees almost touching in their mirrored cross-legged positions, and lays his own in Hanma’s, heart skipping a beat when the alpha closes his fingers— hands so much bigger than Chifuyu’s, engulfing them completely.

It’s strange. Not even when they were locked together did it feel as uncomfortably intimate as this— hands intertwined, looking into each other’s eyes.

The lanterns that stood lit on the other tables are put out one by one. Then there’s just the soft glow of a few small lanterns that surround them, lights and shadows dancing over Hanma’s face from their flickering flames, reflected in his eyes.

Souya’s vague instructions from earlier prove themselves to be useless. Shouldn’t there be some instant connection, something tangible to focus on?

All Chifuyu feels is the discomfort that comes with prolonged eye-contact, how sweaty his hands feel in Hanma’s, and the growing impatience within himself.

He can’t help it. He starts to feel frustrated when, after what must’ve been several minutes, nothing happens. The chirping of cicadas outside is near deafening in the silence of the hut, and in the dim lights, his imagination starts to play tricks on him because he swears that Hanma’s expression changes into something much softer.

A squeeze around his hands. Chifuyu blinks, almost sure he imagined it, but then it happens again, longer, a steady pressure, Hanma squeezing his fingers.

A few seconds, and it disappears, back to their loose grip, but Chifuyu’s skin tingles as if he were still being firmly held.

Hanma’s eyebrows twitch, his eyes widen slightly, and that’s when Chifuyu feels it, too.

Something fragile, something alive, gently spreading from their linked hands, up his arms. It’s unlike anything he’s ever experienced. He tries to put a name to it, but every time he comes close, it slips just out of his reach.

He shifts slightly, frowning, staring back into Hanma’s eyes, as the feeling creeps on. It’s both inside and around him, like a ghost of a touch tickling up his arms until it settles around his shoulders, like a cloak. At the same time, it wraps itself around his muscles and bones, coiling into the tenseness of his shoulders until they involuntarily relax.

From there, the feeling seeps down, strokes past his lungs and curls around his heart, where part of it remains, the other part trickling down into his stomach, where it pools, a foreign sensation, indescribable with senses alone.

Hanma’s lips part ever so slightly, the most disarming expression on his face, only visible to Chifuyu, so incredibly vulnerable, it feels like he should avert his eyes to grant his mate privacy— but he can’t tear his eyes away, nothing short of terror gripping him at just the mere thought of doing so.

They remain like that, heavy emotion hanging between them, so thick, Chifuyu feels like he’s breathing it in.

The feeling finally settles within him— around his shoulders, surrounding his heart, swirling in his stomach. It lays dormant while Chifuyu takes note of every shift in his expression, so subtle he isn’t sure if they’re actually happening, from shock to elation, to fear, and ultimately, contentment.

A sudden chill down his spine. Chifuyu gasps, alarmed, but before he can truly panic, the feeling inside and around him changes, and he can finally put a name to it.

It’s inexplicably, unmistakably, and uniquely Hanma. It doesn’t have a voice, but it takes hold of Chifuyu’s every thought, soothing him, comforting and protecting him.

It feels like arms that wrap around his shoulders, a steady embrace surrounding his heart, a hand resting on his stomach. He can’t explain it— Hanma is still sitting right there, in front of Chifuyu, but he feels him all around, in every sense he perceives, hiding in each breath he takes.

There is something hungry about it. Chifuyu feels as it digs into his subconscious, burrowing deeply, sinking its claws into everything it can reach, and, much to his own surprise, he lets it.

A purr starts up in his chest, and he doesn’t fight it like he normally would, has never before felt so connected with his omega and his wolf at the same time, thoughts floating and at peace — his own and theirs.

Maybe it was an unconscious resistance before, but the moment Chifuyu fully leans into the feeling, it shifts again.

It’s still Hanma, crowding his every sense without being overbearing, but it’s also—

Warmth, golden beams of sunlight filtering through the trees, the steady rushing of water. It’s the smell of rain and the roaring of winds. The first snow of winter, the sweltering heat of summer. Everything that has ever felt familiar, every memory Chifuyu holds close to his heart, it all comes together into a single feeling. It swirls and dances, bright and wild, slowly becoming one with the sensation of Hanma, and together, they make their home inside of Chifuyu, alongside his own soul.

Understanding dawns on him. Every question he’s ever had about the bond shared between mates is suddenly answered. Wisdom he never even considered acquiring for himself comes to him, and it slots together into something big. Bigger than himself, bigger than Hanma, but not than this— than them.

The peaceful comprehension doesn’t last. It lingers for a moment longer before it’s replaced with a new feeling, one that turns Chifuyu’s veins to ice. At first, it seems familiar. He knows the aching emptiness of loneliness, but the longer it clouds his subconscious, the more Chifuyu realises he isn’t at all familiar with this particular kind.

He might recognise loneliness, but what he feels isn’t his. It’s all-consuming, like a raging hunger, tearing at every last bit of happiness that might try to alleviate it. And Chifuyu, he has felt lonely in his life, but he doesn’t recall feeling both like a child and like there is no one in the world who might look after him.

The ice in his veins continues to spread. He can feel Hanma’s hands squeeze his, but it’s not enough to drag him back to reality, and it feels like drowning. Loneliness gets strengthened by fear, and then sadness, and finally, anger. Red-hot and so powerful, the loneliness creeps away, and Chifuyu sees it hide away in the shadows, staring into Hanma’s eyes, blending in with the yellow of them until it disappears, but now—

Having felt it, it’s all that Chifuyu sees, looking at Hanma in the dim lights. He recognises it in the few flecks of dark brown in his eyes, notices it in the tight press of his lips and the furrow of his brow.

Slowly, the feeling settles, until it’s no longer burning cold, but the traces remain— both within Chifuyu and in Hanma’s expression. It settles right alongside the familiarity, the understanding, and like it’d always been there, the foreign feeling of their bond anchors itself, sprouting its roots until it’s no longer distinguishable from— Chifuyu can’t remember what it would have to be distinguished from in the first place.

Their bond settles into a second nature, he thinks, and he blinks, slowly becoming aware of his surroundings.

Chifuyu blinks again, and sees Hanma do the same. Whatever the alpha felt, it slowly fades from his eyes, going from nearly hazy to bright and clear, needing more time than Chifuyu did to fully come back to the moment.

There is no need to say anything. For now, Chifuyu feels content sitting there, his hands held in Hanma’s, and just looking at his mate, noting that he is being watched with something akin to curiosity.

Chifuyu wonders if Hanma felt his emotions, too— if he sees them hiding in his eyes. The thought that he might seems less terrifying than it perhaps should, but it feels like something has shifted, both of them holding onto secrets only they know.

The strange spell they’re under gets broken by the slow brightening of their surroundings. The shadows disappear from Hanma’s face until Chifuyu can make out every detail again. When he takes them in this time, it’s like he does so with new eyes, noticing softness that either hadn’t been there before, or that he simply never looked out for.

Souya appears in Chifuyu’s peripheral vision and it’s with some effort that he turns his attention away from Hanma to look at the other omega.

They don’t let go of each other’s hands when Souya congratulates them, in fact, Chifuyu thinks Hanma tightens his grip.

“We prepared a feast,” Souya says, smiling. “Like you mentioned is customary for your pack back home?”

“Oh.” Chifuyu nods, a little shakily. “That’s very—“

“Sweet,” Hanma finishes when Chifuyu’s voice wavers, squeezing his hands again. “Thank you, Souya.”

As opposed to their normal dinners, this time, all the tables get pushed together until they form one big surface that the pack gathers around. Chifuyu and Hanma sit right in the middle, surrounded by laughter and stories told about different pack member’s own mating ceremony.

There might not be a guarantee that things won’t go back to how they were before, but when Hanma holds a piece of meat up to Chifuyu’s lips with a small smile, he can’t stop himself hoping that from here on out, things will be different between them.

Chapter Text

“I’m just saying, if you’re scared Hina’s angry at you, you should ask her, not me.” Chifuyu raises a brow at Takemichi and bends down to secure his sandals.

“But you’re head omega!” Takemichi rushes to put on Yuren’s sandals, but the boy hisses and kicks at him, having decided that day that wearing shoes is for pups. “It’s in your job description to— Yuren, come on.”

Chifuyu grins and stands back, watching them struggle for a bit— Takemichi to put the sandals on, and Yuren to kick them off again. Without really realising it, he rests a hand on his lower stomach and wonders if he’ll be in the same position in a few years.

When he asked about it after the ceremony, Souya told him to wait it out a few weeks and see if either he bleeds or his scent changes on its own. If not, he’ll make the tea and they can find out that way if he’ll be having Hanma’s pup during the winter.

“Don’t just stand there and gawk, Chifuyu!” Takemichi’s shrill voice breaks him out of his thoughts. “Help me!”

With Takemichi distracted, Yuren sees his chance to make a run for it. He makes a high-pitched sound and dashes from between his dad’s arms, sprinting out of the omega hut.

In Chifuyu’s defence, he does try to catch the boy, but Yuren is faster, ducking away and cackling loudly when he makes it outside.

“You’re the worst,” Takemichi groans, but Chifuyu barely acknowledges it.

Outside, a second voice picks up, shouting a surprised: “Wow buddy, where’re you running off to?”

It’s immediately followed by a howl of protest, Yuren’s, and before Chifuyu even knows it, he’s rushing out just in time to catch Hanma sweeping the boy up. It might be pathetic, and Chifuyu will deny it later, but he needs to lean against the doorpost to make sure he doesn’t melt into a puddle when Hanma sits Yuren on one arm and squints at him.

“Don’t wanna wear sandals, Shiushi!”

“Shu-ji,” Hanma corrects with a smile, reaching up to pinch one of Yuren’s cheeks. If he’s aware of Chifuyu standing there, having the crisis of a lifetime, he has the decency to pretend he doesn’t. “Why don’t you wanna wear your sandals, pup?”

Unfortunately, Takemichi lacks the decency Hanma has. He saunters over to the pair, slamming his shoulder into Chifuyu’s when he passes him, and throws him a knowing look over his shoulder.

“Keiko started wearing sandals, so that one’s decided he’s too old for them,” Takemichi explains, holding up the sandals. “We all wear sandals, Yuren. Not wearing them means you’re still a baby, not—”

“No!” the boy shrieks, throwing his arms around Hanma’s neck and hiding his face against his shoulder.

“Gotta listen to your parents, kid.” Hanma chuckles and grabs one of Yuren’s ankles, holding it still and gesturing with his head for Takemichi to come closer.

Yuren calms a little while Hanma explains with a solemn expression that he can’t go running around barefoot— what would happen if he got hurt? Who would keep the pack safe, then? In the middle of his explanation, the alpha raises his eyes and meets Chifuyu’s directly, raising a brow with a little smirk.

Whatever, Chifuyu thinks to himself, pushing off the doorpost and making his way over to them. So he’s good with kids. Who cares?

Hanma ruffles Yuren’s hair when both of his sandals are on, and Chifuyu cares very much, actually, he cares a whole lot.

“There you go.” Hanma sets Yuren down and then faces Takemichi. “Can you take over for Chifuyu today? I have somewhere I wanna take him.”

“Where?” Chifuyu asks at the same time Takemichi gives his agreement.

“You’ll see.” Hanma holds out his arm, and though it’s hard to take it with Takemichi smirking at him, Chifuyu wraps his hand around it without protest.

“You know,” Chifuyu grumbles when they’re out of earshot, “you don’t have to lead me around like some— some dainty—”

“So let me go.” Hanma shakes his arm.

Chifuyu grumbles a half-hearted insult under his breath, but keeps holding onto Hanma. Not because he wants to, but because letting go now would be listening to the alpha, and he definitely doesn’t want to do that.

Hanma shakes his head with a chuckle, holding his arm closer to his body and pulling Chifuyu in as a result. “Wanted to apologise,” he says softly, like he isn’t sure he wants his voice heard in the first place, “for, uh, maybe having a bit of an overreaction after your heat.”

“Oh.” Chifuyu swallows thickly, grip around Hanma’s arm tightening. “That’s— I mean, I think what I meant to say didn’t really, uh, you know, come across right, so, no need to apologise.”

“I’d rather you accept my apology.”

“I just told you. There is nothing to accept.”

“Chifuyu.” Hanma stops abruptly and pulls him back, raising an eyebrow. “Look, just—”

“It’s really pretty,” Chifuyu rushes out. “What you made. For me. It was— yeah. Thank you.”

Hanma looks him over for a moment longer, some tension in his shoulders, but then drops them with a slight smile. “I’m glad. You keep them next to you when you sleep? Think of me when you do?” He’s teasing, eyes shining with amusement.

“I value my night’s rest, actually.” Chifuyu pointedly rolls his eyes and tugs Hanma along again, squeezing his bicep briefly. “Now, where are you taking me? Will it be long? I don’t wanna waste time strolling around when there’s work to be done.”

When Hanma doesn’t answer immediately, Chifuyu looks up to gauge his reaction and snaps his head back immediately, heat creeping up his neck just from a single glance at the fondness in Hanma’s expression.

“It’s okay to take a break, you know?”

“For you, maybe,” Chifuyu huffs, “I’m still trying to prove my worth around here.”

Hanma chuckles. “You’ve more than proven your worth. If not with you picking up my slack, then by dealing with me in the first place.”

He says it in a light tone, clearly joking, but it still makes Chifuyu pause. The acknowledgement of Hanma’s not-so-stellar performance as head alpha, he easily gets past, but the self-deprecation in that statement— how is he meant to reply to that?

“I’ve dealt with worse,” he ends up mumbling, turning his head away to find a distraction in his surroundings. Trees and the rice fields that stretch behind the beta area. Nothing of note, but enough to resist the temptation to grab Hanma’s face and make him take back his own words.

“That must’ve been horrifying.”

Chifuyu nods. “Especially after they reached the age of five. Unbearable and stubborn at that age.”

They pass the last house in the beta area and keep walking along the path, getting closer and closer to the one area Chifuyu hasn’t been to yet— the alpha territory.

“You comparing me to a pup right now?” Hanma tugs his arm loose to shove at Chifuyu’s shoulder, but there’s no real force behind it.

“What else could I compare you to? You forget I barely have experience with other alphas.”

“Barely is still some. Tell me, what experience with alphas do you have?”

There’s an edge to Hanma’s voice that Chifuyu really wants to keep there. “Quite a few tried to court me.”

“Really?”

Chifuyu chances a glance at Hanma, but the alpha is staring straight ahead, his expression neutral.

“Really. At least eight, I think.”

Hanma’s eyebrows shoot up, but he immediately smoothes his face out again. “And you turned them all down?”

“Obviously.” Chifuyu brings up a hand to rub at his bonding mark. “Did you think I have a secret harem of alphas hiding somewhere?”

They reach the bridge that separates the two areas, leading them over a wild part of the river. Chifuyu pauses for a moment to look down at the water, feeling somewhat of a childish urge to throw in a stick and see how fast it reaches the other side of the bridge.

“I’d hope not,” Hanma grunts, stopping next to Chifuyu for a moment and peering down as well. “But you sure have the face for it.”

With those words, he turns his back on the river and crosses the bridge, leaving Chifuyu standing in the middle of it, stunned into silence, trying to figure out what that was supposed to mean.

“I’ll take that as a compliment!” he shouts, rushing to catch up to Hanma. “You’re just jealous that I have managed to attract many suitors while you are stuck with just me.”

Hanma chuckles at the remark, and Chifuyu can’t deny he’s happy to hear it. Might even enjoy it a lot, if he’s being honest. Perhaps, he’s even relieved to find that his wish came true, about things changing between them, for the better.

Just because they can joke around doesn’t mean things are perfect, of course, and he knows that in order to build a real relationship, they have to talk about a lot of things, but for now, this is enough, just walking side by side in comfortable silence.

“Figured I show you where I live,” Hanma says when they leave behind the open area of the betas and reach a thick tree line. “In case something happens and you need me.”

Chifuyu wants to say something about how Hanma sure took his sweet time to do so, but keeps his mouth shut in the end, not wanting to ruin the pleasantness between them.

The trees are more dense here and the huts are sparse. They pass one and walk quite a while before they pass another, both located a bit away from the main path, only glimpses of the huts visible through the trees that surround them.

“Hinata’s is the only other one occupied right now, though I think she usually sleeps in one of the omega huts, right?” Hanma gestures behind himself. “Mitsuya and Draken usually live here as well, and then there’s a few more empty huts that sometimes get used for couples wanting a little privacy.”

Chifuyu isn’t sure how long they walk exactly, but it takes a considerable amount of time before they reach the end of the main path. From there, Hanma leads them onto a more narrow path, winding between trees, overgrown in some parts.

When he can hear the distant sound of the river, Chifuyu also spots a hut in the distance, standing amidst a relatively large clearing. The area is a little more unkempt than the rest of the land, bushes and other plants slowly but steadily creeping into the clearing, but it makes sense, he supposes— Hanma doesn’t seem like the neat type.

The hut isn’t different from the others. It’s maybe a little bigger, but just as the rest, it’s entirely wooden, standing on a small foundation. A porch spans the entire width of the hut with a single step leading up to the sliding entrance doors.

The two windows and set of sliding doors span the entire front of the hut, with the upper part of the door letting in light as well.

It isn’t any different, but it feels different, and Chifuyu, or maybe his omega, feels ridiculously giddy with excitement at the prospect of seeing his mate’s home for the first time.

“It’s really nothing much,” Hanma mumbles, most likely picking up on Chifuyu’s excitement by a spike in his scent. He leads the way up the porch and seems to take a deep breath before sliding the doors open.

“Why, excuse me for thinking it’s a big deal.” Chifuyu kicks off his sandals by the door and peeks past Hanma. “But the way you’ve been hiding it from me, I can’t help but think it’s a little exciting.”

The interior is split into two levels, longer than it is wide. The first level is clearly the main living area. A square fire pit in the middle, built right into the foundation, just slightly lower than the floor. It’s neatly kept, fresh sand on the bottom of it, the bamboo stick that hangs above it, connected to the roof to let smoke escape, is shiny, like it’s been recently replaced.

On all four sides of the pit, straw mats lie, a little worse for wear. A wooden chest is pushed against the left wall and shelving lines the right wall, littered with small animal skulls, pretty rocks, and an assortment of knives.

“Surprisingly clean,” Chifuyu grins, turning to look at Hanma.

“Shut it.” The alpha rolls his eyes and leads Chifuyu further inside.

Maybe five steps from the fire pit, is the second level of the hut. It’s a small step up and separated by a panel wall, though the doors are pushed to either side, letting in the light through the top of yet another set of sliding doors in the back wall.

It’s a slightly smaller space than the main area and significantly more messy. The left wall is made up of shelving, under which another wooden chest stands. It’s opened and when Chifuyu passes it to peek inside, sees that it’s stuffed with an assortment of clothes.

“You like wrinkles in your clothes?” he asks, huffing out a laugh when Hanma plants a firm hand on his back to push him past it.

On the right side, half-hidden by the panel wall, is clearly where the alpha sleeps. There’s furs and blankets strewn about, a few stray pillows thrown together in one corner.

Something in Chifuyu aches to arrange it all and make it into a comfortable nest. There’s certainly enough material for it. He figures it’d still be best to bring his own blankets, so their scents can mingle and really make the nest theirs, and— what is he even thinking about?

With a soft growl, he reigns in his omega, scolding himself for letting it run wild in the first place.

Hanma looks at him a bit curiously, in the middle of sliding the backdoors open, but Chifuyu just shakes his head and strides past him with a huff.

The outside is much the same as the front, opening into a clearing, though the deck is slightly bigger than the porch, more than enough space to sit down with stretched legs.

At least, he thinks so, because Hanma doesn’t give him the chance to test it out. He pushes Chifuyu forward and sits down on the edge of the deck.

“Built a lot myself,” he says, patting the space next to him. “It was just that main area when I got here.”

“Impressive.” Chifuyu sits down, maybe a little closer than he would’ve before the ceremony. “Didn’t know you also possessed practical skills.”

Hanma gasps and brings up a hand to his chest, clutching his shirt right where his heart is. “Why must you wound me, omega?”

They both chuckle and then fall into silence.

Chifuyu still hears the river in the distance and wonders how far it is from Hanma’s hut. “It’s so quiet out here,” he mumbles, pulling up his knees so he can rest his chin on them, scooting back a little and propping up his feet on the edge of the deck.

“Yeah. It’s nice. Can actually hear myself think out here.” Hanma sets his hands behind himself and stretches out his legs, heels digging into the dirt.

“Though…” Chifuyu frowns. “Wouldn’t it be more conventional for the head alpha to live closer to the rest of the pack? In case something happens?”

Hanma sits up more straight and looks at Chifuyu, searching his face for a moment. “All the big packs around here are our allies, so we’d only ever be attacked by smaller ones, maybe with one or two alphas, a couple of omegas, mostly betas.”

He hops up and walks to the tree line, searching around for a bit until he finds what he’s looking for— a stick. Looking incredibly pleased with his find, he walks back and sits down again, leaning forward so he can draw a quick layout of the territory in the dirt.

“If you’re a smaller pack that wants to claim a bigger pack’s territory, you need to be smart about how you attack.”

The stick points out the most Northern part of the territory, a river drawn out with squiggly lines.

“This is where my hut is located,” Hanma explains, drawing a cross near the river. “I’m a light sleeper, so when I joined this pack, it made sense that I’d be the first line of defence.”

He drags the stick down, to where Chifuyu figures the entrance to the village is meant to be.

“You might not have noticed, but in order to reach our village from the main entrance, you pass through Mikey’s brother, Izana’s, territory first.”

Hanma circles the area above where he drew the cross to mark his own hut.

“This is all unclaimed territory. A smaller pack would be idiotic not to attack from there. Not to mention, as a smaller pack, you want to take out the alphas first.” He looks up at Chifuyu. “Dead alpha means unorganised betas, means vulnerable pack. You get me?”

Chifuyu nods along, baffled at Hanma’s strategic knowledge, if not a little worried that he knows so much.

“So, they’d want to keep omegas alive, you know for… the purposes of making the pack bigger after they’ve conquered it.” They both grimace at the implication. “Say they take me out and my hut had been closer to you guys…” He draws a cross roughly where Mikey’s hut stands, just behind the communal hut. “That’d give our betas less time to intercept the invaders.”

Chifuyu nods slowly, taking in the information. There was some strategy behind the defence of his home village, but not as elaborate as Hanma’s explanation. “So, how would a bigger pack go about it?”

They sit for a while longer. Hanma points out different areas and explains the many routes packs could take in case of an attack. He seems confident as he draws each possible attack pattern out.

“Have you… experienced such an attack before?” Chifuyu asks when Hanma finally sets the stick aside, the both of them staring down at the mess of lines in the dirt.

Hanma sighs. “No. But…”

It takes a moment for him to continue, gnawing at his bottom lip. Chifuyu sits patiently and gives Hanma the time he needs.

“My sire was very proficient at conquering territories and made sure that I knew the ins and outs.” He smiles, tight-lipped and humourless. “He ruled over most of the west and was steadily making his way over to here.”

“So, you’ve never…”

Hanma tilts his head up, staring at the stark blue sky. “He was waiting for me to present. Ended up happening a summer after he died.”

“That’s—” Chifuyu thinks back to the age he was when he presented, and more than that, is reminded of his own pain over losing his father that young. “You must’ve been so young.”

“Yeah.” Hanma looks at him, and in his eyes, Chifuyu sees the same sadness he recognised during the ceremony, a scared child carefully hidden in the alpha’s expression. “I was.”

They spend the afternoon in Hanma’s hut, steering clear of serious topics and keeping their conversation light.

Hanma asks about everything that has been accomplished in the pack lately and listens with full attention while Chifuyu talks, asking questions and nodding along.

“That reminds me,” he says after Chifuyu mentions Nahoya complaining about rations. “I got something made for you.”

“Excuse me?”

Hanma is already getting up, pointing at Chifuyu to stay seated while he makes his way back inside.

Some rummaging can be heard and Chifuyu thinks about the little jade wolves that he carefully tucked under his pillow, not sure how he feels about getting another present when there really isn’t an occasion for it.

He wonders if it’s the aftermath of the ceremony or the possibility of his pregnancy that has Hanma acting so much nicer. Maybe not just Hanma— if either is the reason they’re both acting nicer.

It’s hard to differentiate between genuine emotion and the effects of Chifuyu’s bonding mark, but before he can truly try and figure it out, Hanma returns.

A bundle of purple fabrics is unceremoniously thrown into Chifuyu’s lap. It’s long, maybe the size of his arm, and uncharacteristically heavy for just fabric. His eager curiosity gets the better of him, immediately folding open the bundle without waiting for Hanma’s approval.

Chifuyu frowns when he sees the contents, thrown off by them.

“Why…”

“Apparently, the feast they threw us really depleted a lot of resources, so for the next couple of weeks or so I might be away more… even more than I usually am.” Hanma sits down again, scooting closer. “Aren’t you gonna pick it up?”

And despite his bewilderment, Chifuyu does.

It’s a sword, simple in design with a wooden handle that’s carefully wrapped with leather. When he picks it up, it feels heavier than the swords he used back home.

“It’s steel,” Hanma explains, “durable and reliable. Do you— I mean, I know you’re good with a sword, so…”

Chifuyu whips his head up to look at Hanma. “How do you know that?”

Hanma’s eyes widen slightly. “Ryusei told me.”

“He did?” Chifuyu frowns and tries to remember that particular conversation, but he comes up empty. “I don’t think I—”

“Yeah, so.” Hanma clears his throat and turns to look ahead, hunching up his shoulders. “Figured I’d give you something to defend yourself with, since you, uh, won’t be able to shift if, you know, you’re pregnant.”

Chifuyu nods and points the sword forward, peering down its blade. It’s perfectly straight, masterfully made, and he makes a note to thank Pah-chin and Peh-yan later.

“I’d still have a good few weeks before shifting becomes dangerous for the pup,” he says, pushing himself up from the deck. His mother drilled it into his head from a young age, both as a warning to himself and to pass on to other omegas— how the strain of shifting could kill a pup in the womb after they begin to develop more. “But even then… You think I wouldn’t be able to keep myself alive without a sword and without you here?”

“That’s not it.”

A few steps into the clearing, Chifuyu tests out how the sword really feels in his hand, taking a few tentative swings to familiarise himself with it. “I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself, y’know,” he says over the ringing of his sword through the air. It is a beautiful sound and he can feel himself warming up to it a little.

“I know you are.” Hanma gets up as well and puts himself at the end of Chifuyu’s sword, watching him with sharp eyes. “It’s more for my sake than yours.”

Chifuyu quirks a brow and raises the sword, pointing it at Hanma’s throat. “Why?”

“Are you asking or demanding an answer?” Hanma grins and pushes the sword down with a finger. “Because if I’m not here, it’ll help me sleep easier knowing you have a weapon to wield instead of an alpha to protect you.”

“You just told me you know I’m capable of defending myself.” Chifuyu raises the sword again. “Were you lying?”

This time, Hanma steps forward, letting the tip of the sword press into his sternum just slightly. “Knowing you can protect yourself doesn’t remove my… instincts to keep you safe.” He frowns. “I’d never lie to you.”

Chifuyu hums and lightly drags the sword upwards, not so hard to actually harm, but firm enough that it leaves a red line on Hanma’s skin where it’s exposed by the deep neckline of his shirt. “Really? Never?”

Hanma nods.

“Tell me then.” Chifuyu presses the point under Hanma’s chin and pushes it up. “Why haven’t I seen your wolf yet?”

Either it’s a trick of the light or a hallucination, but Chifuyu swears Hanma’s pupils dilate when he presses the sword more firmly under his chin.

The alpha grins, eyes flickering down to the sword and then back up at Chifuyu. “Wanted to save you the embarrassment of shifting in front of you, only to discover you’d wanna be mounted by a wolf.”

As if burned, Chifuyu withdraws his sword and turns on his heels, clearing his throat rather harshly. The exertion of holding up his sword heats up his cheeks and makes his heart accelerate rapidly. He rushes over to the deck to drop it on the bundle of purple fabric.

“Too much?” Hanma nearly purrs. His hand is suddenly on Chifuyu’s waist, and then drags along the small of his back as he walks on, stepping up on the deck. “I was just joking.”

“Shut up.”

Chifuyu isn’t stupid. He’s more than well aware that Hanma is distracting him from his question and, damn the alpha, it works.

“You’re a brute,” he snaps, watching as Hanma saunters back inside his hut, snickering to himself.

“You tell yourself that!” He laughs and sticks his head past the doorway. “Come, little omega. And grab your sword. Please.”

That same hesitation as before creeps up on him again, and Chifuyu can’t help but wonder if accepting the sword would be the right thing to do. The ceremony made him truly and fully part of the pack, their head omega, and he surely doesn’t remember Emma carrying around a weapon.

He picks up the sword again. It feels almost heavier. Would the pack not think of it as an insult, that their head omega feels the need to carry a sword? Its steel blade shines in the light, almost begging Chifuyu to use it, to let the blade grow dull and lose its perfectly polished finish.

“Won’t the pack think it’s strange that I carry a weapon?” he asks before he can stop himself, flinching just slightly at his own impulsiveness.

Hanma frowns and steps back onto the porch.

“And… I’m meant to be a beacon of mental fortitude, right?” Chifuyu continues, bending down to carefully wrap the sword in the purple fabrics. “Reliable for everyone. Won’t… won’t this sword make them think I’m weak?”

“Feel free to show anyone who thinks the opposite.” Hanma looks at him a moment longer and then nods, disappearing inside.

Sword secured, Chifuyu follows him inside, casting a last glance over the inside of the hut, unsure when he’ll see it again. After all, Hanma made it clear that he was just showing it so Chifuyu would know where to find it.

“Wouldn’t it be your job to protect my honour?” he mumbles. “I’m— I’m head omega. A shoulder to cry on, emotional support, that kind of thing. Approachable and kind.”

Hanma opens the sliding doors in the front and lets Chifuyu step outside first. “You’re very strange, you know that?”

The alpha holds out a hand for support while Chifuyu slips his sandals on, a hand he accepts.

“You pointed a sword at me to prove you can look after yourself and now you’re—“ Hanma vaguely gestures at him. “Like this.”

With a growl, Chifuyu rips his hand from Hanma’s. “Like what?”

“Pretending like you care about proper omega behaviour.” With an unexpected amount of intensity, Hanma looks at him. “If someone questions your strength, you show them how strong you are. Didn’t think I’d have to spell that out for you.”

After another questioning glance, Hanma starts down the path towards the village again.

Chifuyu watches him go, a strange warmth spreading all throughout his body.

True to his word, in the weeks that follow, Hanma is gone more often than not, though this time, he lets Chifuyu know when he is about to leave and makes sure to attend dinner on the rare nights he is present.

Kazutora explains that the prey animals they typically hunt will be giving birth to their young soon, a time during which the pack ceases most of their hunting activities to give nature a chance to run its course.

When Chifuyu asks him why he felt the need to explain, Kazutora looks at him funny.

“Because you look like you miss your mate.”

The next time Hanma and the rest of the hunters return, naked and gleaming with sweat, carrying their catches into the communal hut, Chifuyu finds that maybe, Kazutora was right.

Each time they reunite, it gets harder not to run right up to Hanma and bask in his scent.

During the dinner after the final hunt, Chifuyu gives in, seated next to Hanma at the head table. He leans in to rub his nose against his mate’s scent gland, and in return, Hanma does the same, inhaling deeply with his face hidden in Chifuyu’s neck, all the tension disappearing from his body.

“I’m glad to see a buck didn’t get you this time,” he whispers, cheek pressed to the top of Hanma’s head.

“I’m glad to see you didn’t wither and die without your alpha here,” Hanma whispers back, lips brushing against Chifuyu’s neck.

A few days before Chifuyu is meant to visit Souya to confirm the start of his pregnancy, a beta woman’s comes to an end.

Her name is Kotoa and she goes into labour in the middle of the night. No one but her mate and Souya are allowed into the hut, but Hanma wakes Chifuyu gently, ignoring the dirty looks the other omegas shoot him for stepping into their hut and waking them in the process.

“It might take hours,” he says, a hand resting between Chifuyu’s shoulders as they walk to her hut. “But it’s common for the head alpha and omega to wait outside. Shows our love for and devotion to the pack.”

And so, they wait.

Her wails of pain ring all throughout the night, always followed by the low murmurs of her mate, a soft-spoken beta named Touma.

It makes Chifuyu just slightly anxious about what he’ll go through in the future, but Hanma distracts him with a game, having brought wooden pieces to pass the time.

Each time Chifuyu comes close to beating him, the alpha changes the rules at the last second, securing his own victory, until Chifuyu throws a piece at his head and Hanma nearly chokes on silent laughter, tears brimming in his eyes.

A little after the sun rises, most of the pack has gathered around the hut, chattering softly amongst themselves. Even Ryusei keeps his voice down, though he’s nearly shaking with excitement.

No one bothers to explain the customs surrounding a birth, so when Souya finally steps outside to beckon Chifuyu and Hanma in, he is a little surprised.

Kotoa has the sleeping pup bundled in colourful blankets, both of them resting in her nest.

Touma welcomes them in with a soft smile, thanking them for coming.

With a tilt of her head, Kotoa beckons them closer, though Hanma stays a few steps behind when Chifuyu kneels by the side of the nest, smiling at the new mother and her pup.

“Pardon my state, omega,” she says, her voice slightly scratchy.

She usually refers to Chifuyu by his name, never the polite use of his title, and that’s when he realises that the moment is far more formal than he was prepared for.

“You look beautiful,” he whispers, and means it— Kotoa looks exhausted, but her eyes are bright and her smile wide, happiness spilling from every pore.

“It’s a boy.” She smiles down at the sleeping pup for a moment, stroking his cheek with a finger. When she meets Chifuyu’s eyes again, she’s tearing up. “It would be an honour if you named him.”

Chifuyu promptly forgets all of his manners, mouth falling open. “What? No way, that’s your son, not—“

A hand around the back of his neck drags him to his feet. He whips his head around to find Hanma standing behind him with a forced smile, scruffing him like he’s some unruly pup.

“It’s customary,” the alpha hisses, leaning close to Chifuyu’s ear so his words stay between them. “He’s the first pup born while we lead the pack. She wants to honour us and him. Don’t insult her.”

“You could’ve told me,” Chifuyu hisses back.

Kotoa only laughs, not looking insulted in the least. She beckons Chifuyu over again, sitting up more to better show off her pup’s face.

“What are mates for, right?” she grins, reaching out to pat Chifuyu’s knee when he kneels down next to her again. “Here, hold him, please. I trust you to pick a name that suits him.”

It feels like too much to accept the pup, barely an hour after he’s born, but Chifuyu doesn’t want to insult Kotoa any more than he already might have. He takes a deep breath and reminds himself of this—his—pack’s different customs and finds comfort in the way both parents look at him with nothing but trust.

Chifuyu smiles at Kotoa and bows his head slightly. The toothy grins she answers with calms the last of his worries. It’s with a heart full of warmth that he accepts the boy from his mother.

Tears well up. Not just from the pup, so small and fragile in his arms, but the moment itself, surrounded by love and trust, truly a part of the pack, and fully accepted as head omega.

Looking down at the boy, Chifuyu considers his father’s name, but selfishly decides to reserve a blessing of that magnitude for his own pups.

“Tetsuo,” he says. “After my maternal grandfather. He made people laugh everywhere he went and was braver than most alphas, even as an omega.” He looks from Kotoa, to Touma, back to the pup. “He once saved a drowning fawn that had fallen into a river, in the middle of a harsh winter. My grandfather ended up raising the fawn into adulthood and it stayed by his side until the end of its life.”

Both parents nod at him with soft smiles, thanking him for the name and blessing.

“Please scent him, omega,” Touma gently urges when Chifuyu stays still.

A little embarrassed—he should’ve known that’d be the next step—he brings the pup up to his face, gently rubbing their cheeks together.

Tetsuo stays asleep, even when Chifuyu is asked to hand the pup over to Hanma.

The alpha, for all his usual cockiness, looks a little uneasy to take the pup, fumbling a bit even with Chifuyu’s instructions on how to hold him.

“Tiny,” Hanma mumbles when Tetsuo finally rests securely in his hold, scenting him with his wrist, rubbing it gently against the pup’s cheek.

If seeing Hanma handle Yuren had Chifuyu’s heart racing, seeing him hold a tiny pup nearly sends him into cardiac arrest. He feels tingly all over, ready to burst at the seams, almost tempted to excuse himself and scream into a pillow for a while.

Kotoa’s soft voice just barely keeps Chifuyu from doing something embarrassing.

“Whenever you’re ready, alpha,” she says, nodding to the door.

And then, to Chifuyu’s horror, Hanma nods and turns, carrying the pup away from his mother and the safety of her nest.

It’s one of those rare occasions where he and his omega see eye-to-eye. Chifuyu feels about ready to drag Hanma back by his hair and scream at him for separating the pup from his mother so close after birth, but Touma willingly opens the door, chest puffing up with pride when the excited chatter drifts inside the hut.

Another custom then, Chifuyu figures, forcing his outrage down to rush after Hanma.

“Everyone,” Hanma announces when Chifuyu is next to him, “meet Tetsuo.” He carefully hands the pup to the first pack member, who immediately scents him.

“What is happening?” Chifuyu whispers, tugging at Hanma’s sleeve.

“The sooner the pack scents the pup, the better.” Hanma tilts his head to smile at him. “Helps with bonding and whatnot.”

“I know that.” Chifuyu glares at him for a second before snapping his eyes back to Tetsuo, keeping close watch to make sure he’s okay. “But we’d usually wait a day, at least, so the pup can bond to its parents.”

Hanma shakes his sleeve loose from Chifuyu’s grip and chuckles. “Calm down, will you? They’ll have more than enough time after this.” He lays a hand on Chifuyu’s shoulder and squeezes. “Make your peace with it. Things won’t be different after you give birth.”

A growl bubbles up before Chifuyu can stop it. “Try and take my pup from me within hours of them being born and I’ll be happy to raise them without their sire.”

His threat falls on deaf ears, judging by how Hanma coos at him for being so protective.

Chifuyu just huffs, agitated and restless watching Tetsuo get passed from person to person. He lays a hand against his lower stomach and presses down slightly, feeling nothing but the usual softness.

“It’s a good name you chose,” Hanma says after a moment, stepping just slightly closer to Chifuyu. “I can’t wait to find out what name you’ll pick for our pup.”

“Don’t you want a say in that?”

Hanma sighs and looks at him, expression solemn. He raises a hand slowly, as if to provide enough time to back away, and gently runs his fingers through Chifuyu’s hair, hand coming to rest on the back of his head.

“My blood will already curse our pup enough.”

Hanma’s family crest, Sin and Punishment flash through Chifuyu’s mind. He wants to say something, maybe assure his mate that his lineage isn’t a curse, but he never gets the chance.

Ryusei trots up to them, holding Tetsuo in his arms, and bows deeply with the pup cradled against his chest, thanking them for the introduction.

The relief he feels to have Tetsuo back in his own arms drowns out all other thoughts. Chifuyu steps back, smiling at Hanma before he walks back inside the hut. The pup now smells like a mixture of the pack, no longer his own milky newborn scent. He worries that it’ll upset Kotoa, but she seems pleased by it, almost comforted, when she takes her son from Chifuyu.

He watches them for a moment longer, smiling when Touma rushes over to cuddle up with his mate and son. Without really meaning to, Chifuyu’s hand comes to rest on his stomach again, and he wonders if the flare of protectiveness he felt earlier was the result of his personality, or something else.

For the first time he hopes, just a flicker but genuine nonetheless, that it means something more.

Three days later, after they all shared dinner together, Souya pulls Chifuyu and Hanma to the side. It’s clear just from one glance that enough time has passed, roughly four weeks since his heat, and it’s with a rapidly beating heart that Chifuyu follows the other omega across the clearing, to his hut.

Souya and Hanma share some casual conversation, but the words barely reach Chifuyu. He can’t seem to regulate his breathing or stop his heart trying to knock its way through his ribcage— not when they gather around the fire pit in Souya’s hut, not when Souya prepares the tea, and if anything, his nerves only intensify when Souya finally sets down a cup of tea in front of him.

Feeling just slightly ridiculous, Chifuyu stares down at it. Being a rational adult, he knows that drinking it won’t change anything. Waiting it out for longer will confirm it sooner or later. Still, he can’t help but fidget, torn in two different directions— hoping for a change in his scent, and not hoping for it. Eager to find out, and scared of what the future will hold.

“You should drink it—” Souya starts.

Without wasting another moment, Chifuyu picks up the cup and throws back the scalding hot tea.

“—slowly… It’s hot.”

Hanma and Souya look at Chifuyu with matching, pained expressions while he curses and splutters, coughing violently and trying his best to beg for a cup of cold water.

“Why would you do that?” Souya tuts while Hanma scrambles up to get water. “It’s nice tea, too. Put in quite a lot of effort to make it taste good and still work.”

With a final heave, tongue and throat still burning, Chifuyu manages to calm down a little. He goes to answer, some snide and petty remark, but Hanma appears in front of him, cup of water in hand.

“Are you okay?” He kneels next to Chifuyu, pushes the cup into his hands and chuckles. “You’re so stupid.”

Too busy soothing his burned tongue, Chifuyu just glares and takes careful sips of his water, ignoring Souya’s grumbling in the background.

At least the unexpected pain has soothed his nerves. It’s surprising they don’t come back the moment Chifuyu acknowledges them, but he feels strangely calm. Maybe something about the tea. He goes to ask Souya, but doesn’t get a word out.

With a sudden urgency, Hanma cups his face with one hand, the other pushing his bangs up and away from his face, eyes frantically jumping back and forth.

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“Was just tea,” he croaks, trying to swat Hanma away in vain, forced to take another sip of water with the alpha pressed close. “I’ll live.” With a grumble, he manages to push Hanma to the side, at least, to look at Souya. “When will the tea work?”

The other omega looks pleased, sitting back with his arms crossed and a little smirk on his face. He nods at Hanma and raises a brow at Chifuyu. “Think it’s already working. Congratulations.”

The world either stops spinning or it speeds up, Chifuyu isn’t sure. What he does know is that he feels dizzy, like the floor is bobbing like the waves of the ocean.

Very slowly, Hanma leans back into view, eyes wide. He sniffs the air once, twice, and then drops his hands from Chifuyu’s face and head.

“You’re…” His yellow eyes flicker down.

Chifuyu doesn’t know if he wants to laugh or cry, so he does both, settling his hands against his lower stomach. “Yeah.”

Still visibly shocked, Hanma reaches up to wipe Chifuyu’s tears away, his own yellow eyes looking suspiciously glassy as well.

He’ll never know if Hanma was really on the verge of crying. The moment gets rudely interrupted by the doors to Souya’s hut sliding open, quite violently so.

They snap their heads around to see Rindou standing in the doorway, a slight scowl on his face.

“Oh. Sorry,” he says, unapologetically. “Thought you would’ve been done by… now.” His nostrils flare and he looks at Chifuyu, cocking his head to the side. “Ah. Congrats. Another one of Hanma on the way. A joyous occasion indeed.”

Souya groans his mate’s name and stands up, looking about ready to chase Rindou from their shared hut, but Chifuyu stops him.

“We’ll be on our way,” he says, going to stand up on his own, but Hanma is quicker— jumping to his feet and helping Chifuyu up with a hand around his arm, the other resting on his lower back. Strange, to say the least, and Chifuyu is sure to shoot his mate a confused look before nodding at Souya. “Thank you.”

If Hanma had been shifted, his tail would surely be wagging. He nods, seemingly mistaking Chifuyu’s gratitude as being directed to him, and stays practically plastered to his back when they take their leave, Rindou and Souya snickering.

Standing outside, three steps from Souya’s porch, Hanma seems to come to his senses. He clears his throat and takes a step to the side, kicking at the ground a little.

“You were thanking Souya.”

Chifuyu shakes his head with a chuckle. “I was, yeah.”

“How embarrassing.” Hanma goes to stand in front of Chifuyu, expression solemn. “I remember you mentioning that you’d be partial to me drowning myself. Would you mind accompanying me to the river to do so now?”

“While I’d normally love to take you up on that…” Chifuyu sidesteps Hanma and starts crossing the clearing, making his way to the communal hut. “Turns out I’m about to go through a whole lot of changes and would prefer someone alive to blame.”

Hanma grumbles when they reach the communal hut, busying himself with lighting a lantern. “Do you have any idea how much Rindou will make fun of me for being that affected by your scent? And now I can’t even end my own life to escape it.”

“Got your own sperm to blame for that.” Chifuyu waits to sit down until Hanma is done, doing so side-to-side with his mate, leaning back against the hut’s outer wall.

“If you think about it, your heat is the real culprit.”

“It would’ve been impossible to get pregnant on my own. I’m not a— which insect does that again?”

“Worms.”

Chifuyu shakes his head with a chuckle. “A worm’s not an insect.”

“You’re a worm,” Hanma mutters, a pout audible in his voice.

“A worm you had sex with.”

Hanma shrugs, humming. “I’ve had worse.”

“Of course you have.”

Without really meaning to, Chifuyu lets his hands drift down, resting them on his stomach. It’s still a bit surreal, the news not fully settling, but there’s warmth growing within him, tentative happiness.

A breeze picks up, ruffling his hair a bit, and Chifuyu smiles. He starts talking before he even realises it.

“When I was a pup, I couldn’t understand why I only had one parent while the others had two,” he begins, leaning his head back against the wall to stare up at the inky sky. “To comfort me, my mother used to tell me that my father was in the wind, always looking over me.” He chuckles. “I tried to climb every high tree in the area in an attempt to reach him, until I fell out one day and broke my arm.”

Hanma laughs softly and from the corner of his eye, Chifuyu sees him turn to look at him.

“After that, she kept a closer eye on me and I was stuck on the ground, wishing that one day I could turn into a bird and fly up to meet him.”

“You must miss him.”

Chifuyu sighs, tearing his eyes away from the endless stars shining in the sky to look at Hanma. “You can’t miss what you’ve never known, I don’t think.” He smiles and shrugs. “I look so much like my mother, I can’t even catch a glimpse of my own face in the water’s reflection to see him.”

Another gentle gust sweeps past them, drawing a sound of delight from Chifuyu. He closes his eyes and lets the wind caress his face.

“I’ve gotten a little smarter since then, so I know he’s not really in the wind, but… It’s nice to imagine he’s looking over me.” He blinks his eyes open and looks down, taking in the way his hands look rested against his stomach, trying to imagine what he’ll look like in a few months’ time. “I hope he’s proud of the choices I’ve made.”

“Of course he is,” Hanma says with an air of finality. When Chifuyu lifts his head to look at him, he finds the alpha intently eyeing him, a little frown on his face. “He’d be a fool not to, and an irresponsible one at that”

Before Chifuyu can fully register what’s happening, Hanma is already shrugging out of his shirt and handing it over, no room for negotiation in his determined expression.

“Giving you a cold,” his mate grumbles. “Blowing all that wind your way.”

Chifuyu shoots him a half-hearted glare before pulling the shirt on. It’s far too big on him, comfortably falling over his own clothing, and it might be a silly omega urge, but it’s nice to be enveloped by his mate’s scent.

“Watch your tone,” he mumbles, snuggling just slightly into Hanma’s shirt, maybe even pulling it up a bit to press his nose into the fabric. “That’s our pup’s grandfather you’re talking about.”

Hanma barks out an unexpected laugh. “Gods!” He jumps to his feet, hands going up into his hair. “A pup!”

With a laugh of his own, Chifuyu watches him stalk forward, hopping down the porch to stand a few steps away from the communal hut.

“Our pup!” Hanma looks over his shoulder, bewilderment on his face. “Our pup,” he whispers, barely heard in the night.

He turns back around and throws his head back, standing there for a moment longer until Chifuyu calls him with a soft alpha, the endeared term slipping from his lips before he can stop it.

Hanma is with him in an instant, kneeling in front of Chifuyu, looking at him attentively.

“You’d have woken everyone up,” he supplies a little lamely, a poor excuse, not even sure why he wanted Hanma within arm’s reach again.

“Sorry,” the alpha breathes, dipping his head a little.

In the dim light of the lantern, Chifuyu looks him over. He’s not sure what comes over him when he reaches out and runs a finger over one of the many scars that litter Hanma’s chest.

It’s a prominent one, four thick lines dragging from his left collarbone down, stopping just shy of where his heart beats under Chifuyu’s fingertips.

Hanma’s breath hitches slightly when Chifuyu presses his palm over it, covering part of the scar.

“Chifuyu,” he says softly. “Can I ask you something selfish?”

Looking at Hanma, he notices the traces of fear and sadness, and Chifuyu nods, keeping his hand pressed against his mate’s chest.

It takes a while for Hanma to actually ask his question. For the longest time, they sit in silence, Chifuyu absentmindedly rubbing his thumb back and forth, a small gesture to hopefully convey his patience and remind Hanma that Chifuyu doesn’t plan on going anywhere, that he’ll listen.

“My sire,” the alpha finally says, slowly, “wasn’t a very kind man.”

He falls silent again and lifts a hand of his own, stroking his fingers down another scar that lines his right shoulder, clearly the results of a vicious bite.

With a sinking heart, Chifuyu connects the two— mention of Hanma’s sire and the scarring, and it’s nauseating to realise his mate is referring to an unkindness that no child should ever suffer at the hands of a parent.

“I need you to promise me,” Hanma continues, casting his eyes down, “that if I am ever… not kind to our pup, even just once— that you’ll end me. No hesitation.”

Chifuyu inhales sharply, fingers digging into Hanma’s skin, his other hand covering his own stomach instinctively.

“What are you talking about?” he nearly hisses, and maybe it’s the tea still lingering in his system, but he feels offended on Hanma’s behalf at the mere implication that a terrible childhood might lead the alpha to become as cruel as his sire must’ve been.

When Hanma doesn’t answer, Chifuyu drags his hand up to the side of his mate’s neck, tapping his fingers against his pulse point so he looks up again.

“Be honest, Hanma. Disregarding me for a moment, our situation— do you want this pup?”

Hanma’s eyes widen. “Of course.”

“Then I trust that you’ll be able to be a decent influence in their life.”

The words do nothing to take away the storm that’s brewing behind Hanma’s eyes. He purses his lips and tries to crane his neck outside of Chifuyu’s reach, who in turns leans in more to cup the back of it, keeping his hold firm.

“Still—”

“I promise,” Chifuyu cuts in. “Of course I’ll kill you the second you’d mistreat our pup. Did you really think I wouldn’t? But…” He bites his lip and looks away, staring across the clearing. With a lowered voice, he murmurs: “Come on, Shuji. It won’t come to that.”

Faced with silence, Chifuyu looks back at Hanma, who turned to look away as well. He just catches the alpha mouthing Shuji with a little grin and a shake of his head, before seemingly catching himself and smoothing out his expression again.

“Either you’re stupid or incredibly naive to defend me when I’ve been nothing but horrible to you.” Hanma chuckles dryly, still staring into the forest, unaware that the surprise at the mention of his first name had been caught. “Maybe both.”

Chifuyu sighs. “Do you think I forgot how careful you were with me during my heat?” he whispers, noting how Hanma’s features soften, just a little. “Don’t get me wrong, you do give me a tension headache whenever you open your mouth but— Gods, you could be so much worse.”

Slowly, some of the tension leaves Hanma’s shoulders. He tugs Chifuyu’s hand away from his neck and rolls his eyes. “Is that an invitation to show you a real monster?”

“I don’t know. Is that an invitation to smother you in your sleep?”

Hanma covers up his laugh with a cough, raising a hand to cover his mouth. He looks at Chifuyu again, his expression slightly less troubled. “I talked to Mikey about this, too. If it does come to that, you wouldn’t face any consequences.”

“Gods above.” Chifuyu rolls his eyes. “Can’t you just be happy and, I don’t know, kiss my stomach or something, instead of depressing me with your tragic history?”

“Would you let me?” Hanma is already leaning closer, ducking down as if he were actually planning to press his lips to Chifuyu’s stomach.

“Hey! I’ll break your neck if you touch me!” With a huff, Chifuyu flinches out of the way, crossing his arms with a growl when Hanma laughs— out loud this time, though it has a mocking edge to it.

The heaviness between them clears with every unattractive snort that escapes past Hanma’s lips, the alpha way too amused with his own behaviour. When he finally calms down, around the time Chifuyu is actually considering murder, he looks up with a smile still on his face, his eyes crinkled at the corners.

“That’s my omega,” he drawls, voice dipping at the end of that sentence, almost as if he’s cooing at a pup.

Chifuyu snaps his teeth at him and punches him in the arm. He isn’t sure if it actually hurts, but Hanma flinches away nonetheless, though that annoying smirk doesn’t fade from his face.

“I am happy, though,” Hanma says, patting Chifuyu’s knee. He lets it linger there, and for whatever reason, Chifuyu allows the touch.

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“You weren’t exactly jumping with joy yourself.”

“I am pregnant. I can’t jump anymore.”

Hanma huffs out another laugh. “Of course. My bad.” He squeezes Chifuyu’s knee. “Are you going back to cursing my existence when you think I’m not listening?”

“Might be best.” Chifuyu rubs a hand over his stomach, not missing the way Hanma’s eyes immediately drop down to follow the movement. “Change might upset the pup.”

“Of course.”

“Yeah.”

“Wouldn’t wanna upset the pup.”

“Exactly.”

Hanma bites his lower lip, a nervous habit Chifuyu really shouldn’t find as endearing as he does. His eyes flicker down, then shoot back up, and drift back down again. “Would you… mind if I touch you? I mean, I’m not going to actually kiss you— your stomach.”

“There really isn’t much to feel, apart from my spectacular abs, but—”

“Of course.” Hanma nods and shoots up ramrod straight, hands pressed between his knees. “I understand.”

It might not be the nicest thing to do, but Chifuyu can’t help but laugh. Very much so at his mate’s expense. “Gods, alpha,” he manages between giggles, grabbing Hanma’s hands. “Of course you can, but again, you’ll just be touching a very flat and practically empty stomach.”

Hanma immediately shuffles closer, hands already hovering over Chifuyu’s stomach. He glances up and then clears his throat, dropping his hands and shrugging. “Alright. Of course. Yes. I’ll manage my expectations.”

When Hanma is done with his unaffected act and he finally lays his hands against Chifuyu’s stomach, nothing of real note happens. No magical connection between the two of them, no sudden solution to their problems.

“I’m happy too,” Chifuyu whispers, covering Hanma’s hands with his own.

It’s just the two of them, sitting on the porch in front of the communal hut, a single lantern glowing beside them.

But Chifuyu would be a liar if he denied one simple fact— that the way Hanma raises his head to smile at him does feel awfully special.

Chapter Text

Before they parted ways the night before, Hanma agreed to keep the news between them for now, assuring Chifuyu that he can tell the pack when he feels ready.

He doesn’t plan on waiting long, just a few days more to fully let the news settle, but judging by the face that hovers over him the second he opens his eyes, Hanma either let it slip or just fully ignored their agreement.

“Is it true?” Ryusei asks, eyes flickering between Chifuyu’s face and his stomach.

Chifuyu quickly glances around the hut, relieved to find it empty already, grateful that his fellow omegas granted him a morning to sleep in.

When he doesn’t answer, Ryusei invades his personal space even more, ignoring the growl when his knees brush the edges of Chifuyu’s nest.

What surely comes across as being territorial is more an attempt to keep Ryusei from noticing Hanma’s shirt, that Chifuyu may or may not have cradled to his chest to fall asleep. Ryusei really doesn’t need to know that.

“Morning sunshine,” the beta grins, leaning in to plant a gross, wet kiss on Chifuyu’s cheek. “Will you name the pup after me?”

Chifuyu doesn’t even bother justifying that with an answer. Groaning, he pushes himself up, glaring at Ryusei until he backs away, just a little.

“So, how far along are you?” Ryusei chatters on, either unaware of Chifuyu’s foul mood, or uncaring.

“I know you can count.” Chifuyu presses his hand against Ryusei’s face to push him away and gets up. “So count back the days since my heat and leave me alone.”

“Could’ve been one of those miracle pregnancies that happen outside of heats,” Ryusei chirps, trailing after Chifuyu when he walks over to his chest.

Shaking his head, Chifuyu starts rummaging through it, rifling through his clothes for something to wear. He stills when his fingers brush past the folded purple robe he’d placed on the bottom of the chest.

He smiles, lovingly running his fingers over the soft silk, and then scowls when he hears a fragment of the conversation Ryusei is still having with himself.

“—trick that you can do to make an omega ovulate, apparently,” Ryusei says. “It’s this thing with your fingers, tricks their birth canal into—“

“I will send you into exile.”

Ryusei just chuckles. “C’mon, tell me. Just wanna know when I can expect the little one.”

“It happened during my heat,” Chifuyu snaps, tugging his sleep shirt over his head and flinging it into his chest. “We haven’t— not since then.”

Ryusei cackles at that, toppling over, nearly losing his balance.

“I hate you…” Chifuyu mumbles, pulling out new clothes at random and changing into them. While Ryusei is still occupied, howling with laughter, he quickly fishes out Hanma’s shirt from under his pillow, careful not to disturb the jade wolves that lie there, and tucks it safely into the chest, slamming it shut afterwards.

“Oh, poor Shuji,” Ryusei sniffles, trailing after Chifuyu when he stomps to the entrance of the hut. “No wonder he’s always yelling at me. He must be brimming with sexual frustration.”

“He can explode with it for all I care!” Chifuyu nearly yells, and then truly yelps in surprise when a voice pops up out of nowhere.

“Who can explode?”

Hanma is leaning against the wall next to the entrance, arms crossed and one eyebrow raised.

“You!” Chifuyu rounds on him, annoyance overpowering surprise, and presses a finger into his mate’s chest. “Did you tell him?!”

Unbothered as always, Hanma ignores the finger poking into him. “I didn’t,” he says calmly, smoothing over Chifuyu’s hair with one hand, the other curling around his waist. “Rindou let it slip, but Ryusei promised he’d keep it to himself, didn’t he?”

Ryusei presses himself into Chifuyu’s back. “Yeah, sure, whatever you say, Shuji.” He hooks his chin over Chifuyu’s shoulder. “Fuyu told me you guys haven’t messed around since his heat. That true?”

Hanma looks at Chifuyu, who just sighs and closes his eyes, wishing he could disappear.

“His name is Chifuyu,” the alpha mutters after a moment, hand sliding from Chifuyu’s waist to his lower back, pulling him a step closer. “Can you back off, Ryusei?”

“Why?” Ryusei goads, though he does step back. “Jealous?”

Chifuyu opens his eyes just in time to catch Hanma glaring at Ryusei.

“Jealous?” his mate repeats with a scoff. The hand that had been carding through Chifuyu’s hair slides lower, until his fingers rub over the bonding mark. “Never.”

Warmth rushes down from the press against the mark, pooling low in Chifuyu’s stomach, heat rising on his cheeks. He turns around to face Ryusei and Hanma’s hands shift, one sliding to rest against his stomach, the other spreading over his collarbones.

Possessive, he thinks, the way Hanma holds him.

Chifuyu clears his throat, mouth feeling dry, and has the full intention to step forward, out of Hanma’s reach, but somehow he ends up taking a step back, pressing himself more firmly against his mate’s front.

Belatedly, he blames his omega for it, almost forgetting to do so when it feels so safe to be close to Hanma.

“Don’t you have work to do?” he asks Ryusei, feeling just slightly out of breath.

Another omega impulse, surely, when he tilts his head to the side, Hanma catching on immediately, fingers trailing upwards from his collarbones until they brush over the bonding mark again.

Ryusei makes an over-exaggerated gagging noise and turns on his heel, giving them a half-hearted salute.

“You can let me go now,” Chifuyu mumbles. “He’s gone.”

“He is, yes.”

Chifuyu thinks it’s pretty pathetic that his morning gets significantly better when Hanma leans in to run his nose up the side of his neck, and even more pathetic when he nearly whimpers at the slightest press of dry lips against his bonding mark.

It becomes somewhat of a habit for Hanma to be there when Chifuyu wakes up. He never ventures inside the omega hut, though, always patiently waiting outside.

They usually spend the morning and early afternoon together, time that’s spent guiding the pack through their daily duties and checking to see what needs to be done. After that, Hanma takes his leave, giving assistance where it’s needed while Chifuyu does the same, alternating between helping out in the fields or babysitting Tetsuo or Keiko to give their parents some time to themselves.

With that new routine comes a shift in how they share their responsibilities. Now, whenever someone finds Hanma to ask him about a task that falls under his supervision, Chifuyu is there to guide him through it, just like Takemichi did for him when he first arrived.

In turn, he gets to learn more about the areas Hanma is knowledgeable in, like the best way to organise the daily patrols around the territory and hunting formations they plan to test out once hunts become more regular again.

A week passes in the blink of an eye and when Chifuyu wakes particularly early one morning, way before the rest of the omegas do, he realises that the period of secrecy about his pregnancy is coming to an end.

Within seconds, he thinks he manages to wake up the entire hut, sprinting to the entrance and accidentally stepping on a few hands, kicking a pillow, all in a rush to get outside before the strongest wave of nausea he’s felt in a long time gets the better of him.

Chifuyu ignores that Hanma is already standing outside, even though the sun hasn’t even properly risen yet, and strides past him without a word, hand pressed tightly over his own mouth.

Miraculously, he manages to make it behind the hut, finding some shelter in the thick vegetation there.

By the time Hanma’s footsteps approach, Chifuyu is hunched over, leaning a hand on a tree for support. He’s out of breath and miserable. Tears are streaming down his face, his throat burns, and his stomach only feels slightly settled, like it might turn on him the second he moves.

“Don’t,” he rasps, keeping one arm firmly wrapped around himself, the other vaguely motioning at Hanma to stay back. “’S gross.”

It doesn’t deter Hanma in the slightest. He appears at Chifuyu’s side and lays a hand on his back, rubbing it back and forth gently. His scent helps, just a little, giving Chifuyu the strength to at least stand up a bit more straight.

“What can I do?” he asks softly, hand wrapping around Chifuyu’s waist to carefully guide him just a few steps to the side.

Chifuyu heavily leans into his side, taking deep and calm breaths, eyes squeezed shut. “I don’t know. Kill me?”

“Maybe after you give birth.” Hanma chuckles, slowly, almost comically so, turning Chifuyu around so he can fully lean against his mate. “Want me to take you to the river so you can wash up?”

Chifuyu nods, resting his forehead against Hanma’s chest. “Can you grab clothes for me? I think— I mean, I’m sure everyone knows what’s going on and I don’t wanna face them just yet.”

“Of course.” Hanma sighs and takes a moment longer, wrapping his arms around Chifuyu and holding him close. “Anything you need.”

The river behind the omega hut is normally bustling with life by the time morning fully rolls around, but that day, everyone seems to catch on to Chifuyu’s desire for privacy.

It’s the calmest part of the river, the stream slowed by boulders at both the beginning and end, creating a small body of water that’s barely affected by any current. The riverbank is grassy here, shaded by a few trees, and a rocky path leads to the edge of the water. It starts shallow and gradually deepens the further you walk, a considerable distance between one side and the other.

Chifuyu was told that the river was widened by hand, dug out to create more distance between the land behind it and the omega area, providing safety for the pack’s most vulnerable members.

It’s just him and Hanma, the alpha seated on the riverbank while Chifuyu stands waist-deep in the gentle stream, basking in the cool water, relieved to find his nausea gradually lessen.

“I’m sure Souya has some sort of tea he can make you,” Hanma says, drawing Chifuyu’s attention to him. “Or maybe, he can make a cold drink, so there’s always a supply. You could keep a flask of it by your nest.”

“That’d be nice.” Chifuyu smiles. “When I was young and fell ill, just the threat of potentially being sick stressed me out so much, I couldn’t even keep a bite of food down, even when my stomach wasn’t affected in the first place.”

Hanma grins. “Such a useless pup you were. Scared of being sick, failing to climb trees. Sure hope our pup gets more of my— hey!”

The alpha throws up his arms with a laugh, failing to shield himself from Chifuyu splashing water on him.

“You’re a terrible mate!” Chifuyu shouts, slapping more water in the alpha’s direction. “A terrible mate and a terrible alpha and a terrible man!”

Hanma pushes himself to stand, pulling his soaked shirt away from his body with a scowl. “You done?”

“No.” Chifuyu sinks to his knees, chin just touching the water’s surface. “Get in here so I can drown you.”

His words make them both freeze. Hanma is still pinching his shirt between two fingers and Chifuyu considers, just for a moment, drowning himself instead of his mate.

“You sure?”

“Well…” Chifuyu figures he might as well stand behind his own request. “The river’s big enough for the two of us.”

Hanma nods slowly, not breaking eye-contact when he grabs the bottom of his shirt, like he’s waiting for Chifuyu to change his mind. When no protest comes, the alpha tugs it over his head, letting it drop into the grass beside him.

Earlier, when Chifuyu got undressed, he hadn’t even thought twice about being naked in front of Hanma, too focused on getting in the water.

Now, though, he feels overly aware of it, even with the water hiding his body, and judging by the way Hanma hesitates to untie his pants, he’s not the only one.

“Want me to look away?” Chifuyu tries to joke, though his voice sounds way too breathy to get it across.

Hanma scoffs, seemingly finding some confidence in the taunt, and, with steady hands, unties his pants, the loose material immediately falling down and pooling around his feet.

In an instant, the air feels like it does before a heavy thunderstorm, nearly crackling, tiny sparks flying around. Chifuyu almost inhales a mouthful of water, shamelessly gawking at Hanma like he hasn’t seen him naked before.

Maybe he didn’t. Who knows, really? It surely feels like the first time, taking in his mate like this, all lean muscle and long legs.

“Would you like me to do a spin?”

Chifuyu snaps his eyes up and forces his face into a scowl. “Your ass is of little interest to me.”

“Oh?” Hanma raises a hand, drawing Chifuyu’s attention, and then slowly drags it down his chest. “But my front is?”

Just slightly mindless, and maybe entranced, Chifuyu follows the path of Hanma’s hand, until the terrible alpha cups his own cock, roaring with laughter when Chifuyu curses at him and immediately dips his head beneath the water.

It’s peaceful there, underneath the surface, where his scream can’t be heard and Hanma’s laughter is drowned out.

The downside is the false sense of security. Chifuyu is so busy enjoying a moment of respite that he doesn’t see Hanma coming, not until it’s too late and hands wrap around his middle, dragging him back to his feet.

It happens fast enough for Chifuyu not to get a chance at swallowing water, which is good, but he does make a rather undignified sound.

“Don’t drown yourself. They’ll think I did it.”

Chifuyu turns, insult at the ready, but falls humiliatingly silent when he’s faced with Hanma.

If seeing his mate from a distance was bad, seeing him up close and glistening wet is absolutely terrible.

With more effort than Chifuyu is willing to admit, he drags his eyes up and away from the alpha’s chest. He’s greeted with a sight that’s somehow worse, a cocky grin and Hanma’s wet hair, part of it pushed away from his face, the rest plastered over his collarbones, messy and wild and unfairly attractive.

Chifuyu sends his silent words of gratitude to the river for washing away any bodily reaction he may or may not have.

“Done staring?”

“I was just checking if the wound you got from that tussle with a deer was healed!” He crosses his arms with a scoff, making a point to glare at Hanma’s side.

What with being unnecessarily tall, the water that comes up to Chifuyu’s middle barely reaches Hanma’s hips, the deep V of them disappearing into the water, just high enough to obscure part of his mate that he really isn’t interested in. Truly.

“Well?” Hanma steps closer, one corner of his mouth quirked. “Check if it’s healed then, omega.”

Maybe it isn’t, but it sounds like an invitation, and before Chifuyu can overthink too much, he brushes his fingers over the faint scar on Hanma’s side.

It’s not nearly as thick as the other scars that litter Hanma’s torso, but it is the most recent, still kind of pink around the edges.

Goosebumps erupt where Chifuyu touches, trailing his fingertips lightly over the shape of the scar.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, spreading out his fingers and pressing his palm over Hanma’s side, pleased that he can cover the entire scar like that. “I think I made fun of you for it.”

Hanma chuckles. “Don’t go soft on me now.”

“Right.” Chifuyu lightly pinches Hanma’s skin. “Pardon me for playing nice with the father of my unborn child.”

“Father?”

Chifuyu glances up, taking in how Hanma’s expression softens.

“Not sire?”

“It’s a bit impersonal, isn’t it?” He shrugs, remembering how Hanma never once used the term father to refer to his own sire. “Unless you’re planning on leaving all the childcare to me, in which case you’d better tell me now, so I can look for a new mate.”

Hanma takes another step closer, barely any distance between them now. He raises a brow at Chifuyu’s sharp intake of breath. “And how is that supposed to make me feel?”

Mad with jealousy, Chifuyu almost says, torn apart at the thought of someone else by my side.

“Like I even could find another mate,” he says instead, free hand coming up to trace the outlines of his own scar. “All the alphas that used to want me would probably turn me away now.”

“What?” Hanma frowns, gently brushing Chifuyu’s hand away so he can touch his shoulder, fingertips barely grazing the scar. “Because of this?”

“Don’t alphas prefer pretty, unblemished omegas?” Chifuyu averts his eyes, looking at the river’s current as it glides past them. “Omegas who don’t get in trouble, who know to stay hidden away until a strong alpha— I don’t know. Whisks them away to safety.”

To his surprise, Hanma doesn’t laugh or call him an idiot. He just sighs and slides his hand up, resting on Chifuyu’s shoulder, thumb pressed to his collarbone, fingers pressed into his shoulder blade, practically covering the entire scar.

“First of all, if anything would turn a potential mate off, it’s your horrifyingly annoying and antagonistic personality.” Hanma raises his free hand to curl a finger under Chifuyu’s chin, forcing him to look up. “Second of all, and this is a secret, alphas sort of like feeling needed. We’re wired to be useful to our mates.”

Chifuyu chuckles, just slightly breathless, staring up into Hanma’s eyes.

“I know.” Hanma smiles. “Shocking.”

He steps closer again and Chifuyu slides a hand up his chest, letting it rest on the side of his neck, the other squeezing Hanma’s side.

“So, hypothetically, seeing your scar would trigger an alpha’s protectiveness. Knowing that in the past, you weren’t taken care of, not looked after properly, it would… make an alpha want to take care of you, keep you safe.” Hanma squeezes Chifuyu’s shoulder. “Not that you need it.”

Chifuyu can only nod, caressing the side of his mate’s neck, enraptured by the way Hanma is looking at him, dark, almost possessive, but with so much warmth.

“Is that why you placed your bite on this side?” he whispers, scared that if he speaks too loud, the moment will be stolen from them, that it’ll break the tension that’s building in the little space between his and Hanma’s chests, just a hair’s breadth away from touching.

Hanma slowly takes in a deep breath, chest expanding when he does, and finally, their chests touch, warm and wet skin pressed together.

The hand that's been holding Chifuyu’s chin up slides down, over the column of his neck, Hanma’s fingers fanning out. He keeps trailing them further, until he wraps his arm around Chifuyu’s shoulders to pull him in even more.

“I was… a little out of it during your heat,” Hanma murmurs. The other hand, the one that covered Chifuyu’s scar, moves ever so slowly, until his fingers press against the bonding mark. “But I think so, yes, and even though it wasn’t a fully conscious decision… I’m glad I did it.”

The fingers rubbing over the bonding mark steal the breath right from Chifuyu’s lungs. His vision blurs at the edges, all he sees is the heat in Hanma’s gaze, how his lips are parted just slightly. A shiver runs down his spine, fingers tightening on Hanma’s side, keeping his mate close.

“Why?” Chifuyu hears himself ask, barely aware that he’s rising up on his toes so he can more easily cup the back of Hanma’s neck.

Hanma inhales shakily, his eyes half-lidded. He subtly angles his hips away, or at least, tries to be subtle.

It’s just the barest of movements, but Chifuyu notices immediately. He sucks in a breath, heat pooling low in his stomach, and surges up, pulling Hanma down at the same time, their foreheads almost pressed together.

This close, he can feel his mate’s soft pants against his lips, the slight trembling of his body.

“Why, alpha?” Chifuyu breathes, wrapping his arm more firmly around Hanma, hand pressed to his lower back. He applies the barest bit of pressure, just enough for Hanma to adjust his hips, letting Chifuyu feel how affected he is by their proximity.

The tension is nearly unbearable, thick and heavy around them, between them, inside them.

Chifuyu almost misses Hanma’s answer, drowned out by the thundering of his own heart, mind and thoughts hazy now that they’re this close, no space between them, entirely focused on not rutting up against his mate’s stomach.

“When people see your scar, they’ll see my mark.” Each word Hanma says brushes their lips together just slightly. “They’ll know that you have an alpha to take care of you when you— when you need it.” He takes in a shuddering breath and squeezes his eyes shut, looking nearly pained.

The arm around Chifuyu’s shoulders slides lower, circling his waist, and Chifuyu adjusts with it, wrapping both arms around Hanma’s neck.

“The mark…” Hanma groans, pressing his forehead against Chifuyu’s, taking his hand away from the bonding mark in favour of wrapping his other arm around his waist too. “When people see the tragedy of your scar, they’ll know it belongs to me now, your past, your future, that you— that—“

Hanma’s eyes drift down to Chifuyu’s lips, and he makes a sound, breathy and low, almost a whimper.

Chifuyu gasps, one hand flying up to tangle in Hanma’s hair. He angles his head to the side, eagerly breathing his alpha in, so close to kissing the words off his lips, aching for it, nearly delirious.

“That I belong to you,” Chifuyu finishes for him, breathy and whiny, a moan bubbling up when he feels Hanma’s cock twitch against his hip.

They lean back at the same time, just slightly, just enough for a moment of nothing and everything all at once. It’s just them, panted breaths and heavy-lidded eyes, the air between them buzzing with static.

It’s unclear who makes the first move to get closer again. Chifuyu closes his eyes, anticipation rushing through him, goosebumps erupting all over his skin. They’re close, so close, their lips brush together, but only barely, just a whisper of a touch.

Hanma exhales shakily, fingers slaying out against Chifuyu’s lower back. “Yes,” he breathes. “That you belong—“

Like a crack of thunder, a call of Hanma’s name rings through the air.

The world spins around Chifuyu before he can comprehend what’s happening. He’s quickly shoved back and then pulled behind Hanma, hidden from view and kept in place by one of his mate’s arms reaching behind him.

Every muscle in Hanma’s body is tense, shoulders rising and falling rapidly, but kept straight nonetheless, making him appear bigger than he is— an alpha on high-alert, ready to pounce, his scent changing from dark and musky to something sour in an instant.

Chifuyu groans when the voices get closer. He presses his forehead against Hanma’s back and listens, easily picking up who the voices belong to, but allows his mate to shield him anyway. Arousal still churns in the pit of his stomach, hot and heavy, pulling at every part of him. It takes an incredible amount of self-control to not lean forward and rut up against Hanma. Maybe if he wasn’t so aware of the people approaching them, if they’d been pack members he’s less close to, he would’ve given in.

“Well,” Ryusei’s voice is clear now, so he must be standing on the riverbank. “Good to see your face for the first time today, Shuji.”

Hanma’s stance doesn’t falter in the slightest. If anything, he pushes Chifuyu even more to the side, clearly set on hiding him completely.

“What do you want?” he snaps, gravelly and low, the hints of a growl hiding in the edges of his voice.

“Uh, this is the river behind the omega hut.” Keisuke, this time, just as close as Ryusei. “I should ask you what you’re doing here.”

Chifuyu wonders if they’re truly not aware of his presence. He supposes the river masking some of his scent could potentially be his saviour here, but it’s not like he can escape unseen in any case, as much as he’d like to. Part of him considers sending them away, yelling at them from behind the safety of Hanma’s back and then maybe, just maybe, reaching around to feel if his mate is unaffected by the interruption, if maybe, truly, really maybe, they can just pick up where they left off.

“We’ve been looking for your responsibility-avoiding useless self,” Ryusei says, amusement clear in his voice. “We were supposed to leave at dawn. Remember?”

“Ah…” Hanma’s shoulders sag and his scent clears, just a little, the undertone of annoyance still very much there. “I… might have forgotten.”

Ryusei laughs, usually a welcome and warm sound, but grating on Chifuyu’s nerves now. “Of course you did. Any reason in particular you’ve gotten so forgetful? Sure it’s got nothing to do with the naked omega behind you.”

As subtle as always. Chifuyu sighs in defeat and lingers for a moment longer, just to see the lines of Hanma’s back shift as the alpha tenses all over again, and then steps slightly to the side.

“You didn’t tell me you had somewhere you needed to be,” he says softly, trailing his fingers over Hanma’s side.

His mate turns his head slightly to look at him and shrugs. “I didn’t anticipate you not feeling well, and then, ah, I might’ve gotten a little carried away.”

“We both did, hm?” Chifuyu grins and steps into view more, though he stays close to Hanma’s side. He turns his attention to the riverbank and rolls his eyes at Ryusei’s amused expression. “Will you two be so gracious and turn around while I get dressed?”

Ryusei goes to protest, a smirk spreading across his face, but Keisuke smacks him upside the head before he can, gripping the beta’s shoulder and forcefully turning him around.

“Make it quick!”

A hand wraps around his wrist before Chifuyu can wade through the water, pulling him back.

“I’ll be gone all day.” Hanma smiles, tight-lipped and apologetic. “If you start to feel sick again, or need a rest, you could— if you want, of course, don’t feel like you have to... but you could rest up in my hut. If you want.”

Endeared. Incredibly endeared is what Chifuyu is, looking up at Hanma and his embarrassing display.

“I might.” He grins, trying to tug his wrist loose, not really putting any force behind it. “Only if I want, though, right?”

Hanma makes a noise somewhere between a growl and a scoff, tugging Chifuyu closer and bending down. “You’re insufferable,” he mumbles, before pressing a quick kiss to his forehead.

It takes a moment for Chifuyu’s brain to start working again, staring at Hanma’s retreating back as he moves through the water, cursing out Ryusei for the interruption and his lack of respect when addressing him.

Hanma pulls himself up and out of the water with ease, still busy reprimanding Ryusei, and Chifuyu can only stare for a moment, taking in every detail of his mate’s body, feeling bolder than he did earlier, now that he vividly remembers how Hanma felt pressed up against him, all skin and warmth.

Before another wave of arousal can sweep him up, he forces himself into motion, wading through the water and then accepting the hand that’s extended to him, allowing Hanma to pull him up— with ease, like Chifuyu weighs nothing to him, only adding to the heat simmering under his skin.

The memory of their bodies pressed together must linger in Hanma as well, if the look in his eyes is anything to go by, dark and intense, shamelessly roving them down Chifuyu’s body.

He does feel shy then and makes quick work of pulling on his clothes, ignoring the way they stick to his wet skin, thankful for a change that the temperatures in these parts are high enough to comfortably walk around like that, no risk of catching a cold.

Hanma grunts when he’s dressed as well and Ryusei wastes no second turning around, launching into an explanation of what they’ll be doing that day— something about a lake nearby and fishing.

Chifuyu only catches half of it, pinned in place by the way Keisuke looks at him after he turns around, something dark brewing in his eyes, only growing in intensity when he lets them drift to Hanma next.

The other omega nearly glares at Chifuyu’s mate, seething in silence, and all warmth that he morning brought with it vanishes immediately, replaced by something cold and unsettling, winding its way around his heart and squeezing.

Until Hanma and Ryusei take their leave, the former with a soft smile directed at Chifuyu and the latter with a wink, Keisuke doesn’t stop his glaring, staring after the alpha and not making any sort of effort to hide the obvious contempt in his eyes.

The way Keisuke looked at Hanma doesn’t leave Chifuyu for the rest of the day. On their way back from the river, he tried asking the other omega about it, but all he got was a grunt and a jerky shake of Keisuke’s head.

Needless to say, Chifuyu worries, and he worries a lot. There isn’t a single thing he can think of that would have Keisuke looking like that. He knows Hanma and him aren’t exactly fond of each other, but so far, they seemed at least somewhat friendly, but now Chifuyu wonders how much of that was strained politeness, and which feelings truly hide within the two.

By the time he’s made his rounds and helped out where needed, his entire body aches with anxiety, heartbeat irregular and head spinning. The nausea from earlier that morning comes back, just a little at first, but it keeps building and building, until Chifuyu feels about three seconds away from throwing up the light lunch he had.

The world feels hazy around him when he makes an excuse to Takemichi and quickly takes his leave, letting instincts guide him, the only thing that keeps him setting one foot in front of the other. He keeps his head down, barely taking notice of his surroundings, just following the path until he picks up a familiar scent and finds himself standing amidst a clearing, slowly coming back to his senses now that his omega picked up something safe to cling to.

He heaves a sigh of relief at the sight of Hanma’s hut, nausea settling just a bit when he drags himself over to the deck. With effort, he slides the door open and steps inside, eyes sweeping over the somewhat familiar inside of his mate’s hut.

Being there feels similar to the ceremony, like Hanma’s scent wrapping around him in a comforting embrace, hovering all around him, watching over his shoulder and looking over him.

A purr starts building in his chest while he toes off his sandals and slides the door shut behind himself, tension gradually slipping off his shoulders.

It’s been ages since he last purred while alone, unsure when the last time was that he needed the self-soothing habit— that realisation kicks the last of his rational brain down, senses overtaken by both omega and wolf.

Without really meaning to, he finds himself walking to the back of the hut, to where Hanma sleeps. His scent is stronger there, clinging to the pillows and blankets that make up the alpha’s bed.

Chifuyu frowns, staring down at the mess, and sets to work. He takes apart the upsettingly unorganised mess of blankets and pillows and then builds it up again, laying everything out in a way that does make sense. His mind is pleasantly empty while he works, arms moving on their own, just focused on making a proper nest and inhaling lungfuls of Hanma’s scent.

Sweat on his brow and slightly out of breath, Chifuyu stands back with his hands on his hips, carefully assessing his nest to make sure it’s up to standard. There’s still something off about it, something he can’t quite place, so he rearranges everything again.

His purr stutters in his chest while he works, broken up by frustrated whines. The nest is laid out neatly before him once more and it’s still wrong, so incredibly wrong.

With a swimming vision and a pathetic whimper, he gets up off the floor and looks around the hut, eyes scanning the space and trying to figure out why this is so hard, and why it’s still so wrong.

Finally, his eyes land on the chest behind him, and Chifuyu inhales sharply, relief washing over him when he spots the solution to his problem.

Hanma’s clothes smell even more strongly of him, despite being clean. They quickly join the carefully arranged blankets and pillows, and finally, Chifuyu can rest easy. He lies in the middle of his nest, arms spread wide, panting up at the ceiling with a little smile on his face.

Rationally, he knows he shouldn’t hide out here for the rest of the day, and he definitely shouldn’t do so with the intention of waiting for Hanma to get back, but it’s so comfortable and soft. The nest is as perfect as it can get and it’s safe, the closest thing to his mate’s presence that he can get.

A little nap to clear his mind won’t hurt. Chifuyu is sure that by the time he wakes up, he’ll have forgotten all about Keisuke’s worrisome behaviour and the last of the nausea will have slipped away. Really, he’d be much more useful to the pack if he calms down a little. Most of the work is done anyway, and if anything comes up, Takemichi will surely cover for him.

His purring picks up, entire body vibrating with it, and his mind is lulled into a content, hazy state. He rolls onto his side and grabs one of the pillows, clutching it tightly in his arms.

The robe Hanma wore on the night of their ceremony is spread out over the pillow next to him, and Chifuyu buries his face in the soft material, letting his mate’s scent carry him to sleep.

Chifuyu wakes up alone.

Maybe a small part of him had hoped that he’d be woken up by Hanma, and a slight twinge of disappointment tugs at him, though he pushes it away quickly.

He stretches his body with a groan. The nausea did settle and his thoughts are more clear, though the thoughts of Keisuke quickly return, reawakening some of his worries. More than anything, he wishes he could stay right here and pretend the world doesn’t exist for just a little longer, but the last rays of sun are filtering in through the windows, and he knows dinner time is fast approaching.

It’s with effort that he forces his sleep-heavy body out of the nest, immediately feeling the pull to burrow back into it the moment he steps outside of Hanma’s hut, but he pushes through it, scolding himself internally for his laziness and the longer-than-intended nap.

The entire walk over to the communal hut is spent with coming up with excuses for his absence and perhaps also with hoping that when he gets there, Hanma will have made his arrival, too.

By the Gods’ blessing, once he reaches the clearing in front of the communal hut, no one seems to hold his disappearance against him. The few pack members that are still outside just smile and nod, and then leave him be.

The sky slowly darkens while Chifuyu stands outside of the hut, leaning next to the door, waiting and waiting, trying to keep his hope at bay, until the last pack members have made their way inside. He waits just a little longer, staring up as the stars start showing themselves.

Only then, when the murmuring of the pack starts to turn impatient, does he go inside the hut. The disappointment feels a little ridiculous—he’ll know Hanma will return sooner or later—but it’s hard to ignore his omega’s displeased whining about his mate not being there yet.

For a split second, Chifuyu feels the urge to go after him. He vaguely knows where the lake is and even though he cannot shift, the journey wouldn’t have taken him more than a few hours, even while human.

But the thought leaves him just as quickly. As tempting as it is, he knows he needs to make his way inside and join the rest for dinner. He needs to be a leader, especially after failing to be one for the entire day, but it feels wrong to walk inside the hut on his own. It’s achingly familiar to do so, the memories of his first few weeks with the pack, facing them on his own so often while Hanma refused to step up as their alpha and easily abandoning Chifuyu— they sting more now that he knows what it’s like to have Hanma by his side.

It’s only been a week of them acting like a true bonded pair, sharing the responsibilities that come with leading the pack, and Chifuyu knows he shouldn’t be pouting all the way over to the head table. He feels a little ridiculous doing so but still smiles, not really finding the need to scold himself over being this spoiled after such little time.

Because he truly cannot deny that it’s been nice; feeling the support of his mate, and being able to support him in turn.

Reaching the head table, he turns to face the pack, managing to wipe the smile off his face just in time and save himself the embarrassment of later having to admit that it was the thought of Hanma that made him look that dopey.

“Let me start off by saying I’m sorry for my absence during the day, and on behalf of our alpha— I apologise that he isn’t back yet.” He shrugs and despite his best efforts, grins. “Guess catching fish is harder than chasing down a boar all day.”

Soft chuckles sound around the room and Chifuyu joins them for a moment, waiting patiently until everyone quiets down again.

“I have no doubt that in my absence, you all carried the pack’s responsibilities with care and grace, and I’m very thankful. Starting tomorrow, I’ll commit myself to—”

“Are you feeling better?”

Chifuyu’s eyes jump in the direction of the familiar voice and inhales a little shakily when he finds Takemichi’s wide-eyed concern.

He can’t help but glare a little at his friend. Sprinting out with clear morning sickness and then excusing himself with a nasty case of nausea wasn’t exactly subtle, and Takemichi’s eyes had turned very knowing that afternoon, but Chifuyu had stupidly hoped that they could keep it between them, and that the omegas who saw him rushing out of the hut that morning would keep their mouths shut about it.

With more attention, he looks around, and notices that only a small part of the pack is looking at him expectantly. The other half looks more neutral and with that comes some relief— it seems that not everyone has heard about him suffering from morning sickness. Then, he could easily wait to make the announcement, maybe get away with thanking the few that do seem to have caught on for their silence privately, when they’re all getting ready to sleep.

It really wouldn’t be right to share the news without Hanma there. Just the thought of doing it makes Chifuyu feel slightly sick to his stomach, but at the same time, it doesn’t feel right to lie to everyone, and he will have to tell them sooner rather than later.

The decision is made for him when he catches the eyes of the pack members that seem to have caught on to his pregnancy— Kotoa’s small smile, Takemichi’s concern, and Nahoya’s excitement.

Chifuyu wants to share this with him, he realises, and he’s sure that Hanma will forgive him for breaking the news without him there. Maybe it’d even be a nice surprise, walking in to the hut to a chorus of congratulatory shouting.

“I am feeling better,” he tells Takemichi, before turning to the rest of the pack. “And…”

For some reason, the words refuse to leave his lips. Like a punch to the gut, a feeling of uneasiness hits him, and he feels overexposed, all alone in front of everyone. Fear creeps up his spine and immediately, some primal instinct takes over, telling him to keep his pregnancy a secret and not place himself in a vulnerable position in front of people he really hasn’t known for all that long.

Without really meaning to, he takes a step back, one hand shooting out to rest against his stomach, the beginning of a growl forming in his chest. The room blurs together— no more friendly faces, but instead, strangers, no familiar scents, nothing to grasp onto, nothing to make him feel safe.

Just as he’s crouching down into a more defensive stance, a snarl threatening to spill out, movement by the entrance of the hut catches his eye. The hostility he felt dies down, like he’s emerging from water, the world around him sharp in an instant, almost overwhelmingly so.

Hanma is staring at him, wide-eyed, one hand raised as if to reach out, but otherwise frozen where he stands.

And in that moment, Chifuyu is overcome with relief, his shoulders sagging with it. He can breathe again and feels safe enough to drop his defensive stance, standing up straight with a little embarrassed smile.

From the entrance of the hut, Hanma drops his hand, visibly heaving a sigh of relief. The betas that joined him at the lake trickle in past him, quickly finding their seats and temporarily distracting the pack, who turn their attention away from Chifuyu to greet the latecomers.

Temporarily relieved from their attentive gazes, Chifuyu takes his time to look at each and everyone of them, warmth filling him when he watches them all interact with one another, easy smiles and soft conversations.

The fear fully fades, leaving him with nothing but calmness and comfort.

It’s true that he doesn’t know this pack for very long. He doesn’t share the history with them as he does with the people he left behind. With many of them, he is still establishing a bond, still working on building trust, but they’re here. They’re looking at him with kindness and with patience, and by the time winter comes around, his pup will be born among them, partially raised by them, nurtured and loved by them.

He has nothing to fear from any of them. They’re as much his home as his previous pack was.

With a smile, he looks back at Hanma and jerks his head, motioning for his mate to join him.

Hanma doesn’t waste a second, rushing over and weaving through the tables, patting a few of the people that greet him on the back, but not slowing down in the slightest. He takes his place next to Chifuyu and wraps a hand around his wrist, leaning closer. “Are you alright?”

“I am.” Chifuyu bows his head to look at his own hand sliding up, grasping Hanma’s. “Thank you.”

Standing side by side, arms pressed together, Chifuyu shares the news, barely getting the full sentence out before the hut erupts in loud cheers.

“About earlier…” Hanma begins, leaning in, but he falls quiet when Chifuyu turns to look at him, and he averts his eyes.

Chifuyu rolls his eyes with a grin and squeezes Hanma’s hand. “You once told me we’d have all the time in the world to get to know each other once we were mated,” he says, attention pulled away from Hanma by movement in the corner of his eye— pack members scrambling up and making their way over to the head table. “We have time, alpha.”

Hanma starts to say something else, but is interrupted by Ryusei flinging himself at them, wrapping them both in an embrace that is bordering on painful, only easing up a little when Hanma growls at him in warning.

They sit down afterwards for a less formal dinner, their table crowded by several pack members, shooting various questions their way.

Chifuyu lets the other’s excitement heighten his own. A pup, he thinks, the realisation finally and fully settling, his heart swelling as it does. Their pup.

Sitting among them, he notices for the first time that his usual scent of mint isn’t as sharp and un-omega as it usually is. Instead, it’s softer around the edges, and more than that, it has an undertone of something earthy, like the forest.

It’s both of their scents, mixed together, and when he leans to the side, pressing himself more firmly against Hanma, he can smell the fresh hints of mint mixed with the smell of wood and charcoal as well.

Chapter Text

The weeks following the announcement of his pregnancy, the pack feels more peaceful and harmonious than it usually does. The end of spring nears, temperatures rising steadily, and with the coming of a new season, the daily tasks shift just slightly. Most of the pack now spends their time working the rice paddies, getting them ready for the seedlings to be planted before the beginning of summer.

They don’t let Chifuyu help with any of the hard work, so most days, he settles for taking care of smaller chores while overseeing the digging of new irrigation trenches, usually while seated at the edge of the fields.

Chifuyu suspects it’s Hanma doing— the pack’s refusal to let him do any physical labour and them not seeking him out for instructions as much anymore. For every day that passes, his mate is brimming with more and more nervous energy, barely keeping control over his alpha instincts to be overbearing and overly protecting.

It eventually reaches its peak when Chifuyu’s barely past the four-week mark.

“You shouldn’t be carrying that,” Hanma says, nodding at the basket Chifuyu had in his hands, containing exactly one blanket and and a shirt, its weight comparable to a baby bird, maybe two. “As a matter of fact, I think it’d be better if you didn’t do anything that requires lifting heavy stuff, or just— anything that spikes your heart rate.”

And Chifuyu, who hadn’t slept well and just spent the better part of the day on the verge of being sick, maybe reacts a bit too strongly, throwing the basket down and hurtling accusations at Hanma’s head, ranting about not being weak and useless.

To Hanma’s credit, he lets him rant and rave until he wears himself out. Then, the alpha bends down, picks up the basket, and firmly tells Chifuyu to go lie down, muttering something under his breath along the lines of: “If you won’t listen to me, the others at least will.”

So it would be: Chifuyu, betrayed by the pack he trusted with the news of his pregnancy, turning against him in his time of need to band behind Hanma and force him into a more passive role.

He makes his displeasure clear for a few days, shunning everyone from his general vicinity and sleeping alone in a corner of the omega hut, but the change of pace slowly grows on him, until he starts to actually enjoy it. Silently, of course.

For as much as he is annoyed and wants to prove himself, still feeling a little useless now; forced to sit by the sidelines and let himself be on the receiving end of the pack’s care and attention— fact remains that his morning sickness still ruins the start of every single day, and it usually lingers until the early afternoon.

None of that makes Chifuyu as weak as Hanma believes him to be, but it does leave him tired and irritated, more susceptible to being grateful for his forced inactivity.

This temporary lapse of judgement leads him to apologise, sort of, after three days of moping around, bringing a peace-offering of Hanma’s mended clothes and a tentative smile.

“I’ll admit it’s nice that I can take it a little easy and know things will be taken care of,” he says, dropping the pile of clothing in Hanma’s lap. “So let’s compromise— I will still do some work, I will occasionally carry a basket that’s heavier than a feather, but I will also take regular breaks and not wear myself out too much.”

So, they compromise.

Hanma shows up every morning to help with Chifuyu’s nausea, staying close by his side on the days when pack responsibilities don’t require him to be away from the village, and Chifuyu, well… He allows it, even going as far to admit that Hanma’s presence helps with his morning sickness, though he emphasises it’s just because of his bonding mark and omega biology that make him naturally calm whenever his mate is around.

Their routine strengthens and solidifies like that. Rather than just working together to make sure the pack runs smoothly, they also seek each other out more often. Usually it’s so Hanma can complain about the day while Chifuyu waits his turn to complain about his pregnancy, but it changes gradually, into something more akin to friendship.

“It’s actually physically impossible,” Chifuyu says, for what might be the seventeenth time that day, rolling his eyes at the eager way Hanma drags his hands over his stomach.

“It’s not.” Hanma barely glances up at him and applies just the barest hint of pressure. “I swear I can feel a change.”

“What you feel is me being bloated and miserable.” With a chuckle, Chifuyu pushes Hanma’s hands off and turns his body away, picking up his knife and the fish he’d been cleaning. “Or, maybe, I’m just getting fatter because you insist on feeding me thrice the amount of food nowadays.”

With the day coming to an end, pack members slowly trickling back from the different areas they’d been working in, Chifuyu had the foolish hope that he could escape just one day of Hanma seeking him out and getting his hands all over him. He’s been claiming for weeks that he’s able to feel Chifuyu’s belly growing and is seemingly determined to catch it actually happening, like it’s some instantaneous event rather than a gradual thing.

“You’re scrawny,” Hanma grumbles, picking up a fish of his own. “It’s not impossible to feel changes already.”

“It’s pretty impossible at this stage.” Chifuyu rolls his eyes and taps his knife against the fish’s scales, counting out the weeks that have passed since telling the pack. Eight, if he’s not mistaken, though he would have to check the wooden slab he’s been using to keep track of time. “You’re just slowly losing your mind.”

Hanma hums. “That’s not a recent development, trust me. But I’m not stupid. I know what I feel, and if it’s not the pup growing, then—”

Chifuyu isn’t fast enough to duck out of the way, screeching out his displeasure when Hanma traps him in his arms and gropes his chest with both hands.

“—your tits definitely are.”

“Don’t refer to my chest like that!” With a growl, he manages to escape Hanma’s hold and scoots away from him, to the furtherest edge of the communal hut’s porch. “You’re a terrible mate and I hate you.”

Hanma’s eyes soften at the words, something that’s been happening more and more every time Chifuyu scolds him. “So what should I call them once they start growing?” He ignores another growl sent his way and scoots closer, bringing the basket of fish with him.

“Let me remind you that I’m a male omega.” He glares at Hanma, no real heat behind it, and then looks down at the fish in his hands, starting to scrape off the scales. “They’re barely gonna grow, so don’t get too excited.

“Oh.” The sudden drop of Hanma’s voice makes Chifuyu look up at him, breath hitching in his chest when he catches sight of the hungry look in his mate’s eyes. “But I am— I am excited.”

There hasn’t been a repeat of anything close to what happened in the river. They haven’t talked about it either, or about the nest that Chifuyu left behind in the alpha’s hut. The only confirmation he got that Hanma even saw it, was after they added another requirement to their compromise.

After the initial offer, Chifuyu hadn’t dared go back to Hanma’s hut without a new invitation, and just a little over a week earlier, he’d gotten one. It was more of a demand, really, Hanma insisting on Chifuyu taking daily naps in his hut. He’d found a poor imitation of his nest then, an obvious attempt to rebuild it, but lacking an omega’s touch to really do a good job.

Chifuyu rebuilt it with ease, and ever since then, whenever he goes back to Hanma’s hut to seek out his comforting scent, either to nap or work on chores when the nausea gets too bad, he finds his nest remade, sloppily, but with care and attention.

Eventually, they’ll have to talk about it, he knows that, but their silence brings with it a strange excitement. It’s clear that something changed between them. They exchange easy touches and both seek out the other’s closeness more and more often, but it’s a very subtle change and not talking about it…

Not talking about it— there’s anticipation building because of it. Each day, the tension between them increases. It grows heavier for every time Hanma reaches out to lay his large hand over Chifuyu’s stomach, covering so much of it, and it becomes thicker for every time Chifuyu initiates the touch, taking Hanma’s hand and laying it there himself, secretly craving the satisfaction that comes with feeling so small under his mate’s fingers.

Talking about it might be necessary in the long run, but for now, Chifuyu wants to enjoy this new and unfamiliar territory that stretches out in the ever-shrinking distance between them. He wants it to keep growing, until he can’t breathe through the thickness of it anymore, and then he wants it to rip him apart at the seams, to see it fully bloom in Hanma’s eyes, and—

“Mitsuya is back.”

Chifuyu swallows a startled shout and whips his head up, meeting Hakkai’s wide-eyed stare. Unease starts building immediately— Hakkai never uses Mitsuya’s last name, and he doesn’t look excited for his mate to be back, his body tense, shoulders unnaturally squared.

“He didn’t take the main entrance.” Hanma’s scent sours, raising Chifuyu’s alarm even more. “Hakkai, why—”

Hakkai shakes his head. “He wants to speak with you immediately. He’s waiting in his hut.” When Chifuyu gets up as well, Hakkai shakes his head again, almost looking hesitant before he speaks. “He asked for just you, alpha.”

“I don’t lead this pack on my own,” Hanma snaps, taking Chifuyu’s hand. “Let’s go.”

“Hakkai,” Chifuyu calls, looking over his shoulder, dragged along already. “Tell Nahoya to prepare a more elaborate dinner— I’m sure Mitsuya needs it.”

Softness sweeps over Hakkai’s features at the command, and he nods, keeping his head bowed, both hands clasped behind his back.

They reach the hut in a short amount of time, both of them breathless when they get there. Hanma immediately moves to enter, but Chifuyu pulls him back, tightening his hold on his mate’s hand.

“You’re worried.”

Hanma takes a deep breath before he looks at Chifuyu and allows himself to be pulled one step closer. His expression is one that he doesn’t wear often— solemn, the face that befits a head alpha, but one that looks both foreign and strained, a far cry from his usual indifferent arrogance.

“If Mitsuya didn’t take the main entrance, a complication must’ve come up,” he says with a nod. “I’m not sure what kind, but it can’t bode well, so please, let’s go inside.”

Chifuyu isn’t sure why he does it. Maybe because he’s nervous as well, maybe because he doesn’t like the way Hanma smells at the moment, but whatever it may be— he stands up on the tips of his toes and throws his arms around Hanma’s neck, pulling him down so he can rub his nose against the alpha’s scent gland.

Unsure of what to say, Chifuyu just keeps them like that for a moment, breathing in deeply and for the first time around Hanma, focuses on releasing calming pheromones, letting every emotion of Hanma’s he feels through their bond guide him in doing so.

Hanma stays tense at first, but then he breathes in deeply and melts against Chifuyu. His scent slowly but surely clears, the sour edge to it disappearing until he smells like himself again, and only then does Chifuyu let him go.

“You omegas and your manipulative bodies,” Hanma grumbles, looking everywhere but Chifuyu as he straightens up. “Let an alpha worry in peace.”

He still grabs Chifuyu’s hand when he steps up to Mitsuya’s hut, knocking on the wooden doorframe once and then sliding the doors open.

Mitsuya’s hut isn’t as large as Hanma’s, but it’s still bigger than most of the beta and omega huts, befitting an alpha that might want to grow their family, though it only houses Mitsuya, his sisters, and Hakkai.

The alpha sits alone, a low table between him and the door, a rough-looking teapot and three cups set out in front of him. He smiles when they enter and then gets up, approaching Hanma to shake his hand, but keeping his distance from Chifuyu.

“Hakkai told me the happy news,” he says, which explains the distance he keeps from Chifuyu, bowing shortly before sitting down again. “Congratulations.”

Hanma mumbles his thanks, leading Chifuyu to the table and letting him sit first.

“Though…” Mitsuya rubs the back of his neck, chuckling slightly. “I am happy to see you both, I think it’d be more appropriate if—”

“He’s my mate,” Hanma cuts in with a sigh. “Whatever you need to tell me will get back to him anyway.”

Up close, Mitsuya looks tired, his polite smile not reaching his eyes. “Well, alright. I’m sorry.” He nods at Chifuyu. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

“You didn’t.” Chifuyu frowns. “You look terrible. Don’t you want to rest more? I’m sure this can wait.”

Mitsuya shakes his head. “It can’t, but… if you’re here, I will start with good news regardless.” His hands shake when he goes to pour tea for all of them. “Your mother sends her love. She is doing fine, though she really misses you.”

And though Mitsuya clearly has other pressing matters to discuss, Chifuyu can’t help surging forward, heart constricting painfully at the mention of his mother.

“Is she sleeping and eating enough?” he asks, reaching forward to grab Mitsuya’s hands after he sets the teapot back down. “And the rest? How are the pups? How is Ouri? Are they all keeping warm and playing nice? The little ones, they get so rowdy and—”

Hanma swiftly breaks the connection between Chifuyu and Mitsuya with a swipe of his hand, a possessive gesture Chifuyu can’t find it in his heart to dislike.

“Sorry.” Chifuyu clears his throat, smiling a little sheepishly. “Got a little carried away.”

“It’s alright,” Hanma says, other hand sliding up Chifuyu’s back, coming to rest lightly on the back of his neck. “I’m sure we can spare just a little more time to discuss good news first.”

Mitsuya smiles, looking from Hanma to Chifuyu. “It’s good to see that you two have grown closer.” The words cause some heat to rise on Chifuyu’s cheeks. “Your mother would be pleased. She asked a lot about you, Shuji, and if— when I go back eventually, I’m sure she’ll be happy to hear Chifuyu hasn’t killed you yet. As for the rest. Ouri, he presented as an alpha. Keisuke’s mother, Ryoko, took him under her wing for now.”

“An alpha,” Chifuyu repeats, smiling, brimming with pride. He never doubted it, but it’s still nice to get the confirmation. “I’m glad Ryoko is watching over him.”

Chifuyu thinks about the woman he gave his coat to, barely surprised to connect the dots between her and Keisuke. It makes sense, he supposes, and he’s glad that Ouri is getting a good mentor, even if he has to miss out on seeing the boy grow into a man.

“As for Mikey, settling down went smoothly. There have been some attacks, but no grave injuries. Some of the neighbouring packs have returned now that…” Mitsuya cuts himself off, a pained expression overtaking his features.

“Now that an alpha is leading alongside my mother,” Chifuyu supplies, fighting to keep the bitterness from his voice, desperate to ignore how heavy his heart feels. “It’s okay, Mitsuya, you can say it how it is. I knew as soon as the first attack happened that I’d made a mistake not accepting one of the packs’ alphas as a mate.”

Hanma growls, and Chifuyu is ready to chalk it up to another bout of jealousy at the mere thought of him being mated to another alpha, until his mate speaks.

“Cowards,” he sneers. “You’re a proficient leader, omega or not. Your pack was just ambushed and outnumbered. If they’d banded behind you in the first place instead of fleeing, you could’ve easily beaten the hostile pack.”

Chifuyu looks at him, the anger in Hanma’s eyes, and has to swallow a content purr. “It’s alright,” he whispers. “I’m here now. Let’s not dwell on the past.”

“Kisaki’s been building a stronger alliance with them,” Mitsuya continues after a beat. “They swore loyalty to your mother, and Mikey’s considering leaving an alpha behind once he returns to ensure they’ll keep their word, at least until the pup, Ouri, comes of age.”

“He shouldn’t have to,” Hanma snaps. “An omega—“

“Needs an alpha in order to lead,” Chifuyu cuts in sharply, despite the words burning on his tongue. “Can we move on, please?”

Mitsuya looks at both of them before he answers, some hesitance in his eyes, but he seems to think better of challenging Hanma’s decision to have Chifuyu there for a second time.

“I came across a smaller pack on my way here. A week’s worth of travel or so away. They had set up a temporary camp, clearly not intent to stay there, but settled for the time being.” He looks at Hanma. “I took the west route, so I suspect they came from there.”

Chifuyu frowns. The west. It rings a vague bell, but he can’t quite place the sudden spike in Hanma’s scent— how it doesn’t quite sour, but rather, how it deepens with alarm.

“Did you approach them?” Hanma sits up a bit more, the hand that he rested on Chifuyu’s neck sliding down to rest against his back instead.

“No. There were about ten of them and only one of me. I rushed here, taking little breaks.”

Chifuyu looks from Hanma to Mitsuya, their solemn expressions, trying to piece together the conversation and make sense of it.

“Ten of them…” Hanma’s scent darkens even further. “Were they… Did they smell…”

“They didn’t smell the same as…” Mitsuya falls silent, quickly glancing at Chifuyu before resettling his attention on Hanma. “As the others, no, but they were clearly not associated with the older packs.”

Hanma growls. “I see. Have you informed Izana yet?”

“Of what?” Chifuyu asks before Mitsuya can answer. “What is— what is happening?”

Slowly, Hanma pulls his hand back, resting both on the table in front of him, his head bowed down. “You remember what I told you about my sire?” He takes a deep breath. “He ruled over the west, but after his death… Let’s say that, nowadays, nothing good comes from the west.”

Mitsuya makes a noise of agreement. “If they’re straying closer to our border, that’s… troubling. I ended up taking an alternative route, following the river behind the heat hut, so I wouldn’t lead them directly to Izana, should they pick up my scent.”

Chifuyu still doesn’t understand, but the way Hanma and Mitsuya are speaking, their expressions both solemn, has dread slowly building. “Why is this troubling? Is the one leading the west now an enemy of this pack?”

“No one leads the west.” Hanma sighs, still not looking at him. “That’s what’s troubling. They— it’s complicated, but they have— if they’re spreading beyond the west, it’d be foolish of us not to prepare for an attack.”

“An attack? Why? Why would they…” Chifuyu trails off, unsure of how to finish his sentence.

He isn’t some naive pup, he knows that there’s always a struggle for territory— Hanma even told him so. But he also told him that their pack is surrounded by allies on all sides, that there’s nothing to worry about. Yet, the dark and unsettled scents of both alphas make it clear that the threat this smaller pack poses is a serious one.

Instead of answering, Hanma shakes his head and covers one of Chifuyu’s hands with his own, finally lifting his head to look at Mitsuya. “You’ll visit Izana and Yuzuha’s packs tomorrow. Bring them the news.”

“I’ll leave at sunrise. If neither keep me for too long, I should be able to visit them both and then return by nightfall.” Mitsuya takes a sip of his tea, holding his cup with both hands, still shaking a little.

“You should rest more,” Chifuyu says, mouth faster than his brain, something flaring up at the sight of Mitsuya so fatigued. “Hakkai and your sisters missed you. We can send someone else.”

Hanma turns to look at him, something strange in his expression, almost intrigued, curious.

“I don’t need to rest.” Mitsuya smiles. “I appreciate it, but both Izana and Yuzuha know I carry messages, they both trust me to do so. Someone else showing up— it’d be strange.”

Chifuyu turns to look at Hanma, hoping that his eyes alone can carry the message he wants to send, repeating his mate’s own words back at him with just a lift of one eyebrow: “If you won’t listen to me, the others at least will.”

Short and small, so quick Chifuyu almost misses it, Hanma nods and then turns to look at Mitsuya. “You heard him, Takashi.” He raises his chin, looking down at the other alpha. “Go rest properly, spend time with your family. We’ll send Rindou and Ran instead. Izana likes them, and Yuzuha at least respects them.”

Mitsuya looks like he wants to protest, his mouth opening and closing a few times, eyes jumping between Hanma and Chifuyu. Then, he shakes his head and chuckles. “Quite the mate you got there, Shuji. He’s really rubbing off on you, huh?” With visible effort, he pushes himself to stand, nodding at Chifuyu. “Thank you, omega.”

“We’ll let you get that rest,” he says, waiting for Hanma to stand up so he can take his hand and let himself be helped up.

The air feels a bit colder when they step outside. Clouds obscure the sun, casting the world in a grey haze. Whatever hangs between him and Hanma feels the same— slightly cold and devoid of colour.

Chifuyu waits until they’re crossing back over the bridge to reach the beta area, tugging on Hanma’s sleeve to get his attention. “Alpha. I feel like I’m missing important information.”

They come to a stop at the beginning of the path leading past the beta huts. A few pack members are seated on their porches, too busy to notice them, taking care of the last chores before dinner.

“When my sire died, I was too young to take over in his stead.” Hanma doesn’t look at Chifuyu, his attention focused a little further ahead, watching two older pups play some kind of game, running up and down the road. “So, they settled for a more separated way of living— a few older bloodlines, who kept to themselves, and smaller packs.”

“What about your…” Chifuyu bites his lip, hesitating, unsure of how to address Hanma’s other parent, only now realising that he never heard a thing about them. “Your dam? Why didn’t they take over leadership?”

Hanma tenses up at the mention of his other parent. “My— my mother… She wasn’t— she had already died by then. She was also an omega and not from the west, so they wouldn’t have followed her either way.”

Chifuyu nods. His knowledge on the west is practically non-existent. The north kept to itself, and none of the other packs seemed eager to traverse a region that’s covered in snow most of the time. It turned out to be a blessing and a curse— it kept them safe, but it kept them ill-informed, unprepared, and entirely wrapped up in a false sense of security. They never saw the attacks coming.

It’s one of the many things he wish he could have changed. If he had been more curious, if he’d had the sense to think ahead and connect more with the other territories, expand their allies, then maybe— maybe a lot of things, he supposes.

“There isn’t anything in particular that worries me about the west,” Hanma continues. “Or about this small pack being from there. It’s just… odd, I suppose, that they chose to leave their own territory behind in pursuit of ours.” He looks at Chifuyu then, a smile on his face, but something guarded in his eyes. “These attacks, they happen from time to time, from all kinds of different directions. I was simply taken aback when Mitsuya mentioned the west, but I promise, there’s nothing to worry about.”

Maybe Chifuyu would’ve believed him, if his omega wasn’t so acutely aware of the alpha’s distress, picking up the faintest hint of it in his scent. Hanma’s fighting to keep it under control, that much is clear, but why, Chifuyu cannot for the life of him figure out.

He wants to push for more, take Hanma by the shoulders and let him know that the secrets he keeps— they’re unmistakably there, he isn’t doing a good job at guarding their existence, just their contents, and Chifuyu wants— no, needs to know.

Staring up at Hanma, Chifuyu realises that he wants to share the burden. Not for the sake of his position, but for the sake of his mate, for the tenseness in his shoulders, the furrow of his brow, and the thin line of his lips.

“What do we do?” he asks, because he knows that pushing for more answers when Hanma clearly doesn’t want to share them would only distract from the issue at hand. “How do we proceed from here?”

Hanma blinks at the mention of we and his features soften. “Now,” he says, taking Chifuyu’s hand and starting down the path again, “we prepare.”

That same night, they ask everyone to stay seated after eating, and Chifuyu stands at Hanma’s side while the alpha calmly explains the situation.

The hut is bathed in soft lantern light and more quiet than it would usually be. Most of the pups have already fallen asleep in their parents’ laps. They’re the only ones without clear worries, the little ones, asleep without a care in the world.

Chifuyu hopes that no matter what happens, they can remain that way, ignorant of the danger that lurks around them. He hopes that each and every one of them can still fall asleep in their parents’ arms by the time autumn comes around.

For the most part, he’s been silent, letting Hanma lead the conversation, which he does with confidence— inserting his own opinion, but leaving enough room for the rest of the pack to give their input.

Chifuyu is grateful for it. He’s had to discuss matters like these before and he’s not sure he could keep his voice even if he’d been asked to lead.

Sleeping arrangements will be changed for the time being. The omegas agree to open their hut to the other parents and their pups, all of them sleeping together with the little ones safe between them.

Each night, either Hina, Ryusei or Mitsuya will keep watch, laid out on the porch, shifted to their wolf.

Work in the fields, usually divided among fifteen betas, gets passed onto the few that make it clear they do not want to fight, and will be supported by a changing roster of omegas. This to make sure that if an attack happens, the ones that offer their strength to fight won’t be fatigued by a hard day’s work.

“Thank you to those who will fight.” Hanma takes a moment to look at each member and nod at them. “I will try my hardest to make sure you won’t need to.”

The betas who will fight, should the need arise, join the small group that used to patrol the territory, a task that used to fall on just the shoulders of Hanma, Choji, Chome and Chonbo. Patrols will turn into a constant affair, where they would usually be carried out only during the night.

Childcare will become less of a pack-affair. Takemichi and Hina take on the responsibility of keeping the pups safe, fed, washed and entertained. Not even the oldest of the pups, Luna, will be allowed to go anywhere without supervision.

“An attack is most likely to happen at night,” Hanma says, nearing the end of the gathering. “Which means that you probably won’t be seeing me during the day, when I join patrols, so I can be here when the risk is highest. So, ah—” He chuckles and shakes his head, losing some of the grace he’s been carrying himself with as head alpha. “This feel redundant to say, really, but if there’s anything you need during the day, seek out Chifuyu. He’ll be there to take care of anything that I’d usually do.”

“So, business as usual then, oh great and incompetent leader?” Ryusei calls, drawing a few chuckles from the pack.

Chifuyu groans, rubbing a hand down his face, glancing at Hanma between his fingers.

The alpha purses his lips and glares at Ryusei, the rest of the pack falling silent in an instant. Everyone seems to hold their breath, but then Hanma chuckles, and visible relief sweeps over the room.

“Sure, business as usual. Gods know he runs this place better than I do.”

The atmosphere in the hut, tense and attentive until then, changes into something more pleasant, a gentle murmur of pack members picking up.

Chifuyu frowns when he spots Keisuke, the only one silent in the crowd, his eyes narrowed at Hanma.

“That being said.” Hanma holds up a hand, and the hut falls quiet again. “I don’t just trust the pack with him— I trust my mate with you, too. Look after him in my absence, or the attack won’t be the only thing to worry about.”

“Why are we even worrying about the attack in the first place?” Keisuke spits, standing up. Next to him, Keiko stirs in Kazutora’s hold, though the girl stays asleep. “Wouldn’t it make more sense for you to seek them out, instead of us waiting here like scared little birds?”

Hanma doesn’t react at first. He simply stares at Keisuke. Then, he slowly lifts his chin, he squares his shoulders, and he takes a deep breath.

“Why would I do that?”

“You know why.”

Hanma raises a brow. “Then you know why I won’t be doing anything of the sort. I suggest you sit down, Keisuke, unless you have anything of value to add.”

“Oh, I have plenty—”

“Kei-su-ke.” Hanma’s voice has a lilt to it, nearly playful, and all the more dangerous because of it. A chill runs down Chifuyu’s spine. It’s the first time he can spot a malicious glint in his mate’s eyes, something dark and strange sweeping over his features. “Sit. Down.”

It’s Kazutora who moves, grabbing Keisuke’s wrist and tugging him back down. He leans in afterwards, furiously whispering at him, one hand coming up to rest on his mate’s nape, grip visibly tight even from a distance.

No more questions follow. The atmosphere is tense again. It stays tense while everyone trickles out, and it’s still tense when the hut is empty, just Chifuyu and Hanma left.

They stand in silence for quite a while before Hanma deflates a little.

“What was that about?” Chifuyu asks, looking his mate over.

The alpha smiles, no traces of his earlier demeanour left— his expression soft and open, eyes half-lidded and his scent warm. Chifuyu figures that flash of something he saw was nothing more than strong wave of annoyance his mate must’ve felt, on edge just like the rest of the pack now that a potential attack is looming over them.

“Nothing for you to worry about, omega, I promise.”

“And yet… I do.” Chifuyu rolls his eyes. “Why won’t you tell me?”

Hanma hums, clasping his hands behind his back. He starts walking away from the head table, slowly making his way over to one of the other tables to put out the lantern there. “Why don’t you sleep with me tonight?”

“Excuse me?” Chifuyu follows his lead and walks to another table, putting the lantern out. “Why?”

“Oh, I don’t know. Because you smell sour and terrible, so you’re worried, maybe even scared, and napping in the little nest you built me has been calming you down for a while, and… you know.” Hanma gestures at himself. “Alpha.” He nods at Chifuyu next. “Omega. Mated. All that stuff.”

Chifuyu raises one eyebrow. “Didn’t we just agree on quite rigid sleeping arrangements?”

“Well, yeah, but you’d be just as safe with me.”

“You said that you sleep where you do, because a small pack would attack from there. I don’t see how that’s safe.”

“Mitsuya said they’re a few weeks away—”

“I wish you didn’t keep so many secrets from me,” Chifuyu cuts in, and Hanma immediately snaps his mouth shut, suddenly very interested in the lantern he’s holding. “And— I sort of hoped that the first time you’d invite me to sleep together, you’d do so because you wanted to, not to distract me from those secrets.”

Hanma glances at him. “I do want to.”

And truthfully, Chifuyu does, too. The nest he made is comfortable, much more spacious than where he usually sleeps, and his omega aches for the way Hanma’s scent clings to it.

“A lot of mated pairs will be forced to give up their privacy for a while, sleeping together in one hut,” he says instead of admitting any of that. “I don’t think it’d look good, considering our positions, if I disregarded the rules we just set to sleep with you.”

Hanma sighs. “What use is our position if we can’t take advantage of it?”

“Alpha…” Chifuyu tries to resist, for a moment, walking over to Hanma. He immediately loses that battle, his feet moving before he can even think to stop them, and takes the lantern from his alpha, setting it back on the table. “After all this is over, and you were being serious, we can… maybe try to sleep together.”

“Might have changed my mind by then.” Hanma grins, though he doesn’t look at Chifuyu, eyes downcast. “Or maybe you will.”

They won’t. They both know they won’t.

“Walk me to the omega hut,” he says, not bothering with a direct answer when they both know what it’d be.

The hut is crowded and mostly quiet when they reach it. It seems no one wasted a second settling in for the night, and Chifuyu is glad for it— glad for the silence, glad to see everyone together, glad for the rest no one hesitates to take.

Ryusei, who is on guard duty for the night, isn’t there yet, most likely having returned to his own hut to shift.

“You’ll keep them safe, won’t you?” Chifuyu whispers, fingers around Hanma’s wrist, standing side by side in the doorway.

There is a single lantern lit, hanging from the far wall, but other than that, it’s dark inside. Chifuyu can just make out Souya and Rindou, lying next to Takemichi and Yuren, the spot where Chifuyu sleeps left empty, waiting for him to join.

“Yeah,” Hanma whispers back, though there’s some hesitance in his voice, the undertone of it settling uneasily with Chifuyu. “I will.”

Snow crunches under Chifuyu’s feet, sinking into it with each step. The cold is biting at his cheeks, the tip of his nose is numb, and his breathing comes out in heavy clouds.

A strange smell hangs in the air. He knows he has smelled it before, but he can’t quite place it. It’s tangible and heavy, guiding him as he weaves between the trees.

The forest stretches on endlessly. The river comes into view, but no matter how long Chifuyu walks, he doesn’t reach it.

I shouldn’t be here, he thinks. Turn around, now, don’t waste a second, turn and run, never look back.

He never reaches the river. It stretches out in the distance, it’s close enough that Chifuyu can hear it, but it stays just beyond reach, the sound of its rushing water mocking him.

The snow in front of him colours red. Just a small trail at first, but then it turns into an ocean, vast and wide, spanning as far as the eye can see.

Death. The stench of it lingers in the air.

His hands are shaking. His entire body is shaking. The world spins around him, tilts and warps and writhes, but he doesn’t fall, doesn’t falter.

They lie in the middle of a small clearing. They never reached the river. They will never see the river again.

The snow soaks the material of his pants when he falls down to the ground. His fingers sink in the thick layer of white.

Chifuyu doesn’t feel cold. He feels hot, unbearably so, ready to tear his heavy coat off— but who would he cover with it? Mother or child?

This was her fifth winter, and now she lies in the snow, surrounded by red. The only comfort is knowing that she died quickly— her throat bitten through, but no other injuries.

Then, rasped breathing, the soft croak of a voice, and Chifuyu is crawling through the snow. He feels it seep through his clothes, legs drenched, but the sensation doesn’t reach him.

Her coat has been ripped. Her lips are turning blue. Her stomach is torn open.

Yet, she still speaks her last words, voice weak and wavering, each wheezing breath drawing her closer to the end.

“Is she… alive?”

“Yes,” Chifuyu breathes, cupping her face in his hands. “I will take her back. Don’t worry.”

She closes her eyes, her face—still so young, so beautiful—crunching up in pain.

“Monsters,” she whispers. “They… were… monsters.”

Chifuyu doesn’t wake up with a gasp, he doesn’t wake up bathing in sweat. He wakes as calm as he does every time he sees their faces in his dreams, and sits up.

He doesn’t call them nightmares. Doesn’t want to mar their memory with such an ugly title.

But refusing to name them as such doesn’t stop his hands from shaking, doesn’t calm down his upset stomach, and it doesn’t make sleep return to him.

As carefully as he can, he gets up, casting a glance over the hut, doing a quick count, a sigh of relief leaving his lips once he confirms everyone is where they should be.

On his way out of the hut, he stops a few times, tugging up blankets and covering his sleeping pack mates, whispering soothing words when some blink their eyes open blearily before falling back asleep.

Ryusei is out on the porch, his big wolf a welcome sight. He lifts his head from his crossed front paws and looks back at Chifuyu when he approaches, though he doesn’t get up from his spot.

Wordlessly, he sinks down next to the beta and winds a hand through his fur, petting him absentmindedly.

With a sigh, Ryusei shuffles a little closer, resting his head on Chifuyu’s lap.

Their names were Minori and Seina.

Minori was about Chifuyu’s age. They’d grown up alongside each other. She was loud, a little rude, and a whole lot of stupid, getting herself pregnant by an alpha from a neighbouring pack at a young age.

Nine months later, Seina was born.

Chifuyu helped birth and raise her. She had just started to loose her milky scent, it slowing changing into something soft and peachy, but she was robbed of fully maturing into it.

When Seina was still young, her sire had shown up to the village one day.

He remembers it well. The way Minori’s face had lit up. She was unwaveringly good, and the alpha treated her like dirt, ignoring her and Seina without a care.

It was Chifuyu he offered courtship to, clearly more interested in an omega with a position of power than the beta girl whose forgiveness he should be begging for.

Needless to say, Chifuyu almost killed him on the spot, and shared a bottle of rice wine with Minori later, until her tears turned to laughter. He promised her that night that if by the time his mother was ready to pass on her leadership to him and Minori still hadn’t found a mate, he would have her by his side and make Seina his heir.

They weren’t in love with each other, but there was love, so much of it. They made him laugh, they trusted him, and he would’ve done anything for them.

It’s the hardest promise Chifuyu ever had to break.

He stopped crying at their memory a long time ago, but the sadness never left, not really. He hears her laugh in the trees sometimes, can see Seina’s smile in the stars.

“Ryusei,” he sighs, absentmindedly petting behind his ears. “How long do you think you can blame yourself for something until it turns into an act of arrogance?”

Ryusei just sighs and drags himself up. He pushes his nose against Chifuyu’s chest until he gives in and lies down. Grumbling a bit, he curls his body around Chifuyu’s head and rests his own on his shoulder, his breathing a deep and even pattern, warm where it fans over the thin material of his shirt.

The hard wood under Chifuyu’s back feels like just enough punishment to ease some of the tightness in his chest. He closes his eyes. Sleep comes easy after that.

When Chifuyu wakes up again, it’s to a soft touch against his cheek. Groaning, he blinks his eyes open, cursing at himself softly when he becomes aware of how stiff and sore his body feels. Blindly, he reaches up and behind himself, but Ryusei isn’t there anymore. With a sigh, he closes his eyes again and leans into the hand still cupping his face.

“Just because I’m sleeping outside, doesn’t mean you have to,” Hanma murmurs, cupping the other side of Chifuyu’s face as well. “Why’re you out here?”

“Couldn’t sleep with Souya’s snoring.”

Chifuyu opens his eyes and smiles, Hanma now leaning over him, peering down at him with narrowed eyes.

“Want me to kick him out of the pack for good?”

“That’d be great.”

The sun has barely risen, the sky still soft and pink, the temperature still slowly rising.

“You feeling nauseous?”

Chifuyu turns his head and presses his nose against Hanma’s wrist. He inhales deeply, like his mate’s scent hadn’t already settled over him from their proximity, and finds that his stomach doesn’t feel all that bad. Maybe the solution to persistently waking up absolutely miserable was being woken up by Hanma all along, or maybe, it’s just a coincidence.

“I’m okay.” He sighs and pushes Hanma’s hands away, sitting up with a groan and rubbing a hand over his face. “You’re leaving soon?”

Choji, Chome and Chonbo are already waiting behind Hanma, standing just out of earshot, talking quietly among themselves.

“We’ll be escorting Rindou and Ran for a while, then break off and explore a little further along the borders of the territory.” Hanma straightens up and stretches his arms above his head, the sound of his bones snapping into place audible even to Chifuyu. “Can you get them for me?”

There’s a moment, just a single instance, where it looks like Hanma is about to lean in again and— what, exactly? Chifuyu’s hopeful omega insists, quite loudly, that his mate’s eyes just drifted down to his lips, and he promptly decides that it’s way too early to even entertain a notion that ridiculous.

“Wait here,” he yawns, ignoring the stab in his lower back when he stands up, once again cursing himself for sleeping out on the porch.

“Of course,” Hanma whispers only after Chifuyu crosses the threshold into the hut, the answer almost getting lost— so soft, yet carrying so many different implications.

Chifuyu rubs his eyes and grumbles under his breath, telling his omega to shut up, he’s not turning around and throwing himself at Hanma.

Some of the pack is already waking up, greeting Chifuyu with sleepy nods while he steps over the ones that are still fast asleep, navigating the crowded floor carefully.

Nahoya and Ran are on one side of the hut, wrapped around each other, the much taller Ran cradled in his mate’s arms.

Chifuyu watches them for a moment, taking in the rare sight of them so affectionate. They’re a strange pair, he thinks, two omegas of conflicting natures, from their personalities to their scents— Nahoya smelling of spices while Ran smells more light and flowery.

He almost feels bad about needing to wake them, kneeling down to gently shake Nahoya’s shoulder, somehow waking up Ran instead.

“What do you want?” he grumbles, looking Chifuyu over with clear disgust before turning his head and burrowing back in Nahoya’s chest.

Chifuyu definitely doesn’t feel bad about standing back up and lightly kicking Ran in the side, ignoring the snarl he gets.

“Our alpha’s probably waiting outside for you,” Nahoya mumbles, eyes still closed, not making a move to push Ran away. “Get up and stop being lazy.”

“Don’ hav’n alpha…” Ran sounds close to falling asleep again.

“Get him up and dressed, Nahoya,” Chifuyu mumbles, waving a hand dismissively and turning around. “Sooner he leaves, the sooner he’ll be back.”

Whatever answer Nahoya gives doesn’t reach Chifuyu, only just picking up the murmur of his voice, already on his way over to the other side of the hut, where he’s relieved to see Souya and Rindou already awake, though barely. They’re sitting up and are leaning against each other, still blinking sleep from their eyes.

“Truly your brothers’ brothers,” Chifuyu comments, letting his fingers glide through Souya’s hair as he steps past them, approaching his chest. “Hanma’s outside, Rindou. Time to get moving.”

“Gods…” Rindou groans while Chifuyu rummages through his clothes, quickly picking out something light and airy to survive the end of spring temperatures. “Which of the two I gotta visit again?”

“Yuzuha,” Souya answers, yawning his way through it. “Izana likes Ran more.”

“She hates me, though. Can’t we send someone else?”

Chifuyu rolls his eyes and turns around, still tying his pants around his waist, glaring at the back of Rindou’s head. “Stop complaining and get up to meet your alpha.”

“Why would I need to go to my alpha when my omegas are right here?” Rindou lets himself fall back on the furs, folding his arms behind his head and closing his eyes. “What if I only wanna serve—”

“As your omega, I’m telling you to get up. Now.” Chifuyu steps forward and prods Rindou in the side with his foot. “Don’t make me ask again.”

He pointedly ignores the curse that’s thrown his way, carefully stepping over Takemichi and Yuren, smiling at how they’re cuddled up together, also hoping for their sake that this will all pass quickly— so they can sleep with Hina again, instead of being separated from their alpha.

Chifuyu throws a look around the hut, taking note that Ran is getting up, though he looks deeply unhappy about it, before he starts making his way back outside, mumbling good mornings to whoever he passes.

A hand closes around his wrist when he passes Keisuke, Kazutora and Keiko, who he could’ve sworn were all still asleep a second ago.

Keisuke is looking at him when Chifuyu turns around, already sitting up, his long hair a tangled mess and his eyes barely open. “I need to talk to you,” he croaks, tightening his grip. “Just the two of us.”

The anxiety that Chifuyu carefully tucked away those weeks ago when he first saw Keisuke glare at Hanma picks up again, and all hope for a morning without nausea quickly fades away.

“Of course,” Chifuyu hears himself say. “Yes, after Hanma leaves, we can—”

“Don’t tell him about this and meet me at the river in a bit.”

Chifuyu forces himself to nod, unable to get a single word out, his stomach twisting and turning, his chest feeling tight. With effort, he pulls his wrist free and quickly darts away, only barely acknowledging the questions from a few if he’s alright.

His heart is beating a mile a minute, vision swimming a bit, worries overtaking every thought. Still, he manages to plaster on a smile just before he steps outside.

The sun has risen a bit more, its light warmer, the temperature slowly rising. Chifuyu’s eyes wander off to a patch of grass in the middle of the clearing and wonders if he should pull it out later or just let it be. Lining the clearing, the omega huts look empty without their usual occupants sitting out front, having their quiet beginning to the day.

“They’re coming?”

Chifuyu jolts a bit, somehow managed to have forgotten that Hanma is still there, standing on the other side of the doorway.

“On their way. It’s still early. Had some trouble getting up.”

The three betas look like they’re getting ready to shift, so Chifuyu walks over to them, leaving Hanma on the porch, to take their clothes as they undress. They mumble their thanks, never men of many words, and then step away to shift.

Clothes in hand, Chifuyu hurries back to the porch, sure that if he has to hear the sound of bones bending and breaking, he’ll definitely lose whatever semblance of control he has over his emotions.

“Are you alright?” Hanma asks, and Chifuyu turns to look at him, finding his mate carefully studying him. “Your scent is off.

“Tired. Sleeping out on the porch wasn’t my brightest idea.” He nods and turns his head away, looking the three wolves that now stand in the clearing over. “You’re not gonna shift with them?”

Hanma steps closer, his arm brushing against Chifuyu’s. “Need to talk something over with Ran first. Can you look at me?”

Chifuyu does with a sigh. The soft look in Hanma’s eyes somehow makes him feel even worse.

“Everything’s gonna be alright, you know that, yes?”

Chifuyu nods, a little stiffly. If Hanma thinks he’s worried about the current situation, that’s good. Not that he isn’t, but Keisuke— something about him worries Chifuyu more.

Thankfully, before Hanma can give more of his soft reassurances, Rindou and Ran appear in his peripheral vision, and Chifuyu is quick to turn to them.

Hanma repeats his request to speak with Ran, so it’s only Rindou who strips out of his loose pants to shift, having the courtesy to walk a few steps away first.

Rindou’s wolf provides a temporary distraction. It’s the first time Chifuyu sees him shifted and he is nothing short of beautiful— white fur starting from his belly, blending upwards into a softer brown, his back and head a dark grey. His build comes closer to that of an alpha than a beta and his scent is stronger like this as well, going from barely perceptible to a smokey amber.

It’s almost an automatic thing to hold out his hand for the beta, beckoning him closer so he can run his fingers through the soft fur on the side of his head.

“Come back safely,” he says, Rindou’s eyes drooping a bit in agreement. “I’ll look after Souya.”

Rindou presses his nose against Chifuyu’s hand and then trots ahead, joining the three others, sniffing around them a little.

“Have Souya look after you too.” Hanma sighs and strokes his fingers through Chifuyu’s hair, taking another moment to look him over, a question in his eyes that Chifuyu doesn’t give an answer to.

The wind changes direction, just a soft breeze, passing from Hanma to Chifuyu. It carries a hint of burned wood, and Chifuyu wonders when he got so incredibly sensitive to changes in his mate’s scent.

After hesitating briefly, he takes Hanma’s hand and pulls him closer, the alpha immediately leaning down and baring his neck.

“I’ll be sure to carry my sword,” Chifuyu mumbles, pressing a dry kiss to Hanma’s scent gland, running his nose over it afterwards.

“Thank you.” Hanma breathes him in. “Don’t go looking for trouble.”

Chifuyu doesn’t say how trouble usually has a funny way of finding him anyway. He just nods and slowly takes a step back, until he can lean against the hut and watch as Hanma approaches the rest with a sharp whistle.

He’s followed by Ran, the pair quickly surrounded by four attentive wolves.

It’s like going back in time, watching Hanma crouch down to connect with each of his betas, one by one, holding their heads and making eye contact for several seconds.

Somewhere between then and now, Chifuyu started to notice warmth spreading more and more for every time he looks at Hanma from afar. Each time, he seems to find out something new about his mate, and the tries to look for something now, too.

Yet, he can’t. No matter how hard he tries, all he can notice is everything that he’s already familiar with— the way Hanma’s hair is always a little messy, falling over his shoulders in a tangle of dark waves. When he’s crouching down like that, he always sways a little at first, like he needs a moment to readjust being that close to the ground, being as tall as he stands.

All these little things, Chifuyu takes in. Superficial things, but also the way Hanma hardly ever smiles around others, how his eyes are always alert, following all movement around him.

Whatever Keisuke is about to tell him, Chifuyu prays it doesn’t change these things. Maybe that’s why he commits them to memory, staying rooted in place as the group leaves, watching Hanma’s back as it grows smaller and smaller.

Only when he can’t see them anymore, does Chifuyu move, turning and walking back into the hut. He keeps it all close to his heart, just in case, even when he forces himself to stop expecting the worst.

Keisuke is already there by the time Chifuyu has done every chore imaginable, trying to keep himself busy and meet the other omega with as clear a head as possible. He thinks it worked— his nausea settled some time ago and his heart is calm.

At Keisuke’s instruction, Chifuyu sits down in the grass. The other omega walks a few steps further, coming to a stop on the edge of the river.

Chifuyu has never seen him look so uneasy— fingers tapping against the sides of his legs, shifting his weight from foot to foot. Before he knows it, he’s releasing calming pheromones in an attempt to calm Keisuke down.

The other omega picks up on it immediately. His shoulders lower a bit and he turns, his expression softened a bit. Not quite smiling at Chifuyu, but close to it.

“You’re a good person,” Keisuke begins. “I gotta admit, if I didn’t like you as much as I do, I probably wouldn’t even be telling you all this and just let stuff play out as it will. But… I see how you are with Keiko, I see how you help Tora, and you deserve to know.”

Chifuyu swallows thickly. “Just tell me. I feel like I’m going to be sick.”

Keisuke nods and steps closer, taking a seat in front of Chifuyu and crossing his legs. “The others, they didn’t want me to tell you this, but if I were in your position, I’d wanna know too, so…” he sighs. “We’ve all been keeping Hanma’s secrets for him and it’s time you know them as well.”

The feeling of dread in the pit of Chifuyu’s stomach deepens, coiling hot and heavy. “I’m not sure I want to sit here and disrespect my mate, listening to gossip about—”

“It’s not gossip. It’s history— this pack’s and the Hanma pack’s.”

“Still—”

“Chifuyu.” Keisuke frowns. “I’m not about to tell you this for a laugh. I’m telling you this because— because you and your pup might be in danger.”

Silence settles around them. Chifuyu can’t even hear his own breathing, or the sound of his heartbeat, it’s all just silence.

“What do you mean?”

Keisuke looks at him for a moment, studying him carefully. “Has Hanma told you about his bloodline, his father?”

“His sire,” Chifuyu corrects, almost automatically, tone flat. “He has, about his sire, yes.”

“Then you know his… sire tried to invade our territory.”

Chifuyu’s silence speaks volumes.

Keisuke’s eyes widen. “He didn’t tell you that?”

“He… he told me that his sire had been making his way over here, but not that… he reached it.”

A low growl forms in Keisuke’s chest. He grips the material of his pants, knuckles turning white.

“I knew it,” he hisses, eyes narrowing. “I knew he was lying to you, or you never would’ve—”

“Please.” Chifuyu tries to keep his voice steady. All sounds around him come back at full force— the rustling of trees, his own shaky breathing, the erratic beating of his heart. “Please, tell me what I need to know, what—”

Keisuke nods, scooting forward to squeeze Chifuyu’s knee, and then letting his hand rest there. “I’m sorry. I’ll— it’ll be alright, okay? The full history, I’ll tell you, and it’ll be alright.”

With a steady tone and a grounding hand on Chifuyu’s knee, Keisuke tells him that the west invaded back when Shinichiro still lead the pack, when Keisuke and Mikey were around nine years old. Hanma’s sire came to them peacefully at first, requesting a formal meeting with Shinichiro and the three men he kept closest to him.

“I wasn’t present for it, obviously, but from what I later heard, he talked down to Shin, being an omega in charge, and demanded he give up his power and join the west.” Keisuke presses his lips into a thin line. “I did see him, briefly, Hanma’s sire… I’ve never seen someone with eyes that empty, but with so much disgust. He looked at me like I was the lowest filth he’d ever laid his eyes on, and— he looked at everyone like that.”

Chifuyu clenches his fists, nails digging into his palm, heart constricting at the description, knowing that the man must’ve looked at Hanma like that as well.

“He and Hanma…” Keisuke sighs and shakes his head. “They look identical. It’s uncanny. But that’s beside the point, I suppose. I don’t know. It doesn’t matter. What does matter, is that after Shinichiro refused him, the attacks started happening.”

Attacks. Hanma hadn’t mentioned anything about attacks, only said that his sire was ‘proficient’ in taking over territories, and that Hanma had been too young to participate in any fights. But actual attacks, on this pack, the pack they’re leading together— why had he kept that to himself?

“Nowadays, as you know, Izana rules a big part of the south, Yuzuha another, forming one big entity with Mikey, all of them with equal power. Back then, it was different. The entire south was under Shinichiro’s leadership. Our village stood at its centre and used to be even bigger and more densely populated. All of that changed thanks to Hanma’s sire.”

Why, is all Chifuyu can think, why did Hanma keep this information to himself?

“For months, they attacked. The smaller villages on the outskirts of the territory, they burned them all down, and those who didn’t die in the fire, they killed. Not just the fighters. They went after omegas and pups, betas who didn’t join the fight— no one was safe.” Keisuke averts his eyes, his fingers tightening on Chifuyu’s knee. “They chased the survivors all the way to our village. I just— I was so young, but I remember— smoke and fire and death. So much of it. So many lives were lost.”

Chifuyu brings up a hand, fingers tracing the outlines of his scar, eyes downcast as well.

“They were monsters,” Keisuke whispers, and Chifuyu’s breathing hitches.

Monsters. They were monsters.

Chifuyu can feel the colour drain from his face. There’s a pit in the bottom of his stomach, sucking up every last shred of positivity he has, growing and growing, steadily creeping up towards his chest.

“But then, the attacks stopped. Just like that.” Keisuke sighs. “News travelled fast. The leader of the Hanma pack died and his only heir disappeared, and in the absence of a leader, the west fell into disarray pretty quickly.”

That isn’t new information. Hanma had at least told him about the current state of the west and his sire’s death. He’d just forgot to mention the events that preceded it. Chifuyu’s chest feels hollow by then, like the pit in his stomach swallowed up all of his emotions. He barely manages to lift his head, finding Keisuke already looking at him.

“Go on,” he whispers, throat dry, tongue heavy. “Please.”

Keisuke nods. “What you need to understand about the west, is that they’re a traditional people. The Hanma pack had been in power for generations at that point, so when their leader died and his heir disappeared, they refused to follow anyone that wasn’t from their bloodline. A struggle for power began almost immediately, until the entire western territory tore itself apart, but thankfully, doing so behind their own borders.” He relaxes his shoulders and his fingers grip Chifuyu’s knee becomes less tight. “After years, some sort of calm settled and the threat of the west faded to just a painful memory. We rebuilt a lot here, but we lost so many, the territory never went back to its former glory. Now it’s the big three villages and a few smaller ones scattered about, but that’s it.”

“I’m so sorry. I— I had no idea, I didn’t— the north is so disconnect, I—”

“You have nothing to apologise for.” Keisuke leans forward, gently taking both of Chifuyu’s hand, and squeezes them. “For what it’s worth, I think the few older bloodlines in the west tried pretty desperately to keep this all to themselves. A lost heir, no leader, fighting packs— it’d be the perfect set of circumstances for another pack to invade and try to take control.”

Chifuyu presses his lips together and nods. He knows that Keisuke is waiting for him to ask— to ask how this ties in to Hanma, why he is telling Chifuyu all of this, but he is having a hard time forcing the question past his lips. He knows the moment Keisuke starts telling him more, there will be no going back, and that the knowledge he wants to share will change things for good.

And even more than that, Chifuyu really doesn’t want to process what Keisuke is telling him, so he takes a moment and closes his eyes.

The grass they’re sitting on tickles against his feet. The river rushes steadily, undeterred, ever-flowing. The wind rustles the trees’ leaves, a gentle harmony, and the sun that’s filtering through them shines without a worry.

It’s warm. The air is light. Keisuke’s hands are rough, but they’re gentle in the way they hold Chifuyu’s, and he opens his eyes again, taking a moment to appreciate how the sun lights up Keisuke’s eyes, warm and rich, caring in the way he looks back at Chifuyu.

He finds his voice again.

“The west. Do they know Hanma is here?”

“No. Kisaki said that when he found him, Hanma was nameless, but he recognised him immediately— everyone who’d seen his sire, they knew. There was no mistaking him.”

“Why did he agree to join this pack? Why did he flee the west?”

“Hanma has never once spoken about his reasons, but Kisaki… He can be very persuasive when he needs to be, and he’d do anything for this pack.” Keisuke’s features darken, just slightly. “I trust Kisaki because Mikey trusts him. He’s never done anything to harm the pack, but he can be, ah, ruthless about it.”

Chifuyu nods slowly, bracing himself when Keisuke continues.

“Between Kisaki first telling us about Hanma, and Hanma actually joining— quite some time passed, and when he finally did join…” Keisuke averts his eyes. “It was pretty clear that Hanma loved him.”

Love. Hanma loved someone.

“He tried to court Kisaki, but was pretty quickly rejected, and ended up staying. Swore his loyalty to Mikey not long after.” He looks at Chifuyu again with a sigh. “I wouldn’t be surprised if Kisaki somehow used Hanma’s affection for him to get him here.”

Keisuke is still talking, something about Hanma’s first year with the pack, but Chifuyu hardly hears a word, because Hanma loved someone. He had tried to court someone because he loved them, not because he was forced to.

He loved someone.

Chifuyu wonders what that looked like on Hanma. If he had been soft-spoken, if his eyes carried warmth. He wonders if Hanma enjoyed love.

Something strange and unfamiliar starts filling the pit in his stomach. It’s vicious, wild and burning hot. It makes his chest tight, makes it hard to breathe.

“He was never pleasant, but he made himself useful, just like Kisaki promised he would be,” he hears Keisuke say, distantly. “Took up his hut at the edge of the village, barely slept, always on the move. But it took him years to make any real connections, and even then, those are still mostly reliant on practicality, no real warmth.” Keisuke’s scent sours, his face hardens even more. “I never trusted him, and I promise you, I tried. Mikey trusts him, so why wouldn’t I?”

Chifuyu blinks and tries to ignore that strange feeling settling deep within him. He forces the thoughts of what Hanma looks like in love out of his mind, and wills himself to focus back on the conversation.

“Why— why did Mikey trust him?”

“This happened quite shortly after Shinichiro left the pack’s leadership in Mikey’s hands. I think maybe… maybe Mikey thought it gave him some kinda advantage.”

Deep breaths.

“Why don’t you?”

Keisuke sets his jaw. “Shortly after Hanma joined us, a pack from the east tried to attack us. They didn’t stand a chance in the first place— they were smaller, weaker, barely organised, and Hanma— he tore them apart. I’ve never seen anything like it. Not even— not even the western wolves that attacked us were are ruthless as he was. If they were monstrous, Hanma was downright demonic.” A visible shudder runs through him. “And— and I could’ve looked past that, but there is just something off about him, Chifuyu— he gets this look in his eyes sometimes and all I can see is his father.”

Chifuyu can’t find it in him to correct Keisuke that time. Instead, he gathers every piece of strength he has, and finally asks the question that’s been burning on the tip of his tongue.

“Tell me.” He studies Keisuke’s expression, stony and unchanged. “Why are you telling me all of this?”

“I have reason to believe that it was our pack who killed Hanma’s sire. It was a very secretive affair— if the west had found out, I’m sure they wouldn’t have fallen into chaos. They would’ve united behind a single goal: revenge for their fallen leader. The west is prideful. They wouldn’t have let us get away with it, and— and I don’t think they have.”

As if he hadn’t been feeling enough yet, fear starts winding its way around Chifuyu’s heart, restrictive and cold.

“I fully believe that it was the intention to end the Hanma bloodline that day, but somehow, his only son got away.”

“Keisuke…”

“And now— he’s here. After Kisaki, Hanma never had any interest in taking a mate, in making himself truly at home within our pack, until— until there was movement from the west in the first time in years, and— and now you are here. A stranger to our lands, unfamiliar with the Hanma pack, who wouldn’t see an issue being dressed in their colours and their symbols.”

Don’t continue, Chifuyu wants to plead, but he can’t seem to force the words past his lips.

“The west has been growing restless, and Mikey— he knows that if they were to ever unite, even if we beat them, they’d never follow him. He is an alpha who refuses to take a mate, refuses to have pups, and the west is too traditional, he could never keep them under control.” Keisuke closes his eyes, a deep frown on his face. “And Hanma… Hanma knows all of this too, and now he has a mate, a pup on the way, a connection to the west, and leadership over Mikey’s pack.”

Chifuyu shakes his head. “You said he loved Kisaki, that he might’ve joined because of him, and— and he wouldn’t betray someone he loved.” Would he betray me? “And so— so what? He has a way to rule the west now, that’s not— that’s his birth right, that’s not—”

“Chifuyu…” Keisuke lifts his head and looks at him, his eyes wide. “If what I believe to be true is correct, and I really think it is— then it’s not a coincidence that Hanma came here. I think that this was always his plan. Get revenge for his sire by taking over this pack, then go back to claim what is rightfully his.”

“No.” He shakes his head again. “No, you’re wrong. He— he loved— He wouldn’t betray someone he loved—“ Would he betray me?

“I think Kisaki realised Hanma’s true intentions after it was too late,” Keisuke whispers. “I think that’s why Kisaki wanted Hanma to take a mate— so that he might have a change of heart, and I think his plan backfired. I think for once, Kisaki made a mistake, and—“

“This pack wouldn’t follow him, they wouldn’t, he knows that, he would never even think of—”

“They would follow you, though. Especially after your pup is born here. They’ll have a strong connection to you, your pup, you know that. I’m not saying that everyone would follow, but some will, and that’d be enough to leave this pack vulnerable and for Hanma to get his revenge.”

“No,” he says again, bile rising up in his throat, burning on his tongue. “That’s not—”

“Think about it, Chifuyu, please. The moment Hanma knew you could give him what he wants, his behaviour changed drastically.”

Chifuyu pulls his hands back, every hair on his body raised. It feels like he can’t breathe, gulping down air desperately. “That’s not how it went. He didn’t need to keep being kind, he didn’t, but he did. You’re… No. You’re wrong.”

“He needs you, Chifuyu, he hasn’t gotten what he wanted yet.” Keisuke’s voice gets a sharp edge to it, just a tad louder than before. “He needs you to be loyal to him, he needs that pup to come into the world healthy and strong, and after that, he will still need you— for this pack and for the west.”

“No.” Chifuyu laughs, dry and humourless, and pushes himself to stand, swaying on his feet a little, dizzy and sick to his stomach and suddenly angry at the other omega’s audacity. “You don’t know him.”

“And you do?” To Chifuyu’s surprise, Keisuke doesn’t sound angry, just unnervingly sincere, his eyes wide and pleading as he gets up as well. “Why do you think he even accepted you as a mate, Chifuyu? After years of not wanting one? He needed someone he could fool, just like he did with Mikey and—”

Chifuyu lets out a warning growl. “Do not insult my intelligence.”

“Don’t underestimate what he’s capable of!”

“You’d do well to remember he is your alpha.” The words feel dirty, sour and rotten on his tongue, but Keisuke needs to stop talking, before Chifuyu does something stupid like believe him, before he can identify the feeling that’s sitting heavy on his chest and swirling wildly in his stomach.

Keisuke raises a brow and takes a step closer. “My alpha…” he says, soft and low. “Mikey is my alpha. Just because he put that mutt in charge, doesn’t mean I answer to him.” He looks Chifuyu up and down, lips curled up in disgust. “I tried to warn you, and instead of listening to me, an omega with your best interest at heart—“

“Don’t…” Chifuyu’s hands are shaking. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t get them to stop. His stomach continues to twist and turn.

“You, what, exactly? Purposefully close your eyes to a very clear truth and hide behind your alpha?”

“That is not what this is.” He clenches his fists, but they still don’t stop shaking. “I’m— I don’t believe you.” I can’t believe you. “He is my mate.” My pack in the north, my mother, my duty— they come first. “I trust him.” I can’t believe you. “And I suggest you start treating him with more respect.”

Do not make me question the foundation of my safety.

Keisuke barks out a laugh, no amusement in it. “It’s not the first time I’ve seen an omega roll over like a bitch the second they let an alpha bite them. I just thought you’d be different.” He tilts his chin up and squares his shoulders. “Talk to him, then, if you trust him so much. You’ll see— he won’t give a clear answer, not about his history, not about the west, about nothing.”

“I’m leaving.” I can’t believe you. I need to believe love can be strong enough to create loyalty. “Thank you, Keisuke.” Chifuyu turns on his heel and drops the stony expression he’d been maintaining. His bottom lips trembles, his vision is swimming. “Go help out Takemichi and do what the pack needs you to instead of wasting my time.”

“You’re letting yourself be fooled by him!” Keisuke yells. “By your pregnancy, by your bonding mark, by the ceremony— all of it!”

The first few steps away from Keisuke are the hardest, like he’s dragging his feet through thick water, struggling against the current. It gets easier after that, once he can no longer smell the other omega’s distressed scent.

He wonders what his mother would think of him now. He wonders if she’d be proud.

Chifuyu decides that for once, it doesn’t matter what she’d think.

He cannot afford to question the foundation of his safety.

Chapter Text

Heavy grey clouds hang in the sky. With every breath Chifuyu takes, he inhales them. They settle in his lungs, carrying the promise of rain, and they make their way through his body. The clouds take residence in his mind as well, fogging it over, until each thought gets swallowed up by the static in his brain.

“Omega? Are you listening?”

Chifuyu looks at the sky a moment longer before he drags his eyes down, focusing them on the pair sitting in front of him.

“I am.” Whenever he speaks, he tries to envision the clouds leaving his lips. They never do. “You gave Yuzuha permission to patrol our borders.”

Rindou returned earlier that morning, after four days away, and immediately sought Chifuyu out, Souya already by his side.

“I’m sorry for taking that liberty, but I was sure neither you or Hanma would take issue with it.”

“We don’t.” Hanma is away so often, Chifuyu has gotten in the habit of speaking for them both. It’s the only thing that chases the clouds away slightly, acting with kindness and patience, and believing that his mate would agree with that. “You made a good choice, Rindou. Thank you.”

“Of course…”

Rindou looks at Souya, worry in his eyes.

That sort of look, indirectly but clearly about Chifuyu, might have offended him before, but he’s seen different pack members exchange them so often— he really doesn’t care anymore.

“Chifuyu…” Souya’s voice is soft and careful. He tried several times over the past few days to have a real conversation with him, beyond the distant chats they’ve had about pack responsibilities. “Why don’t you spend the day with me today? We can tend my garden together or go to the river and help Pah-chin with the fishing traps.”

A smile comes easy, because Chifuyu does appreciate Souya’s offer. He just can’t accept it.

“Why don’t you two take a rest together?” he says, standing up from where they’d been sitting on the communal hut’s porch. “Rindou travelled far and you must’ve missed each other.”

Souya frowns. “What will you do?”

The clouds swirl. They’ve been trying to escape Chifuyu’s lungs, pushing against his ribs, trying to sink down into his stomach.

“I’ll go find Kotoa. It’s almost time for her to nurse Tetsuo.”

A hand closes around his wrist, pulling Chifuyu back before he can walk away. Souya is looking at him intently, his fingers tightening once their eyes meet.

“If you need anything, please come to me,” Souya whispers. “Whatever it is, I’ll receive you with love. Don’t be alone too much.”

“Look after each other,” Chifuyu says, smiling. He gently shakes his wrist loose from Souya’s grip and leans in, pressing his nose against the other omega’s cheek. “Makes my job easier.”

Love. Chifuyu still wonders if Hanma enjoyed love.

The nightmare changes.

There is red snow, as there always is, and Minori and Seina are there, like they always are, but then—

They start changing. The smell of blood and death grows stronger.

Chifuyu is rooted in place. He can only stand and watch as Minori and Seina’s brown hair slowly darkens. Their faces and bodies change, and when he blinks, they’re no longer themselves.

The snow is still red, and he’s staring down at Keisuke and Keiko’s mangled bodies.

In this new nightmare, Hanma is there, crouching next to them in the snow, his mouth still dripping with blood.

Hanma looks up, his yellow eyes wide and innocent. When he speaks, his teeth are unnaturally long and sharp, a grotesquely wolfish feature on his human face.

“It’s okay, sweet omega,” he says, his voice deep and warped. “I promised I’d keep you safe.” He smiles then, wide and wicked. “This is what love looks like.”

The clouds still don’t part, they keep hiding the sun, and Chifuyu diligently covers his scent glands with the masking mud he took from Souya’s hut when the omega was away. It has an earthy scent to it, not too heavy and not awfully effective, but enough to cover any drastic changes in his scent. Muddled just enough to hide sudden spikes in emotion, leaving him with a dulled mint.

Tension creeps into every crevice of the pack. It feels like everyone is collectively holding their breath. Still, they all fulfil their duties with their shoulders set and their heads held high.

Chifuyu likes to watch them from afar. It makes him feel useful, knowing he’s keeping an eye out, and it makes him feel safe, knowing he always has an answer at the ready.

“Are you alright?” Kazutora asks him, on another cloudy day, late in the afternoon.

“I am.” Chifuyu nods. “And you? I caught you twisting your ankle not too long ago. Are you resting it enough? Is there anything I can do for you?”

And like that, each time, he regains control, steering conversations in the direction he needs them to go, and he doesn’t have to think about the heavy rain clouds in his bloodstream.

He catches glimpses, every now and then, of Hanma. Early in the morning, when Chifuyu is sitting outside of the omega hut after another restless night, watching his mate gather the members he’ll take on patrol that day.

Hanma always notices him, but there is never time, and Chifuyu feels far too pathetic to walk over and get a moment with his mate before he’s off again.

Here is what Chifuyu allows himself to know.

He knows that when Hanma smiles, it’s a small and tentative thing, like he’s scared of it himself. He knows that the moment a single drop of sweat started forming on his brow, back when his alpha didn’t need to be patrolling the territory for most of his waking hours, Hanma was always there to take over.

He knows that if Hanma needs him, then he needs Hanma as well.

“Don’t you dare roll over for him,” his mother had told him.

“It’s not the first time I’ve seen an omega roll over like a bitch the second they let an alpha bite them,” Keisuke had said. “I just thought you’d be different.”

Chifuyu sits there on those mornings, clouds heavy in his mind, and wonders whose truth he is living.

Five days after Rindou returns, so does Ran.

If Chifuyu hadn’t been lying awake in the omega hut after another nightmare, staring up at the ceiling, he probably wouldn’t have known right away, because instead of seeking him out immediately, Ran quietly pads over to Nahoya and wakes up his mate.

It’s still dark, so it must be early, way too early even for the clouds to obstruct the sun.

With some clarity of mind, Chifuyu counts to twenty in his head and then carefully gets up, soundlessly creeping to the entrance of the hut. He nods at Ryusei, shifted to his wolf, lying on the porch.

Ryusei lifts his head and makes a low sound when Chifuyu walks past him. To appease the beta, he flashes his sword, tied around his waist as it always is.

After a moment of looking at him, Ryusei sighs deeply and lays his head down again.

Following the two omegas’ faint scents leads him right up to Nahoya and Ran’s hut, occupied for the first time since the pack changed their entire routine to prepare for an attack.

The masking mud Chifuyu has taken to wearing all the time, along with the wind’s direction being in his favour, allows him to sit next to their half-opened door undetected.

“I’m fine, Noya, stop fretting, and listen— listen!” Ran’s voice comes out in a hiss. Chifuyu has never heard him speak with more than a lazy drawl. “They share the pup’s suspicions, you hear me? Not just Izana, but Kakucho as well, they both looked troubled. I know I brushed off Keisuke’s concerns but if they are worried, it’d be stupid not to heed their warning.”

Chifuyu looks up at the still-dark sky. The moon is slowly making her descent.

“Slow down, slow down, what are you—“

“We need to get out of here. Take Sou and Rin, and leave. Izana offered to let us stay there, and as soon as we get there, we’ll send out a messenger for Mikey, and—“

“Hey, pause. Leave? Are you crazy?!”

“Things around here might not be safe, Nahoya. We have to—“

“I’m not leaving this pack on the basis of a few rumours, Ran! This is our home.”

“You are my home! I don’t care about this place. You promised me— we always come first. Me, our brothers, we come first!”

“Shuji isn’t with the west!”

“How can you know that for sure?! You’re too soft on him, you and Souya— but I remember, and I’m not living under another reign of terror at the hands of a Hanma!”

Silence follows Ran’s heated exclamation. Chifuyu holds his breath as well, whatever clarity he might’ve had when he followed them slowly being engulfed by a static haze.

Here is something else Chifuyu allows himself to know, sitting with his back against Nahoya and Ran’s hut. He knows that what happened in the west— it hurt many, many more than he anticipated.

Monsters, both Keisuke and Minori had said.

Chifuyu doesn’t allow himself to know the identity of the wolves that attacked his homeland. For once, he leans into the heaviness that clouds his mind.

At first, it seems like a regular morning.

Chifuyu wakes up surrounded by Souya and Takemichi, both of his friends with their backs to him, hugging Rindou and Yuren, respectively.

He feels groggy, barely rested, the faint flashes of red snow still tugging at his subconscious. But, it’s light outside, and he feels a little better, knowing that he managed to sleep through the night.

As carefully as he can manage, he gets up and walks to his chest, taking a moment to pick up the knife and carve a new line alongside the others on the piece of wood Souya gave him to keep track of time.

Ten weeks, exactly, since the start of his heat.

Chifuyu mulls that information over while he gets dressed. He imagines it as a shiny little rock, taking it between his fingers and turning it this way and that, inspecting it from different angles.

He keeps thinking about it. Tying his sword around his waist, he thinks about it. Walking out of the hut, he thinks about it. Chifuyu notes that it smells like rain when he walks outside, and then he stops, and he thinks about it.

Ten weeks have passed since his heat. That means, more than just the passage of time, that it’s been ten weeks since he got pregnant. Something shifts, and it does so right then, when Chifuyu inhales shakily and brings his hands down, laying them against his stomach.

His skin feels more firm, less of a give than he remembers last time he actually took a moment to press down carefully. To his greatest shame, though, he can’t remember when that was.

“We’ve only been together for ten weeks,” he mumbles, looking down at where his hands rest against his stomach. When he pulls his shirt taut, he can actually see just the faintest of bumps.

It’s only been ten weeks, it’s only a small bump, and the clouds don’t break all at once— but the first drop of rain falls, he can see a clear change in his body, and it’s already been ten weeks.

Chifuyu thinks then, what a curious thing it is, how something that will grow to be beautiful and small and innocent, could be created amidst sadness and anger and fear.

He’s seen it before, and has envied it from afar— Minori’s sadness and loneliness changing into happiness and warmth. He remembers, so clearly, the first time Seina smiled at him, small and fragile as she’d been back then, held in his arms.

There had been so many before her, and a few after her. Ouri comes to mind, the freshly-presented little alpha, separated from Chifuyu by endless stretches of land. At fifteen years of age, he remembers leaning the toddler on his hip and pretending, just for a moment, that the boy was his.

And after Ouri’s parents died, Chifuyu sat with him for hours. He remembers how Ouri looked that day, just a fourteen year old boy, all alone in the world.

“I love you,” Chifuyu had said, an arm wrapped around Ouri’s shoulders, and there was a promise hidden in his words.

Now, he stands alone, a trail of broken promises littered on the path that stretches on behind him. He never had the chance to make Minori his mate, he never formally named Seina and Ouri his children, but the promises, they remain. They’re all he has left, and they’ve stayed alive all around him, and now, they are alive inside of him.

They have been alive inside of him, for ten weeks now, no longer outside of his grasp, where they’ve been floating in the air.

Here is what Chifuyu knows. He knows that the rain doesn’t fall all at once, but it builds, from one drop to ten drops.

He knows that when Hanma looks at him, it’s with something small and tentative hiding in his eyes, and he knows now, that they are promises, fragile and carefully made.

It’s a promise not to hurt Chifuyu. A promise made in the space between their bodies, made in the fear that was so strong between them, the day that they came together to create something that will grow to be beautiful and small and innocent.

Chifuyu’s feet carry him away from the clearing, because he knows that he doesn’t stand alone at the end of a path littered with broken promises— he stands cherished and protected at the start of a path made of new beginnings and second chances.

In that moment, he needs to see Hanma and share this with him, and he needs to remember something his mother so often told him when he was younger; to follow his heart, and to trust in what it tells him.

The rain doesn’t fall all at once, it does so with a single drop, and when Chifuyu pants out breaths, he swears he can see the clouds in them.

He knows that there was never betrayal in Hanma’s behaviour, only fear, and he knows that he was handled with care at his most vulnerable, when they came together and gave life to something much bigger than themselves, even bigger than the pup they’ll get to protect and cherish.

And he knows— he knows that Hanma has loved before, and he knows that Hanma did enjoy love, has been aching for it again.

Because Chifuyu has loved as well. He still does, and it made him greedy and selfish, craving even more of it.

The rain does not fall at once. But it does fall. It drenches Chifuyu’s clothes, plasters his hair to his forehead, and it lightens the oppressive clouds that had taken residence in the very marrow of his bones, obstructing the rays of sunshine that had been begging to shine through.

When he reaches Hanma’s hut, the rain is coming down in torrents, deafening and unrelenting. He steps up to the porch, footsteps heavy on the wood but silenced by the rain, and finds the door slid open to just a crack.

Hanma’s voice is audible over the thundering rain and Chifuyu heaves a sigh of relief when he hears him. That relief makes him forget about his clothes sticking uncomfortably to his skin, it evens his breathing and calms his heart.

Until he registers the words that are being spoken.

“Mikey isn’t important,” Hanma’s voice sounds. “Never has been.”

And Hanma, he isn’t alone. Chifuyu freezes when he picks up Chonbo’s voice.

“I know that, but—”

“No buts. You knew from the start what my intentions were and you chose to follow me.”

The rain continues to fall. It doesn’t stop for anyone.

“Shuji, that’s not—”

“Or does my memory betray me?” Hanma’s voice sends shivers down Chifuyu’s spine. He’d sounded exactly the same when he addressed Keisuke. “Did I not ensure your loyalty by spilling blood? Do you wish to undo your oath? An eye for an eye, as they say.”

“I didn’t mean it like that. You know I didn’t.”

“I bet you didn’t. Yet I can’t help but hear the words you spoke.” A beat of silence. “I will give you one chance to apologise.”

Chonbo clears his throat. “I’m sorry… alpha. I’ll go and get Chome and Choji ready.”

“Good.”

There’s a shuffle of footsteps. Chifuyu can’t get himself to move, no matter how much he wants to.

“And Chonbo?” Hanma calls just as the doors slide open further. “Next time you want to come in here and question me like that— I suggest you’ll have your throat bared and are ready to face the consequences of your doubt.”

They come face to face. Chonbo’s eyes widen and he inhales sharply, taking a step back. “Omega…”

From behind Chonbo, Hanma comes into view. If he’s surprised to see Chifuyu, he surely doesn’t show it. “Aren’t you a sight for sore eyes?” He smiles, eyes so painfully fond.

Chifuyu thinks he knows there was never betrayal in Hanma’s behaviour.

“Could say the same,” he mumbles, eyes flickering between Chonbo and Hanma. “Thought I’d spend a short moment with you before you leave again.”

Hanma’s expression softens, and Chifuyu thinks he knows that there’s a promise in his eyes. “I’d love that. Chonbo was just leaving.”

The words unfreeze Chonbo, who’d been staring at Chifuyu with poorly concealed shock the entire time. He nods curtly and takes a step to the side. His departure doesn’t come with a verbal goodbye, just a quick glance at Chifuyu, lips pressed together in a tight line.

Chifuyu stays in the doorway, eyeing Hanma, unsure if the slight unease he feels is actually present in the distance between them, or just a figment of his imagination.

“Come in, please?” Hanma is holding out a hand, looking at him with concern. “You’re all wet. Let’s get you into something dry.”

“Yes… It was raining.”

Hanma raises a brow. He’s still holding out his hand. “I figured, yes.”

Smiling a little tightly, Chifuyu steps inside, though he doesn’t accept Hanma’s hand.

The sound of rain is dampened when Hanma closes the door, and Chifuyu feels his mate’s eyes burning into his back while he walks to the back section of the hut.

“How much of that conversation did you hear?”

“Honestly?” Chifuyu pulls open the chest containing clothes and glances at Hanma, who stands next to the fire pit. “Nothing, really. This temporary lull in morning sickness seems to have come at the expense of my concentration. I was zoning out a little, trying to catch my breath.”

Lying to Hanma doesn’t come as easy as Chifuyu wishes it would. He smiles at his mate again and then turns to pick out some clothes.

“That’s good.” There’s some rattling, the sound of Hanma taking out a teapot. “He didn’t have anything particularly interesting to say.”

Chifuyu presses his lips together. “Still, something I should know, despite it not being interesting?” He is surprised to find the robe Hanma wore during their ceremony back in the chest, when it had previously been a part of his nest. He looks over his shoulder. The rest of his nest is still intact, so why had Hanma removed the robe?

“I’m really happy you decided to drop by, did I mention that? It feels like forever since we last spent time together.”

The change of subject makes Chifuyu take pause. “It might as well have been forever,” he says after harshly swallowing down the bitter taste of distrust. “Can’t you let someone lead a group alongside Ryusei and Chonbo, instead of you? Occasionally?” Clothes laid out and chest closed, he turns to look at Hanma. “Keisuke, perhaps? He knows the land well.”

Hanma freezes, kneeling by the fire pit, teapot held in one hand, the other resting against his knee for stability. Chifuyu sees it clench into a fist, knuckles white. After a moment, he takes a deep breath and carefully hangs the teapot above the smouldering fire. “Keisuke isn’t fit to lead a group on patrol.”

“Oh.” Chifuyu tries to keep his voice light. “I’d say he’s quite capable.”

“Can we not talk about him?” There’s a tired edge to Hanma’s voice, and Chifuyu nods. “I’d rather hear about you, and how you’ve been.”

Chifuyu feels within himself the reason for his visit changing. That spark of happiness, though not fully clouded over again, it does dim, and for as hard as he’s been trying to push everything Keisuke said away— it comes back, like the first raindrops of a summer storm.

“That’s why I came,” he says, smiling, only half of a lie. With a jerk of his head, he motions Hanma closer, and is quick to untie the sword around his waist, the blade clattering to the ground. His soaking pants follow suit and Chifuyu is quick to pull on the thick cotton ones he found at the bottom of the chest. “Please sit?” His own shirt is still dripping wet, sticking to his skin, and Chifuyu waits until Hanma slowly kneels down in front of him, staring up at him curiously.

“So you can further undress in front of me?”

“Shut up and look.”

It takes a moment for Hanma to catch on, his eyes first following Chifuyu’s shirt as it falls to the ground, and then slowly trailing over his body, uncaring to hide the dark interest in his gaze as he lets it trail over every inch of exposed skin.

But when he does catch on—a moment after smirking at the blush that’s creeping up Chifuyu’s neck from the attention—his eyes widen and he gasps, immediately reaching out his hands.

That time, Chifuyu does accept them, stepping closer to his mate.

“You’re away so much,” he says softly, guiding one of Hanma’s hands to the slightest swell of his stomach, “that I didn’t even really notice without your paws all over me constantly.”

“It’s a change.” Hanma reverently runs his hand up and down Chifuyu’s stomach. “An actual change.”

It barely is, really, but Chifuyu keeps his mouth shut, unable to keep himself from smiling, watching as Hanma brings up his other hand as well, both of them fully splayed out against his skin, still big enough to cover most of his stomach.

“What do you think they’ll be?” Hanma whispers, voice full of awe.

“I don’t know… My maternal grandparents were an alpha-omega pair, and my mother was born the eldest as an omega, while my fraternal grandparents were a beta-omega pair. My father was the youngest and the only alpha in his family.” Chifuyu studies Hanma’s expression carefully. “What about… yours?”

Hanma’s smile falters, just a little. “Both of them came from a long line of strictly alpha-omega pairs. My sire was the eldest and… to ensure a strong alpha linage, they were only permitted to mate with second-born omegas that had an older alpha sibling.” Slowly, he drops his hands, sitting back on his heels. “Kept up the tradition for many generations.”

“Until you broke it.”

“Yes. Until I broke it.”

“Won’t—” Chifuyu licks his lips and swallows thickly, continuing to stare down at Hanma, even if his mate doesn’t look back at him. “Won’t our mating compromise any potential for you to return home?”

There’s a clear shift in Hanma. His shoulders stiffen just slightly, the corners of his mouth lower, and his eyes— his eyes dull, all light disappearing from them as he stares up through his eyelashes, cold and predatory.

Slowly, almost agonisingly so, Hanma rises to his feet, keeping his head down as he does.

At his full height, he towers over Chifuyu so easily, and it isn’t until that moment that he realises just how much bigger Hanma is. Not just taller, but bigger, and for the first time, he uses his full alpha presence to its fullest potential, lifting his head and staring Chifuyu down.

“Why, my sweetest omega, do I get the distinct feeling that you didn’t just come here to spend time with me and show me my pup’s growth?”

The term of endearment raises every single hair on Chifuyu’s body. “Your pup?” He tries to grin, to sound like he’s poking fun at Hanma, eyes flickering down to where his sword lays on the ground. “I think our pup is very much growing inside of my body.”

It doesn’t work. Chifuyu’s voice wavers and Hanma’s expression darkens.

“Why…” He trails off, raising an eyebrow as he follows Chifuyu’s line of sight to the sword. When he looks at him again, there’s absolutely nothing showing in his eyes. “Why are you bringing up the west, hm?”

Hanma steps closer, and Chifuyu thinks he knows that he has nothing to fear from Hanma, that his mate would never hurt him— but he still takes a step back.

“I’m not— I was just wondering, if maybe one day, you’d want to… go back.”

“Really?” Hanma lifts a brow. He’s so close now, Chifuyu needs to crane his neck to keep looking at him. “You just had this thought, all on your own, just like that?”

It’s not uncommon for Chifuyu to feel like he needs to watch his words around Hanma, but whenever he did before, it was because he knew pushing a subject would make his mate pull away from him, and never because— never because he felt like he had to be careful not to rouse anger in the alpha.

“Answer me,” Hanma says calmly. “What made you think, even for a second, that I’d wanna go back there, especially after everything I’ve told you about my sire?”

Chifuyu admits defeat much faster than he usually would, and it’s entirely the fault of his omega, flaring up more strongly than it ever did before. Protect echoes around his mind. He takes a step back, one hand coming up to cover his stomach, and he tilts his head to the side, baring his neck to his alpha and keeping his eyes down. The action is followed by a wave of nausea, by tears welling up in Chifuyu’s eyes, and his voice comes out as barely a whisper when he speaks.

“Keisuke came to talk to me.”

“You don’t say.” There’s a slight touch against the side of Chifuyu’s jaw and it takes tremendous effort not to flinch. “Don’t do this— standing all fearful and submissive and guilty. I’d almost think that you went behind my back on purpose.”

It takes a moment for the feeling to settle, but when it does, all the breath is stolen from Chifuyu’s lungs and he goes wide-eyed. The feeling he recognises, it’s fear. “I— I didn’t go behind your back, alpha,” he rushes out, overcome with the need to cower, his omega screeching to keep his neck bared and make himself as small as possible— a call he does not resist. “Neither purposefully nor accidentally.”

“Let’s decide together if you did or didn’t.” Hanma hums. “So, Chifuyu, tell me what he managed to convince you of.”

Nothing about this is right. This isn’t what Chifuyu came to do. If anything, this is what he’d wanted to avoid, for weeks now. But now that he’s faced with Hanma’s cold stare, he can no longer see a fearful child hiding in his mate’s eyes, and the sharp sting of fear only intensifies.

“Omega,” Hanma drawls, lazy and slow, before his voice breaks off into a hiss. “Tell me.”

Monsters, is what Minori and Keisuke called them. And here is what Chifuyu knows— he knows that the wolves that attacked his village came from the west, and he knows that the man standing in front of him shares a birth land with them.

Chifuyu thinks he knows that he has nothing to fear from Hanma, and yet—

“You’re scaring me,” he whispers, eyes squeezing shut.

There’s a beat of silence, and then Hanma makes an ugly sound, almost a snarl. He breezes past Chifuyu, who does flinch that time, but does not dare open his eyes.

Something hits him in the chest. Chifuyu can’t stop the gasp that escapes him, shoulders drawing up to his ears and other hand covering his stomach as well.

“Get dressed,” Hanma snaps, and then his footsteps are retreating.

Chifuyu opens his eyes and looks down. The shirt he’d picked out lies by his feet, his sword next to it. He’s quick to bend down and pick them both up. The shirt smells strongly of Hanma, and there’s tears welling up again, when despite everything, the scent is still soothing to him.

He’s quick to pull on the shirt, and only when he’s covered and his sword is tied around his waist again does he turn to look at where Hanma is sitting by the fire pit, staring intently at the teapot that hangs above it. The fire has died down, the tea isn’t being warmed.

“You think I don’t know what they say about me, Chifuyu?” His voice is flat. “Not just Keisuke, but— back in the west, as well. No one ever expected anything else from me, than following in his footsteps.”

“Hanma…”

“And now... Let me guess. You’re under the impression that I’m working to betray Mikey, and that I have been working, from the start, to include you in those plans without you knowing.” He turns to look at Chifuyu, his expression blank. “Isn’t that right?”

Chifuyu takes the bottom of the shirt between his fingers, to keep his hands busy and fight against the instinct to take a defensive stance. “I just want to know the truth.”

“So you went ahead and tried to get it from Keisuke?”

“That’s not what happened. He sought me out, and—”

“You listened.”

Outside, it seems the rain is calming a little.

With small steps, Chifuyu leaves the sleeping area behind, stepping down to get closer to Hanma. “What else was I supposed to do? You hardly ever tell me anything.” Softly, he adds: “I don’t know anything about you.”

“What?” Hanma quirks a brow. “And I know so much about you? It’s not like you’ve been an open book.”

Chifuyu crosses his arms, some of his apprehension melting away with the safe distance between them. “That’s not the same. There is nothing in my past that comes close to what yours seems to be.”

“If you knew my past, you’d know why I hid it from you.” With a sigh, Hanma averts his eyes, staring ahead. “We can’t all be as lucky to have lived lives that don’t need to be hidden.”

“Right.” Chifuyu laughs humourlessly, uncrossing his arms and stepping closer. “How lucky I’ve been in this life. Some of my closest childhood friends, some of the pups I’ve helped raise, men and women who helped raise me— murdered in cold blood. And now, mated to someone who kept his connection to their murderers a secret.”

Hanma nods, the corners of his mouth pulled down. “You hold me responsible for their deaths.”

“I hold you responsible for lying to me!” Chifuyu throws out his arms. The fear is all but gone now, replaced with something ugly, something that hurts. “If you’d have mentioned this to me earlier, we’d be having a vastly different conversation right now!”

“Would we?” Hanma looks at him again. “You want the truth, then here it is— I have no intention of returning to the west.”

And Chifuyu knows that no matter how much he wants to believe Hanma, there is nothing he can say but, “I don’t know if I can trust you.”

The words have barely left him when Hanma gets up again. He doesn’t take his intimidating stance, but a flash of emotion shows on his face and his scent spikes in clear anger. “Then why are you here, if you’ve already made up your mind?”

Chifuyu rips down the collar of his shirt, exposing his bonding mark. “How could I not be, when you’ve bound me to you and involved me in the web of your lies?!”

“I am not a liar!”

“Then show me!” Chifuyu storms forward, meeting Hanma in his anger. “Show me what else you’ve been hiding from me!”

“Why would I show you anything, when you stand with your accusations, and—“

“Show me!” Chifuyu yells, hands itching to draw his sword and recreate a situation he knows they’ve been in before. “Show me, or I’ll believe that you sent those wolves just so you could come to my rescue!”

The rain doesn’t stop falling all at once. It does so one drop at a time, building up to deafening silence and dry lands.

“Excuse me?” Hanma’s face twists and warps, his eyes wide and dark. “I’d advise you to choose your next words very carefully.”

“Or what?” Chifuyu bares his teeth. “You’ll let me get reacquainted with the violence of the west, alpha?”

Hanma balls up his fists, lips trembling, visibly fighting to keep calm.

“Why did you choose me to be your mate?” he whispers, and when Hanma only turns his head away, he can’t stop himself from spilling the poison that clouds his mind. “You can’t even lie to me about that… You can’t even look at me.”

More silence follows, and Chifuyu takes a small step forward.

Hanma still doesn’t look at him. His chest rises and falls rapidly, his fists shake by his sides.

“Who’s looking guilty now, hm?” Chifuyu narrows his eyes. “You told me to kill you, if you were ever cruel to our pup, so I will give you one chance to tell me— have you involved innocent life in a ploy to get revenge for your sire?”

The moment he says it, he knows he’s made a mistake. He knows, because all the anger fades from Hanma’s face, and the rain stops abruptly, and they’re left in silence.

And Chifuyu, he realises that all along, he never knew anything, and he realises that Hanma, he didn’t know either.

Regret rises up like bile, the sour taste of it exploding in Chifuyu’s mouth.

“Revenge… for my sire?”

A howl cuts through the silence, in the distance, carrying a question. It draws both their attention, turning to the door.

“Hanma—“

“I need to go.” He shakes his head, barely glancing at Chifuyu before he’s striding over to the door. “Fulfil my duties to the pack that’s expecting me to betray them for— revenge.” He spits the word out, shoulders hunching up as he goes.

“Wait!”

Chifuyu rushes after him, almost tripping on the too-long pants he’s wearing, a startled shout halfway out when he’s caught around the wrist and dragged back to his feet with a sharp tug.

Suddenly, Hanma is right there, nearly nose-to-nose, his grip on Chifuyu’s wrist bordering on painful.

“I chose you to be my mate because I wanted you to be,” he says with a strained voice, eyes jumping back and forth. “From the first moment I saw you— I just— I wanted you.”

Chifuyu shakes his head, his own eyes wide, vision growing less clear. “I’m— I’m sorry, I didn’t—“

“And you can tell Keisuke,” Hanma hisses, “that I’m not out here risking my life for this damned ungrateful pack for something as idiotic as revenge.” His fingers only tighten when Chifuyu tries to rip himself loose. “He is free to accuse me of being a coward, of being a monster, but if he ever insinuates again that I’d do anything to honour that man, those will be the last words he’ll speak.”

Chifuyu lets out a strained sound, free hand coming up to try and pry Hanma’s fingers off him. “Shuji—“

The use of his first name visibly takes Hanma aback. For just a flash, his expression turns vulnerable, but as if he catches himself, he quickly twists it into a snarl.

“I killed my sire,” Hanma growls, eyes wild and wide. He doesn’t look angry, the most crushing observation Chifuyu has ever made— he looks like a desperate, wounded animal. “And I’d do it a million times over, just to see the light disappear from his eyes. That is the truth.”

With one last look, one filled with so many things at once Chifuyu can’t bring himself to name them, Hanma releases him with a shove, turns on his heel, and leaves.

Chifuyu is frozen in place, staring at the door Hanma just left through, and here is what he knows.

He knows that the rain, it does stop, and sometimes, it does so suddenly, revealing a stark blue sky, no clouds in sight, and sunlight so blinding he can’t do anything but close his eyes against its burn.

After all the days he spent in a grey haze, the world seems violently bright. The trees, the occasional patch of flowers, even the lines of drying laundry in muted colours— it’s like they’re all purposefully vibrant, forcing Chifuyu to keep his head down and ignore their loud calls for his attention.

In a way, he doesn’t think he deserves to look at them, doesn’t deserve to take in all the beauty around him and should instead resign himself to face the reality of what he’s done and said.

The look in Hanma’s eyes before he left, a look of hurt and rage and betrayal— that’s the only thing that should be on Chifuyu’s mind, so he can remember the shame that comes with it.

His feet sink into the wet dirt of the main clearing when he enters it. The air still smells like rain, fresh and earthy, and Chifuyu wishes he could share the land’s relief, wishes he could feel replenished after days upon days of never-ending summer heat. He wishes his mind could cloud over again, so he could hide in the fog and float through the rest of his life.

Such niceties aren’t meant for him, though, they never have been.

Chifuyu is barely past the communal hut when he hears a call of his name, and even though he wants to keep walking and ignore it, he knows that he can’t.

With a sigh, he turns and faces his responsibilities. The weight of them have never felt heavier.

“Can you go and tell Nahoya and I’m not lazy and useless for— Oh. You look terrible.” Ryusei skids to a halt in front of him, cocking his head to the side. “Gods. Even worse up close.”

“Not lazy for what, Ryu?”

“Not joining Shuji…” As unaware of social cues as he always is, or at least, chooses to be, Ryusei leans closer, nearly pressing his nose to Chifuyu’s. “Have you been sleeping?”

Chifuyu takes a step back and crosses his arms, hoping to convey that he isn’t in the mood. “Why didn’t you join—”

“You’re wearing Shuji’s clothes, but he looked far too pissed off for you to have been rolling around your nest all morning, so… Wanna tell me why you’re both miserable?”

Knowing Hanma wore his emotions openly enough for others to notice reminds Chifuyu of the time he fell into an icy lake as a child. The difference now is that he can’t run to his mother with his clothes half-frozen to his body and warm up in her embrace.

“We had an unpleasant conversation.” Chifuyu nods, signalling the end of this conversation, and tries to walk on. A hand around his wrist stops him. He flinches away immediately, pulling loose and rounding on Ryusei with a growl. There’s not even a hint of rationality in the sudden need to keep the skin that Hanma touched earlier untouched by anyone else. “What do you want, Ryusei?! Go make yourself useful!”

Ryusei holds up both hands, sharp eyes slowly looking Chifuyu over. “I’m about to make myself useful.”

“I don’t have time for your games—”

“You’re coming with me.”

“What—”

Ryusei grabs Chifuyu’s other wrist and doesn’t let go, unceremoniously dragging him across the clearing, towards Souya’s hut.

“Unhand me!” Chifuyu tries to pry the fingers from his wrist, but Ryusei only tightens his hold.

“Unhand you?” Ryusei glances at him over his shoulder, one eyebrow raised. “You are a ridiculous person, you know that?”

He tugs Chifuyu the final few steps up to Souya’s door, ignoring the shouts of protest Chifuyu lets out the whole time, and slides the door open without hesitation. “Souya. It’s time.”

Souya snaps his head up, eyes wide. On the floor in front of him, there’s a pile of strips of fabric. Bandages, Chifuyu realises, another reminder that he has many other places he should be, instead of wasting time by talking to Ryusei and Souya, or even by letting himself get lost in his own thoughts again.

“Thought we agreed to let him come to us on his own?” Souya asks after a moment of silence, raising his brow at the way Chifuyu is struggling to free himself of Ryusei’s grip.

“Look at him.” With a firm hand against his back, Ryusei pushes Chifuyu the rest of the way inside, quickly sliding the door shut behind him. “We’ve waited long enough.”

Souya’s expression softens when he looks Chifuyu over. “Think you might be right…” He sighs. “Both of you, sit down and help me roll these up.”

“No,” Chifuyu shakes his head, trying to turn around again. Ryusei doesn’t let him. “I need to—”

“Everything’s taken care of.” Souya nods at the floor. “Sit.”

Chifuyu figures that giving in and humouring them for a moment will get him out of there faster than protesting. With a glare at Souya and a growl at Ryusei, he sits on the floor and grabs a piece of fabric.

For a while, that’s all he does. He sits, rolls up the fabric into neat rolls, and passes them to Souya. It’s mind-numbing work, and he’d rather not admit it, but it does help put him at ease for the time being— blissfully distracted from Hanma, from his responsibilities, from everything.

That is, until Ryusei opens his mouth.

“You know, I was hoping that eventually, you’d come to us on your own. I’m not happy about being wrong while Souya’s right— he was pretty sure you’d never seek us out.”

Chifuyu lifts his head and smiles, a beat too late for it to be genuine. “Thank you, Souya, for having faith that I’m able to take care of things on my own.”

“It’s not a good thing.”

“Oh.”

Souya sighs. “I’m going to directly talk to your sense of guilt and your instincts as head omega now, because I fear you won’t get it otherwise.”

“Oh.” Chifuyu grimaces.

“This pack is suffering under your refusal to rely on us.”

Chifuyu doesn’t bother with the oh that time. He slowly sets down the roll he’d been working on and much to his dismay, it unravels immediately, rolling away from him in a long line of fabric.

“I don’t think you’re doing it on purpose,” Souya goes on, “and I certainly don’t hold it against you— none of us do. But we need you, and you need us, and…” he hums, thinking for a moment. “Look at it like this— you’re familiar with your omega’s distress when someone won’t allow you to care for them?”

Chifuyu nods, unhappy that he does understand, even more unhappy with the direction this conversation is going in. The unrest he felt before slowly creeps back to the forefront of his mind. He lets his eyes drift down, staring at the fabric he let unravel.

“It’s like that,” Ryusei takes over. “Your pack can tell you need their support, but you’re not allowing us to give it. Kind of puts us all on edge.”

It takes a moment before Chifuyu finds his voice. He reaches out to take the fabric so he can roll it up again, but Souya beats him to it, snatching it up and immediately setting to work.

“Fine…” Chifuyu sighs. “I’m going to make an assumption and say that if I apologise for my behaviour, you’ll scold me some more?” He glances at them and finds they both nod their heads. “Okay. I don’t know what else you want from me, then.”

“We want you to talk to us.”

The words, as simple as they are, make Chifuyu sit up straight, square his shoulders, and tilt his chin up slightly. “There isn’t anything to—”

“Stop.” Ryusei scoots closer and carefully takes Chifuyu’s hands, intertwining their fingers. “Please.”

Chifuyu isn’t sure what does it. Perhaps it’s Souya appealing his omega, or the guilt he feels at the mere implication that he’s failing his pack, or maybe, it’s because in that precise moment, when Souya and Ryusei both look at him with nothing but patience and kindness, he feels the full weight of loneliness press down on his shoulders, and Chifuyu realises he’s tired— he’s so tired.

The first few sentences are hard. Half-complete, mumbling through the events of the past few weeks, Keisuke seeking him out, how stupid Chifuyu had felt as he listened to him, fearing that he truly had been as blind as Keisuke accused him of.

It’s gotten a bit easier by the time he gets to Hanma, because he sees Souya and Ryusei nod along, not a hint of judgement in their gazes, reassuring Chifuyu that he can speak openly— even if it’s still a little difficult, even if it’s with tears in his eyes.

“He looked so hurt,” Chifuyu whispers, staring down at the floor. He hasn’t been able to meet either Souya or Ryusei’s eyes.

“You didn’t know,” Souya says softly. “You couldn’t have known, he— he didn’t want you to know.”

Ryusei makes a noise of agreement. “He never mentioned that he… was involved with the death of his sire.”

“You all knew the rest?” The tears spill over his cheeks when Chifuyu lifts his head, vision too blurry to make out their facial expressions, yet he can’t bring himself to lift a hand and wipe his tears away.

“I was born here.” Ryusei sighs. “Well— in one of the villages that were destroyed. When the west attacked, I was orphaned.”

Chifuyu hugs himself tighter, shaking his head slightly. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s been years. I mourned them and I moved on, eventually.” Ryusei smiles and scoots closer, bringing up his hands to wipe away Chifuyu’s tears. “I’ve never been one to dwell on the past.”

Chifuyu might be undeserving of Ryusei’s gentle touch— he still leans into it. “And you still trust Hanma, despite where—”

“Like I said,” he cuts in gently, but firmly, “I’m not one to dwell on the past.” When the tears don’t stop, Ryusei pulls a face and moves to sit next to Chifuyu. He wraps an arm around his shoulders and pulls him in, somewhat forcefully guiding Chifuyu’s head to his chest. “When I first met Shuji, he was quite different from how he is now. It was clear he lost just as much as the rest of us. I never had a reason to distrust him.”

“I suspect that’s why he’s so secretive,” Souya continues, smiling when Chifuyu glances at him. “Everything we know about what happened, is because other people lived it. Shuji has never said a word about what he went through before joining us.”

Chifuyu nuzzles into Ryusei’s chest, the warmth and familiarity calming him down little by little. “Why didn’t he want me to know about all of this?”

“Shame, I think, about his past. I’m not sure.” Souya frowns. “The west came up not too long ago, a little before you announced your pregnancy. He was silent as he always was, but then asked us not to tell you just yet— if you ask me, he wanted to tell you himself. Perhaps the full history, the one that he lived.”

Ryusei hums. “It was just history then, so we agreed to let Shuji tell you whatever it is he wanted to share on his own terms. Keisuke was there for the conversation as well. Maybe that’s where his suspicions started.”

“Don’t hold it against Keisuke,” Souya mumbles. “I think he feels more protective over you than he outwardly expresses.”

Chifuyu nods, a little weakly. He doesn’t blame anyone but himself, but saying that would most likely result in words of comfort, and he’s not quite ready to be absolved of guilt just yet.

“Why didn’t you come talk to me?” Souya asks. “Or anyone?”

Chifuyu thinks about that for quite a long time. Now that he has shared his worries, he truly cannot remember how the restrictive hold of his perceived duty to keep silent felt around his throat. “I— I don’t know.”

“You’re such a frustratingly similar pair,” Ryusei huffs. “The both of you— convinced you’re all alone in the world when there are so many people eager to love and support you, if you’d just let them.”

The words come as a genuine surprise. Chifuyu’s mouth almost falls open as he stares at Ryusei. “You love Hanma?”

“Of course I love Shuji.” Ryusei raises a brow. “And I love you, too. I’d do anything for you two. I’d almost be insulted that you even have to ask if you didn’t already sound so miserable about it.”

Chifuyu can’t quite explain it, but knowing that someone loves Hanma, someone as good and trustworthy as Ryusei— it feels exactly like warming up in his mother’s embrace after falling in an icy lake.

Souya clears his throat. “Be nice to him, Ryusei.”

“I am being nice! I just said I would be insulted, but I’m not.”

“That’s not—“ Souya sighs. “Sure.”

Chifuyu looks between the two and he feels childishly proud of the words that leave his lips, like he’s suddenly a natural at asking for help. “I don’t know what to do now.” The second he says it, his chest feels a little lighter, a change so drastic, he hadn’t even fully realised how tight it’d felt before that.

“Now, you talk to him.”

“Well, Shuji’s away right now, so—”

“Later, you will talk to him.” Souya glares at Ryusei, who only grins in response. “And he will listen.”

Deep down, Chifuyu knows it might be an irrational, childish fear, but he can’t help himself asking: “What if he won’t? What— what if he hates me now?”

Neither Souya or Ryusei laugh at him for asking. They only smile, almost conspiringly.

“He will listen,” Souya says. “Shuji adores you. He’d never hate you.”

Ryusei pulls a face. “It’s true. And it’s sort of disgusting.” He lowers his voice. “He called you beautiful once, right to my face. I’ve only ever heard him use that word once, and…”

“It was about Keiko,” Souya finishes when Ryusei trails off. “And…” With a sigh, he looks at Chifuyu. “You can trust that between Keisuke and Shuji, things will mend themselves in time.”

A small part of Chifuyu wants to ask more about the truth in Keisuke’s words, why he was under the impression that Shinichiro was the one to kill Hanma’s sire, but in the end, he decides against it.

The full truth, he decides, can come to light between him and Hanma.

With a smile that comes easy, he accepts Souya’s offer to spend the day together, murmuring a soft thank you that goes beyond gratitude for a simple action when the other omega hands him the fabric he set down and let unravel earlier, now neatly rolled up again.

When dinner comes, Chifuyu doesn’t sit alone at the head table. He doesn’t really sit at any table. Instead, he joins different groups all throughout the night and takes the time to listen to the stories they tell.

They share their worries, as they usually do, but also their victories. It’s there that he hears about Tetsuo’s first smile and Keiko’s first time pulling herself up and standing for a few seconds.

All these moments he missed being stuck in his own mind, focusing only on what the pack needed and not on what they could offer as well. Everyone he sits with is more than willing to share their brief moments of happiness and they smile so brightly, the blinding light of reality pales in comparison.

It feels too soon to share his own worries. Chifuyu thinks he wouldn’t be able to find the words even if he tried. No one seems to hold it against him, offering soft touches and words of reassurance whenever he answers their questions as vaguely positive as possible.

Not quite a purr, but something close to it builds in Chifuyu’s chest. Just the softest vibration, like humming, a sound that unmistakably belongs to his omega. Something very deep within him settles in contentment, clearing up space in his mind, instantly alleviating some of the exhaustion that made its home in his bones.

Chifuyu thinks back to what Souya told him, quite a few weeks ago, about living in harmony with his instincts rather than pushing them away. He wonders if this is how others feel all the time— less conflicted, less burdened, less at war with themselves. Less terrified of vulnerability and the consequences that it can bring.

Towards the end of dinner, earlier than Chifuyu was expecting them, the pack members who joined patrol that day return. They all look tired and dejected, quietly taking their places at different tables.

From his own table, Chifuyu frowns when he notices Hanma isn’t among them. He tries to meet the eyes of Chonbo, then Choji, even Keisuke— but they all avoid him. The only one who does look at him is Souya, the other omega’s eyes widened slightly.

It takes a tremendous amount of effort not to let his worries show. To distract himself, he takes Tetsuo from his mother and tries to coax the tiny boy into smiling at him.

Only after most of the pack starts trickling out does Chifuyu call the attention of those who joined patrol. He leans against the doorpost with his arms crossed, looking each of them over before he asks what happened.

They all look exhausted, even after the short moment of rest while they ate, foreheads still shiny with a sheen of sweat and swaying slightly on their feet as they stand before Chifuyu.

“We caught a scent and followed it to the outskirts of the territory,” Chonbo explains with a rough voice. “Didn’t find anything. Not even a single trace of a camp. Shuji’s suspicion was that they crossed a river and we lost them like that.”

Chifuyu nods. He pushes off the doorpost and folds his arms behind his back so they can’t see the fidgeting of his hands. “And where is he now?”

“He dismissed us when night fell.”

Before Chifuyu can think of what to say to that, Keisuke speaks up, keeping his voice low and his eyes downcast. “He didn’t want me to take risks, on behalf of Keiko, and asked these three to escort me back.”

The other three don’t react negatively to it, but Chifuyu can still see the shame rolling off Keisuke in waves, his scent faint but distinctly sour. He thinks it might be the closest thing he’ll get to an apology for now, and for the time being, it’s enough.

“I’m glad he did,” he whispers, smiling when Keisuke snaps his head up, poorly masking his surprise with an attempt at a scowl, though it looks more like a tearful grimace to Chifuyu. “I’m glad you’re safe, Keisuke.”

“Gods.” Keisuke clears his throat, looking away. “Don’t embarrass me.”

Chifuyu sighs, suppressing the need to roll his eyes, and turns his attention back on the betas. “So. My mate?”

“He wanted to circle around the village a few more times and see if he could find anything else. On his own.”

“And you let him? Alone?”

“You try arguing against him,” Chonbo grumbles, averting his eyes with a scowl. He seems to remember his place and stands up more straight, meeting Chifuyu’s eye. “He told us he wouldn’t be gone much longer, omega.”

For just a few seconds, Chifuyu allows himself to feel worried and lost. He recounts what he knows— ten wolves, at least, from an area known for its brutality. Then, he reminds himself of his position within the pack and nods. “Keisuke, I need you to join the omegas and look after them. Choji, call everyone who offered to fight together and lead them in a search. Chonbo, Chome, set out to look for him already.”

“Hanma told us not to follow him.”

Chifuyu raises a brow. “And I’m telling you something else. What exactly are you saying, beta? That Hanma outranks me? That I am not equal to him?”

Chonbo, Chome and Choji exchange a look. Keisuke coughs into his fist and takes a step back.

“…No.”

“Good.” Chifuyu stalks past them, back inside the communal hut. “I will wait here.”

The night darkens while Chifuyu waits on the steps of the communal hut. Thick clouds obscure the moon, casting the clearing in an unusual darkness.

Not too long ago, Takemichi came to check up on him, trying to coax Chifuyu into joining him in the omega hut.

“You can barely even see the entrance to the village,” he said, voice soft. “It’s no use, sitting out here. Get some rest. When everyone returns, they’ll come and get you.”

And while Takemichi had technically been correct, Chifuyu still sent him away with a thanks and a smile. Just the thought of resting makes him even more uneasy than he already is, though he didn’t say that out loud.

Quite some time passed since he sent a new group out to go and look for Hanma, because as opposed to what Chonbo had said— Chifuyu’s mate hasn’t returned. He can’t even be surprised about it. The moment he heard about the others’ dismissal at nightfall, he knew: Hanma made the decision to take care of things himself and didn’t want to involve others in business he deems his own.

Knowing Hanma is out there, on his own, tracking down at least ten wolves— the notion of rest seems insulting. The least Chifuyu can do is sit on the steps, meticulously dragging a whetstone over the blade of his sword again and again, sharpening it, getting it ready for what might be its first use.

Stone against steel is the only sound that rings through the night. Even the cicadas have ceased their song and the trees barely seem to move, their leaves silent like they never are. It seems the world is holding its breath alongside Chifuyu, the both of them waiting for Hanma’s return.

A howl in distance is the first sign of life in what feels like an endless amount of time. It’s so unexpected that he misses the meaning of it.

Chifuyu is on his feet immediately, sword drawn. He peers across the clearing, eyes adjusted slightly to the dark, but not nearly enough to make out real details. Not for the first time, he curses himself for his pregnancy, for being rendered unable to shift and actually be useful in this situation— but as the other times, it’s immediately followed by a nauseating wave of guilt.

“I don’t mean it,” he whispers, free hand drawing tiny circles over his stomach. “You know I don’t, pup.”

There’s another howl. That time, Chifuyu is able to recognise the pitch as Choji’s, and in it, make out the call for the others to gather.

Chifuyu’s heart kicks up, hammering against his ribs. He lowers his sword, rights his shoulders, and waits. It doesn’t take long for Choji’s howl to be answered by the others— Ryusei, at first, then Rindou, followed by Chonbo and Chome, ending with Mitsuya.

It doesn’t take long for footfalls to come from different directions. Chifuyu can just make out the silhouettes approaching him.

Souya and Hakkai reach him first, rushing over from the direction of the omega hut. Souya mumbles something about having taken his bag and supplies. No one says a word after that. The other two take their place on either side of Chifuyu, waiting with him until the thundering of paws comes closer and the shadows of wolves spill into the clearing.

Only Ryusei shifts back, stumbling over to Chifuyu in his human form. Rindou and Mitsuya stay shifted, laying themselves down by their mates’ feet, panting heavily. The other three, Chonbo, Chome and Choji, pace restlessly, out of breath but staying up, winding around each other while continuously sniffing the air.

“Hanma’s back,” Ryusei heaves, falling heavily into Chifuyu’s arms. He feels clammy all over, shivering and panting, the darkness only just showing the sheen of sweat on his face. “Was tired, went back to his hut, but he’s good.”

Chifuyu nods, supporting Ryusei’s weight with an arm around his waist, pushing his hair off his forehead with his free hand. “No sign of anyone else?”

“No. We circled around three times, checked around Hanma’s hut— nothing.” Ryusei takes a moment to gulp down air. His eyes fall shut and he presses his head back against Chifuyu’s hand, silently requesting some more attention as if he were still shifted.

“Ryu…” Chifuyu bites his lip, unsure if he should say what’s on his mind. To lessen the blow, he runs his fingers through Ryusei’s sweat-soaked hair, allowing a purr to build in his chest to hopefully soothe the beta. “I hate to ask this of you when you’re already so exhausted, but—”

“No, no, I know.” Ryusei nods, though he stays leaning against Chifuyu, all but sagging in his hold. “We will go to him in a moment. Just wanted to let you know first.”

There’s a heavy thunk on the porch, wood against wood. Chifuyu nearly jumps out of his skin. He tightens his hold on Ryusei and whips his head around.

It’s just Souya and Hakkai, looking up at him, buckets of water on either side of them. “Sorry,” Souya rushes out. “Let them have a drink and then send them on their way.”

The wolves don’t waste a moment, crowding around the buckets and eagerly lapping up water. Souya crouches next to Rindou, running his fingers through his mate’s fur, Hakkai mirroring him with Mitsuya.

Chifuyu guides Ryusei to sit down next to one of the buckets and pushes a ladle into his hand, telling him sternly to drink something. Then he turns his attention on the three betas, making sure to pet each of them and whisper his thanks, even if they barely acknowledge the affection beyond a soft rumble.

Crouched next to them, Chifuyu makes the mistake of letting his shoulders sag, allowing relief to wash over him and to be grateful for Hanma’s safe return.

The second he does, a howl cuts through the night. It’s different than all the ones he’s heard since coming to the village. It doesn’t ask a question, it doesn’t alert others to their location— it’s shrill, desperate, not so much a call for help as it is a demand.

Every hair on Chifuyu’s body raises. The scents of everyone around him spike, sour and overwhelming, even the usually muddled beta scents.

“Tell me,” Chifuyu whispers, fingers tightening in Chome’s fur and closing his eyes. He knows the answer to his question, but he has to ask, he has to be sure. “Is that what Hanma’s wolf sounds like?”

“No.”

Chifuyu nods and takes a deep breath. When he opens his eyes and stands up, he finds all eyes on him, waiting for his orders. Heat flares in his chest and he immediately recognises it as his omega’s panic.

And his first thought is to push it down and ignore it, but for reasons he can’t quite comprehend just yet, Chifuyu instead takes another breath and closes his eyes again.

Protect, the voice in his head cries, trashing to be heard. It’s vicious, sharp teeth and bloodied claws, scratching at the walls of his subconscious.

Another deep breath. Chifuyu allows the voice to flood his senses and lets the blinding panic take hold of him.

The moment he does, it quiets down. The static in his veins slows and it waits, it hesitates. Slowly, it spreads further through his body, but it isn’t met with hostility like it usually would be.

Protect, it pleads with him, a harrowingly desperate question.

Chifuyu lays a hand against his lower stomach and concentrates on reassuring their omega that they are safe, surrounded by the pack, far from danger, but the voice doesn’t stop pleading. And so, he asks it a question in return.

The feeling swells, growing so big it almost cannot be contained anymore, until it comes together at his nape where his bonding mark throbs faintly.

And Chifuyu understands. With the plainest clarity— he understands.

Don’t worry, he mouths, uncaring if he looks crazy to the rest, I’ll protect him.

He opens his eyes. His heartbeat slows. His veins stop thrumming with heat.

“Hakkai,” he says, “go back to the omegas, relay the news. We’re leaving for Hanma’s hut right now.”

Immediately, a chorus of disagreement picks up, Hakkai protesting while Mitsuya growls at his side, Souya and Ryusei shaking their heads. The only ones quiet are Chonbo, Chome and Choji.

“Chifuyu…” Souya steps forward, one hand going down to rest against Rindou’s back and soothe his mate’s grumble of disagreement. “You’re not—”

“I am.”

Ryusei gets in front of Chifuyu and tilts his chin up slightly. “No. You stay here, and we will—”

“You will shift and follow me,” Chifuyu cuts in, careful to keep his voice calm and controlled. “Mitsuya, stop your growling and gather the other betas from their huts.” He glances at the three beta wolves, only just making out their shapes, and trusts that his command to them is clear without needing to say it— sit and wait.

“Hanma will kill us if we let you join.” Ryusei squares his shoulders, pushing Chifuyu back when he tries to pass him. “You can’t—”

The spike of annoyance flares into something stronger. “Shift and follow, Ryusei.”

“You can’t!” He grabs both of Chifuyu’s shoulders. “C’mon, think for a second, your pup—”

“Will not grow up without him!” With a growl, Chifuyu wrenches himself loose and draws his sword, pointing it at a wide-eyed Ryusei. From the corner of his eye, he can see the rest freeze. “I am your omega and you will listen to me. Shift and follow me, now.”

Ryusei snaps his mouth shut, mid-protest. He searches Chifuyu’s face for a moment, looking for traces of hesitance. When he doesn’t find any, he nods and steps back. He bends down to gulp down more water and then starts stretching out his undoubtedly sore and overworked muscles, preparing to shift.

“The rest of you.” Chifuyu looks at each for a moment. “I think I gave pretty clear instructions.”

There’s some muttered well-wishes as the rest clears out but Chifuyu barely registers them, just giving a small nod in reply. While the others leave, Chifuyu eyes come to rest on Chonbo, Chome and Choji. The three wolves are sitting in a line, watching him attentively.

He feels a pull towards them that he’s never felt before, and without any hesitation, he follows it. It leads him to them, and it leads to another understanding as he kneels down in front of the wolves, watching as their heads lower.

Seeing Hanma do it for the first time, it had surprised Chifuyu somewhat, the moment of silent connection between the alpha and his betas. Reaching out to run a hand through Chonbo’s fur, he understands. The last traces of panic disappear from his mind when he looks into the beta’s eyes.

Warmth spreads from Chifuyu’s bonding mark to the tips of his fingers. There is no longer room for fear or apprehension. All he knows in that moment is trust and a promise that flows in two directions.

Protect.

He repeats it for Chome and Choji as well, taking his time to run his fingers through their fur, cup their muzzles with a hand and look at them, allowing the betas to look at him as well.

Ryusei joins, then, sitting at the end of the line, glaring at Chifuyu.

With a sigh, he crouches down in front of Ryusei and grabs him around the snout, glaring right back. “Trust in me like I trust in you, alright?”

A huff is the only response he gets. Chifuyu rolls his eyes and leans in to press a kiss to Ryusei’s snout, releasing him with a push and then getting to his feet. He casts one last glance at the four wolves and then nods.

Your life belongs to me, Chifuyu thinks, and trusts that they can understand him even without words. And my life belongs to you.

“Find him,” he whispers.

For he belongs to me as well and I won’t allow him to be taken from me.

The dirt kicks up from the force of their heavy paws as they take off, howling in unison and breaking off into different directions.

Chifuyu watches them go before he turns to Souya and Rindou. “Stay by my side,” he says with a nod, “and trust that I will not let anything happen to any of us. No matter the state we find our alpha in, he will need us, and I refuse to sit idle until I know he’s safe.”

There is something vastly different in the way they look at him. It’s calm acceptance, Chifuyu thinks, of both his decision and his position as their leader.

Souya adjusts his bag and nods, one hand carding through Rindou’s fur. “You’re reckless,” he grumbles, “I can’t wait until Shuji yells at you for this.”

Judging by the snort Rindou lets out, he agrees, shaking out his fur as he trots ahead of them, leading the way.

They’ve barely walked into the beta area when another howl cuts through the night. It’s not as haunting as the other was before, but it still sends a shiver down Chifuyu’s spine. He recognises it as one of their own, at least, simply a howl to communicate, soon after answered by two others.

Chifuyu lets the howls guide him, noting how they change position— the betas Mitsuya gathered clearing out the other areas, making sure no stray wolves are lurking about.

They move at a brisk pace, not quite running, but surely rushing. Chifuyu knows he won’t be of use in the midst of a battle. If anything, he might become a burden, forced into a passive position of being kept safe. The thought slows his pace just slightly, but then his bonding mark throbs, and he knows he can’t allow himself to think like that.

Barely passed the bridge and fully on alpha territory, another howl sounds, and the three of them freeze for a moment. It’s not as bone-chilling as the first one had been, but it’s not one of theirs.

Rindou growls. And Chifuyu— his feet move before he can think, kicking off into a sprint, ignoring Souya’s call to slow down.

He dashes through the trees, any traces of light swallowed up by the trees that surround him, blindly following the increasingly louder sounds of a fight. A couple of times he trips over a root, thankfully never taking a full fall, but it does allow Rindou and Souya to catch up to him, their laboured breathing and footfalls getting closer.

Chifuyu forces himself to stay focused on putting one foot in front of the other, on keeping the grip on his sword tight, on reaching his pack and helping where he can. He can’t let his mind wander, because now, of all times, is not when he needs to think about the things he would’ve liked to done differently.

He needs to believe that he can still make amends with Hanma, because he is alive. They have time, they will have time. All the things that Chifuyu’s mind supplies, the apologies and the words of affection, everything he still wants to tell Hanma— they can wait, and sooner rather than later, he will get the chance to say them and see his mate’s dumb smirk, hear his laugh and maybe, just maybe, feel his touch.

He won’t live his parents’ fate. Won’t bid an untimely farewell to his mate, won’t live a life of regret, of what ifs.

If not for himself, if not for Hanma, then for their pup, who Chifuyu refuses to subject to a life that mirrors his own.

For their sake, innocent life yet unborn, he pushes through, and the moment he gets his thoughts back in order, the trees seem to part before him, leading him to a clearing somewhere in the middle of the woods, nowhere near Hanma’s hut.

Chifuyu forces himself to an abrupt halt by slamming his palm against a tree and using that to come to a stop. Heaving for breath, he squints his eyes to try and take in the sight before him. The image of what’s happening becomes more clear with the aid of his other senses.

Growling, heavy bodies hitting the ground, the sickening sound of teeth ripping into flesh and tearing it loose. They’re just silhouettes moving in the dark, barely distinguishable from the backdrop of looming trees and the darkness that clings to them. The scent of blood hangs heavy in the air, almost muddling the scents of his own pack members and the strangers that are trying to rip them apart.

But one thing Chifuyu is sure of— amongst the silhouettes and the strange scents, Hanma is very distinctly missing. It steels his resolve, rather than fill him with fear. His hand tightens around his sword and his other arm flies out to stop Souya and Rindou just at the right time, before they go barreling past him.

“Stop,” he hisses, grabbing Rindou around the scruff so the beta focuses on him, rather than snapping at the air, eager to join the fight. He pulls the wolf back roughly when he tries to escape his grasp, own eyes zeroing in on a particularly large space of darkness between two trees on the other end of the clearing.

There is no rational reason to be drawn to it, but Chifuyu knows that’s where he must go.

“Listen to me,” he snaps, yanking Rindou back once again. “Clear me a path.”

Souya inhales sharply. “Chifuyu—“

“Stay hidden until someone needs you,” he cuts in, not looking back at Souya, attention fully focused on mentally mapping out the best path to take. “Don’t take risks.”

There is something Souya says to that, but Chifuyu doesn’t quite catch it. He takes a deep breath, tightening his fingers on Rindou’s scruff for a moment and then releases him, the beta shooting off immediately, snarling as he sprints forward.

The moment he leaves the safety of the tree line behind, it’s utter chaos. The fighting is deafening, the smell of it overwhelming.

Chifuyu has a hard time keeping his footing. Even with Rindou doing his best, snapping at throats and bodily clearing a path like he was asked, there’s still bodies thrown around, wolves jumping back before they leap forward again.

Keeping his movements as light as possible, Chifuyu manages to weave in between the wolves. In doing so, he is able to make out the unfamiliar scents of their attackers. He thinks he counts six of them, but doesn’t stop to verify.

Despite his human form, or perhaps precisely because of it, no one pays particular attention to him. Only when he’s close to reaching the other side of the clearing does a wolf block his path. It’s an unfamiliar beta, just a hulking shadow in the dark.

Chifuyu raises his sword. The wolf snarls. They both ready themselves. A strange sense of calm washes over him. All sounds fade to the background, world narrowed down to the snarling beta in front of him. Yet, before either can make a move, Rindou jumps out behind Chifuyu, throwing himself at the beta.

A shout of gratitude leaves Chifuyu’s lips and as much as he wants to stay and make sure Rindou is alright, he knows he can’t. He takes off without looking back.

A faint scent lingers around the trees as Chifuyu rushes past them. It’s dark, like burned wood, and tears spring to his eyes at the immediate rush of comfort he feels. Heartbeat loud in his ears, he follows the trail. Exactly how far he runs, Chifuyu isn’t sure. The world blurs around him. His eyes don’t adjust to the dark in the way he’d like, too little light shining through the thick clouds that still hang in the sky, even less of it reaching through the thick canopy that stretches on above his head.

But, he does not trip or stumble. It’s almost as if he’s flying, weaving through the trees without his feet touching the ground at all. His ears and nose make up for what his eyes lack, the rush of his seamless journey akin to the high he feels whenever he’s shifted, so in tune with his surroundings that he’s barely aware of them. All of his energy and attention is on Hanma, on the traces of his scent.

Almost out of nowhere, Chifuyu hears the first signs of life. Deep growling and the sound of something being torn apart. This time, he doesn’t force himself to a stop. He keeps running, grip on his sword nearly painful, until he’s breaking through yet another tree line.

The space left open between the trees is smaller than the clearing he was in before. It puts him closer to the wolves immediately, but in the split second it takes for them to notice him, he’s able to bring his fingers to his mouth. His shrill whistle rings through the night and in an instant, all eyes are on him.

Chifuyu adjusts his stance. One foot before the other. Both hands around his sword. He scans the clearing best he can, the moon still hidden behind the clouds, all wolves that face him dark, looming shadows.

There are four of them. By far the largest of them is furthest away from him. It has the strongest scent by far, and Chifuyu’s eyes widen when he smells it.

Later, he promises himself, he will allow himself to feel shocked. Later, he will take his time to scold everyone for letting him find out like this. All of it can be done later, to fully process what he already suspected to be true.

Because at that moment, all he feels is immense relief. And he would rather not waste the moment of confusion from the three strange wolves, who seem to be unsure about the human omega in their midst.

“Alpha!” he calls, eyes jumping between the three wolves that stand between him and his mate. “You’re unharmed?!”

He gets a growl in return and can’t help but laugh wildly at the clear hint of agitation in it. Later, he figures, he can get scolded for showing up.

There is no way for him to take on three wolves on his own, but Hanma is there, and with the promise of later at the forefront of his mind, Chifuyu yells out and rushes forward.

With Hanma’s howl in his ears, giving him a surge of confidence stronger than anything he’s ever felt before, he easily slashes the first wolf’s throat. He doesn’t ponder on his victory. The next wolf lunges at him. Chifuyu lets himself fall to the ground and rolls away, careful to keep an arm around his stomach and keep it safe from impact.

There’s snarling to his right. Chifuyu whips his head around and scrambles to his feet, just barely escaping the snapping jaws of the wolf. He strikes in its direction but misses his target. The wolf jumps back on nimble feet and steels itself for its next lunge.

It happens in an instant. A shadow flies into view and harshly collides with the wolf. Another scent of alpha, though not as comforting as Hanma’s.

Chifuyu fights the urge to call out Mitusya’s name. His worries about the alpha’s safety melt away when another wolf—one of his wolves—reaches the clearing, immediately jumping to the alpha’s aid.

He doesn’t keep looking while they take on the wolf together, instead spinning around to look at Hanma. Though unclear in the dark, Chifuyu can distinctly make out the wolf biting into his mate’s flank.

Hanma doesn’t react as quickly as Chifuyu would expect him to. His movements seem almost sluggish, just the slightest delay when he turns his head to snap at the wolf.

With growing horror, Chifuyu watches as Hanma stumbles sideways, the wolf easily moving with him. The yelp it draws from Hanma spurs Chifuyu into action.

Three large strides. Then, he throws himself forward. A sharp sting of pain zaps down his shoulder when he collides with the wolf. He’s not big or heavy enough to send the beast flying, but it’s enough for it to release its hold on Hanma.

Chifuyu blindly throws out an arm and feels it collide with Hanma’s side. His fur is thick against Chifuyu’s skin, and worryingly wet. Even more worrying is how his mate allows the push, stumbling behind him and in a very uncharacteristic way, allows Chifuyu to put himself between Hanma and the wolf.

There’s warm wetness seeping into the back of Chifuyu’s shirt where he is pushed against Hanma, but he cannot focus on it— not when the wolf in front of him gets its bearings and is slowly approaching, growling deep and threatening.

The world slows and narrows. Hanma’s soft whimpering fades into the background. Chifuyu can no longer hear the sounds of a fight happening a little further away. All he sees is the wolf staring back at him, its eyes nearly glowing in the dark, the rest of it shapeless and black.

He still has his sword clenched between the fingers of one hand. The other is resting against the ground and under his fingertips, it seems the dirt changes, transforming into something cold and hard, like ice.

The memory, painful as it is, grounds him in the moment. Chifuyu manages to stand and take his sword with two hands. He feels Hanma’s body press against the back of his legs.

There is no doubt in his mind that his mate is hurt, but he is alive.

Chifuyu was on time.

Everything becomes crystal clear. When the wolf lunges at him, Chifuyu counters it with an attack of his own. The blade of his sword is sharp enough to easily sink into the wolf’s chest. He needs to throw his entire bodyweight forward, every muscle aching and screaming out in protest, but when the wolf falls to the ground, it has already taken its last breath.

Chifuyu lets himself fall forward onto his knees. He faintly registers that the sounds of struggling have stopped. There’s rustling ahead and when Chifuyu lifts his head, he can just make out the silhouette of another wolf leering at him from between the trees.

It’s then that the clouds part, just for a moment, and Chifuyu catches sight of what he deducts is the leader. The wolf is still shrouded in shadows, but its head is clear enough. The right side of it is furless, one half of its right ear missing. A burn scar, he realises, staring back at the wolf.

Clouds swallow up the light again. The wolf’s shape grows smaller between the trees.

It’s retreating.

Chifuyu’s eyes widen and he calls out Mitsuya’s name, barking at him to bring the wolf back alive. Almost immediately, three of his own wolves fly past him and the last he hears of the stranger is a snarl before its disappearing into the darkness.

Silence truly falls over the clearing. There are a few howls in the distance, but they’re far away and their tone carries a tentative victory— a lot of their pack wounded, most likely, but nothing too severe.

“Hanma?” Chifuyu whispers into the dead of night. “Are you—”

A low whine cuts him off, immediately followed by the crunching and snapping of bones. It puts Chifuyu at ease, just a little, knowing that Hanma has enough strength left to shift back.

He doesn’t move from his position, still kneeling in the dirt, and heaves a breath of relief when warmth envelops his back, two arms wrapping around his shoulders.

Hanma leans heavily against him, his weight comforting. “Are you hurt?”

“No,” Chifuyu croaks, his mouth dry. He squeezes his eyes shut and only focuses on the feeling of Hanma close, refusing to acknowledge anything else. “But— but I’m sure Souya will be here soon, to look you over.”

Hanma’s breathing is short and quick. He presses his face against the side of Chifuyu’s neck. “I can lean on you… for a bit, right?” he asks, voice slightly muffled. “Until Souya gets here?”

“Yes.” Chifuyu keeps his eyes squeezed shut. “Always.”

“Chifuyu…” Hanma shivers. “Sure showed them, huh?”

His mate is alive, pressed against him… Chifuyu keeps reminding himself of that. He is alive. “You did.” He raises his hands to grasp Hanma’s arms. They’re slippery with blood. “You’re such a good alpha.”

“Thank you…” Hanma keeps shaking, his breathing growing more shallow. “I’m… I’m really angry… that you’re here.”

Chifuyu swallows thickly. “Yeah?”

“Irresponsible,” Hanma slurs. “The worst omega.”

There’s wetness seeping into Chifuyu’s shirt, scalding hot against his skin. The howls ring through the night again. There’s a thundering of feet in the distance, so close, almost there.

“Keep talking to me, alpha.”

“What… should…”

“Anything.” The arms around Chifuyu’s shoulders are losing their strength, slipping away bit by bit. He grips them more tightly. “Anything you want to say.”

Hanma. He is right there, pressed against Chifuyu. Alive and breathing.

“Our pup…” He wheezes in a breath. “Wanted to… meet—”

“You will.”

Another shiver wracks through Hanma’s body. “‘M sorry… I can’t—“

No matter how hard Chifuyu tries, he can’t keep his grip, and Hanma’s arms slip from his shoulders. He immediately scrambles to turn around but it’s still so dark, he can only make out the shape of his mate, collapsed on the forest ground.

There’s voices. Footsteps, both human and wolf. The clouds part again, their timing cruel. Chifuyu gasps. Bile rises up in his throat, tears spring to his eyes. In the shock, he allows himself to be pushed back. He stays there, frozen, staring at Souya as he barks out commands and questions.

Chifuyu watches, motionless, as Ryusei and Rindou carefully move Hanma around, until he’s lying on his back, the severity of his injuries on full display— teeth marks along his thighs and hips from where he’d been bitten in the flanks while shifted, deep scratches that run from his left cheek down to his neck, but it’s his right side that took the worst of it.

The wolves, they managed to rip him open from ribcage to hipbone.

“Why did you shift?!” Souya yells, his voice finally reaching Chifuyu. “Your wolf could’ve—”

“Didn’t want you to… bury a wolf.” Hanma smiles, wide and toothy, though it quickly changes into a grimace. One of his arms lifts, just slightly, but then drops to the ground just as quickly. “Fuyu?”

Chifuyu pushes past the nausea and crawls forward, taking Hanma’s hand and laying it in his lap. He clutches it tightly, eyes trained on his mate’s face, careful not to let them wander down for even a moment.

“I won’t bury anything. Not a wolf, not my mate— no one.” Chifuyu says, at least, he thinks he does. The words don’t reach his own ears, drowned out by his thundering heart, but he swears his lips move.

“Okay.” Hanma squeezes his eyes shut for a moment and exhales unsteadily. He falls quiet, his wheezed breathing the only sound that leaves him.

When he opens his eyes again, they’re less clear, fogged over, the brilliant yellow of them almost faded to a dull beige.

“My mother… she… was named after snow…” he wheezes.

“Was she?” Chifuyu whispers, trying his best to smile. He gently cards his fingers through Hanma’s hair. “Why— why is that, hm?”

Hanma coughs and winces, eyes squeezing shut.

Distantly, Chifuyu registers Souya grabbing bandages and securing them over Hanma’s injuries.

“You’ll be okay,” Chifuyu mumbles, hand sliding down to cup Hanma’s jaw.

With visible effort, Hanma’s manages to raise turn his bloodied hand, clamping his trembling fingers around Chifuyu’s wrist. He tries a smile again, but it doesn’t reach his eyes.

“Fuyu.” Hanma’s voice is losing its strength, barely a whisper now. He opens his eyes slowly, but they’re unfocused. “Closer?”

Without hesitation, Chifuyu leans in. He presses a kiss to Hanma’s forehead and lets his lips linger, wishing so badly that he could stay right there— shielding his mate from the world and keeping him safe, keep him alive.

But the moment can’t last. Hanma’s ragged breathing makes it so Chifuyu can’t leave this reality behind, trapping him where he kneels on the cold dirt. It’s with a heavy heart he sits up, carefully brushing a stray strand of hair from Hanma’s face.

Hanma lets his eyes fall shut and smiles. His breathing stutters, his grip around Chifuyu’s wrist slipping more and more.

“She… was from… the north,” he manages with a scratchy voice, his fingers tightening around Chifuyu’s wrist in a desperate attempt to hold on. “Stole her… away…”

“I’m so sorry,” Chifuyu whispers. “Can you tell me what she looked like, hm, my alpha?” He cups Hanma’s face, cold and clammy in his hands. “Tell me.”

“Her… eyes,” Hanma slurs. “Pretty ’n blue. Big. Wonder… if my sister… if she’d… lived.”

Chifuyu leans forward, pressing his forehead against Hanma’s. “You’ll tell me all about them later, alright?”

Hanma stays silent, his erratic breathing the only sound he makes.

“Shuji, you’ll tell me later, right?” Chifuyu chokes back a sob, forcing himself to keep his composure. “You have to tell me later. When you’re okay. You’ll be okay, Shuji.”

One last time, Hanma blinks his eyes open, though they fall shut quickly after. “Pretty,” he breathes. “Like… you.”

“Shuji,” Chifuyu begs, leaning back to cup his mate’s face again. “Shuji, you’ll be okay, it’s okay, you’re okay— Shuji? Shuji!”

He keeps repeating those words until they dissolve into sobs of Shuji, until his mate’s breathing slows and his fingers slip from Chifuyu’s wrist.

Shuji’s hand falls to the ground with a dull thud and Chifuyu’s world crumbles with it.

Chapter Text

PART III — Ukiyo: This transient, unreliable world

Chifuyu takes a deep breath and closes his eyes. He forces everything he doesn’t need to the background— his emotions, his worries, and most importantly, the dull stinging of his bonding mark. Then, he nods and steps inside the hut.

He’d never been inside Mikey’s hut before this, but the thick support column in the middle of it had turned out to be perfect for keeping something restrained and tied up.

Mitsuya had been the one to suggest it, reassuring Chifuyu several times that it’d be safe before he agreed.

The wolf immediately snarls upon his entry. A heavy collar hangs around his neck, keeping him from lunging at Chifuyu, though he does try.

“Still refusing to shift back?” he asks, crouching down just outside of the wolf’s reach. “You must be getting tired, no?”

All he knows is that the wolf is an omega. The discovery had been a surprise. It’s unusual to see an attacking pack lead by an omega, though Chifuyu supposes it shouldn’t surprise him too much. He’s not exactly the perfect example of a normal omega himself.

“I said I’d give you three days. Those have passed. This is your last chance.”

The wolf snarls again, biting at the air. Its eyes are vicious.

“Well, if you want to make this unpleasant, so be it. Just remember I gave you the chance to shift.” Chifuyu watches the wolf for a moment longer before he whistles sharply. Footsteps enter the hut behind him. “Get me Hina or Mitsuya. I need an alpha to force him into shifting.”

A short mumble of agreement. The footsteps disappear again.

“Sorry it has to come to this. I heard it’s very uncomfortable— held down by your scruff, forced into submission until your instincts fully take over.” Chifuyu shrugs. “Again, I gave you the chance. You can still do it now. No hard feelings.”

The wolf bares his teeth.

Chifuyu sighs and shakes his head. “Very well. Just between me and you, though— I hope they bring Mitsuya. You see, while he’s fiercely protective over his mate and sisters, he doesn’t have pups of his own. Hinata, on the other hand…” He chuckles. “She has a mate and a pup, whose lives you endangered. On her territory, too. She’s been eager to get her hands on you.”

There’s footfalls outside the hut. Chifuyu turns around to look at the entrance and then glances back at the wolf.

“You will forgive me for waiting outside, won’t you? Being an omega myself— I’m not sure I could stomach watching what’s about to happen to you.”

The wolf growls and snaps forward, the chain that’s been fastened to the column rattling as he does.

Chifuyu smiles again and gets up. He turns to see Hina enter, already shifted to her auburn wolf. She’s not as big as most alphas, but while shifted, carries herself with the energy of a giant. Usually gentle and graceful, her aura now fills the hut, scent sharp and dark.

“Try not to trigger his heat by biting him,” Chifuyu says, standing in the doorway. He strokes his fingers through her fur. “I’d like to keep that as a last resort, should he not co-operate after.”

Hina bows her head slightly and they swap places.

Only when Chifuyu is outside on the porch does he let his shoulders drop. He can’t fully give in to the fatigue, still watched by Rindou, who’s been keeping guard for the day. Still, he slumps against the wall of Mikey’s hut a little, trying to drown out the noises of Hina’s growling and the omega’s whimpering.

“It’s inhumane,” Chifuyu mumbles, not looking at Rindou. “I feel sick.”

“You gave him the choice,” Rindou replies, keeping his voice down. “We need answers. We need to know if there’s another attack coming. Gods, we don’t even know the guy’s name.”

“I know.”

A sharp yelp comes from inside. Chifuyu flinches and squeezes his eyes shut. His mind is immediately overrun with images of Shuji, his side torn open, so much blood. He forces them open again.

“Still… It feels wrong to use a weakness I myself have as well.”

“Hey.” Rindou steps closer. His hand rises, though he lets it hang in the air. The intention is clear, the almost-touch to Chifuyu’s shoulder. “Don’t blame yourself. You tried.”

Chifuyu shrugs. “How is—?”

“You could go see for yourself…”

“I can’t.” Chifuyu flinches at the pained howl the omega lets out. “I can’t see him like that. And I can’t listen to this.” With a groan, he pushes off the wall. “I’m going to make rounds, see if anyone needs anything. When he shifts and is still pliant, make sure to clothe him and see to it that he drinks and eats something.”

Rindou sighs. “I will. Just… Consider it, okay? He needs you.”

“Of course,” Chifuyu mumbles, stepping down the porch just as he hears the sounds of paws scrambling against wood.

He decides against saying what he thinks.

A man who is barely alive, cannot need anything.

Ever since the attack, the pack has been more restless than ever. People move in small groups, a constant murmur of worries and rumours coming from them. Whispers about another attack, convinced this wasn’t the end of it.

There are still patrols every day, though they stay close to the borders of the village. Only making sure there is no immediate thread and then returning home. They’re usually lead by Keisuke and Chonbo. Sending the other omega out had felt like a betrayal to Shuji’s wishes, but he left Chifuyu little choice— demanding to scout out the area, no doubt trying to make up for his lack of involvement in the fight.

Chifuyu didn’t have the energy to go tell him otherwise and simply allowed it, seeing them off each morning and waiting for their return each night, getting the same news every time. There are no wolves hiding in the woods, there are no signs of danger, and yet, the pack remains restless.

With the omega in Mikey’s hut at the forefront of Chifuyu’s immediate thoughts, he doesn’t notice he’s scratching at his bonding mark until he hears a call of his name. He’s quick to drop his hand, ignore the sting on the nape of his neck, and turns around to meet Mitsuya.

“Didn’t expect to see you here,” he calls, jogging closer.

Chifuyu blinks and glances around, taking in his surroundings after apparently losing complete track of where he was going. He’s standing at the edge of the bridge in the beta area, about to crossover to the alpha territory. He flinches back a step and forces a smile. “Stretching out my legs.” He shrugs. “Wandering around the omega huts gets old fast.”

It’s clear that Mitsuya doesn’t believe him, but he’s quick to smooth out the furrow of his brow and smiles. “I was on my way to see Souya,” he explains, holding up a bottle of clear liquid, a rag, and fresh bandages. “Hakkai refused to change them. Scared to mess up or hurt me.”

“Want me to do it instead?” Chifuyu holds out his hand. “Souya’s busy enough as is.”

Mitsuya nods and hands over his supplies, following behind him to one of the unoccupied beta huts, where they take a seat on the porch— the alpha on the edge, Chifuyu kneeling behind him.

All the injuries that were sustained are, thankfully, limited to scratches and bites. Choji took the worst of it, a clean bite-wound that tore off some flesh. Quite an ugly sight, but not lethal once Souya was able to stop the bleeding. Chifuyu only saw it that same night, and was told in a dry tone that it looked worse than it felt.

He makes a mental note to check in with Choji later while Mitsuya shrugs off his shirt, revealing the bandages that wind around his torso, covering a big part of his right shoulder blade.

Chifuyu reaches out to start unwinding them when his eyes fall to the nape of Mitsuya’s neck. He sucks in a breath and almost touches the bonding mark, but stops himself at the lsat moment, not wanting to offend Hakkai, even if he isn’t present.

“I didn’t know you… that Hakkai marked you,” he mumbles, fingers tapping just shy of the mark. “I’ve heard they last forever. Different from one left by an alpha or a beta.”

“Ah? Yes. They do.” Mitsuya looks over his shoulder and smiles. “Funny how that works, no?”

Chifuyu nods. He wouldn’t exactly call it funny, but rather strange, how being bitten by an omega will mark an alpha forever, making it so they can’t take another mate, ever. Different from his own, which will fade with time if separated from Shuji for long enough— either by choice or death. Different from a mark left by a beta, which will fade regardless of anything, so fast it might be argued that it isn’t worth the discomfort.

It’s rare to see, an alpha willingly baring their neck and choosing to carry their omega mate’s mark for the rest of their life.

“If I were to mark another omega, the bite would fade like a scar,” Mitsuya goes on to explain. “It wouldn’t be any different from biting their arm. No connection, nothing.”

“Why did you let Hakkai do it?” Chifuyu can’t help but ask. “If anything were to happen to him…”

“He asked. It was as simple as that.”

Chifuyu hums. “That’s sweet. You wear it well. I think. It’s the first time I’ve seen one.” He shakes himself from his surprise and starts unwinding the bandages from around Mitsuya. Once they’re gone, he inspects the injury, four deep scratches that run down. They’re red around the edges, a little irritated, but otherwise healing well.

“Your father didn’t have one?” Mitsuya asks, shifting his shoulder slightly, seemingly enjoying the temporary freedom of motion.

“I don’t know. My mother never mentioned it. But… I don’t think so. They’re, uh, somewhat frowned upon.” Chifuyu grabs the cotton rag and bottle Mitsuya brought, inspecting the clear liquid. “Proof of an omega’s insecurity, asking their alpha to bind themselves to them like that.”

Mitsuya only flinches slightly when Chifuyu dabs the cloth, soaked with the spirit, along the edges of the wound. “Omegas aren’t held in high regard in the north?”

“Depends on how you look at it… In prosperous times, they followed my mother without question.” With a sigh, he lays the rag to the side and picks up a new bundle of bandage. “But at the first sign of trouble, they didn’t hesitate to abandon us— convinced she couldn’t lead them anymore.”

“Could she have?” Mitsuya asks, not unkindly.

“My mother can do anything,” Chifuyu mumbles, carefully winding the bandage around Mitsuya’s torso, gradually covering his shoulder. “But with so little able fighters, there was only so much she could do in the end.”

Mitsuya nods and moves his shoulder around on Chifuyu’s request, making sure the bandages aren’t too tight. “Not to excuse their actions, but it’s hard, isn’t it,” he muses. “Keeping faith when all hope seems lost?”

“I suppose it is.” He hands Mitsuya his shirt back and watches him pull it on again, eyes still lingering on the now-covered spot where his bonding mark is. “I try not to think about things like that too much.”

With a small groan, Mitsuya turns to face Chifuyu, taking him in with a solemn expression. “My mark. It was never about him asking me, it was about me willingly saying yes,” he says after a moment. “He asked, but I would have offered myself if he hadn’t. It’s not a commitment I take lightly, but it is one I made easily.”

“I’m sorry.” Chifuyu frowns, casting his eyes down and busying himself bundling up the used rag and bandages. “I didn’t mean to offend you.”

Mitsuya chuckles and covers one of Chifuyu’s hands with his own. “I’m not. I just want to counter the north’s beliefs. A mark like this has nothing to do with an omega’s insecurity. It has everything to do with an alpha’s love.” With his other hand, he nudges Chifuyu’s chin to make him look up. “If you ask me, Shuji was well on his way to—”

“Don’t,” Chifuyu whispers. He gently pulls himself free and stands. “Thank you, but—” With a sigh, he steps down from the porch, his back to Mitsuya. “Be sure to rest up.”

After Mitsuya’s mumble of agreement, Chifuyu walks away, very pointedly not looking back at the bridge that leads to the alpha territory. His bonding mark still stings, the pain of it slowly seeping down his back, but he ignores it, fighting down the urge to press his fingers over it and whisper soothing words to himself.

He sets his sights on Mikey’s hut and mentally prepares to see the omega that’s kept there. He very pointedly does not think about what Shuji might have looked like, if he had carried Chifuyu’s mark as well.

The omega’s human form is unusual in appearance. Light eyes and light hair. The scar on the side of his face is even more pronounced. Chifuyu had already suspected it, but now he’s certain it’s the result of a burn.

Unfortunately, he’s just as uncooperative as a human.

“I’m a patient man,” Chifuyu tries again. “We can sit here all day, staring at each other. I don’t mind.”

The omega barely moves a muscle. A tight and heavy collar is secured around his neck, the kind that’ll choke him to death before he would ever get the chance to fully shift again. It’s a contraption Chifuyu has only seen once in his life and the sight of it makes him slightly uneasy.

“I will say I’m impressed,” he says after a moment of eyeing the collar. “You’re holding out quite—“

“You’re Hanma’s mate.”

Chifuyu raises a brow, surprised but pleased. He leans back on his hands and tilts his head to the side, showing off his bonding mark. The stretch of his skin feels good, alleviating some of the burn he feels. “I am.”

“Where is Sano? His sister?”

“That’s none of your concern. Why don’t you tell me instead why you’re here.”

“Why don’t you join the Gods alongside your mate?”

Ever since the attack, Chifuyu hasn’t had a full night’s rest. The omega hut is emptier than ever now that everyone sleeps in their own huts again. It’s a welcome change, the space less stifling, but it leaves too much room for Chifuyu to think.

And think, he does. Each time he lays his head to rest, the guilt creeps up on him, crawls into bed with him and winds it cold arms around his body. It holds him down and forces him to think about his selfish, pathetic inability to go see Shuji.

When he does fall asleep, his dreams are plagued with memories of that night. Of Shuji’s body limp and lifeless, being carried inside his hut, of Souya stepping out to let Chifuyu know he managed to stop the worst of the bleeding, his hands stained red.

In those dreams, he relives stumbling away from everyone, Souya’s voice calling out to him, and ignoring him. He stumbles through the dark until he’s alone, surrounding by nothing but trees, and there he cries until he can’t breathe, and there he gasps for breath until he’s sick, stomach cramping and then throwing up until his entire body hurts.

The fear is a looming shadow with sharp teeth and red eyes in those dreams, stalking him with laughter that nearly pierces his eardrums. In the dream, Chifuyu lets it consume him. In real life, he wakes bathing in sweat each time, frantically pawing at his stomach with the burning of his throat fresh in his memory, praying and begging with tears streaking his cheeks that his pup is unharmed.

Those are the least horrifying dreams.

The worst always follows after, when he tires himself out and falls back asleep. He dreams then, of holding a little boy with his eyes and his smile, and he is both himself and his mother. The boy asks him to describe what his alpha father looks like, but each time he opens his mouth to describe Shuji to their son, all that comes out is his mother’s voice and he tells the boy— he is in the trees, and he is in the sky and in the stars, and he will love you, but you will never meet him.

Each time he wakes from that dream, he is furious, digging his nails into the skin of his arms and gritting his teeth, cursing himself for being a coward, for failing his pup before they’re even born. He can’t go back to sleep after that, so he lies awake until he sun rises, and he is tired.

Chifuyu is so tired. The exhaustion tugs at him during all hours of the day, fear and anger and failure coursing through his veins.

And now, he wants to scream at the omega, kick the smug look from his face and tear him apart, make him bleed and suffer.

He wants to pin all the blame on this insufferable stranger and exchange his life for Shuji’s— watch the colour drain from his face so he can breathe it back into his mate.

But he can’t. Because deep down, Chifuyu knows that it’s no one else’s fault but his own, that it was his careless words that drove Shuji to face these enemies alone.

So instead of of lashing out like he wants, he sighs and gets to his feet, forcing a neutral expression when he addresses the omega. “I’ve been nothing but a gracious host and yet, you wish death upon me.”

“I will only speak to the Hanma heir,” the omega says, monotone and slow. “So you can stop wasting your time.”

Chifuyu takes a deep breath and forces himself to remain calm. “Very well… If you insist.” He steps closer, the omega struggling against his restraints when he grab his hair and yanks his head down, at eye-level with Chifuyu’s stomach. “They’re still quite small, but I promise— you have their full attention.”

“You— Hanma’s—“ The omega’s voice wavers. It spills out all his secrets without further words.

“Oh…” Chifuyu clicks his tongue and releases the omega. He steps back and frowns. The realisation has a strange effect on him. The world becomes fuzzy and a blanket of nothing wraps itself around Chifuyu’s shoulders, stilling his anger and his fear, leaving him cold and calm. “I see. You meant to end my mate’s bloodline.”

The omega scowls and averts his eyes.

“Well, now I feel bad.” Chifuyu sighs again, leaning his chin in his palm. “We intend to expand his bloodline by quite a few. I’m very sorry. Truly.”

It’s clear that the omega is trying to mask any emotion, but his scent still sours with the barest hint of desperation.

Chifuyu smiles. “Now, tell me why you tried to end my mate’s life.”

“Tried?” the omega spits. “He’s not here, is he? If you were to ask me, he’s already rotting as he should, and I swear to you, the moment I am freed of these restraints, I will rip that pup straight from your womb and—“

A swift kick to the stomach shuts the omega up.

Chifuyu tuts. “Threaten my pup’s life again and I will burn the entire west to the ground. Finish what whoever gave you that scar started. Are we clear?”

The omega just leers up at him, lips pressed together, a fire behind his eyes.

“My alpha is just fine,” Chifuyu continues. “He simply doesn’t want to waste his time with the likes of you.”

“Oh!” The omega barks out a laugh. “Sending his pregnant mate to take care of his things? He’s truly the coward everyone says—“

This time, a kick to the jaw shuts him up. Chifuyu groans and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Sorry, I should’ve been more clear— speaking ill of my mate won’t be tolerated.” He smiles at the omega. “You don’t need your fingers to speak. I’d advise you to remember that.”

The omega growls and spits out blood. “I see his legacy of cruelty spreads like a disease to everyone he comes into contact with.”

“On the contrary, omega.” Chifuyu raises a brow. “My alpha is quite gentle, and in any case, I wouldn’t be in need of any influence for this. That being said, I don’t enjoy hurting you. So why don’t you tell me what brought you here and we can discuss the terms of your release afterwards.”

“I’ll speak to Hanma or no one.”

Chifuyu lets his eyes drift down to the specks of blood on the wooden floor. “You’re so tiresome.”

“So he is dead,” the omega presses, tone eager.

“No.” Chifuyu turns on his heel and saunters to the door. “And even if he was— his legacy would live on through me. As long as I’m alive, so is he.” He glances over his shoulder. “You failed. Make your peace with that and maybe, you’ll be ready to talk then.”

To Chifuyu’s surprise, it’s dark when he steps outside. He wonders how he missed the sun setting. With a nod, he bids farewell to the beta keeping watch, and steels himself for another dinner filled with the worried scents of his pack, endless of questions in their eyes that he doesn’t have a single answer for.

The fourth morning since the attack, after another sleepless night of memories and dreams, Chifuyu steps out of the omega hut with irritation already simmering under his skin. It only worsens when he takes in the sight before him. For a moment, he considers turning around and trying to get more sleep— would much rather face his dreams than the four people waiting for him.

Still, duty will always outweigh his personal desires, and so Chifuyu follows Ryusei and Keisuke to the communal hut, where Souya and Rindou are already gathered around the head table.

They take their seats. Chifuyu on one side of the table, opposite Rindou and Souya, with Ryusei and Keisuke on either side of them.

“I’ll keep it short,” Souya says after looking at each of them. “We need to pick up the hunts. I need bones.”

There’s some looks of surprise. Chifuyu scratches at his bonding mark when it suddenly stings and looks everyone over before he turns to Souya.

“Bones?”

“For bone broth,” Souya clarifies, a little sheepishly. “It’s good to strengthen up. When Shuji wakes—“

“If Shuji wakes,” Chifuyu corrects before he can stop himself. He regrets it immediately when all eyes go to him.

Ryusei is the first who dares speak up, expression pinched. “That’s a bit morbid, Fuyu.”

“It’s realistic. We’re not certain he will.”

“Chifuyu…” Souya sighs.

“And because of that, I don’t see a pressing need for bones right now. Last we checked, the fawns haven’t aged to a point where hunting is fair,” he says, then notices he’s still scratching at his bonding mark and quickly drops his hand. “We can’t disrupt nature for an uncertainty. It’ll be a few weeks until—“

Souya holds up a hand. “It’ll be good for the ones who got injured as well. Meat, the broth.”

Another sting pulses down Chifuyu’s spine. He takes a deep breath, determined to keep the discomfort from showing. “Are they not recovering well?”

“They are, but—“

“So they don’t need it. Do you see my point?” Chifuyu nods, mostly to himself. “If Shuji wakes, we’ll send out a hunting party right away, and—“

“That might be too late,” Rindou interrupts, laying a hand on Souya’s shoulder. “It could take a few days for a successful catch, considering most wildlife is more skittish than usual now that their young are still dependant on them. Not to mention it’ll take our hunters a bit to get back into shape. Being without a supply could hinder Shuji’s recovery once he wakes.”

Chifuyu feels his eye twitch. “If he wakes,” he corrects. “Again, Rindou, it’s irresponsible to risk—“

“Our alpha’s health?” Keisuke snaps. “I agree, Chifuyu. Well spoken. I say we start up—“

“No one asked you.” Chifuyu takes another deep breath and lays a hand against his stomach, a meagre attempt to calm his agitation down. “We will not start hunting again. That’s final.”

“In case you haven’t noticed,” Keisuke grits, “no one at this table agrees with you. Your word isn’t law, Chifuyu, and if it’s in the pack’s best interest—“

“It’s not in the pack’s best interest.”

“—then we should start hunting,” Keisuke finishes, glaring daggers in Chifuyu’s direction. “I don’t think your judgement is based in rationality right now. It would be in the pack’s best interest.”

Chifuyu’s bonding mark is throbbing. He needs to take his hand away from his stomach, fingers clenching into fists so tightly it hurts. “It’d be in the best interest of a man who might as well be dead,” he says, voice unnaturally low to his own ears. “You’re not speaking for the pack, you’re speaking for one man, the same man who you until very recently suspected to be against us.”

“He isn’t dead!” Ryusei snaps before Keisuke can speak again. He looks at Chifuyu with clear anger, the first time he’s ever looked at him like that. It fills Chifuyu’s veins with the sort of poison he can’t fight. “Stop talking like he’s dead! He’s breathing and alive, Chifuyu, and you’re being cruel.”

Souya inhales sharply. “Ryusei—”

Chifuyu raises a hand and Souya immediately falls silent. “I understand why you are here, Souya, because you need resources. I see why Rindou is here, to support you. And Keisuke…” He glances at him for a moment. “You must feel guilty, so I understand why you are here. But you…” Chifuyu fixes his gaze on Ryusei and narrows his eyes. “I fail to see why you are here.”

“Leave him alone—”

“Shut up, Keisuke.” Chifuyu tilts his chin up. “Well?”

Ryusei shakes his head in clear disbelief. “Don’t take your inability to deal with grief out on me.”

“I’m not the one holding onto childish hope and letting that influence my judgement.”

“Excuse me?” Ryusei whispers, shoulders hunching up, fists balled against the table. “You miserable coward. Hypocrite! Do you even hear yourself right now?!”

Souya lets out a soft growl. “Ryusei—”

“No!” He jumps to his feet and throws out his arms, glaring at Souya. “I’m done with this! I could understand him not going to see Shuji, but now he’s downright refusing to let us take action that might aid him!” Ryusei turns his heated attention to Chifuyu. “It’s fine that you clearly don’t care about him, I can’t hold that against you.”

Chifuyu grits his teeth. He fights to stay seated, to keep his expression neutral, his scent under control.

“But I’ve known him for years,” Ryusei goes on, voice coming out low and gravelly, a growl hiding in it. “He’s my friend, Chifuyu, I do care about him. You can sit idle and pretend he’s already dead so you don’t have to deal with the pain of potentially losing him, that’s just fine. But me?!” he suddenly roars, “I refuse to give up on him, and since you’re clearly lacking the proper strength and humanity to act right now, I will try everything in my power to help him!”

Rindou and Keisuke stand as well, stepping to Ryusei’s side and speaking to him softly, an attempt to calm him down. The beta growls at them both and flinches out of the way, never once taking his eyes off Chifuyu.

“I’m overruling your decision,” he spits, face dripping with rage. “We’ll start hunting tonight, whether you approve or not.”

That time, Chifuyu does jump up, faintly noticing Souya’s expression of distress. “You can’t overrule me!” he yells, leg bumping into the table when he tries to step forward. He lets out a growl, only a little from the barest hint of pain from the impact against wood, more so from the strong wave of heat that emanates from his bonding mark. “You disrespectful—”

“Enough!” Souya rises, Rindou immediately finding his place at his side. “The both of you. Enough. Go calm down and we can try to have this conversation again.”

Ryusei scoffs. “Most of the hunters agreed, Souya. I think it’d be a good idea for our omega to take a step back, properly process what happened, and let us take the lead in the meantime.”

“From the moment I got here,” Chifuyu hisses, eyes jumping to Rindou as he slowly approaches, putting himself between Ryusei and Chifuyu. “I have given everything to this pack. Only for you to turn around and go against me?”

“That is not what this is,” Rindou tries, stepping closer, Souya following behind him.

“Keep your filthy hands off me!” Chifuyu jumps back and bares his teeth at them. “Go hunt, then! If that’s what you need to keep your minds off the reality of our situation, and stay away from me!”

After one last glare at each of them, Chifuyu turns on his heel and storms out. His bonding mark explodes with pain, but it doesn’t slow him down. He only snarls at himself, mind overtaken with single-minded focus, leading him away from the beta area in large strides.

The pain rages through his body, an explosion of scorching heat that starts at the nape of his neck, spreading to the very tips of his fingers. He curses himself, curses everyone in that hut, repeating a venomous mantra of pathetic and useless, unsure who exactly it’s aimed at.

Kazutora is keeping watch, seated outside on Mikey’s porch. He stands to greet Chifuyu, an easy smile on his face.

“Leave,” Chifuyu only growls, barely stopping to glance at the beta. At the first breath of protest, he growls again. “Now.”

The omega lifts his head when Chifuyu enters, that same look of disinterest on his face. “Back so soon? I thought—” He never finishes his sentence. Chifuyu’s fist connects with the side of his face, snapping the omega’s head to the side. He gasps in a breath and turns to look back at Chifuyu with wide eyes. “Hey. What—”

“Why did you do it?” Chifuyu hisses. He counts to two and when he doesn’t have an answer, punches the omega again. There’s already a bruise blooming high on his cheekbone. It’s a stunning sight. “Tell me why you did it!”

It won’t be long before Kazutora will inevitably find the others, and then they will no doubt reiterate to themselves that Chifuyu is under no condition to make his own choices. Like he’s helpless, like he hasn’t been strong his entire life, making decisions he never wanted to make in the first place.

He needs answers now, can almost hear Kazutora and the others making their way back to him, rendering him powerless once again.

The omega bares his teeth, corners of his mouth tugged up into a smile. “I will explain my reasons to Hanma—”

Another punch. “Tell me!” Before the omega can even open his mouth, Chifuyu throws another one, just slightly off-aim from how bad he’s shaking, connecting with the omega’s nose. It earns him a satisfying crunch and an immediate stream of blood.

“You’re pretty when you bleed.” Chifuyu takes a step back, shaking out his hand. “Tell me now before I decide I want to see more of it.”

“I’ll die before I tell you,” the omega snaps wetly, blood dripping down his chin, eyes wide. “Kill me, and I’ll die in silence.”

“Oh, I will kill you,” Chifuyu whispers, fisting his fingers into the omega’s hair and pulling his head back harshly, grinning at the hiss he gets. “And when you die, you will do so after spilling your secrets. I will tear you apart limb by limb if I have to.”

Chifuyu hits him again and again, until the knuckles of his right hand split open and he’s forced to use his left.

“Tell me why you came here! Tell me what gave you the right to take life that isn’t yours to take!” he screams, not as much force behind the next punch and not as much accuracy, connecting with the omega’s temple. It doesn’t knock him out, but his eyelashes flutter, head hanging weakly to the right. “He was good, and kind, and I wanted to sit and listen to anything he’d be willing to tell me. I wanted to know him!”

He misses the next punch when two arms wrap around him from behind. Chifuyu roars out in protest, blindly throwing his head back and connecting with whoever is behind him. Freed from the constraints, he manages to land another blow.

The omega groans in pain, one eye half-shut and swollen, blood still streaming down his face, staining his shirt.

“I wanted to know what it’s like to be loved by him!” Chifuyu’s throat burns, his chest constricts, heartbeat thundering in his ears. “You took everything from me!”

He raises his fist again, but two pairs of arms grab him from behind, dragging him back forcefully. “Let me go!”

They’re not quick enough to keep him from kicking out, foot connecting to the underside of the omega’s chin. Chifuyu laughs, nearly hysterical, at the sight of the omega’s head snapping back, connecting with the wooden column he’s tied to. He slumps over after that, but the sight of it doesn’t calm Chifuyu like he thought it would.

He all but screeches to be let go, to let him tear the omega apart, to spill blood in Shuji’s name. There’s a chorus of voices. Someone appears in his field of vision, but Chifuyu can’t make out their face, vision dark at the edges.

“Scruff him!” someone yells, and before Chifuyu can flinch out of the way, there’s a hand clamping down on the back of his neck.

Fingers grip him firmly and squeeze, and Chifuyu tries to grasp onto the last thought of his own he has, but it flies out of reach before he can.

His mind overflows instantly. There’s confusion at first, then blinding fear that chills him to the bone and desperation that heats him from his core. A scent washes over him, distinctly alpha, but it’s not his alpha. Panic rises in his chest and another sting throbs from his bonding mark down his back, until his knees buckle and he’s only held up by the grip on the back of his neck.

Someone’s voice breaks while begging and pleading for alpha, and it takes a second for Chifuyu to realise it’s his own. He can’t breathe anymore, his throat feels raw and scratchy, barely a sound escaping past his lips. It’s like only a few seconds have passed, but judging by the hoarse cries that escape him, it must’ve been longer.

“We’ll take you to your alpha soon, pup,” someone says, voice soothing and low.

Chifuyu chokes on his sobs, only vaguely aware of how bad he’s trembling.

“Just relax,” the voice whispers, fingers squeezing around his neck, pressing into his aching bonding mark. “It’s okay, omega. You’re safe now.”

The world falls silent. Chifuyu can’t feel his body anymore, almost like he’s floating. His limbs grow heavy, his eyelids even more so, and no matter how hard he tries, he can’t keep himself awake.

There’s warmth enveloping him. The weight of a body pressed along his back, one arm around his waist.

For a moment, Chifuyu’s heart leaps, but then his brain catches up with him and he realises he doesn’t smell alpha. Just the faintest hint of citrus. He blinks his eyes open and takes in his surroundings, recognising them easily. There’s weak light streaming into the single window, so he must’ve slept most of the day away.

“You’re awake,” Ryusei whispers, tightening his hold for a moment before he tries to scoot back.

Chifuyu grabs his arm before he can. “Please don’t let me go.”

“Okay.”

For a long while, they lie together in silence. Chifuyu tries to remember that he’s angry at Ryusei, but each time he even considers pushing him off after all, he only clings on tighter. He’s sure it must hurt, the way he’s digging his fingers in the beta’s arm, yet Ryusei doesn’t comment on it. Each time Chifuyu squeezes him more tightly, he just scoots closer, the tip of his nose rubbing back and forth against the back of his neck.

So, they stay there. Chifuyu staring at the wall in front of him, Ryusei plastered to his back, his breathing calm and even.

It’s impossible to keep track of time and when Ryusei eventually speaks, Chifuyu is unsure how much of it has passed— mere minutes or entire years.

“Last time I held you like this was during our journey here,” he whispers, then chuckles softly. “At least we’re both dressed now.”

Chifuyu smiles and is finally able to ease the grip on Ryusei’s arm. “Can’t believe I let your flaccid penis touch any part of me.”

“Ah, don’t talk about it in such a condescending way. You loved it.”

“I most certainly did not.” With a sigh, he adds, “It was nice, though, the way you immediately accepted me. Comforted me. Don’t think I ever thanked you.”

Ryusei huffs out a laugh. “You definitely don’t need to thank me. You made it easy.”

“Well…” Chifuyu rolls over with a groan, a bit awkwardly with how Ryusei doesn’t let go of him. When they’re face to face, he smiles. “You know.”

“I know.”

Ryusei smiles as well, and it’s then that Chifuyu notices how tired he looks. His eyes lack their usual sparkle, now just dark and slightly dull.

“I’m sorry, Ryu. I know you love him. I— I’m sorry I couldn’t— that I wasn’t—“ More. Stronger. Faster. There. Chifuyu takes a shaky breath and closes his eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“Please don’t apologise for that…” Ryusei sighs and cups the side of Chifuyu’s face, thumb stroking back and forth over his cheekbone. “If anything, I’m to blame, I— Don’t shake your head at me.” He chuckles and pinches Chifuyu’s cheek. “I shouldn’t have left him alone after we found him but… I very selfishly wanted to see you first, take some comfort in you, before joining him again.”

Chifuyu still shakes his head, unable to make his disagreement clear in another way. There’s a sob rising in his chest and he wants to keep it down no matter what.

“I didn’t mean what I said, Chifuyu,” he goes on in a whisper. “I know you care about him. Of course you do. I just— I got so angry, and I didn’t mean what I said, but…” Ryusei sighs and scoots closer, until he can tuck his head under Chifuyu’s chin, holding onto his waist tightly. He sighs when Chifuyu gently cards his fingers through his hair. “You have to understand that before you, there was… There was me.”

“What?” Chifuyu squeaks, rather undignified, fingers stilling in Ryusei’s hair.

“For a while, Shuji and I… I mean, it’s not the same as what mates have, but— we were, I suppose, lovers, kind of. He didn’t want a mate, I still don’t want a mate…” Ryusei groans, burrowing even further into Chifuyu’s arms. “He just felt like someone I couldn’t lose. I’d had that with Keisuke before Shuji, but things inevitably ended up changing when he and Kazutora mated. I don’t hold that against them, but…”

Chifuyu nods. He adjusts their position, so he can cushion Ryusei’s head with one arm, the other wrapping around his shoulders, holding him as close as they can be. With effort, he blinks away the tears that start forming, and whispers for Ryusei to continue.

“I was never envious of you, when you came along, but when you didn’t want to help him, when you didn’t go to see him, I suppose… some resentment bubbled up. I just couldn’t understand why you wouldn’t try everything in your power, when you— when you’re loved by him, and can love him in return, in a way I could never.”

“Ryu…”

“But I get it, too,” he rushes, gripping the back of Chifuyu’s shirt and shaking his head. “In the end, I only went to see him once. I just— couldn’t do it again. He looks like himself, but it’s not...” His voice cracks, he shakes in Chifuyu’s arms, and breaks down, the second show of raw emotion since meeting him. “I— I can’t lose him, and I can’t lose you, and—”

Chifuyu grips him even tighter. “You’re not losing anyone, most of all not me.”

“I will, that’s what always happens, and now— now he’s gonna die, and you’re gonna leave, and I’m gonna be alone.” He chokes on a sob, miserable and loud, and exhales shakily. “I don’t wanna be alone.”

“He isn’t going to die,” Chifuyu whispers, the words bringing tears to his eyes again. He doesn’t bother blinking them away, not when Ryusei is gifting him with his own vulnerability and fears. “And even if... I wouldn’t…” Wouldn’t he leave? Is there anything other than Shuji keeping him here? Chifuyu truly isn’t sure, but what he does know, “I wouldn’t go anywhere without you, Ryu. Never. What would I do without you, when you’ve kept me sane since the beginning?”

Ryusei sniffles, rubbing his face back and forth against Chifuyu’s chest. “You’d find another mate and forget all about us. I wouldn’t even blame you… You didn’t come here freely.”

“You’re so dramatic.” Chifuyu smiles despite it all, through the tears, the ache in his heart and the stinging of his bonding mark. He gently pries Ryusei away from his chest and can’t help the soft sob he lets out at the sight of his puffy eyes. “And you’re an ugly crier. Stop that.”

“You stop that,” Ryusei huffs, letting go of Chifuyu’s waist in favour of rubbing his eyes. “‘M not crying.”

They chuckle, some of the heaviness that fell on them lifting, just slightly. Chifuyu lightly pecks Ryusei’s lips and presses their foreheads together, closing his eyes.

“You don’t need to remind me that I didn’t come here freely, but none of that matters, Ryusei. I’ll never forget you and I will keep you with me for as long as you’ll stay.”

Ryusei sighs. “What if I want to stay forever?”

“Is that a promise?”

“Only if you’re promising as well.”

“Then yes,” Chifuyu whispers. “I promise.”

They fall quiet after that. Ryusei’s slowly strokes a hand up and down Chifuyu’s back, and in turn, he keeps petting the beta’s hair.

“I’m worried about you,” Ryusei says after a long time in silence. “I know you don’t sleep. You hardly eat. But I— I need you to take better care of yourself. I can’t force you, but I can beg you, and— and if your own life has little value to you, then…” He takes a shuddering breath and brings one hand down, stroking his fingers over the barely-there bump of Chifuyu’s stomach. “If he dies, then this pup, it’ll be all that’s left of him. So, please, I—”

“Of course.” Chifuyu tightens his hold and nods against the top of Ryusei’s head, pressing a kiss to his hair. “Of course.”

Ryusei shakes in his arms, stifling sobs against Chifuyu’s chest. “I’m sorry, it’s so selfish, please know that— that I never want to see you hurt, but I— Shuji, he—”

“I know,” Chifuyu soothes, silent tears running down his cheeks again. “I know, Ryu, I know.”

“He— he wanted you so bad, you know that?” Ryusei hiccups, tears broken up with laughter, shaking in Chifuyu’s arms. “It was so pathetic. Promise me when he wakes, you’ll ask him about it. He deserves to be humiliated.”

When he wakes. Chifuyu can no longer bring himself to think differently. He wants so desperately for Shuji to wake up and the hope might be terrifying but the thought that he’ll never get to see him alive again is even scarier.

“I promise,” he croaks, voice wavering just a little, throat scratchy and dry. “I’ll tell you about it after so we can laugh about it.”

Ryusei chuckles. He shuffles back a bit, eyes still a bit watery, but he smiles despite it. “If he— if he does die, though. Can we tell the pup that I’m their father?”

It hurts to laugh, in the most literal sense, Chifuyu’s chest aching and his throat screaming in protest. Still, he doesn’t try to stop it, wheezing and spluttering his way through it while clutching at Ryusei’s back.

The cure for the poison that was pumping through his veins earlier turns out to be Ryusei’s laugh, the way his eyes light up again, even when they’re red-rimmed and swollen from crying.

“My pup won’t be so ugly that they’ll believe you’re their father,” Chifuyu manages, breathless, between soft chuckles and hitched sobs. “But, yes, sure. We can try to convince them.”

Ryusei snickers and then settles down, curling into Chifuyu and throwing a leg over his hips to get them impossibly closer. “But he won’t die,” he whispers.

“No.” Chifuyu takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, for once welcoming the drowsiness that overtakes him. “He won’t die.”

In Ryusei’s arms, Chifuyu finds the courage to see Shuji. He leaves the beta with a soft kiss to his forehead once night comes, and walks the path to his mate’s hut with quiet determination.

The hut doesn’t look different from the last time he was there. The shelves are a mess as they always are and the teapot still hangs above the fire pit.

Everything still smells like Shuji.

Rather than make his way further inside, Chifuyu takes the teapot and opens the lid, peeking inside to find withered leaves at the bottom of it, the beginnings of mold growing on them.

On heavy feet, he drags himself back outside, discarding the leaves into the greenery growing on the side of Shuji’s porch. He stays there for a moment, looking around the small clearing, noting how some foliage is starting to overgrow. Lazy, he thinks to himself. Lazy alpha. Typical.

Chifuyu smiles. He turns his head to look back inside the hut and nearly calls out to his alpha to scold him, but then remember there’s no one to roll his eyes at him and complain.

Sighing, he leaves the teapot by the door and steps back inside the hut, fresh out of excuses.

Walking past the shelves, he considers tidying them up a little, but the thought of touching the bones and teeth put on display make him shiver.

There’s nothing left to do but keep walking, taking the little step up to the back area of the hut, and then three more steps until he’s past the screens that hide Shuji’s sleeping spot.

The first thing Chifuyu notices is that Shuji, somehow, still looks like himself. A little more pale, and unnaturally still, but Shuji.

A blanket covers him from the hips down, leaving his bandaged side uncovered. There’s some cuts and bruises on his arms and chest, joining the scarring that was already there, but overall—with the worst of his injuries carefully hidden—he doesn’t look as bad as Chifuyu feared he might.

Chifuyu doesn’t know what to say, so he stays silent and busies himself. His nest has been dismantled, laying in a heap next to the door, so he starts there.

Piece by piece, he rebuilds it around his alpha, only leaving it open on his injured right side so Souya will be able to easily reach it. He presses all the different blankets close to Shuji’s body and his heart feels a little less heavy after he’s done.

It still weighs him down, though, so he sighs and kneels next to Shuji’s head, and it’s there that he finds his voice.

“Such a shame Souya had to cut it,” he tuts, running his fingers through the much shorter strands of his mate’s hair. He carefully tests the length of it, holding one strand down against the side of his face. “Ryusei will make it look better, don’t worry. It’ll be long again in no time.”

Chifuyu sighs. “Souya said he— he couldn’t get all the dirt and blood out properly. That’s why. He’s sorry.”

Shuji lays silent, unmoving and still. The fresh scratches that run from his cheek down to his neck are a stark contrast against his skin, deep and red. They’re healing nicely, though, well on their way to become white scars that will only carry memories of violence, like the rest of the scars that are already long healed on his torso.

With careful fingers, Chifuyu traces the one on the left side of Shuji’s chest, a scar he implied was left by his sire.

“Life has been cruel to you, hasn’t it?” he whispers. “Forcing you to try and imitate that cruelty. Don’t think I forgot the way you treated me at first, just because I’m worried about you now.” After a moment, he adds, “I forgive you, of course. I did so weeks ago, when I realised you’re just a lost and scared little pup.”

The bandages on the side of his body are clean, recently changed by Souya, and though they hide the injuries, they only make it more apparent how big they are, so much of Shuji’s side covered by them.

“No one’s ever been as committed to not hurting me as you’ve been. Yet you—” Chifuyu has to close his eyes and pull back his hands, laying them against his stomach instead, finding the strength to continue. “Yet you hid behind me, that night. I didn’t realise how much you trust me. If I did, then…” He opens his eyes again and looks at Shuji’s face. If he tries hard enough, he can pretend his alpha is just asleep, minutes away from waking up. “I don’t know if it would’ve made a difference, actually. I just— I still have so many things I need to tell you, and so many things I need to ask you.”

When Chifuyu closes his eyes again and really focuses, he can pick up the barest hint of Shuji’s scent. Not the lingering traces of it around the hut, but the scent that usually clings so closely to his alpha, dark and alive. It’s hiding beneath layers of the herbal anti-septic balms Souya has been using. It’s weak, but it’s unmistakably there, just as Shuji’s breathing, just as the presence of him in Chifuyu’s veins. Only half-aware, he raises a hand to his bonding mark and presses his fingers against it. It doesn’t sting as bad anymore, only throbs dully when he applies pressure to it.

“What am I supposed to do when you die, Shuji?” he asks, slowly opening his eyes. “Take Ryusei, go back north? Raise our pup with him and share stories of you? I don’t— I don’t want that.”

Silent tears roll down his cheeks, the full weight of the situation slowly setting in. Not in his own harsh words of he might die, but in the softest whisper of he can’t die. The hope hiding in that thought falls down on Chifuyu’s shoulders, the same hope he tried so hard to keep at bay, hiding desperately behind the wall of reality and rationality.

He can’t stay upright. It crushes him beneath its weight. With shuddering breaths and shaking shoulders, Chifuyu rearranges the nest, making space for himself by his mate’s uninjured left side. He curls up beside him, arms wrapped around himself, face pressed against Shuji’s shoulder.

“Shuji,” he whispers, squeezing his eyes shut. “I’ve never had anyone of my own. You were supposed to be that. Despite our start, despite everything, you were supposed to be with me for so many more years than we might get now. You told me we’d have time to get to know each other. You remember that? How do you expect me to let that go?”

Chifuyu breathes through the next wave of tears, waiting until his breathing slows to speak again, imagining to himself that if he sounds calm, then Shuji will not have to worry, wherever his mind might be.

“If you wake up now, I promise I will love you, Shuji. I will dedicate myself to you in the same way you have to me, the same way I’ve seen you do from the start. I know you were mine first, before I even realised it, before I even considered truly being yours.” Chifuyu rubs his face against Shuji’s shoulder, trying to breathe him in best he can, letting out another sob at how soft his skin still is. “I swear it— I will follow you wherever you go, but I can’t follow—”

A more forceful cry forces itself past Chifuyu’s lips, and he gives in. As careful as he can be, he lays an arm over Shuji’s body and clutches the right side of his neck. He adjusts, half on top of his mate, trying his best not to put any strain on him, and presses his face into the left side of Shuji’s neck.

“I c-can’t follow you if— if you die,” he cries, squeezing as close as he can get, rubbing his lips against Shuji’s scent gland. “So wake up, and smile at me again, and— and be here, with me, always.”

Chifuyu wakes up to the sound of footsteps. He groans and lifts his head, looking around with bleary eyes. The sun has risen. By his mate’s side, pressed as close as he could be, he found a dreamless sleep and the rest he so desperately needed.

The footsteps move, raising alarm for a split second before Souya’s scent reaches him. Chifuyu sighs and rests his head back down on Shuji’s chest, closing his eyes again.

Somewhere during the night, he woke up and moved around a bit. He pulled Shuji’s arm around himself, clutching his hand against his waist, where it still is now. Like this, he can pretend that his alpha put it there himself, holding him, the both of them deciding to sleep in and hide from the world a little longer.

“I need to change his bandages,” Souya says, footsteps moving closer. “Sorry.”

“‘S okay,” Chifuyu mumbles. “Can I help?”

“If you want to.”

Chifuyu grumbles a bit and sits up with effort. The dull throbbing is back and without really thinking about it, he brings up a hand to scratch at his bonding mark. He only really notices what he’s doing when he catches Souya watching him with a sympathetic look in his eyes.

“Hurts?” he asks, kneeling next to Shuji.

“That’s a strong word… It’s uncomfortable.”

Souya nods, but doesn’t further comment on it. He instructs Chifuyu to carefully sit Shuji up.

“Is it safe to move him?” Chifuyu wonders, already moving to straddle one of Shuji’s legs so he can ready himself to pull him up and rest his mate’s weight against him.

“He didn’t suffer head trauma,” Souya mumbles, “and if he has broken ribs, well… He’ll have to forgive me if he can feel it hurt.”

Chifuyu lets out a humourless chuckle and leans forward. He winds his arms around Shuji, one hand resting against the back of his head, careful to avoid his injuries. Their chests pressed together, he takes a deep breath in. On the exhale, he tenses every muscle in his body and manages to sit up, grunting from the exertion.

“You’re stronger than you look.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just hurry.” Chifuyu lets out another groan and scoots back a little, tipping Shuji forward more so he leans against him, rather than holding up his weight.

Souya chuckles and sets to work. The herbal scent of his balm fills the hut. He works quickly, first unwinding the bandages.

With a sigh, Chifuyu presses his face into Shuji’s neck, thankful for the position he’s in, leaving him unable to see the injuries.

“They stopped bleeding on the second day,” Souya says. “They’ve been healing… decently. Not as bad as I feared they were. Just a lot of blood lost.”

Chifuyu hums in acknowledgement, gently scratching his fingers over Shuji’s scalp, still getting used to his much shorter hair. His bonding mark stings and he hisses through his teeth.

“Sorry,” Souya mutters. “You can feel it, right?”

“Yes,” he grits, stuck between cursing Souya out or chewing on Shuji’s shoulder for some sort of revenge.

Souya mumbles another apology. The sting fades when he starts to wind new bandages around Shuji, somewhat awkwardly manoeuvring between the space where Chifuyu is still pressed against him.

Once done, Chifuyu takes another deep breath before he gently lays Shuji back down, muscles burning while he does so.

“He looks deceptively skinny,” he groans, sitting back up and stretching out his back a bit. “Bastard’s heavy.”

“Muscles.” Souya shrugs and ushers Chifuyu back. He grabs the blanket and flips it down, exposing the lower half of Shuji’s body.

As ridiculous as it is, Chifuyu flushes a bit at the sight of his mate’s nudity, but it quickly passes when his eyes land on the fresh bite marks that litter his hips and thighs.

“These are puppy nips compared to his side,” Souya says, scooping up a dollop of the herbal paste to smooth it over the bites.

Chifuyu glances at the bandages, once again taken aback by how much area they cover. “How bad are they?”

“They tried their best to tear him apart. Took a good chunk out of him.” Souya sighs and sits back, peering down at the bites. “It’ll be an ugly scar, no doubt about it. I was able to stitch a few up but… One tear in particular was too wide. It’s a miracle I managed to stop it bleeding.”

It sends a dull throb from Chifuyu’s neck, down his spine. He whines and presses his fingers against his mark. “No one told me what a curse mating can be,” he complains, childish and whiny. “Feeling his emotions is one thing. Sharing his pain is another.”

“You think it’s a curse?” Seemingly satisfied with his work, Souya carefully pulls the blanket up again, covering Shuji from the waist down.

“I don’t know…” Chifuyu scoots closer and runs his fingers through Shuji’s hair. “It’s… like it’s mocking me. I can feel him, it’s letting me know he’s alive, but… It keeps changing. From a dull throbbing to jabs of pain, then nothing for a while. I don’t— I don’t know what it means.”

Souya sighs. “Painful truth or romantic lie?”

Looking at Shuji’s face, Chifuyu would much rather hear a romantic lie. With careful fingers, he traces his mate’s face. “Painful truth,” he whispers, tears welling up in his eyes.

“Keeping him hydrated has been nigh impossible. A day, maybe two, and his body will start shutting down.” Souya reaches out to take Chifuyu’s hand. He pulls it down to intertwine their fingers over Shuji’s chest. “The pain you’ve been feeling is the first sign of that. It’s said that it’s like your connection is… trying to find a tether, desperately searching for something to hold onto.”

“Oh.” Chifuyu smiles through the tears, unable to take his eyes off Shuji’s face. “A curse after all, then.”

“You know,” Souya says after a moment of silence, “Rin was horribly injured once. We didn’t know if he’d make it.”

Chifuyu looks at him and finds Souya looking down at Shuji. “Souya…”

“It’s quite alright. He’s fine now. But I remember thinking, when I took care of him, that I’d give anything to feel him. The pain would’ve been better than nothing.”

“I’m sorry, “ Chifuyu whispers, guilt heavy on his tongue. “I didn’t mean to be—”

“No, please, don’t apologise.” Souya looks up at him and smiles, though it doesn’t reach his eyes. “It’s just… hard sometimes. He bites me regularly, but the marks always fade. It hurts. A lot. I’ve been told it hurts less when it’s an alpha and omega bonding.”

Chifuyu only nods.

“He needs to do it every couple of weeks,” Souya goes on. “I don’t really need it. I can sense how he feels just fine without it, but… it means a lot to him, and what’s a little pain when I know it makes him feel closer to me?”

“That’s sweet.” Chifuyu smiles. “You’re a good mate.”

Souya shrugs. “I don’t know about that. I guess it’s just what we do, right? We bear the pain and we find meaning in it.”

Chifuyu takes a moment to mull those words over. He lets his eyes drift down to Shuji’s face and without thinking about it, runs a fingertip down the slope of his nose. “You love Rindou, though,” he says softly. “Love makes any burden easier to carry.”

“You don’t love Shuji?”

Next, Chifuyu traces the shape of Shuji’s upper lip, and then the line of his jaw. “Of course I don’t,” he mumbles, moving his hand to run his thumb over his mate’s cheekbone. “I hardly know him, Souya, and I know I’m partially to blame for that but…” He sighs and smooths his thumb over one of Shuji’s eyebrows. “How could I love a stranger?”

Souya makes a soft sound, somewhere between a laugh and a scoff. “I think he does love you.”

“You think?” Chifuyu lets those words settle, envelop him like a blanket. He basks in the warmth of them, selfish and greedy. With a smile, he cups the side of Shuji’s neck, thumb pressing softly over his scent gland. “What a fool he is, then.”

Both of them, really, Chifuyu thinks. Fools. Cursed and blinded and hurt, but bound together nonetheless.

On the sixth morning after the attack, just as the sun starts rising, Chifuyu steps out of the communal hut. Everyone is still asleep, silent and peaceful. Some fog curls around his feet as he takes the short route to Mikey’s hut, cutting through the small area of grass and trees that separates that stretches between both huts.

Waiting on the porch, next to the door, is Choji, who only lifts his head when Chifuyu approaches, his eyes half-shut and sleepy after what must’ve been a boring night of keeping watch.

“They’re sending a hunting party out again later,” Chifuyu says softly, stepping up next to him. He sets down the woven basket he’d taken with him and kneels down, opening the lid. “I brought you some food. Take it, then go sleep. Ryusei will come and get you when it’s time.”

Choji keeps silent while Chifuyu takes out a stack of two wooden containers, one filled with rice, the other steamed fish, both tied together with a piece of cloth.

“We were told not to leave you alone with him,” he grunts, getting up nonetheless after grabbing the food.

“Not gonna attack him.”

“Sure.” Choji shrugs, but lingers. He averts his eyes when Chifuyu looks at him. “I’m sorry about Shuji.”

“Me, too.” With a sigh, Chifuyu gets up, hitching up the basket over his shoulder again. “Have you gone to see him?”

Choji shakes his head. “Wouldn’t be right, in my position. He’s our leader. Seeing him vulnerable without his permission… It’d be disrespectful.” He looks at Chifuyu with a grin. “That’s what Chonbo says, at least. Me, I wouldn’t mind poking fun at him a bit.”

Chifuyu rolls his eyes and steps closer to the door. “Go rest.”

Footsteps start to retreat, then stop. “Chifuyu?”

Without turning back, he nods, keeping his head down as he kicks off his sandals.

“He’ll live, right?”

“Of course.”

No immediate reply comes. Chifuyu takes a breath and slides open the doors, greeted with the sight of the omega slumped over, still asleep.

“If he doesn’t,” Choji says, making Chifuyu take pause, “we’ll still be with you.”

The retreating footsteps let him know Choji isn’t looking for a response, so Chifuyu doesn’t bother turning around to make his gratitude clear. Later, maybe.

He slides the doors open further and steps inside, closing them behind him as softly as he can.

It’s still early. He doesn’t really blame the omega for being asleep, though it surprises him he would allow himself to be in such a vulnerable position.

Sighing to himself, Chifuyu sets down the basket by the door. He scans the hut for a moment, finding a stack of pillows in a corner. Quietly, he grabs one and pads over to the wall directly opposing the omega. There, he lays down the pillow, sits down and leans his head back.

He doesn’t think he’ll fall asleep, but closes his eyes anyway, one hand resting on his stomach. While he waits, he lets his thoughts drift back to even earlier that morning, waking up next to Shuji. It had been the most comfortable way to wake since coming to the village, even with his mate unresponsive to the soft kiss Chifuyu left on his temple as a way to wish him a good morning.

A soft breath of laughter escapes him when he remembers Shuji’s immediate refusal to sleep together, all those weeks ago, and wonders why that was. As he sits there waiting for the omega to wake up, he wonders about a lot of things— from Shuji hiding that he was the one to save Chifuyu and the pups, to Shuji’s treatment of him during his heat.

So much about his strange mate’s strange behaviour is still a complete mystery, and sitting there, Chifuyu isn’t sure what caused the gradual change from frustration to curiosity. No matter how hard he tries, he can’t find it in himself to resent Shuji for keeping secrets, not anymore. He just wants to know, he wants to ask and listen, and he allows himself to trust that there will be a time for that soon.

“Came here to hurt me some more?”

Slowly, Chifuyu blinks his eyes open and lifts his head. The hut is brighter now. He isn’t sure how much time passed since he sat down, but judging from the sunlight, it must’ve been a while.

The omega is glaring at him best he can, what with one eye swollen and bruises all over his face.

“Souya said you refused to let him tend to your injuries,” Chifuyu says, stretching out with a groan. “Why’s that?”

“Barely injuries,” the omega grunts. “They don’t even hurt.”

Chifuyu raises a brow. “If you say so. I’d still like to look them over, though.”

“Why?”

“To make amends for taking my anger out on you.” He nods to the basket. “Brought food as well. Real food, not just the plain rice they’ve been giving you.”

That seems to catch the omega’s attention, eyes flickering to the basket before settling on Chifuyu again. “I think I’d rather starve.”

“I will shove it down your throat.”

They stare at each other for a long, heated moment. Then, the omega scoffs and averts his eyes.

“Fine.”

Chifuyu mutters a finally under his breath and gets up, grabbing the basket to go sit in front of the omega. He looks him over, just to make sure he’s still fully restrained, and then takes his time taking out everything he brought.

“You know,” he begins, setting out a similar set of wooden containers he’d given Choji, “I only want to know if you’re a danger to this village. If you’re not, I will let you go. No further questions asked.”

“Really?” The omega raises a brow when Chifuyu glances at him. “So, I could just lie and say I’m not, and I’ll walk out of here by midday?”

Chifuyu nods. He takes a pair of chopsticks. “Sure you already figured that out, though.” He lifts his eyes and holds out a bite of rice and fish. “Yet, you haven’t tried to lie your way out of here.”

“Not much of a liar.” The omega wearily eyes the food, glancing between it and Chifuyu before he opens his mouth.

“Yeah, me neither.” Chifuyu sighs and prepares another bite. “So, let me admit— you almost succeeded in killing my mate. He isn’t dead but… he isn’t quite alive, either.”

The omega chews and swallows, keeping quiet until he’s eaten most of the food. “You’re from the north, right?”

“What gave it away?”

“Your deceptively innocent appearance and the mean punch you pack despite it.” The omega grimaces. “How come you ended up with him?”

Chifuyu shrugs, scraping the last bits of rice and fish together. “I traded myself for the safety of my pack back home. If I became his mate, Manjirou would help my mother fend off the west.”

“I see…” The omega accepts the last bite and then leans his head back against the column. “Must be tough, being mated to the same alpha whose people attacked your homeland.”

“He had nothing to do with that.” Chifuyu packs up the containers and then takes out the few medical supplies. “But it wasn’t easy, no. Still isn’t. I didn’t want a mate at all, least of all someone like him.” He glances at the omega. “You know anything about those attacks?”

“Never been to the north. Don’t like the cold, don’t like the people.”

“Sorry you have to deal with me then,” Chifuyu mumbles, taking a small jar of the balm Souya gave him. “Look at me. This’ll soothe the bruises.”

Much to his surprise, the omega does lift his head. “Did you mean it? Letting me go if I’m not a danger to this village?”

“I did.” Carefully, he spreads the balm over the worst of the bruising on the side of the omega’s face. “I don’t want to keep you here any longer than I need to. I’m sure you have people you love, people you want to return to.”

“Nine of whom you killed.”

“You attacked us first.” Chifuyu frowns and rubs the last of the balm in.

“We didn’t,” the omega grunts, flinching when Chifuyu presses down on his cheekbone a little harder than strictly necessary. “We wanted to kill Hanma. If you hadn’t intervened, we would’ve left the rest of you alone.”

“So you are still a danger to this village.”

“Just him.”

Chifuyu shakes his head and leans back. “He’s part of this village. You pose a threat to him, you pose a threat to all of us.” He lays a hand against his stomach, noting how the omega follows the movement. “Not to mention— even if he dies, his bloodline will still continue. My pup wouldn’t be safe, would they?”

“I suppose not.”

“I don’t get it. What do you have to gain by killing Shuji?”

The omega frowns. “That’s his name? Shuji Hanma?”

For reasons Chifuyu can’t quite comprehend, the question makes his heart ache. “You didn’t even know his name, yet you came to his home to kill him?”

“Didn’t need to know his name. It’s not…” The omega groans and lets his head fall back. “It’s not about who he is, it’s about what he represents. I wouldn’t expect you to understand. You northerners have never cared about what happens outside of your snowy region.”

Chifuyu clicks his tongue. “Yes. I guess you’re right.” He looks the omega over for a moment, the slump of his shoulders, the dejected expression he wears. It’s a look he recognises easily. “They don’t care what happens within their region, either,” he says quietly. “They left us to die when the west attacked. Me, my mother, our entire village. They called us fools for refusing to leave our homeland behind and trekked up further north, where they could cower high up on their snowy mountains.”

“Maybe you were fools.”

“I heard the west isn’t exactly paradise these days. Why haven’t you left?”

The omega snaps his head back, staring at Chifuyu with a blank expression. “It’s home,” he says after a moment.

“Exactly.”

“Yet, you’re here,” the omega says slowly. “Protecting a pack that isn’t your home, protecting a mate that is directly tied to attacks on your home.”

Chifuyu sighs and doesn’t bother correcting the omega on Shuji’s involvement again. “I had to, in order to protect my people. And in doing so, I— I had to make a new home for myself. It was the only way I could survive.”

The omega sighs. Then, he groans. After that, he mutters a few curses under his breath. Finally, after squeezing his eyes shut and cursing one more time, he looks at Chifuyu again. “My name is Seishu Inui, and— ugh, don’t bother with your own introduction. I heard your name loud and clear a few days ago, Chifuyu Hanma, from the north.”

Chifuyu snaps his mouth shut and tries not to linger on the way his heart jumps, hearing his full name like that for the first time. “It’s nice to formally meet you, Seishu.”

“It isn’t mutual,” he grunts. “Your sob story just… made me feel bad for sending you out of this hut without any new information.”

“You’re too kind.” Chifuyu presses a hand to his heart and smiles. “Now—“

“Don’t get too excited,” Seishu snaps. “I still refuse to share anything with anyone other than Hanma while he’s alive. So either fix him or let him die. And send that healer omega in here… I think you broke my nose the other day.”

Chifuyu squints his eyes and looks Seishu over, noticing the crooked set of his nose for the first time. He grins and pats the other omega’s knee, ignoring the growl he gets. “I can work with a name, for now. I’m sure we’ll be quick friends, Seishu Inui from the west, and friends share secrets, don’t they?”

Seishu spits at him and thrashes forward, his restraints rattling. “The very best of friends, Hanma.”

That day, Chifuyu leaves the omega behind with a sense of pride. He has a name to share now, the first real piece of information, something that proves that he can be useful.

“Hanma,” he muses, walking the path to the communal hut with a hand resting against his stomach. “Quite the title to be graced with, isn’t it, pup?”

On the evening of the sixth day, Chifuyu finds himself by Shuji’s side.

The hut is shrouded in darkness, save for the lanterns Souya lit, before he took his place by the fire pit.

They walked together after dinner, neither of them speaking a word, the weight of Souya’s grim prediction heavy in the air.

A day, nearly two, have passed since he sat with Chifuyu. The words he spoke fluttering around the space where Shuji still sleeps.

There’s a strange calmness that settled deep within Chifuyu. Looking at Shuji, he deludes himself into thinking he’s prepared.

His mate’s lips are chapped, his skin pale and shiny, but other than that, he looks asleep, not like a man close to taking his last breaths.

Chifuyu washed Shuji’s hair earlier, when it was still light out, and combed it as neatly as he could with the blunt edges left behind by necessity. He remade his nest and pulled the blanket neatly over his mate’s body.

All of it to make sure that if Shuji does leave them during the night, he would still look beautiful in the morning. As beautiful as he looks now, breathing softly in the dim lights of the lantern that stands at the edge of where he sleeps.

“I wish I knew your mother’s name,” Chifuyu whispers, more to leave the soft silence undisturbed than trying to make sure Souya doesn’t hear him, “but I will make sure to name our pup after snow, as well.”

Shuji exhales slowly and Chifuyu’s bonding mark throbs dully. He thinks he recognises a heartbeat in it and he lays a hand against his own chest.

“The omega we caught, he said your death was warranted not for who you are, but for what you represent,” he continues. “I’m not sure what he meant, but if you are to leave us, Shuji, I will find out and I will make sure that whatever it is you represent doesn’t die with you.”

There’s a stutter in the throbbing of his bonding mark. Chifuyu shuffles closer on his knees and takes Shuji’s face between his hands.

“If you die tonight,” he says, though his voice breaks at the end of it, followed by a soft sob. “Then I will keep you alive. I carry so many promises with me already. I’ll carry the ones we made with pride, even if— even if we never spoke about them out loud.”

Chifuyu cries softly, trying to keep his breathing as even as it can be, and leans closer to Shuji’s face. He closes his eyes and presses soft kisses to his mate’s face— his cheeks, his cheekbones, his forehead, each corner of his lips.

“I’m sorry, Shuji,” he whispers, moving to press their cheeks together.

The bonding mark stings slightly. Shuji’s breathing stutters, picks up for a moment and then slows again.

“I hope you find—”

A flutter against Chifuyu’s cheek cuts his sentence short. It cuts everything short— his tears, his breathing, the beating of his heart.

And when he leans back, it all comes back with twice the force. He chokes on his tears, his breathing grows erratic, and his heart hammers in his chest.

Shuji blinks slowly, barely, almost imperceptible in the light, if not for the way his eyes are unmistakably opened.

“Shu—” Chifuyu’s world tilts, nearly knocking him over. He finds purchase on his mate’s shoulders, gripping them tightly and choking on laughter when Shuji’s face scrunches up slightly. “Souya!”

There is an endless stretch of time between Souya cursing and rushing to kneel by Shuji’s side. In that time, Chifuyu both laughs and cries, and manages to move his hands back to Shuji’s face, cradling it as gently as he can while his entire body shakes.

“I just finished saying my goodbyes to you,” Souya rasps, sounding close to tears. “And now you decide to wake?”

A hoarse sound leaves Shuji’s lips. He hasn’t moved more, but he is awake, though it seems he’s fighting to stay that way, his heavy eyes staring right back at Chifuyu.

Souya is scrambling for something, and Chifuyu still hasn’t looked away from Shuji’s face, really doesn’t have any intention to ever take his eyes off him again.

“Get him up,” Souya rushes when he’s back with them. “Drink, he needs to drink.”

Another sound leaves Shuji when Chifuyu helps him sit up slowly, Souya propping up several pillows between him and the wall so he can lean back against them.

Souya doesn’t stop rambling, hands hovering over Shuji without ever touching him. “How are you feeling? Can you talk?”

He doesn’t wait for an answer, already moving again, and Chifuyu laughs wetly, finally tearing his eyes away from Shuji to look at the other omega as he quickly fills a cup with water.

Shuji makes the faintest growling sound when Souya tries to hold the cup up to his lips, turning his head away a bit with a frown. His eyes, though sleepy and unfocused, stay trained on Chifuyu’s face.

“Oh, you’re impossible,” Souya grumbles. “What are you looking at him for, huh? I kept you alive. Least you can do is allow me to keep doing that.”

Chifuyu laughs again. He takes one of Shuji’s hands and holds it up to his own face, nuzzling into his mate’s palm. “Drink. Please?”

Shuji keeps staring at him, eyes heavy-lidded but frantically jumping back and forth, but he does take a few tentative sips, face screwing up immediately after.

The hand Chifuyu is holding against his face twitches slightly, the faint movement bringing tears to his eyes all over again.

“Why’s he not talking?” he whispers, glancing at Souya as he refills the cup.

Souya looks at him, eyes wide and frantic before he seems to forcibly relax a little more. He smiles and turns to look at Shuji, softly petting his hair. “Weak, probably.” He gets a soft growl and Souya grins. “Sorry. Tired. Give him a few days.”

“But…” Chifuyu chews on his bottom lip, searching Shuji’s eyes, the dulled yellow and his fluttering lashes, like he’s on the brink of sleep again. “He’s okay?”

“He will be. We’ll make sure of it.”

It’s enough. It’s more than Chifuyu thought he would get. He nods and keeps holding Shuji’s hand against his face as Souya forces him to drink more, small sips turning into at least a full cup being emptied.

After that, with minimal help from Shuji, who is undoubtedly weak despite his protest, Chifuyu lies his mate back down and frets over him a bit— fluffing up a pillow, pulling out another blanket to cover him with.

Souya softly excuses himself, saying he will be back shortly with the bone broth he made, after letting everyone know that their alpha is awake. Before he leaves, he takes a moment to squeeze one of Chifuyu’s hands.

Once they’re alone, Chifuyu leans as close as he can get, hands on either side of Shuji’s head, and presses a kiss to the corner of his chapped lips, lingering there for several seconds.

There’s faint movement, a soft press of Shuji’s lips in return.

Chifuyu hums and smiles. He kisses him more fully, chaste and short, but enough for his heart to flutter and for Shuji to huff out half a laugh.

When he leans back, he notices Shuji’s eyes have finally fallen shut. There’s tears sliding down the sides of his face but the corners of his mouth are lifted up in a hint of a smile.

“You’re okay,” Chifuyu says softly, mostly to himself, wiping away his tears with the back of his hand. He takes Shuji’s hand and guides it to his stomach, noting how it widens the smile on his mate’s face. “We’ll be okay.”

Carefully, he lays down next to him, as he’s done for the past few nights, and lifts the blankets to join his alpha under them. This time, though, when he pulls Shuji’s arm around himself, the hand that rests on his waist curls around it on its own, rather than being kept in place by Chifuyu himself.

“Shuji,” he whispers, wrapping himself around his mate, a purr building in his chest. He lets it out without thinking twice about it, the soft vibrations picking up in strength.

It takes a long while, during which Chifuyu simply lies awake and breathes in slowly, basking in the way Shuji’s scent seems to grow stronger by the second.

But the silence, it gets broken, with a low and raspy voice, barely heard over the sound of the world around them. A sigh. A promise.

“Chifuyu.”

Chapter Text

As much as Souya reassures Chifuyu that Shuji will be okay, the first three days following his awakening make it hard to believe him.

Somewhere between that first night and the second, Shuji comes down with a fever that leaves him shivering and whimpering under the blankets, complexion both pale and flushed.

For a long while, he refuses all their attempts to get him to eat and drink, not so much petulance as it is his body disagreeing with everything, resulting in him barely keeping the smallest of sips down.

It’s a hopelessness the likes of which Chifuyu hasn’t experienced before.

He changes the bedding, dabs away the sweat on his mate’s forehead, and speaks to him in soothing words and hushed reassurances, but he’s powerless to do more.

Souya keeps a close eye on the injuries, changing Shuji’s bandages regularly to make sure they’re not infected, and urges Chifuyu to sleep when he can.

Which he doesn’t.

Those three days, he doesn’t stray from Shuji’s side, doesn’t allow sleep to take him, and doesn’t allow anyone but himself and Souya into the hut, no matter how often the pack asks to see him.

It’s heated protectiveness on his side, though it might come across as something else entirely when he’s met with yet another glare from Ryusei after he refuses the beta entry.

Chifuyu takes it all in stride, trusting that when he explains later, they’ll understand, but he’s having trouble articulating the words during those three days, finds himself unable to describe the state that Shuji’s in. There’s a burning need to keep his mate safe from well-meaning visitors, and in turn, a growing desire to shield the pack from seeing Shuji like that, as well.

It’s nothing short of harrowing, seeing it up close. Shuji had looked peaceful while he slept those many days, but now he looks more on the brink of death than ever, sickly and haunted, tormented by dreams. Whenever he is awake, the fever seems to trick him, forcing him to relive memories. He stutters out confusing half-sentences and pleas for Chifuyu to let his mother know that he’s hurt, that she’ll know what to do.

“I will let her know,” Chifuyu promises over and over again, gently brushing sweaty bangs off Shuji’s face. “If you drink for me, pup, I will let her know.”

And until the break of dawn on the third day, that’s all he can do— trade promises of Shuji’s mother for sips of water.

It makes Chifuyu ache for his own mother, who he knows would make it all better if she were here, and with thoughts of her and the fear about his mate’s death returning full force, he seeks out her comfort in the only way he can think of.

Weighed down by only a couple of accidental hours of sleep, Chifuyu sits back against the wall, cradles Shuji’s head in his lap, and lets his eyes fall shut. He imagines the endless planes of snow, his mother’s smile, and he mumbles—not nearly melodic and sweet enough to be called singing—a lullaby that echoes around the huts of all pups born in the north, a song about a mother asking the spirit of the mountain to guide her pup back to her, pleading with the gods to be kind, until they reunite in the last lines of the lullaby.

When he’s done and silence settles over the hut again, Chifuyu sighs and opens his eyes, blinking the sleep and the tears from them, and looks at the single beam of bleak sunlight that shines in through the opened doors.

“You’re a… terrible singer.”

Chifuyu squeezes his eyes shut, certain his exhaustion is playing tricks on him, hot tears streaming down his cheeks.

“Please don’t cry,” Shuji rasps, much more coherent, only wavering slightly. “I’m sorry.”

Shaking his head, Chifuyu blindly pets Shuji’s hair, scared that if he speaks now, his voice will break and he will never stop crying.

“Chifuyu?”

“You—“ He swallows and takes a deep breath. “Are you, really—“

“Can you look at me?”

For the sake of his pride, Chifuyu doesn’t quite wail a pathetic “no”, but it comes close. He salvages it somewhat by stuttering out a, “I’m mad at you.”

Shuji laughs, a soft and breathy sound. “For almost dying?”

“Yes.”

“Okay.”

“Okay.”

Another laugh. Chifuyu wonders if it’s always been this easy to breathe.

“I never thought I’d hear that song again,” Shuji whispers. “Will you sing it for me one more time?”

Chifuyu takes another deep breath. “I thought was a bad singer?”

“You are.” Shuji chuckles. “Do it anyway.”

And in those words, the same words Chifuyu’s mother sang to him, and the same words he is sure Shuji’s mother sang as well, his mate seems to find the strength to start fighting back.

By the time Souya comes around to check on them, Shuji’s fever has broken, and Chifuyu can finally believe they’ll be okay.

In the days that follow, Souya shows Chifuyu how to change Shuji’s bandages and which herbs he needs to brew a tea against the constant pain Shuji feels.

The hut smells of it now, constantly, a mixture of herbal tea and antiseptic balms, but there’s a different undertone that grows stronger every day— Shuji’s scent, warm and deep and alive, spiking whenever the tea starts to wear off, softening around the edges with something usually only reserved for fussy pups, behaviour the alpha has no qualms about displaying.

With how loud he is, complaining about this and that, bemoaning his forced inactivity, Chifuyu would almost mistake him for a pup. He’s whiny and stubborn, and somewhere around the fifth day, he figures out that the pressing need to keep his bandages clean is the best way to blackmail Chifuyu into kissing him— refusing to cooperate until he gets at least three. Short pecks, but by the way he grins each time they part, eyes heavy-lidded and dark, one might assume they’d been wrapped up in passionate intimacy.

During those first days, Chifuyu steers their conversations clear from anything related to the attack. Most of all, he doesn’t mention Seishu, the threats he made and the motives that lead him South.

Not only for Shuji’s sake, but his own as well. Selfishly and terribly, Chifuyu thinks it’s almost sort of nice, the way his world gradually narrows down to just them. For the time being, Takemichi has taken over Chifuyu’s duties, leaving him with days that are blissfully clear of any responsibilities, save for taking care of Shuji’s injuries.

He’s cleaned and bandaged them a few times now. The first time he did, he felt a wave of nausea at the sight of the biggest wound on Shuji’s side. A few of the gashes that Souya managed to stitch up are done expertly, but flesh was still ripped away, dipping in around Shuji’s middle where the wolves tore into him. They’re still a deep purple along the edges, but healing as well as wounds of that nature can, or so Souya says.

True to his suspicion, Shuji did come away with a few broken ribs—nothing too bad, or so the proud alpha claims—but Souya predicts a full recovery. Nasty scarring, sure, but nothing that will impact Shuji in the long run, on the condition that he takes his time and rests enough.

The blood loss is what keeps Shuji on strict bedrest. Even if he doesn’t admit it, standing up for even the short time to go outside and relieve himself leaves him light-headed, usually leaning heavily on the wall to lower himself back on his bedding again. It could take weeks, according to Souya, for Shuji to get his full strength back.

The circumstances may be less than ideal—each groan Shuji lets out whenever he moves reminding Chifuyu of what he came so close to losing—but it’s hard not to enjoy the quiet moments they spend together. And while Chifuyu still isn’t quite sure of the life Shuji lead before, he is sure that it must be a breath of relief for him as well, to be temporarily relieved of the responsibilities and expectations they’ve carried for most of their lives.

And Chifuyu isn’t sure if that’s what does it—or the tea that Shuji claims makes him feel a little weird—but as the days go by, he’s introduced to a completely different side of his mate. More playful, less guarded and cold. It’s only with a little aftertaste of guilt that Chifuyu sometimes thinks that what happened must’ve been for the best, especially now that Shuji is very much alive and recovering.

“I just— I am willing to believe a lot,” his mate taunts, propped up against the pillows, eyes bright. “But you taking down a bear on your own. That’s beyond the reach of my imagination.”

“Better believe it,” Chifuyu snaps over his shoulder, standing in the doorway, looking over the clearing behind Shuji’s hut. “I don’t appreciate you questioning my honour, alpha. Back where I’m from—”

“Oh, here we go.”

“—alphas just listen to their omegas. Unconditionally. If you walked down any street, all you could hear was: yes omega, of course omega, you’re right omega.” He whips around and points a finger at Shuji, fighting down a grin at his mate’s amused expression. “You’d do well to give me the same treatment.”

Shuji raises a brow. “There were no alphas in your village.”

“Not the point!” It’s been getting progressively harder to keep down his laughter around Shuji when they bicker like this, but somehow, Chifuyu perseveres. “Well?”

“Of course, omega,” Shuji drawls, rolling his eyes. “You’re right, omega, I will treat you with more respect.”

Chifuyu nods, triumphant, and leaves the doorway behind, stepping over to where Shuji rests to pick up the clean bandages.

“You know the deal.” Shuji wearily eyes the bandages, having been quite vocal about how much it stings to replace them and get new balm applied to his wounds. “Omega, you know—”

“I don’t know the deal.”

“You do.”

“Nah.” Chifuyu grins up at Shuji, hands reaching for the bandages around his middle. “Sit still.”

Shuji lets out a low grumble that Chifuyu smiles at, then lets out a pathetic whine when Chifuyu undoes the bandages, unwinding them slowly and carefully.

“You’re a pup, Shuji,” he mumbles, setting the old bandages to the side. “A whiny little pup.” Only after inspecting the wounds and making sure there are no signs of infection, does Chifuyu raise his eyes to meet Shuji’s, the alpha pouting at him in a way that shouldn’t be cute, but somehow is. “It’s healing well. You can stop looking so pitiful.”

“Weeks of this to go.” Shuji sighs, mournful and dramatic, letting his head fall back against the wall. “I look pitiful because I am something to be pitied.”

Chifuyu rolls his eyes and scoots closer. “You know,” he starts, bracing a hand on Shuji’s shoulder so he can lean in, noses almost pressed together, “I thought it was admirable, perhaps, hmm, appealing, the way you almost died for me. But…” Chifuyu sighs, overly dramatic, pressing a quick peck to Shuji’s lips and then leaning back. “Now that you’re this pathetic about it, that’s kind of gone.”

“Appealing, hm?” Shuji pulls him back, staring at Chifuyu expectantly until he leans in for another kiss. “Appealing… how?”

To Chifuyu’s dismay, he feels some heat creeping up his neck. He clears his throat and busies himself with the antiseptic balm. “Appealing in… the sort of way an omega might feel… drawn to their mate after some great display of courage and strength and whatnot.”

Shuji hums. “I’m not sure how I feel about my almost-death making you wet.”

“That’s not—” Chifuyu takes a deep breath, willing his voice to drop back down to its natural pitch instead of the squeak it just came out as. “That’s not what I’m saying. Shut up.”

The undeniable redness of his cheeks seems to inspire Shuji to play nice for a change. He barely complains while Chifuyu cleans and then redresses his injuries. Afterwards, he even drinks the tea and settles down, pliant as can be.

Chifuyu watches him then, the way Shuji’s features slowly soften, erasing any traces of pain, until the corners of his mouth tilt up slightly, as they always do when the tea takes its full effect. It signals the end of their morning routine—light breakfast, bandages, tea. It leaves Chifuyu with nothing else to do but join Shuji, pressed against his uninjured side, sitting together as the morning quietly slips through their fingers.

So far, Chifuyu has been able to sit in mostly silence with Shuji or find themselves in conversations about mundane things, like the story about how he took down a bear, or where Shuji got his impressive collection of teeth from. But today, eight days after Shuji woke up, eight days of seeing his mate get progressively stronger, and eight days of letting the dust settle, of basking in each other’s company, Chifuyu cannot help but ask a question that has been bothering him for quite some time.

“Shuji,” he says, and gets a hum in response, “what happened to your mother?”

It stays silent for a while. Chifuyu doesn’t look at Shuji, just keeps looking ahead at the wall, at the dresser that holds Shuji’s clothes, the shelf that hangs above it, stacked with several pieces of Chifuyu’s own clothing.

Then comes a sigh from Shuji, and Chifuyu does look at him, finding his mate still with his eyes closed. “It’s a sad story,” he whispers. “And quite long.”

“Well…” Chifuyu nudges Shuji softly. “It’s not like we’re going anywhere anytime soon.”

Shuji opens his eyes and looks at Chifuyu. “That is true…” It takes him a moment, and in that moment, Chifuyu thinks he can see the first stones of the walls Shuji has kept up so diligently crumble. “My mother was incredible. She was brave and smart and a brilliant liar.”

It raises more questions in Chifuyu, and he feels almost compelled to immediately ask them. Instead, he takes the hand that Shuji holds out and helps his mate sit up. He fluffs up a few of the pillows so Shuji can comfortably lean back against them and then takes a seat next to him— sides pressed together, hands intertwined.

“There are two stories,” Shuji says, squeezing Chifuyu’s hand. “The one she told me and the truth. I only somewhat recently found out the truth, when I came across an old omega that used to serve my sire, hiding out in the East. This was a year, maybe two, before Kisaki found me. I stayed with her until her passing and over the months I was with her, she told me what really happened.”

Chifuyu nods and waits for Shuji to continue.

“But, the story my mother told me growing up, was that my sire came to her village and they fell in love, and from that love, I was made. Then, after I was born, my mother asked my sire if she could give all of her love to me and he easily agreed. That was her explanation for why she slept by my side each night instead of her mate.”

He turns to look at Chifuyu, a grim smile on his face. “The truth, I was later told, is that my mother was fifteen when my sire invaded her village. A small village, not far from the border between the North and the West. To spare everyone and to guarantee protection for the village, she was gifted to him.”

“She was so young,” Chifuyu whispers, heart heavy in his chest, a chill running down his spine.

Shuji takes a deep breath and nods. “He was at least twice her age. When I was little, I never realised how young she was… She was just my mother, y’know, and she was my entire world. And— and I was hers.” It takes a moment for him to go on, and when he does, his voice is thick and strained. “I didn’t know.”

“You were a child yourself.” Chifuyu leans his head on Shuji’s shoulder, moving their hands so they’re laid out in his lap, and covers Shuji’s with his own. “You couldn’t have known.”

“Giving birth to me,” Shuji continues, soft and shaky, “nearly killed her. She wasn’t— she was too young, and it nearly killed her, and she had trouble conceiving afterwards. I didn’t understand then, why she would cry whenever I asked for a little brother or sister, but I realise now she was heartbroken. And terrified.”

Chifuyu nods slowly, sighing in relief when Shuji rests his cheek on top of his head. “Terrified that she couldn’t give your sire more pups?”

“Yes, and also... Terrified of his anger. Both of us were. I remember his screaming, the way he looked at us, blaming both of us for his lack of descendants. Her, for being useless, and me for making her so.” He takes another deep breath. “I mean, in hindsight, I realise that’s what it was. Back then, I thought it was my fault because I was a sensitive child, cried a lot, was scared that I’d turn out to be an omega when he made it very clear he wanted an alpha.”

Despite the weight of Shuji’s story, Chifuyu can’t help but smile. “You, an omega. Can you imagine?”

“Gods.” Shuji huffs out a laugh as well. “I’d be terrible at it. Don’t have the brains or the patience. I’m amazed that you put up with me. If I’d be mated to an alpha like me, I’d have smothered him in his sleep ages ago.”

Chifuyu grins. “I have considered it many times.”

For a while, they let themselves be distracted and bring up several scenarios in which Shuji would fail at being even close to a decent omega. The atmosphere lifts a little with their shared laughter, and after they fall silent, Chifuyu carefully lifts his head off Shuji’s shoulder to look at him. He leans in for a kiss. Longer, for the first time, lingering.

“Do you want to tell me more, Shuji?” he whispers, leaning back, carefully studying Shuji’s expression. He finds it open and fragile, but brave, strong.

“I grew up, stopped crying as much, stood a little taller,” Shuji mumbles, averting his eyes, fingers twitching in Chifuyu’s hold. “My mother tried her hardest to shield me from it, but the older I got, the more my sire expected of me.”

There’s a pause in which Shuji catches his breath and Chifuyu wonders about the best ways to remove poison from someone’s mind, if there is a way to do so without more violence.

“He wasn’t shy about calling me a useless child,” Shuji continues before Chifuyu finds an answer to his own question. “The old omega ended up explaining to me why he hated me so much for being unalpha, as he put it. As a child, I just… accepted it. Being useless, being a disappointment, and—”

Chifuyu thinks about the way this new pack made their home in his heart— like the current of a quiet river, soft but unrelenting. “I don’t think you’re useless, Shuji.”

Shuji makes a sound, halfway between a hum and a mocking scoff. He looks at Chifuyu and shrugs. “My sire wasn’t allowed to take another mate,” he says instead of fully acknowledging Chifuyu. “The West, for all that it’s wrong with it— they’re not evil. They don’t believe in an alpha taking more than one mate and they certainly don’t believe in an alpha separating from their omega unless the omega is unable to provide an heir. Since I was already born, my sire was forced to wait until I presented before he was allowed to separate from my mother in order to, hopefully, have an alpha child with another mate.”

Chifuyu nods and sighs. He remembers that Shuji’s sire was no longer alive by the time he presented. It feels natural and good to adjust their position, so he sits up a little more while Shuji scoots down, allowing Chifuyu to wrap an arm around his mate’s shoulders.

“I was thirteen, maybe fourteen, when my mother fell pregnant again,” Shuji says, moving ever so slightly to lean his head against Chifuyu’s chest, careful not to twist his body too much. “By then, I was old enough to pick up on everyone’s worries, heard the whisperings about a difficult pregnancy, and sort of pieced together that this pregnancy was cause for great concern. I was close to presenting, so my sire forced me to spend as much time with him as the day allowed, learning to fight, to hunt, strategise, you name it. But…”

Shuji sighs and grips Chifuyu’s free hand, squeezing it tightly. “Every moment I didn’t spend with him, I was with her. She said so many sweet things to me during those months, held me so tightly when we slept, kept repeating how much she loved me. Made me promise to always remember that I was more than what he was forcing me to be— ruthless, cold, calculating… It’s as if she knew.”

“Knew what?” Chifuyu finds himself asking, even if he already knows the answer.

“That bringing my sister into the world would kill her.”

Silence settles over them, only the rustling of leaves outside audible. It allows Chifuyu to swallow down the rising nausea that started creeping up somewhere in the middle of Shuji’s retelling, and he takes a moment to simply breathe.

Shuji’s scent hangs in the air all around him, smelling of the forest, deep and dark but, despite the undoubtedly painful memories, calm. Still, Chifuyu closes his eyes and threads his fingers through his mate’s hair. He focuses on his own scent, fresh and crisp as it always is, mint and something he’s never been able to put into words. It mingles pleasantly with Shuji’s woodsy undertone.

He blinks his eyes open when he feels a hand settle on his stomach, the barely-there swell of it traced gently by Shuji’s fingers, then covered by his palm.

“The last time I saw my mother was when she went into labour,” Shuji whispers, his voice even.

Chifuyu’s heart constricts, tears springing to his eyes. Sadness washes over him, but there is admiration as well, for the way Shuji’s voice holds nothing but love for his mother.

“It was the middle of the night. She woke me calmly, told me what was happening, and kissed my forehead. Then, the omegas that cared for her escorted her to a different hut. She was in labour for two days. I wasn’t allowed anywhere near the hut. I never saw her again.”

With a groan, Shuji adjusts, twists his body more so he can fully lean into Chifuyu, head pressed against his chest, looking down at where his hand is still softly caressing his stomach.

Chifuyu wants to tell Shuji to move, not to put any strain on his ribs or his injured side, but he decides against it and wraps his arms around his mate instead, holding him there.

“My sister lived for three days. My sire told me about her, but I wasn’t allowed to see her.” Shuji sighs. “No pride in the way he spoke about her. No grief in the way he spoke about my mother. He didn’t name my sister. I don’t think he cared. Maybe he would’ve left it to me if…”

Chifuyu takes a slow breath and covers the hand that rests against his stomach, tangling his and Shuji’s fingers together.

“When my sister died, it was late at night. I’d been sitting in my hut, all alone, when he walked in. He announced it without a care. The pup died, and that was it. I just— I remember feeling a kind of rage I’d never felt before, but that’s all I remember. I know I shifted, I know he did as well, but—”

Shuji’s scent does sour then. He trembles in Chifuyu’s arms and makes himself smaller.

When Chifuyu holds him tighter in response, he hopes that Shuji understands— that he is safe, both as an adult and as a child, that Chifuyu will protect and cherish both sides of him.

“I think my sire died satisfied,” Shuji whispers, his voice almost overpowered by the rustling of leaves outside. “I think he saw in me the sort of violence he’d always hoped to see, that day. I think by killing him, I made him proud.”

Chifuyu is still thinking of something to say when Shuji slowly sits up, groaning again, face scrunched up. He takes a moment to catch his breath and then lifts his head to look at him. There’s a mix of emotions showing on his face. Most prominently, Chifuyu thinks, sadness and relief. He doesn’t stop himself from reaching out and cupping the side of Shuji’s face.

“That’s why I had to leave,” Shuji says, moving to lean against the wall, side by side. When he’s settled, he lays a hand on Chifuyu’s stomach again. “I couldn’t stay there, not after what I’d done, not after what happened. I ran and I ran, mindless and aimless. I tried so hard to leave the west behind, to just— become a new person, I guess. I don’t know. I was just a stupid kid.” He chuckles a little dryly. “Became much harder the older I got. Apparently I look just like him. I really— gods, I fear a future in which we can see our own reflections clearly. I hope our pup takes after you, Chifuyu.”

Chifuyu moves before he really thinks about it, abrupt and quick, startling Shuji. He scrambles to his knees to hold his mate’s face in his hands, and he speaks rushed, “they will be ours, Shuji, beautiful and sweet Shuji, ours, not his, no matter what, our pup is yours and mine, and even if they are graced with your face, they will never be his.” He pauses, staring back into Shuji’s wide eyes. “Just as your face is yours, and you are yours, and you are alive, you made it out alive, and now you are mine, as well.”

Shuji doesn’t cry, but Chifuyu thinks he comes close to it, his smile an unsteady little thing and his eyes shiny.

“I’m sorry,” Chifuyu whispers, and mentally kicks himself for only saying that now, “for everything I said, everything I implied, for believing Keisuke.”

The guilt he’s been carrying around doesn’t quite go away, but it lifts just enough for Chifuyu to breathe easier. Back when Keisuke told him, he’d already made up his mind about Shuji being nothing like his sire, but fear clouded his judgement. He wishes he’d have made that clear then, but resigns himself to the regret, and promises himself not to add any more regrets. Not anymore, not between them, not when he saw the terrified child in Shuji’s eyes during their ceremony and not when he sees that same child now, more clearly than ever.

There isn’t much Shuji says to his apology. He covers Chifuyu’s hands with his own and he nods. Together, they sit like that for a while, simply looking at each other. And later, they lie down together, Shuji’s hand covering the barely-there bump of Chifuyu’s stomach. Only then, when Chifuyu is close to drifting off to sleep, does Shuji sigh out his agreement. A soft, “ours.”

A silent agreement settles between them, to wait before breaching sensitive subjects again. It’s a comfortable thing. Shuji’s history doesn’t hang over their heads, rather it finds its place between them, naturally, without any trouble.

There are still questions lingering in Chifuyu’s mind, but he feels content leaving them be for the time being. Ignoring them isn’t hard to do, not when he has so many other things to focus on. Taking care of Shuji, basking in the growing tenderness between them, enjoying how the tea makes his mate slightly loose-lipped, even somewhat sappy to the point of Chifuyu often rolling his eyes at the purred sweetness that sometimes falls from Shuji’s lips.

Around the time the wound in Shuji’s side loses its reddened edges and the bruises that bloomed over his broken ribs start to fade, he starts to grow restless. First, he bothers Chifuyu about it, begging over and over again to leave the hut. Then, he sets his sights on Souya, arguing all the different reasons why some fresh air would do a ‘warm-blooded, bred-for-nature, creature of the wild, alpha of the woods’ good.

The summer heat reaches an all-time high somewhere during the days of Shuji’s incessant whining and on a particularly unbearable morning that has Chifuyu’s shirt sticking to his skin even before the sun has fully risen, he agrees.

For the first time in weeks, Shuji covers his nudity with a pair of loose pants, pointedly refusing a shirt, and waits out on his deck with a cup of the pain-soothing tea while Chifuyu packs up anything they might need during the day. They won’t go far, planning to sit by the river behind Shuji’s hut, but he’d rather be prepared for anything. A blanket, fresh bandages, a small pot and everything needed to brew both tea and bone broth, and an assortment of foods that won’t spoil in the summer heat.

Before he leaves, bag with everything slung over his shoulder, he looks at his sword, propped up next to the door, but decides against taking it.

The journey there would normally take no longer than one blink of the eyes, but Shuji is slow and easily out of breath. Every ten or so trees they pass, he takes a break, leaning against a tree and smiling at Chifuyu—closed eyed and wide—until he feels ready to continue.

To spare Shuji’s pride, Chifuyu doesn’t acknowledge his weakened physical state and keeps up easy chatter, small stories about his home and its people. He doesn’t stop talking whenever Shuji needs to take pause, and it’s most likely more than obvious what he’s trying to do, but his mate smiles regardless, nodding and humming along.

When they finally reach the river, Shuji manages to stay on his feet just long enough for Chifuyu to lay out the blanket in the shade of a tree near the riverbank.

“Must be tough, huh?” Shuji groans, spreading out on his back, arms spread. “Walking such great distances while pregnant.”

Chifuyu rolls his eyes with a grin. He looks over the area, mostly trees and river and riverbank. The only thing that stands out is the small fire pit Shuji once mentioned to him, already set up with thick branches to cook something above the fire.

“Very strenuous, yes,” he quips back, taking the few steps over to the fire pit to inspect its state. “Made easier by my strong alpha, of course. I wouldn’t have made it without you.”

“You’re most welcome.” Shuji lets out another loud groan while Chifuyu busies himself gathering some wood a few steps beyond the tree line. “Be sure to tell the others of my courage.”

“I do so every day.”

“You don’t see anyone but me.”

“I do it telepathically, of course.” With some gathered wood, Chifuyu is quick to make a fire. He gathers some water in one of the pots, drops the assortment of herbs needed to brew the tea in it, and hangs it above the fire. “My fearless alpha, undefeated and unharmed, hiding away in his hut only to spare everyone’s pride— unwilling to confront them with how unscathed he came out.”

Shuji lies with his eyes closed, a dopey grin on his face, none the wiser when Chifuyu comes to stand over him, feet on either side of his waist. “That’s right. You tell ‘em, love.”

“You’re a terrible man,” Chifuyu says, smiling when Shuji opens his eyes.

“So you’ve told me.”

The gentle sounds of the river and the rustling of leaves fade away just slightly when Shuji slides his hands from Chifuyu’s ankles up the back of his calves, bunching up the thin material of his pants as he goes, resting his hands just beneath the hollow of his knees.

“You don’t mean it, though,” Shuji mumbles, staring up at Chifuyu, eyes squinted against the sunlight filtering through the leaves. “You don’t mean it even for a second.”

Chifuyu hums and raises an eyebrow, covering up his fluster with nonchalance. He lets his eyes wander over Shuji’s torso and takes a step back, immediately missing the warmth against his legs when his mate drops his hands, spreading his arms out to the side.

“You know, you have quite delicate features,” he comments, hoping that the intended compliment in those words comes across. He looks at the broadness of Shuji’s shoulders, how they contrast with the narrow set of his hips, and the way he curves in towards his waist. Graceful and small. Barely bigger than himself, he thinks, and wonders if it’d be easy to wrap his hands around Shuji’s waist.

Before Chifuyu knows it, he’s sinking down to his knees, careful to hover above Shuji’s body and not put any strain on him. He hears Shuji inhale sharply when he wraps a hand around his uninjured side. As he suspected, it is easy.

“It’s funny,” Chifuyu murmurs, nothing short of mesmerised by the way Shuji’s skin dips in under the press of his thumb, how easily he wraps the rest of his fingers around his mate’s waist. “You carry yourself so violently. If someone were to tell me before that they were scared of you, I would’ve understood, but now…”

Chifuyu drags his eyes up, noting how Shuji’s eyes widen when he lifts his other hand to trace up his mate’s slender neck, fingertips running over the line of his jaw.

“But now?” Shuji breathes. He looked a little pale before, but now a healthy flush is creeping up his cheeks.

“Now…” Chifuyu smiles and traces Shuji’s nose, then skims his fingertips over his cheekbones. “Now I just think you’re kind of beautiful,” he continues, soft, following the path of his own fingers over his mate’s narrow face, sharp and soft all at once.

By then, the strain in his legs from keeping himself up becomes too much to ignore, so Chifuyu carefully lowers himself onto Shuji’s thighs, where he knows most of the bruising and bites have healed.

Shuji, thankfully, doesn’t show any signs of discomfort. He only lets out a breathless sound and Chifuyu chuckles at it. He squeezes the waist under his hand and lets the other trail down again. From Shuji’s collarbones down his chest. He feels how his stomach dips below his ribcage, runs his fingers down to the jut of his hipbone, just below his injuries, and then rests his hand on the middle of Shuji’s stomach.

There’s still the barest trace of muscles left, but after weeks of inactivity and quite a lot of food, Shuji is softer now, in places Chifuyu doesn’t remember him being. It makes him smile, how they’re both soft, even if he knows that Shuji will tone up again once he’s gained his strength back, while Chifuyu will only continue to grow softer and bigger. If anything, it makes his smile widen, allowing himself to look forward to the way their bodies will change over the coming months.

“Chifuyu,” Shuji whispers, breath stuttering under Chifuyu’s hand. Their eyes meet, fondness and vulnerability coming together between them. “Don’t— don’t call me beautiful when you look at me like that and touch me so gently. That tea makes me reckless.”

“Reckless how?” He smirks, slowly moving his hand up to rest it on Shuji’s chest, splaying his fingers out, keeping his eyes on his mate’s face.

Shuji visibly swallows, hesitates, and then closes his eyes with a sigh. “Reckless as in saying that I love you.”

Chifuyu thinks he lets out an undignified squeak, but he’s too busy catching himself from falling forward onto Shuji, only just enough sense to realise that doing so would probably cause quite a lot of damage. He catches himself on his hands, one on either side of Shuji’s ribcage, and stares down at him, mouth agape, and just stays there for a moment while the world keeps turning, probably, maybe. He can’t be sure. Isn’t sure of anything, really. Not even sure he heard that right and that’s what he chooses to focus on.

“What did you just say to me?” he almost snaps, and then flinches at the way his omega suddenly jumps to the forefront of his thoughts, howling in outrage at the tone he uses.

Now of all times, with Shuji opening and closing his mouth with a dumbfounded expression on his face, does Chifuyu remember when his mother once scolded him for telling the truth about a vase he broke. Her apology afterwards taught him the importance of receiving someone with kindness when they tell you the truth. Something about providing a safe space, he thinks, he tries to remember clearly, he tries to force himself into providing for Shuji.

“You love me?” And this time it comes out much more gentle. A little scared, if he’s being honest, but some vulnerability only seems fair after a confession like that.

Shuji visibly relaxes once he realises Chifuyu isn’t angry. “I do,” he says, nodding along with it. “I think I do, at least. I wouldn’t be able to put another word to the way I feel about you. Devotion and admiration fall short. And,” he rushes when Chifuyu opens his mouth to say something, “it’s okay if you don’t feel the same. I don’t expect you to.”

Chifuyu chances a glance at Shuji’s face—open and patient—and he decides he at least owes his mate a proper explanation, even if the thought of doing so makes him want to run and never look back.

“It’s not… that I don’t want to,” Chifuyu mumbles, averting his eyes. He tries to move away, but Shuji is fast to grab his hips and keep him in place. If the heat didn’t already have the shirt cling to Chifuyu’s back with sweat, then Shuji rubbing his thumbs back and forth surely would’ve done the trick.

“It’s more…” Chifuyu takes a steadying breath. “I don’t know if I can.”

Shuji hums. “What makes you say that? You come across as quite loving.”

There’s something teasing in Shuji’s tone, and despite the ache in Chifuyu’s chest, he smiles.

“It’s hard to explain.”

“Well.” Shuji chuckles. “I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. So, if you want to try…”

Chifuyu nods, mostly to himself, and lets the soft touch of Shuji’s hands calm him down a little. “I joked about it before,” he starts, “but I was quite sought after. Not in a flattering way. More in a way where I had a lot to offer. My name, my pack, my— my womb, I suppose.”

Shuji squeezes his hips. When Chifuyu glances at him, he sees clear distaste on his mate’s face, which makes him smile again.

“My mother never would’ve forced me to mate with anyone, not unless I wanted to, and that made it all the more important to me to eventually choose a mate who would benefit me, as well.” Chifuyu notices he’s fidgeting with the hem of his shirt, so he drops it. “And as such, I made my peace with choosing a good sire for my pups, one who I wouldn’t have to love.”

“Why?” Shuji asks, and Chifuyu shrugs.

“It felt like too much to ask,” he whispers, eyes dropping down to his hands. “When the day came where my mother would no longer be able to lead the pack and I hadn’t found someone I loved, then what? I’d be forcing her to continue leading. I needed to be able to take a mate when the time came, no matter what.” Somewhat tentatively, Chifuyu meets Shuji’s eyes. “All the love I am capable of feeling, I decided that it needed to stay mine, so it wouldn’t get in the way of what might need to be done. My children, they’d receive it all. But—“

A confused sound comes from Shuji, a tentative interruption. “What about Ryusei? Souya? Takemichi?”

Chifuyu smiles, wry. “That’s different. Somehow. It’s— they’re mine to love. But with you…”

“It’s different, with me,” Shuji says slowly, picking up in speed when understanding seems to dawn on him. “Your duty to me is different. You don’t need to love me to serve your pack, but you do need love for the pack to serve them.”

“Yes.” It doesn’t feel good to admit. “I suppose that’s it.”

That time, when Chifuyu tries to move away, the hands on his hips let him go. Shuji sits up with a groan and stretches out his legs, leaning back on his hands. But, to Chifuyu’s surprise, he doesn’t put distance between them, their sides still touching.

“You don’t need to feel guilty about it,” Shuji says after a moment of silence. “You’re not hurting me— well, it stings a little, but it’s alright.” He gently nudges Chifuyu and only continues after he, a little reluctantly, looks at him. “If it makes you feel better, I can keep it to myself from now on.”

“No,” Chifuyu rushes, and immediately snaps his head forward, scolding himself for how selfish a request like that is. “No, I mean, you should be able to say what you want to me. If— if you want to say it, and you don’t feel bad if I—”

“I don’t.” Shuji inches even closer. “If it doesn’t make you feel bad hearing it, then maybe I will repeat it sometimes. It’s— it feels good to say. It comforts me to say it, even if you don’t feel the same. It lets me know that… we’re at least one step removed from being like my mother and sire. If I love you, I mean.”

All worries about himself, about the conflict he felt at Shuji’s words, disappear from Chifuyu’s mind. He’s quick to look back at his mate, finding an uneasy smile on his face. “We’re about a million steps removed from being like your mother and sire. What are you—”

It dawns on Chifuyu, then. Shuji’s hostility in the beginning, his plea to kill him if he would ever be cruel to their pup, the hurt on Shuji’s face when Chifuyu taunted him about being violent. He knew, of course he knew, about Shuji’s fear of being like his sire, but only now that he knows the full story of his mother, does he see the similarities in their situation. The implication of it makes him sick. He realises that all this time, Shuji must’ve been finding concrete proof that he is very much like his sire after all—like he trapped Chifuyu in their mating much like his sire did to his mother.

The memory of the first time they met bubbles up. The real first time, the one that Shuji tried to hide by never shifting in front of Chifuyu. And another wave of understanding washes over him.

“Shuji,” he groans, dragging a hand over his face. It’s fond exasperation, kind of at them both.

“I know what you’re about to say,” Shuji cuts in before Chifuyu gets another word out. “You’ll tell me I’m nothing like him, but you need to understand that— that I didn’t have to agree with Mikey, but I did. Do you think I would’ve done that if I didn’t see how this would benefit me?” Shuji grumbles something under his breath before he speaks more clearly again. “And maybe I shouldn’t have agreed, should’ve been less selfish. I know that you’re only here because of your duty and your guilt. I feel— like I have taken advantage of that.”

Chifuyu tries to interrupt, a smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He doesn’t have a reason to feel as relieved as he does, but he can’t help it. He finally understands Shuji and even if the revelations are sad, the fact that he understands his mate, fully and for the first time, makes him happy beyond belief.

“If you never love me, I won’t blame you,” Shuji rambles on. “I apologise for putting you in this position, and I apologise that I went along with this, knowing that… you’d have to be confronted with me every day.”

Chifuyu forces himself to reign in the elated feeling of understanding and manages to keep his tone solemn, to show that he does take Shuji and his feelings seriously. “I’ll admit that, at first, you felt like the punishment for my shortcomings. If I’d been more than… this, then none of this would have happened. For the longest time, it felt like I was punishing you for something—“

“I am glad you’re here,” Shuji cuts in immediately. “Don’t take my apology as regret. I would gladly change the circumstances of our mating but… even if you never love me, I do not regret you.”

“I don’t regret you either!” Chifuyu calls out, to Shuji, to the trees, to himself and to anyone who might listen. He twists his body to grab Shuji’s face, tugging him close. “Gods above, alpha, I don’t regret a single thing about you.”

Shuji stutters out half a protest, but Chifuyu kisses it right from his lips.

“I should’ve told you so much so much sooner, so I could’ve spared you the fear of being like your sire,” he says. “I’m sorry I didn’t. I’m telling you now. Stop defiling the legacy of your mother by thinking I’m anything like her. May the Gods bless her soul from now until eternity. She was brave and she didn’t have a choice, but I did.”

“But—“

“But yes, I chose my pack.” Chifuyu pinches Shuji’s cheeks. “But I also chose you. Before the choice was presented to me, I chose you. At the first sight of your wolf, my omega was begging me to roll over and let you take me.”

Shuji’s shock melts away for something like smug satisfaction, and Chifuyu hates it, hates that he enjoys the sight of it as much as he does.

“I might not love you right now,” he says, ignoring the pang of guilt, far too wrapped up in the giddy excitement of their mutual understanding of each other. “But I chose you, as you chose me. I have never feared you, only disliked your sour attitude, which I understand now, and I chose you. Okay? I did.”

“You…” Shuji lifts his own hands to cup Chifuyu’s face. “Your first instinct at seeing me, shifted, was to let me just— mount you right then and there? Shoulder ripped open, facing death, and—“

“Stop talking, Hanma.”

“And you got all hot and bothered?” Shuji finishes, undeterred, one hand sliding down to cover the scar on Chifuyu’s shoulder. “Gods, I love you. You’re even worse than I am.”

Chifuyu masks his laughter with a growl. “You are a terrible mate.”

Shuji grins. “So you keep reminding me.”

“I do.” Chifuyu sighs and leans in for another kiss. “And I never mean it. Not even once.”

They share more, lazy kisses as the temperature rises with the passing of morning. After a while, they adjust, Shuji lying back again and Chifuyu with his knees on either side of his mate’s hips, distance between them to keep his injuries safe. Then, they kiss some more, until they’re sticky with sweat and slightly out of breath, both very pointedly ignoring their obvious arousal, sharing complaints about the heat instead.

Chifuyu forces Shuji to drink a cup of tea and replaces the pot’s contents with water and bones instead, so the broth can simmer until nightfall.

Under the shade of the tree, they share a small meal of bread and fruit while Chifuyu, at Shuji’s insistence, retells their first meeting from his perspective, blaming the summer heat for the way his cheeks flush when he’s forced to go into a little more detail about his omega’s whining for the alpha.

After that, Chifuyu feels officially filthy in his sweaty clothes and comfortable enough to get rid of them, stripping down to the loose shorts he wore under his pants, a pair made of dark fabric that reaches to mid-thigh.

Shuji rolls up his pants after boldly proclaiming those are all he’s wearing and offering to take them off regardless, which is met with Chifuyu’s protest. He sits on the riverbank, lower legs dangling in the water while Chifuyu gets the privilege of fully cooling down, standing in the stream without worry of getting any bandages wet.

He resurfaces after a quick dip underwater to find Shuji watching him, a dopey smile on his face.

“You’re really starting to show,” he says when Chifuyu, playfully snappy, asks him what he’s looking at.

“Show wh-ah.” Chifuyu looks down at himself, the water reaching only up to his hips, and smiles. “Yeah,” he mumbles, smoothing both hands down his stomach. “Guess so.”

It still isn’t much, but the curve of his stomach is definitely bigger from the last time he showed Shuji.

He walks over to where Shuji sits and stands between his mate’s legs, not bothering to cover his own soft giggles when his alpha eagerly gets his hands all over his belly.

“You never told me,” Chifuyu says a little later, when he’s sitting next to Shuji, wet skin pressed to warm skin, “what your mother’s name was.”

“Yuua,” Shuji replies easily. He’s kept one arm loosely wrapped around Chifuyu, fingers gently stroking his side. “Bird of snow.”

There is something extraordinarily sad about that, and Chifuyu seeks out Shuji’s comfort more, leaning into his mate’s side. He smiles when Shuji tightens the hold around his waist.

“And…” Chifuyu hesitates for a moment, but pushes past it. “What would you have named your sister?”

Shuji hums. He turns his head to press a kiss against Chifuyu’s temple, as if sensing his apprehension. “I heard the name Sayuki years ago. Blooming snow. If I had known it back then, I would’ve chosen it for her.”

“It’s pretty.” Chifuyu kicks out his feet, splashing the water a little. “My mother’s name is as beautiful. Kiyoka, snow flower. Her name is one of the few things I know how to write.”

“Yeah? What else do you know?”

Purple comes to mind, shiny and soft fabric with black embroidery. Chifuyu traced it so often he knows it by memory. “Sin and punishment.”

He turns to look at Shuji and finds him smiling, albeit a little sadly. “A waste of energy to keep stored in your mind,” he sighs after a beat. “Why don’t I show you how to write my name, and you shows me yours?”

They move back to the shade, finding a small patch of earth that’s free of grass, and sit closely together again. Chifuyu finds a stick and watches as Shuji draws out the symbols that make up his name, explaining their meaning.

Afterwards, Chifuyu takes the stick, easily drawing out his given name, and then hesitates before mimicking the symbol for Hanma in front of it.

“You make me five hundred winters instead,” he jokes, pointing out the symbol half that makes up the first of Hanma.

Shuji chuckles and gently nudges him. “Show me Matsuno, as well.”

The second Chifuyu is done drawing it out, Shuji takes the stick back from him and scratches out Hanma in front of both their names. Much more neatly, he copies Matsuno and then rescribbles the symbols for their given names.

“There.” He drops the stick and sighs, both of them still looking at the dirt holding their names— Matsuno, Shuji and Chifuyu. “Much better.”

Chifuyu doesn’t comment on the implications of that and neither does Shuji, but it buzzes under their skin, electric in the air around them. The rest of the day is spent napping in the shade and cooling off in the river.

They stay out by the river until the sun starts setting, stars slowly showing in the pink sky above them. Cicadas chirp in the background while they sit on the riverbank, feet in the water, Shuji’s hand covering Chifuyu’s in the grass between them.

There, Shuji repeats himself, a gently whispered confession of love.

Chifuyu doesn’t say it or anything else back, just squeezes his mate’s fingers, and lets himself grow accustomed to at least thinking the same.

Chapter Text

A light summer breeze brushes past Chifuyu where he sits, leaning against the chest that faces Shuji’s bed, both doors of the hut opened to air out the persisting smell of herbal tea and balms.

It should be a relief from the scorching heat of the past few days, but every muscle in Chifuyu’s body feels tense. When another groan sounds through the hut, he tenses even more at the ache in his bonding mark.

“Alright, deep breath in, and then deep breath out. Does that hurt?”

Chifuyu flinches when Shuji does. He clutches the pillow he’s been holding tighter, hiding half his face in it to mask his worry when his mate glances his way with a grin to cover up his clear discomfort.

“Barely hurts,” he says, and tries to grin again, though it turns into a grimace when he breathes in. With another groan, Shuji lets his head fall back against the wall. Even with the distance between them, even with the summer breeze, the unmistakable sharp edge to his scent still reaches Chifuyu. “Maybe it hurts a little.”

Souya tuts and pats Shuji’s shoulder. “That’s normal. The fact that you can do it without toppling over is a good sign. Now, can you lift your arm for me?”

It takes a moment, in which Shuji clearly mumbles out an insult. He glances at Chifuyu again, expression a little wild and a little desperate.

“Yes, go on.” Souya nudges him. “Show off for your mate.”

Shuji pulls a face but finally lifts his arm. He releases a slew of curses, one foot kicking out against the edge of Chifuyu’s nest, sending a pillow flying.

“Keep it there…” Souya mumbles.

In that moment, Chifuyu isn’t sure if he admires the way Souya seems unaffected by both his and Shuji’s scent spiking in frustration and annoyance, or if the other omega is some sort of cold monster.

Without so much as a sliver of sympathy showing on his face, Souya leans closer to inspect the injury in Shuji’s side. He goes as far as to trace the edges with a finger, shushing the alpha’s whined protest, testing the skin around it by poking and prodding at it.

“Tender?” he asks, looking up at a scowling Shuji.

“What do you think, Souya?”

“It’s healing nicely,” he replies, guiding Shuji’s arm down. “Think it’s safe to say you can stop moving around so carefully.”

Souya starts listing off more instructions to ensure the quickest full recovery, but Chifuyu tunes him out, staring at the healing injuries on Shuij’s side. It is healing. Not nicely in the slightest, but at a stage where it’s no longer beneficial to keep it covered. The next instructions are specifically for Chifuyu, to still keep it clean and moisturised, and he nods along, meeting Souya’s eyes to make it clear that he’s listening, or at least trying to.

Time has passed. Shuji is alive. Realistically, seeing the reddened edges of where the wolves tore into him shouldn’t fill Chifuyu with nauseating unease, but it does. He feels his heartbeat pick up and Shuji must sense it as well, sending him a worried look.

He doesn’t address it until Souya takes his leave, after giving Shuji his official permission to start moving around more, on the condition that he continues to take it easy.

“I’m healing,” Shuji says then, when they’re alone and Chifuyu is rifling through the chest in search of a thin shirt for him to wear.

“I know you are.”

At the bottom of it, Chifuyu finds a pile of crumpled, linen shirts. He drops most of them on the ground to wash and dry later, holding onto one. With more force than he means it to, the chest falls shut. The heavy slam of it makes him jump, gasping and clutching a hand over his heart. Immediately, two arms wrap around him from behind, and though it’s comfortable in Shuji’s embrace, Chifuyu stays frozen, staring at the lid of the chest.

“Not going to die anymore,” Shuji whispers, and to Chifuyu’s horror, he feels his mate’s chest vibrate against his back, the beginning of a soothing rumble.

It stops as soon as it started. Shuji hisses through his teeth and as much as Chifuyu wants to be gentle with him, the fact that his idiotic alpha hurt himself in an attempt to soothe him spikes his anger at record speed.

“You’re an idiot!” he snaps, spinning around in Shuji’s arms to glare up at him. “What is wrong with you?!”

Shuji’s looking down at him, lazy grin on his face, not a single trace of anything negative in his expression. “It’s cute how much you care about me but I think there’s better ways to show it.”

“I will break your other ribs.” Chifuyu tries to keep up his glare, but it’s hard when Shuji lifts a hand to cup his face, tilting it up more. “I could. I can. I will.”

“I know, I know.”

“Good.” With a grumble, Chifuyu leans his forehead against Shuji’s chest and wraps an arm around his uninjured side. “Don’t do that. Don’t hurt yourself more for my sake.”

“It’s in my nature to do so,” Shuji mumbles, lowering his voice even more when he adds, “you should know all about being unable to control our instincts, considering what you wanted to do when you first— Ow, hey!”

Chifuyu pushes Shuji out of the way and glares over his shoulder at his mate, who’s rubbing the spot on his arm Chifuyu just dug his nails into.

“For that comment alone, I’m going to go ahead and let everyone know you’re taking visitors.”

Shuji gasps, rushing after Chifuyu. “You wouldn’t!”

“I would.” He grins, allowing Shuji to crowd him against the wall next to the backdoor. “I’ll tell Takemichi first. You know how fussy he gets.”

“Demon,” Shuji murmurs, bending down a little to bring their faces closer together. “Good omegas don’t torment their alphas.”

Chifuyu holds his breath and waits for Shuji to close the distance— which he doesn’t, which he never does, now that he thinks about it.

After a long moment of staring at each other, Chifuyu presses the shirt he’s been holding into Shuji’s chest and pushes him back a step, shoving the beginnings of something that feels suspiciously like rejection and insecurity away to deal with later.

“Ryusei first,” he says, “then the others. No complaints.”

Shuji looks slightly dejected when Chifuyu turns to look at him. In an attempt to get that look off his mate’s face, he lets him know how badly everyone’s been wanting to see him, and then leaves it at that.

Not long after, Chifuyu leaves Shuji’s hut—alone—for the first time in what must be at least a few weeks. It doesn’t take long for him to run into someone and get the word out that Shuji is allowing visitors, and decides then to give his mate some privacy during the no doubt countless visits he’ll have.

Chifuyu takes his time wandering around the village, stopping often to catch up with the people he hasn’t seen in a while, updating them on Shuji’s situation, and praising them on the way they’ve kept everything running in his absence.

No one, thankfully, seems to hold it against him. They act just as warmly as they always do and seem to be at ease, under the impression that the threat from the west has been defeated and there’s no cause for worry anymore.

Chifuyu doesn’t have the heart, nor does he think it’s wise, to tell them the truth, far too happy to see the pack in high spirits, speaking positively about Shuji and the way he protected them.

As much as Chifuyu enjoyed the time he spent with Shuji, the way their worlds revolved around only each other, it does feel good to be surrounded by the pack again. He missed them, he realises when he spends a considerable amount of time just sitting with Kazutora and Keiko, cuddling the pup close while listening to all the gossip he missed out on.

It’s been a gradual thing, but the village and the pack truly feel like home. Being with them fills Chifuyu with a different sort of energy than the one’s he regained over the few weeks of rest he got with Shuji. A sense of purpose and belonging in a different way than his mate gives him. He appreciates both kinds just the same.

With the sun at its highest point in the sky and most of the pack retreating to their huts to wait out the heat of summer, Chifuyu makes his way over to the hut where Seishu is kept. He does so with a slight sense of apprehension, the looming presence of reality bearing down on him, threatening to break his comfortable state of mind.

It’s been easy to push any worries about the west away in the bubble of Shuji’s hut, but even then, Chifuyu has been acutely aware that he wouldn’t be able to ignore it forever.

Rindou is sitting outside of the hut, hiding away in the shade of the roof’s overhang, a flush high on his cheeks from the heat. They share some idle conversation that distracts Chifuyu for long enough to feel less on edge. With the reminder of how dependable the members of the pack are, he steps inside the hut.

It takes Chifuyu by surprise how he stays calm when faced with Seishu again. He’s by no means a friend, but a familiar face nonetheless, and carries himself with little threat of violence.

To Chifuyu’s relief, he notes that the instructions he off-handedly gave Souya a week or so earlier have been followed. Seishu is no longer tightly restrained to the column in the middle of Mikey’s hut. Instead, he’s been given a wider range of motion with longer chains around his wrists, secured high up on the column, though the collar to prevent him from shifting still hangs heavy around his neck.

The other omega sits cross-legged in the middle of the hut, hands resting on his knees, and lifts his head when Chifuyu enters.

“And here I was,” Seishu deadpans, “thinking you’d forgotten about me.”

“Why, excuse me. I was otherwise occupied.” After hesitating for a moment, Chifuyu sits down, well within the range of Seishu. He hopes it gets some sort of trust across, resulting in a more open conversation between them.

“Burying your mate, I hope?”

“Sorry to disappoint.” Chifuyu raises a brow. “He’s alive and well.”

Seishu sighs and closes his eyes. “I hope you can forgive me for not jumping with joy. I was meditating and my legs are a little numb.” He peeks one eye open. “What was his reaction to hearing about me?”

“I haven’t told him yet.” Chifuyu raises an eyebrow when Seishu shakes his head with a scowl. “But I’ll bring him to see you soon. Do make sure the hut is tidy when I do.”

“Leave me, Hanma,” Seishu grunts, both eyes closed again.

Chifuyu watches him for a moment longer before he sighs and gets up. “You’ll see he’s not the monster you think he is.”

Seishu doesn’t reply anymore and Chifuyu leaves him be, only nodding at Rindou on the way out.

He walks around the village again, stopping to talk to people and helping out with little tasks where he can, until the sun starts to set. By then, he decides it’s high-time to return and tell whoever might still be visiting Shuji it’s time for his mate to rest.

On his way back, just shy of crossing over into the beta area, he runs into Takemichi for the first time that day. If anyone would ever be deserving of his time and attention, it’s the man who has been taking care of Chifuyu’s duties. He greets Takemichi with a hug, deciding that Shuji can wait for now.

They stand there until the sky darkens more, catching each other up, though it’s mostly Chifuyu listening as Takemichi shares how the pack has been doing under his supervision, detailing small repairs that had to be done, a successful harvest, and how well hunting has gone under Hina’s lead.

The last thing Takemichi brings up, after he announces that he has to hurry along and meet the rest of the pack for dinner, is the most recent change in the village.

“A merchant from the east arrived earlier,” he says, an explanation for why Chifuyu hadn’t run into him before. “It’s rare, but it happens from time to time. He said he’d had a long journey and definitely looked the part. We offered to let him stay in one of the empty beta huts for the time being, until he’s ready to move on again.”

Chifuyu nods. “What wares does he bring?”

“Luxuries. Fabrics, jewellery, pretty stones, some spices and herbs that made even Nahoya and Souya raise their brows.” Takemichi shrugs. “Nothing we need much of, but he promised that before he leaves, we can pick a few items in exchange for his stay here.”

“I’ll be sure to pay him a visit. Sounds like an interesting character. Maybe he’s been to the north and has some stories to share.”

They part ways after Chifuyu reassures Takemichi that it won’t be long before he takes his position again. He’s sure to thank his friend profusely for his help and is waved off with a simple, “we’ll bring dinner by later.”

True to Takemichi’s word, when Chifuyu passes through the beta area, he does spot the doors opened of a hut that’s normally vacant. Figuring he has some time to spare, he approaches the hut, and only then notices the cart that’s set on the side of it.

Running a hand down his stomach, he lets curiosity get the better of him and wanders over to the cart.

It’s small, looking like the kind drawn by a person rather than an animal, and most wares are out on display. It makes Chifuyu smile, proud that whoever this merchant is, he must feel secure enough within their village to trust them like this. The wares are what Takemichi detailed, fabrics in rich colours and other luxuries.

“Careful, omega,” a voice comes from behind Chifuyu, and he whips around to meet the person who spoke. “I don’t usually appreciate people approaching my valuables without permission.”

The merchant is a beta of small stature, narrow shoulders and a slender neck. He vaguely reminds Chifuyu of a snake, somehow. Perhaps it’s the glint in his dark eyes, or the sly grin he curls his lips into. He’s dressed much more lavishly than one might expect from a merchant, a wide-sleeved tunic made of shimmery red fabric, but Chifuyu understands what Takemichi had meant— the man looks worn down, dark circles under his eyes and skin pale.

“Forgive me,” Chifuyu says, slowly. “It’s not often we see a merchant with wares quite like yours. I promise I had no ill intentions.” He extends a hand. “My name is Chifuyu.”

“Ah.” The merchant smiles and steps closer. He takes Chifuyu’s hand and shakes it. “The head omega I was told about, yes?”

Chifuyu nods. On their release, he lets his fingers slide over the merchant’s palm, confirming what he already thought to feel— his hands are incredibly soft.

“You may call me Koko,” he says, folding his hands away in his sleeves. “Your alpha is otherwise occupied? I’ll say this is the first village where I’m greeted exclusively by omegas.”

“He is, my apologies.” Chifuyu smiles, as warmly as he can muster. “Once he returns from his hunt, I will be sure to send him your way for an introduction. For now, I will let you rest, you must’ve had a long journey.” He glances at the cart. “From the east, Takemichi said you were?”

“Indeed.”

Chifuyu hums. “Where in the east?”

“Close to the northern border.”

That catches Chifuyu’s attention. He widens his eyes, stepping closer to grip Koko’s upper-arm. Soft under his touch, barely any trace of muscle. “Then you must’ve lived close to—” He clears his throat and drops his hand. “Ah, pardon me. I’m from the north myself, you see, and I miss home. There is a large trading hub not far into northern territory, where it borders your lands. I believe it’s under the lead of alpha Inouye. Have you been there before?”

Koko smiles, apologetic. “Only heard of it, I’m afraid.”

“No matter.” Chifuyu shakes his head and sidesteps, moving back onto the path. “Perhaps before you leave, we can talk about doing business together. There are certain things sold there that I can’t get anywhere else. Do seek me out in a few days, yes?”

“Of course, omega.” Koko bows his head for a moment, then looks at Chifuyu with a pleasant smile again. “Now, if you don’t mind…”

“I have kept you long enough, yes.” He turns and nods in the general direction of the communal hut. “Please, feel free to join the rest of my pack for dinner. I’m sure they’ll be excited to hear stories about your travels.”

Chifuyu doesn’t wait for Koko’s reply. He smiles at him one last time and strolls on, slow and leisurely, humming a song under his breath. A few huts up ahead, he’s relieved to find the doors to Ryusei’s hut open. Standing on the porch, Chifuyu looks over his shoulder, waves at Koko one last time, and then steps inside.

“Long time no—” Ryusei cuts of his lazy, playful drawl and rises from where he’d been sitting by his table. “What’s wrong?”

Chifuyu shakes his head and slides the doors shut behind him. He takes a breath to steady the hammering of his heart and ushers Ryusei back a few steps when he rushes to him— away from the doors.

“Have you met the merchant?” he whispers, grabbing Ryusei’s shoulders to keep him in place.

“Koko? Yes. Why—“

The casual use of the merchant’s name almost puts Chifuyu at ease. “You’ve met him before?”

Ryusei frowns. “No. He’s a new face, but it’s not really uncommon for—“ Chifuyu curses and Ryusei snaps his mouth shut, expression gradually turning more worried. “Chifuyu?”

It takes a moment for him to gather himself, to calm his racing thoughts and force them into something coherent.

“The merchant’s hands were soft,” he hisses, leaning closer to Ryusei. “He had barely any muscle on his arms, and his hands were soft, and I told him about a trading hub that doesn’t exist and he agreed with its existence.”

Ryusei nods, attentive but visibly confused.

“I need you to keep an eye on him.” A nod. “Don’t let the others know. I don’t want to raise concern, maybe I’m simply paranoid, maybe he wears gloves and his cart is light and he didn’t want to be rude and point out my mistake— but keep an eye out.”

“Chifuyu—”

“Tell me I’m just being paranoid,” he whispers, digging his fingers into Ryusei’s shoulders. “Please.”

“Yeah.” Ryusei smiles and nods, pulling Chifuyu in for a hug. “You’re just being paranoid, but I’ll keep an eye on him.”

Chifuyu nods, relaxing just a bit in Ryusei’s hold, and stays there until he manages to convince himself of his own words— he is just being paranoid. There is nothing unusual about a merchant. If anything, his worries must stem from his hormones, overly alert to anything that might harm his pup.

“Say I do find him acting suspicious,” Ryusei says, nuzzling into the side of Chifuyu’s neck. “What would you like me to do, then? End his life?”

“No. Restrain him and come find me.”

“Okay.” Ryusei leans back, arms still wrapped around Chifuyu, and studies him carefully. “But that won’t happen. Because you’re just being paranoid.”

“Of course.”

“And I’m being paranoid as well,” he says, smiling. “But let me walk you to your hut.”

Chifuyu easily agrees and tells himself it’s because he wants to talk to Ryusei and hear about his visit with Shuji, not because he feels more at ease with someone else by his side.

The visit, as Ryusei retells it, was uneventful, though he emphasises that it was good to see Shuji, and still manages to stretch his retelling for the entire way back to Shuji’s hut, not giving Chifuyu a single moment to let his thoughts drift.

“One thing that did stand out, though,” Ryusei says when they’re crossing the small clearing in front of Shuji’s hut. He pauses for dramatic effect, as he tends to do, until they’re standing on the porch together. There, he turns to smile at Chifuyu. “He told me he’s glad to be alive.”

Chifuyu scoffs playfully and rolls his eyes. “I’d hope he is. Souya and I put in quite a lot of effort to keep him that way.”

“No, I mean,” Ryusei steps closer, that same smile still on his face, and lays a hand on Chifuyu’s shoulder. “He’s happy to be alive, Fuyu. Not just happy that he survived. Alive. Don’t think I’ve ever heard him express a sentiment like that.”

For as emotionally mature as Chifuyu considers himself to be, he really doesn’t know what to say to that. So he just smiles back at Ryusei and nods. “Go eat. Come by again tomorrow. I’m sure he’ll enjoy the company.”

Chifuyu waits until Ryusei disappears down the path before he makes his way inside. He finds Shuji asleep next to the fire pit and considers waking him up to spare him sore muscles from sleeping on the hard wooden floors, but decides against it in the end. In part because Shuji looks peaceful while he sleeps, but also because he knows waking him would inevitably lead to discussion about their days and Chifuyu isn’t sure how to address Seishu and his worries about Koko— if he even should, in the first place.

So he applies an ancient technique his mother taught him pretty early on and keeps himself busy enough for his thoughts not to wander.

He washes and prepares some rice, setting the pot on the smouldering embers of the fire pit, and then leaves the hut behind with the linen shirts he set out earlier in the day and walks to the river to wash them. After returning and having hung them out to dry, he tackles the inside of the hut and works around a softly snoring Shuji— tidying up some shelves, rebuilding his nest, hanging a new pot of tea above the fire.

By then, just as his distractions run out, a new one presents itself in the form of Takemichi, whose presence finally wakes Shuji.

Takemichi brings with him roasted meat and veggies, and a whole lot of worries about Shuji, who blinks sleepily while the other omega rattles off questions and well-meant advice on how to recover swiftly and safely.

But then he leaves and Chifuyu is left alone with a sleepy Shuji, who chews his food with a faraway look in his eyes, and his own thoughts.

They sit in silence, next to one another, each on a pillow of their own. It’s not uncomfortable, not after they spent so much time in just each other’s company, but Chifuyu still feels on edge.

“I like your hair,” he mumbles, shoulders slumping a bit in relief when his own voice fills the silence, no longer as stifling. “Ryusei’s got real talent.”

Shuji hums in question and blinks his eyes a couple of times. Then, the words must fully settle, because he nods and raises a hand to his hair, grabbing one of the strands to pull on it. “I guess. Though after what Souya did to it, any change would’ve been a good one.”

“It suits you,” Chifuyu goes on, shuffling a bit closer to run his fingers through it. He liked Shuji’s longer hair, thinks it gave him the appearance of something wild, but the way his hair now curls a bit at the ends, parted to the side but falling loose around his forehead, barely reaching over his ears— it’s endearing, makes him look a lot softer than he really is.

“Ryu’s been on my ass about it for years,” Shuji mumbles. “Something about the length not allowing it to, uh…” He groans and closes his eyes. “I don’t know. Something about texture and waves. ‘M not as vain as he is.”

Chifuyu hums, digging back into his food, rambling with his mouth full. “Some vanity never hurt anyone. It’s nice. It looks nice. Makes you look like you put in effort to win me—”

“Chifuyu.”

Shuji opens his eyes, suddenly a lot more sharp.

And maybe it’s the way Chifuyu has been tapping his foot against the stone lining of the fire pit, or the way he scarfed down his food without a shred of modesty or grace, or maybe, maybe, he underestimated Shuji’s ability to read him.

“When will you tell me what you’ve been hiding from me?”

Chifuyu inhales at least three grains of rice and while it’s unfortunate that he spends the next moments coughing to try and clear his airway, it gives him precious time to come up with a reply. Which he gives quite convincingly, albeit with tears in his eyes, a scratchy voice, and without looking at Shuji.

“I haven’t been hiding anything from you. What do you mean? Why do you think that?”

“No reason. Maybe it’s my own paranoia, because…” He sighs and sets his bowl of food aside. “I am hiding something from you.”

At that, Chifuyu does look at his mate. “What?”

“Yes.” Shuji nods and keeps looking right at Chifuyu. “When Ryusei came over earlier, we ended up having sex.”

The world crumbles just a little. A lot, perhaps. Chifuyu gapes at Shuji for a moment before anger gets the better of him. “Excuse me?!”

“See?” Shuji raises an eyebrow. “That’s how you lie to someone. Eye-contact, conviction, no beating around the bush. What you just did was pathetic.”

“You…”

It takes a brief silence for Chifuyu to fully process what Shuji just said. Then it lands. With a roar, he flings his bowl to the side and pounces on his mate. He ignores the cry of pain when Shuji’s back hits the floor and ignores the plead for mercy as he crawls on top of him and keeps him down by the shoulders.

“What is wrong with you?” he hisses. “Nearly gave me a heart attack!”

Shuji splutters a bit, somewhere between laughing and crying. “I’m sorry! Sorry! I just needed to make a point and—“

Chifuyu growls and shuts him up by wrapping a hand around his jaw. He presses his fingers into Shuji’s cheeks until he resembles a pufferfish. A very amused one.

“Do not joke about something like that.”

“Technically,” Shuji slurs, “I wasn’t joking, I was— okay! Don’t hurt me!”

Chifuyu sneers at him and drops the fist he’d reeled back. “Do not,” he repeats, “joke about that, not when you and I don’t even—“

Despite the distance, he imagines his mother must feel a cold shiver down her spine after a lifetime of scolding Chifuyu for not even pretending to think before he speaks sometimes.

For a moment, it feels as if he’s floating above his own body— he sees Shuji’s eyes widen and then droop, a smirk creeping up on his face at the implication hidden in Chifuyu’s words.

And Chifuyu, he realises that he has two options— either breach a subject that he’d very much like to avoid, one about intimacy and vulnerability and desire and whatnot, or…

“We caught one of the people who attacked you,” he rushes out. “He’s been demanding to speak with you and refused to give me any real information.”

Shuji’s expression changes slowly, from one of hunger to one of confusion. He sits up carefully, Chifuyu scooting back a bit to give him room, though he can’t get himself to move off his mate’s lap just yet.

“From the west?” he asks, and when Chifuyu nods, “who knows about this?”

“Not everyone. Hardly anyone, really. I’ve tried to keep it contained to a small circle.”

“That’s good.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t—“

Shuji shakes his head and wraps his arms around Chifuyu with a sigh. “I was recovering. You handled it the best you could on your own.” He smiles, sadness hiding in it. “Something you’ve had to do quite a lot as my mate, hm?”

“You’re not mad I kept it from you?” Chifuyu asks, not at all interested in acknowledging what Shuji said.

“No one died. What’s there to be mad about?”

“Nine of their wolves did.”

Shuji clicks his tongue. “Yeah. I guess that’s true.” It makes Chifuyu frown. He expected a sneer, something about them having deserved it. As if sensing his surprise, Shuji shrugs. “You didn’t get hurt. I’d be rejoicing their deaths if that’d been the case.”

“Choji got a good chunk bitten out of his arm.”

“He’ll live.”

“Mitsuya had some pretty nasty scratches on his back.”

“He’ll be fine.”

Chifuyu rolls his eyes, both at Shuji and at himself for feeling flattered.

“Though,” Shuji adds, “I am mad that you’d rather discuss something this serious with me than even give any thought to, y’know…” He grins, hands slowly sliding up Chifuyu’s legs. “Us.”

No force in the universe could make Chifuyu admit that he feels a flutter of excitement at his mate’s touch.

“Nothing to discuss,” he shoots back, taking Shuji’s hands to redirect them, placing them on his stomach with only a little bit of resistance. “Can’t get any more pregnant than this.”

That time, it’s Shuji who rolls his eyes. “Of course, procreation, the only reason why one might wanna shove their cock—“

“Shuji!”

“Fine! Fine.” With a huff, Shuji lays back down and folds his arms behind his head, staring up at the ceiling with a pout. “Tell me about this persisting threat on my life, if you must.”

Chifuyu can’t help but smile at his mate’s attitude. It’s endearing, and he knows for certain then, that he wasn’t the only one happy to have had a few weeks in which the real world didn’t exist.

So, he flicks Shuji’s forehead and grins at him when their eyes meet. “I enjoyed it, too,” he says, “pretending that we’re the only people in the world, the only worry being your recovery and nothing else. Just the two of us.”

“Yeah?” Shuji closes his eyes and smirks. “Then I’ll make that a reality for us, sometime soon.” He lets his head thunk back on the floor in favour of touching Chifuyu again, one hand against his lower back, the other gently caressing his stomach. “For the three of us.”

Chifuyu covers the hand against his stomach with one of his own to keep it there while he moves, sitting next to Shuji instead.

“That persistent threat on your life that you’re not nearly worried enough about,” he begins. “His name is Seishu.”

The following morning brings Shuji’s official return to his position. He does so with Chifuyu by his side, walking in a slow pace around the village to greet everyone who didn’t come to visit him the day before.

Together, they navigate small talk, giving appropriately appreciative reactions to the different pack members who show Shuji the progress they made in his absence. It ranges from mended huts to watered fields, then happy smiles and flushed cheeks under their alpha’s praise.

Though tiring, it’s a mostly pleasant affair. Chifuyu soaks up everyone’s relief over seeing Shuji and allows it to distract him, at least for a little while, from more pressing matters and the real reason they left the comfort of Shuji’s hut behind.

When they passed the hut Koko is staying in, the merchant wasn’t there, but they were only able to share one concerned look between them before the next pack members approached, crowding around them with well-wishes and questions about Shuji’s recovery.

As subtle as they can, so as not to show their concern and raise alarm among those unaware of Seishu’s existence, they gradually make their way to the communal hut, stopped so often on the way that the sun has risen to its highest point in the sky when they reach it.

There, Shuji allows some of his exhaustion to show, sitting down on the porch of the communal hut to catch his breath in the shade, where they’re quickly joined by a few others.

Souya offers them water while Nahoya bugs Shuji to lift up his shirt and show off his injuries. He scoffs at them together with Rindou, who calls Shuji a pup for needing so long to recover. It’s easy banter back and forth between the three and Chifuyu gets lost in it as well, joking and laughing along, ignoring his mate’s whined complaints about how he should unconditionally choose his side rather than join in with the rest to poke fun at him.

So lost in it, standing leaning against one of the hut’s columns, that Chifuyu doesn’t notice the presence next to him until Ran clears his throat, drawing the group’s attention to himself.

“Does your survival mean the threat of the west has been dealt with?” he asks, eyes fixated on Shuji. There’s something strange about his expression, but Chifuyu can’t quite place it. “Fully dealt with, I mean?”

Shuji slowly turns to look at Ran, the grin fading from his face. He looks at the omega for a moment and then nods. “Nothing to worry about anymore.”

Chifuyu follows his omega’s whisper to be closer to his mate, kneeling behind Shuji, a barrier between him and Ran.

“And has anyone thought to tell Izana?” Ran looks at each of them for a moment, lingering the longest on Nahoya, who is very pointedly not meeting his eyes. “He was quite… concerned, when I visited him.”

“Not concerned enough to send help,” Nahoya mutters.

“He cares a great deal about this pack,” Ran goes on, stepping closer, ignoring Chifuyu’s warning glare— not sure why he’s glaring in the first place, but something about the look in the other omega’s eyes is putting him on edge. “He’ll want to know if there is even the slightest chance of a lingering threat.”

“If there were,” Shuji says, getting up and masking the stab of pain he must feel— expression neutral, but scent spiking for a moment, “I’d be sure to tell him. But as it is…” He steps around Chifuyu to face Ran, righting his shoulders to make himself appear bigger. “There is nothing to worry about. Especially not for Izana, who, as you know, does not have any authority over the pack his brother left in my care.”

Chifuyu slowly gets up and looks around at everyone as Shuji and Ran stare each other down. Rindou looks conflicted, like he isn’t sure whether to side with his brother or his alpha, and in extension, his mate, who has risen to stand behind Shuji, as has Nahoya.

The memory of the conversation Chifuyu once caught between the bonded omega pair echoes around his head— Ran’s pleading to leave the village and join Izana, and Nahoya’s refusal to suspect Shuji of being with the west.

It brings a frown to his face and Chifuyu wonders if he’s been a fool, assuming that Shuji earned everyone’s trust with the way he defended and nearly died for them. He steps between the twins, curling his fingers around each of their wrists, thumbs rubbing soothingly over their scent glands.

“I was just asking,” Ran says after a moment. He shrugs and looks from Rindou to Nahoya. “No need to get all defensive, my darlings. Can you blame me for wanting to keep you safe?”

Nahoya hums, an edge of annoyance in his scent. He carefully removes his wrist from Chifuyu’s hold and walks over to Ran. “Let’s go,” he says, a hand against his mate’s back to turn him in the other direction. “Enough for us to do.”

Chifuyu watches the pair go, both of them staring ahead as they walk away from the communal hut, Nahoya’s fingers tense where they rest against the small of Ran’s back.

“My brother,” Rindou mumbles, stepping up to Chifuyu’s side, “he means well, I promise. He just…”

“Loves you more than he’ll ever be loyal to this pack?” Shuji turns to look at Rindou. “I’m aware, yes. I’ve been aware.” He sighs, looking the beta over slowly. “Can I trust him?”

“You can trust me,” Souya replies instead of his mate, sliding his hand up in Chifuyu’s hold to tangle their fingers together. “Neither Rindou nor I have shared anything about—”

“Am I interrupting something?”

They all snap their heads around to the new voice.

Koko stands with a grin on his face, hands on his hips, squinting against the sunlight to look at them.

“Koko…” Souya mutters, letting go of Chifuyu to step down the porch. “I’m sorry. I forgot I agreed to meet you at my hut.”

“It’s quite alright, I’m in no rush. My cart’s outside your hut. We can head there when you’re ready. Though…” He lets his eyes drift from Souya to Shuji. “I don’t think we’ve met before.”

Chifuyu is once again reminded of how strongly Koko reminds him of a snake, not at all amused by the way the beta is looking at his mate. But since he’s got no way to interfere without making his suspicions known, he just stands and watches when Shuji steps closer to Koko.

“You must be the merchant that made himself at home in my pack,” Shuji says, his voice forcedly pleasant. He looks over his shoulder, sharp eyes meeting Chifuyu’s, and motions for him to join him. “My mate informed me of your arrival. My apologies I haven’t been able to come see you before this.”

“No matter. I’m glad to meet you now, alpha.” Koko smiles and shakes Shuji’s hand, holding on for longer than strictly necessary. After he lets him go, he looks at Chifuyu. “You’re looking well, omega. Since we’re apologising, I’d like to extend an apology as well. When we met yesterday, I was quite tired from the journey, and completely forgot to extend my congratulations for your pregnancy.”

Chifuyu forces a smile and waves Koko’s apology away. “Please, that’s quite—”

“You’re still quite small, considering how big your mate is.” Koko steps closer. “But, I’d say fourteen weeks, give or take. Am I correct?”

Before Chifuyu can fully register the hint of worry settle, he feels warmth at his side, Souya’s scent strong, angry.

“It’s perfectly normal for an omega to still be small this early into their first pregnancy,” he says sharply. “No need to scare him.”

Koko holds up his hands. “I’m not trying to scare him. It was a simple observation, omega.” He settles his snake-like eyes on Chifuyu and smiles. “Why don’t you allow me to read you and your pup’s fortunes, hm, to make up for my… carelessness just now.”

“That won’t be necessary,” Shuji says, stepping forward just a bit, half in front of Chifuyu. “Thank you.”

“A sceptic?” Koko hums, undeterred, the grin ever-present on his face. “Well, in that case.” He slides a hand into the pocket of his loose, silky pants, never breaking eye contact with Shuji. “A gift for you, alpha.” Koko holds up his hand, a necklace dangling between his fingers. A green stone wrapped in silver wire hangs from the chain, shiny and glassy. “A token of good luck. I’ve been saving it for a special occasion.”

Shuji looks from the stone to Koko. “There’s no need to offer me gifts. We always have room for visitors here, without cost.”

“I really insist, ah— I didn’t quite catch your name.”

“Shuji.”

Koko tilts his head to the side. “Shuji…?”

Tension seems to rise; Shuji unwilling to give his last name, as per Chifuyu’s instructions the night before, and Koko waiting patiently for an answer.

In the end, Shuji takes the necklace from the merchant and mumbles a thanks, quickly putting it on. The stone rests directly against his chest, the collar of his shirt deep and wide.

“Fortune will be yours.” Koko smiles and then looks at Souya. “Shall we?”

They walk off together, Rindou rushing after them. He stops briefly, once, to look over his shoulder and nods at Chifuyu and Shuji. There’s a quiet reassurance in it, a promise of trust that eases some of the tension from Chifuyu’s shoulders.

“You were right,” Shuji mumbles, cupping the back of Chifuyu’s neck and squeezing softly. “There’s something off about him. You did well, asking Ryusei to keep an eye out.”

“Thanks.” Chifuyu sighs and leans into the gentle press against his bonding mark, closing his eyes for a moment.

They stay there for a moment longer, Shuji softly stroking his fingers down to caress the scar on Chifuyu’s shoulder, and then in silent agreement, leave the communal hut behind.

“I never got the chance to tell you,” Chifuyu murmurs as they walk, hand curled around one of Shuji’s biceps. “But Ran, before the attack, I overheard him and Nahoya talking.”

Shuji hums, continuing to look ahead.

“He said that Izana believed what Keisuke told me as well. Something about Izana offering for them to stay with him.”

“And Ran?”

“Ran seemed pretty adamant about accepting his offer, but Nahoya refused.”

“Unsurprising.” Shuji makes a contemplative sound, pulling Chifuyu a bit closer to him. “Izana doesn’t trust or like me,” he continues, a bit softer. “Ran is… complicated. But.” Chifuyu looks up at him as Shuji stops in the middle of the road, a small smile on his face. “It’s nothing you should worry about. Izana doesn’t hold any power over this pack, or me, and if Ran wants to leave, he’s free to do so.”

“But—”

Shuji pulls his arm free in favour of cupping Chifuyu’s face, squishing his cheeks, looking amused. “No. As your alpha, I order you to not worry about it.”

It draws a laugh from Chifuyu, a little awkward sound with how Shuji’s smushing his face. “You order me.”

“Yes.” Shuji grins and releases him. “I do.”

“The north will know an endless summer before I take a single order from you,” Chifuyu grumbles, taking Shuji’s arm again as they resume their walk.

“What if I asked nicely?”

“Are you capable of such a thing?”

They stop at the beginning of the path that leads to Mikey’s hut. Shuji cocks his head to the side without meeting Chifuyu’s eye, staring up at the sky. “I might’ve asked my mother something nicely once.”

“Really?” Chifuyu forces airiness into his voice, to hide the slow building of nerves now that they’re close to Seishu. “And how did that go?”

“Terribly. She refused to let me eat my weight in strawberries. Never tried it again.”

They’re approaching the hut. Choji, who sits on the front porch, lifts his head and gives a nod in greeting.

“There are a lot of things to worry about in this life,” Shuji whispers, leaning in close to Chifuyu’s ear. “Izana isn’t one of them, I promise. Trust me, hm?”

Chifuyu never gets to voice his complaint and is forced to swallow it when they step up to the doors. He takes a deep breath and slides them open slowly, staying in front of Shuji as he peeks inside before opening them fully.

Seishu is lying in the middle of the hut, sprawled out on his back, staring up at the ceiling. When he takes notice of visitors, he sighs.

“Chifuyu,” he mumbles, slowly sitting up. “To what do I owe—” He falls silent when he spots Shuji, frozen in place, eyes widening ever so slightly. “Hanma…”

Shuji doesn’t say anything. He takes a few more steps before he sits down, legs crossed, comfortably within the range of the other omega.

A souring scent clouds the hut, something between fear and anger, coming off Seishu in waves. It makes Chifuyu slightly light-headed, protectiveness flaring up, conflicting with the loyalty towards his alpha. To keep himself from toppling over, he rushes to Shuji’s side and kneels next to him.

The moment Chifuyu is closer, Seishu’s scent surprisingly shifts, losing its edge of fear. He slowly crosses his legs, eyes never leaving Shuji.

“My mate tells me you’ve been expecting me,” Shuji finally says, voice low and calm. “What’s your name, omega?”

Seishu looks from Shuji to Chifuyu, then back at Shuji again. “Didn’t he tell you?”

“Not your family name, Seishu.”

Seishu tilts his chin up, eyes narrowing. “Inui.”

“Inui…” Shuji hums, shifting his position to lean back on his hands. He tilts his head up to look at the ceiling. “Near the ocean, a small fisherman’s village. Correct?”

Seishu scoffs. “Correct. I’m glad the name is familiar, Hanma. Your sire had two-thirds of our boats burned when I was just a pup.”

“That’s not why your name is familiar.” Shuji looks at Seishu, tilting his head to the side. “Your family was highly regarded for—”

“My family is dead now.”

Shuji nods slowly. “I’m… sorry to hear that.”

“Spare me,” Seishu spits, a growl in his voice. “It’s their blood on your hands. Try and have your meaningless sympathy wash that away.”

“That’s not why I said it, though I do mean it. If I had been in any position to stop him, I would have.”

A nauseating spike of Seishu’s scent clouds the hut, rage barely hidden in it. He bares his teeth and snarls, his muscles tensing, but before he can move, Chifuyu lets out a warning growl. Seishu stiffens up, wild eyes flying to look at him.

It takes a moment, but Seishu does settle down, though he does it with a glare.

“Five years ago,” he grits, “the ones that are currently in charge burned down half our village after our elders refused to give them their entire catch. It killed many, harmed even more.” Chifuyu’s eyes drift to the scar on Seishu’s face. “Where were you then, Hanma, you and your good intentions of stopping your sire?”

Shuji takes a deep breath. Not quite a sigh. More like him breathing in Seishu’s words to let them settle deep within himself. Then, he slowly lowers himself into a deep bow, forehead resting on his folded hands.

It must hurt. Chifuyu can see the way his mate trembles, yet he stays in that position, not saying a word.

“Get up,” Seishu hisses. “I don’t want your pity.”

With a soft grunt, Shuji rights himself on his knees, hands resting on his legs. “Then, what do you want?” he asks, voice carefully neutral. “You came here, endangered my pack, my mate, our pup. To kill me, obviously, but to what end exactly, omega?”

Seishu doesn’t reply.

“You’re under my mate’s protection.” Shuji goes on. “But make no mistake, Seishu, I’ll gladly go against him and face his wrath in private if you don’t give me an explanation.” He lowers his voice and his scent starts to deepen into something decidedly less friendly than it was. “After all, I am my sire’s son, am I not?”

Chifuyu forces himself to stay still at those words, to hide the wave of nausea he feels at them, and lowers his eyes to look at the floor.

“Exactly,” Seishu whispers, eyes downcast. “You’re what keeps his legacy alive. You are his son. His only heir. As long as you live, so does he.” He raises his eyes. There’s nothing in them, pale green and empty. “Your death will liberate the west from a lifetime of suffering under the Hanma name. Do you even know what your sire did, what his sire did before him?”

“I know my sire wasn’t a good man, or a good leader.” Shuji sounds distant, detached in a way. “The stories that I heard after his death were nothing short of horrific.”

Seishu grunts. “And yet, the people still revered him. Followed him without question. Sang his praises. Willingly suffered under his promise of more land, more power— never stopped to question him, so used to being kept small in order for him to grow, for your name to grow.” He shakes his head. “I cannot allow you to lead them down that same path.”

“What makes you think I have any intention to?”

“It doesn’t matter what you want!” Seishu jumps up to his feet, throwing his arms out to the side. “The moment word gets out about you being alive and well, the leaders of the west will use your legacy to keep their reign strong— they’ll dangle the promise of revenge for what happened to your sire and your dam in front of their faces, and the people will listen! A Hanma can never rise to power again!”

Seishu lunges forward, fast, but Chifuyu is faster. He jumps to his feet and blocks the other omega, slamming his shoulder into Seishu’s body to send him stumbling backwards.

“Do not,” he says calmly, righting his shoulders and glaring at the other omega, “get near him. How dare you attack him in front of me, when I’ve kept you alive, showed you the mercy you do not deserve?”

Chifuyu ignores Shuji’s call of his name, walking closer to Seishu. “Shuji was a child when his sire died. He chose—— no, he was forced to become his own person, the night he killed his sire. And you…” He grabs the front of Seishu’s shirt, glaring back at the other omega as he grabs Chifuyu’s wrist. “Sought him out in his home to kill him for something beyond his control.”

“Chifuyu.”

A hand on his shoulder forces him to turn, though he keeps a tight grip on Seishu’s shirt. Shuji stands behind him, softness in his eyes.

“Love,” he murmurs, “I can fight my own battles. Release him, please.”

“It changes nothing,” Seishu spits when Chifuyu releases him with a push, catching himself against the column behind him. “You killing your sire proves nothing. Your sire did the same before you. It just shows without a shadow of a doubt that it’s his blood coursing through your veins.”

Shuji shakes his head with a scoff, his scent continuing to change. It reminds Chifuyu of fire, though not a small and cozy one— more like a forest fire, raging and destructive.

“You don’t need to remind me of that,” Shuji grits.

“You’re pathetic,” Seishu goes on, his usual unfazed demeanour changing into something more desperate, eyes wide and wild. “You’re a coward— running from your home, and now allowing your omega to even get close to me, instead of you ripping out my throat, as you should!” He growls and digs his fingers into the collar around his neck. “Why are you just standing there?! Do something! Kill me!”

He jumps forward again. This time, Shuji is faster to push Chifuyu aside, allowing Seishu to grab him by the collar of his shirt and drag him forward.

“It’s your fault! Your fault that harvests are stolen, that villages are burned to the ground at the barest sign of resistance, it’s on you that young omegas are taken and end up in brothels, your hands that are dirty with the blood of young alphas, killed for the mere possibility that they’ll grow up strong and fight against the ones in power!” Seishu’s voice rises with each word, his face scrunched up in anger, scent strong and sour. So caught up in his anger, he doesn’t seem to take notice of the way Shuji’s scent is sending out a clear warning, distressing to even Chifuyu’s omega. “So kill me now! End it! Be the monster—” He cuts himself off with a gasp, going completely rigid, his eyes nearly bulging out of his head.

Chifuyu follows his line of sight, heart sinking when his eyes land on Shuji’s chest, realisation landing heavily on his shoulders.

“Idiots,” he whispers to himself, once again pulled in different directions— his loyalty to Shuji, and his strange care for Seishu’s wellbeing. “Seishu, don’t—“

“Where did you get this?” Seishu snaps, the moment rationality gets washed away for worry, for love, evident in his widened eyes. He releases Shuji in favour of grabbing the necklace and gives it one strong tug, the cord coming loose, green stone swinging back and forth. “Where… Why…”

Understanding dawns on Shuji with a dark chuckle, quick to snatch the necklace back from Seishu. He steps back, continuing to stare at the other omega while he lets out a low whistle.

Footsteps approach and Seishu is staring at Chifuyu with wide, pleading eyes.

Chifuyu wants so badly to say something, to stop Shuji, to stop the growing promise of more needless violence, but he’s rooted in place, words getting stuck in his throat.

“Choji,” Shuji drawls to the beta without looking at him. “Seize the merchant, keep him in his hut. If he resists, don’t waste your energy being careful with him.”

Seishu shakes his head. “He’s got nothing to do with this, he’s not—”

“Oh, but I think he’s got everything to do with this.” Shuji dangles the necklace in front of his face, following the swinging of the stone with his eyes. “And if he doesn’t, well…”

“No, you— Chifuyu, c’mon!”

Chifuyu doesn’t meet Seishu’s eyes, unsure of what to say or do.

“Do not look at him,” Shuji snaps, his voice loud and commanding. The atmosphere shifts in an instance, waves and waves of unrestrained anger rolling off him. His dark, suffocating scent clouds the hut, hanging thick in the air.

Finally, Seishu seems to take notice of it as well. He visibly fights his instincts for a moment, face scrunching up, but loses in the end. His eyes widen and his shoulders draw up slowly, making himself smaller in front of the enraged alpha.

Chifuyu doesn’t blame him in the slightest. His own omega is yelping and whining in his head. He gives in just the same as Seishu did, taking a step back and away from his mate. So often does Shuji carry himself with nonchalance and restraint, but it seems like he’s released his careful control over the rage that must always be alive within him. There is no other explanation for the way he looks at Seishu.

No trace of his gentle alpha is left, instead replaced by a man Chifuyu barely recognises, so foreign to him that it almost erases all the memories of Shuji’s laugh, his easy jokes, the softness in his eyes whenever he looked at him during his recovery, just the two of them.

“Do not forget, Inui,” Shuji continues, the low timbre of his voice sending chills up Chifuyu’s spine, “that I am the one in charge here. It’s true that the injuries you’ve caused put me in the shameful position of relying on my mate in ways an alpha shouldn’t, but I would very much advise you to keep your eyes on me.”

Shuji takes a step forward. Seishu takes one backwards. His jaw is clenched, bravely fighting to keep the terror he must feel hidden, even if its overly present in his scent.

“My mate’s promise to keep you alive ends when I say it does.”

Chifuyu sucks in a breath, eyes jumping between Shuji and Seishu. He wants to move so badly, but his body refuses to cooperate when his omega is so fixated on Shuji.

“And more importantly,” Shuji mutters darkly, tilting his chin up and finally stepping back, though the growing distance doesn’t ease the tension Seishu holds himself with, “my mate’s promise does not extend to the beta. Keep that in mind, will you, while you rethink your actions? And I’m sure you’ll give me more information in a few days.”

A hand curls itself around Chifuyu’s elbow and he almost flinches away on instinct. Only when he looks up at Shuji, who has turned his back on Seishu, does he allow the touch.

Because beneath the anger, his mate’s eyes are still the same when he looks at him. They’re soft and open despite the rage still present in his scent, despite the way he still stands tall and threatening.

“Let’s go, omega,” he says, and though his voice is harsh, there’s a hint of the tone he only ever uses around Chifuyu.

It’s that tone that guides Chifuyu to turn around as well, that comforts him enough to let Shuji lead them to the entrance of the hut. There, they take pause, and Chifuyu looks over his shoulder at Seishu, and he hopes, he prays, that the other omega can see in his eyes that despite Shuji’s words, Chifuyu’s promise still holds strong.

Then, Shuji is moving on, his hold on Chifuyu gentle but firm. He only releases him when they’re a fair distance away from the hut, where Shuji’s anger dissipates almost immediately.

Chifuyu stays silent, watching as Shuji braces his hands on his knees and hangs his head, taking several deep breaths.

His mind is pulling him in two different directions. One part wants to scold Shuji for his behaviour, lash out now that the adrenaline of fear and apprehension is wearing off. The other part, however, takes notice of the way Shuji shudders and picks up on the sour undertone of distress in his mate’s scent.

In the end, it’s his bonding mark that wins against any rationality. It throbs dully on the side of his neck, the pulse of discomfort a grounding sensation. He takes a tentative step forward and lets a soft chirp fall from his lips, the sound not that far off from how a pup might call out for its sire.

“Alpha?”

Shuji grunts in reply and shakes his head. “Don’t call me that.” He rights himself with visible effort, meeting Chifuyu’s eyes. Whatever came over him in the hut has fully disappeared and his expression is pinched, as if he’s putting in painful effort to suck all that anger back in again. “Don’t, please, I—”

“Shuji…” Chifuyu steps forward with his arms opened. He welcomes Shuji in his embrace, holding his mate close as he makes himself small, face hidden against Chifuyu’s chest. Relief washes over Shuji with a shudder, melting against him.

As they stand there, the conflicted tone to Shuji’s scent fades completely, giving way to something softer than it usually is. A breeze that sweeps through a forest rather than the thick bark of trees. It’s vulnerability and fear combined, and Chifuyu reacts on instinct, the sharp mint in his own scent softening as well.

“Shuji,” he says again, cradling the back of his mate’s head. “Listen to me. I’m going to find Ryusei so he can keep watch over Seishu. I need you to intercept Choji, alright? Make sure he doesn’t hurt Koko. Can you do that for me?”

Shuji does nothing but breathe for a moment. Then, he nods and slowly pulls back. “Of course.”

“Okay.”

They look at each other for a moment.

“Chifuyu,” Shuji mumbles, averting his eyes as he takes a few steps backwards. “You know… You know that I’m not—”

“I know.”

“And… I didn’t mean…”

“I know.” Chifuyu smiles. “I know, pup.”

Shuji nods, taking a few more steps backwards, looking at Chifuyu with his hidden fear on full display, his eyes pleading.

“Not a monster,” Chifuyu says. “Just you, Shuji. Just you.”

And it’s with those words that Shuji turns, a sharp whistle that calls out to Choji ringing through the air as he rushes off.

Chifuyu watches him go. Some tension slowly leaves him as he breathes through everything that just transpired, reassuring himself of his own words. “Just Shuji,” he repeats in a whisper, hand sliding down to rest against his belly, smiling when he wonders how a terrible beginning like theirs could give way to unwavering trust.

Chapter Text

The first dinner back with the pack should’ve been a joyous occasion, but instead, Chifuyu sits alone at the head table, listening to Takemichi go over the events of the day and thanking everyone for their hard work.

It’s hard to focus on the other omega’s exact words when whispers travel through the pack, glances thrown at Chifuyu every other second or so. No direct questions are spoken aloud, something Chifuyu is grateful for, while at the same time, only fans the flames of his worries. He feels burdened with guilt, the heavy secret he carries, and not for the first time, he wonders if he’s doing the right thing in keeping Seishu’s existence from most of the pack.

Chifuyu realises Takemichi stopped talking when the hut gets filled with a myriad of voices, conversation flowing freely, though the words don’t quite reach Chifuyu. In an attempt to at least hear some of what’s being said, he glances around the hut, taking a few moments to look over each table.

He’s about to pick up a skewer with roasted fish when he meets Ran’s eye and immediately loses all appetite. The other omega is looking right back at him, food untouched, and that strange expression is on his face again. Brooding and completely blank at the same time. It reminds him of Shuji in a way, but not the warmth of his mate as he knows him know— Shuji from weeks ago, a storm brewing in his eyes, careful to keep his real feelings hidden.

Before he can try and fully understand the reason for Ran’s hostility, movement at the door catches his attention. For a moment, Chifuyu’s heart leaps at the promise of Shuji’s presence, but drops again just as quickly when it’s Chome who walks in.

Disappointment doesn’t last long, replaced with confusion when Chome looks around the hut once and then makes his way over to Chifuyu’s table at a leisurely pace.

Without so much as a word, he drops down opposite him, grabs the skewer Chifuyu had put down and takes a huge bite out of the fish, staring straight at him while he chews.

They sit in silence for several uncomfortable long moments before Chifuyu raises an eyebrow and motions with his hand for Chome to speak, at which the beta seems to forcefully refire his brain and form a thought.

“Hanma sent me.”

Chifuyu smiles, a little clipped. “I’d assume so, yes, Chome, thank you.”

More chewing before Chome speaks again. “They, uh, got done what needed to be done. Told me to walk you back so you wouldn’t wander into, ah, the place on your own.”

Chifuyu feels his eye twitch at Chome’s attempt to be subtle, annoyance spiking. At the beta’s raised head and curious glance, he shoves it down and forces his shoulders to relax. “Okay, and where are your…” He flicks his wrist, a little lost on what exactly to address the three betas as, in relation to each other. “Why are you alone?”

“Wanted to talk to them. Sent me away. Does it matter?”

“No.” Chifuyu sighs and leans back on his hands, watching as Chome helps himself to the next skewered fish. “I guess it doesn’t.”

While Chome isn’t the most engaging conversational partner, his presence at least provides some sort of distraction to keep Chifuyu’s mind from wandering. For the duration of dinner, he keeps himself busy making small talk and getting vague, one-word answers in return while the beta makes his way through Chifuyu’s food.

Then, as promised, he accompanies him. When they pass by the hut Koko is staying in, now most likely the place he’s being held in, Chome takes the liberty to press a hand into Chifuyu’s back and doesn’t allow him so much a glance at it. Bravely or stupidly, he even ignores the warning growl at the touch, keeping his hand firmly in place until they cross over the bridge into the alpha territory.

“You have a bad temper,” Chome mentions off-handedly as they cross the clearing in front of Shuji’s hut, ushering Chifuyu up the porch.

“You are a very strange person,” he counters, glancing over his shoulder. His eyes wander over the overgrown bushes along the edge of the clearing before they settle on Chome, who’s still standing there, looking back at Chifuyu somewhat blankly. “Uh. Thank you for walking me here.”

Chome lets out a noncommittal sound and turns on his heel, walking away in that same sluggish pace of his.

Chifuyu is still standing on the porch watching him go when he hears the doors slide open behind him, barely reacting when he feels arms wrap around his waist.

“Jarring experience,” he mumbles, leaning back into Shuji.

“Loyal without question, though.”

“I’m sure he is.” He turns in Shuji’s hold and studies him for a moment. Exhaustion, is what he notices first, and then relief, the same he feels now that he’s close to his mate again. A smile comes easy because of it. “Any reason you’re without a shirt?”

Shuji smiles as well. “Wanted to give you a proper welcome. C’mon.”

The opened jar of soothing balm that stands by the sitting area reveals the real reason for Shuji’s lack of shirt— both a relief and a disappointment, Chifuyu finds. He toes off his sandals and watches Shuji sit again, returning to what he must’ve been doing before, rubbing the balm into the edges of his wounded side.

“Let me do it,” he grumbles, sinking down on his knees next to Shuji and swatting his hand away. “You’re way too rough with yourself.”

“Not gonna break. Souya told me to get in there so—” Chifuyu shoots him a dirty look. “Of course, omega. Go ahead.”

He works in silence for a moment, gently dabbing the balm along the edges. It’s still not a pretty sight, Chifuyu doubts it’ll ever be, but it’s healing and that’s more than enough.

“Ran was looking at me funny during dinner,” he mumbles after setting the balm aside, getting up with a groan to put the container back on its shelf, next to a bottle of clear oil that Souya gifted to him a few weeks prior. It’s meant to keep his own skin supple and soft, to lessen the stretch marks when the pup really starts to grow. When he first got it, Chifuyu was reluctant to use it, didn’t really see the point when he’s always admired the lines on pregnant omega and beta’s bodies.

“Was he, now?”

Chifuyu hums and takes the bottle of oil, if only to keep his hands occupied. “Still not something I’m allowed to worry about?” He turns and raises a brow at Shuji.

“Absolutely not.” With more than a little interest, Shuji watches him remove his shirt, sharp eyes following every move. “No worries for tonight, okay?”

“Easier said than done.”

Rather than reply, Shuji takes the bottle from Chifuyu and pulls him back down to sit. With much more care than he’s bothered to apply to himself, Shuji pours some of the oil out on a hand and takes his time rubbing it between his palms.

“From now on,” Shuji mumbles, hands warm when he smooths them down Chifuyu’s belly, rubbing the oil in with gentle touches, “you’re never taking care of me again. It’ll all be me taking care of you. As it should be.”

Chifuyu sighs and closes his eyes. “It’s a mutual thing. What else are mates for?”

“Not this. I’ve made you carry burdens that were never yours and made you cry way too much, in none of the right ways.”

“And what would be the right ways to make me cry, hm?”

Shuji chuckles, hands stilling for a moment. “From indescribable amounts of pleasure.”

“Gods, you’re a dog.” Chifuyu smiles. “I appreciate the sentiment, but I’m perfectly capable of looking after myself. Worry about your pack if you’re that eager to fret over something.”

It stays quiet after that. Chifuyu opens his eyes to look at Shuji, finding his mate with a contemplative look on his face, frowning at where his hands still rub circles into Chifuyu’s skin.

“Never wanted to take care of this pack,” he mutters, “and look where I am regardless. Where we are. Leading a bunch of people who can’t even be bothered to extend an ounce of trust after I almost died for them.”

Chifuyu sighs. “I think most of them trust you.” He lays his hands over Shuji’s and smiles at him. “Why’d you even agree in the first place?”

“Because Mikey asked me.”

“Shuji…”

With a groan, Shuji pulls his hands back and takes his sweet time closing the bottle of oil, very pointedly avoiding looking at Chifuyu. “You’ll hate me.”

“I’ve grown to tolerate you after everything, haven’t I? I highly doubt there’s anything that’ll make me hate you at this point.”

“Okay.” Shuji sighs. “But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

A twinge of fear makes its way into Shuji’s scent. It draws Chifuyu in closer, tucking himself against his side and resting his head on his mate’s shoulder. There, he waits.

“Mikey wants me back in the west,” Shuji begins, his voice monotone, “for no other reason than it’s my home and I should want to return to it, no matter how often I told him I absolutely do not want to do that.”

“Oh, I can feel the hatred bubbling, yes.” Shuji huffs out a breath and moves his shoulder, jostling Chifuyu’s head off it. He chuckles, not easily deterred, and twines their hands together, pulling Shuji’s into his lap. “Go on, sorry.”

“So,” Shuji drawls, “he got it into his head that once I, y’know, settled down and everything, some sort of parental instincts would kick in that’d make me want to go back west and raise my pups on my homeland.”

Chifuyu rolls his eyes. “That’s dumb.”

“Agree, but he would disagree. So would, uh, Kisaki, who has also expressed many times that he’d want me to return west. Not for the romantic reasons Mikey has, but because that’d mean a strong alliance between the south and the west, it’s all—” He groans. “It’s stupid. They mean well in their own way but it’s been grating on my nerves.”

“Understandable.”

“So, I, ah…” Shuji shifts to face Chifuyu and cups his face between his hands. “Listen, before I continue— what I said was true, okay? I saw you, I wanted you. I never— that wasn’t a lie.”

Chifuyu nods slowly, prying Shuji’s hands from his face. He crosses his legs and pulls their hands back into his lap, smoothing thumbs over the backs of his mate’s hands.

“But… when the opportunity arose, I also, kind of, saw a chance to prove Mikey wrong.” Shuji averts his eyes. “You know. Take a mate, get a couple of pups out on this world, show him that not even that would make me want to return west.”

“Okay.”

Shuji’s eyes jump back to look at him. “Okay?”

“Yeah…” Chifuyu frowns. “Okay. What happened next that’ll make me hate you?”

“That— I— Didn’t you hear me? I used you? Took advantage of your situation? To get some sort of petty revenge on Mikey?”

Chifuyu blinks. “Uhuh. Yeah, I heard you. I used you too, remember? Keeping my home safe, that whole deal? I mean, despite the, uh, reaction I had to you the first time, I wouldn’t have just offered you my neck voluntarily.”

“It doesn’t bother you that… Are you— are you playing a trick on me?”

“You’re an idiot.” Chifuyu grins and leans closer. “I always knew you had some ulterior motive. I’m just glad it isn’t what Keisuke told me it was.”

Shuji exhales, long and slow, deflating until he’s slumped over, forehead pressed against Chifuyu’s. “Why am I upset that you’re not upset?”

“I can be upset, if you want? Yell at you a little, call you a terrible, selfish alpha who only thinks with— well, you weren’t even thinking with your knot. Just with your dumb brain.”

“No, no, that’s alright.” Shuji chuckles. “I’m glad you don’t value yourself enough to be upset at being a pawn in my petty revenge.”

Chifuyu leans back, cocking an eyebrow. “Well, if you put it like that…”

“No! You can’t take it back. You already said you’re not mad.”

They stare at each other— Shuji pleading, Chifuyu doing his best to look annoyed. That is, until a strand of hair that curls along his mate’s temple catches his attention and he can’t resist tucking it behind his ear. It immediately falls back into place, drawing a smile from him.

“Had it been weighing on you?”

Shuji shrugs a shoulder, turning his face into Chifuyu’s touch. “Maybe.”

“Then I’m glad you told me.” He looks at Shuji for a moment longer before pulling his hand back, stretching out with a groan. “C’mon, you can make us tea to make up for your shameless abuse of my generosity.”

With a groan, Shuji throws his head back. “Why do I feel like you’ll be using this against me for weeks to come?”

“Because I will. I absolutely will.”

Shuji complains about abuse of power until their tea is done brewing, after which they sit out on the back porch, looking on as the sky gradually turns pink and then darkens completely.

The full moon shines her light down on them, accompanied by endless stars, making for an altogether bright summer night. Some of the heat wears down, less sweltering and more comforting. It pulls Chifuyu into a peaceful, drowsy state, sitting between Shuji’s legs, leaning against him. The alpha mumbles about constellations without ever pointing them out, too concerned with keeping both arms wrapped around Chifuyu.

It’s easy for a change, to keep worries about the future at bay. In the silence of night, there’s only the chirping of insects and the gentle rustling of leaves. They make for a gentle harmony. Soft, so as not to disturb them, but loud enough for nothing else to reach their quiet comfort.

There’s some reluctance to let the day end, something that takes Chifuyu by surprise, considering how tumultuous and draining the majority of it has been. Silly, he thinks, the way his mind is blissfully blank after just a few hours in Shuji’s company.

They find their way back inside in an agreement to get some sleep, discarding blankets altogether in the heat of summer, and only then does some unease creep its way into Chifuyu’s thoughts. Though, it’s a new sort of unease, nothing like what he usually feels. It’s entirely the fault of Shuji, who refuses even a single article of clothing, laying bare and shameless and comfortable on his back.

Seeing Shuji naked as much as he has during his recovery must’ve lured Chifuyu into a false sense of security, believing himself to be quite unaffected by it. The opposite turns out to be true. He can’t stop his own roving eyes, greedily drinking the sight of his mate’s body now, caressed by soft moonlight, each line and curve highlighted by stark shadows.

Chifuyu stands at the end of his barely-there nest, made up of just some pillows, and keeps looking at him, overly aware of the thrumming excitement under his skin. That feeling comes back, the creeping uncertainty when he thinks too hard about Shuji never initiating anything more than small touches, some scenting, but never once leaning in for a kiss, or more.

It feels silly to worry about in the face of everything that’s going on, but now that his mind has gone down that road, Chifuyu finds it hard not to think about it. He thinks about the moment they shared in the river before the attack, the afternoon by the river a few days ago, and could swear the heat between them was more than present, thinks he distinctly remembers how dark Shuji’s eyes had been.

And for the first time, Chifuyu allows himself to ache— for closeness, the feeling of skin pressed against his. It’s a different kind of ache than the one he’s come to associate with his heats, different from the frantic ache he felt as a teenager that drove him to experiment, just a little, never pushing too far, never fully putting out that fire.

Shuji barely moves when Chifuyu sinks down next to him, eyes closed and breathing slow.

In the darkness, he feels the full hunger that’s been there all along, not just for the physical, but for so much more, and it’s a somewhat terrifying realisation that Shuji is the one he aches for. Terrifying to look at him now, features illuminated by the moonlight shining in, and no longer remember any of the anger and fear that he could’ve sworn, just weeks ago, would always be there.

With a quiet sigh, Chifuyu gets comfortable on his side and folds his hands under his cheek. He can’t convince himself to look away from Shuji, to let sleep take him as it seems to be doing to his mate. His Shuji, lying next to him in the darkness, his scent blooming in the little space between them, something warm but something distant.

“Shuji,” he whispers, and doesn’t expect a reply, mostly wants to remember what the name feels like on his lips.

Except, Shuji hums and slowly turns his head, blinking his eyes open lazily.

“Oh.” Chifuyu smiles, a little sheepishly. He turns his face to hide it against his hands, keeping one eye uncovered to peek at Shuji. “I’m sorry, I thought you were asleep.”

“Sort of am.” He yawns. “What’s the matter?”

And Chifuyu, he doesn’t think he has the right words to ask for what he wants. There’s an entire vocabulary, he knows, to express the needs he feels are building under his skin, but he never really learned how to say something like that.

“Nothing’s the matter… Just…” He bites his lip, wonders if it’s too late to try and back out.

“Just?”

With a small grunt, Shuji rolls himself onto his side as well. He tucks one hand under his head as well, but the other, he reaches out with, lays it on Chifuyu’s waist. His touch is scorching, burning right through the material of the thin sleep shirt Chifuyu wears, sparks spreading out from where his fingers stroke back and forth.

“Do you— I mean, ah, I want…” He takes a deep breath, forces himself to be brave, and rushes out his question. “Don’t you want to kiss me?”

Shuji frowns, fingers stilling. “Hah?”

“You never—“ Chifuyu cuts himself off. “You don’t want me?”

Shuji doesn’t answer right away. His hand moves again, fingers curling around Chifuyu’s waist. “Where are you drawing that conclusion from?”

“It’s not a conclusion,” he hisses, a sinking feeling in his stomach. “I’m asking— never mind.” Chifuyu grumbles and rolls over, hiding half his face in the pillow. The warmth from Shuji’s touch lingers on his skin, even now that he’s no longer touching him. “Let’s sleep.”

“No, no.” Shuji chuckles softly. “You have my attention now. What do you mean?”

“Good night, Shuji.”

“Come, now.” He presses himself along Chifuyu’s body and in doing so, almost draws a whimper from him. “What makes you think I don’t want you?”

Chifuyu tries not to lean back into Shuji. He fails, but he tries. “You never… touch me.”

“I’m touching you right now,” Shuji drawls, demonstrating his statement by running the tips of his fingers over Chifuyu’s arm.

“That’s not… You know what I mean.”

“Perhaps,” Shuji whispers, fingers sliding down to Chifuyu’s hip. “But I’d like to hear you say it.”

Chifuyu shakes his head and pouts, grateful that Shuji can’t see the pitiful expression. “It’s not the same if I say it. Then you’d only do it because I’m asking.”

“So…” Shuji hums and scoots closer, pressing his nose to the back of Chifuyu’s neck and rubbing it back and forth. “Waiting for your permission to go beyond fleeting touches means I don’t want you, and… if you ask me to do it, you think I’d only do it because of that, rather than my own desire as well?”

Hearing it like that makes it sound slightly stupid. “Yes. Exactly.”

Shuji huffs out a laugh and presses a dry kiss to Chifuyu’s neck. “What would you rather I do, if waiting for your permission isn’t what you want?”

Without warning, a hand grips Chifuyu’s shoulder and roughly turns him onto his back. He gasps and then nearly chokes at the sight of Shuji hovering over him, a hand on either side of Chifuyu’s head.

“Want me to let my rationality be run over by lust?” Shuji leans closer, gaze intense despite his eyes being half-lidded. “Hold you down and take you without asking? Without me knowing you’d want me to?”

Chifuyu licks his lips, Shuji’s eyes dropping to watch them. “That’s—“ The least rational part of his brain thinks that sounds quite good, really, and it sends a shiver down his spine. “No,” he lies, “I don’t… No.”

“Then what?” Shuji whispers, lowering himself onto his elbows. He shifts, one leg slotting between Chifuyu’s. “Tell me.”

“I want— I want you to want me because you want me,” Chifuyu stammers, heat creeping up his neck from a mix of embarrassment and excitement. “Not because I want you to want me.”

Shuji grins and opens his mouth. Then, he frowns and closes it again. He leans back a bit, eyes darting from left to right, frown deepening by the second. “You— wait, what?”

“I’m— I, ah, I’m not sure what I’m saying.”

“Truly, neither am I.”

The tension breaks, disappearing from the air altogether. Shuji’s looking down at him, confused, and Chifuyu can only stare up, equally confused.

“You want me to— because, but not, and—“ Shuji lets his head hang and laughs. “Gods, you’re giving me a headache.”

Chifuyu closes his eyes and groans. “Look, I just— I don’t want you to—“

A soft press of lips against his own shuts up him in an instant. Before Chifuyu can even think to do anything, like throw his arms around Shuji’s neck and pull him closer, or Gods forbid, kiss him back, his alpha is already leaning back.

“I want you more than anything in this world,” Shuji says when Chifuyu dares to open his eyes, finding himself on the receiving end of a painfully fond smile. “I have lost more time than I care to admit lying right here, alone, wanting.”

Chifuyu lets out a breath, shaky and long, and manages to kick himself into moving. He wraps his arms around Shuji’s shoulders and tries a smile. “That so?”

“You are…” Shuji sighs, rubbing their noses together. “Inconceivably stupid, you know that? How come you’re both one of the smartest people I know and at the same time, seem to lack common sense in the most obvious of times?”

“Maybe you’re rubbing off on me,” Chifuyu mumbles, letting his eyes fall shut again. “I used to be only smart.”

“I’m going to kiss you again. More thoroughly this time, if that’s alright.”

“If that’s alright,” he mocks, huffing out a laugh. “I want you buried so deep inside me that I’ll still be able to feel the way you bruised my womb when I give birth come winter.”

Immediately after he says it, Chifuyu snaps his eyes open and stares back into Shuji’s wide eyes, his alpha completely frozen.

“I don’t— I don’t know why I said that...”

Shuji unfreezes, literally shaking himself from it with a snort of laughter. “I am embarrassed to be as attracted to you as I am.”

Chifuyu laughs with him, though a bit uneasy. “So you are?”

“What?”

“Ah-attracted. To me.”

Shuji looks at him like he’s stupid, and Chifuyu would certainly agree, a blush rising to his cheeks.

“The question’s never been if I am attracted to you. It’s always been the question of…” Shuji averts his eyes. “If you’d have me.”

How comforting it is, Chifuyu finds, to know that their worries turn out to be more similar than he thought. “I would,” he whispers, finding the courage to run his hands down Shuji’s chest, carefully pushing him back to the side. “Lie down, please, don’t strain yourself.”

Shuji mutters a protest under his breath, but listens nonetheless. He takes a moment to fluff up some pillows, placing them against the wall so he can lie back against them, a little more upright than he’d been. Then, he looks at Chifuyu. “Happy?”

“Very.”

“Will you come closer?”

Even with some hesitance, it’s still easier than Chifuyu expected it to be— adjusting to lie a bit higher, hooking one leg over Shuji’s hips to rest it between his mate’s legs. He giggles softly when Shuji tries to push an arm under him, finally complying after a grumbled curse to make some room. The next giggle gets stolen from his lips when a hand presses into the small of his back to push him closer, drawn into a kiss.

Their lips slide together, slow and lazy, somewhat tentative, soft noises breathed out in the otherwise silence of the night.

Shuji’s other hand cups the side of Chifuyu’s face, tilting it up more. He parts from him after a short peck, with a soft, wet sound.

“Y’know,” he murmurs, smiling, “for someone who was supposedly untouched before coming here, you’re quite a decent kisser.”

Chifuyu groans, then laughs. “That would be because I’ve kissed plenty of people before you.”

Shuji stiffens, eyes widening. “Excuse me?”

“Oh, come on,” Chifuyu teases, prodding Shuji in the shoulder. “Cute omega like myself? Yours wasn’t the first cock I ever touched either.”

“Such an upsetting revelation, when I was half a breath away from death a few weeks ago.” With a drawn-out sigh, Shuji closes his eyes and sinks more into the pillows. “I can feel its sweet pull again now. I hope you’re satisfied with those being the last words of yours I will ever hear during this brief, yet painful, mortal life.”

Chifuyu smiles and watches the dramatics unfold before him. “Hmhm.”

“Though!” Shuji exclaims, “let me ask you this, ‘fore I truly perish.” He peeks one eye open and looks at Chifuyu. “I am the only one you’ve ever let inside, right?”

“You were there. Didn’t you smell my nerves?” Chifuyu rolls his eyes. “Yes, Shuji. That privilege was yours first and will remain yours only, for the brief period that you’re still alive, that is. Weren’t you dying just now?”

Shuji perks up, both eyes opened again. “Seems the gods have spared me after all. Will you kiss me once more, lest I perish from—“

“You’re the worst.”

Everything about Shuji softens, his smile, his eyes, his voice. “Maybe so.” He falls silent for a moment, just looking at Chifuyu with that fond expression. “It’s because of what I told you earlier, just so you know, why I never tried to initiate anything.”

Chifuyu purses his lips. He supposes that makes more sense than his omega’s wild conclusions about Shuji’s supposedly obvious rejection and repulsion. “I fear we might both be fools, Shuji.”

A soft laugh, a nod of agreement, fingers squeezing around his hip. “Have I ever admitted how much I like the way you say my name?”

“That so?” Chifuyu traces shapes into his mate’s chest with his fingers.

Shuji hums in agreement. “You know what else I’d like?”

“Tell me,” he whispers, raising his head to meet Shuji’s eyes. Even in the dim moonlight, the heat in his mate’s gaze is more than clear, stealing his breath away.

“I’d like for you to get even closer, so I can make you forget that anyone else has ever touched you before me.”

“Make me forget?” Chifuyu asks in as innocent a voice as he can muster, though he does push himself up on one elbow to lean closer to Shuji’s face. “Or make yourself forget?”

Shuji growls, soft and mostly playful. He grabs the back of Chifuyu’s leg, fingers digging in to pull him in more. “I’ll make both of us forget anyone else exists.”

Chifuyu opens his mouth to retort without any real intention to say something, only does it so Shuji kisses the words right from his lips, open-mouthed and so much deeper than the ones they’ve shared so far.

He lets himself be pulled to straddle Shuji, hands flying up to cup his face, breathing out a little shakily when he feels Shuji’s hands settle on his lower back, fingers teasing under the waistband of his pants.

“Pretty,” Shuji murmurs. “The sounds you make. So sweet.” He kisses the embarrassed squeak from Chifuyu’s lips, both of them groaning at the first touch of their tongues together, one hand pulling away from his lower back to cup his jaw.

Chifuyu goes lax, lets Shuji tilt his head to lick inside his mouth, a pleasant tingle travelling through his body.

They only part when Shuji slides his other hand up, easing Chifuyu’s shirt higher until he leans back to pull it over his head, immediately seeking out the comfort of his mate’s lips again once it’s off.

Their kisses grow in intensity. Touches that start off slow grow bolder. Shuji thumbs at one of Chifuyu’s nipples, grinning against his lips when it draws a soft moan from him.

Chifuyu stifles the next sound against his mate’s skin, mouthing at the junction where his neck meets his shoulder, licking at his scent gland.

It makes Shuji groan. He throws his head back, baring his throat, and the sight makes Chifuyu feel just a little out of his mind, a surge of power coursing through him at his alpha’s easy submission.

He dives back in, licking and biting at Shuji’s skin, trailing from his neck to his shoulder, down to kiss over his collarbones.

In turn, Shuji keeps rubbing the pad of his thumb over Chifuyu’s nipple, other hand pushing at the edge of his pants, trying to coax them off, and failing miserably.

With a laugh, Chifuyu draws back, hands braced on either side of Shuji’s head, and looks down at him. “What d’you want, hm?” he asks, emboldened by the darkness in Shuji’s eyes, the flush on his cheeks.

“Don’t tease me,” he growls back. “Take these off.”

Nudity comes easy when Shuji looks at him with nothing but awe, eyes trailing up and down Chifuyu’s body after he manages to remove his pants without too much awkward fumbling. He goes back to straddling Shuji and is immediately pulled forward with an arm around his shoulders, kneeling closer to his mate’s chest rather than his hips.

“Easier to reach,” Shuji breathes out, instantly clearing up Chifuyu’s initial confusion when he runs his fingers down his back, dipping between his cheeks. He grins when two of them slide through the wetness there. “Cute.”

Chifuyu groans, somewhat in pleasure, but mostly embarrassed at his own body’s reaction— steadily leaking slick while his cock is still only half-hard.

A soft chuckle comes from Shuji. He pulls Chifuyu closer to kiss his chest. At the same time, he presses one of his fingers more firmly against him. “This okay?”

“You know you don’t have to, right?” he mumbles, breathless.

“Do what?” Shuji circles his rim, not quite pushing in, but gradually applying more pressure.

“T-this.” Chifuyu swallows thickly, lashes fluttering. “I’m— I’m not built like a beta, you could just…” He trails off, praying that Shuji understands, but the silence makes it evident that either he doesn’t, or he wants Chifuyu to continue talking. “Like during my heat, you can just—”

“What? Slide right in?” Shuji makes a sound of disapproval. “Chifuyu, even if you had a cunt—”

“Don’t say that!”

“—have you felt me?”

Chifuyu scoffs. “I’ve seen you plenty of times over the course of the past few weeks, thank you very much.”

Shuji sighs, his finger stops moving. “That’s not— Gods. I’d almost buy it if not for the fact that you have a dick. You know they grow. So, let me prepare you properly. Yes?”

“I can—” Chifuyu whimpers when the pressure against him increases, Shuji rubbing over his hole, pressing in more with each slide. “I can do it myself, if you don’t—”

“Do you think this is some kinda chore?” Shuji asks, sounding incredulous. “C’mon, mister yours isn’t the first cock I’ve ever touched, don’t play coy with me now.”

“No, that’s—”

“Do you not want me to touch you?”

Chifuyu shakes his head, eyes squeezing shut. “No, I want— I do, I just—”

The words are stolen from his lips when Shuji slides his finger in, slow and careful, but persistent, only stopping when he’s deep inside. He keeps it there for a moment while Chifuyu sighs, thoughts coming to a pleasant stop, and then starts to build a languid pace.

“Good?”

Chifuyu ignores the part of him that’s screaming about not enough and nods, choosing to focus instead on the drag of Shuji inside, a gentle warmth spreading through him.

It doesn’t take too long before Shuji adds a finger, shushing Chifuyu’s whine when he pulls out for a moment to do so. He starts to mouth at his chest again, lips a wet slide against his skin.

Just as it starts to get good, when Chifuyu loses some inhibitions and starts to press his hips back against his mate’s fingers, Shuji stops, his voice a low drawl. “Can you move up a bit more?” he asks, breaking Chifuyu out of his bliss.

He tries to reply, but Shuji chooses that moment to scoot down, and Chifuyu glances at him, suddenly painfully aware of what moving up to sit over Shuji’s chest would do— the inevitable proximity between his cock and Shuji’s face.

So instead a coherent reply, something like a squeak comes out, and he feels himself flushing up to his roots.

Shuji, who had the decency to still the movement of his fingers while asking his question, raises a brow and thrusts them in deep, and sure, the angle is better now, and Chifuyu images it’d be even better if he moves, but—

“That’s not— I shouldn’t—“ He groans, both from mortification and pleasure, when Shuji crooks his fingers and hits a spot that sends shivers up Chifuyu’s spine.

“You’re so cute,” Shuji murmurs, trying to force Chifuyu up higher with his free hand, fingers digging into his thigh. “C’mon love, where’s your usual confidence?”

In that moment, Chifuyu would very much like to cuss Shuji out, but his mate forces any thoughts from his mind when he unexpectedly pulls out his fingers. He’s still grinning up at Chifuyu, his eyes bright and wide in the dim light.

“Don’t tell me you’re shy, Chifuyu,” he drawls, sneaking his arm under Chifuyu’s leg to pull him forward a bit more. “I’ve already had you like this, in case you forgot.” He presses into a spot behind Chifuyu’s balls that makes him squirm and chuckles softly, sliding his fingertips up through the wetness, pressing in slightly but not nearly enough.

“Different,” Chifuyu gasps, legs shaking from the effort to keep himself still and not push back against Shuji’s fingers. “That was different.”

Shuji hums, fingers still teasing, circling around where Chifuyu wants them, needs them. “Because you were out of your mind?”

“Gods— yes, because my heat— can you, please—“

He’s jerked forward and the rest of the words die on Chifuyu’s tongue, too busy yelping in surprise when, at the same time, Shuji thrusts his fingers in and wraps his lips around the head of Chifuyu’s cock.

There’s a moment of static, every muscle in his body drawn taut, and then a rush of heat that melts him down to his core. With a weak whimper, Chifuyu cants his hips to sink deeper into his mate’s mouth, one hand grabbing hold of Shuji’s hair to keep him still.

“Oh, that’s— that’s good, Shu, that’s—“ Chifuyu groans, his head thrown back, fingers tightening in Shuji’s hair. With dizzying speed, he grows fully hard inside his mate’s mouth, whimpering when sucks around the head of his cock. “Your— your fingers too, please, Shuji, harder, please.”

Shuji moans around him and Chifuyu cries out, falling forward with one hand braced against the wall, all embarrassment forgotten. He’s too focused on the confusing mix of needs, to thrust forward into the warmth around his cock or press his hips back and meet the still-too-slow pace of Shuji’s fingers.

It all peaks fast, too fast, Chifuyu groaning in frustration at the heat that licks up his spine, desperate to prolong the blinding pleasure, but at a loss for how to do so when Shuji takes him apart this expertly.

He sucks Chifuyu’s cock in deeper, swallowing around him. It makes his toe curl, head falling forward while his breathing grows erratic.

Under him, Shuji looks debauched— eyes brimming with tears, his hair a mess. The sight makes Chifuyu whimper. His hips jerk forward, cock sliding impossibly deeper into the tightness of his mate’s throat.

“Shu,” he chokes, then gasps and loses his train of thought when Shuji moves his fingers faster, slick sounds of their easy slide picking up in intensity.

Chifuyu cries out when Shuji adjusts the angle of his fingers. His abdominal muscles clench, breath punched out his lungs. The sensation shoots up his cock and he can’t help but laugh, nearly out of his mind, when Shuji only cranes his neck to take him deeper when he twitches in the back of his throat.

“Shuh-Shuji! I—“ He groans, hips jerking forward when Shuji presses into that same spot, setting every nerve alight. “‘M gonna, ah, you gotta— I can’t hold back, please—“

In a moment of clarity, he tries to pull away, but Shuji seems to mistake it for an attempt to stop whatever he’s doing with his tongue, and gods, Chifuyu might die.

He tries to say something but all that comes out is a jumble of profanities and moans. The next attempt to pull Shuji away is met with a harsh thrust of his fingers, a shock of pleasure that nearly hurts.

With half a warning of Shuji’s name, he tips over, consumed with wave after wave of blinding pleasure. He can’t stop moaning and babbling out barely coherent apologies. His hips stutter as he rides out his high, thighs clenching from the sensation of Shuji still pressing his fingers in deep, dragging inside slower, at least, thankfully.

“Shu-Shuji,” Chifuyu groans, feeling dizzy when he sees the intensity in Shuji’s eyes, looking up at him. “‘M gonna die, stop, gods, please, I’ll die, I’m serious.”

Shuji jerks his head back against the grip on his hair, Chifuyu’s cock slipping from his mouth when he manages to unclench his fingers.

They stare at each other, Shuji’s breathing somewhat laboured while Chifuyu downright pants, a little lightheaded, but slowly calming down.

“Oh, love…” Shuji drawls, a little hoarsely. He gently pulls his fingers out and brings them up, showing off the glistening wetness between them with a grin. With his eyes firmly on Chifuyu, he raises them to his mouth and slowly licks them clean.

“So good,” he groans, making a show of moaning and letting his eyes roll back in a way that has Chifuyu’s cheeks burning, embarrassed to feel his arousal spiking again. “You taste so—“

“Shuji!” Chifuyu goes to swat at Shuji’s chest, but his wrist is caught before he can, pulled forward with a little yelp.

“What?” Shuji grins, stealing a quick peck from a furiously blushing Chifuyu. “Shy again? After just coming down my throat? I’m hurt.”

Chifuyu barks out an embarrassed laugh, immediately covering his mouth with a hand. “Oh, stop it.”

A few more giggles slip out, post-orgasm bliss hitting Chifuyu full force.

Shuji’s eyes crinkle at the corners. “You’re adorable.” He sighs, hands sliding up around Chifuyu’s waist. “I love you.”

And he sounds fond, so painfully and endlessly fond, it makes Chifuyu’s heart leap. He smiles at him and brushes a few strands of hair off his forehead.

“I want to—“ He cuts himself off, unsure of the right words to use, some shyness creeping back up. Actions, Chifuyu decides, would be easier.

He raises up on his knees and a little awkwardly, shuffles back, careful not to touch Shuji’s side.

The first brush of Shuji’s cock against his skin makes Chifuyu falter and as much as he wants to be bold and lower himself, the acute thought of their difference in experience forces itself to the forefront of his mind.

So instead, he lowers himself just below Shuji’s hips and very pointedly does not look down at where his mate’s cock lies against his stomach, hard and indeed big, much bigger than Chifuyu remembers. Not that he’s looking.

Shuji doesn’t seem to mind, only smiling when Chifuyu gingerly raises his eyes to look at him. Patient, like Chifuyu imagines no other alpha would be in a situation like this.

“We can stop here,” Shuji says after a moment of silence, of undoubtedly visible hesitation in Chifuyu’s expression. “Kiss a little, maybe, then go to sleep.”

“No, I— I want…” Chifuyu takes a deep breath, tries to steady his nerves, and wraps a hand around Shuji’s cock, appreciating for just a second how it feels in his hand.

He half-expects an immediate reaction, some sort of hunger overtaking his mate, but Shuji only sighs in contentment and closes his eyes.

“Shuji,” Chifuyu whispers, slowly stroking his hand up and down, touch far too light to be enjoyable, or so he thinks. “During my heat… how many times did we… you know?”

“Fuck?” Shuji asks, the crude term making Chifuyu cringe just a little.

“Yes.”

Shuji opens his eyes, heavy-lidded and lazy, a soft smile around his lips. “I appreciate your confidence in my abilities, love, but I really wasn’t in a position to keep track.”

“Oh…” Chifuyu nods, eyes dropping down to his mate’s cock, his own hand, and tightens his grip slightly. “Was I— was it good?”

“You don’t remember?”

There’s a sadness in Shuji’s voice and Chifuyu snaps his eyes up.

“No, no, no— I do, I remember— I mean, kind of. Bits and pieces.” He grimaces. “I remember it was good for me, it was, you were, but…”

He sighs. To make up for his lack of words, he twists his hand on an upstroke, presses his thumb against the underside of Shuji’s cock, and feels some tension ease from his own shoulders when his mate sighs out a soft moan.

This, he’s at least familiar with. Someone’s cock heavy in his hand, the rush of it all. Something exciting and just a little forbidden back then, but… In the comfort of a hut he can now call his own, alone with his mate, pregnant with his pup— the edge of teenage discovery is gone and really, Chifuyu shouldn’t feel as unsure as he does.

A soft call of his name keeps Chifuyu from spiralling too far. Shuji’s face comes back in focus, and then comes closer as he pushes himself up on one elbow, other hand reaching to cup Chifuyu’s face.

“Can you stop touching me?”

Chifuyu pulls his hand back, almost physically recoils and is halfway off Shuji before hands grab him around the middle.

“I need to think straight,” Shuji explains quickly. “And you made that impossible.”

“I’m sorry,” Chifuyu mumbles, wrapping his arms around Shuji in return, both to have him close and to help support him in staying up without straining his ribs.

“Nothing to apologise for.” Shuji’s expression mellows. Still attentive, but less clouded over with lust. “Look, love, your heat and you— of course it was good. You were good. I felt good. But it was…”

When he doesn’t say anything more, clearly searching for the words, Chifuyu supplies a soft, “different?”

“Yes. Different. And maybe, ah…” He hunches up his shoulders and shrinks in on himself, averting his eyes. “I mean, I know you wanted to within the context of that situation, but not the wider context of, I guess, what we were. At that point in time.”

Chifuyu sighs and wonders how they ended up here, talking about this. But, he knows, it’s long overdue, as a lot of the conversations they’ve been having lately seem to be.

With gentle touches, he gets Shuji to look at him, and with a kiss, he feels his mate relax again, shoulders dropping slowly.

“It’s true that I wouldn’t have wanted to without my heat,” he says, holding Shuji’s face between his hands to keep him looking up. “But… if it makes you feel better, I think we always would’ve ended up right here, no matter what. So even if… I didn’t want to then, I knew, I mean— I hoped that I would eventually, and that you’d want that, too.”

Shuji’s eyes soften.

“And I’m sorry for our past selves for being in that situation,” Chifuyu continues, “but it brought us here and— and we agreed that we wouldn’t change that, right? The circumstances, maybe, but not the outcome?”

“Yes,” Shuji breathes. “Yes, we did agree.”

Chifuyu nods, small, a little hesitant, and there’s still hesitation when he leans in to kiss Shuji, the hint of nerves still present.

But on the opposite side of his nerves is Shuji, who sighs into the kiss, who tilts his head back slightly when fingers thread through his hair, and who lets Chifuyu take his time.

Shuji who melts against him, pliant and sweet, opening his mouth to let Chifuyu lick inside, following his lead, not an ounce of hesitation in the way he lets himself be led.

Nerves give way to desire and Chifuyu feels some of his confidence return to him, pushing carefully at his mate’s shoulder so he lies back against the bedding. He leans over Shuji then, savouring the taste of him on his tongue, and keeps looking at him when he trails a hand down.

“Don’t,” Shuji murmurs before Chifuyu can take hold of him again. “It’ll be a miracle already if I can hold out until I’m inside you.”

Chifuyu grins at him and brings his hand back up again, cupping Shuji’s face instead while he positions himself over his mate’s hips. “Aren’t alphas famed for their endless stamina?”

“That’s actually a myth.” Shuji sounds strained, breathless. “It’s our non-existent refractory periods that are impressive. And in any case, I almost died, can you cut me some—“

He gasps out when Chifuyu lowers himself, letting Shuji’s cock slide through his wetness, slowly moving his hips against him.

“Oh, okay, that—“ Shuji huffs out a laugh, hands flying to Chifuyu’s hips. “Slow, go slow, it hurts to breathe too hard.”

Chifuyu laughs with him and nods his agreement. He easily gives up some control, raising up on his knees with his hands braced on his mate’s shoulders, letting Shuji line himself up.

“Love,” he whispers, gasping when the term of endearment makes Shuji’s hips jerk, the head of his cock pressing against Chifuyu, just shy of pushing in. “Shuji, love, if it hurts your ribs too much, we can—“

“If you say we can stop—“ Shuji groans and tilts his head back against the pillows, shoulders tensing under Chifuyu’s hands. “—I will cry.”

Chifuyu decides against a verbal reply. He smiles instead and strokes a thumb over Shuji’s cheekbone. Slowly, breathing through the initial burn, he sinks down, any discomfort quickly pushed aside by the waves of pleasure washing over him. It’s an overwhelming feeling, not just physical, but something far deeper inside him— it bursts, warmth spreading all throughout his body, bonding mark throbbing with it.

It takes a moment for it all to settle, coming together in the pit of his stomach. Only then does he manage to look at Shuji, finding him with an expression full of awe, a little desperate around the edges, eyes wide and lips parted.

“Can we—“ Shuji’s voice cracks and he clears his throat, smiling a bit sheepishly. He strokes his thumbs back and forth on Chifuyu’s hips. “Can we stay like this, just a— a little longer?”

Chifuyu nods, dazed and dizzy and more than happy to take a second to recollect himself. Still, he can’t resist sliding his hands from Shuji’s shoulders to the sides of his neck, and leans in for a kiss.

The slight change in angle draws breathless sounds from them both, Shuji’s grip tightening and then releasing when their lips connect.

Shuji murmurs praise during the brief moments when they part for air, a whole array of sweet words that sort of fly right over Chifuyu’s head, but he thinks he understands some of it when Shuji moves his hands— one coming to rest over the curve of Chifuyu’s belly, the other brushing his hair away from his face.

Somewhere in the middle of yet another sentence of sweet words, Shuji moves his hips up. He cuts himself off with whatever he was saying, sighing out a moan against Chifuyu’s lips, who answers with a weak whimper.

He does it again, small jerks of his hips, hands sliding up Chifuyu’s back, arms wrapping around him tightly.

Heat rises between them, lips pressed together, sharing breathless moans, and then Shuji freezes completely.

Chifuyu pushes up immediately, Shuji’s arms releasing him in favour of pressing a hand against the side of his ribs.

“Ah, Shuji…” Chifuyu can’t help but chuckle.

“It’s fine, just— hurts.” Shuji groans, eyes squeezing shut. “I moved wrong. Or breathed wrong. But it’s fine, I’m fine.”

“Do you want to—“

Shuji whines and shakes his head, body tensing.

“Okay. Okay.” Chifuyu threads his fingers through his mate’s hair, making a soothing sound, masking his own relief— not sure if he’d be able to stop, not when the feeling of Shuji inside feels so good. “Slow, okay? You focus on your breathing and I’ll—” He takes a deep breath and adjusts, leaning back a bit and bracing his hands on Shuji’s thighs.

The shift in angle makes them both moan, Shuji’s cock pressed against a spot that makes him shiver.

“I’ll take care of you,” he tries to say, but it comes out as more of a whine. “Of us.”

There is a single moment where Shuji’s expression turns desperately sad and his hands fly up, nails digging into Chifuyu’s upper arms, and he isn’t sure if it’s because he wants him to stay, or if he’s trying to tear him away.

Chifuyu surges forward, hands cupping the sides of Shuji’s face. “I want to,” he whispers, rushed, almost frantic. “Shuji, I want to, you’re mine to care for, I want to— I want to so bad.”

It takes a beat longer before Shuji sinks back against the pillows, the grip on Chifuyu’s arms falling away, hands coming to rest on his hips instead.

“Okay,” he whispers, and that’s all the confirmation that Chifuyu needs.

Shuji sighs out a moan when Chifuyu sits back up, once again bracing his hands on Shuji’s thighs behind him and starts to roll his hips, a gentle back-and-forth motion, barely lifting up.

Warmth starts to spread, wave after wave of it rolling down Chifuyu’s back, losing himself in the feeling, the moment, in having his mate so close, so deep.

It’s a world of difference to how he remembers it feeling during his heat. No frantic chase for release, no instincts tugging at him to get his alpha’s knot— it’s just them, their breathy moans mingling, Shuji’s hands roaming over his body, never staying in one place for long.

The need for more creeps up slowly. One moment it’s enough, the next, the ache he felt before starts building again. Chifuyu groans when it fully settles in the pit of his stomach. He arches his back, nails digging into Shuji’s thighs, and rolls his hips down harder, a shift in angle that makes him choke on his next breath, head falling back with clenched teeth.

Shuji curses, hands sliding from Chifuyu’s stomach up to his chest, a strained, “look so good,” leaving him before he groans, thighs straining under Chifuyu’s hands.

An added pressure against his rim makes Chifuyu throw caution to the wind with the encouragement of Shuji bucking his hips. He nearly sobs at the feeling, all embarrassment forgotten with the increasing sounds of their moans, skin slapping against skin, and the obscene squelching each time he forces himself down, taking Shuji’s knot even as it continues to grow, stretching him more and more.

Shuji surges up to wrap his arms around Chifuyu, squeezing him tight as he meets every thrust.

“Ribs,” Chifuyu gasps, contradicting himself immediately by grabbing hold of the back of Shuji’s head. “Your—“

“Don’t care, ‘s good— don’t stop, don’t—“ He cuts himself off with a whine, pressing his face against Chifuyu’s neck to suck at his bonding mark.

And it’s really hard to care about his mate’s wellbeing when that sends a shiver down Chifuyu’s spine, adding to how overwhelmed he already feels.

The insistent push and pull of Shuji’s knot grows in intensity, nearly painful as Chifuyu continues to ride him at a pace that makes his legs burn, clutching at his mate while babbling out an incoherent string of Shuji and yes and please.

Shuji makes a pained sound, a low and drawn-out growl. “Close,” he grits, shivering and then tensing against Chifuyu, hips bucking up. He buries himself deep and finally, his knot pops, tying them together.

Chifuyu sighs out a soft moan, a bone-deep satisfaction taking hold of him now that his mate is fully locked inside. Goosebumps erupt over his skin but a warmth starts to spread from his chest, soothing but searing at the same time— like he’s coming without the release.

He starts to purr, an unconscious action when he becomes overly aware of how tense Shuji still is, like he’s holding off his own orgasm, hips moving up in small jerks.

“Come for me, pup,” Chifuyu whispers, lips pressed to Shuji’s temple, trailing fingertips down his back. “‘S okay. Let go.”

Shuji makes a weak sound, seems to struggle to hold on for a moment longer, but slumps against Chifuyu when he clenches down around him, wheezing out breaths as he starts to come.

“You’re so good, Shuji,” he murmurs, gently grinding his hips down, slow waves of pleasure coursing through him at the feeling of his mate’s cock throbbing inside.

Some lingering instincts make Chifuyu lay a hand against his stomach and he almost laughs at himself— feeling around for what exactly, when he’s already bigger than he used to be, not like he’ll notice a change from Shuji’s release filling him, like it did during his heat.

Still, he doesn’t really try to fight it. Even lets his omega run a tiny bit wild, some hazy thoughts about Shuji and potency and fertility that Chifuyu will not repeat to himself ever again once his mind clears a little more.

Shuji sighs with the last pulse of his release, growing heavier in Chifuyu’s hold, easing back until he rests against the pillows again. His eyes are closed, mouth slack, and Chifuyu can’t resist the urge to lean in and peck his bottom lip.

It takes a beat, but then he opens his eyes, looking Chifuyu over slowly. “Pretty,” he slurs, arm on his injured side spread out next to him. “C’mere, lemme make you feel good.”

With his other hand, he grabs hold of Chifuyu’s cock, firm strokes until the sparks reignite, the slumbering pleasure flaring up until it bursts in a few weak spurts over his mate’s fist, streaking up his stomach.

Chifuyu lets out a soft moan, his eyes falling shut, riding out his orgasm until he grows oversensitive, swatting at Shuji’s hand with a groan.

When the last aftershocks fade, he manages to open his eyes again, gawking at Shuji as he drags his fingers through the cum on his stomach, eyes locking when he raises his hand to rub it over the sides of his neck.

“Shuji,” Chifuyu groans half-heartedly, not proud of the way his stomach swoops. “That’s dirty. Don’t.”

Not unexpectedly, Shuji ignores him. He just raises an eyebrow and grins, bringing his hand to his mouth to lick the rest off, chuckling when Chifuyu tugs at his wrist in a weak attempt to stop him.

“Wanna smell like you, taste you.” Shuji pouts up at him, eyes wide. “Don’t deprive your alpha of the simple pleasures in life.”

“You’re disgusting,” Chifuyu breathes, sort of lamenting the fact that Shuji’s knot is preventing any of his cum from leaking out— preventing him from giving into the itch of mirroring his mate’s action.

Shuji hums. “Maybe so.” He keeps Chifuyu steady with hands on his waist, hiking himself up higher on the pillows so they can more comfortably rest against each other, chests pressed together.

They share a few lazy kisses, a slow slide of lips, and then cling to each other— Shuji’s arms around his waist, Chifuyu’s arms around his shoulders.

“Thank you,” Shuji whispers, nuzzling into Chifuyu’s scent gland, kissing the scar on his shoulder. “I’ve never— I mean, I have, obviously, but not with someone I love, not in the way I love you.”

“Does it make a difference?”

Shuji leans back to look at him. “It does. Yes.”

Chifuyu smiles. “Guess I’d better find out, hm? Sleep with someone I don’t love, compare the experience.” His heart momentarily stops when his own words sink in, only worsened by the way Shuji’s eyes widen for just a split second before he smooths out his expression, seemingly granting Chifuyu some mercy and brushing over the implication.

“Sure.” Shuji pats his thigh. “If you can live with someone’s blood, albeit indirectly, on your hands, you go right ahead and do that.”

“Don’t threaten murder when you’re still inside me.”

“Why? Scared it’ll turn you on again?”

Chifuyu barks out a laugh, squeezing Shuji close, revelling in the way his mate’s laughter feels against his chest. “You’re a terrible man.”

“But you don’t mean it,” Shuji drawls, nudging his cheek with his nose.

“No.” Chifuyu melts against him, purring building in intensity. “No, I really don’t.”

They fall silent for a while, pressing kisses into each other’s skin.

“Are you comfortable?” Shuji whispers.

“Gods, no,” Chifuyu whispers back. “You try sitting patiently with a knot the size of yours shoved inside your ass.”

“You’ve got a foul mouth for an omega, you know that?” Shuji leans back, a dumb grin on his face. “Told you I’m big.”

Chifuyu snorts and presses his hand into Shuji’s face, pushing it away. “It’s decently sized, sure.”

“You remember I told you that? About having a foul mouth? Shuji asks, playing along nicely and pretending Chifuyu is strong enough to push him back against the pillows. “When we first met.”

“Yeah.” Chifuyu smiles, stroking his fingers over Shuji’s cheek. “I threatened to stab you with your own bone.”

“That you did. Knew I’d never want another right then and there.”

It makes Chifuyu’s heart ache in the best way. “Really?”

“No.”

The purr stutters in his chest, a growl building instead.

“I knew when I saw you in the snow,” Shuji rushes out. “Holding a sword with a wolf lying dead by your feet, the smell of blood heavy in the air.”

“Oh.” Chifuyu clears his throat, forcing himself back to purring. “That’s— sweet?”

“Don’t sound too sure of it.” Shuji chuckles, then averts his eyes, suddenly seeming so much smaller. “And, uh, you?”

Chifuyu frowns and thinks about that for a moment. “I’m not sure… I think you grew on me. Maybe it was when—“

“You don’t have the make up a moment when it wasn’t there,” Shuji cuts in softly, kissing him afterwards. “It’s alright. Guess I’m just the hopeless romantic between the two of us.”

“Of course you are.” Chifuyu rolls his eyes, leaning in for another kiss, lingering a bit longer. “I’m here now, though. I wouldn’t want anyone else, either.”

Shuji smiles. “Not even those hundreds of other alphas that allegedly courted you before me?”

“Why, now that you mention them…” Chifuyu giggles at Shuji’s affronted expression and kisses him again— because he can, because he wants to. “No, Shuji, of course not. Some were nice, but most just tried to shove their courting gifts down my throat.”

They share a few chaste kisses, Shuji mumbling out requests for more reassurance that none of the alphas that tried to court Chifuyu even come close to comparing to him. A dumb, dopey grin grows on his face for every time Chifuyu presses another kiss to his lips, and keeps repeating himself, “no, Shuji, none of them did, they all pale in comparison, as a matter of fact, I can’t even remember their faces anymore, all I see is you when I close my eyes,” until Shuji’s knot deflates enough for them to slowly and carefully separate.

“Would you like me to?” Shuji asks when Chifuyu gets up with a scowl from the feeling of cum dripping down his legs.

“What?” Chifuyu turns and groans when he sees Shuji— tongue hanging out of his mouth, wagging his eyebrows. “Lap up your own cum from my legs? Have some decorum, Shuji. Gods above.”

Ignoring Shuji’s laughter, Chifuyu takes a moment to clean himself up best he can, throwing the damp rag he used at his mate afterwards with grumbled instructions to clean the dried slick from himself, as well.

Before he lies down again, he glances at his discarded clothes, and decides against wearing them. He settles easily in Shuji’s hold, pressed close to his side, one arm slung around his middle.

He’s once again fooled into thinking Shuji’s fallen asleep, his mate’s breathing slow and deep, and startles slightly when he clears his throat.

“Do you think,” Shuji murmurs, turning his head to press his lips against Chifuyu’s forehead, “that if I’d have shown up, like I wanted—” He cuts himself off with a groan and turns his face the other way.

All the drowsiness disappears, vanishing like snow before the sun. Chifuyu gasps dramatically and props himself up on an elbow, firmly gripping Shuji’s jaw to tug him back. “Tell me right now what you were gonna say,” he demands, remembering Ryusei’s words about his mate’s embarrassment all too clearly.

Shuji narrows his eyes and twists his face out of Chifuyu’s hold. “Forget I said anything.”

Trying his best to make himself look solemn and sincere, Chifuyu lays a hand on Shuji’s chest. “We are mated, love. Full honesty is important to make our relationship work. If not for us, then for the sake of our poor, innocent pup. This beautiful life we have created—“

“Alright, alright. Save it. Gods.” Shuji grumbles and shakes his head loose from Chifuyu’s grip. “After I saw you for the first time, before I knew about the situation in your village, before we’d even spoken, before your messenger reached us— I, ah, might have wanted to stay behind and court you.”

“Well, that’s hardly as embarrassing as Ryusei made it out to be,” Chifuyu muses, pretending to be satisfied with the story, waiting until Shuji’s shoulders relax to poke him in the side. “Tell. Me.”

Shuji growls and flinches away, glaring at Chifuyu as he rubs the spot he was poked in. “Fine! I got back, ranted and raved about some pretty omega with a sword and then got into a physical fight with Ryusei when he joked about going to court you before I could. Mikey had to pull us apart like pups and made us sit there and make up while holding hands. Happy?”

“Oh,” Chifuyu feigns a wobbly bottom lip, going as far as to pretend to wipe a tear from his eye. “Oh, beautiful, touching, terrible. Quite happy, yes.”

“You’re unbelievable. Improper, rude omega.” Shuji pushes himself up on an elbow as well, swatting Chifuyu away from him. “I’m glad I came into your life, you know that? You clearly needed an alpha to show you—”

“How would you have done it?” Chifuyu whispers, excited, crowding back into Shuji’s space. “If you would’ve courted me properly. How?”

Shuji barks out a laugh, sharp and harsh. “I do not think I owe you an answer, you pest. I’ve embarrassed myself enough.” He pushes himself to stand with a grunt, glaring down at Chifuyu the whole time, and makes a big show of stepping over him.

Chifuyu giggles and rolls over to watch Shuji lies back down, now able to turn his back on him and lie on his uninjured side. He ignores the growl and the grumble when he cuddles up. Like this, he can’t wrap an arm around Shuji for the risk of pressing too hard into his injuries, so he bullies an arm under his mate’s neck instead and smiles when Shuji scoots back.

“Alright,” he whispers, kissing the back of Shuji’s neck. “Keep your pride intact.”

“I will,” Shuji huffs, turning to look over his shoulder. “Kiss me, though,” he adds with a smile, eyes falling shut when Chifuyu does, his scent growing just a tinge warmer.

The wild beating of Chifuyu’s heart prevents him from falling asleep right away. He resigns himself to tracing shapes into Shuji’s arm while ignoring how his own arm gradually grows numb. In the morning, he’s sure he’ll curse himself for the little sleep he’s bound to get, but right now, he thinks it’s more than worth it.

With a smile, he hides his face in Shuji’s back, pressing soft kisses to every spot he can reach, heart once again leaping when Shuji turns his face to press a kiss to his bicep as well.

“Back then, I would’ve done it the traditional way,” Shuji whispers, causing Chifuyu to still. “Show up at your doorstep with a few catches. A rabbit for meat, a fox for its fur. Something bigger eventually, a buck or a boar. Knowing you, you’d have rejected me every time, so then, I would’ve tried with handmade gifts. Would probably try to sweet talk your mother a bit, make myself useful around the village until you would swoon at my practical nature.”

Chifuyu chuckles and tries to imagine it, but before he can fully lose himself in the fantasy, Shuji continues talking.

“But, if I could go back in time with what I know now…” He rolls onto his back and when he looks at Chifuyu, it’s with shining eyes and a soft smile. “I would’ve just talked to you. Let you know me, ask for the chance to get to know you as well. Not because I’m entirely convinced that you’d like me from the start, quite the opposite, but because you deserve to be treated like a person rather than a conquest, something to win over.”

All the breath seems to leave Chifuyu’s lungs at the same time. He lies there, stunned, staring at Shuji with wide eyes, heart fluttering in his chest. Maybe a little shamefully, he feels the slow swirl of arousal building again, but instead of fighting it, he lets it consume him.

With hands flying to cup Shuji’s face, he surges forward and connects their lips. All concerns about not getting enough sleep forgotten, it takes a humiliatingly short amount of time before he’s whimpering against his mate’s lips. He demands and then begs a chuckling Shuji to take him again, and they lose themselves, frantically and then slowly, long until after the sun starts to rise.

Chapter Text

Only one time, has Chifuyu’s mother ever yelled at him.

He was still a pup, no older than twelve. She’d repeatedly told him not to step onto the frozen lake, warned him that the ice was still too thin. So when he came home drenched from head to toe, shivering from both the cold and the shock of his close encounter with death, had it not been for the older beta pups who’d pulled him from the water— she yelled at him.

He doesn’t remember her words, but he remembers the terror in her eyes. He also remembers how she broke down in tears after. She held him all throughout the night, hiccuping apology after apology, and she wouldn’t yell at him ever again.

Despite that, he thinks she did come close, one other time.

Mere months after Chifuyu passed into adulthood, had he already turned down three alphas that came in pursuit of courtship. All three had been somewhat kind, close to his age, and took the rejection with as much grace as they could muster.

The fourth was a different story. Older than him, with an arrogance about him that Chifuyu hasn’t encountered since.

Years later, Chifuyu can’t remember his name or where he came from. All he remembers are the alpha’s unkind eyes, the sneer on his face, and the stench of his scent. Something rotten that only he seemed to smell. The other omegas swore up and down that the alpha smelled just fine to them.

The alpha was the first of many to not take kindly to Chifuyu’s rejection.

A spoiled child, he called him, who should be taught a lesson about respect and gratitude. A few more years, he swore, and then Chifuyu would come to realise how grave of a mistake he’d made.

Being the first of those kinds of encounters, Chifuyu hadn’t yet learned the importance of always carrying a weapon. The alpha’s fingers would stay imprinted on his wrist for days, as would the feeling of complete helplessness after being faced with the terrifying difference in strength between them.

Foolish and young as Chifuyu was at the time, he never told anyone about what the alpha had said. Kept to himself how he pulled Chifuyu in close, snarling in his face, that rotten scent overwhelmingly strong.

What he did instead was mask his fear with anger. Anger he took right to his mother’s doorstep.

She meant well. She didn’t know. Couldn’t have known how her gentle questions about why Chifuyu rejected him hurt worse than the alpha’s grip around his wrist.

He should’ve told her what happened, but instead he tore himself from her embrace and spit out his venom at her.

“Why am I forced to entertain them when you are there?” he’d snapped at her. “Your mate’s been dead for over twenty years. Why don’t you just accept a new alpha’s courtship?!”

Immediately after he said it, he regretted it. He didn’t need to see the hurt in his mother’s eyes to know he was wrong for saying such a cruel and terrible thing.

He thinks she came close to yelling at him then. After all, she was the one who taught him to mask pain with anger, even if she hadn’t meant to.

“How dare—“ she began, and then cut herself off. She inhaled shakily, her jaw clenched, and turned her back on him.

Chifuyu tried to go back on his words, but she shook her head and he shut up immediately.

“You’ll have to learn, Chifuyu,” she said, her voice straining to stay soft, “that when you do not know anything about the things of which you speak, it’s best advised not to say anything at all.”

It was the most polite and kind way to call him a stupid, ignorant pup. A kindness Chifuyu most definitely didn’t deserve.

It would take him three days to gather enough courage to apologise to her. He did so with tightly clenched fists, biting the inside of his cheek every other word or so to keep himself from crying.

Afterwards, he bowed down low, forehead pressed against his folded hands, and tried to breathe around the silence in his mother’s hut.

“You don’t ever have to bow for me,” she finally said, her voice unsteady. “Come here, pup.”

Entirely undeserved, the way she cradled him in her lap. She held him close, fingers carding through his hair, and assured him that his apology was accepted.

“I know it must feel unfair to you,” she said, “but this is the only way I can honour what your father did for me, for us.”

“I don’t understand,” he whispered back.

“If I were to take another mate, sweetheart, truthfully…” She laughed, a wet and miserable sound. “I fear that I would forget what your father’s love feels like. And that possibility scares me almost as much as the thought of ever losing you.”

“You… still feel his love? Even though…”

She sighed, tightening her arms around him. “Even in death, especially in death, I feel his love more than ever. When you’re older, when you find someone you love, you’ll understand, just how much he sacrificed to keep us safe. He loved us so much, he would even leave us.”

Chifuyu isn’t sure why those words have come back to haunt him. Until very recently, they’d been nothing but a distant, painful memory.

Yet, they swim around his head as he looks at Shuji in the morning light. Still asleep, features soft and relaxed, his breathing even.

So beautiful in how unguarded he looks, that it hurts to look at him. Actual, physical hurt, now that he takes the time to feel it. Deep in his chest, the breath forced from his lungs. He has to look away, eyes drifting to a spot just below Shuji’s jaw.

It’s then that Chifuyu thinks back on the promise he made, when Shuji couldn’t hear him. The promise to love him, as long as he woke up. A promise in life rather than death.

He wonders if it makes him a coward. Wonders if needing life to love, means that it would abandon him in death. That it would abandon Shuji in death.

Despite the pain, he feels the need to look at Shuji again. Bask in his silent beauty a little longer. Except Shuji is no longer asleep. He’s staring at Chifuyu with a small frown, lips turned down in a scowl.

“Can you stop thinking so loud?” he grunts, shoving one of his hands in Chifuyu’s face to push it away. “And stop looking at me like that. Creepy.”

The melancholy from the memory vanishes rather quickly in the face of Shuji’s sour attitude. Chifuyu can’t help but laugh, ignoring the low growl when he scoots closer to press himself against Shuji.

“Stupid alpha,” he murmurs, kissing Shuji’s chest. “I’m your mate. I’ll look at you if I want.”

“Horrible omega.” Shuji grumbles a bit more before he pulls Chifuyu more firmly against him, arms wrapping around him without any finesse. “Don’t ever wake me up again after you kept me up all night.”

“I didn’t wake you up. Was just looking at you,” Chifuyu grumbles right back. “Besides, one might say that you very willingly stayed up with me.”

“And they would be a liar.” Shuji huffs out a breath and presses a kiss to the top of Chifuyu’s head. “I love you, though, terrible and cruel as you are for very intentionally waking me.”

Warmth blooms in Chifuyu’s chest and when he properly settles down on Shuji’s chest, he can barely remember what he was so worried about.

Waking up the second time is easier, less complicated thoughts swirling around Chifuyu’s mind. It might have something to do with the way he wakes up— a solid, warm body pressed along his back, slow kisses trailing over his shoulder, Shuji nuzzling into his bonding mark.

It’s tempting to give in to Shuji’s roaming hands and the heady undertone in his scent, but with iron willpower and nothing short of a miracle, Chifuyu manages to roll away and get to his feet. He ignores the grumbled complaints as he rummages through Shuji’s chest in search of his own clothing, mumbling out some curses at the disorganised mess.

Only after he’s dressed does Shuji drag himself up, all sluggish movements and shuffling feet.

Looking at him, the thoughts he had earlier doesn’t feel as heavy anymore, but they linger nonetheless.

Chifuyu sits on the chest and blindly reaches up to the shelf above him. He feels around for one of the jars of balm and chucks it at Shuji, who catches it without looking up.

“I think you should spend some time with the pack today,” he says, raising a brow when Shuji glances at him, face scrunched up. “It’ll do you good.”

It’s pretty clear that Shuji disagrees. He huffs, then scoffs, and finally rolls his eyes, all while dabbing the balm along the edges of his injuries with just a little too much force for Chifuyu’s liking. He decides against interfering, only because he doesn’t want to worsen the tantrum his mate is throwing.

“I doubt,” Shuji finally grits, “that it’d do me good.”

“Oh?” Chifuyu crosses his legs and his arms, cocking an eyebrow. “You dare stand there and doubt me? In my own home? You dare go against me in my own—“

“Not doubting you,” Shuji deadpans.

“Sounds like it. Sounds like you weren’t about to follow my suggestion.”

Shuji shakes his head and tosses the balm onto the bedding. “I miss when you were scared of me. I should’ve been the big bad alpha more often. Keep you in line.”

“Hey.” Chifuyu smooths out his expression and uncrosses his legs. He holds out his hands for Shuji to take, pulling him forward to stand between his legs. “Don’t you dare think I was ever scared of you,” he whispers, cupping Shuji’s face to pull him down to eye level. After a quick peck, with a grin he adds, “I only ever really, really disliked you.”

Shuji snorts, shaking himself loose from Chifuyu’s grip. “You’re an idiot, but fine. I’ll mingle if you really want me to.”

“I do.” He smiles and hops off the chest. “I like it, when you listen to me,” he mumbles, hands smoothing up Shuji’s chest, looking up at him through his eyelashes. “It’s very… nice.”

“Is it now?” Shuji takes one of Chifuyu’s hands, raising it to press a kiss against his wrist. “What else is, ah, nice about me, hm?”

Chifuyu presses his thumb to Shuji’s bottom lip, sighing when his mate kisses the pad of it. “It’s nice when you look at me like that,” he drawls, arching into Shuji’s touch as his hand slides to the small of his back. “Makes me feel…”

“Nice?” Shuji breathes, his scent growing heavier, eyes heavy lidded.

“Yes. Nice. So…” Chifuyu strokes his thumb over Shuji’s bottom lip. “Why don’t you please your omega some more and—“ He takes note of Shuji’s slow exhale, breath warm against his hand. “—look after Yuren for a couple of hours as well. Give Takemichi and Hina a break after helping us out so nicely.”

For the second time that day, he walks away from heat in Shuji’s stare, his darkening scent, stifling his chuckle at the affronted noise his mate makes.

They bicker some more on their way to the communal hut, all about inconsequential things. Shuji begrudges Chifuyu’s alleged abuse of power, using quite a few weeks of no sex against him, a claim Chifuyu vehemently denies.

As they walk, Chifuyu takes note of Shuji’s growing strength. He still moves a bit stiff and slow, but doesn’t get winded as quickly as he did before. It’s a soothing observation, one that he doesn’t comment on, but still tries to get his relief about across by linking their arms together.

By the time they reach the clearing in front of the communal hut, Shuji has paled a little, but he keeps himself brave and upright, quickly waving away the concern Chifuyu expresses.

The voices of Hina and Takemichi reach them from inside the communal hut, a few others with them. Details of the conversation are lost, but everyone sounds positive, easy chatter and some laughter mixed in.

It’s there that Chifuyu tries to leave Shuji behind for the omega hut, but is stopped by his mate grabbing his hand, keeping him from walking away.

“The beta,” he murmurs after looking around to make sure no one is near enough to hear, “and the omega?”

Chifuyu sighs. Thinking about Seishu, what he said in his anger about Shuji and his sire, spikes his annoyance immediately, empathy for the other omega temporarily drowned out by it. Koko, he doesn’t even want to think about, something about the beta extraordinarily infuriating to him.

He looks at Shuji, proposal to see them later that day on his lips, but pauses at the sight of his mate.

There is something particular about the way Shuji carries himself from day to day. When they first met, Chifuyu interpreted it as indifference and arrogance. Then, as boredom and disinterest.

He thinks he also called it stoicism once. Thinks that when others look at Shuji, they might see pride and danger.

But now, he looks over the straight set of Shuji’s shoulder, chest pushed forward and head held high. There’s tightness in his muscles and if it hadn’t been for, well, everything, Chifuyu might read Shuji’s current body language as resolve— ready to face Seishu and Koko.

He’s certain Shuji doesn’t realise it. No one probably ever told him, or rather, no one cared to notice. To Chifuyu, it’s overly clear. Shuji’s eyes are sharp and alert, never stay in one place for too long, constantly scanning his surroundings.

Exhausting, it must be, for his mate to constantly hide his unease and force the fears of the child he used to be down.

“I think,” Chifuyu says slowly, almost carefully, “that I’d like to make the incredibly selfish suggestion to let them stew for a few days longer.”

Shuji frowns, but his shoulders sag ever so slightly. Impossible to pick up on, unless you’re looking for it.

“Shouldn’t we—“ Shuji clears his throat. “We should address the threat as soon as possible.”

“I think it’d do them good to sit in uncertainty for a bit. Let them think the other is dead, or at least, in danger.”

Shuji sighs and nods. Without meeting Chifuyu’s eye, he pulls him closer and wraps an arm around his shoulders. “If you think that’s best, I suppose it’s in my best interest to follow your lead, hm?”

He can’t be sure, but the way Shuji kisses him feels like a quiet thank you. Perhaps Chifuyu isn’t as subtle as he likes to think. Or perhaps, Shuji simply cares to notice all those same details about Chifuyu as well.

“How will you spend your day, if you’re forcing me to babysit?”

Chifuyu chuckles and softly pinches Shuji’s arm. “It’s not babysitting. It’s being a decent pack alpha.” He thinks about it for a moment and recalls his annoyance about Shuji’s overflowing, messy chest. “I’m gonna look for a couple of people to carry my belongings, including chest, from the omega hut to yours.”

“Moving in properly?” Shuji steps back to look at Chifuyu, a frustratingly unreadable expression on his face, still able to hide some emotions when he wants to, apparently.

“I mean,” Chifuyu rushes out. “If that’s alright with you.”

It stays silent for a beat longer, spiking Chifuyu’s anxiety, only made worse by the way Shuji seems to study even the slightest twitch in his expression.

With a small nod and a huff, Shuji finally breaks his scrutinising stare. “Kinda thought you left it all because you’d wanna go back to sleeping there eventually.”

“I-I mean, I could, if you—“

Shuji chuckles, a little breathy, and twines their fingers together. “I’ll get started on a new chest as well. For when the pup is here. More storage. Perhaps an extra room?”

The family huts back home all had a separated room. Located as far away from the main sleeping area as possible. Most were built to sleep at least three or four pups, even after they reached their teenage years, and had a small area that could be closed off by either curtains or a screen. Those were meant for the birthing parent to sleep, separated from their mate, after the arrival of a new pup. All to ensure that the little one wouldn’t wake their alpha or beta parent and could quickly be tended to in the middle of the night.

The thought of sleeping separated from Shuji tugs at Chifuyu’s heart, while at the same time, he looks forward to curling up next to his pup. He hopes that seeing their little face while they sleep will keep some of the loneliness at bay, is sure that it will, even if he is already looking forward to sleeping with Shuji again after the first few months.

“Best to get it done now, I think,” Shuji goes on, drawing Chifuyu’s attention back to him. “It’d be a pain to build an entire room after the pup’s big enough to sleep without us next to them. Lots of noise, y’know.”

Chifuyu gapes at Shuji. He seems a little smug, like he’s perfectly aware of Chifuyu’s assumption about their sleeping arrangements after the pup is born and is now overly pleased with himself for reading him so well.

“Excuse me?” Chifuyu half-hisses, a little annoyed that Shuji’s only now revealing his mind-reading abilities.

“Huh?”

Some of Shuji’s smugness melts away. They stare at each other.

“You want to sleep next to the pup?”

Shuji glances around before he settles back on Chifuyu. “Uh, I heard it’s not good to sleep next-next to them. Dangerous and all, should we roll over in our sleep. But close to them, in case they need anything, yes.”

Chifuyu blinks and very meticulously tries to make sense of what he feels.

“Yes?” Shuji asks. “You could build them a little nest next to ours where they’ll be safe?”

Relief? Definitely relief.

“Right?” Shuji asks, eyebrows scrunching up.

Happiness as well. He feels happy.

“No?” Shuji’s eyes widen.

A little turned on, also.

“What?” Shuji throws out his arms. “What is it?!”

Chifuyu shakes his head. “No, no, nothing.”

“Uh, no, there’s definitely something. Did I— Did I say something wrong?”

Shuji’s panicked look only worsens when Chifuyu starts to walk away from him, taking careful steps backwards, a smile growing on his face.

“No, that’s not it. Don’t worry about it.” He points at Shuji. “Play nice with Yuren, yes?”

“No, wait, you’re being weird! What did I say?”

Chifuyu laughs, chest light, warmth bursting behind his ribs. He turns on his heel, once again laughing at the squeak Shuji lets out. “You didn’t say anything wrong!” he calls, sticking his hand up in a wave goodbye. “Trust me, I’m as surprised as you are!”

With some more distance between them, Chifuyu thinks to himself that it was maybe a little mean to leave Shuji like that. He resolves to make it up to him later.

Before he takes the path that leads to the omega hut, he turns one last time. Shuji is no longer looking at him, instead surrounded by Takemichi and Hina, Yuren standing with his arms outstretched, waiting for Shuji to pick him up.

“He’s so good, pup,” he whispers, hand stroking over his stomach. “A little dumb, but so good.”

The return back to normal is slow, but it does happen.

Normal comes in the form of small updates on Seishu and Koko from Ryusei and Chome, who tell them that they both keep quiet, save from some very colourful insults from the beta.

Normal is Shuji getting whisked away again whenever the pack needs him. He joins dinner each night looking tired, but with subtle hints of satisfaction showing. A dopey smile and small talk with whoever he helped out that day, speaking genuine praise about the hunts that are carried out without him.

For Chifuyu, normal is his chest that stands next to Shuji’s in their hut, filled with his clothing neatly folded, a stark contrast with how messy his mate keeps his. Thankfully, it’s no longer his concern, and he ignores it for his own peace of mind.

Normal is waking up each day and carving a new line in his slate of wood to keep track of his pregnancy, with Shuji standing next to him. It’s the clear excitement in his mate’s voice whenever he asks about the pup, if Chifuyu can feel anything yet, if he’s sure that his belly hasn’t grown since the day before, when Shuji last asked.

And for the next five days after, normal is also waking up a little sore, because Shuji can’t keep his hands to himself whenever they’re alone, and Chifuyu isn’t much better.

Even the worries about Seishu and Koko, the concern about Ran’s clear distaste, and the lingering threat of the west become normal. Chifuyu wakes up with them and goes to sleep with them, but rather than swallow them down and deal with his fears on his own, he confides about them in Ryusei, in Mitsuya, and in Shuji, whose soft reassurances about crossing bridges when they get to them actually ease his mind for once.

What isn’t normal, what’s so far from normal, happens during one of the incredibly rare occasions that Chifuyu is completely alone. He’s sitting on Souya’s porch, drinking the herbal tea that’s supposedly beneficial for his pregnancy. It’s foul tasting, but Souya had threatened him with violence if he didn’t drink it, before running off to help Rindou and Nahoya in the gardens.

The communal hut is empty as well this early in the morning, which means there is no one else around to see the grey wolf that trots across the clearing, only its hind visible from Chifuyu’s position.

He’s never seen this particular wolf before. If he had, he would’ve remembered it. Its fur is healthy and shiny, tail fluffy, and its colouring is downright breathtaking. Judging by its size, it has to be a beta or an alpha, and all the betas and alphas in the pack have no good reason to walk around shifted— they’re either far away from the village on patrol or hunts, or they’re tending to their tasks, none of which require their wolf form.

For a moment, all Chifuyu is capable of doing is sit there and stare, heart hammering in his chest. Then, he’s on his feet. He flings the cup of tea to the side and whistles once, loud and sharp. He curses himself for leaving his sword, isn’t quite sure how to take down this wolf if it lunges at him, but with no one else around, gods be damned, he’ll find a way.

The wolf freezes mid-step, back turned to Chifuyu. Its hackles raise and a growl reverberates around the clearing.

A threat to the stranger is halfway out of Chifuyu’s mouth before the scent reaches him. It’s soft and sweet and floral, something he’s only smelled hints of so far, usually covered by masking mud.

“Keisuke,” he hisses, still too alarmed to feel relieved. He rushes closer, ready to scold and maybe banish the other omega for scaring him. “Why are you running around shifted?! Nearly gave me a heart— oh.”

Keisuke slowly turns to face him and Chifuyu comes to a stop a few steps away. From the wolf’s mouth dangles a little black-and-grey pup, fat and fluffy.

“Oh,” Chifuyu says again, a little dumbstruck. He sinks to his knees to make himself smaller and finally, Keisuke stops growling at him. “Keiko… She shifted for the first time?”

Keisuke makes a muffled scuffing noise, as if he’s calling Chifuyu an idiot. In his hold, Keiko starts to yap and wriggle.

“Oh, brilliant girl.” Chifuyu smiles, tears springing to his eyes. He stays in place when Keisuke drops the pup, immediately stepping in front of her to keep her stumbling over. “Look at her. She’s so cute. C’mere, pup, lemme—“

A snarl makes Chifuyu pulls his outstretched hands back, just in time as well, Keisuke snapping his teeth at him.

“Hey! Don’t bite at me!”

A soft laugh rings through the air, footsteps fast approaching. Chifuyu looks over his shoulder, raising an eyebrow at Kazutora as he jogs over.

“Sorry!” he calls, skidding to a halt next to Chifuyu. “They were out of the hut before I could stop them. Kei’s feeling a little, uh, territorial.”

“I can see that,” Chifuyu grumbles, glaring at the unapologetic wolf. “Nearly lost my fingers.”

“Yeah, he snapped at me as well.” Kazutora extends a hand to pull Chifuyu back up to his feet. “Where’s Shuji?”

Chifuyu waves somewhere in a random direction. “Doing important alpha things. I don’t know.”

Kazutora laughs, unrestrained and loud. “Let’s go find him. Think Keisuke’s set on having him hold Keiko first.”

It stuns Chifuyu into silence. At the mention of Shuji, Keisuke does seem a little more agreeable. He picks Keiko back up and huffs at them, quick to resume his way.

“She’s early with it,” Chifuyu comments, Kazutora by his side. They follow after Keisuke, his heightened sense of smell sure to lead them to Shuji. “Can barely stand on her own yet, right?”

Kazutora hums his agreement. “According to Ryoko, Keisuke could shift before he could even crawl. Guess Keiko’s taking after him more and more.”

“Amazing,” Chifuyu breathes. “I’d already spoken my first words before I shifted for the first time.”

“Well, what did you expect, with parents as amazing as us?” Kazutora puffs up his chest, pride coming off him in waves. Even his usually weak beta scent swells, something as equally sweet as Keisuke.

Chifuyu smiles, obediently following Keisuke as he leads them to the fields behind the beta huts. “She’ll make a great example for my pup.”

“That’d be nice. I’m sure they’ll be great friends.”

“Two against one, if Yuren ends up being as, uh, strong-willed, as his mother.”

Kazutora lets out a knowing chuckle and slings an arm around Chifuyu’s shoulders.

In the distance, Chifuyu can make out the silhouette of Shuji standing out by the fence that keeps in the two cows that the village homes. Keisuke takes note of the alpha as well, picking up the pace with a satisfied sound.

He and Keiko reach Shuji first. From a distance, Chifuyu watches as his mate turns around and freezes up.

“Kei isn’t one for words,” Kazutora says softly. “He didn’t outright tell me that he’s sorry either, but…”

“Yeah,” Chifuyu mumbles. He understands, watching Shuji crouch down and hesitantly reach out to scratch behind Keisuke’s ears.

They get close enough to hear Shuji softly ask if Keisuke’s sure, but keep enough distance not to interrupt.

Shuji sits down and crosses his legs, apprehension in the way he moves— slow and careful, waiting until Keisuke approaches him and places the pup in his lap. Keiko wastes no time familiarising herself with Shuji. She sniffs at his hands, little whines and whimpers as she squirms around in his lap.

Only when Keisuke’s tail starts wagging do Chifuyu and Kazutora approach.

“You should be proud of her,” Shuji says, only glancing at Chifuyu once before his attention is back on Keiko. He pets her gently and allows her to lick at his hands. “She’s pretty incredible, hm? And not nearly as ugly as you are.”

Keisuke grumbles a bit, paws shifting and head lowering in warning.

“He was the last to visit after she was born,” Kazutora whispers, arm tightening around Chifuyu’s shoulders. “Was terrified to hold her and when he finally did, she started wailing. Took him three weeks before he even dared glance in her direction again.”

Chifuyu chuckles. Just his luck that his mate, the tallest man he’s ever seen, would be scared of a crying newborn. He seems comfortable enough now at least, cooing at Keiko and ruffling her fur. It drags Chifuyu into a daydream, just for a moment, about Shuji holding their son or daughter for the first time. He imagines him fumbling, overly careful, scared to do the wrong thing. A fear Chifuyu himself lost around the fifth or sixth pup he helped bring into the world.

It’s a sweet fantasy. One in which he’d get the chance to teach Shuji how to handle their pup, the best way to hold their head securely. With a smile he realises that it isn’t so much a fantasy as his actual future getting closer by the day. He rests both hands on his stomach and stubbornly blinks away the tears that start to cloud his vision.

“Hormones,” he grumbles when Kazutora turns to look at him in concern. “Not a word.”

Before he can embarrass himself any further, he takes the last few steps forward and sinks to his knees next to Keisuke. This time, he doesn’t growl, instead leaning his heavy body against Chifuyu with a soft rumble.

Shuji is holding up Keiko, her entire body wiggling from left to right in her excitement, stubby tail wagging wildly. He laughs, breathy and beautiful, when she accidentally paws him in the face in an attempt to get closer.

“Keisuke,” Chifuyu whispers, arm around the other omega to pull him closer. “Thank you.”

Until dinner, they stay out in the field. Chifuyu makes himself useful by playing with Keiko and after she tires herself out, is forced to sit back while Keisuke meticulously grooms him, drooling all over Chifuyu’s hair in the process.

Shuji gets Kazutora to help him out with replacing the rotten planks in the fence, which ends up with Kazutora doing most of the work while Shuji criticises said work.

When the sun hangs lower in the sky, the five of them make their way back to the communal hut. Keisuke trots up ahead, Kazutora struggling to keep up with Keiko held in his arms.

Halfway there, Shuji leans in closer to Chifuyu and whispers to him, a little bashfully, “it did do me good. You were right.” And then proceeds to harshly shush him when Chifuyu lets out a lewd moan, begging Shuji to say he was right again and again, claiming it’s the best form of foreplay to hear those words.

They both ignore Kazutora’s fake gagging and whined request to please keep that sort of talk behind closed doors.

Dinner is a joyful affair. The entire pack is delighted about Keiko’s first shift and feed her the best pieces of meat while she runs around the hut in search of pets and more food.

By the end of it, Chifuyu’s cheeks hurt from smiling so much and Shuji’s usual exhaustion at the end of the day is hardly noticeable, his eyes bright and sparkling.

The night is warm and gentle as they walk back to their hut. It’s like that more often than not these days, summer mellowing out into something more bearable for Chifuyu. As much as he’s tried, he still hasn’t fully gotten used to the heat. He doesn’t think he ever will, convinced that people aren’t meant to live in places where snow never falls.

He takes Shuji’s hand to draw his attention, glancing up at him to find his mate’s face set in contemplation, seemingly lost in a deep train of thought.

“Hey,” Chifuyu says gently. Shuji snaps out of it, blinking his eyes a few times. “Do you like snow?”

All the way back to their hut, they argue about the best weather conditions— Shuji making his hatred for the cold more than clear while Chifuyu defends it passionately. Despite the heat in their discussion and their raised voices, they keep their fingers twined together, and by the time they reach the path that branches off to their hut, they’re both laughing.

As he always does, Chifuyu grumbles out a complaint about the overgrown bushes at the edges the clearing in front of the hut but instead of the usual empty promise that Shuji will tend to them the next day, it stays silent.

With a frown, Chifuyu turns on the porch to look at Shuji and finds him staring off into the tree line, that same look of contemplation on his face.

“I think… I’m going to try shifting,” he says after a moment, squaring his shoulders. With large strides, he leaves the porch behind and stands in the middle of the clearing, hands on his hips. “It’s a good night for it.”

Chifuyu must’ve misheard. There’s truly no other explanation. If he didn’t mishear, that’d mean that his dumb mate is about to put a whole lot of stress on his still-recovering body. And he knows Shuji to be an idiot. But not that much of an idiot.

“Keisuke will want to stay with Keiko for a bit until she shifts back. Might be a few days. Without him, the hunts are short a person.” Shuji nods, seemingly to himself. “My ribs are still tender but my wolf is strong.”

Chifuyu isn’t sure what compels him to do it. Maybe his omega and its protectiveness. Perhaps his own wolf and its outrage. Or, most likely, it’s seeing Shuji chuck off his shirt. Even from the back, the deep gashes in his side are visible.

Whatever it might be, it grants Chifuyu with some otherworldly precision when he bends down to take one of his sandals off and chucks it at his mate’s head. It hits it target full on, a dull thud against the back of Shuji’s thick skull.

“Get inside,” he snaps when Shuji whines and turns to look at him with wide eyes. “You’re not shifting. End of discussion.”

He doesn’t wait for an answer. Anger and annoyance and irritation are brewing under his skin, along with something cold that he’s quite set on ignoring. He tugs the doors open and slams them shut again, strides on to the back of the hut to the sound of the doors sliding open again, Shuji padding after him.

“Chifuyu, love—“

“No.”

Chifuyu rips open his chest and starts rifling through it. He’s not looking for anything particular, just needs to keep his hands busy and redirect the frantic energy that’s coursing through his veins.

He freezes in place when arms wrap around him from behind. The air around him gets overpowered with Shuji’s scent, smelling like the forest after rainfall, warm and soothing.

“My love,” Shuji says softly, the tip of his nose running over Chifuyu’s bonding mark. “It’s time. My wolf has been calling out to me. It’s ready. I’m ready.”

Chifuyu shakes his head. “You’re ready when Souya says you’re ready.”

“Souya is a wonderful healer. The best around, but…” Gently, Shuji turns Chifuyu around, cupping the back of his neck with a hand. “I know my body better than he does.”

“You don’t,” Chifuyu mumbles, petulant, and lets his head fall forward, leaning into Shuji’s chest. “You’ll get yourself hurt and then I will have to deal with Souya yelling at me.”

“Pup…”

“I don’t like it when he’s mad. He’s scary. You wouldn’t do that to me, right?”

“Chifuyu…” Shuji sighs and draws him in closer, pressing a kiss to the top of his head. “I’ll have to rejoin the hunts eventually, start patrolling. The sooner I start, the better. I gotta reconnect with my wolf.”

Rationally, Chifuyu knows he’s right. Just as he’s known that this day was fast approaching. He still tries to fight against it. Shuji’s chest is warm and solid under his hands. So many of his scars are faded and white, but his recent injuries are still so dark, carved into his side. Their edges are no longer red, and he knows that’s a good sign, but they’re dark, and they were deep, and there was so much blood.

And yes, he knows that Seishu and Koko have been unnerving Shuji just the same as they have Chifuyu. The instinct to protect is shared by his mate. For an alpha, the call of their wolf is so much stronger. He can only begin to imagine how restless and useless Shuji must feel, deep inside. He knows all of that, but still—

“Please, don’t leave.” He looks up at Shuji. “Please?”

At the first sign of tears brimming in his eyes, Shuji’s expression softens. He sighs and cups Chifuyu’s face, catching the tears with his thumbs before they can roll down his cheeks.

“I’m not leaving. I’ll be back before the sun starts to rise.”

“And if you’re not?”

Shuji smiles and frowns, cocking his head to the side. “What do you mean, if I’m not? I won’t go far.”

“What if you trip and break your leg and then tumble down a cliff and fall into the river and drown and then wash up and—”

“Alright, okay, hey. Now you’re just being dramatic.” Shuji chuckles at Chifuyu’s pout and leans in to kiss it. “I’ll shift, I’ll catch you something, and then I’ll come back. I won’t trip or drown or spontaneously catch on fire, alright? Promise.”

“But if you do?” Chifuyu presses, searching Shuji’s face.

“Then I guess my burning corpse will start a forest fire and you’ll know I’m dead.” He laughs at the growl Chifuyu lets out, hands pressing into his cheeks to squish them a little. “In which case, you can mourn me for an appropriate three to five weeks and then couple up with Ryusei to let him raise my pup. Which he told me you two already agreed on while I was dying.”

Chifuyu growls again and shakes his head loose, pushing Shuji back a few steps. He glares at his mate, at his amused expression and fond smile. “If you’re not back before the sun rises, I’ll leave you for Ryusei regardless.”

“A great incentive to rush right back. You’re so smart.” Shuji winks and quickly rids himself of the rest of his clothes, rushing as if Chifuyu’s about to change his mind and pull him back. He sorts of wants to, but forces it down, forces himself to have a little trust in his stupid alpha.

Still grumbling, still worried and annoyed, Chifuyu trails after him and stands on the back porch while Shuji paces around in the clearing, stretching out his muscles and getting himself ready. He follows his mate’s every move, keeping an eye especially on his side. The skin stretches with each movement, but doesn’t show any signs of tearing open again.

How Shuji’s ribs truly feel, Chifuyu can’t know for certain, but at the very least, he doesn’t pick up on any notes of discomfort in his scent.

When Shuji deems himself ready, he walks over to Chifuyu and looks up at him. His eyes already look a little wild, as if his wolf is clawing at his insides, begging to be let out.

“My love,” Shuji says, his voice deeper than usual, a certain gruffness to it that, much to Chifuyu’s annoyance, sends a pleasant shiver down his spine.

Shuji’s scent is darkening, his breathing deeper. Chifuyu feels it himself as well. The porch puts him on higher ground than his alpha, and it’s stirring something deep within him, the way Shuji is looking up at him through his lashes.

He exhales, a little shakily, and lays a hand against the back of Shuji’s neck, pulling him a step closer. A surge of warmth rushes through him when Shuji bends down to press a kiss against his stomach, lingering there for a moment before he looks back up at Chifuyu, eyes half-lidded and dark.

“Only if the gods themselves came down and took me away, would you see a day where I don’t return to you. Nothing less would ever keep me from you.”

Chifuyu sighs. “The day you don’t return to me, I’ll hunt you down and kill you myself. You’ll wish the gods had taken you then.” He takes one moment longer to card his fingers through Shuji’s hair, to cradle the back of his head. “Don’t be reckless,” he mumbles, then steps back and lets his hand fall away.

“Trust in your alpha,” is the last thing Shuji says, grinning around the words.

Only through stories has Chifuyu heard about the way an alpha shifts. Supposedly different from betas and omegas. But he assumed those stories to be myths, spoken into existence to strike fear into the hearts of young omegas to never cross their alpha.

A foolish assumption.

Shuji walks to the middle of the clearing and stands still. His muscles tense and shift. Chifuyu expects the sound of bones bending and breaking, but instead, he watches as he only takes one deep breath. Then, he dashes forward. Three large steps before he leaps off the ground, and when he lands again, it’s on four paws rather than two feet.

A shiver wracks through Chifuyu’s body, eyes wide, mouth slightly agape.

In the clearing now stands the wolf that Chifuyu first faced in the snow, mighty and powerful, and the wolf that hid behind him in the thick of battle. His heart both aches and flutters, feeling something akin to nostalgia at the sight. And for as eager as Shuji seemed to be to take off, he now turns to look at Chifuyu.

Without words, with his sharp eyes alone, he draws Chifuyu in. Beckons him closer, calls for his omega with a low rumble.

His mate’s heavy gaze tingles over Chifuyu’s skin and clears his mind of any coherent thought. He leaves the porch behind and walks on unsteady legs to where his mate stands. His own wolf, silent throughout his pregnancy so far, perks up in excitement the closer he gets. The trill that slips past his lips is instinctual, high-pitched and sweet. It’s foreign, even to his own ears, a sound Chifuyu has never made before, consciously or unconsciously.

Shuji perks up at it and fully turns to face Chifuyu. He stays in his spot, watching him attentively, ears perked.

With only a few steps still between them, Chifuyu comes to a stop and holds out his hand, surprising himself with another little trill bubbling up. He feels almost as if in a trance, running on nothing but instincts.

It stirs Shuji into motion, his paws heavy against the ground. He keeps his head down as he approaches, almost tentative.

“Come here, love,” Chifuyu whispers, beckoning with his hand for Shuji to come closer.

It takes a moment, but then Shuji takes the final steps forward to press his nose against the palm of his hand. He sniffs at it, breath warm and damp, and moves higher, cold nose dragging along Chifuyu’s wrist.

For the first time, outside of danger, Chifuyu gets to properly look at him. The more he looks, the more that first feelings comes back, the instinctual pull to submit to this alpha. Now his alpha, which only makes the need to bare his throat and submit that much stronger.

Just as his human form, Shuji’s wolf is almost unnecessarily huge. His shoulders easily reach up to Chifuyu’s middle and though the fur on his injured side is slightly shorter than the rest, the black vastness of it makes him appear big and strong. Intimidating.

An illusion, Chifuyu realises when he runs the hand not currently being sniffed up by Shuji over his mate’s back, feeling each ridge of his spine as he pets him.

“Alpha,” he breathes, and doesn’t say anything else, unsure of how he could possible verbalise what he feels— reverence, admiration, devotion.

Still, Shuji seems to understand. He sits down, yellow eyes staring up at Chifuyu, who understands as well. Understands so well, the shift in power, his alpha willingly surrendering his to Chifuyu, waiting for his instructions. It’s a dizzying position to be in, one that brings Chifuyu to his knees.

Shuji lowers his head to stay below eye level, further relinquishing his power and position as an alpha. Chifuyu rewards the gesture with soft praise and raises a hand to cup Shuji’s chin, smiling when his mate leans into the touch.

There are no longer any doubts in Chifuyu’s mind, fully confident in his alpha’s strength. All that remains is pride. Pride that he gets to call Shuji his own, that they belong to each other. Pride in carrying his pup, to be trusted with such honour.

His breath falters when he runs a hand down to Shuji’s chest and his mate tilts his head up, baring his vulnerable throat. “Alpha,” he whispers again, leaning forward to bury his face in Shuji’s neck, breathing in his dark scent.

He stays there for a moment and only with a lot of effort, manages to lean back. When he tries to get up, Shuji is quick to dip his body under one of Chifuyu’s hands to help him to his feet.

“Go, my love,” he murmurs, running his fingers through Shuji’s fur one last time. “Don’t keep us waiting too long.”

Shuji rumbles, pleased, and takes his time rubbing himself against Chifuyu’s legs. There’s humanity in the way he presses his nose to Chifuyu’s belly, rubbing against it gently, lovingly. And then, there’s something more animalistic in the way he trots up and down the clearing for a few paces, clearly showing off. He shakes out his fur, stretches out his muscles more, and when he looks at Chifuyu one last time, it’s almost as if he’s grinning.

Chifuyu watches him, hypnotised by Shuji’s graceful, lithe movements. A tingle runs over his skin when Shuji halts at the border of the clearing and tilts up his head.

He feels the howl before he hears it. It’s filled with euphoria and relief, brimming with pride and strength. A shiver runs down his spine, heat bursts in his chest. His hand flies up on its own, fingers pressing down on his bonding mark, bursts of near pleasure pulsing down his neck, spreading all throughout his body.

The howl dies down, but the sensation of it stays with Chifuyu. He’s certain it will never fully leave him, frozen in place as he watches Shuji takes four large leaps before he disappears between the trees.

A needy desperation claws at his insides the moment he settles into bed alone, safe and surrounded by Shuji’s scent. For a moment, he mistakes it for a sense of longing for his mate’s presence, pure and innocent, but it quickly grows into burning arousal, heavy in the way it clouds his mind.

As much as he wants to give in and pleasure himself to the thought of Shuji, and more specifically, Shuji while shifted, he tells himself to wait. To let it simmer and consume him whole.

So he rids himself of his clothing and manages to fall into a restless sleep.

When he wakes, it’s still dark, impossible to tell how much time has passed. He wakes to the sound of nails scratching against the wooden floors.

The heady scent of his alpha reaches him as panted breaths draw closer.

With a smile, Chifuyu pushes himself up to his elbows to find Shuji’s silhouette at the end of the bed, a hulking figure in the night.

“You’re back.” He breathes in, taking note of the coppery smell that hangs in the air. A shiver of excitement runs through him and he extends a hand out towards Shuji. “Caught us something, alpha?”

The silhouette moves. Shuji was already intimidatingly large when Chifuyu stood next to him, but now— it’s almost terrifying how much bigger he is, a vast shadow that approaches, nearly prowling towards him.

Chifuyu lies back down when Shuji steps over him, until all he can see is black fur and yellow eyes. Two paws next to his shoulders cage him in, the scent of blood so much stronger now, only adding to the swirling arousal in the pit of his stomach.

Shuji huffs out a breath, head ducking down.

Whatever he’s caught lands heavily on Chifuyu’s chest, small and furry, still warm and wet. He feels a trickle of blood run down the side of his chest. It draws a whimper from him, goosebumps erupting over his skin.

“Thank you,” he breathes, lifting a hand, fingers threading into the fur on the side of Shuji’s head. “So good to us.”

A low rumble. Shuji turns his head to press his snout against his hand, and Chifuyu gently strokes him. There’s more blood. He feels it under his fingertips when he presses inside the warmth of Shuji’s maw, tracing along his sharp canines.

He sits up more and runs both hands through the thick fur, grasping it just behind Shuji’s ears to tug his head back, making room for himself against his mate’s chest.

In doing so, the prey slides down into his lap, smearing hot blood over his skin. Chifuyu chuckles and buries his face against Shuji’s throat, breathing in his familiar scent, though it’s mingled with blood and earth.

Shuji tilts his head down over Chifuyu’s shoulder, hot breath fanning over his back. A low rumble reverberates through him, a pleased noise, but something possessive hiding in it.

The heat in Chifuyu’s body continues to build. He feels the first trickle of slick, his cock slowly filling. With a sigh, he brushes the prey aside, caressing along the edges of where Shuji bit down to wet his fingers with more blood.

“Alpha,” he sighs, leaning back so he can look at Shuji, sucking in a breath when he comes face to face with burning yellow eyes. Entranced, unable to look away, he raises his bloodied hand.

Shuji makes a low sound and opens his mouth, tongue lolling out, breathing growing heavier.

“Made your omega proud,” Chifuyu whispers, watching with wide eyes as Shuji licks the blood from his fingers. “Will you let me reward you?”

A soft rumble is all the answer he gets. Chifuyu takes a deep breath and puts distance between himself and Shuji, only scooting back enough to turn around. He sucks in a breath when his mate’s scent grows heavier, darker.

With his back turned to Shuji, he moves to his knees and leans forward— first steadying himself on his hands and then lowering to his elbows, back arched in perfect presentation. There, he waits.

For a torturously long moment, nothing happens.

Just as Chifuyu is about to make his desires more clear, he feels a wet press against the back of one of his thighs. He lets out a long exhale, almost a whimper, when Shuji drags his nose up.

The wet slide of his mate’s tongue follows. In broad, slow strokes, he laps up the slick trickling down Chifuyu’s legs. Higher each time until he noses at his cock, hanging heavy and hard, drawing a soft moan from him.

Shuji’s doesn’t linger there for long. He draws back and growls softly when Chifuyu whines in protest, a gentle warning to make it clear that his earlier surrender of power has come to an end.

He crowds Chifuyu in, two paws next to his head. The thick fur of his underbelly brushes over overheated skin, hot breath against the side of his neck.

Every muscle in his body relaxes at the first press of his mate’s cock against him, ready to take what his alpha is willing to give.

A low growl from Shuji makes Chifuyu whimper again, but before he can start to beg for more, he feels Shuji stiffen above him.

The growl goes from animalistic to something more human. Shuji’s body starts to shrink, fur being replaced with hot skin, followed by a wet press of lips against his shoulder.

Chifuyu whines, disappointment crashing over him. He tries to turn but a hand pressing against his nape holds him in place.

“After you’ve had my pup,” Shuji breathes against his ear, voice deep and gravelly, sending a chill down Chifuyu’s spine. “I’ll take you as a wolf, when I don’t have to worry about our little one’s wellbeing.”

Nothing coherent leaves Chifuyu’s lips. He nods to the best of his abilities and then gasps when an arm around his waist pulls him up, back flush against Shuji’s front.

“Please,” he manages, high-pitched and shaky, shivering when he feels the wet slide of Shuji’s cock against him. “Been wa-waiting for you.” Instincts all over the place, he takes one of Shuji’s hands and presses it against the swell of his stomach, crying out a pathetic, “breed me, alpha, please, need it, need you, want—“

The rest of his sentence breaks off into a moan when fingers roughly enter him. He presses back when Shuji twists them but before he can fully adjust to the stretch, he’s left empty again.

“Eager,” Shuji grunts, blunt head of his cock rubbing against Chifuyu’s hole, “barely big with this one, already begging for more— want me to keep you nice and full and bred, love, is that it?”

“Yes, ah, please!”

“Gods, omega.” His voice is breathless, full of awe. “Anything you want, you hear me?” He digs his fingers in, pulling Chifuyu back on his cock, the stretch slow and searing, too much and not enough at the same time. “Anything, I’ll give you. You only have to ask and it’ll be yours.”

They’d been careful so far, mindful of Shuji’s injuries, of any limitations that come with them.

But now, there is nothing careful about the way he takes Chifuyu, thrusts hard and deep. He reduces him to nothing but moans and cries within seconds. Power comes off Shuji in waves, a world apart from his usual gentleness.

When Chifuyu goes boneless, unable to do much more than give in and let the pleasure consume him whole, Shuji easily holds him up. One arm still wrapped around him, other hand pressing down over his stomach, fingers splayed out to cover as much of it as possible, both protective and possessive.

A particularly hard thrust has Chifuyu crying out again. He blindly reaches behind himself and digs his nails into Shuji’s bicep, feels the muscle tense under his fingers.

Shuji stills his hips with a grunt.

“What’d you want me to do, love?” he nearly growls, grinding his hips forward. “Want me to conquer these lands in your name ? Want me to rip out the throats of anyone that’s threatened your safety?”

Chifuyu squeezes his eyes shut, chest rapidly rising and falling. He’s unable to comprehend both how unaffected Shuji seems to be, breathing deep and even, as well as his mate’s words.

He has half the mind to ask what in the gods’ names he’d been thinking about while shifted, but the words are stolen right from his lips when Shuji gives one sharp thrust.

The hand that’d been pressed to his stomach slide up, fingers digging into the scar on his shoulder instead.

“I’d do it, if you asked.” Shuji groans, slowly building a rhythm again, deep and steady. “One word, Chifuyu, I swear to the gods, I’ll end them all.”

“Shu— Shuji—“

“I’ll make the entire world yours,” he continues, finally more breathless, almost frantic. “Burn it all down, feed the soil with their blood, watch the lands bloom under your fingers again, anything, anything.”

Any concern about Shuji’s words dies down the second teeth dig into Chifuyu’s bonding mark. Everything whites out. His ears ring, moan choked off halfway up his throat when Shuji forces the unexpected swell of his knot inside.

The force of his orgasm knocks the breath of out of him. He slumps in Shuji’s arms, his head spinning. Each burst of his mate’s cum filling him makes him shiver with a new aftershock of pleasure.

He manages a weak whisper of Shuji’s name and is immediately lowered down. Carefully and slowly, the arm around his waist firm until Shuji moves them over to their sides, after which he uses it to cushion Chifuyu’s head.

“‘M sorry,” Shuji mumbles, quick to press kisses to every piece of skin he can reach. “Didn’t hurt you, right?”

Chifuyu groans, head still swimming. “No, but—“

“Sorry, love, I’m sorry,” Shuji babbles on, moves to lick over Chifuyu’s scent gland, the fresh bite sore and throbbing. “My wolf, it just, it obsessed about something, and I— I’m sorry, are you—“

“Shuji,” Chifuyu hisses, reaching down to grab his mate’s free hand, firmly settling it over his stomach to hopefully ease his anxious state of mind. “I’m here, we’re here, it’s okay. You didn’t hurt me.”

You’re only confusing the post-orgasmic bliss right out of me, he very much does not say out loud.

Shuji continues to make soothing noises, pressing kisses to the back of Chifuyu’s neck. He keeps his hips still despite the way his cock still throbs with each burst of his release.

“Hey, uh.” Chifuyu clears his throat, readying himself for a question he’ll most likely regret. “So, no complaints, that was great. Loved it. But is mass murder something that, uh, gets you going, as they say?”

Behind him, Shuji stiffens up. First, his scent sours with worry. Then it spikes with something Chifuyu can’t quite put his finger on. “I’ll have you know people say weirder things in the heat of the moment. Ryusei once asked me to call him omega when—“

“Okay, love, alright, let’s not bring up past, ah, experiences while you’re still inside me, yes?”

Shuji grumbles a bit, but doesn’t say anything else. He starts to lap at Chifuyu’s neck, grooming him quite aggressively.

Defensiveness, Chifuyu realises, is what that strange spike in Shuji’s scent was. He sighs and reaches behind him, threading fingers into Shuji’s hair.

It’s been a while, but for Chifuyu after shifting, his thoughts were often a little unusual, more animal than man. It can’t be all that different for Shuji.

“It’s alright, pup,” he mumbles. “I agree that I’d deserve to rule the world. We’d be quite good at it, hm?”

“Yes,” Shuji says after a beat, drawing back from Chifuyu’s neck. It must be a nice thought for him, if the way his cock throbs again is anything to go off. “You would be. I’d just happily follow along.”

Chifuyu smiles. He doesn’t exactly have any ambitions of the sort, but it is a nice thought, in a weird way. The responsibilities and morality of it not so much, but the thought of Shuji, radiating nothing but pride to be by Chifuyu’s side, has a purr building deep in his chest.

The sound seems to soothe Shuji, who sighs in contentment, pressing even closer.

“Still, though,” Chifuyu says after a moment, unable to shake off the confusion about Shuji’s words, “are you alright?”

“Yes,” Shuji grunts. “I told you. My wolf obsessed about something while I was shifted and it just… carried over.”

“Obsessed about what?” Chifuyu whispers. It’s not that he fears the possibility of Shuji’s wolf having a similar thought pattern to what his sire probably would’ve liked, but it does cross his mind briefly.

“About you,” Shuji says, a hint of hesitation in his voice. “About… about you.”

The way he says it makes it sound like a well-guarded secret and Chifuyu isn’t sure what to say. He settles for turning around as much as he can and kisses Shuji, slow and deep and careful, no heat behind it.

He can’t think of another way to express that he understands, so he keeps kissing Shuji, keeps kissing him until they can finally separate. He ignores the sticky feeling between his legs and turns fully, presses more dry kisses against his mate’s lips until Shuji melts against him.

They stay close after they break apart, tips of their noses almost touching, arms curled around each other.

Sleepiness tugs at Chifuyu and he still doesn’t quite know what to say. He thinks he doesn’t need to, maybe, that the understanding between them is strong without words.

He doesn’t quite drift off to sleep but gets pulled under in a state somewhere between sleep and being awake. Far gone enough for all the worries in the world to drift away, present enough to make out the words when Shuji softly speaks.

“Y’know those self-sacrificial types, the ones to deny themselves love because they don’t think they deserve it?”

Chifuyu hums and tightens his arms around Shuji. Less mindful of his ribs, relieved when the pressure against them doesn’t make Shuji recoil. If anything, he presses closer.

“Me, though… Sometimes, I want to hide you away, so no one can ever look at you again. I don’t think I’m the right person to love you, but I wouldn’t trust anyone else to do it.” Shuji chuckles. “When you looked at me that morning, you scared me because you had this expression. Like you might let me, if I tried to steal you from the world. And it made me happy. Disgustingly selfish, hm?”

“Very,” Chifuyu croaks, drifting further into sleep, fighting to stay awake. “Don’t have to, though. Not going anywhere.”

“Good. Not gonna let anyone hurt you.”

“No one’s gonna hurt me.”

“Gonna make it all better.”

“Things’re already good, Shu.”

“Better,” Shuji grumbles. His heartbeat picks up. Chifuyu feels it against his own chest from how close they’re pressed together. “Make it better. For you.”

“For us.”

“Anything for you,” Shuji goes on, voice slurring, sleepiness seeping into how he holds Chifuyu. “Would die for you if—“

“Would you stay?”

Shuji makes a confused sound, a choked-off squeak.

“How is it fair,” Chifuyu mumbles, “that to love me, means to leave me?”

“That’s not—“

“Stay.” With a sigh, he kisses Shuji’s chest. “If you wanna love me, fight the gods and don’t ever die.”

There might have been a time where Chifuyu believed his mother’s words. For a while, he agreed that his father dying for the greater good was the purest way to show his love. Selfless and self-sacrificial.

But lately, all Chifuyu remembers is the burning of tears sliding down his cheeks during those terrifying days after the attack. He remembers his mother’s silent crying and his own emptiness over never having known his father.

For years, his shoulders have ached with the heaviness of an entire pack’s responsibilities carried on them. They still ache sometimes, when he thinks about his mother’s loneliness in leading their people, only her young son to rely on. A burden that was neither of theirs to carry. Left behind by the ghost of love and sacrifice.

“Do it together with me,” he whispers, heavy in Shuji’s arms, sleep tugging at him.

He thinks that being loved in life rather than death isn’t a cowardice act at all. Thinks his mother was wrong all those years ago. Thinks he’ll never understand what she said, not with Shuji’s heart thrumming against his skin.

“Do what, Chifuyu?” Shuji asks, tentative, voice small.

“Everything.”

Chapter Text

Seishu looks different when he sleeps. Almost innocent. Peaceful.

Under different circumstances, Chifuyu would let him sleep, but as it is… He prods the other omega with his foot and steps back, watching as Seishu’s features go from annoyed, to startled, then back to annoyed again when he opens his eyes and looks at Chifuyu.

“Each new time you show up is more unpleasant than the last,” he grunts, slowly pushing himself up from the thin bedding he was laying on. Chifuyu hears some of his joints popping and Seishu scowls when he stretches out his undoubtedly sore body. “What do you want?”

“Nothing.” Chifuyu makes himself comfortable on the floor opposite of him, keeping enough distance to stay out of Seishu’s range. He makes a show of unsheathing his sword and lays the weapon next to him, keeping his hand on the hilt. “For now.”

Seishu eyes it. “Killed quite a few of my people with that thing.”

“I’ll kill more if the need arises.”

After a tense moment passes, Seishu sighs and nods. “I suppose that’d be fair.”

“My alpha is bringing over Koko.”

Something like relief passes over Seishu’s face, but he’s quick to mask it with indifference. “I see. That’s why you woke me in the middle of the night? To keep the threat he poses a secret?”

“Hardly a threat, but, yes.” Chifuyu looks down at his sword, caresses the blade lovingly. “We decided against worrying the pack until the four of us reached an agreement.”

Seishu scoffs. “Why do I get the feeling that the agreement will be forced on us?” He nods at the sword.

“That depends entirely on how willing you and Koko are to see rationality.” He looks up at Seishu and narrows his eyes. “But I’ll admit, my patience is running out, omega. You’ve lost quite a lot of my sympathy after what you said to my mate.”

“And you have lost mine, after you defended him so eagerly. I thought you were smarter than—“

“Than what?” Chifuyu snaps. “Than believing in my mate’s innocence, when he’s done nothing to show even the tiniest hint that he’s anything like his sire?”

“A legacy like his runs deep.”

“Love runs deeper. Choice runs deeper.” Chifuyu looks at Seishu, tries to find any traces of remorse in his expression. “You don’t know the half of what he’s done to escape that legacy, to not let it poison him. I thought you, as much as the perfect image of what everyone expects an omega to be as I am, would understand that.”

Seishu’s eyes widen slightly.

“You and I weren’t born to be submissive incubators to further an alpha’s bloodline any more than Shuji was born to mindlessly follow a path of violence and oppression.”

“You say, carrying an alpha’s pup.”

“Speak of my pup again and this hut will be the last thing you’ll ever see,” Chifuyu shoots back coolly. “I didn’t come here to make you see reason. I’d say we’re well past that.” He taps his fingers against the hilt of his sword. “I’d like for you to stay quiet and for us to reach an agreement— differences be damned by the gods themselves.”

Agreement comes in silence and Seishu’s cold glare.

Shuji’s scent reaches Chifuyu before he hears the sounds of footsteps on the porch. He sighs and lets some of the tension leave his muscles, getting more comfortable where he sits.

Not a lot changes in Seishu’s demeanour when Shuji and Koko walk in. He keeps his icy glare, keeps himself seated upright and rigid, and stays quiet when Shuji forces Koko to his knees next to him— both restrained, both wearing heavy collars to prevent them shifting, and both staring ahead with blank expressions.

“Normally, this is where I’d suggest a round of introductions,” Shuji begins, “we could tell each other our names, perhaps the ways we like to keep ourselves entertained in our spare time. Number of siblings, that sort of thing. But I suppose in this company, nothing of the sort will be necessary, am I correct?”

Seishu keeps quiet, as does Koko.

“Well, alright.” Shuji sighs and sits down next to Chifuyu. He leans back on his hands and stretches out his legs. “Let me go over what me and my mate know, then.”

Chifuyu alternates between studying Seishu and Koko as Shuji rattles off the facts— the attack, the current situation in the west, and the continued desire to see him die. Both the other omega and the beta hardly move a muscle while he talks. Neither looks at the other, rather they seem to stare at random points on the wall. He can admire their determination, thinks that if he were in their position, he wouldn’t be able to keep himself from looking at Shuji.

“Which brings me to,” Shuji says, holding up a hand, showing off the necklace Koko gifted him dangling from his fingers. “This. A kind gift, extended with nothing but good intentions, I’m sure. That is what brings us here, now.”

The mention of the necklace draws the first reaction from Koko. He raises an eyebrow and scoffs. “You’re telling me you kept me locked up, stripped of my autonomy and freedom, over a necklace?”

“Of course not,” Chifuyu says. He keeps his voice down in the way he learned from his mother— soft, speak softly, so people need to strain to hear you, so they pay attention when you talk. “We took you captive after seeing the necklace drew quite an obvious reaction from Seishu.”

Koko inhales once, holds his breath for a moment, and then exhales. He rolls his shoulders and turns to look at Seishu. “Can you blame him? From the looks of it, he’d probably never seen something quite as pretty before.” Slowly, he looks back to Shuji. “Speaking of, I can’t help but notice due to the sheer amount of unnecessary chest you have on display— you’re not wearing it anymore.”

“After we found out you two are connected, I decided against wearing it again. Feared it might be poisoned of cursed.”

“So little you think of me. What would give you the impression that a humble merchant like myself would try to bring harm upon his gracious host?”

Chifuyu blocks out the ensuing petty argument that breaks loose between Shuji and Koko, something about Koko being a bad liar, and focuses his attention on Seishu instead. The beta’s indifference towards the other omega would have been believable, if not for the way Seishu keeps sneaking glances at Koko.

Admirable, the way Koko tries to keep up the ruse, and pitiable, the way Seishu so desperately tries to hide how badly he must want the beta’s eyes on him, to get some semblance of comfort after weeks spent in isolation.

With a sigh, while Shuji continues to try and force the truth from Koko, Chifuyu pushes himself to his feet. He goes ignored by everyone but Seishu, who warily eyes the sword in Chifuyu’s hand.

It isn’t until he’s behind Seishu, a hand fisted in his hair and the sword pressed to his throat, that Koko finally looks at him.

The beta lifts an eyebrow and scoffs. “You wouldn’t.”

“I would.”

“He would,” Shuji echoes.

Seishu grunts, but doesn’t struggle against Chifuyu’s hold.

“What good would killing him, a stranger to me, do?”

“At best,” Chifuyu says, pressing his sword more firmly against Seishu’s throat, “you’d talk after your mate dies. At worst, I’ll finally be able to get some frustration out. Either way, I win.”

“As I explained, beta, we are not asking for much.” Shuji sighs. “Your full name, who sent you here, and then, the terms on which we can release you both with the guarantee that you won’t come back.”

“My full name is a luxury most cannot afford to pay for,” Koko drawls, “as for who sent me here—“

Chifuyu rolls his eyes and jerks his sword to the side, just a small movement, but enough to draw blood, even if he can’t see the red burst from Seishu’s skin.

It forces a whimper of pain from Seishu, and finally, finally, something breaks in Koko’s determined indifference.

“Fine,” he sighs. “You want to negotiate. Let’s negotiate. Let him go, will you?”

“Gods above, was that so difficult?” Chifuyu withdraws his sword and lets go of Seishu’s hair. He pushes the other omega forward and stands back up. “Embrace or something, please. Least you can do after almost letting him die for you.”

From the shuffling heard behind his back as he walks back over to Shuji, they do. By the time Chifuyu has taken his seat next to his mate again, the other two have separated, but they sit close together. For the first time, Seishu looks relieved, less like a man having resigned himself to his death, something like hope glimmering in his eyes.

If it softens Shuji’s heart like it does Chifuyu’s, he doesn’t let it show, looking at the pair opposite them with an impassive expression on his face.

“Your name?” he asks, motioning with a hand for Koko to hurry up.

“It would be considered polite for a host to introduce themselves first,” Koko says, not at all bothered by Shuji’s clear impatience. He grins, his eyes settling on Chifuyu. “Your full name, I’m afraid I haven’t heard.”

Shuji is quick to snap, a sharp, “he doesn’t owe you—”

But Chifuyu mutters a soft, “Matsuno,” before he gets all the words out.

Koko’s eyes widen, his grin growing. “Really, now? You wouldn’t, by any chance, be familiar with a possible relative of yours, one that goes by the name of Haruto?”

It’s not often that Chifuyu has heard that name. More commonly, members of his pack back home would use the formal Alpha Matsuno, or, whenever he was told more intimate stories—

“My father. Yes.”

“Ah, of course.” There’s a certain smugness about the way Koko adjusts himself, shifting from his knees to a cross-legged position, his chained hands resting in his lap. “A name full of contradictions. The sun that shines in winter. I have heard the occasional story about him, filled with these same contradictions.”

Chifuyu frowns. “How would stories about him have reached you?”

“As much as the north likes to keep to itself,” Koko drawls, “there are some who, on occasion, like to stray beyond the borders in an attempt to rebuild connections long lost. Often met with poor reception from those who prefer their isolation. Though, I suppose your mother would have told you many stories about his travels.” He gets a mean glint in his eyes when he adds, “or perhaps, he kept those to himself, hm? Your mother none the wiser.”

His mother, no one, ever mentioned anything about his father travelling beyond the other northern territories, but he is determined not to let his confusion show and rolls his eyes at Koko.

“Why are you telling me history well known to my home and family?”

“Are we not negotiating?” Koko tilts his head. “My name is Hajime Kokonoi, and before either of you cleverly notes— I am indeed not from the west, but I did grow up there.”

Shuji hums, one of his hands coming to rest on Chifuyu’s knee. “Kokonoi, from the east, brought to the west. To what end?”

“I am sure you’re familiar with the settlements littered along the river that leads to the village you were born in.”

Chifuyu is about to ask for clarification, seemingly the only person who isn’t familiar with those settlements, when Shuji says, “you’re not an omega. What good would a beta do in those parts?”

“Some alphas in rut prefer mounting something without chances of pregnancy. Cheaper, less risk. Especially when they are mated and would rather not, hm, how do I put it…” He sighs and puts an insincerely pensive expression on. “Have the consequences of their visit to the establishment that homed me show up at their doorstep one day.”

At first, Chifuyu feels sympathy, maybe even pity, when he realises why Koko was brought to the west, but then he looks the beta over more carefully, his sly grin, the arrogant raise of his eyebrow, and the rest of his words fully settle. Then, there is anger.

“Are you implying you heard stories about my father as a result of him visiting such an establishment?”

Koko’s grin morphs into a smile, dripping with faked sincerity. “Rather than answer, I think it’s only fair I get to ask a question first, no?”

A snake. And a smart one at that. Chifuyu narrows his eyes and then closes them, forces himself to take a few deep breaths and ignore the burning need for confirmation that his father would never have gone behind his mother’s back like that.

He forces himself to trust in the love between them she told Chifuyu about and not believe a single word out of Koko’s mouth.

“Ask what you want,” Shuji says, and Chifuyu snaps his eyes open to look at him. “No need to use dirty tactics and play with my mate’s emotions like that.”

Koko sighs. “Can’t blame me for wanting to have a little bit of fun.” He shifts a bit and hums. “Your sire, dam and her unborn pup were killed in the night by the Sano pack. Correct?”

“Incorrect. My mother and sister died from complications during childbirth. My sire…” Shuji rolls his shoulders. “I killed my sire.”

“Interesting.” Koko’s eyes narrow. “Interesting indeed. Well, as I can assume, but to be sure— you didn’t flee north after the death of your sire, where you were later hunted down and killed by the Sano pack?”

Shuji sighs and gestures down at himself. “Evidently.”

“So, alpha…” Koko tilts his head to the side. “Where did you disappear to for all those years?”

Chifuyu looks at Shuji and shamefully realises, he never quite asked that question himself. To get some form of apology across, he covers the hand on his knee and squeezes it.

“East, at first,” Shuji says, turning his hand over to lace their fingers together. “I lived with a rogue pack for a while. I helped them out around their camp in exchange for food and housing. Around two winters after I presented, one of the omegas gave birth to twins, and they could no longer afford to feed both the pups and a growing, hormonal alpha.”

Koko nods. “And then?”

“The mountains that separate the north and the east. During my time with the pack in the east, I learned how to make simple constructions. Built myself shelter, barely a hut, and applied everything my sire once taught me about hunting and survival.”

In the short pause Shuji takes, Chifuyu counts up the numbers in his head. His heart grows heavy in his chest when he realises Shuji couldn’t have been much older than sixteen at the time— left to his own devices, living in mountains Chifuyu knows to be devoid of most life.

“I’ll admit that I’ve never been good at keeping track of the passage of time,” Shuji goes on, his voice even, almost bored, “but I’d say about six to seven winters passed when I happened to cross paths with a small pack, mostly betas. Amongst them lived an old omega, who used to care for my mother. I looked after her until her death, the pack stuck with me, and not much longer after that, Kisaki found me. I joined Mikey’s pack and have been here ever since.”

Chifuyu thinks he sees a spark of recognition in Koko’s eyes at the mention of Kisaki, but the next time the beta blinks, it’s gone. He tucks the observation away for later and remains silent, keeps himself in the moment by slowly stroking his thumb back and forth over the back of Shuji’s hand.

“Curious, how this Kisaki found you, no?” Koko asks after a short moment of consideration.

“Not curious at all,” Shuji says curtly. “But it’s not a story I would share with you, or anyone else for that matter.”

Koko grins. “Oh?”

“The circumstances of my meeting with Kisaki concern more than just me and him. I will tell you anything you wish to know about me, and it’ll be the truth, but secrets that I’ve been asked to keep, I will take with me to my grave.”

The strained formality in Shuji’s choice of words makes his discomfort clear. Had Chifuyu heard something like what he just said weeks ago, he might’ve shared Koko’s clear suspicion. But now, he knows Shuji, he trusts him, so he keeps quiet.

“Now, my mate’s father, beta?”

Koko rolls his eyes and jerks his chained hands in a failed attempt to make light of the question. “A rich merchant from the east told me about him. From what I heard, he was a good, honest man. A bit of an idealistic fool. He never once showed his face in our part of the lands.”

Chifuyu lets out a deep sigh and rubs a hand over his face.

“A relief to hear,” Shuji mutters, releasing Chifuyu’s hand stroke his fingers over the back of his neck instead, warm and soothing. “Anything else you wish to know, or can we move on and find a resolution to this, frankly tiring, ordeal?”

Koko shifts where he sits, his eyes narrowed at the floor. “The inconsistencies in the stories I have heard about you and what you just told me are confusing. Give me a moment to think, please.”

“What, and how, have you heard about me?”

Koko shakes his head distractedly. “Let’s agree to one secret each without the other getting suspicious. Now, shut up.”

“Very well.” Shuji rolls his shoulders and sits more upright.

The momentary lull in their conversation stirs Seishu alive. Ever so subtly, he scoots closer to Koko, less restrained by the long chains he’s kept in, until their sides are pressed together.

Chifuyu sees more than he hears Seishu’s soft, “I hope you didn’t worry too much,” and Koko’s scolding but fond, “I always worry, Inupi. Be quiet.”

They lean against each other more. The sight is disarming and Chifuyu doesn’t even bother lying to himself about it.

“What I don’t understand,” Koko eventually mutters, “is why you killed your sire, only to disappear, rather than take your rightful place in his stead?”

Shuji shakes his head and then lets it fall back with a sigh to stare up at the ceiling. “You’re operating under the assumption that I ever felt any desire to tread in his footsteps. Let me tell you, anyone who’d have grown up under his warm, fatherly guidance would’ve eventually felt the need to kill him.” He lets his head fall forward again to look at Koko. “If such a thing were possible, I’d have happily killed his name alongside him.”

“Curious,” Koko mumbles. He seems to think for a moment longer before he asks, “if you could go back in time, would you do it again?”

Chifuyu slightly turns his head to look at Shuji and sees the consideration in his expression.

“I don’t feel guilty about it, if that’s why you ask,” he says. “For the sheer satisfaction of it, I would, without any hesitation. But,” he goes on when Koko opens his mouth, “with all the knowledge I have now— I suppose letting him live would have spared me a lot of trouble. Like this conversation.”

Koko scoffs. “You should be grateful to even be in my presence.”

Shuji ignores him, seemingly not at all a conscious decision, judging by the thoughtful expression on his face. “Though I fear what I might’ve become under his influence, without my mother’s love to guide me,” he adds quietly.

Later, Chifuyu decides, he will take care to assure Shuji that even without his mother, he would have never turned into the monster his sire wished for him to be.

Koko doesn’t seem the care about the confession, barrelling on with his questions. He nods at Chifuyu. “Why is he pregnant?”

The bizarre question draws a chuckle from Shuji. Chifuyu raises a brow and even Seishu looks a little amused.

“Well, beta,” Shuji drawls, “when an alpha and an omega love each other—“

“You know that’s not what I mean,” Koko deadpans. “I mean, why is he pregnant when you’re supposedly determined to eradicate your bloodline?”

Shuji sighs and grumbles something about Koko having no sense of humour. “I didn’t get myself pregnant, in case you’re confused.” He drops his hand from Chifuyu’s neck to caress his belly. “Our pup will be both mine and his, and will have more northern than western blood.”

“I suppose that is true.” Koko nods and closes his eyes. His eyebrows scrunch up for a moment and after he opens his eyes again, “very well. I have made my decision.”

Chifuyu feels his eye twitch. “There isn’t anything for you to decide, you—“

“The man we follow has a unique talent to hold a grudge,” Koko cuts in. “If it had been up to me, we wouldn’t have followed him at all, but we do strange things for love.” He glances at Chifuyu. “Don’t we?”

Rather than waste time feeling insulted, Chifuyu takes note of the way Seishu averts his eyes, something like guilt in the way he shrinks in on himself.

“Either way, he leads us, and we follow. Ever since I received information about your whereabouts, he’s been determined to see you die. As such, killing us wouldn’t deter him in the slightest. He will regroup and try again, and again, until he succeeds.”

Shuji tenses, his scent growing sour. “I don’t suppose you’ll readily give us his location.”

“No need.” Koko smiles, and strangely, it seems sincere. “I’ll bring you to him, after which you will join us and help in securing a brighter future for those you abandoned.”

At the very least, Shuji and Chifuyu aren’t the only ones outraged at the mere suggestion. Seishu snaps his head around as well and lets out the sort of growl that would usually only be heard when an omega’s pups are threatened.

“What are you talking about?” he snarls, jerking away from Koko, “have you gone crazy in the time were were apart?!”

“Quite the contrary,” Koko says calmly.

“As much as it pains me,” Chifuyu snaps, “I would have to agree with your mate. Are you out of your entire mind?”

Shuji, who’s been growling deep in his chest as well, somehow manages to calm himself down in a matter of seconds. He holds up a hand and clears his throat. “If I had given you the impression during our conversation that I might ever want to step foot in the west again— I will take responsibility and apologise for the confusion.” At Koko’s silence, he pushes himself to his feet and stalks over to the pair, his towering height all the more intimidating when both Koko and Seishu are still seated. “If not, I’ll have to confess that I’m about three seconds away from ripping your head off and tracking your leader down myself, so I can hand-deliver it to him.”

“Boys,” Koko coos, not at all bothered by the seething alpha in front of him, “such harsh reactions. Let’s get our emotions back in check and think rationally for a second, alright?”

Rationality for Shuji, as it turns out, is a swift kick to Koko’s chest to send the beta flying backwards. Chifuyu reconsiders his own morality when it makes him grin, heart skipping a beat, some perverse satisfaction in the display of violence and strength.

Seishu opens his mouth with a frown, seems to think better of it and snaps it shut. He sighs and grabs Koko’s arm to pull him upright, the beta scowling and rubbing at his chest.

“Let’s think rationally then,” Shuji snaps. He doesn’t give Koko a moment longer to recover. He bends down to grab him by the back of the neck and drags the beta to his feet.

Either to prevent Shuji from ripping his head off, or to simply get a closer look, Chifuyu isn’t sure— but he springs to his feet to rush over and press himself against Shuji’s side.

“Rationally,” Shuji says, low, with the hint of a growl in his voice, “your leader sent a group led by an omega to kill me. So rationally, he has limited numbers available. Which means that rationally, if he ever sought me out again, I would maybe break a sweat tearing him, and whoever else he might send my way, apart.”

Seishu, either taking offence to the implication that his coming here was an act of desperation rather than a testament to his strength, or finally feeling the need to come to his mate’s aid, gets up and manages to wrench Shuji’s hand from Koko’s neck.

“So,” Shuji bristles on, his scent steadily growing darker, stronger, “rationally, Hajime Kokonoi, I don’t have much to fear from you, your leader, or whoever else might get it in their head to threaten me. Let me remind you, that both of you came to my home, my territory, put my people at risk, and now have the audacity to make foolish suggestions I did not ask for.” He grabs the front of Koko’s shirt to drag him closer, easily swatting Seishu away when he tries to intervene again. “Rationally,” he spits, “you have everything to fear from me. Do not insult me with your so-called decisions again.”

There is no fear in Koko’s expression, only some kind of morbid amusement, but Chifuyu still wraps an arm around Shuji’s middle and squeezes his waist. He takes Shuji’s wrist with his free hand and gently pries it away from Koko.

“I really wish we could’ve come to a better solution,” he says, guiding Shuji a few steps back. “But I still don’t know what to do about you.” He looks from Seishu to Koko and sighs. “I told Seishu weeks ago, that if he could promise me the safety of my mate and my pup, I would let him go. That offer still stands, for both of you. Perhaps you’ll reconsider.”

Seishu pulls Koko back as well and doesn’t meet Chifuyu’s eye. “It isn’t up to us to—”

“Neither of us fear death,” Koko cuts in sharply, sending Seishu a glare. He dusts himself off calmly, picking invisible lint of his shirt. “And in the end, I am certain reconsideration will be yours entirely. If not because of your mate’s conscience, then, well…” He chuckles and looks straight at Chifuyu, an infuriating smile on his face. “You spared Inupi. He seems to like you, somehow, which must mean you have a good heart. So, reconsideration might very well be yours, after you inevitably start to feel ashamed for being with a man who’d so willingly turn his back on people in need.”

Shuji stiffens, Chifuyu feels it where they touch, and he can’t help but suck in a sharp breath himself.

“You know, from what I’ve heard about your father, omega” Koko goes on, almost nonchalant, still smoothing out wrinkles in his clothing, “he would be ashamed as well, to know his son willingly stands beside a coward.”

“I do not live to please the ghost of my father,” Chifuyu lies between gritted teeth, hand fisted in the back of Shuji’s shirt to pull him even further back, feels from the tensing of his mate’s muscles that he’s close to lunging at Koko. “I will be gracious one last time and allow you two to stay here, together. When we meet again, I trust you’ll have come up with a good apology.”

Another taunt comes in reply, but Chifuyu doesn’t bother listening to the words. He tugs on Shuji’s shirt and his mate easily turns around with him, only briefly pausing to pick up Chifuyu’s sword.

Outside, they give Chonbo instructions to properly tie Koko to the support beam and start keeping watch in pairs, just in case either of them tries anything.

Chonbo doesn’t comment on what he must’ve heard and only nods, making his way inside.

It’s still dark outside, the moon bright in the sky, illuminating their path. It takes some time for the tension to leave both their bodies, Chifuyu’s own scent sour and heavy enough for even him to smell it, but somehow still harmonious with Shuji’s, rotten wood and sharp mint mingling together.

“Hope ‘m not gonna piss you off more,” Shuji mumbles when they reach the end of the path, still surrounded by trees on all sides, just shy of crossing over in the less densely forested beta area, “but d’you think, what he said, your father—“

Chifuyu growls and tosses his sword to the side, effectively cutting off the rest of Shuji’s sentence when he shoves him into a tree, his mate grunting from the force, and all but pounces on him.

He swallows Shuji’s sound of surprise, their teeth clanking together once when he smashes their lips together without any finesse.

Shuji freezes for a moment before he scrambles to pull Chifuyu closer, opening his mouth to let him bite and lick at his lips, panting and groaning against each other.

Nearly delirious, they claw to get closer, only ever parting long enough to groan the other’s name. Their mingled scents grow heady, blend together until they’re indistinguishable from one another, spiking the heat between them even more.

Their kiss devolves into something barely resembling a kiss at all, all teeth and tongue until Chifuyu feels light-headed with arousal. He moans brokenly when Shuji shoves a leg between his, slides his hands down to grab his ass and guide his hips forward to grind against him more firmly. The rough drag of his pants’ material against his cock is nearly painful and all the more better for it.

The sounds Shuji makes border on something pained, the hard line of his cock pressed against the jut of Chifuyu’s hipbone rather than the softness of his stomach, yet his pace doesn’t falter. He ruts forward with stuttering hips, the grip he uses to keep Chifuyu in place nearly bruising.

Their frantic, desperate pace is enough to sate the buzzing frustration for a while, but rather than help to calm his mind a little, it only riles Chifuyu up more and more, until he feels himself nearly vibrate from the force of the growl that’s building in his chest.

Dizzying, the feel of Shuji’s hard cock throbbing against his hip while Koko’s words keep echoing around in his mind. He’s both angry and, at the same time, burning up from the inside with what he feels for Shuji, even if he can’t quite put a name to it.

Shuji, who is bending down to bury his face against the side of his neck, and nearly snarls when Chifuyu shoves a hand past the waistband of his pants to grasp his cock, jerking him off in rough, dry strokes until he’s shivering and his hips start snapping into the pace.

“C’mon,” Chifuyu grunts, tightening his grip, tilting his head to the side, “bite me again, know you wanna- wanna claim me, Shu, do it.”

The reward for his words is entirely overwhelming. Shuji’s laugh, low and breathless and gravelly. His hands down the back of Chifuyu’s pants, a tight grip spreading him apart, fingers rubbing through his wetness, pressing against him without ever sliding in.

“Gods,” Shuji groans, opening his mouth over Chifuyu’s bonding mark, teeth scraping against the skin. His cock throbs in Chifuyu’s hold, the slide wetter now, easier to move his fist faster, tighter. “Gods, I wanna—“

He cuts off into a deep growl when Chifuyu moves his free hand under Shuji’s shirt, digs his nails into the skin of his back and drags them down.

“Do it,” he hisses, feels his orgasm building, the rolling of his hips controlled by the way Shuji continues to press and rub his fingers, the pressure alone enough to make Chifuyu’s eyes roll back.

A chill runs down his spine when Shuji’s teeth break skin. They sink in deep, much deeper than he’d usually bite, but the pain is easily drowned out with the blinding euphoria that explodes with it. A hot stream of blood— down Chifuyu’s back, pooling in the hollow of his collarbone and spilling further, the wet fabric of his shirt sticking to his chest.

“Proud,” he grits out between growls of pleasure, pressing even closer, “proud to—ah, be yours.”

Shuji makes a desperate sound, muffled against Chifuyu’s neck, and clamps down tighter, bites even deeper, keeps his jaw locked when his hips stutter and he spills over Chifuyu’s fingers.

The pain mixed with pleasure snaps something inside Chifuyu, mind completely blank when he fists a hand in Shuji’s hair to drag him away from his neck.

He gasps out in relief when teeth no longer dig into him, cries out when Shuji tenses his thigh and shallowly slides his fingers inside, the stretch burning, setting every nerve alight. Manages to hold out long enough to bring up his other hand, wet with his mate’s release, and slides it up through his own blood, to trace his sensitive bonding mark.

Just the slightest touch to the raised edges of Shuji’s teethmarks tips Chifuyu over. Teeth clenched from the force of it, keening high in his throat as he continues to grind his cock against Shuji’s thigh, pushing through the oversensitivity to prolong his aching pleasure.

When he does finally slump forward, Shuji easily holds him up with one arm, his other hand tilting Chifuyu’s head back so he can kiss him, both of their breathing too laboured to do more than gasp against each other’s lips. There’s still some heat behind it, but it mellows gradually as their breathing calms too, the force of their kiss turning into a slow slide of lips, then short pecks until they finally break apart.

Still slightly breathless, Shuji slides down against the tree and pulls Chifuyu with him. He cradles him in his lap, draws him in close enough to lick the blood from his collarbones, tongue tracing up to lap at his own bite, cleaning and soothing it.

Chifuyu relaxes in his hold, tilts his head to the side to give Shuji more room, and purrs quietly. It takes a moment, but his purring is met with a rumble, Shuji’s chest vibrating with it— the first time he’s able to make the sound since breaking his ribs, the last bit of evidence to prove his full recovery.

They lean back to share a small smile and then melt together again, their content noises spurring each other on until they’re almost obnoxiously loud.

The sky is slowly brightening by the time they get back to their hut. After cleaning up, they decide against getting more sleep, certain they’d feel more tired if they did, and sit out on the porch, watching as the stars slowly fade in the coming morning.

Their previously lifted spirits come down slowly the longer they sit there, settling into something more solemn and worried.

Both lost in their own heads. Shuji’s thoughts somewhere only the gods know, silent and still as he sometimes gets, and Chifuyu’s— shamefully and terribly, with Koko’s words.

Koko, Seishu and the west, and at the same time, with his father and his own home.

He thinks about the many meetings he attended with his mother, welcoming different leaders of the north, their refusal to aid them in the midst of attacks and deaths. And that refusal, he now wonders if it was the result of the northern attitude to never concern oneself with what is happening outside of territory borders, or if maybe, it was a response to his father’s endeavours.

His resolve to reconnect the north with the rest of the lands, Chifuyu is certain would result in a lot of disapproval from the other northern packs. Is certain because he’s seen it, because for the first time, he can fully understand the reason behind the mocking chuckles each time they asked for help.

He thinks he also understands why his mother kept silent about his father’s travels. He feels a new weight settle onto his shoulders, one she must’ve tried to protect him from, and Chifuyu can’t help but wonder— if it was his father who inadvertently doomed their pack with his good intentions, has he really done enough to make amends for that, being the only one able to do so, as his father’s son.

Not for the first time, he feels a flare of guilt-ridden anger, only worsened when he glances at Shuji, whose sire’s burdening legacy is even greater than Chifuyu’s own.

And despite all of that; the bitter taste in his mouth, the resentment towards men who left the world without ever seeing the consequences of their actions— he still thinks of Koko, and in that, thinks of his own home and wonders how things might have turned out if just one person had offered their help.

The unfairness of it all settles heavily in his stomach. Neither he nor Shuji deserving of being put in a position to make amends for things they didn’t do, and yet he worries, if they don’t release themselves of this curse that’s been passed onto them— would it just carry over to the next generation?

Chifuyu sighs and lays a hand against his belly, traces the ever-growing swell of it, and thinks that after a lifetime of being proud to be his father’s son— he might not want to be like him at all.

As connected as they’ve grown to be, it seems Shuji’s thoughts haven’t been all that different from Chifuyu’s own.

He turns slightly and lays his hand over Chifuyu’s, eyes shining in the darkness as he takes in the temporary home of their growing pup.

“I don’t want to go west,” he murmurs, his voice wavering with something Chifuyu feels in his heart as well.

At least there is this, an answer to something that briefly crossed Chifuyu’s mind. If someone had come to their aid, if things had been different— would he have ever gotten the chance to meet Shuji?

This shared inevitability in their lives— inescapable, or so it seems to be. Not quite a comfort, for the frightening implications it brings. Yet a soothing truth, one he believes would have always brought them together, no matter how different things might’ve been.

“So we won’t.”

Shuji chuckles and moves from his spot, lying down with his head in Chifuyu’s lap instead, face turned towards him. “Is it really that simple?” he softly asks, wrapping his arms around Chifuyu, pulling his knees up— makes himself small, hides against Chifuyu’s stomach, presses small kisses to it.

“Yes,” Chifuyu says, even with his heavy thoughts, unable to stop seeing the many similarities in his situation, in Shuji’s, in Koko and Seishu’s. He looks down at Shuji and strokes his hair. “It is.”

Chapter Text

Tiny, white flowers are about to bloom in the rice paddies, climbing their way up the green stalks, getting ready to soak up the blazing afternoon sun.

Insects buzz about, a soft orchestra in the fields, waiting to pollinate the flowers. There’s only a short window of time before they close again until autumn, when the rice will be ready to harvest.

The flowers are nearly imperceptible, too small to really stand out, unless one is up close to them. They’re worth it, worth the wet toes from walking through the soggy soil in the rice paddies.

Witnessing it is a rarity. The fields don’t need much upkeep, so there really isn’t a reason for anyone to be there to see it happen. There is always something better to do, someone else to help out, but still, on a quiet summer morning, Chifuyu grants himself the liberty to do so.

Sleep has been a restless affair for the days after their talk with Seishu and Koko.

If he’s honest, everything has been a restless affair.

For the better part of a year, since before coming to the south, he’s been restless. Perhaps even his entire life has been so.

He wonders, brushing his fingers over the stalks that surround him, if his mother ever had the luxury of idling as he is doing now. If in the years before his birth, she’d known peace and quiet. And if in the months after his birth, before his father left them, she ever had the chance to simply walk around with her newborn son, bask in the attention everyone would’ve given her, fawning over her, over them.

He wonders if she’ll give him an honest answer, if he were to ever ask her. If she’d probably tell him, yes, she did, even if he knows deep down, she most likely didn’t.

For a while, he carefully walks around the fields, feeling the plants tickle along his legs, and hopes that one day, he can wander around like this without being plagued by worries. A future where he can exist, with Shuji, with their pup, and have that be enough. A quiet existence.

The summer breeze carries with it a soft call of his name. No flowers have started to bloom yet, the sun not yet high enough in the sky for them to do so.

At the edge of the rice paddy, he spots the familiar sight of dark curls, too far away for him to tell if it’s Souya or Nahoya calling to him. Still, something tells him who it is. The result of many years spent in a constant state of alert, a developed sense for trouble, the ability to spot it on the horizon, no matter how small it might be.

Up close, it’s easy to tell. For starters, Souya made it clear that he isn’t ever in the habit of crying, and the man that called out Chifuyu’s name has red-rimmed eyes, a bitter smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

His first instinct is to reach out, but he knows Nahoya to be opposed to touch, something Chifuyu can only assume comes from a lifetime of being an older brother, not used to comfort.

He still feels the tickle of the rice stalks against the backs of his calves, separated from Nahoya with a narrow irrigation trench.

“I wanna say you know why I’m here,” Nahoya says, his voice a little rough. “Pretty sure you caught our conversation that night, after he got back.”

We need to get out of here. I don’t care about this place.

I’m not living under another reign of terror at the hands of a Hanma.

Chifuyu nods. He feels the defeated slump of his own shoulders. “What happened?”

“Think he found out, about the two from the west that you’ve been hiding— don’t frown at me like that. I know why you did it, but… that’s the best word for it, no?”

“I suppose so.” That guilt again, following him no matter where he goes. So much of it. New guilt, for hiding something so important from the pack. And old guilt. So, so much of it.

“Souya and I trust you and Shuji,” Nahoya goes on, tiredly, like just thinking the words takes effort, let alone speaking them out loud. “Most of us do. Trust you, at least. But Ran…”

“Ran doesn’t,” Chifuyu sighs.

“Ran cares about Rindou, cares about Souya because of that, and cares about me, in that order.” There isn’t any audible hurt in Nahoya’s voice or face when he lays it out like that. “He left. Made it clear he has no intentions of returning.”

Would it have made a difference, to be honest with Ran? Would it have soothed his worries, kept him from leaving his mate?

“Did Rindou stay?”

Nahoya shakes his head. “I’d avoid Souya for a few days. He’s livid.”

“What a damned mess.” Chifuyu sighs and steps over the trench, accepting the hand Nahoya holds out to steady him. “How do you think Ran found out?”

“I didn’t tell him, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“It wasn’t. I know you wouldn’t.” The breeze blows again, the soon-to-bloom fields rustling behind them. “Let’s find Shuji and figure out what to do.”

Nahoya looks to the side, to the fields, and shrugs. “Not sure there is anything to be done.”

Chifuyu smiles. He resists the urge to look over his shoulder and catch one last sight of the field. Maybe in another year or two, he’ll find himself in a more deserving position to witness the blooming flowers.

“There always is, Nahoya.”

They find Shuji in the alpha territory, staring up at a tree with his hands on his hips, softly muttering to himself. An axe leans against one of the trees, its blade glimmering in the sun that filters through the canopy.

He tilts his head to the side when they approach, back turned to them.

“Do y’guys reckon this one’ll come down easy?” he asks, not turning around. He nods at the tree. “Not saying I’m incapable of chopping down any of these big bastards, but don’t really feel like exerting myself today.”

Chifuyu rolls his eyes and hears Nahoya softly chuckle.

“Would one be enough?” Shuji goes on. “We’re talking three walls, a support beam or two, foundation… Maybe an extension outwards, so the pup can easily go outside? Ah…. but that might not be safe.”

“Shuji…” Chifuyu takes a step forward, hesitating a little.

Nahoya beats him to it. “Ran and Rin left.”

Slowly, Shuji’s shoulders drop. Then his hands. “Ah.” His head falls forward next. He sighs and nods. “I see.”

“I tried to stop them— well, Ran. Tried to talk some sense into him, but…” Nahoya turns away, his scent growing a tinge sour. “I tried. I’m sorry, Shu, I—“

Shuji turns around and approaches. Nahoya falls silent. He turns his head away and tilts it down— in shame, in regret.

“Noya…” Shuji comes to a stop in front of him, sharp eyes studying the other omega. “Are you— Gods, I—“ He looks pained, eyes jumping to Chifuyu for a second, and then does what he failed to do earlier.

Shuji lays steady hands on Nahoya’s shoulders, pulling him in and for a brief moment, Nahoya lets himself be held. He makes the most of those seconds, sinking against Shuji with visible bone-deep exhaustion, the kind Chifuyu has never seen him show before.

A moment is long enough for Shuji and Chifuyu’s eyes to meet over Nahoya’s head, a look of shared concern that gets broken when the other omega steps back and plasters his usual grin back on. Faint and forced, the slump of his shoulders easily giving him away.

“Damn unfortunate, with my heat around the corner,” he tries to joke, voice too soft to be convincing.

But as Shuji so often does, he plays along and tilts his head down to get closer to Nahoya. “Want me to spend it with you instead?”

“Disgusting.” Nahoya grimaces, but his scent clears a little more. “Don’t say things like that. Want me to get nightmares, or worse, never feel the sweet, sweet embrace of arousal ever again?”

Chifuyu thinks there’s a quiet appreciation for the offer in the way Nahoya glances up at Shuji with a smile.

“Got a high success rate,” Shuji quips back, stepping aside to sling an arm around Chifuyu’s shoulders, other hand petting along the curve of his stomach. “Potent, uh, seed. Yes.”

Only for the sake of cheering Nahoya up, does Chifuyu decide to play nice and not jab his stupid mate in the ribs for that.

Nahoya shivers and shakes his head. “Ignoring that for the sake of our relationship,” he murmurs, looking away from them, eyes coming to rest on the axe. “Mind if I chop that tree down for you? Get some frustration out?”

“Not at all,” Shuji chirps. He presses a quick kiss to Chifuyu’s temple and stalks forward, motioning for Nahoya to follow.

Chifuyu stays to watch them for a bit longer, just to hear Nahoya sound engrossed in the task at hand, temporarily distracted, and partly also maybe to see Shuji handling an axe— incorrectly, using it to point at different trees rather than actually wield it, but it’s the thought that counts.

Aside from an almost inconvenient increase in libido, the second phase of his pregnancy also brings oversensitive hearing and a predisposition to headaches, so he takes his leave before Nahoya starts chopping away at a tree, to spare himself the ear-splitting noise that will soon follow.

Despite Nahoya’s earlier warning to steer clear of Souya for a bit, Chifuyu still finds himself walking the path to the other omega’s hut. It was Souya, after all, who hammered it home that Chifuyu shouldn’t be alone.

On the way there, Chifuyu passes through the beta area and feels stares burn into his back. News about Ran and Rindou’s departure seems to have travelled fast, and not for the first time, he regrets keeping so many in the pack in the dark about what’s happening.

He can’t even blame them for their obvious but silent judgement. Thinks he’d assume the worst as well, if he had no real information to go off of.

Still, he’s glad when he leaves the beta area behind and Souya’s hut comes into view. There’s more stares coming from the omegas that sit in front of the communal hut, but there is also Hinata who sits with them and smiles at Chifuyu.

Small victories, he supposes, smiling back before he hurries over to Souya’s hut. The doors are closed, but he hears more than one voice. With that comes relief and a surge of appreciation for the close bonds that exist within the pack.

Sliding open the doors reveals Hakkai, Takemichi and Souya sitting on the floor, a heap of clothes in the middle of them. Each is working on a different article of clothing, mending them where they appear to have been torn at the seams.

Chifuyu looks them over. He steps inside and slides the doors closed behind them, trying to think of what to say as he toes off his sandals.

“Figured tearing Rin’s clothes apart was more productive than killing him,” Souya says without looking up, effectively solving Chifuyu’s problem. “Take a seat. He’s got a lot of ‘em.”

“I can see that.” Chifuyu smiles at Hakkai and Takemichi and pads over, sliding his fingers through Souya’s curls as he passes by. He sits down next to him and looks at him with a smile. “How are you feeling?”

“Ready to march over to Izana and drag both of them back by their hair.” Souya looks calm when he says it, carefully threading a needle through fabric. “Noya talked me down. Shame, really.”

“A shame indeed,” Hakkai mutters, glaring down at the sleeves he’s sewing back on.

“I don’t think more bloodshed would’ve benefited anyone…” Takemichi pouts down at the tangle of thread and then sighs, handing off the pants he was working on to Chifuyu.

Souya grumbles, “would’ve benefitted me”, and Hakkai nods with a soft, “never know until you try it.”

Chifuyu frowns and looks between them. “I feel like I’m missing crucial information here. Souya, I understand, but Hakkai?”

“They’re damned cowards.” Hakkai scowls. “Ran likes to act like he’s the only one who’s suffered under the west. You don’t see me turning my back on Shuji when he’s done nothing wrong.”

“You… you come from the west as well?”

Hakkai stabs his needle through, tugs it out the other side with a little too much force. The thread slips from it. With a frustrated growl, he tries to rethread the needle. “No, I’m not from the west, but I got damned close to being taken there. Just because my sister got us out before— why am I even mending his clothes?!”

Takemichi flinches when Hakkai flings the shirt across the hut. Souya only sighs, continuing to work.

Chifuyu watches as Hakkai gets to his feet, grumbling and grunting as he starts to pace.

“There’s a small cluster of villages on the border between the east and the west,” Takemichi explains softly. “Ryu kept you far, far away from it on the way here. They’re rough places to even get close to. Technically, they belong to the east, but the eastern leaders have always turned a blind eye to the west’s influence on them.”

Hakkai comes to a stop in front of one of Souya’s shelves, lined with a litany of different herbs and spices. “Rough but beautiful,” he mumbles. “Flower fields as far as the eye can see.” He takes two jars off the shelf and turns around to show them off. One is filled with dried bulbs, the other with seeds. “Souya doesn’t like to use them, but the tea brewed from them are effective for pain relief and sedation.”

“Nasty stuff,” Souya says. “I only use it when I have no other choice.”

“Our flowers and our pups.” Hakkai sighs and puts the jars back. “Both of great interest to the west. I don’t know what would’ve happened to me if Yuzuha hadn’t…” He shakes his head. “And I still don’t hate Shuji!”

Chifuyu pauses his work. “Ran is scared, Hakkai, you—“

“I’ve been scared my whole life too! Yuzuha lives on land Shinichiro gave her. One wrong move and it could all be taken away from us!” Hakkai balls his hands into fists, his jaw clenched. “And- and Taka, he’s— Shuji trusts him, he trusts Shuji, and Ran just went to Izana when—“

“Izana wouldn’t send Yuzuha or you away,” Takemichi cuts in gently, turning to look at Hakkai better.

Hakkai crosses his arms. “Wouldn’t be the first time he’s threatened to do so.”

“It’s all empty threats with Izana. You know that. Don’t work yourself up over something that won’t happen, Hakkai.”

“Whose side are you on, Michi?”

Souya closes his eyes. Takemichi narrows his.

“The pack’s side, Hakkai. As I’ve always been.”

“Yeah?” Hakkai tilts his head up. “The pack or the Sanos? You’ve always been so far up Mikey’s ass that I’m surprised Hina even—“

“Hey,” Souya snaps. “Hina’s got nothing to do with this.”

Chifuyu bites the inside of his cheek. He feels that age-old bite of guilt again.

“You stay out of this, Souya! It’s thanks to you that Ran’s even here!”

“Excuse me?!”

If he’d stayed in the north, Mikey’s pack wouldn’t be facing these issues. Shuji wouldn’t be under scrutiny. If he’d have been stronger, if he’d taken a mate sooner— all of this could’ve been prevented.

Wishful thinking won’t get him anywhere, though. Chifuyu shakes his head to rid himself of his selfish thoughts and clears his throat. “Knock it off. All of you. Blaming each other doesn’t get us anywhere. Ran left, but there’s nothing to worry—“

“What would you know?” Hakkai cuts in. When Chifuyu looks at him, he sees that the other omega now has his arms wrapped around himself. “None of this concerns you. Or Shuji, for that matter. You can just go back north and seek out its protection if this pack falls to the Gods’ scorn.”

Chifuyu can only look at him. His heart aches, but he doesn’t know what to say.

Hakkai’s eyes widen. “I-I’m sorry. That was mean. I-I know your home’s not safe either. I’m sorry.”

“No,” Chifuyu mumbles, swallowing back everything else he wants to say. This isn’t about him, not about the north’s struggle. “You’re right. I came here with only my home on my mind. But I’ve been trying to learn and— and I promise, I care about you all.“

“Chifuyu…”

“It’s fine, Hakkai.” Chifuyu smiles at him and then ducks his head down, focusing back on mending the pants. “Don’t worry. I get you’re scared. ‘M not gonna let anything bad happen to any of you.”

An uncomfortable silence settles over them. They continue working for a while, mending the clothes one by one. The only occasional sound is Takemichi’s hissing when he accidentally stabs himself with the needle.

“Tonight,” Chifuyu mutters, “we’ll tell the entire pack about Seishu and Koko. The full truth. And from there, we’ll all out what to do.”

He wants to add, “thought I was doing the right thing. Thought I could take care of it on my own”, but this isn’t about him. Hakkai’s worries won’t be soothed with those words. They won’t bring Ran and Rindou back.

The only thing he should do is focus on mending Rindou’s clothes and swallow down any regrets he has, until they can seep into his bloodstream and stay there, strengthening his resolve to right every wrong that his good intentions caused.

“We will,” Takemichi says. “Together. This is your home as well. We trust you with it. Hakkai didn’t mean—“

“I know.” Chifuyu smiles at Takemichi. “Thank you. I know. Please don’t worry.” He looks at Hakkai. “You didn’t hurt me with what you said, alright? Let’s just… get these clothes mended so Rindou doesn’t have to be naked when he comes back.”

Souya sighs, plucking at a thread. “If he comes back.”

“When he comes back,” Chifuyu says, and makes a silent promise, I will mend this as well, for you.

The communal hut is nearly bursting with restless energy when Chifuyu and Shuji walk in. A nearly overwhelming mix of soured and worried scents hangs in the air. The murmur of voices would normally quiet down upon their entrance, but it continues even as Chifuyu kneels by the head table. Low voices making their displeasure known, only slowly dying down when Shuji raises a hand.

It’s clear that if they hadn’t agreed to share everything, the pack would’ve demanded answers on their own.

Shuji seemed to have realised that as well. A quick, “I know”, and “I’ll handle it”, when Chifuyu brought it up.

Only the people who Chifuyu keeps close to his heart look at Shuji with patience and trust. He’s glad to see that even despite their earlier tension, Hakkai appears calmer as well, looking at Shuji expectantly.

The rest of the pack, people he has bonded with but more so on a surface level, don’t go through the effort of hiding their disdain.

It spurs on Chifuyu’s protective instincts, clenched fists resting in his lap to keep himself from standing as well, and put himself in front of Shuji to address the pack instead of him.

Shuji lets the silence settle, no tension in his body.

“You’re all aware that Ran and Rindou left,” he finally says, slowly looking around the hut. “Leaving Nahoya and Souya to rejoin Izana. I’m sure you all have questions. I’ll try my best to answer them all.”

Chifuyu studies the different expressions while Shuji explains the recent chain of events, from the attack to them capturing Koko.

The pack keeps quiet and listens intently, their emotions clear on their faces— confusion, fear, and by the time Shuji finishes, anger.

“So you’re telling us,” one of the betas, Eshika, half-growls, “that all these weeks, not one but two hostile, western invaders have been happily kept in our midst?”

Chifuyu doesn’t know Eshika well. A man older than him by a couple of years, who he knows to look after the couple of chickens the pack homes.

“Not happily kept, but captured and secured,” Shuji answers calmly. “It’s my mistake for not telling you sooner, but—“

“My mate is about to go into heat,” Eshika spits. “And she’s not the only one. You’d have let them all possibly expand their families, knowing the danger they’d be in?!”

Shuji shakes his head. “As I said, there is no imminent threat from the west. During my recovery, my mate pried as much information from the omega as possible, and I assure you all that—“

“Your mate,” another beta scoffs, “you mean the one who barely showed his face for weeks on end? Practically a stranger to our home?”

Chifuyu’s eye is drawn to Ryusei, who makes a move to get up with a dark expression on his face, but before he does, he catches Shuji making a small gesture with his hand and Ryusei stays put.

“No imminent threat,” an omega, Namiue, echoes softly. “Yet, Ran left. An omega known for his bravery and resilience, leaving his and his brother’s mate behind. How are we supposed to believe there is no threat, alpha, when he seems so sure of it?”

“My biggest regret of all is not soothing Ran’s worries sooner,” Shuji says. “He and I have always had a complicated relationship, and I thought it best to not cause him anxiety before I could be sure that both the omega and beta were dealt with.”

“So they are?” Namiue asks, her head tilted to the side with a frown. “Dealt with?”

Shuji nods. “To the best of my abilities. As of now—“

“Pardon me, alpha,” Eshika cuts in again, drawing an annoyed sound from Shuji. “But the only ability of yours I currently trust in, is the ability to drive two people away who’ve been with us for far longer than you have.”

“Can you keep your mouth shut and let him finish, Eshika?!” Keisuke snarls. “It’s a complicated damned situation, and Shuji and Chifuyu have dealt with it the best they could, in the midst of an almost-death and a gruelling recovery.”

Eshika returns the snarl but quickly falls quiet when his eyes move to Kazutora, next to Keisuke, sending him a cold glare.

“Thank you, Keisuke.” Shuji clears his throat and pulls at the bottom of his shirt, smoothing the material out. “From what we’ve been able to deduce, the beta and omega are from a small pack in the west. They do not have the numbers to pose a real threat. They’re not connected to the greater forces in the west. Therefore, they are barely anything for us to worry about. In fact, from what the omega told my mate, the only death they’re interested in is mine.”

When they discussed this conversation before, they agreed that telling the pack this truth would calm their worries. Would make them see that even if another attack followed, the rest of the pack wouldn’t be in any real danger. They’d realise that the man who had almost died for them before, would do it again.

But, as Chifuyu looks around the hut, he sees that they’d miscalculated, and the weight of their mistake settles heavily in his stomach.

“Why would a rogue pack from the west, with no ties to the leaders, be set on killing you?”

The beta who asks the question is named Otari, someone a fair bit older than the rest, known to keep to himself and let life pass him by like the gentle current of a creek, content to let it carry him wherever it might. A way of life that resulted from him being old enough to have a mate and pup that died during the attacks by Shuji’s sire, when Shinichiro still led the pack.

“What do they desire, alpha, for you to be an obstacle to them?”

Chifuyu isn’t the only one aware of their mistake. Shuji takes half a step back, and a lot of his closest friends’ faces cloud over with worry, eyes jumping between their alpha and the beta.

“They- they seem to be under the impression that I’d wanna see myself in a position of power in the west again.” Shuji sounds unsure, his voice straining to stay even.

“Would I be right to assume, then,” Otari says slowly, “that whatever it is they want to achieve, is something that goes against the current leaders in the west?”

Shuji nods, and when Chifuyu reaches out to curl a hand around his calf, just to have a point of connection between them, he feels how tense his mate is.

“And yet,” Otari goes on, “they are held captive, rather than being released after they must’ve realised that you are, if anything, an ally to their cause, not an obstacle.”

The last person Chifuyu would want to catch on, does. Eshika looks from Otari to Shuji, and his eyes slowly widen.

Souya, blessed, beautiful Souya, tries to salvage the situation, getting to his feet with two hands raised in a soothing gesture. “It’s not Shuji’s fault that these two don’t believe him,” he says, looking around the hut. “You have to understand, the situation in the west is bad. You can’t blame them for being untrusting of someone who, as much as he doesn’t want to be, is connected to their fallen leader.”

“A convenient explanation,” Eshika’s voice, slowly starting to become rather grating on Chifuyu’s nerves, rings around the hut. “One I might be inclined to believe, if not for the other conveniences here. Mikey and Emma’s absence, an omega pregnant with Hanma’s heir. If he were an obstacle to these westerners, if he is still more connected to the current leaders than he wants us to believe, it’d put him in a position with quite a lot to offer, no? Connections to his home, the power that’d come with that.”

When Eshika turns to look at Keisuke, Chifuyu can no longer keep himself seated.

“Enough to offer to make you drop your previous accusations, Baji?” Eshika asks, and as much as it pains Chifuyu to notice, the beta doesn’t sound pettily resentful— he sounds genuinely hurt and worried.

“Please leave him out of this,” Chifuyu says, fighting to sound calm despite the rapid beating of his heart. He walks around the table, puts himself in front of Shuji, closer to the rest of the pack. “It’s true what Souya says— Inui and Kokonoi have suffered for most of their lives. Believing Shuji is their enemy is one of the few things they have to hold onto.”

“Our pack, our people, have suffered as well,” Otari says. “Perhaps that’s hard to fathom for you, as disconnected as the north is.”

The barely-hidden accusation in those words has been thrown at his head a few times since coming to the south. So far, he found the strength each time to dismiss it, but he feels the true meaning for the first time now. Outsider, they might as well call him. Say it with more bite in their tone to really convey their message. Outright tell him that he’s failed them since the beginning– failed to make up for the north’s indifference.

That’d hurt less, he thinks, than the facade of pity with which Otari says it.

Chifuyu bites the inside of his cheek, curses himself for the way he feels desperation and anger tugging at him.

“I-I know you have, that’s not— I’m not saying you haven’t.”

He sees Eshika open his mouth, but Otari raises a hand to keep him quiet. The older beta slowly gets to his feet as well. There is something Chifuyu recognises in the way Otari looks around the hut, and he feels pathetic. Helpless and defeated. The first tear slides down his cheek when he processes the recognition.

An old feeling bubbles up in his chest. A feeling he thought he left behind long, long ago. Forgotten and forgiven. The cut of it healed, scarred, and faded.

It’s what he felt the first time his mother told him, “I know it’s unfair, but for the good of the pack, sacrifices need to be made.” What he felt each time he sat facing a new alpha, forced to be in their presence and humour their disgusting attempts to pressure him into courtship. Then afterwards, scolded by the oldest omegas in his pack for not even giving the alphas a chance.

It’s what he felt when they told him love wasn’t important, not when it came to matters concerning the pack.

“I do not think we need to jump to any conclusions about Hanma’s intentions,” Otari says, a pointed look thrown in Eshika’s direction. “But, I do think that many of us question whether Hanma, and in extension his mate, have been, or are capable of in the future, acting in the pack’s best interest.”

Chifuyu can only assume that Shuji, outside his field of vision, has once again made some sort of gesture to instantly calm the visible outrage in Ryusei, in Souya and Nahoya, Keisuke, Kazutora, and everyone else who trusts them.

“I propose,” Otari goes on, looking past Chifuyu, glancing at Shuji, “that we take a vote to decide Hanma’s continued leadership over this pack, and no matter the outcome, send out word to Manjirou first thing in the morning, so he can return home as soon as possible.”

The sudden warmth at Chifuyu’s side almost startles him, only keeping his composure because of Shuji’s steadying hand coming to rest on the small of his back.

“You’d risk the safety of my mate’s home by having Mikey return early,” Shuji says. He doesn’t sound nearly as defeated as Chifuyu feels, but his voice does waver a bit. “I don’t mind stepping down, but— please reconsider. Call Mikey back when the north is safe. I will distance myself in the meantime.”

Otari shakes his head. “You know Manjirou needs to return, Hanma.” When he smiles at Chifuyu, it’s wry. “I do apologise, but I’m sure you understand, omega.”

Chifuyu’s reply follows a fiery path up his throat, burns on his tongue, but somehow, comes out calm and collected. “For the good of the pack.” Something vicious courses through his veins, makes his hands tremble and his tears flow freely. “Of course I understand.”

No one needs to say it, but he understands as well that upon Mikey’s return, the pack will share their concerns about Shuji. And Mikey might not believe them, might keep his faith in Shuji, but he’ll be powerless in the face of that promise— for the good of the pack.

And then— Chifuyu doesn’t dare think further ahead. Bid their farewell to the south and make their way back north, remind his mother of that same curse? For the good of the pack. Leave the land that connects her to his father. Watch it fall and be consumed, and be safe in hiding, in running, for the good of the pack.

“All those in favour of my proposal to dismiss Hanma from his position, please raise your hands.”

Chifuyu thinks there was a time where he went against the grain. Maybe he was thirteen, no older than fourteen. Actively questioning the order of things, sending icy glares to everyone in the pack who expressed their doubt about his mother’s ability to lead them. Scowl at people who would whisper about the appropriate age for Chifuyu to take a mate— if he couldn’t do it sooner, if he really needed to have had his first heat in order to start inviting alphas to their home.

But for every time he did, every time he tried to fight against it, he ran into a wall. Learned by the age of fifteen that he should be satisfied with small victories, take what he could get; reject alphas and be what his pack needed himself.

He never thought, or rather, never considered that resigning himself to this silent rebellion would dim the fire in his heart. Sometimes, he feels the smouldering embers. He thinks he does, at least, but as he sees the first hands raise, he isn’t so sure of that anymore. The anger he feels stays low in his stomach. It doesn’t creep up high enough to rekindle his heart. And so, he stays still and silent, watching as one by one, the people vote against Shuji.

Helpless and useless. An old feeling, as old as he is, familiar all the same.

Shuji shifts, does something that Chifuyu doesn’t have the energy to turn his head for and observe, but what he does see, is the hesitation with which the last people in the hut also raise their hands. Keisuke and Kazutora, who only glance at them before they do. Then Hakkai and Mitsuya, followed by Souya and Nahoya, at the same time as Takemichi and Hinata— a fleeting look at Shuji before all their hands raise.

The last one is Ryusei, who keeps staring at Shuji as he raises a hand with his lips pressed together in a tight line.

Only Chonbo, Chome and Choji don’t raise theirs. The three get up instead, appearing barely affected by all that transpired, and drag their feet over to the entrance of the hut, where they stay.

“Hanma,” Otari calls, and Chifuyu wishes there was resentment in the beta’s voice, rather than this sickening, sincere pity. “I suggest you, your mate, and your betas leave while we decide the future of this pack. We will let you know in the morning.”

Shuji’s hand slides up to rest against the back of Chifuyu’s neck. “Tell me,” he says, a small growl in his voice. “Will you allow me and my mate to stay, even if we’re no longer in a position of power?”

“Depends,” Eshika growls. “Can we all expect to wake up to fire one night, as you and your western allies burn our village to the ground?”

“I almost died protecting you against the west,” Shuji bites back. “I risked never meeting my pup for all you people’s sakes. To repay that with this dismissal from my position is one thing. To even hint at risking my mate’s safety during his pregnancy over your delusions is something else entirely.”

Eshika gets to his feet and swats away his mate’s hand as she tries to pull him back down. “You should’ve thought about that before cursing the poor omega with carrying a traitor’s offspring!”

“I am not,” Shuji growls, taking a step forward, “nor will I ever be—“ he goes on, pulling his shirt over his head in one smooth motion, and Chifuyu’s eyes widen, he sees the rest of the hut freeze as well, the different scents of distress spiking. “—connected to the west.”

Several gasps ring around the hut. People get up and scramble away. Eshika’s muscles tense, but a shifting beta is no match for the lightning speed at which an alpha is able to.

Chifuyu is frozen in place, watching as Shuji readies himself to shift, but before he can leap at Eshika, Ryusei is there.

“Back down!” he snaps, one hand pressed to Shuji’s chest, the other reeled back into a fist. “Take the loss. Leave.”

Shuji tenses more, his scent spikes with rage. He looks like he might still shift, tear Ryusei as well Eshika apart, and only the threat to the former spurs Chifuyu into action.

He rushes to take his mate’s wrist and tugs on it. The blind anger in Shuji’s eyes when he turns to face Chifuyu forces him to step back on instinct, but he doesn’t let go.

“Alpha,” he murmurs, voice still wavering from his earlier crying, tears still threatening to spill over. Shuji’s pupils dilate a bit at being addressed, more humanity seeping back into his face. “Shuji.”

Eshika is yelling about this being proof of Shuji’s betrayal. Keisuke is yelling back about him having deserved it, antagonising Shuji like that, Kazutora at his side, backing up his mate’s words.

Chifuyu ignores him, keeps his and Shuji’s eyes locked. “Shuji,” he whispers, feeling more tears roll down his cheeks. “Please. I wanna leave.”

“Listen to him,” Ryusei growls. “You’ll get yourself banished from this pack and your mate will be sent away right along with you.” Then, softer, so soft Chifuyu almost misses it, “I got it from here, Shu. Your omega’s upset. Care for him.”

That seems to snap Shuji out of it. With a growl of his own, he pushes Ryusei’s hand away from his chest. “Fine.” He shakes his wrist loose to take Chifuyu’s hand instead. “Let’s go.”

Eshika’s outrage doesn’t stop when Shuji pulls Chifuyu past him, towards the exit, but there’s a lot of other voices opposing the beta, at least.

Chome, Chonbo and Choji silently follow them out, not a glance thrown back to the pack they leave behind.

The air feels cold against Chifuyu’s cheeks, even with the summer temperature that lingers, drifting up from where the sun has burned into the ground all day. His arm feels heavy when he lifts it to rub his face against his sleeve and wipe away the remnants of tears, guided forward by the hand in his, uncaring of where Shuji’s leading him— to their hut, down a ravine, right into a roaring river.

“Gonna need you three to leave,” he hears Shuji murmur. “Got a bad feeling about all this.”

“’N you two?” Chonbo asks.

“Staying here. Not gonna look weird if you three leave. I lose power, you search for someone new to follow. No one’d question that. If we left, it’d just be confirming what they all think to be true already.”

Chifuyu lets his arm drop, sees that they’re close to the beta area, still pushed to keep walking by the gentle pull of Shuji’s hand. He blinks his eyes a few times, barely registering the conversation happening.

“What d’you want us to do?”

“Scout out the land. Maybe just over the eastern border? In case…” Shuji doesn’t finish his sentence, and Chifuyu thinks he might be to blame for it— feels a spike of anxiety at what he assumes Shuji was about to say and can only imagine that his scent soured with it. “Just look around. Stay close enough so that Mikey gets here, I can easily call you back once he clears my name and allows us to stay, yes?”

“Yeah.” Choji yawns and then steps in front of Chifuyu, all of them coming to a halt. “Stop crying, will ya? Enjoy your pregnancy without the pressure of leading these ungrateful bastards, or whatever.”

Chifuyu hadn’t even noticed he’s still crying. He rubs at his cheeks again. “Sure,” he murmurs. “Be careful, or whatever.”

“Bleh.” Chome punches Choji’s shoulder. “Y’wanna kiss your omega goodbye or what, Cho? C’mon, stop blabbering.”

“I wasn’t blabbering,” Choji hisses, chasing after a cackling Chome as he walks ahead.

Chonbo watches the two and rolls his eyes. “Children, the both of ‘em.” He sighs and claps a hand on Shuji’s shoulder. “Don’t do anything stupid, ugly.”

“Never do.” Shuji returns the gesture, looking Chonbo over, almost fondly. “Gonna build my Fuyu that extra room I promised, sit back and enjoy watching this pack crumble and starve without my help.”

“You do that.” Chonbo sets his sights on Chifuyu next, seems to consider reaching out to touch him as well, but decides against it. “You keep him in check, yeah?” Fresh tears well up in Chifuyu’s eyes. Chonbo pulls a face and reaches out after all to ruffle his hair. “Seriously, stop that. He’s gotten himself out of hotter shit before. It’ll be fine.”

At that, Chifuyu manages to chuckle. Wetly and weakly. “Language,” he croaks, pushing Chonbo’s hand away and wiping at his own cheeks again.

“Forgive me, omega.” Chonbo steps back and rolls his shoulders. He glances around to look for Chome and Choji, their silhouettes somewhere in the distance. “Alright. Eastern border. See you two soon, then.”

“See you soon, friend,” Shuji mumbles to Chonbo’s retreating back, dashing off to catch up with the other two. “Weird. Haven’t been away from them since we met.”

Chifuyu only just manages to muffle his cry by pressing an arm against his mouth. He thinks he’d crumble if not for Shuji’s arm wrapping around his waist, holding him up and gently coaxing him forward.

The entire way back to their hut, he keeps sniffling, but by some miracle, the worst of his crying subsides as they walk, until it’s only silent tears by the time they step up onto their porch.

He keeps his composure for a while longer. Calmly takes off his sandals. Sits down by the fire pit and hangs the teapot above it. Mind blank, mostly going through the motions, and enjoying it.

Stays calm when Shuji sits down next to him and keeps it together right until he feels a soft, wet cloth brush against his cheek.

“I’m sorry,” Shuji mumbles, “for causing you so much trouble.”

Chifuyu’s next breath after those words is a quivering, weak thing. The sob that follows tears through him with enough force to make him curl in on himself, one arm clutched over his ribs to keep them from shattering with the second sob, the other pressing down over his mouth again to keep in the third. By then, it no longer matters what he does.

Shuji makes an alarmed sound. He scoots closer, tries to pry Chifuyu’s arms away in vain. If anything, it turns his crying into something violent and painful, erratic breathing and hiccuped wails, eyes squeezed shut so harshly it aches.

He hears the shuddering breath Shuji sucks in and curses himself for upsetting his mate, curses the pack for it, as well. Curses everything out loud, barely coherent, wheezing curses between more crying, and forces himself to tear his arm away from his face.

Shuji’s warm hand is on his face immediately, tilting it up. Another gentle swipe of the cloth to wipe away his tears.

“Fuyu,” Shuji whispers, “my love, why do you cry?”

“I-I d-don’t— c-cant—“

It hurts to breathe, to talk, to just sit and let Shuji gently wipe away the endless stream of tears. He opens his eyes, tries to blink away the tears and see Shuji clearly.

“Okay, you’re okay.” Shuji smiles and sets the cloth aside to cup Chifuyu’s face. “We’re alright. See? I’m okay, you’re okay, everything’s okay.”

And Chifuyu can see. Can see Shuji’s smiling face, his eyes crinkled at the corners, but he still can’t stop crying. He tries to hiccup his way through more words, his chest and throat burning.

Shuji makes a low, soothing sound and pulls him close, one hand against the back of his head, the other rubbing circles into his chest. “Just cry. Haven’t done enough of that yet, hm? You can cry, got enough to be sad about, pup, ‘s okay.”

Chifuyu nods shakily, hands grasping at the back of Shuji’s shirt, grip so tight it’s nearly painful, and he cries. Cries until there’s no more tears left, until his eyes burn and he’s heaving for breath, hidden and held against Shuji’s chest.

“We’re still here, pup,” Shuji soothes, “still here and still safe. And no matter what happens, we got each other, right? We do.”

“U-unf-unfair,” Chifuyu nearly wails, scrabbling at Shuji’s back to get closer, crawls into his lap and curls himself up to be as small as possible.

He can’t remember the last time he felt like this. Lost and scared, aching all over from the weight of the world, back and shoulders sore from carrying it all.

“I know,” Shuji mumbles, adjusting them so he’s wrapped around Chifuyu, legs and arms, a warm cocoon. “But they’ll pick a new leader and when Mikey gets here, he’ll beat them all up for being unfair, and in the meantime, we’ll lay low and relax, catch up on some sleep and rest. Would you like that?” He chuckles when Chifuyu nods, small and shaky. “See? Not so bad. We’ll sleep in and take naps. Nothing to worry about.”

Slowly, Chifuyu starts to calm down. He’s still shivering in Shuji’s arms, but breathing gets a bit easier.

“Gonna catch you a million rabbits so you can make us coats, for when we visit your mom. Two for us, and one tiny, pup-sized one. With a hood that’s all fluffy.” Shuji gently rocks them back and forth. “And I’ll embroider them. Pretty flowers and anything else you want. You can show me how to write Matsuno again, and I’ll embroider that as well.”

“N-not—“ Chifuyu takes a deep, shuddering breath. “Not Hanma?”

“Not Hanma,” Shuji says. He leans back a little to smile at him. “Not gonna curse this pup.”

Chifuyu manages another steady inhale. “Shuji—“

“Or the next.”

“The-the next?”

Shuji grins and presses a kiss to both his cheeks. “Yep. The one after that— also no Hanma.”

“The one after— now, hold on.” A giggle bubbles up before Chifuyu even knows it when Shuji starts to pepper his entire face in small, fluttering kisses. “Shu— how many do you— stop, c’mon, hey, that’s my body—“

“At least.” Another kiss, messily planted by the way Chifuyu’s trying to push him away. “A dozen. No. Two dozen!” And two more kisses, one to each corner of his lips. “No?” Shuji leans back and grins when Chifuyu shakes his head. “We can go for more if you wanna but I think you’re just being greedy now.”

Chifuyu hiccups out another laugh and shakes his head. “Who- who’s gonna take care of your army of pups, hm?”

“Ryusei, of course.” Shuji smirks, brushing Chifuyu’s bangs back. “We’re gonna be too busy producing the army.”

“Producing…” Chifuyu mumbles. He tips his head forward to let Shuji kiss his forehead. “You’re disgusting. Producing.”

“‘S gonna be great. Bunch of cute mini-Chifuyus running around.”

“For all we know, pup’s gonna look like you.”

“Gods.” Shuji closes his eyes and leans in, resting their foreheads together. “I’d hope not. How’re they ever gonna find mates if they’ve got my ugly face?”

Chifuyu closes his eyes as well. “Maybe they’ll have nice personalities.”

“With us as their parents? Highly doubt it.”

“I’m nice.”

“Yeah? I’d like to meet this Chifunice one day. He sounds lovely.”

Chifuyu chuckles. “Already dreaming of cheating on me with my nicer twin?”

“Never.” Shuji sighs and nestles closer. “I like when you’re mean to me. Gets me going in all the right ways. But we can ask him to join us, maybe.”

“Gods.” Chifuyu smiles. “Ryu would never forgive us if we invited someone to join before him.”

Shuji hums and leans back. When Chifuyu opens his eyes to look at him, he’s met with a soft smile, a playful glint to his mate’s eyes. “He’s been putting the moves on you?”

“Oh, yeah.” Chifuyu leans in, rubs their noses together. “We kissed. Didn’t you hear?”

“I did. I’ve been seething with rage ever since.”

“It was a friendly thing.” Chifuyu smiles. He thinks his heart starts to feel a little lighter. “How one might kiss a brother.”

Shuji raises a brow. “You’d kiss your own brother?”

“I don’t even have a brother.”

Shuji seems to think that over for a moment, averting his eyes. “Y’know, with Chonbo and Chome… It’s always been unclear to me if they’re brothers or lovers. At this point, it’s been too long for me to just ask.”

Chifuyu blinks. Then, he bursts into laughter, whole body shaking from the force of it. “Gods!” he wheezes, clutching at Shuji’s shoulders to keep himself steady. “I thought it was just me!”

“Right?!” Shuji jostles him off his lap, kneeling opposite him, clutching at each other. “It’s weird!”

“They are weird!”

They laugh until they can’t anymore. Until Chifuyu is breathless all over again and Shuji is pulling him close, pressing soft kisses all over his face until they’re both calm.

For a while after that, neither of them speak. They drink a cup of tea. Shuji cleans Chifuyu’s face with the cloth and kisses him, a dry press of their lips together.

Then, Chifuyu feels confident enough to say what he wanted without crying. He cradles the back of Shuji’s head and whispers, “you didn’t cause any trouble.”

And he still manages to keep it dry when Shuji whispers back, “would you have come with me, if you knew it’d be this hard?”

“Nothing has ever been easy.” Chifuyu smiles. “You are, though. Being with you is.”

“You’re a sweet liar.” Shuji sighs, and kisses away the protest Chifuyu starts to say.

So instead he says, “you made everyone vote against you.”

Shuji nods. “Better to be against me.”

Chifuyu averts his eyes. His chest constricts. He’s sure he’s never felt his heart break quite like this.

“It’s okay,” Shuji says, as if he can sense his pain. “Things like these… They’ve always been inevitable.”

Chifuyu wonders how old Shuji was when he came to that conclusion. Looking at him, he knows it wasn’t a recent thing. Thinking about a much younger Shuji making his peace with the inevitability of the world turning against him makes Chifuyu want to cry all over.

To spare them both of more tears, he drags Shuji to bed and strips them both off all their clothing, so that when they lie down together, Shuji pressed along his back, skin to skin, they’re as close as they can be.

“I’m inevitable too,” Chifuyu mumbles into the darkness, feels Shuji’s arms tighten around him. “No matter how much trouble you cause, I’ll be right there with you to face it.”

It stays silent for a long while. Long enough for Chifuyu to be unsure if Shuji’s reply is a dream or reality.

“I know you would be,” he whispers, the words fuzzy and distant. Chifuyu thinks it might be a dream. “And I really wish you wouldn’t.”

There is an insistent, annoying pull at Chifuyu’s shoulder that drags him right from the dream he was enjoying, and he wakes with his mind full of a flowery meadow.

The first thing he notices is that it’s still dark out. The second is Shuji, leaning over him. Those two combined lead him to the harrowing conclusion that his mate woke him up in the middle of the night, for seemingly no good reason.

He opens his mouth to give Shuji an ear full, but a hand presses over it before he can.

That’s when he hears a soft shuffling of footsteps outside, hushed voices. That’s also when the panic sets in. Because he knows that while there is no shortage of idiots in the pack, he also knows that no one would be stupid enough to seek out Shuji’s hut in the dead of night.

And Shuji seems to know that as well. If not for the way he is fully dressed, then for the way he lays a finger against his lips and then lowers his hand, raises it up and then drops it, as if to tell Chifuyu, breathe.

He does, a bit stuttered, pants out a breath against Shuji’s hand. His eyebrows scrunch up on their own, he feels his expression turn pleading beyond his control, silently begging for something he isn’t even sure of himself.

Shuji smiles and pulls his hand away. He shakes his head, denying Chifuyu’s plea, seems to understand better than he does what it means.

The shuffle of feet outside gets closer, the voices increasingly getting more clear. From what Chifuyu can make out, they’re surrounded on all sides.

Shuji turns around to look at the back door for a moment, sighs, then looks at Chifuyu again.

“I,” he mouths, a hand pressing against his own chest, “love,” still silent, he smiles, “you.” He rests his hand on Chifuyu’s chest, over his rapidly beating heart.

Chifuyu sits up, shaking his head, dizzy with the finality in Shuji’s words. Desperate, scared, everything in between.

He returns the gesture, presses his hand over Shuji’s, then lays it against his mate’s chest, feels the steady beating of his heart, no trace of fear. Searches his eyes for something, anything— clarity, reassurance, but only finds quiet resignation.

Shuji lets his hand slide down and rests it over Chifuyu’s stomach, breathing in deeply. The voices get closer, three, maybe four of them on their back porch, still too muffled to make out any of their words.

“Promise me,” he hisses, as quietly as he can, scrambling to grab Shuji’s wrist when he gets up. “Promise me you won’t die.”

A single, infinite moment between them. Shuji looks down at him with a smile, tugs his wrist up so he can tangle their fingers together instead, and there, Chifuyu vows he’ll stay— surrounded by darkness, their mingling scents, and the soft, golden glow of Shuji’s eyes.

“For you,” Shuji whispers, taking a step back, their hands at the centre, their infinity of growing distance, “the world.”

Their connection breaks with their falling hands.

Shuji clears his throat loudly and slams a hand against the wooden walls, the footsteps and voices coming to an abrupt end.

Chifuyu rushes to pull on the first clothes he gets his hands on, pulling them from the borders of his nest— a pair of his own pants, and one of Shuji’s shirts, far too big on him.

“Friends!” Shuji exclaims as he rips open the door, “to what do I owe the pleasure?”

The moonlight that streams into the hut reflects off Chifuyu’s sword, leaned against the wall opposite him, no more than five steps away. Its glint is mocking, taunting him with how unreachable it is.

He forces himself to kneel and stay frozen when Shuji stumbles backwards, catching himself with a hand against the wall, only grunting from the impact of a fist connecting with its target.

Three men enter the hut, the one in front the largest of them, stiff in the way he walks, a threat in his heavy footsteps.

“I’ll take it this isn’t a happy reunion then,” Shuji mutters after he spits out blood.

“Quit playing around, Hanma,” the man in front grunts. He nods in Chifuyu’s direction without looking at him. “Shion, grab the omega.”

“Careful now, Mucho,” Shuji drawls as one of the smaller men approaches Chifuyu. “A single hair on his head gets harmed and I might reconsider my decision not to fight you.”

The biggest man, Mucho, scoffs. “He’ll be fine as long as you cooperate. And shut up, while you’re at it.”

A metallic sound rings through the night, but Chifuyu doesn’t get the chance to see what caused it. Not until after he pushes himself to his feet and snarls at the beta who approached him, Shion, a warning and a surrender.

“Don’t touch me. I’ll come quietly.”

Still, his hands are tied behind his back with rope, not the source of the sound, which he finds when he’s pushed next to Shuji, a heavy iron collar to prevent shifting hanging around his neck.

It’s a sickening sight, both the collar and the trickle of blood that drips down Shuji’s chin, as well as the tension he holds himself with, staring ahead with his jaw visibly clenched.

“Should I collar the omega?” Shion asks, both him and the other two standing behind them.

“No need,” the third voice says. “He’s pregnant. Nothing he can do anyway.”

Chifuyu curses himself for his lack of earlier recognition, the third voice cutting him down to his bones, making him shake from silent anger.

“If not for your brother,” he says, his voice wavering as he turns to look over his shoulder, to now see the silhouette of the third man more clearly, “I would curse your entire bloodline, Ran.”

He’ll never know if the bastard has the gall to look at Chifuyu, a push against his back forcing him to turn around and face the front of the hut.

With each step he takes, he can hear the muttering of voices more clearly. He isn’t sure, doesn’t dare assume— but it sounds like the entire pack is gathered outside their hut.

Chifuyu inhales with a shudder, tears already pricking at his eyes, and hopes that when the sun rises, the world will seem less bleak.

Chapter Text

PART IV — Guilt

The warmth of where Shuji had laid his hand against Chifuyu’s chest still lingers. The image of his lips forming the words, the promise, ’I love you’, silently, for just the two of them, is still clear in his mind.

That is what he holds onto, as Shion pushes him onto the porch of their hut, approaching the gathering of people outside— faces both familiar and unfamiliar.

Standing in the middle, a man whose eyes send a shiver down Chifuyu’s spine. Dark and void of any light, as though the moonlight is sucked right into them. The man doesn’t need any further introduction. The descriptions Shuji gave about him were vivid enough to make it clear exactly who they’re dealing with here.

Izana, flanked by two men much bigger than him, watching them with a vacant smile.

Almost instinctively, Chifuyu digs his heels in the ground in an attempt to scramble back, both his omega and wolf flaring up inside his mind to get as far away from Izana as possible. Shion growls out a threat to cooperate, struggling to keep Chifuyu moving forward.

Chifuyu spits out an insult, desperation rising by the second. He manages to cast a look over his shoulder, gets a glimpse of Shuji’s blank expression, and faintly registers a low whistle in the background.

Footsteps approach, heavy despite being dampened by the dirt. The scent reaches Chifuyu before the alpha it belongs to does— unpleasantly strong, spices and rust and earth mingling together.

Shion pushes him forward, causing Chifuyu to stumble right into one of the men who stood beside Izana. Not only tall, but broad, with the expected energy of an alpha of that stature. He looks down at Chifuyu with a predatory glint in his eyes. Without saying a word, he rips him loose from Shion’s grip, clamps a hand down on the nape of his neck and squeezes until the fight leaves Chifuyu, body forcibly relaxing while his mind continues to rage and scream.

A voice carries across the clearing, a call of gratitude to someone named Mochi. It takes a moment for Chifuyu to realise it was Izana, dazed as the grip around his nape makes him feel, addressing the alpha that’s currently pushing him forward.

They pass Izana and the remaining alpha at his side. It’s hard to make out many details in his current state, but the jagged scar running across the man’s face doesn’t escape Chifuyu’s notice. Neither of them spares them even a glance. They keep staring ahead as Mochi positions Chifuyu a few steps behind the pair. He forcibly turns him to face Shuji, the grip on his nape only tightening.

The collar around Shuji’s neck glints in the moonlight, the iron a stark contrast against his pale neck. Still, he carries himself with pride, his head held high as Mucho pushes him forward, down the stairs. His sharp eyes are fixed on Izana, not even so much as glancing at all the people that surround him.

He stays proud. Unflinching when Mucho forces him down on his knees in front of Izana, his face set in stone when the alpha yanks his head back by the hair.

For a long moment, no one says anything. The grip on Chifuyu’s nape slowly eases a bit, until it only serves to keep him in place and not subdue him. He blinks his eyes to clear the fuzziness away, forces his panic down, and looks around the crowd.

On the right side, huddled together, stand the people Chifuyu trusts. Ryusei in the middle of them, wearing an expression he’s never seen on the beta before. Cold, the usual glint from his eyes gone, his lips pressed together in a thin line. He has his arms crossed, stare boring in the side of Shuji’s face.

They’re surrounded by members from the southern pack, but there's a clear divide in the pack. People who trust Shuji and people who don’t.

On the opposite side stand Izana’s people. Strangers who glare at Shuji, no effort made to hide their disgust. Only one familiar face is among them— Rindou, who looks smaller than Chifuyu has ever seen him look. He stands with eyes downcast and doesn’t move when Ran and Shion join him at his side.

His attention is drawn back to Izana. The beta finally moves. He rolls his shoulders and takes a few steps towards Shuji.

“It’s been a while,” he says, walking a slow circle around Shuji. “Remind me when our paths last crossed, pup.”

Shuji sighs and shifts on his knees. “The feast before we left for the north. Punched out one of Kanji’s teeth after he nearly snapped my wrist during a, ah, friendly sparring match, if I recall correctly.”

The alpha behind Chifuyu grumbles something under his breath, evidently the person Shuji is referring to.

Izana hums and stops in front of Shuji. “That, you did.”

It happens too fast to really process. One moment, Shuji is still sitting upright, grinning up at Izana. The next, he’s being pulled back up by Mucho after a swift kick to the jaw, spluttering and groaning, spitting out blood.

Chifuyu gasps a beat too late. He tries to surge forward but Mochi keeps him in place, free hand gripping his shoulder painfully.

“Easy, omega,” the alpha grunts. His voice is deep— not pleasantly so like Shuji’s, whose deep and lilting drawl soothes Chifuyu in ways he didn’t even imagine were possible. Mochi’s voice is deep like the dark waters below a frozen lake, a hint of death hiding in it.

Shuji finds his composure impressively fast. He bares his bloody teeth in a wide grin. “Mochi couldn’t get back at me himself?”

“No need for him to exert himself when I’m right here,” Izana replies. Both of them speak with a playfulness to their tones, like old friends bickering with nothing to lose or win. “It is good to see you like this, Shuji. I’ll admit, I’ve dreamed of this sight ever since you managed to infiltrate my brother’s pack.”

“You’ve dreamed of me on my knees?” Shuji coos. “I’m honoured, truly. The sentiment is entirely mutual.”

The alpha right in front of Chifuyu shifts, his shoulders tensing. A mated pair, he suspects, Izana and whatever the man’s name is.

“Why, how disappointing it must be then, to find yourself in this position and not me.” Izana sets a hand on one of his hips, cocking his head to the side. “You know, Shuji… Despite everything, I don’t blame you. Not really.” He sounds genuinely sympathetic when he says it. Chifuyu is glad he can’t see Izana’s face from his position. “I think it’s in your blood, pup.”

Shuji clicks his tongue. “Gotta admit, Izana, I have no clue what you’re talking about.”

“Ah, don’t play dumb. That’s so tiring.” Izana starts to pace, hands stuffed into his pockets, head tilted up to look at the sky. “Your sire, betraying Shinichiro after months of peace-negotiations. Your dam, still giving him an heir after her home village was destroyed. A union between two people with no honour.” He comes to a stop and looks at Shuji. “See what I mean? If there’s something wrong with the pup, you can usually trace it back to the bitch that gave it life.”

“Ah.” Shuji chuckles and shakes his head. “Your mother must’ve been a real sweetheart then.”

Just as fast as the previous time, Izana is back in front of Shuji. He reels back a fist and punches him, connecting with his nose in a sickening crunch that snaps Shuji’s head to the side.

“Now, let’s not insult my mother,” Izana says, shaking his hand loose.

“You started it,” Shuji grunts, his eyes squeezed shut. Blood streams from his nose. It trickles past his lips and drips down his chin, small dots of red littering the ground below him.

And maybe, he heard the sound of distress Chifuyu couldn’t keep in, or maybe, he doesn’t enjoy pain as much as he liked to joke about. When he turns his head back and meets Chifuyu’s eye, pain and remorse flash across his face. They disappear instantly when Izana starts to talk again, but the image of Shuji’s desperation stays etched into Chifuyu’s mind.

Shuji licks the blood from his upper lips and tilts his head down to let the blood flow more freely, glaring up at Izana through his eyelashes.

“Enough playing around,” Izana is saying, back to his pacing. “We all knew this day would come and now that it’s here, I find that I want to get it over with as quickly as possible.”

“What day?” Shuji asks, corners of his mouth twitching, as if he’s straining to keep his grin in place.

“The day where you’d finally be caught in the process of finishing what your sire started.”

It doesn’t come as a surprise. Chifuyu thinks that he’s been prepared for this day as well. Thinks that maybe, everything that’s happened was always leading up to this. Still, he lets out a pathetic little whimper, straining against the hold on his neck, wishing he could be there at Shuji’s side for yet another round of wrongful accusations. Just to sit with him and hold his hand, whisper reminders that he’s not his sire, that he’s not anyone else but Shuji, and if he ever would be anything else, he’d still be Chifuyu’s.

At first glance, nothing about Shuji shows that he’s aching in the way that Chifuyu is— for closeness, reassurance, support. But it’s there. It’s hiding in the way he glances at him for a moment, his grin fading for one brief moment before it returns.

The way Shuji hides his vulnerability in plain sight, only meant for Chifuyu to see— there is trust in it, and there is strength in that. Proof of their promise. Reassurance that even if Izana’s arrival means their departure, they will walk the path back north together, and find their way from there.

“Finish what he started?” he asks, drawing out each syllable. “Be a dear and help me, Izana. I was quite young when he died so I don’t fully remember his grand plans.”

“Pup,” Izana tuts. “Come, now. Can’t we be honest with one another? I already talked to your friends from the west. I was almost disappointed when they told me about their informant. Having Kisaki pass information about the south to them? If you want to play smart with me now, you shouldn’t have made such an obvious mistake.”

Shuji goes completely still. His grin falls, mouth going slack as he stares at Izana.

“What?”

Chifuyu’s heart clenches. It skips a couple of beats.

Of all the things that could’ve betrayed Shuji, it was love.

“Coming here after what Ran told me, I was already sure of my own actions. But after hearing that…” Izana sighs and shakes his head. “My brother has trusted you from the moment he met you and you somehow managed to turn one of his closest advisors against him. I’d kill you now, but I’m afraid Mikey wouldn’t take too kindly to that. Not until he can talk to you himself.”

From across the clearing, Chifuyu catches sight of Ryusei. He sees the beta’s face darken, his shoulders tensing up. Anger radiates from him, palpable even through the distance between them. It’s a sentiment shared by the rest of the pack— grim expressions, scowls and bared teeth.

“But,” Izana goes on, and all the playfulness is gone from his voice. It’s soft and threatening. “After he does talk to you, Shuji Hanma, I assure you, I will personally tear you and your homeland apart. This world will finally be freed from the curse that your ancestors unleashed upon it.”

He takes a step closer to Shuji, and crouches down in front of him. With a finger curled under his chin, he tips his head up. “You made a mistake, you hear me? And I will see to it that you pay for it. In this life, in the next, in all the ones that come after that. It will end with you. In blood, in pain, in agony. This will all end with you.”

Shuji’s head slumps forward when Izana lets him go.

The beta easily gets back up and twirls around. His dark eyes settle on Chifuyu, who can’t do anything but stay frozen in place, unable to keep the terror he feels hidden.

“Which brings me, of course, to you.” Izana smiles. “See, after Ran told me everything, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out how Shuji here could have gotten so far. But, now that I see you, I think I understand.” He looks Chifuyu over. “Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m not one for omegas, but you look cute. Only made cuter by your pregnancy. Right, Mochi? Doesn’t he look cute, all soft and vulnerable?”

Mochi makes a non-committal grunt. His hands remain on Chifuyu, but he takes half a step back.

“Don’t mind him,” Izana says. “Omegas don’t usually like him, so he’s convinced himself he doesn’t like them either. But you look adorable. Which I can only assume really helped in the whole getting my brother’s pack to trust you, hm?”

“Izana.” Ryusei steps forward. The sound of his voice nearly makes Chifuyu sob, a wave of relief crashing over him. “What are you getting at here?”

Izana smiles when he faces Ryusei. “Ah, Ryu. Last time we saw each other, you were still practically locked around Shuji’s knot. And now you’re defending his mate. How does that work, exactly?” He sighs when Ryusei stays silent. “Guess you never really were the jealous type.”

He walks over to Ryusei and slings an arm around his shoulders. “Let me lay it out for you, puppy. See all these angry faces, now that I’ve brought up the omega?”

Chifuyu follows Izana’s finger as he points around at everyone. Now that he’s paying attention, he sees that everyone has shifted their glares from Shuji to the beta.

Perhaps in any other situation, Chifuyu would’ve been grateful for everyone’s loyalty to him. But when it’s loyalty only extended to him, depriving Shuji of the same grace — it’s meaningless.

“Now, imagine,” Izana goes on, pulling Ryusei closer, “if instead of a cute little pregnant belly, it was a real pup in his arms. Living, breathing, bonded to everyone here. They all look ready to jump me now. Imagine what they’d be willing to do after he gives birth.”

Chifuyu’s eyes widen, a sinking feeling in his stomach.

“Let’s imagine, just for a second, that my darling Ran hadn’t come to warn me. Shuji continues without issue. His heir gets born. And then, my brother shows up. Shuji turns against him. What. Would. Happen.” He pokes Ryusei’s chest with every word. “If Mikey tries to put a stop to Shuji and inevitably realises that in order to do that, he’d have to end the Hanma heir as well. That would cause quite the uproar, no?”

Ryusei closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. “I don’t see how any of that has to do with Chifuyu.”

“I’m glad you asked. That’s what we’re here to find out, pup.” Izana drags Ryusei around to face Chifuyu. “Tell me, omega. What did your alpha promise you?”

Chifuyu keeps his lips pressed together, meeting Izana’s eyes with effort.

“Come, now. I know how you northerners are. Stubborn, no regard for life outside your borders, uncooperative and uncaring, but… Loyal to your own people.” Izana smiles. “So, what did he promise, for you to turn your back on your people, just as his dam did? The western as well as the southern territories to rule over? Enough numbers to call the entire north your own too, with time?”

Mochi squeezes Chifuyu’s neck and lets out a warning growl.

From where he stands, he can’t see Shuji past Izana and Ryusei. Can’t see what Shuji looks like when Chifuyu says, “he- he promised me to love me. Nothing more and nothing less.”

Izana lets out a giggle. “Oh, that’s cute.” He squeezes Ryusei’s neck tighter. “Isn’t that so cute? No wonder everyone here looks so smitten with you. Mochi, isn’t that just so precious?”

Izana hisses the last word, some sort of command in it, because Mochi pushes Chifuyu away from him.

He stumbles further into the semi-circle, closer to Izana. As fast as he’s proven to be, he’s with Chifuyu in an instant, grabbing his upper arm to steady him.

“Cute,” he all but growls in his face. “But not cute enough to make me wonder— would it be best to put an end to you now? Before your pup can be used as a pawn? It’d be a mercy, if you ask me, no? A swift death, warm and cozy in the womb.” His eyes jump back and forth, studying Chifuyu carefully. “Without knowing that the only reason they would be born, was to lure in my brother’s pack, bind them to you and your alpha, turn them against him…”

Chifuyu’s heart stutters. His eyes grow wide. All the breath leaves him. He struggles against his restraints, overcome with a burning need to cover his stomach, shield his pup, keep them safe, alive, his, Shuji’s—

“Izana!”

For a moment, Shuji’s booming voice is all that exists. Nothing else reaches through the deafening echo it causes.

When Izana spins around, Chifuyu can see Shuji. Somehow, risen to his feet. Somehow, Mucho stumbling backwards.

And just for one moment longer, Shuji remains all there is. The fire in his eyes, devastatingly beautiful, Chifuyu’s calm in this storm, until—

“He isn’t involved,” Shuji says, and something shifts in his eyes. “He’s been a pretty distraction, something to lay myself down with at the end of a long day spent amongst these idiots.” He spits the word out, whips his head around to look around the pack. “You tiring, predictable idiots. All those theatrics, voting against me as a leader. Did you think that would stop all that’s been set into motion? Do you, Izana, think you have the power to stop it?”

Shuji barks out a harsh laugh. Chifuyu feels his knees buckle, almost grateful for Izana’s continued grip on his arm to keep him standing.

“Do you think I’d risk my plans by involving an omega with no real knowledge about the world outside of his cosy village? I needed him, sure, but to get him involved? Please.”

Shuji laughs again and Chifuyu still can’t remember how to breathe. His chest is rapidly rising and falling, but his lungs burn from lack of oxygen.

“All of this has been in the works for years. And you’re too late, Izana. The attack was one of the last steps. The sacrifice of nine nobodies from Inupi’s pack back home, almost killing me to garner the final bits of sympathy I needed. Would’ve worked a bit better if Ran hadn’t fled to you with his tail between his legs, but—”

“Shuji?” Chifuyu is surprised that his weak, breathless voice manages to draw Shuji’s attention enough to shut him up. “Shuji,” he rasps again. “Shu, what are you doing?”

“But it worked for you, didn’t it?” Shuji goes on, his voice almost gentle. “Worked like a charm, to almost die in your arms. Got you right where I wanted you. For- for years, I’ve travelled around and, heard about you.” A sigh, small and wistful. “The son of the great Matsuno, the potential for so much power— the power to bring the north together once and for all, if only he had an alpha at his side.” His eyes narrow. “Exactly the kinda power I’d need to restore the west to its former glory.”

Chifuyu shakes his head. He tries to stutter out more protests, but the words die on his tongue. He can’t seem to get the trembling of his body under control, feels tears clinging to his lashes, only made worse by the way Izana’s grip shifts— from bruising to nearly soft, a genuine support to keep him upright.

“You made it so easy for me,” Shuji continues, his lips curling into a smile. “So easy, Chifuyu, my love.” Mocking, the way he says it, his smile slowly morphing into a grin. “I really wish I could’ve kept this from you for longer. Winning you over has been so fun and now I won’t even get to fully enjoy the results of all my hard work.”

“Shuji,” Chifuyu tries again, despite the venom in Shuji’s words, despite the way he feels his whole body turn cold, goosebumps erupting all over his skin. “Shuji, what are- why are you doing this? Tell him you’re lying.” All he gets is silence. “Please? Shu? Shuji, you c-can’t trick me, Shu, I-I know you, I trust you, I—”

A sob forces it ways past his lips before he can say what he wants to say. The truth he’s been keeping to himself. The true depth of what he feels. Even now, swallowing down the bitter taste of betrayal, choking on his own tears. He feels it, aches with it, but no matter how hard he tries, he can’t force the words past his lips.

Sweet, he thinks, is what it’d taste like to say. Hopes it tasted sweet for Shuji too, the last time he said it.

His vision blurs further. His throat starts to hurt from the strain of stifling his cries. Chifuyu squeezes his eyes shut and tries to remember what Shuji’s hand had felt like, softly pressed against his chest.

“Are you, Shuji?” Izana asks from next to Chifuyu. “Lying? I wouldn’t take you as one to be self-sacrificial, but perhaps, love changes a man.”

Love. Chifuyu’s eyes snap open. The mere mention of it seems to break his chest open, a cold grip closing around his heart.

Shuji laughs again. Even through his tears, Chifuyu can make out his expression. He looks wild. Someone dangerous. Someone he’s never met before.

All Chifuyu can do is groan a soft, “no”, before he loses his breath all over again, pathetic and useless, unable to stop crying no matter how bad he wants to say more, so much more.

“I have no reason to lie anymore,” Shuji says, rolling his shoulders. “Koko’s arrival was confirmation that everything’s set into place. Whether I live or die, whether my pup lives or dies, Izana, it doesn’t matter. Everything my father wanted for me will be achieved. Me being alive to see it was never part of it.”

Izana tightens his grip on Chifuyu’s arm again. “What do you think, pup? Should I keep you alive on the off-chance that you really didn’t know?” He looks at him. “Your crying sure is convincing.”

“He has nothing to do with it.” Ryusei’s voice is calm and easily breaks through the fog clouding Chifuyu’s mind.

“Oh?” Izana tilts his head to the side.

Ryusei comes to a stop next to Shuji, both of their faces blank and expressionless while they look each other over. “You talk in your sleep, Hanma, you know that? Told me everything I needed to know after I let you fuck me.”

Another sob wrenches itself from Chifuyu, nearly painful in the way his body tightens with it. His cheeks heat from the frustration, the shame, so many other things he can’t put a name to. He turns his face away and tries his best to hide away with his hands bound.

“When Hanma first joined this pack,” Ryusei says, “Mikey asked me to keep close to him and find out whether or not we could trust him. For the same reasons, I kept close to Chifuyu from the beginning and I am telling you— he didn’t know. Neither did anyone else, beyond their own suspicions.”

“How convenient,” Izana hums, distractedly patting Chifuyu’s shoulder, “that you’d be the only one to know about all of this.”

“I know what it sounds like.” Ryusei bows his head. “I was waiting for Mikey to return. Counted on it being not too long before the pup was born, before Hanma could get the chance to leave.”

Izana hums. Chifuyu turns his head slightly, squints to make out his expression, remembering belatedly that he should be worried about his own fate, rather than drown in the breaking of his heart.

“I stopped being with Keisuke and Kazutora to get closer to him,” Ryusei continues. “You know I’ve always been with them, Izana. You know I’d never leave them on my own.” He swivels around to look at Keisuke, the other omega freezing under the sudden attention. “Tell him what I told you that night.”

“You…” Keisuke frowns, eyes jumping between Ryusei and Izana. “You said you’d explain one day, why you were choosing to distance yourself from us.”

Izana hums again. He lifts a hand up, propping his chin in it. “Really now?”

“It was your brother’s request to keep it from you.” Ryusei turns back around to look at Izana. “He didn’t want to burden you. Wanted to prove that he could take care of this pack without your help.”

Something softens in Izana’s expression and Chifuyu hates it, hates that he looks so human at the mention of his brother.

“You can keep me locked up until one of your people reaches Mikey and he can confirm what I told you,” Ryusei goes on, and Chifuyu hates that too. “I’d understand. But Chifuyu is innocent. I swear on my life. Please, let him go.”

He extends his arms out when he says it, and after another hum, Izana gives Chifuyu a push in Ryusei’s direction.

Being wrapped up in Ryusei’s embrace further breaks something Chifuyu fears won’t ever be mended again. He feels it rip through him, tearing its way through muscle and bone. He buries his face against Ryusei’s chest, lets it stifle his crying, and allows himself to be held.

“Hey, you’re okay.” Ryusei keeps whispering, tugging at Chifuyu’s restraints to free his wrists. “You’re okay, Fuyu. It’s okay.”

“Now, Shuji, puppy, want to enlighten me and the pack about your sire’s vision for your future?” Izana asks. “I think they deserve to hear what you’ve been plotting while you ate their food, enjoyed their companionship, lived with them as a friend.”

Shuji laughs. “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Chifuyu turns his head, watches as Izana walks over to help Mucho back up. They step in front of Shuji. Izana looks somewhat amused. Mucho looks annoyed.

“I would like to know, yes.” Izana smiles, his head tilting to the side. “Somehow, I find it hard to believe that any plans could be carried out without you present. See…” He hums and crosses his arms, leaning towards Mucho. “I think he is lying, Mucho. What’d you think?”

“I think you’re right, Izana.”

Shuji makes an affronted sound, glaring up at them. “I really don’t lie as often as you people like to believe I do, you know? I’m hurt that you’d think so.”

“Ah, my apologies. It wasn’t my intention to question your honour.”

Izana kicks him again. His foot connects with the side of Shuji’s ribs, drawing a pained groan from him when he hits the ground.

Chifuyu whimpers at the sting in his bonding mark.

“Very little to question about your honour, after all,” Izana sighs. “Come, pup. Out with it.”

Shuji wheezes for breath, still gasping when Mucho pulls him back to his knees and stays hunched in on himself, face drawn up into a scowl.

“I’ve got—“ Shuji curses under his breath, somehow managing to lift his head to scowl at the pair. “I’ve got a lot of friends in a lot of places. Very nice ones. The kind that knows how to stay hidden until they’re needed.”

He chuckles after he says it and tips his head back, then left and right, seemingly rolling any stiffness out of his neck, but—

There is a split second where he looks at Chifuyu and the sharpness of Shuji’s eyes cuts through him, sends a shock up his spine.

Everything clicks together. The world shifts under his feet. He hears Ryusei gasp, scrambling to keep him upright.

In that moment, Chifuyu thinks he hates Shuji. Hates who he is, hates who he lied about being. Hates all the subtle warnings about Shuji’s selfishness, hates how he ignored them and refused to see them for what they really were.

He hates it all. Hates himself, most of all. Blinded by his need to care for Shuji, rather than listening to what he’s been trying to tell him all along. ‘The inevitability of things like these’, as he’d said.

Chifuyu tries to swat Ryusei away. He shakes his head and groans, forcing himself into motion to step forward. “The-the Chos,” he gasps, and then sobs again. His stomach turns. He’s nauseous and dizzy— in complete and utter disbelief that Shuji would do this to him, would force him to do this for Shuji, to Shuji. Angry because of it. Angry at his mate.

With his eyes squeezed shut, he chokes out, “he sent— Chos.”

There’s a murmur of voices.

“The what?” Izana asks. “What’s he blabbering about? What are chos?”

There’s an arm wrapping around his waist. Footsteps approaching. The buzz of voices picks up in volume.

“Chifuyu,” a new voice says, close to him, the scent of an alpha, but pleasant, warm. “Can you explain, please?”

He opens his eyes, blinks away more tears and looks up at the alpha in front of him. The one with the scar, one blinded eye, and an expression that’s void of hostility.

“Give him some space, Kakucho…”

“I need him to speak clearly.”

“I need you to back off.”

“He sent the Chos away,” Chifuyu groans, drowning out the growls from both Ryusei and this Kakucho.

Kakucho nods slowly. “And the Chos are?”

Chifuyu opens his mouth, but when he thinks of how to explain Chonbo, Chome and Choji, he remembers laughing about them with Shuji. Not even a day passed since then, when he was cuddled up on his mate’s lap, safe and warm and loved.

It hits him harder than anything so far. He attempts to answer, but his voice doesn’t even come out anymore, only wheezed breaths and more choked sobbing.

“Chifuyu,” he hears Shuji drawl, feigned playfulness to cover up the dark warning.

Somehow, it forces clarity onto Chifuyu, makes him ball up his fists and spit out, “he sent them east. The second he knew h-he lost. Sent the Chos east.”

Ryusei fills in the gaps in a low murmur. “The three betas that were always around Hanma. Their names are Chome, Chonbo and Choji. And— and he sent them east, Chifuyu?”

Chifuyu nods. He feels sick doing so.

“Okay,” he hears Kakucho say, his voice distant despite being right in front of him. “Okay. Thank you, Chifuyu. I think you’ve had enough for one night.”

“And I think,” Izana says, sounding so much closer, the shape of him just a blur, “that I need more.”

“Izana, look at him.”

Chifuyu shakes his head and hides his face in his hands, fighting to steady his breathing and get his sniffling under control. He wants to say more, knows he needs to say more. The information he’s been given is his for a reason. It needs to be shared.

“Omegas…” Izana mutters. “Fine. Get him inside. We’ll take Hanma and get the answers from him.”

There’s voices. A shuffle of feet. Chifuyu can’t keep track of it anymore.

“Ryusei,” he hears, thinks it might be Izana. “You go to your hut. Mochi’ll stay with him.”

“Like hell he will! I’m staying—“

“Beta.” Kakucho this time. “Leave. We haven’t made up our minds about you yet.”

“He needs me!”

“What he needs is a good few hours of sleep and for me to not kill you if you don’t move.”

“Go,” Chifuyu chokes out. He thinks he hates Ryusei, too. “Y-you knew all along. Didn’t— you didn’t even warn me.”

There’s a soft chuckle. Izana. A grumble of disapproval. Kakucho. And warm hands cupping his face. Ryusei.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers, repeating it when Chifuyu shakes his head loose and pushes him off. “I’m sorry.”

Chifuyu shakes his head and wraps his arms around himself. He glances around the clearing, sees how most of the pack is walking away. Sees the stiff backs of those he thought he could trust— isn’t so sure anymore now. He fears they caught on before he did and let him discover it all on his own. All of them, so much more familiar with Shuji, leaving Chifuyu to feel his way around in the dark, coming to all the wrong conclusions.

Left him to make choices he doesn’t want to make. To become a liar himself.

In the middle of the clearing, Shuji still kneels. He isn’t looking at Chifuyu, but Chifuyu is looking at him, and he thinks, he doesn’t hate him at all. It only makes him hate Shuji more.

“Tomorrow,” he hears Izana say, “we’ll have a nice chat, little omega. Don’t do anything stupid before we do.”

“Chifuyu,” Ryusei calls, Kakucho’s hand planted in the middle of his back to lead him away. “Fuyu, I’m sorry!”

“Touching.” Izana rolls his eyes and twirls around, joins Kakucho and waves a hand in Shuji’s direction. “Take the Hanma pup, Mucho.”

Shuji doesn’t look at Chifuyu when Mucho hauls him up to his feet. He doesn’t look at anyone, keeps staring at the ground with a blank face, and doesn’t give any sort of protest at being led away.

Chifuyu, however, keeps looking at Shuji. He feels his breathing turn less shallow the longer he looks at Shuji, until he disappears between the trees, until the tears stop flowing and he can look at Mochi with some semblance of dignity.

“Please don’t touch me,” he says, somewhat evenly, when the alpha moves to grab Chifuyu’s arm.

Mochi looks him over. “Not gonna run away?”

“Where would I run?” Chifuyu asks with a shake of his head, slowly turning in the direction of their hut. His hut. Once again occupied by only one person. “My home’s right here.”

The first few steps are hard, Mochi’s presence looming over him from behind. They get easier the more he takes. Easy to keep his trembling body under control, easy to keep his scent clear, all of it easy, now that he feels it again; that fire he thought was reduced to just embers years ago.

It’s easy to nod when Mochi mutters something about staying outside, warns him not to try and flee, easy to keep it all in until he steps inside his hut and slides the doors shut behind him.

When he’s alone, it gets less easy. It takes a second, maybe two, for every emotion to burst at once.

Chifuyu screams, long and loud and painful, his throat and lungs burning. He screams until it hurts, hands fisted into his hair.

Then, he screams some more. He kicks at a pillow and sends it flying, storms after it to grab it and presses his face into his, the next scream he lets out muffled against it.

He screams until he’s hoarse, until he’s out of breath, chest rapidly rising and falling. He tears his nest apart, all while muttering under his breath, cursing Shuji, Ryusei, himself, his mother and his father, everyone.

By the time he calms down, it looks like a storm tore through the hut, blankets and pillows strewn everywhere. He sits in the ruins of his nest, gasping for breath.

“Goddamnit,” he grits, head falling back against the wall, eyes squeezed shut. “I’m gonna kill him. I’m actually gonna do it. Damn it. Damn it!” He lays his hands against his belly and glares down at it. “I swear to the gods, if you turn out to be a good for nothing alpha, I will disown you. Damn it!”

“That cursed beta as well,” he grumbles, absentmindedly stroking his hands up and down his stomach. “I’m going to tear him limb for limb. It’s going to be glorious. I can’t wait. And then, we can find you a new father, hm, puppy? A nice one. One that just does what I tell him to without question. One that’s capable of using his brain.” As an afterthought, just because he’s feeling angry and petty, he adds, “one with a better cock.”

He thinks about Shuji. His stupid smile, the sound of his laugh, what he looks like when he comes.

“Why am I still here, pup?” he asks, sighing. “I could just leave. Say to him, you wanna die so bad? Be my guest. Find an alpha that doesn’t live in a place that’s so damned hot all the time. What does he even expect me to do? Ungrateful, ugly, stupid—”

It’s then that he feels it. For the first time. A small flutter, like a tiny butterfly, in his stomach.

“Oh.” Chifuyu rapidly blinks his eyes and clears them of the tears that spring up. He laughs when it doesn’t work, tears sliding down his cheeks. “I see how it is. Taking his side, huh? You treacherous little leech. What’s he ever done for you? I’m growing you in my body.”

Another flutter, just the faintest sensation, and Chifuyu tries to stay mad, he really, really tries, but—

“Gods, he’s missing the first time I feel you. Oh, I’m going to kill him.” He cries, silent and still, not nearly as violent and painful as all the crying he’s done so far, lying on the hard floor of a hut that isn’t meant to ever be occupied by only one person. “Damn it, pup,” he whispers. “Damn it all, I love him. Damn it.”

He sits up abruptly and pushes his hands against his eyes, furiously rubbing the tears away.

“Okay, alright, alright, okay, yes. Damn it. I hate him. I love him so much I hate him.”

For a long time, Chifuyu paces up and down the hut, thinking and thinking and thinking. He thinks until his head hurts, paces until his legs grow tired and his back aches. He goes over every detail twice, then again. And again, until he’s looked at the situation from every possible angle, and then continues to analyse it.

All his thinking leads him to Shuji’s chest. He thinks about Souya ripping all of Rindou’s clothes apart and he considers it, pulling out article after article of clothing, until he stumbles upon the deep purple robe Shuji wore during their ceremony.

With a sigh, he lets himself fall to the ground, pulling the robe into his lap. He remembers seeing the Hanma symbols for the first time. Stark black thread against shimmery purple. He wonders who decided those two promises would represent an entire bloodline.

He turns the robe over, just to see the embroidery again, to run his fingers along the golden moon cycle that’s circled around them.

What he finds takes him by surprise. Chokes him up again, tears springing to his eyes.

Where Sin and Punishment used to be, is now a needle stuck into the fabric, thread wound around it to keep it in place. There’s still a hint of the old embroidery, tiny holes punctured into the fabric where it used to be, but over half of the original design is covered by the same golden thread used for the moon cycle.

The first symbol for Matsuno covers the traces of Sin. Shimmery and smooth, care evident in its stitching.

It’s an instinctual thing, the way he shoves open his chest to feel around for his own robe. A lighter purple, tucked away to the bottom of the chest. He takes it out and immediately turns it around, sees in his own robe how Shuji’s would look, if he had gotten the chance to finish it.

Matsuno, fully spelled out, glittering golden on the back.

“Shuji,” he whispers, laying the robes out together, looking between his own finished design and Shuji’s half-finished embroidery. “You’re such a bastard…”

As Chifuyu rebuilds his nest, he comes to terms with two things.

Shuji. Truly his mother’s son. A brilliant liar. Brilliant to the point of believing his own lies. Presenting himself as fighting against his sire’s legacy, when it’s more clear than ever that he gave up on that fight a long time ago. Seeking redemption for what he must assume was a battle long lost. Sealing his fate before anyone else could do it for him. A desperate attempt to regain control over his own destiny. The final chance for him to do so— end it all on his own terms.

Selfish and selfless at the same time. Chifuyu curses him for it.

And then, lying in his nest, Shuji’s robe held to his chest, Chifuyu comes to terms with himself. Selfish in his own selflessness. So caught up in grief, guilt and regret, that he let himself become complacent, stupidly let himself get so familiar with his burdens that he never even considered shaking them off.

Self-sacrifice as a cover to hide behind. Acceptance as a means to stop trying to change things. Allowing himself to be made small somewhere along the way. Subjecting himself to a way of life, treading in someone else’s footsteps along a path laid out before him, without ever stopping to wonder why he left new traces in the snow when he tried so hard to follow along without leaving a mark.

He thinks he can see a path now, void of any guidance. Doesn’t know what it’ll bring him if he follows it, but knows there is no other option than to walk along it. Knows he needs to carve out a path through thorny bushes, until he can reach a place where the ground isn’t wet with blood and tears.

He knows he’ll need to be braver than he’s ever had to be. Knows that the fear he feels about the future isn’t meant to deter him. Knows that for the good of the pack never should’ve taken priority over the good for himself.

Inevitable, is what he promised Shuji he’d be.

Choosing Shuji, choosing himself, choosing them. Despite the fear, it’s the easiest choice he’s ever had to make. Even if he’s wrong, even if he’ll lead them down a path of ruin— it’d be his choice to do so.

Chifuyu chuckles to himself. He remembers his mother’s words clearly and thinks they’ve never been more true. An alpha truly is nothing without their omega. Only now he knows that without Shuji, he’d be lost too.

In this acceptance, their mutual vulnerability, he finds the strength to make up his mind once and for all.

“Say, pup,” he whispers, softly caressing the curve of his stomach. The hut around him is slowly brightening with the sun’s slow ascend. A new day. “What do you think the weather in the west is like?”

Chapter Text

Chifuyu remembers everything about the day Minori told him about her pregnancy. He remembers her smile, the way her hair was pulled up into a messy bun. Remembers her flushed cheeks, the tears in her eyes. The way her voice cracked when she whispered it to him, the two of them huddled in front of the fireplace in Chifuyu’s hut.

He also remembers the day she realised that Seina’s father had no interest in being involved.

As stupid and naive as he was back then, Minori had to spell it out for him. She’d barely begun to show and was still keeping her pregnancy a secret from the rest of the pack.

The day she told him, he was still convinced that the alpha would show up any day to offer Minori courtship.

She called him a child for his wishful thinking, standing with a bundle of clothes on his doorstep, one eyebrow raised. “Just gonna be me and the pup, Fuyu,” she said. “Now, are you gonna help me break the news to those old hags or not?”

Of course, he did. He washed her hair for her, braided it and tied it up, decorated it with flowers.

Then, he helped dress her. She’d never been one to favour long robes, but that day, she insisted on them.

She made him turn around when she changed into different undergarments— a simple, short robe and a thick skirt. Called him a pervert each time he asked if she was done yet and questioned his disinterest in her when he finally turned without permission to help secure the belt around her middle.

The next layer made him roll his eyes. The robes were light blue, his family’s colours, which Minori insisted was a complete coincidence.

“A coincidence,” Chifuyu muttered, folding the robes to lay neatly against her chest. “That’s hard to believe when I’m sure these are my robes that you stole.”

Minori never admitted guilt and Chifuyu didn’t press her for it. She looked more beautiful in them than he ever would.

“Tie the belt higher,” she whispered when he went to secure it, “and fold it, so it’s not as wide.”

“Mino… They’ll know at first glance if I do that.”

“I know.” She smiled. “That’s the goal.”

So, he did. Tied the belt higher than he usually would. Ignored her scolding when his hand accidentally brushed against one of her breasts in doing so. Took in stride when she smacked him upside the head for it.

When he stepped back to look her over, he was reminded of something he’d forgotten somewhere between Minori brewing rice wine so strong they’d both been sick for three days after drinking the whole bottle and seeing her trip over a branch to fall face-first into the mud.

She was clever. Incredibly so. He realised exactly what she was planning to achieve with her elaborate way of dress.

“What do you think?” she asked, playing coy while she brushed a strand of hair behind her ear.

Chifuyu grinned. Seeing her, seeing the way she instructed him to tie the belt accentuated her tiny bump, was the closest he’d ever gotten to feeling like an alpha.

“I have the strangest urge to knot you.”

“Yeah? You and which cock, omega?” Minori punched him in the arm. “Think this’ll make them feel sorry enough for me not to… I don’t know… Kick me from the pack, or worse, scold me for hours on end.”

It was that day that Chifuyu promised her that if they both hadn’t found mates by the time he needed to take over for his mother, he’d take Minori as his mate and name Seina his heir.

The smile she tried to hide was even brighter than when she told him about her pregnancy.

Years later, it’s still as beautiful in his memory. She is still as beautiful.

He keeps her in his thoughts as he dresses for the day. A simple robe and long skirt he made not too long ago, when the pack insisted on him taking it easy, driven near mad with boredom until Mitsuya gave him some fabric to keep him occupied.

Over the undergarments, a robe in a creamy colour and a silky belt, slightly darker, folded in half to make it more narrow, easier to tie it above his bump and make it stand out more.

The fabric is lighter, not as heavy and stiff as the robes Minori wore. Less regal—and less likely to suffocate him in the heat—but he hopes he looks even half as beautiful as she did, and will get at least half the mercy she got. Half would be enough. He doesn’t need more.

“You know, pup,” he mumbles, smoothing a hand down his stomach, “when you spend years being called pretty by a bunch of slimy alphas, it gets hard to believe.”

He combs his hands through his hair, not nearly long enough to braid it as he did for Minori, but just enough length to pin it to the side and keep his bangs off his forehead.

“But,” he continues, adjusting the collar of the robe so it shows one side of his collarbones, “you make me feel very pretty right now.” He runs his fingertips over the edges of his exposed scar, makes sure only the slightest sliver of it is visible and his bonding mark is securely covered.

When he slides open the doors, he half-expects to find a wolf on his porch, assumed the alpha would prefer keeping watch while shifted. Instead he finds Mochi sitting on the edge, staring ahead into the clearing. He must’ve heard Chifuyu step out, but gives no indication to it.

“Good morning,” Chifuyu says, voice a pitch higher than it naturally is. “I realise now how rude it was of me not to invite you in. My apologies, alpha.”

Mochi grunts. He doesn’t turn around. “Nights are warm enough.”

“Right…” Chifuyu gnaws on his bottom lip, contemplates for a moment how to proceed. “Will you escort me to see Izana? He said—“

“I know what he said.” Mochi stands, finally turning to look Chifuyu over. He looks brutish up close, hardened features even with his neutral expression. “Surprised you have a voice left after all your screaming.”

“Surprised you didn’t come and tell me to be silent.” Chifuyu smiles when he passes the alpha, stepping down from the porch. “I appreciate it, though,” he adds, looking over his shoulder. “It’s been a, ah, rough night. Not sure I could’ve been able to keep quiet, even if you’d demanded it.”

Mochi sighs. “Figured I’d save us both the effort.”

“Again, I appreciate it…” Chifuyu hums, makes eye contact when he says, “Kanji, I believe your name is?”

“Not sure what gave you the impression that informalities would be appreciated.” Mochi walks past him, further into the clearing. “Come.”

Chifuyu follows after him. “Forgive my assumption,” he mumbles, rolling his eyes at the alpha’s back. “Would I at least be right to assume that you’ll keep an eye on me until Manjirou gets here?”

“Maybe,” Mochi gruffs. “Depends on Izana.”

A man of many words, Chifuyu thinks to himself with a huff. He can see why omegas would go around him in a wide arc.

“What’s Izana like?” he asks, hurrying to walk beside Mochi, making sure to walk on his right side, so his scar is in clear view, if only the alpha would glance at him. “And would you slow down, please?” he adds with a whine. “My legs are short and my pup’s not getting any lighter.”

Somewhat to his surprise, Mochi does. He still doesn’t look at Chifuyu, but it’s a start.

“Izana’s a good leader,” Mochi says. “Got a good heart, even if he keeps it outside his own chest.”

Chifuyu nods. “Kakucho.”

It’d been clear the night before that any softness Izana might possess, he handed over to Kakucho for safekeeping. He would think it’s touching for any other mated pair, but really, Chifuyu thinks it’d be more touching if Izana’s head disconnected from his neck.

Mochi doesn’t say anything more. As much as Chifuyu enjoys the silence, he still forces himself to keep their pathetic excuse for a conversation going.

“What’s Izana’s territory like?” he asks, looking around the trees as they walk the winding path down the alpha territory. “As beautiful as here?”

“Smaller than people expect. He prefers to live with those he knows he can trust.” Mochi sighs. “You passed through it, didn’t you? Coming here?”

Chifuyu shakes his head and extends one arm out, brushing his fingers over the trees as they pass them. He thinks the movement catches Mochi’s eye, but he doesn’t turn his head to make sure, doesn’t want to make it obvious that he’s trying to catch the alpha’s attention.

“When my mate led me here, he seemed… rushed. I didn’t have time to take in the scenery as we passed through Izana’s territory.” He lets out a small, self-deprecating laugh, and pulls his arm back. “There were so many signs, when I look back on it. Makes me feel so… stupid.”

“He’s been planning this for a long time.” When Chifuyu glances at him, he sees him quickly snap his head forward again. He thinks he caught sight of the barest bit of sympathy in his expression, even if the alpha’s voice doesn’t give it away. “It’s fruitless to blame yourself, omega.”

“How could I not?” he asks in a whisper, wrapping his arms around himself. “I let myself be blinded, right where he wanted me. When Manjirou suggested the mating, I was so grateful, so eager to be useful to my pack back home, and-and Shu— I mean, Hanma, he was so…”

Chifuyu thinks back on their first few weeks together. The eternally bored look on Shuji’s face, his distance. His unique talent for making even the most mundane things sound like an insult. Not to mention his terrible sense of humour and the many headaches he caused.

“He was so sweet and charming. Knew exactly what to do and say to make me…” He cuts himself off with a sigh and glances at Mochi, notes how his face doesn’t give away any agitation, but it’s guarded still. “Made me feel safe. ’S all I ever wanted.”

He waits, one second, two, three, until he can see, from the corner of his eye, Mochi look at him. With the alpha’s eyes on him, Chifuyu brings up a hand to stroke his fingers along the edges of his scar, does it with his attention turned ahead, like it’s a mindless gesture, something wistful.

It takes a moment longer, but Chifuyu swears he picks up on the slightest change in Mochi’s scent. Warmer, more inviting.

“Hanma’s a snake, always has been.” Mochi rubs the back of his neck. “Uh, sorry you got caught in his mess.”

“Thank you. Me too.”

Chifuyu is content to leave their conversation at that, pleased with what he got. The silence gives him time to mentally steel himself for meeting with Izana, being close to him without lunging at the beta, keeping up appearances.

Still, he’s nervous. Tricking an alpha, that’s child’s play. He could probably do that in his sleep. He knows Izana will be a completely different story. Unpredictable, if he guesses correctly, most likely already biased against him.

Chifuyu can only pray that all the gatherings he attended with different head alphas over the years, sitting quiet and humble at his mother’s side, prepared him for facing the beta.

When they leave the alpha territory behind, Chifuyu is momentarily distracted from his nerves. The second they step down the bridge, he can feel the grim atmosphere in the air. Even with the sun shining brightly, a grey gloom seems to hang around the beta area.

There’s none of the usual chatter. No kids playing out in the middle of the path, kicking a ball around or chasing after each other.

“Where is everyone?” Chifuyu murmurs, mostly to himself, startling a bit when Mochi answers.

“Izana asked ‘em all to move into the omega huts for now. Keep everyone together.”

There are two women lounging outside of Ryusei’s hut, sitting in front of the closed doors. Chifuyu has to force himself to keep walking when they pass them, pushing down to urge to march up and demand they let Ryusei go.

“Not everyone,” he mumbles instead, eyes downcast.

“It’ll liven up,” he hears Mochi say. “Once Izana has had the chance to talk with everyone and decided who can and cannot be trusted.”

“I-I understand,” Chifuyu stammers, straightening out his face to hide his shock. And in some way, he does understand, but he can’t quite shake the nausea seeing the usually bustling area so quiet. It reminds him of home in all the wrong ways. “I wish I could’ve prevented it…”

“Was bound to happen.” Mochi nods when they pass another small group of strangers. “We all saw it coming.”

Chifuyu doesn’t say anything to that and keeps his head down as he follows Mochi. He isn’t surprised when the alpha leads him in the direction of Mikey’s hut— already under the assumption that Seishu and Koko would be moved somewhere else. One of the beta huts, perhaps, under strict supervision.

Mikey’s hut looks more like a home now that Seishu isn’t kept inside it. A low table stands in the middle, surrounded by pillows for comfortable seating, decked out with a teapot, a few cups, and small dishes of vegetables and meat.

Chifuyu can almost imagine Mikey sitting by it, surrounded by his pack, and the sight of Izana instead of him feels almost unnatural, despite never seeing the real owner of the hut in it.

The doors slide shut behind him. He glances back, not entirely surprised that Mochi didn’t follow him inside.

Kakucho stands wordlessly and gestures for Chifuyu come over. He does so slowly, kneeling on one of the pillows, opposite the beta and alpha. Only after he sits, does Kakucho take his own seat again, next to Izana.

“How are you feeling?” Kakucho asks, pouring each of them a cup of tea.

“I’ve had better days.” Chifuyu smiles and accepts the cup.

Izana stretches with a yawn and takes his own cup, looking at Chifuyu as he takes a sip. “You look well enough.”

“My mother taught me to always wear grief with grace.”

“Grief?” Izana smiles into his cup. “You’d grieve your mate, even after everything?”

Chifuyu grips his own cup tighter. “I’m grieving for myself and my pup, who’ll never know their sire, but will be doomed to hold love for him regardless of his actions.”

Izana sighs. “I suppose that is true.” He looks up at Chifuyu, one eyebrow raised. “Tragic, isn’t it? How a child will love a ghost, no matter what.”

“It is,” Chifuyu says softly, and means it. “All I hope is that they’ll be able to forgive me for choosing such a terrible man as their sire.”

“It’s not your fault,” Kakucho offers.

Chifuyu smiles, tight-lipped, and tries his best not to let show how he’s getting tired of hearing that.

“Since we’re on the subject,” Izana says, as if they’re meeting as friends and stumbled upon the subject by accident, “of faults and blame.” He bends forward, one elbow on the table. “I crossed a line,” he continues, not looking all that apologetic, “when I threatened to harm your pup.”

Chifuyu blinks. He supposes Izana doesn’t look apologetic because he doesn’t further apologise for it.

“I have been told,” Izana goes on, “that I possibly get too protective when it comes to Mikey. So, I say it’s water under the bridge. Yes?”

He extends a hand. Chifuyu glances down at it. The impulse to slap it away comes to mind, but then he reminds himself of what he came to do.

“I’m sorry,” he murmurs. “It’s not proper in the north for a mated omega to touch someone else when their mate isn’t present.” He has to fight a smile when Kakucho makes a choked noise. “I know I’m not in the north anymore but…”

Izana keeps his hand extended. “You and the beta, Ryusei, seemed awfully cozy last night.”

“Al—“ Chifuyu swallows down the lump in his throat, a genuine reaction. “Alpha was there.”

“Right…”

“I hope we didn’t offend you,” Kakucho says, grabbing Izana’s wrist to pull it down and away from Chifuyu. “I think it’s a beautiful thing, wanting to uphold your home’s values.”

Izana rolls his eyes. “Sure. Sorry about, ah, insulting your customs.” He side eyes Kakucho and then settles his attention back on Chifuyu.” You know why you’re here.”

Chifuyu nods. “You want me to betray my mate.”

Izana raises a brow in silent challenge.

“I will,” Chifuyu softly adds. “It’s true that… I hold love for him. My burden to bear, one I will hopefully free myself of in time. But my loyalty is separate from that, from him. It’s mine alone.”

“And?” Kakucho urges.

“And my loyalty lies with Manjirou.” He looks at Izana. “Your brother proposed my mating to Hanma, all to my benefit. I’m ready to repay him at any cost.”

“Repay, indeed.” Izana smiles. “Ryusei laid out what he has gathered about Hanma’s plans over the years. None of them would’ve come to fruition if it hadn’t been for you. I’d say that puts you in my brother’s debt twice— for giving you a mate, and for you giving that mate the means to betray Mikey.”

Chifuyu nods. He knows he can’t ask about what Ryusei told them, but the curiosity burns under his skin.

“I’m afraid I will never be able to shake the guilt I feel about letting myself get tricked in the way I did, but I will do what I can to ensure that my foolishness doesn’t come at any cost for Manjirou, or the south.”

And so, with more clarity, Chifuyu tells them what he knows. Each word more bitter than the next as he explains Chonbo, Chome and Choji— the loyalty and trust he witnessed firsthand between them and Shuji.

He tells them it was Shuji who killed his sire, to neutral reception, and then about where Shuji went after that— east, and the mountains between the east and the north.

After that, he makes up a story about where Shuji might’ve heard about him. Closeness to the north, word travelling fast in those parts, even to strangers, or so Chifuyu says he suspects.

The parts he keeps to himself are everything that would speak for Shuji’s innocence— how much he feared his sire and how much he loves his mother. But he does think about them while he talks, holds them close to his heart, and lets them serve as a reminder of the man he knows, the Shuji he loves.

He reminds himself with them that even if everything was a lie, if the tiny shadow of doubt he feels is justified— that Shuji is real, that what they share is real and worth believing in.

At the end of it, Izana and Kakucho share a look, and the beta says, “your mate was early in following the west’s traditions. You do know, I hope, that all western leaders kill their sire at one point or another?”

“So I’ve been told,” Chifuyu mumbles, laying a hand against his stomach.

“Any idea why Hanma was in such a rush to get rid of his?”

Chifuyu shakes his head. “We didn’t… share the kind of relationship where we often spoke about our past. What I told you, I heard mostly through other people’s stories. We kept ourselves busy with, ah…” He runs a hand down his face, mimicking the act of hiding of a blush. “We were recently mated. I’m sure you can imagine how we spent our time.”

“I’d rather not.” Izana grimaces. “We’ll find out how useful, or truthful, your information was when we catch up to these… Chos, as you call them.”

“In the meantime,” Kakucho jumps in, “we have no intentions to harm you. I’m sure this has all been stressful enough for you, and your pup.”

Chifuyu bows his head. “I’m beyond grateful.”

“Well.” Izana stretches out with a groan. “Now that all the unpleasantries are out of the way… Explain to me, how you came to find yourself mated to Hanma in the first place.”

“Of course.”

Just as he decided on the night before, Chifuyu paints them a picture of the north. He tells them some truths— vast lands, many small packs, bigger territories and long-standing alliances between them. And the rest of it… the attacks, the calls for help that went ignored, their dwindling numbers, he already decided Izana doesn’t need to know any of that.

For the majority of his explanation, Izana looks disinterested, glancing around the hut, at his cup, his nails. He only looks up when Chifuyu doesn’t continue, his head tilted to the side. “An interesting lesson in the north’s history. Not that I asked.” He yawns and stretches. “Again, omega, why did my brother want you mated to Hanma? What position exactly do you hold up north?”

Chifuyu’s eyes widen for a split second before he forces his expression back to neutrality, hiding the understanding as it dawns on him. When he went over the night and everything transpired, he wasn’t able to make sense of one thing in particular— Shuji’s lie about the power he supposedly holds in the north. It all becomes clear to him now, looking at the glint in Izana’s eyes.

Before he continues, he takes a moment to silently curse Shuji for forcing him into a future position of gratitude for his quick thinking. After a deep breath, fighting down a fond grin, he goes on.

“As Manjirou no doubt told you,” he says, keeping a close eye on Izana’s reaction, “my mother is head omega in our village. We consist of only betas and omegas.”

There’s a second of delay when Izana nods, and Chifuyu knows right away— Mikey really hasn’t been in contact, beyond sending Mitsuya to them with news. News that was overshadowed by the western wolves he came across on his way back, relayed by Ran to Izana while Mitsuya rested, who evidently didn’t care to include information about Chifuyu’s home.

“The north was waiting for me to take a mate,” he goes on, voice a little more sure. “When my father died, people were eagerly awaiting the continuation of his legacy.” Chifuyu sighs, makes it a point to swallow thickly, and then frowns. “Of course, me presenting as an omega made it difficult to follow in his footsteps. Just as Hanma said last night; I needed an alpha to unite the entire north behind the Matsuno name, just as they’d been with my father.”

“Ah.” Izana leans back on his hands, rolling his eyes up to the ceiling. “I forget sometimes, how easily people will turn up their noses to omegas in charge.”

Chifuyu blinks, a little dumb-founded, and then chooses to ignore it, for the sake of his dislike of Izana. At least it seems that the beta believes him.

“Manjirou seemed as put off by it as you are.” Chifuyu forces a small smile. “I later learned, of course, that he felt so passionate about me taking my rightful place again because of your older brother, Shinichiro.” He takes a breath, uses the short pause to study Izana, and takes notice of more softness in his expression. “From what I’ve heard, an admirable man, with admirable goals, not that different from my own.”

It’s a gamble. Chifuyu barely has any clue about what Shinichiro’s goals might have been, knows even less about them being admirable or not, but he thinks he was able to piece it together from little chunks of information— Shuji’s sire visiting the south, Shinichiro’s failed peace negotiations.

Izana stays quiet. The softness disappears from his gaze, eyes sharpening as he looks Chifuyu over.

Tense silence fills the hut, and for a moment, Chifuyu fears he’s ruined it all— pushed too far, made the wrong call, laid down yet another stone along a long path of failure, but then Kakucho smiles.

“He was,” he says, effectively calming Chifuyu’s rapidly increasing heartbeat. “He’s always been. In a way, he still is.” He motions for Chifuyu to continue when Izana sits up straight. “Your goals being?”

Chifuyu nods and prays the sigh of relief he let out will be mistaken for anything but that. “The same as my father’s,” he says softly, to mask his wavering voice. “Reconnect the north with the rest of the lands.”

It’s as if Izana didn’t even listen to him when he asks, “why hadn’t you taken a mate before my brother’s arrival?”

Honesty is easy. “I didn’t want a mate, convinced I could do it all by myself.” It makes the lie all the more difficult to say. Especially because it’s still entwined with some truth. “Only after Manjirou arrived, after he suggested the mating, seeing how our elders reacted to the prospect of me taking an alpha, did I realise I never stood a chance.”

He doesn’t need to fake the bitter tone to his voice. He knows that if he’d been there when his mother returned with Manjirou and the news of Chifuyu’s mating, that many in the pack heaved a sigh of relief. Finally, they no doubt thought, an alpha to lead us again.

“Humbling, I imagine,” Izana hums.

“Humiliating, actually,” Chifuyu says quietly, and it is, even if he wasn’t there to witness the proof of everyone’s lack of faith in him. He sets the cup down and keeps his eyes on the table. “Needless to say, I was hesitant to accept. It felt like my dignity was on the line. But…”

Izana sighs. “But?”

“Hanma made it easy to accept.” Chifuyu raises his head and looks at Izana. “I’ll be honest now and say that when I told you last night that all he promised was to love me, I lied. He promised to support me and he promised that we wanted the same things.” He shakes his head with a dry chuckle. “He told me everything I’d ever wanted to hear. And in hindsight, I suppose, that’s because he knew exactly what to say in order to win me over.”

“I see.” Izana takes his cup and swirls it around. “Anything else you lied about?”

Chifuyu shakes his head. “And I apologise for lying about that. I just— in that moment… It was…”

“Overwhelming?” Kakucho offers.

“Yes.” Chifuyu looks away from them, worried that if he doesn’t, his anger will show. “Overwhelming.”

“You understand, I hope,” Kakucho says, “that we were in a difficult situation. I think we all would’ve preferred a different meeting.”

“It wouldn’t have hurt if you’d have come to introduce yourself to us,” Izana adds. When Chifuyu meets his eyes, they’re cold. “Or is the entire north poorly mannered?”

Chifuyu stares back for a moment and then lowers his head, fingers tightening in the fabric of his robes, hidden under the table. “I apologise. Manjirou talked highly of you. I was looking forward to meeting you, but I let myself get distracted with the responsibilities that came with leading his pack.”

“I suppose that’s why the north was waiting for you to take a mate,” Izana muses. “If you’re so susceptible to distractions.”

Chifuyu unclenches his jaw before he speaks. “Yes. I suppose that had something to do with it, as well.”

Izana gets up abruptly and spins on his heels, hands clasped behind his back. “So, now you are here, and my brother is up north. Why? You had gotten your alpha. You could’ve easily stayed there.”

“Manjirou wanted to get to know my land, as I did his. We thought it’d be beneficial as well, if he got the chance to speak to the different leaders in the north.” Mostly out of spite, but out of curiosity too, Chifuyu adds, “in the meantime, he didn’t want to leave the south without a leader.”

Kakucho, as it turns out, is an open book. He snaps his head around to look at Izana.

It solidifies everything Chifuyu suspected— Izana’s heart, kept outside of his chest, on display for everyone to see. And see, he does, the way Izana’s shoulders tense and Kakucho’s eyes widen.

Chifuyu takes his cup to hide his smile behind a sip, glancing between the two.

“It’s Shinichiro’s dream that Mikey is honouring,” Izana says after a moment, and then begins to slowly pace up and down the hut. “All territories, working together and connected. For the longest time, we were under the assumption that the north would be the hardest to convince.”

“Aside from the west?” Chifuyu asks, mindful to sound confused.

Kakucho shakes his head. “In order for the west to follow, people would have to die. That is far easier than breaking through the north’s stubbornness. Not to mention…” He looks at Chifuyu with a smile. “Your mountains make it exceptionally hard to reach you.”

“Ah.” Chifuyu returns the smile. “I’ve been told they’re hard to navigate, for those who don’t know which paths to follow.”

“Indeed they are,” Izana mumbles, still pacing.

“The cold, too,” Kakucho goes on, attention fully on Chifuyu. “I can’t imagine living in a place with snow. Isn’t it miserable?”

“Not quite as miserable as sweating through six changes of clothes in this summer heat is.” With a soft laugh, Chifuyu pulls at the collar of his robes. “I don’t think I’ll ever get used to it. Though…” His eyes drift back to Izana. A nervous habit, he thinks the pacing is. “I suppose I won’t have to get used to it. I imagine that I’ll be returning home soon, now that my mate… now that Hanma has revealed his true colours.”

Kakucho glances back at Izana. “And take a new mate? To ensure your father’s legacy will be continued?”

Izana has stopped pacing, head titled back to look up at the ceiling instead.

“With time, yes,” Chifuyu says slowly. “There is a large trading hub on the border between the east and the north, in the mountains. The head alpha’s son presented some months before I came here.” He sighs, taking a precious second to steel himself for the nauseating words that will follow. “There’d already been some talk about me waiting for the boy to come of age. Taking him as my mate would be… beneficial. Even if it means a few years’ delay in my plans.”

“And until then,” Kakucho begins.

“The north would be unmoved,” Izana finishes. He turns around, the barest hint of a frown on his face. “He just presented, this boy? So that’d mean another four to six years, depending on his age.”

Chifuyu nods, then casts his eyes down and lets his shoulders slump. “My options are limited.”

And he knows, that if his options are limited, then so would Mikey’s be, in getting the north on his side. Izana must realise that as well, if the sound of his resumed pacing is anything to go off.

He also knows, that he has Izana right where he wants him when the beta asks, “did the north oppose your choice in mate?”

If Chifuyu can be useful to Izana, the promise to spare his life will be extended. He’ll be allowed to stay in the south— a pawn used to continue the ideals of the Sanos. The position Shuji wanted him to have, when he hinted at Chifuyu’s power in the north.

“One that isn’t from the north?” Chifuyu asks, tilting his head to the side with a frown. “Not particularly, no. The older generation wasn’t exactly jumping for joy, but the ones that came after that… let’s say us young people have all been aching for change. Scared of it as well, but with the right person leading them, they’re willing to have hope.”

“Like you,” Kakucho says. “And whichever alpha you choose?”

Chifuyu nods. “They’ll follow me, regardless of who is at my side. Provided the north’s best interest is kept at heart.” He looks at Izana. “They won’t mourn the loss of Hanma as my mate, now that his plans are revealed.”

“I’m sure no one will mourn the loss of him,” Izana says with a wave of his hand.

Chifuyu digs his nails into his palms, uses the slight sting to keep him calm and grounded.

“Well, as Kaku said, we don’t have any real reason to harm you right now, and I don’t think sending you back north would be a solution to anything.” Izana stands behind Kakucho, chin leaned in the palm of his hand. “Until Mikey gets here, I suppose it’d be best that you be kept company. I’ve seen people do strange things out of loneliness.”

Izana whistles. The doors slide open barely a second later.

“Mochi,” the beta calls. “You’ll see to it that Chifuyu here doesn’t spend too much time alone, won’t you?”

There comes no verbal reply. Chifuyu can only assume Mochi nodded by the slight smile on Izana’s face.

“The pack agreed to follow Hinata and Takemichi for the time being,” Kakucho says. “Go see them. Mochi will help you with any task they might assign.”

It’s a clear end to their conversation. Chifuyu takes a moment to bow to them both before he gets up. In the doorway, he pauses, and turns to look at them again. “The omega and beta from the west,” he says softly. “They knew about my father, and now that they turned out to have connections to Kisaki— I suspect they know a lot more than they might let on. Separated, they don’t talk much, but if you question them together, they’re easy to read.”

Chifuyu hopes that soon, Seishu and Koko will get the chance to yell at him for setting them up, and he hopes that when he explains that he had to give Izana something, they’ll at least try to understand his position.

“The beta,” he continues. “He lies. But the omega, he shows the truth.”

Neither Izana nor Kakucho say anything to that. Chifuyu can only pray that it’s a sign of Seishu and Koko still being alive.

A small, stupid part of him wants to ask more, to try and confirm if Ryusei is safe, and an even stupider part wants to fall to his knees, let them know Shuji broke his ribs a few weeks ago, to be careful with him.

“And,” he says instead, swallowing all he really wants to say down, “if there’s anything else I can do, I’d be happy to.”

All he gets is more silence. Chifuyu forces himself to bow one last time and then turns to Mochi, quietly requesting to be taken to see Takemichi.

There is an apology shining Takemichi’s eyes when they see him. He holds himself unnaturally stiff on the communal hut’s deck, eyes darting between Chifuyu and Mochi.

The apology threatens to spill from his lips. It’s clear in the way his eyes shine with the first hint of tears. Chifuyu beats him to it.

“I’m glad that the pack chose to follow you and Hinata,” he says, laying a hand on Takemichi’s shoulder. “I’ll admit that from the start, it never felt right for me and my mate to lead, when it was clear you held nothing but love for the pack, for Emma, Manjirou— everyone.”

Takemichi frowns.

“Whatever you need me to do,” Chifuyu goes on, “I will happily do it. I trust you to guide me as I try to find a new place within this pack. I’m tempted to call Izana’s mercy a blessing of the gods themselves, but I feel that would discredit his immense capacity for kindness.”

“Chifuyu…”

“Anything it takes to make up for my misguided trust in Hanma.” Chifuyu bows his head. “I want to restore the pack’s faith in me and show them that I’m willing to work for their forgiveness, though I can’t say I feel like I’ll ever deserve it.”

“I’m—I’m following Izana’s suggestions for the time being,” Takemichi says with a trembling voice. “Until Mikey returns. It was, uh, his idea for everyone to sleep together for a while.”

Keep them all together, so no one can make a move without anyone else noticing. Chifuyu raises his head and nods.

“For today, I suggest you take Mochi and, and maybe someone else. Gather your things from Shu— from Hanma’s hut, make yourself at home again in the omega hut. Maybe help out Tora with Keiko?”

“Of course.” Chifuyu smiles. He turns to leave, but a hand around his wrist stops him.

“Are you…” Takemichi searches his face.

“I’ll be alright.” With another smile, he gently pulls his wrist loose. “Any issues that may arise with my pregnancy and being separated from my pup’s sire, I’m sure will be smoothed over with Mochi’s company.”

Takemichi frowns. “That’s not—”

“I’ll be going now. Please, be careful. I don’t know what Hanma had been planning, or what might come our way in the following weeks. It’d kill me if you, or anyone else, got hurt.”

Mochi grunts something, his footsteps thudding in the dirt as he starts on his way.

Chifuyu glances over his shoulder and then ducks in closer to Takemichi, takes his face between his hands and kisses his cheeks. “Seriously. Don’t worry about me. Focus on yourself, on your family, and I will do the same.”

“But—“

Whatever Takemichi says next is lost on Chifuyu, already rushing after Mochi, whining about what he said earlier that morning, asking the alpha to please slow down his pace a little.

He hopes Takemichi’s clear regret and hesitance didn’t come across as anything suspicious to the alpha, and resigns himself to working hard from now on to make sure Takemichi, Keisuke, Mitsuya, anyone, doesn’t give away their lingering trust in and care for Shuji.

A few people linger outside of Shuji’s hut when they get to it. They all turn to look at Chifuyu and Mochi when they approach. One beta even comes up to talk to the alpha, speaking in a hushed tone that makes Mochi send him ahead into the hut to gather his things.

Inside, standing among Shuji’s belongings— Chifuyu’s belongings— their belongings, he finds the alpha and beta from the night before— Mucho and Shion. The latter, much to Chifuyu’s chagrin, is holding his sword, once again wrapped in cloth to hide its sharp blade.

“Takemichi sent me,” Chifuyu mumbles when they look at him, Mucho with one eyebrow raised. “To move my things out of here. I just need to grab a few—”

“Left chest’s yours?” Mucho cuts in, jerking his head in the direction of the sleeping area, where both Shuji and Chifuyu’s chests stand next to each other.

Chifuyu follows his gaze, feels a stab in his heart upon seeing that both the lids are opened, and needs to force down the urge to snap at them for disrespecting his privacy.

“It is.”

Mucho nods. “Put what you need in there. I’ll carry it back with Mochi.” He grabs Shion’s arm to pull him to the side and in the direction of the door. “Take your time.”

Shion frowns at that. “But Izana said—”

“I know what Izana said,” Mucho grumbles. The rest of his words are hard to make out, already on his way out with a slightly struggling Shion, but Chifuyu just manages to catch, “he was in here all night with a sword. If he’d wanted to kill us or escape, he would’ve done so. Give the kid a moment.”

Whatever Shion says next gets lost in the distance. They don’t close the door behind them, allowing the voices from outside to drift in, but the hut still falls eerily quiet.

Chifuyu waits a moment, half-expecting Mochi to march in there and supervise him, but no one comes. He takes a breath and looks around the hut with more attention.

The shelves that used to hold Shuji’s little collections are even more disorganised than they were. All knives are gone, even though the blades were dulled and they only served as little trophies. It leaves the shelves looking empty and dusty.

He drags himself further into the hut, frowning at the tracks of dirt all over the floor, a myriad of footprints visible in them. What did they expect to find, searching Shuji’s hut so thoroughly? A document containing each detailed step to his imminent betrayal? A map with the exact coordinates to find, as Shuji put it, all the friends he supposedly has in a lot of places?

The shelving above their chests are in disarray as well; but they’re not missing anything. All the items have clearly been picked up and inspected, but at least, put back again.

With a sigh, Chifuyu carefully picks up a bundle of dried flowers and twigs, flinching when it crumbles even more. They’re tied together with a piece of intricately woven string, patterns standing out against the material. He holds it with much more love than he did when Shuji chucked it at him after his heat, when the flowers were still fresh.

Back then, he couldn’t imagine Shuji taking the time to weave it himself, but he’s seen his mate do it a few times since— and the evidence lies tangled together on the other end of the shelf, a bunch of finished and unfinished bracelets.

“Something to keep my hands busy,” Shuji had said, “not really made with anyone in mind.”

Seemingly under the impression that Chifuyu was either blind or stupid and wouldn’t notice that they’re all made to grow with their wearer. They all have the same base colour, a soft blue, and look similar at first glance.

In all fairness, it did take weeks for Chifuyu to notice, and he only did during an annoyance-fuelled cleaning fit, when he tried to find a new spot for them. Each bracelet carries a mark. One stripe, two stripes, three stripes, going all the way up until seven, and he’d realised then, that Shuji had already decided that for their pup’s eight birthday, they’d make the new bracelet together.

He doesn’t linger on the thought much longer, heart so heavy in his chest, he fears it’ll sink down if he does.

The flowers fall apart in a pile of withered leaves when he pulls the string loose. He tucks it away safely under this belt and then carefully scoops up the bracelets. They fall atop his once neatly-folded clothes, now a complete mess inside his chest.

They quickly get buried when Chifuyu starts to shove a few random articles of Shuji’s clothing to the bottom of his own chest. He can’t take too much, doesn’t want to make it obvious, even if he could easily explain the need to take his mate’s clothing as his omega wanting the comfort of his scent; explain his instincts don’t care about Shuji being a traitor or not. It’d be more convenient if no one finds out. One less thing to worry about.

He feels around one last time to make sure both of their ceremony robes are there and then turns around to face their nest. He’d much rather leave it unacknowledged, blissfully unaware of how it was torn apart by strangers, and keep up to lie to himself— that he didn’t feel nauseous from the second he walked closer to it, omega immediately distressed about scents other than Shuji and Chifuyu’s own clinging to it.

Breathing through his mouth, he tears through the blankets and pillows, rushing to stay ahead of his omega and spare them both from another tiring round of crying. The second his fingers brush against cold jade, he’s up and out of there, tucking the little wolves away as well, right next to the woven string.

From their nest to the door, Chifuyu forces his sadness back down to the deepest corners of his mind, and refuses to bid their hut farewell. He doesn’t so much as glance back at it as he approaches Mochi and Mucho.

The alphas leave him in a slightly uncomfortable silence with Shion as they make their way inside to grab his chest.

Chifuyu’s sword is still held in the beta’s hands. He wants nothing more than to tear it away from him and hold it once more. To feel the power it gives him course through his veins and imagine Shuji’s hand wrapped against his own as he wields it.

He doesn’t realise he’s been staring at it until Shion clears his throat, adjusting to hold the sword behind his back.

“I asked,” Shion says, a growl in his voice, “why did your alpha need a sword?”

Chifuyu blinks and tears his gaze up to meet the beta’s narrowed eyes. “It’s mine,” he says after a beat. “He didn’t even know how to use it.”

“Of course it was.” Shion looks him up and down, not bothering to hide his disbelief that an omega would want for a weapon. “And now the truth.”

“Leave him alone, Shion,” Mucho grumbles, drawing Chifuyu’s attention to him. The chest is carried between him and Mucho, knuckles white around the handles.

Mochi bares his teeth at Shion as they pass him and snatches the sword from his hands, chucking it on top of the chest. “Only a fool would trust you with something sharp,” he snaps at Shion’s sound of protest. “Make yourself useful and crawl under the foundation, see if Hanma has anything hidden there.”

“Come, omega,” Mucho mutters, motioning with his head for Chifuyu to follow.

He’s quick to do so, leaving a spluttering Shion behind, trailing after the alphas.

“Should’ve let him keep it,” Mucho says to Mochi as soon as they leave the clearing behind. “No harm in it.”

“And have him parade around for days, brimming with pride because he presented evidence to Izana?” Mochi scoffs. “I’d rather he just stab me with it and get it over with.”

They continue to bicker back and forth, either unaware that Chifuyu can hear them, or uncaring. He only half-listens to them, but mostly focuses on the trees as they pass them.

Only when the subject finally steers clear of Shion, and Mochi leans closer to Mucho to speak much quieter, does Chifuyu put in the effort to catch their words.

“You must be happy that Haru’s coming back,” Mochi mumbles.

“Happy?” Mucho snorts. “With the stunt that Hanma cunt pulled, he’ll be even more reluctant to leave Manjirou’s side than usual.”

“Oi, mind your language.”

“Spare me, Kanji. You’ve called him much worse.”

“Yeah,” Mochi mutters darkly. “Prick cost me two molars. Pretty justified.”

“Shouldn’t have let your guard down around him.”

“I thought I genuinely hurt his wrist,” Mochi snaps. “He came out of goddamn nowhere.”

Chifuyu ducks his head, making sure that if they happen to glance back at him, his grin is properly hidden.

Mucho seems to somewhat share his amusement, softly snickering. “At least you can get back at him now.”

“What?” Mochi asks.

Chifuyu frowns, sharing the alpha’s confusion, straining to make sure he doesn’t miss a single word.

“Y’know.” Mucho lowers his voice even more. “By stealing his mate. Isn’t that what Izana—”

“Shut it,” Mochi hisses. “Don’t talk about that when he’s— just shut up.”

“What? You think he hasn’t caught on?”

Mochi grumbles something under his breath.

“Think he’s smarter than he lets on, Kanji.”

“Drop it,” Mochi bites back, much louder. His shoulders hunch up and he glances at Chifuyu, who meets his eye and smiles, cocking his head to the side in question. They look each other over for a moment, then Mochi grunts and turns back, leaning in closer to Mucho. “I know what Izana said,” he says, clearly unaware of his own inability to be quiet. “But I think the guy’s had enough of being used, don’t you?”

“It’d be mutual,” Mucho replies, barely above a whisper. “Don’t discredit your own potential to a good mate. Especially when Hanma’s his only comparison.”

Mochi shakes his head. “You hear how he talked to him? Never really had a reason to dislike him— kid’s a good fighter, who am I to judge where he came from? But what kinda person talks to their mate like that? Heartless bastard.”

“I hear you. Felt bad for him, alright.” Mucho sighs and turns to look at Chifuyu. “Kid, stop lagging behind. C’mere.”

Chifuyu perks up, like he’d been completely oblivious to their conversation, and trots up next to Mucho.

“You met my mate, yes? Skinny, scars on the sides of his mouth.” At Chifuyu’s nod, Mucho huffs and looks ahead. “How was he, when you saw him?”

“Distant. Didn’t say more than he needed to.” Chifuyu purses his lips. He doesn’t remember much about the beta, so he takes a guess as to what Mucho might like to hear. “Sort of scary, in a quiet way.”

It’s the right thing to say. Mucho lets out a chuckle and his scent warms considerably, into something even Chifuyu finds pleasant.

“I’m guessing the sword’s yours?” Mucho nods after Chifuyu does. “Figured. It’s too short for someone of Hanma’s height. Haru— he’s quite fond of them as well. Though he prefers them lighter than yours. More sophisticated.”

“I see,” Chifuyu says. “From what I remember, he looked elegant. It would only make sense for his sword of choice to be the same.” He smiles at Mucho. “How did you two get together? I love a good love story.”

Everything about Mucho softens even more, sparing no detail while Chifuyu makes all the right comments at the right times.

Mochi grumbles a bit in protest, claiming he doesn’t need to hear it all again, temporarily drawing Mucho’s attention to him.

“Jealous bastard,” he snaps. “Don’t pretend you’re not dying to one day share similar stories about your own mate.”

Chifuyu hides his smile behind a hand and uses the other to pull on the hem of Mucho’s shirt, begging him to tell him more, and lets everything he’s heard so far solidify the first steps of his plan; keep his attention on Mochi and make the most of the alpha’s loneliness.

The first week, Chifuyu settles down into an routine, and resigns himself to gathering as much information as he can, hopeful that the first inkling of an idea will present itself to him eventually.

The days of worrying about hunts and construction are long gone. Takemichi tasks him with bringing food to the betas working the fields, looking after the pups, and mending clothes. His duties each day don’t take up a lot of time, as Takemichi made it clear he wants Chifuyu to take as much rest as possible. Something he is both grateful for and resentful of.

Grateful, because his back has started to ache and his chest is sore, making even the simplest of tasks tiring.

Resentful, because for every waking second, Mochi is there by Chifuyu’s side, and without any hard work to distract him, it’s impossible not to notice that he is, all things considered, the perfect alpha. He does the heavy lifting without being condescending or pushy about it; lets Chifuyu carry the things he insists he’s capable of, and doesn’t interfere unless asked.

He doesn’t turn up his nose to the more omegan tasks, either; changing diapers when needed, barely scowling when Tetsuo spits up on him after feeding him, or sitting with Chifuyu for hours while he tries to explain weaving patterns to the alpha, whose fingers are just a tad too thick for such delicate work.

Mochi is helpful in all the ways Shuji never really was. No muttered complaints, no rolling of his eyes. Gruff and rough, but genuine in the way he wants to help, clearly hiding a soft heart under all that hard exterior.

For reasons he can’t quite discern, it pisses Chifuyu off to no end. The more he sees of Mochi’s personality, the more miserable it gets to be around him. He’s careful not to change anything in his behaviour, continuing to play the part of perfect omega and draw the alpha in, but it gets more tiring by the day.

It’s too easy. Mochi too receptive. And no matter how hard Chifuyu looks, he can’t find a single thing wrong with him.

Only for Shuji’s sake does he keep it up and not give in to make snide comments and push Mochi to anger, to see the real brutish personality he must be hiding.

The enemy, as it turns out, is an alpha twice his size, who scowls down at the needle and thread he holds, fingertips reddened from how many times he poked himself, who never raises his voice or scoffs in disdain, no matter how clearly frustrated he is.

It’s with a sour taste in his mouth that Chifuyu trades soft touches to every part of Mochi’s exposed skin for leniency to go on long walks after he’s finished with his duties for the day, whines with his voice pitched up that he feels restless and wants more exercise, and watches the alpha ask Izana for permission to stray beyond the borders of the village.

He hasn’t seen much of Izana since their initial conversation. From what he’s told, the beta spends most of his time holed up in Mikey’s hut with Kakucho, speaking to different members of the pack. Mochi never outright said it, but it’s obvious that Izana is working hard to get to the bottom of Shuji’s plans and betrayal, interrogating everyone to see how deep his supposed treacherous roots reach.

What he found out so far is a mystery, but it can’t have been satisfying yet, seeing as the rigid sleeping arrangements are still in place, and no one is allowed into either the alpha or beta territories.

Chifuyu stands just close enough to make out Mochi and Izana’s words, but far enough away to believably play off that he can’t hear them. From a distance, it’s not hard to see that Izana seems worn out by his own useless determination. Chifuyu hopes it keeps him up at night, paranoid and restless, and that Ryusei left a trail of crumbs that lead nowhere, but keep Izana occupied nonetheless.

“Never thought an omega’s pregnancy could mess up my instincts like this,” Mochi murmurs, his voice easily carried by the summer breeze. “Just lemme take him for a walk around every now and then, to show both him and myself that everything’s safe outside the village.”

“You alphas and your instincts,” Izana drawls, and Chifuyu hopes the beta chokes on his mocking tone. “Do what you must but don’t let him out of your sight.”

“He barely wants to leave my sight,” Mochi grumbles back, whatever else he says no longer of interest to Chifuyu.

He lets the rest their words drift up into the air and gathers his energy to push down that pang of annoyance when Mochi walks back to him to bring the news of Izana’s approval.

“Thank you,” he purrs, throat itching from it. “I really appreciate it.” He solidifies the statement by taking Mochi’s hand and laying it against his cheek, smiling up at the alpha. “When my pup is born, I’ll be sure to let them know who to thank for their health.”

You damned fool, he thinks to himself, hiding his scowl by further nuzzling into Mochi’s palm.

He lays it on thick, staying pressed to Mochi’s side as they leave the main entrance behind, both hands curled around the alpha’s wrist.

They wander around at different times, from early morning to later at night. Not every day— Chifuyu is mindful to only pull the pregnancy card every now and then, to keep it believable, but it’s enough to make sense of the patrols Izana put in place.

With Mochi by his side, who regularly pauses during their walks to talk to the different members of Izana’s pack they run into outside of the village, he gets to know the betas that roam around, knows when they swap their shifts, and knows when there’s the least of them patrolling the borders— just after dinner, when the majority of them lounge around in the communal hut, trusting the watch to only two of them.

None of them seem particularly bothered by Chifuyu as they wrap up Mochi in easy conversation, making remarks that must seem harmless to them, but provide Chifuyu with entirely new insight each time.

“Just don’t get why Mikey trusted Hanma to be the first line of defence, y’know,” one of the betas grunts. They ran into her on their way to the lake, a leisurely walk of no more than an hour, after Chifuyu insisted that seeing the lake’s shimmery surface would surely make him forget about his persisting headache. “Even with two of us spread out, we can’t begin to cover the land that stretches on beyond his hut.”

“You cover more ground back home,” Mochi says, quirking at an eyebrow at her.

“I know the land back home,” she shoots back. “You try navigating such a vast stretch of unclaimed land, ugh— no markers, no scents, nothing to guide you. Feels like we’re just running around aimlessly, looking for what exactly?”

Chifuyu chokes back the impulse to point out that Shuji never had any issues guarding that side of the border on his own and just looks at her with wide, concerned eyes, clinging to Mochi’s sleeve.

“You best be taking it seriously,” Mochi says, falling for Chifuyu’s display of distress. “Bunch of heats coming up. We can’t have any danger lingering around the borders.”

The beta’s eyes dart to Chifuyu, then back to Mochi. She grumbles something and nods. “Course we are. If anyone tries to attack during the night, we’ll be on them in no time.”

She continues to complain for a bit about the formation they were told to follow during the night, and after they leave her behind to continue making their way over to the lake, Chifuyu neatly files this new information away with the rest, comforted to know that the night watch focuses their attention only on the land behind Shuji’s hut, leaving the main entrance and the lands that surround it unguarded.

It’s not much to go off yet, but he still imagines the first branches that block his way clearing out, allowing Chifuyu to take a few steps further along the path, closer to what he envisions lies at the end of it; Shuji with one hand extended, waiting patiently for him to take it.

The truth is, Chifuyu has never been good at plans. When he was younger, he once sent Minori up into a large pine tree with his thumbs held up and a happy ‘have courage!’ to get her hands on a huge pinecone she wanted to grab.

Sometimes, the back of his head still aches from how hard Minori’s mother had slapped him after her daughter fell out of the tree, uncaring that it was Chifuyu’s body who broke the fall.

All Chifuyu knows, is that he needs to find an opening, just a temporary lapse in defence; enough time to free four people, whose exact locations are unknown, and leave the southern territories far, far behind.

Each night, he lays himself down with his growing frustration, forces himself into a fitful sleep so he can be alert the next day, and forces himself to follow his own advice. To have courage and keep pushing forward— for his pup, for Shuji, and for Ryusei.

Dinner was never a very organised affair. People sat where they wanted, usually at a different table each night, interwoven with one another. Ever since the arrival of Izana’s pack, it’s been even more chaotic. Overcrowded tables, strangers and familiar faces mixing together to make one big unified group.

It’s been an interesting thing to witness and observe. Each night, Chifuyu sits towards the back with Mochi and whoever else from Izana’s pack decides to join them, watching over everyone as the two different packs easily mingle; old friends catching up, bonds being rekindled.

Glances get thrown his way every now and then. The furrow of Mitsuya’s brow, the worried shine of Souya’s eyes, the tense set of Keisuke’s jaw.

Chifuyu answers them all with smiles and little shakes of his head. The clear evidence of their continued loyalty to at least him only helps to further strengthen his resolve to keep them all out of it. He sees their conflict—torn between old friends and new—and doesn’t want to force them into a position where they might have to choose between the safety of their home and their love for him.

The history between the two packs, Mikey’s and Izana’s, is playing out right before his eyes, and Chifuyu simply cannot find it in himself to resent anyone for embracing what they must’ve known before he arrived in the south. Before Shuji ever did.

The south was never meant to be their home. He can see that now. Can see it in the way Yuren clings to Izana’s leg when the beta joins them for the first time in almost a week, standing with Kakucho at the head table after Takemichi got done thanking the pack for their hard work that day. Sees it when Izana smiles down at the boy and Hina doesn’t seem alarmed in the slightest when he picks Yuren up.

But the taste of bitter betrayal, it lingers, heavy on his tongue at all times of the day, waiting to be spit back into the faces of those who deserve it.

“We only need a little bit of your time,” Kakucho says. “Feel free to start eating.”

Mochi doesn’t waste a second, digging in with the appetite befitting a man of his stature, and grunts at Chifuyu to do the same.

He does so after a sweet smile at the alpha, picking at his food to keep himself distracted.

“We want to thank everyone for their patience and time,” Izana begins. “For their trust in me and loyalty to my brother.”

Chifuyu has to suppress an eye roll.

“Now that I’ve had a chance to talk to everyone, my worries have lessened, and it’s time for all of you to return to your own huts.” Excited chatter picks up and immediately falls silent when Izana raises a hand. “With the exception for the huts in the alpha territory. I cannot stress enough how much I do not want anyone to go near the alpha territory. This is, of course, for your safety. Though our western guests have shown little, ah… resistance, I am certain that once Hanma’s allies arrive, they’ll want to free their companions.”

Words of concern sweep around the hut at the mere mention of the allies, that do not even exist. Had it been only his own safety that Chifuyu had to worry about, he might’ve ruined his plans and spoken up, just to ease everyone’s worries. But as it is, he stays quiet and forces a few bites of food down.

“We promise to keep everyone safe,” Kakucho continues, “Ryusei has shared with us everything he knows, painting a more complete picture of what we could possibly expect in the future. We are preparing accordingly and will share the appropriate information privately with those of you who need to know.” He casts his eyes down. “Ryusei agreed to stay confined in his hut until Manjirou gets here. Just in case anyone here suspects him of being on Hanma’s side after all. I have no doubt in my mind that Ryusei only wants the best for everyone, and I hope that when he joins the pack again, you’ll all welcome him back with love.”

A soft wave of voices sweeps around the hut. Agreement. Praise. Declarations of trust and gratitude.

Chifuyu swallows with effort and twists his hands in the fabric of his robes.

“And for what it’s worth,” Kakucho says, “I’m happy that we’re all together, even if the circumstances are less than ideal. It’s been too long since we spent an extended amount of time in each other’s company.” His expression softens even more when he looks around, lingering on Keiko. “She was so small, last time I saw her.”

Soft, with so much sincerity it makes Chifuyu’s stomach turn, Izana again says, “thank you for trusting me.”

And Kakucho adds, “we extend the same trust to everyone. We’ll get in your way as little as possible, and want to help make Mikey’s territory feel like home again; without someone who does not care about your wellbeing in your midsts.”

It signals the end of Izana and Kakucho’s speech. The beta nods as well and leaves the head table behind to make his way over to where Keisuke sits. The rest of the hut doesn’t linger in silence, soft conversations picking up into a gentle murmur. It takes effort, but Chifuyu manages to distinguish Izana’s voice from the rest, asking about Keiko’s first shift.

Unexpectedly, Kakucho doesn’t join his mate. He glances at him fondly and then weaves through the tables, finding his spot opposite Chifuyu. The alpha looks at him with a smile.

“That goes for you, too,” he says. “The trust, I mean. I hope you’ll be able to form new and lasting bonds.” His eyes dart to Mochi for a second, before settling back on Chifuyu. “You’re not hungry?”

Chifuyu blinks and then forces a smile. He looks from Kakucho to his half-eaten plate of food, then at the alpha again. “Far too enraptured with what you were saying to eat,” he says, tone airy.

“My apologies.” Kakucho smiles, as if he’s in on the joke. “I wanted to ask— Do you think you have the energy to join me later? For just a moment. We’d like to send Shion on his way to the north in a few days and we could use your help in making sure he takes the best route.”

Chifuyu’s eyebrows shoot up before he can try to school his expression. He was very much so under the impression that someone had already been sent out. Knowing they haven’t— it eases his mind, just a little. He has more time than he initially thought.

“—got a map,” Kakucho is saying. “If you don’t mind looking it over?”

“Ah.” Chifuyu hasn’t seen many maps in his life. Their use slowly died down after communication between the different regions came to a stop many generations ago. The only one back home had belonged to his great-great-grandfather. It hangs in the elder omega’s hut these days, mostly forgotten about. “I’m not sure I could be of much help. I can’t read maps, let alone draw them.”

“No worries there. Mitsuya already helped us fill in most of the blanks. If you could just provide a few more details, we can draw them.”

Chifuyu frowns. “Why not have Mitsuya—”

“Go instead of Shion?” Kakucho smiles. “He mentioned to us that he suspects Luna might present any day and he’d like to be there for it.”

It only deepens Chifuyu’s frown. The last time Mitsuya mentioned Luna presenting, it’d been to voice his prediction that she might take a few more years. A late bloomer, as he’d called her.

He lets his eyes wander. Mitsuya sits huddled together with both of his sisters, Hakkai with them, easy smiles on their faces. Either the alpha was lying to him when they talked about Luna presenting, or he’s lying to Izana, to stay in the south.

Chifuyu hopes it’s the latter of those two options. And he hopes it’s because Mitsuya simply doesn’t want to be separated from his family again. If not— if he’s lying to stay in the south and be there in case Chifuyu needs him…

The thought alone sends a chill down his spine. So much for having time. He’ll need to make haste, if not to get them out of the south as soon as possible, then to make sure no one sabotages their own safety in their determination to help him out.

“Of course,” he says, maybe a beat too late, but Kakucho doesn’t seem all that bothered. “Of course. I’ll tell you anything you need.”

After the pack trickles out, they gather around the head table— Kakucho, Mitsuya, Shion and Chifuyu.

Mochi left them a little reluctantly, only doing so after petting Chifuyu’s hair and mumbling something about having sweet dreams.

Chifuyu had stroked his fingers over Mochi’s wrist in return, wishing him the same, pushing down the need to dig his nails into the alpha’s skin and rip it open.

“I’m no artist,” Kakucho warns, pulling out a folded sheet of paper and spreading it out on the table.

The map is smaller than Chifuyu expected it to be. It covers maybe a quarter of the table’s surface, yellowed paper with a bunch of lines that don’t hold any particular meaning to him.

With a frown, he leans in when Kakucho points out where they currently are.

“It’s so small,” he mumbles, tracing the spot the alpha just pointed at, a little circle near the bottom of the map.

“Well.” Shion scoffs. “It’s impossible to capture the entirety of our lands on a single piece of paper. Everyone knows that.”

Chifuyu sends him a glare and drops his voice to its natural octave, abandoning the pitch he’s been forcing himself to speak in. “I’m aware, beta. Thank you.”

Kakucho covers up his laugh with a cough.

Shion splutters something, but Chifuyu ignores him in favour of looking the map over again.

“These are mountains?” he asks, pointing at a group of V-shapes. He glances at Kakucho to see him nod. “I see…” He drags his finger up to the top of the map, where bigger groups of the same shapes are drawn. “So this… this is the north?”

“It is.”

He counts the little circles that represents the villages and points out a few mistakes, correcting the location of the biggest trading post and his own home once he figures out where the mountain range separating the north from the east is drawn.

“All abandoned,” he murmurs, tapping the cluster of circles that are drawn in the valley leading up to the bigger circle that represents his own home. “Gathered here now.” He taps an empty space near one of the mountain ranges. “Though, maybe not important to add to the map.” With a small smirk, he looks at Shion. “You’d have to be particularly stupid to accidentally end up there.”

Mitsuya chuckles softly. He shuffles closer to Chifuyu and lifts a hand to gently scratch his fingers over his undercut.

Chifuyu smiles at the gesture, laying a hand on Mitsuya’s knee in return.

“So, then…” He frowns and leans closer, finger sliding from the north-eastern mountain range to the other side of the map, where another cluster of mountains is drawn, along with three dots for northern villages. “This is…” He slides his finger down further, tapping the biggest area on the map.

“The west,” Kakucho confirms. “You’re quick to learn.”

“Gods…” Chifuyu follows the border that runs along the west. “Is it really this big?”

Twice the size of the north, considerably bigger than the south, and the east doesn’t even come close to comparing in size.

“It is.”

“I had no idea,” he whispers, eyes drifting to the biggest circle on the map. It’s located in the furtherest western reach of the map, surrounded by mountains on all sides. “This is…?”

“Yes,” Mitsuya mutters. “Funny, seeing it like that, no? All that power, contained to just a tiny dot.”

Chifuyu nods. He’s breathless over it, taking in all the little details surrounding the circle. Mountain ranges, a coastline, trees and rivers close by. It’s drawn with care and attention, even if they’re just little scribbles on a piece of paper.

“It must be beautiful,” he breathes, forgetting all about not looking like he still holds any affection for Shuji. It’s impossible not to be in awe, even if they’re just little scribbles, crude little markers to paint the picture of a luscious landscape.

Shuji’s home, drawn in splotchy blank ink on yellowing paper.

Judging from the size of the circle, there must be thousands of people living there. He can’t even begin to imagine what a place that big looks like.

A soft tug on his hair snaps him out of his daze. He snaps his head up to look at Mitsuya, then Kakucho, equally questioning looks in their eyes.

“Sorry,” he rushes out, then smiles and focuses back on the map. “So, from how this map’s drawn, you might be tempted to follow east once you climb the first mountain in the north, but—”

He rambles on, providing as many details as he can while Kakucho updates the map to the best of his abilities. Mitsuya chimes in every now and then, recounting the paths he took.

The entire time, Chifuyu can’t stop his eyes from wandering back over to the circle that marks Shuji’s home, mind conjuring up all the possible ways it might look in real life.

They fall silent after that. Kakucho is busy drawing out the last bits with Shion looking over his shoulder.

It gives Chifuyu time to study the map again. Now that he know how it works, it’s not hard to get a better feel for the lands. He stares at the lines that indicate the border between the south and the east, and it hits him.

Shuji’s words, the information he so obviously planted for Chifuyu to reveal to Izana. Choji’s own words, when it was uncertain if Shuji would live or not.

Chifuyu exhales a little shakily.

There is absolutely no way that the Chos really went east. And if he were to guess, they’re hiding exactly where Izana most likely wouldn’t care to look. Waiting for instructions, as they always do. Friends, as Shuji put it, very nice ones. The kind that knows how to stay hidden until they’re needed.

“You alright?” Mitsuya asks, most likely picking up on what must’ve been an excited spike in Chifuyu’s scent.

“Pup moved,” he whispers, still staring at the border on the map, laying a hand against his stomach. “Might be a sign for me to get some sleep.”

Kakucho doesn’t hesitate to send him on his way. Alone. A sign of trust.

The entire walk back to the omega hut, Chifuyu feels like he’s floating, all the pieces falling together.

He pauses on the porch to look at Mochi’s wolf, sleeping just outside the door. Without any light to illuminate him, Chifuyu can almost pretend the black wolf is his own mate. Bigger and uglier than Shuji in the daylight, but similar enough to him right now to at least bring a smile to his face.

Soon, he promises himself. A mantra he keeps repeating as he readies himself for sleep in the now mostly-empty hut. Soon, he promises again, soothing himself by gently caressing his bonding mark, and hopes that his mate feels his promise, too.

Chapter Text

With everyone returning to their own homes, the pack livens considerably, while the omega hut is mostly vacant.

Aside from Chifuyu, Takemichi and Hina, Mitsuya and Hakkai also sleep in the omega hut with him— both pairs preferring it over the other, smaller huts in the omega area, now that their alpha huts are still off-limits.

The pups sleep huddled together in the furtherest corner, far away from the entrance. The rest of them lay out their nests near the middle, five of them to form a little protective barrier for the little ones.

Chifuyu liked it, for an entire minute, the first night; sleeping in a less crowded hut, with people he trusts close by. That was until Takemichi hissed at him if he was still awake, clearly wanting to discuss secretive matters with him away from Mochi’s watchful eye.

Pretending to be asleep was torture. So badly, did Chifuyu want to turn around and face them, let them know his plans and bask in their support. But he promised himself he wouldn’t, so he didn’t, laying as still as he could, tears burning behind his closed eyes.

He makes it a point to stay out with Mochi after that, sitting with him until Takemichi and the rest fall asleep. Two birds, one stone, so to say. No more pesky questions, while building his relationship with the alpha more and more.

Mochi never enters the hut, adamant that it wouldn’t be proper for him, being an unmated alpha. But he’s there every morning, already waiting on Chifuyu.

Loathe as he is to admit it, he is grateful that Mochi saves him from more questions, providing the perfect excuse to leave immediately after dressing, or— walk out half-dressed, as he does nearing the middle of the second week.

“Would you mind tying it at the back?”

The wrap-around shirt he chose hangs open, upper-body on display. Chifuyu smiles and plays with the strings that are meant to tie the shirt closed. He waited for the others to trickle out before getting up himself, to make sure no one else would be there to offer their help.

“Every time I try, it just feels uncomfortable. Sensitive skin, y’know?”

He keeps eye contact with the alpha as he folds the shirt closed— one half crossing over the other, hand slowly smoothing it over, fingers trailing down his own chest.

“Please?”

Mochi’s loyalty to Izana can’t be swayed, Chifuyu knows that, but it’s not the alpha’s loyalty he’s after. Affection is much more easily won, and he’d only need affection— for Mochi to speak in his favour once, let Chifuyu convince him of something he might otherwise refuse, or for him to tell Chifuyu anything that might be useful.

With a grunt, Mochi steps behind him.

“Thank you,” Chifuyu says, holding the crossed pieces that need to be tied just a little in front of him, so Mochi needs to reach out to take them. It’s only a brief moment of proximity, but it’s long enough for Chifuyu to tilt his head to the side and bare his neck right next to the alpha’s face.

“Inconvenient clothing,” Mochi grumbles, but as it’s been doing progressively more over their time together, his scent warms, just the subtlest of changes.

“I know.” Chifuyu sighs. He runs his fingers along the collar to adjust it and lets them gently trail along his nape before pulling back. “But it’s nice to have clothes that adjust with me and the pup.”

Up until a day or so ago, he was careful around the subject of his pup, unsure if Mochi would be put off by it.

“Besides,” Chifuyu goes on, turning around and beaming up at Mochi, hands on his stomach, “this shirt accentuates my tummy nicely. Makes it look bigger than it really is, no?”

But, it turned out rather quickly, that Mochi is just an alpha, whose instincts draw him in towards pregnant omegas, no doubt fixating on the promise of fertility.

It’s been slow, but the signs of Mochi’s interest become easier to pick up on. The downwards drift of his eyes when Chifuyu rubs his hands over the curve of his stomach lacks any subtlety. Any reservations Mochi had about Izana’s vision of their future, mated and all that nauseating stuff, seem to melt away a little more each day.

“Let’s go,” Mochi grunts. He snaps his eyes back up and steps down the porch.

Chifuyu smiles after him. An alpha is just that, an alpha, and it’s been easy to play right into that.

The pack is waking up around them as they walk through the omega area. Nahoya is already outside when they pass his and Ran’s hut, waving them over.

“Need you to do me a favour,” he says, beckoning Chifuyu closer with a grin.

The hut’s doors are open, and inside, Ran is stretching with his back turned to him, already dressed. He’s been a lot more active during the day since Izana’s arrival, helping Nahoya out with anything he might need. On the surface, there doesn’t seem to be any lingering tension between the pair, but there is no other explanation for his sudden spike in being useful than him trying to make amends with his mate.

“Mushrooms, right?” Nahoya asks, drawing Chifuyu’s eye away from Ran.

“Right…”

“There’s this cave, couple of days’ travel away.”

Mochi lays a hand on Chifuyu’s shoulder and puffs up his chest, glaring at Nahoya. “You’re not taking him days away from the pack.”

“Cool it,” Ran pipes up. He turns to face them and saunters over, only pausing near the door to grab something. With a grunt, he steps outside, two hides draped over his arms. “Not taking him away.”

He unceremoniously shoves the hides into Mochi’s arms and shoulders past him, the alpha stepping to the side with a growl.

“Matsuno,” he drawls, barely sparing Chifuyu a glance. “How have you been feeling?”

Chifuyu looks him up and down, arches an eyebrow and steps forward, ignoring Ran’s scoff. “What’d you need, Noya?”

“Backpacks,” Nahoya says, eyes darting to Ran before they settle on Chifuyu. “Sturdy ones. Two. Maybe three, if the hide’s enough for ‘em.”

“For the mushrooms?” Chifuyu asks, not missing the sharpness in Nahoya’s gaze.

“For the mushrooms.” He nods. “And the journey to them. I’d like to have them for when Mikey gets here, so. Time’s on our side, but not that much, so…”

“Right...”

“Really, Noya? You made me prepare them only to give them away?” Ran asks while Chifuyu strokes his fingers over the pristine hides. “I could’ve made you anything you asked instead of him.”

“Frankly,” Nahoya says, joining Ran’s side, “I’ve seen your stitching and I’m not terribly impressed.”

Ran huffs. “How am I supposed to get better when you never let me practise?”

“I cleared your days with Michi until they’re done,” Nahoya says to Chifuyu. “Izana wanted to take over your pup watching duties anyway.”

Chifuyu frowns. “Izana? Really?”

“Yes, really.” Nahoya nods and then grabs Ran’s hand. “C’mon, let’s get some food in you, grumpy.”

The pair saunters off in the direction of the communal hut, Ran still complaining about the hides to Nahoya, who doesn’t seem to be paying any particular attention.

“And they’re just going to leave?” Mochi mutters. “What am I supposed to do with these?”

“Here.” Chifuyu scoops up the hides and jerks his head in the direction Ran and Nahoya went. “Go and get us breakfast. I’ll pick a nice spot to work on these.”

Mochi nods. “Where?”

Ever since seeing the map, Chifuyu hasn’t really had a moment of rest inside his own head. Seeing the lands laid out sparked the memory of Shuji drawing out Mikey’s territory for him and he’s been mulling it over.

With so much focus on the stretch of forest behind Shuji’s hut, the Chos wouldn’t be hiding there. The land behind the beta area is sparsely forested, a lot of land turned into either regular farm fields or rice paddies. Not a lot of cover there. With both the alpha and beta territories crossed off, there is only one place that could feasibly serve as a hiding spot, and it’s one of the only places that Chifuyu hasn’t really paid much attention to so far.

“I’ll go sit by the river, behind the omega hut,” he says with a smile. “I’m sure the heat will only worsen as the day goes on. It’ll be nice to be able to take a quick dip every now and again. And,” he adds, already on his way back to the omega hut, glancing over his shoulder at Mochi, “it isn’t crowded during the day. A little peace and quiet doesn’t sound too bad, does it?”

“It doesn’t.” Mochi nods at the hides. “Not too heavy?”

Chifuyu shakes his head, already on his way. “Not at all! Ask Mitsuya for his tools while you’re there, will you?”

A heady spike in Mochi’s way drifts over before he’s on his way— an alpha on a mission, determined to provide. Chifuyu rolls his eyes at it and throws the hides over his shoulder, quickening his pace more and more the further away he gets.

When he reaches the omega hut, he throws the hides down and rushes inside, all but tearing through his chest to find what he’s looking for. He’s nearly bursting at the seams, driven by adrenaline and not much else, only barely remembering to snatch up the hides on his way out.

Panting and sweaty, he jogs around the omega hut to find the path that leads past it. There’s a split about halfway through— straight ahead leads to the river, and turning right would lead him along a narrow, overgrown path, winding through trees to eventually reach the isolated heat hut.

He pauses when he reaches the crossroad, eyes darting between the two paths. The heat hut lies at the heart of the territory, a little island surrounded on three sides by a river, only accessible by one path. Hiding there would be dangerous, but… so obvious that it’d be genius?

With a huff, he trudges straight on. The Chos are more than well aware that there are several heats around the corner. He doesn’t particularly attribute a lot of intelligence to them, but it’d be stupid to hide there, even for them. An oversensitive omega in heat would immediately sniff out their scents, faint as they might be.

When he reaches the river, he takes it all in with new eyes. The widest part of it, dug out by hand as an extra measure of protection, spanning the entire width of the riverbank he stands on.

On the other side of the river, all he sees is dense forest, thick trees standing close together with bushes and exposed roots winding around the ground.

Shuji never mentioned the land that lies beyond the omega area, and none of Izana’s betas complained about having to traverse the forest on their patrols. From what he knows, the hunting grounds are one the complete opposite side of the territory, leaving the forest in front of him void of any activity, in theory.

On the map, it was drawn without any particular markers. Just a vast area that lies nestled between Mikey and Izana’s territory. Paired with the knowledge that in order to get to Mikey’s pack, one would have to first pass through Izana’s territory— it puts the forest in a spot where it’s protected from all sides.

In theory, only a fool would attack from this side. It’d be much more convenient to attack from the other end, where the land eventually leads to the eastern border, with Shuji’s hut the first line of defence between the pack and no man’s land.

Chifuyu chews on his bottom lip, slowly coming to a decision. If a hostile pack were to attack, they’d be fools to choose this route, having to first pass through Izana’s territory. As a result, only a fool would keep a close eye on it, when energy would be better spent patrolling the areas under greater risk.

And Izana has made it very clear. He is no fool.

Chifuyu throws down the hides and fumbles to get out of his clothes. Eyes fixated on the other side of the river, he ties the string that once kept Shuji’s bouquet of flowers together around his hair. To keep it dry. To keep his scent from washing away in the river.

He glances over his shoulder. The distance from the communal hut to the river is twice what he just walked. Counting in the how long it’d take for Mochi to gather Mitsuya’s tools— he has some time, but not a lot.

The morning sun isn’t warm enough to ward off the icy sting of the river, but Chifuyu is used to waters that are endlessly colder than these. He’s always been a strong swimmer. It barely takes any effort to reach the other end of the river and even less to hoist himself up on land.

Tugging on the string to let his hair fall loose again, he rushes into the tree line. He doesn’t need to go far, just far enough to where it’d be safe to linger, unworried about his scent, had he been a beta.

Careful not to get ripped open by the thick foliage, he runs forward, until the river is no longer visible behind him.

Chifuyu stops when he can no longer hear the current and frantically takes in his surroundings. Thick trees all around him, low-lying bushes. The ground feels dry under his feet, so he doesn’t bother looking for any tracks.

He looks around, pulling branches to the side and concentrating every ounce of his being on trying to pick up a scent. All in vain. Not even his oversensitive sense of smell is enough.

“Damn it.”

The Chos he came to know aren’t complete idiots by any means— but smart enough to somehow stay completely hidden?

“Damn it!”

Did he guess wrong? Are the Chos long gone and is he chasing after senseless hope, too caught up in the ridiculous mission of getting Shuji out of here?

Chifuyu looks down, from his hand still clutching the string, to his other hand resting on his stomach.

Is he risking their pup’s safety with his idiotic determination? What would happen if he’s wrong, if this entire area is regularly patrolled— he just doesn’t know?

“Selfish,” falls from his lips in a whisper. “I’m so selfish…”

Just like Shuji. Selfish, arrogant.

“What am I thinking, pup? What’s someone like me gonna do?”

He takes a step back. The trees are close together, no clear path between them. There are no signs of life, no trampled bushes or broken branches, nothing to show that someone has been there recently. Why would the Chos assume that Chifuyu would ever find his way here? It’d make no sense.

“An idiot. I’m an idiot. I should just, just wait. Right?” He looks down at his stomach again. “Right.”

The rustling of leaves draw his attention upwards. A gust of wind sweeps through the canopy.

“Right?” he whispers, wide eyes staring up at the fluttering leaves.

Another gust makes the trees shiver. Something snaps, almost echoes in the quiet of the forest.

Chifuyu yelps, heart leaping violently, and jumps away. With wide eyes, back pressed to a tree, he watches a branch fall into one of the bushes.

“What—“

The leaves rustle again and maybe, just maybe, he’s going crazy, but he can swear he hears someone’s laugh ringing in them. Laughing at him.

“That could— that could’ve—“ Chifuyu’s eyes narrow, honing in on the branch— no more than a puny twig, really, but spurred on by startled adrenaline, he dashes forward and snags up the twig. “That could’ve killed me!” he hisses, glaring up at the trees.

Like a child, irrational and annoyed, he curses out his father. Keeps cursing him out while he kneels in the dirt and ties the string around the branches of a bush, close to the ground. Unable to be seen, but if someone is looking, easy enough to pick up with his scent clinging to it.

Then, he’s running again. Nearly loses his footing twice jumping over roots and bushes. His entire body is overheated and sweaty from the rising summer heat, but he barely enjoys the refreshing water when he dives into it.

The second he’s back on the riverbank, he drops down into the soft grass and lets himself fall back. Panting for breath and a sting in his side, dizzy from the heat and exertion and the fear. Heart racing, each aching throb ringing with a scolding— reckless, reckless, reckless.

With a groan, he rolls onto his side, turns his head to hide it against the grass, panting into it with tears stinging in his eyes.

If he was wrong, if Izana does patrol the area, if the Chos aren’t around— what is he supposed to do then? What lie could explain that piece of string, swimming in his scent, neatly tied around a branch?

Chifuyu curses and squeezes his eyes shut.

He should’ve thrown it on the ground instead. Should’ve tried to bury it. Hide it better. Make it look like it was stolen from him, somehow, by someone, somewhere. Anything would’ve been better than what he did, spurred on by what exactly? A gust of wind and the foolish belief that it was some sort of sign? As if his father’s advice would be anything to follow. As if his father would know anything about making the right decision. As if his father isn’t dead.

Chifuyu snaps his eyes open and sits back up. He sighs and runs a hand down his face, brushes his wet hair from his forehead and draws up his knees.

Selfish. Like Shuji, like his father, like himself.

“And like you,” he mumbles, fingers stroking over the curve of his stomach. Selfish, like him, demanding to be born, to exist. Reckless in their claim to life. “You chose a couple of fools to be your parents, pup…”

Perhaps it’d be merciful, as Izana put it; if Chifuyu gets found out and has to pay for the mistake with his life. A mercy to him, to Shuji, and to their pup.

Chifuyu draws in a shaky breath, both surprised and disappointed in himself for even thinking like that. He takes a deep breath. Then another. Tries to remember each and every pup he helped bring into the world, how it felt when they wrapped their tiny fists around his finger, sleepy eyes staring up to him.

Tries to envision that as a certain future for himself, rather than the faraway fantasy it’s felt like lately.

The sharp snap of a branch jerks him out of a rather lovely mental image of Shuji fumbling with a tiny newborn. For the second time that day, his heart leaps up into his throat, and he’s up on his feet before he even realises it.

Thoughts so heavily focused on their pup, already riled up with the possibility of his mistake, protectiveness flares dizzyingly fast. With a snarl, all rationality far out of reach, he stalks over to the alpha— taking a moment too long to realise it’s Mochi, who watches him approach with wide eyes, already taking a step back.

It’s too late by then to reel himself in. He pushes at Mochi’s chest, forces him back another step.

“What are you doing here?!” he yells. “Don’t sneak up on me!”

He’s not even using his unnatural pitch, voice low and gravelly like it usually is, like it should be. And if it gives everything away, so be it. Let Mochi reject him for it. He never wanted anything to do with the alpha anyway. Have the bastard call him a liar once Izana finds the call for help hidden in the bushes.

Mochi’s eyes dart between Chifuyu’s face and his state of undress. “I thought—“

“Thought what! Huh! What is wrong with you?!” He snarls again and reels back a fist.

“Hey! Don’t!”

Mochi twists his body to the side.

It’s only then that the slab of wood he was carrying under his arm catches Chifuyu’s attention. He can’t do anything but watch in horror as it spins in his direction.

Were he in a better state of mind, the light tap of the wood against his arm, perfectly under Mochi’s control to prevent any real impact, wouldn’t have even registered.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Chifuyu thinks he knows that. He thinks he’s very much aware that he’s ruining weeks of exhausting and careful pretend. And yet, he reels back with a gasp, mouth hanging open, looking at his arm, then the wood, Mochi, back to his arm, at Mochi again, and with his fist reeled back already…

Chifuyu blinks and shakes his head. Then frowns, glancing down at his fist, the sting in his knuckles. He looks at the grass, the piece of wood, the bag of tools he’d sent Mochi to fetch, and then at Mochi himself— frowning, rubbing over his jaw, staring at Chifuyu in disbelief.

“You punched me,” he breathes, eyes darting back and forth. “You punched me.”

“Yeah.” Chifuyu raises his fist, studies his reddened knuckles. “I did.”

He isn’t sure if it’s the simmering protective urges or something else entirely, but a strange warmth is tingling over his skin.

“It hurt, too…”

“It did?” he asks, snapping his head up to look at Mochi.

“Oi. Don’t look so happy about it.”

Power, he realises with a start. Just the smallest feeling of it, coursing through his veins, making its home inside of him once again.

“Izana was right when he said all omegas are crazy…” Mochi mumbles, shaking his head.

Izana.

All the power he felt fizzles out in an instant, forced to come back to reality.

Chifuyu gasps and scrambles to lower himself, bending forward in a deep bow. He strains his voice back to a higher pitch, frantically stumbling his way through his words, “I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to! Please don’t tell Izana!”

“Why would I tell Izana?” Mochi sounds exasperated. “He’d only laugh at me and— please don’t bow like that when you’re naked. Gods above.”

He’s grumbling to himself about what he could possibly have done to deserve the gods testing him twice that day when Chifuyu tentatively sits back up, watching Mochi stalk away towards the riverbank with the wood and supplies.

“Y’know, I’ve been waiting,” Mochi mutters when Chifuyu slowly approaches him, the alpha’s eyes firmly on the supplies as he redresses, “for you to show your real self. Just didn’t think it’d be after getting socked in the face.”

Chifuyu pauses his fumbling to tie his pants, taking in Mochi’s side-profile— features relaxed despite the redding mark on his jaw.

“You’re not mad?”

“A little. I don’t appreciate being treated like I’m stupid.” Mochi shakes his head and glances at him. “But I suppose I can’t hold it against you. Survival instincts? Draw in an alpha with your coy, high-pitched act.”

“Right…” Chifuyu clears his throat and finishes tying up his pants. “Something like that.”

He slowly kneels in the grass next to Mochi, some embarrassment creeping up over his behaviour. And shame, maybe, for thinking he’d successfully fooled the alpha.

“I suppose it could be considered flattering, the lengths you’d go to ensure our mating.” Mochi is too busy stretching the hide over the wood to notice Chifuyu flinch. “But, if we are to become mated, I’d say it’s better to start over. With honesty, this time.”

Chifuyu gnaws on his bottom lip before answering. “Like Izana wants? For us to be mates?”

“Yes, but…” Mochi shrugs, reaching into the bag to take out one of Mitsuya’s sharp knives. He looks it over for a moment and sits up more, extending it to Chifuyu. “Hopefully, what you want, as well?”

The knife’s blade gleams in the sun. For an inanimate object, it seems awfully judgemental when Chifuyu takes it, the wood of its handle heavy in his hand.

He nods, avoiding Mochi’s eye. “And you?”

“Have I not made that clear?” With a sigh, Mochi pulls the hide taut over the wood, nodding down at it. “I do.”

“Oh.”

Chifuyu forces a smile when Mochi glances at him. Like the snow in summer, the resentment he felt for the alpha starts to melt, leaving behind nothing but barren lands— the promise for something to grow, if only it wasn’t poisoned with Chifuyu’s guilt.

He isn’t sure who the guilt is directed at— Mochi or Shuji. What starts to bloom in his feelings towards the alpha pales in comparison to what he feels for his mate, coming closer to sincere warmth and friendship rather than something romantic, but it’s undeniably there.

It coils in his stomach and creeps up his throat, and he’s unsure if he wants to swallow it down or throw it up— get rid of it entirely or allow it to grow.

“So,” he rasps, bending forward, running his finger along the hide to draw out imaginary lines, “what gave it away?”

Mochi sighs, providing enough resistance for Chifuyu to smoothly cut into the hide. “You forget, we all knew Hanma for a good couple of years. Even a complete moron like Shion thought it was strange for him to favour the perfect omega you presented yourself as.”

“Ah…” Chifuyu sighs and sits back, squinting down at the strip he cut. “If even Shion caught on, I must’ve done a really bad job.”

“Sort of. You just… get this look in your eyes sometimes. Gave it away.” Mochi shrugs. “But we also had the advantage. Not only from being around him, but also from witnessing firsthand Hanma’s, uh, romantic past—I mean, Kisaki and Ryusei aren’t exactly sweethearts…“

Chifuyu almost cuts a crooked line, a jab of sadness for Shuji’s past with Ryusei, and betrayal on his mate’s behalf, knowing Kisaki was somehow involved with Koko.

“Let’s not linger on my mate,” he says softly. “The sooner… the sooner my neck is rid of his mark, the better.”

They fall silent, working together to cut the hides into smaller pieces. After that, Mochi takes over, kindly insisting on Chifuyu taking a break while he punches careful holes along the edges, to later weave them together into sturdy backpacks.

While he works, Chifuyu sits back, eyes drawn between the other side of the river and Mochi’s work, only providing small corrections here and there.

“You know…” Mochi says, working on the final piece, “I don’t blame you for still loving him.”

Chifuyu stays silent, eyes falling down to look at his lap. He lets out a hum, bringing up a hand to rub along the curve of his stomach.

“I’d think lesser of you if you didn’t,” Mochi goes on. “Even when his mark fades, he’ll still be someone you once loved. It’d be cruel of me to expect that love to become a taboo topic between us.”

“It’s complicated,” he says, even if loving Shuji is the easiest thing he’s ever done. “I want to hate him.” Even if just the thought of that makes Chifuyu sick. “I want to move on,” he whispers, even if lying to Mochi leaves a bitter taste in his mouth.

“My mother used to say big emotions take time— grief, hate, happiness…” Mochi lays down the tools and turns his head in Chifuyu’s direction. “Love. Either to fade, or to— to grow.”

Chifuyu keeps looking ahead. “Never been good at the big ones,” he mumbles, the bitterness on his tongue only growing stronger, itching at the back of his throat.

He sighs and closes his eyes, a moment to collect himself— to make peace with everything he feels. The fear, the guilt, but also, the relief, the overwhelming need for honesty, the exhaustion that comes with it.

“Gods, imagine the ease with which we’d live our lives without the big ones, eh?” he asks, a bitter lack of humour in the way he smiles.

“Would make for a dull existence.” Mochi stretches out with a grunt. “Not to mention a dangerous one. Without fear, that feeling that something is off… Gods, I’d have been dead ten times already.”

Chifuyu looks from Mochi, back to the thick tree line on the opposite side of the river.

“Don’t they say fear’s a lousy guide?”

“Eh. On the opposite side of fear is faith, right? One blends into the other.”

It’s not hard to read between the lines, not when Mochi quickly averts his eyes when Chifuyu glances at him. Fear changing into faith, the promise of love to grow, however slowly it might.

“You’re very admirable,” he says, the words breathed out on a sigh.

In the end, Chifuyu supposes, the gradual unravelling of Mochi’s personality and the conflicting growth of emotions in them—love, and on the other end, guilt—is easier to deal with than the fear bubbling under his skin.

The guilt a far better guide, a sting in his heart to keep him clear-headed and looking ahead, more eager than ever to leave the south behind as soon as possible.

With the evidence of power lingering as a red mark on Mochi’s jaw, and so many lies already told, Chifuyu might as well lie to himself and believe he’ll make his plans a reality, no matter what.

The days bleed together. Filled with menial tasks, idle conversation, toeing the line of distance and companionship with Mochi.

It doesn’t take as long as Chifuyu might’ve liked to finish the backpacks. He makes the last stitch on a sweltering afternoon and they bid the river farewell. With it, the proximity to where the Chos may or may not have found his attempt at communication slips through his fingers, far out of reach.

Not a single chance for Chifuyu to even think about crossing the river presented itself. It leaves him dejected, and exhausted from hiding it.

Of all things for him to hold onto, it’s Mochi’s words, that opposite fear stands faith. And though his annoyance for the alpha has dwindled, making it hard to keep up the facade, he lets Mochi’s faith in their future fuel his fire, a reminder to keep his own faith close to his heart.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knows that Mochi’s ever-growing softness will come to haunt him in his dreams, but Chifuyu steels his soul and adds it to his already expansive list of regrets. Paired with the weight of everything else he already carries, it doesn’t seem so heavy.

It even becomes easy to ignore, when the pack’s air turns heady, and as selfish as it may be, the looming heats serve as a welcome distraction. Just a hint at first, but growing sweeter every day, making even Chifuyu slightly lightheaded.

He can only imagine the effect it has on Mochi and the other alphas. Though, as the days continue to pass him by and the pre-heats become harder to ignore for both the omegas suffering through it and everyone who comes close to them, he starts to see less of the alphas, until Mochi is the last one still walking around.

The answer as to why that is presents itself not too long after, when they make their way over to the communal hut around dinnertime.

Izana is waiting on the steps, his hands folded behind his back and a solemn expression on his face.

Thankfully, his dark eyes stay trained on Mochi, not even glancing at Chifuyu as he addresses the alpha.

“You’re dismissed from your position,” he says with a nod. “Meet Mucho in the beta area. He’ll explain the rest.”

Mochi takes a step closer to Chifuyu. “Why?”

“Oh, excuse me, Kanji, but I thought—“ Izana frowns and flicks his gaze over to Chifuyu. “Did I not just say he should go to Mucho? Who will explain?”

Chifuyu fights to keep his expression neutral. “You did.”

“I did.” Izana nods again and steps to the side. “In you go, omega.”

Mochi still doesn’t move. He doesn’t say anything else, but there is clear defiance in the way he tilts up his chin, only amplified when he rests a hand on Chifuyu’s shoulder to keep him in place.

“Hm?” Izana tilts his head to the side with a grin. “Did I stutter, Mochizuki?”

“I just want to know why I’m being, ah, dismissed.”

“Because,” Izana drawls, taking one large step forward to wrap a hand around Chifuyu’s elbow, “you’re not needed for the moment.”

“By you,” Mochi shoots back calmly. The hand on Chifuyu’s shoulders tightens its grip. “Not needed by you.”

Izana sighs. His fingers squeeze more harshly as well. “You alphas are so predictable,” he whispers, eyes narrowed at Mochi. “The promise of something to mount and you lose all rationality.”

Chifuyu lets out an undignified yelp when he’s yanked forward, manoeuvred around until he’s tucked against Izana’s side.

“Please, Chifuyu, if you will,” he purrs, an icy undertone in his voice, “tell the man you won’t need him for now.”

“You follow Izana,” Chifuyu says, tries to lace some humour in his tone, to hide the growing horror of realising the opposite might be true. “Listen to him, alpha. It’s fine.”

Izana chuckles and extends a hand, motioning with it to shoo Mochi away, and Chifuyu freezes, wide-eyed, when he catches sight of the beta’s bruised knuckles.

“Fine,” Mochi grunts, turning and then glaring at Izana over his shoulder. “Play nice, Izana.”

“Always do,” he bites, waving his hand again, using the other to forcefully spin Chifuyu around, both of them facing the entrance to the communal hut.

Chifuyu knows the answer, somehow, can feel it, but he still can’t fight the need to ask, “are you alright?”

Izana rolls his shoulders, head falling back with a sigh. “Whatever do you mean?”

“Your knuckles.”

“Ah.” He rolls his head to look at Chifuyu, a slimy smile creeping up on his face. “You have an awfully stubborn mate, y’know that?”

“I do,” Chifuyu says, mouth dry, heart clenching. “I’m— I’m sorry he’s giving you trouble.”

The smile grows, both wider and more cold. “Not at all. He just needed the right motivation.” Izana sighs, wistful, and shakes out his fist. “He was awfully interested to hear about you and Mochi. Has quite the irrational rage in him, doesn’t he?”

Would the people waiting for them inside the hut help him, if Chifuyu gave in to the sudden urge to wrap his hands around Izana’s neck and squeeze until all colour drains from his face?

He chances a glance inside, then settles back on Izana.

“He does.” Chifuyu smiles. “A weakness and strength, all in one.”

“Indeed. Get comfortable, won’t you? I can only imagine the burden it must be to carry his pup.”

Before he can flinch out of the way, Izana has already smoothed a hand over Chifuyu’s stomach, and for a single instance, his eyes soften when he looks back up at him.

It’s gone just as quickly, as is Izana, stalking inside the hut.

Chifuyu follows after him, albeit slower, glancing around. Only omegas and betas are present, no sign of the few alphas. He spots Hakkai, Takemichi and the twins at one table and takes a seat with them.

They’re visibly in different stages of pre-heat. Hakkai and Takemichi’s eyes mostly clear, their scents soft and sweet. The twins are worse off, especially Nahoya, whose brow is lined with sweat, eyes dark and smile uneven when he greets Chifuyu.

Why they aren’t sitting with Ran and Rindou few tables over is a mystery. Perhaps a twin thing, finding comfort in each other right before their heats truly hit.

Izana takes his place by the head table, but he keeps quiet, sharp eyes scanning the hut.

“Is it always like this?” Chifuyu whispers, leaning closer to Takemichi. “Everyone’s heats coming in at the same time?”

“No,” Takemichi whispers back, leaning in even more, nose pressed to Chifuyu’s shoulder. “Usually spaced out a little more. But, hmm— you smell nice.”

Chifuyu rolls his eyes, patting Takemichi on the back.

“Just with everything that’s happened, cycles have been thrown off.”

That makes sense, inner omegas waiting for the threat to be gone, and even though it isn’t truly safe yet, nature will take its course.

Chifuyu knows from experience how unpleasant it can be. After the first attacks on his home, his own heat came in late, eventually forced out of him with the passage of time, despite no improvement in their situation.

It was agonising, especially with no mate to soothe it.

“It’ll be okay,” he soothes, pulling Takemichi closer. “Hina’ll be there.”

Takemichi makes a strange sound, a choked off protest, but before Chifuyu can ask him what’s wrong, Izana clears his throat and demands their attention.

“So,” he says, “as we can all smell, we’re in a predicament with all of your heats so close to starting. Barely a reason for concern under normal circumstances, but as it is…” His eyes flick to Chifuyu. “With the continued threat Hanma and the west pose, we need to think, hm, creatively, to ensure the safety of our most vulnerable, during an even more vulnerable time.”

He lets the words land, allows a confused murmur to swell, and then raises a hand to quiet everyone again.

“In uncertain times like these, I think it’s best to look at our ancestors for guidance. As such, and after much consideration, I have decided it’s best for the heats to pass in a communal manner.”

Another murmur sweeps around the hut.

“Meaning,” Izana drawls, “for the next few days, just like it used to be, we’ll all live separated, and the omegas will spend their heat together.”

Chifuyu frowns, hoping he’s misunderstanding what Izana means.

“You mean…” Rindou says. “You want us to stay away from our mates?”

The already sickening mix of scents grows stronger— not just pre-heat, but anger as well.

“You can’t be serious!” Eshika snaps, springing to his feet. “That’s not up to you to decide, Izana.”

As much as Chifuyu still resents the beta, he can’t help but feel for him and his mate, whose eyes widen in alarm, jumping between Eshika and Izana.

“You!” the beta snaps, turning to address Takemichi, who shrinks in closer to Chifuyu. “We put you in charge, didn’t we? Do something!”

Takemichi takes a deep breath, sitting up more straight to look at Eshika. “We talked it over with Izana. Neither Hina or I are really in any state of mind to make a fair decision, so...”

He doesn’t say anything else, huddling close to Chifuyu again, sour shame mixing together with the sweetness of his pre-heat scent.

“It’s not a decision we enjoyed taking,” Izana continues for him, narrows his eyes at Eshika. “But my hand has been forced. The answers I’ve managed to get from both Hanma and Sato have proven insufficient in easing my worries about the safety of this pack. We cannot afford pregnancies as long as danger continues to loom.”

Eshika bristles. “So keep Hinata and Takashi away from their mates. The rest of us are betas! We already have slim chances of pregnancy with our mates.”

Hakkai lets out a soft growl. Chifuyu is quick to soothe him, scooting closer and running a hand down his back.

“I understand it may seem—“

“I don’t think you understand!” Eshika spits. “We have been trying for years to get pregnant! One missed heat means months of waiting.”

Izana rolls his eyes. “Perhaps you should take it as a sign from the gods.”

Eshika lets out a snarl, muscles tensing up.

Chifuyu scrambles to his feet with a shout of Eshika’s name, only just preventing the beta from lunging at Izana.

“What Izana means,” he rushes out, “is that it isn’t safe. He’s looking out for all of us.” With all eyes on him, Chifuyu lays a hand against his stomach. “Eshika— your mate deserves to feel safe during her pregnancy. You don’t want her to suffer during the process of creating life for you both, do you?”

Eshika’s eyes snap down to follow the movement of Chifuyu stroking a hand over his stomach. Slowly, the anger melts from his expression and his shoulders fall.

“No…” he mumbles, sinking down to his knees next to his mate, looking her over. “No. I’m sorry. I don’t. Of course not. I just— I do not want her to suffer through a heat alone either.”

Izana’s eyes drift from Eshika to Chifuyu. “The voice of reason, hm?” Izana chuckles, the sound hollow. “It’s good to see you are at least willing to take responsibility for the suffering your mate is causing, omega. Wish the same could be said for him.” After a cold smile, he turns to Eshika again. “Should you prefer it, perhaps you could consider a heat suppressing tea, to prevent—”

“No.”

Chifuyu whips his head around.

“Not an option.” Ran shakes his head, cold glare fixed on Izana. “Those are dangerous. You know that, Izana.”

Izana scoffs. “I’m just saying—“

“And I said no.” Ran gets to his feet as well, looking around the hut. “Matsuno and I will look after you all. It’ll be fine.”

Chifuyu frowns. “What about your own heat?”

Ran’s glare shifts to him. “I don’t go into heat.”

“What do—“ He’s cut off by Hakkai harshly tugging on his sleeve, pulling him down next to him.

“It’s sensitive,” he hisses.

Chifuyu wants to ask more, but Izana beats him to it, clapping his hands together to get everyone’s attention again.

“Wonderful. Let’s enjoy each other’s company for the night. I’ll expect all omegas in the omega hut tonight.” He smiles, insincere. “And Ran, darling, see me later.”

There is an edge to his voice. A tremor underneath layers of indifference, echoing with something akin to betrayal, maybe even hurt, that Ran would oppose him so publicly.

Ran sits down again. Rindou doesn’t waste a second to lean closer and start furiously whispering to him, though his brother’s eyes still fixated on Izana, who stares right back.

“I’m sorry,” Takemichi mumbles. “I know it’s a terrible solution, but…” He sighs and closes his eyes. “Kakucho went into rut after being around me. Izana was furious, blamed me for it happening. Didn’t really leave me a choice when he presented this idea.”

“It’s alright, Michi…” Hakkai whispers, reaching around Chifuyu to take Takemichi’s hand. “It’s for the good of the pack anyway.”

Takemichi shakes his head, eyes filling with tears. “It’s not. There’s nothing—“ He cuts himself off with a small gasp, tensing against Chifuyu’s side.

“Michi?”

“Forget it.” He pouts down at his food. “Yuren’s gonna be so sad… He’s been begging for a sibling.”

Chifuyu and Hakkai share a look. The other omega shrugs and focuses on his own plate.

“Me and Taka felt ready, too,” he says softly.

Chifuyu slowly raises his head to look at them. “You mean— you were— even with the, the danger?”

“Gods.” Hakkai shakes his head with a scoff. “What danger?”

“Rin and I, as well,” Souya pipes up, slightly slurred, blinking sluggishly at Chifuyu. “No reason not to. We know there’s nothing to—“

“Matsuno.”

Everyone’s eyes fall down to their plates when Ran kneels by the table.

Chifuyu instinctively pulls Takemichi closer to him, meeting Ran’s icy glare.

For half a second, their lingering animosity hangs heavy between them, Ran’s narrowed eyes raking up and down Chifuyu’s body. But then they shift, taking in the other omegas with them, and unexpectedly, Ran softens.

He holds out an arm and smiles, open and genuine, when Nahoya all but flies to his feet, scrambling to get close.

Ran cradles him against his chest, addressing Chifuyu over Nahoya’s head.

“Let’s get them out of here. We’ll bring some food up to the hut. You’re alright walking them there on your own?”

“Of course,” Chifuyu answers after a beat, smiling at the way Nahoya nuzzles into his mate.

“Help them get settled in. I suggest you and I take my hut.”

Chifuyu nods, looking around as the other omegas start inching towards their table.

“Not sleeping with them?”

Ran scoffs, but it’s laced with fondness. “You wanna sleep with a bunch of horny, clingy omegas?”

“Good point.”

They look each other over for a moment longer.

“Just don’t mess or move any of my stuff,” Ran finally says, carefully detaching Nahoya from himself.

Chifuyu doesn’t linger to see how the couple bid their farewells, deciding it’d be far too private for anyone to bear witness to, and shuffles out of the hut with everyone in tow.

Ran and Nahoya’s hut is small, consisting of only one room. A large chest is pushed against the far wall. In front of it, the floor is mostly covered by bedding, furs and blankets, but rather than form one big nest like Chifuyu expected, it’s clear that Ran and Nahoya have not been sleeping together.

Directly next to the door, a large table stretches almost the entire width of the hut. It contrasts wildly with the softness of the nest. The surface is littered with different knives, its wood stained from blood. Thankfully, only herbs hang drying over the table, but it’s not hard to imagine small animals in their place.

A couple of large, clay containers stand together under the table. Similar to the ones they used at home to make rice wine. Though, as Nahoya liked to brag about, these containers must be filled with his famed plum wine, supposedly sweet and rich in flavour.

Chifuyu doesn’t linger on the pang of sadness, knowing he’ll most likely never get to taste it.

The mixed scents of Ran and Nahoya make it hard to distinguish which part of the nest is whose, so Chifuyu sets his folded sleeping mat and blanket down by the door and takes a seat on the wooden stool by the table, content to wait until Ran comes back.

For the first time in weeks, he’s truly alone. Trusted to be so. The silence is almost unsettling, forcing him in a state of alertness, listening for any signs of danger, even when he knows there isn’t any lurking around.

Izana must know that as well, or he wouldn’t have allowed all the omegas to be in one place, with no real protection. This sudden separation, it can’t be anything else but a reminder for the pack of the suffering brought onto them by Shuji. A way for Izana to present himself as more caring than he probably is, use the fear of a non-existent danger to further turn them all against Shuji.

Chifuyu sighs. That, or Ryusei made up a story about the imminent threat of the west, only worsened by Shuji’s own words the night of Izana’s arrival. Not for the first time, he wishes there was a way to find out exactly what the two of them agreed on beforehand, which story they’re telling, how bad of a light they’re painting Shuji in, all for— for what?

He knows why, of course. But admitting it, even in his own head, feels like defeat, like the past haunting him and trapping him in the same position he was in barely half a year ago. Something useless and frail, in need of protection.

With another sigh, Chifuyu looks around the hut, seeking out any possible distraction. And for a while, that works. He amuses himself, making up little stories about the different trinkets littered around. Pretty rocks he imagines Nahoya picked up and presented to Ran as gifts. A few combs of varying sizes, which provide him with a sweet mental image of Nahoya combing Ran’s hair in the morning, helping him braid it to its signature style.

Over the past few weeks, Ran’s hair has been braided every day, but a small part of Chifuyu can’t help but wonder if Nahoya still helped him, or if the distance between their nests is an indication to the state of their relationship.

Soft padding outside the door draws his attention away. Without anything to keep his hands busy, Chifuyu simply turns to watch Ran enter, the other omega’s eyes immediately shifting to him.

They stare at each other in silence, Ran still in the doorway, some tension leaking in with him.

“Noya’s nest is on the right,” he eventually mumbles, stepping inside and sliding the door shut behind him. “Try not to mess it up too much.”

Chifuyu gets up, nodding down at the items he brought. “I can—”

“Do you see enough room to spread that out?” Ran rolls his eyes, dragging himself further into the hut to rummage through his chest.

Their momentary truce in the communal hut has clearly faded. Ran’s scent has a soured undertone to it, making Chifuyu hesitate to get closer and make himself comfortable in Nahoya’s nest.

“I can sleep somewhere else,” he offers quietly, for both of their sakes.

Ran shakes his head and starts to change into sleeping clothes. “Safety in numbers.”

“Right… I’m sure a pregnant omega really adds to that.”

“If you want to argue about our sleeping arrangements,” Ran says dryly, “do it with Izana.” He glances at Chifuyu and then sits down in his nest, back turned to him, beginning to undo his braids.

“That’s not—”

“Sleep. Don’t make this more miserable for me than it already is.”

Chifuyu scowls at Ran’s back and settles down in Nahoya’s nest. Despite not being particularly close to Nahoya, his scent is still familiar and safe.

“Izana say anything interesting?” he asks, laid on his side, facing Ran.

Ran grumbles something under his breath and half-turns to glare at Chifuyu. “None of your business.”

“Just asking…” Chifuyu rolls over as Ran turns back around. “Everyone settled in okay, should you want to know. Think most of their heats will start tomorrow, or the day after.”

It stays quiet for a beat, and then, softly, “did Nahoya— never mind. Go to sleep.”

Chifuyu sighs and closes his eyes.

True to his prediction, when Chifuyu checks on everyone around midday, their pre-heats have tipped over, spurred on by the scents of those around them.

The hut is big enough for little groups to form. A few of the omegas he isn’t all that close to in one corner. The twins separated and as far away from each other as possible, with Nahoya and Keisuke on the left, and Souya, Hakkai and Takemichi closest to where the chests and extra nesting materials are on the right.

Even with anything sexual as far from Chifuyu’s mind as it’s ever been, some heat still stirs in his stomach when he crouches down next to Souya, his cheeks flushed and eyes hazy.

“You’re doing good,” Chifuyu whispers to him, gently dabbing a damp cloth along Souya’s forehead. “And being surprisingly civilised. Back home, a few of us once spent a heat together, and it turned into one massive—“

“If you don’t shut up,” Souya pants, “I’m gonna bend you over and make myself the father of your pup.”

Chifuyu chuckles. “That’s not how that works, but I’m flattered.” He holds out his hand for Souya to nuzzle into, giving him the grace of ignoring how he turns over onto his stomach to grind against the bedding. “Just a few more days, Sou.”

“Leave if you’re not gonna help,” he snaps, teeth scraping over Chifuyu’s wrist. “Damn bastard. Coming in here smelling all— all pregnant.”

“Sorry, sorry.” Chifuyu gently nudges Souya to face Hakkai and gets back up. He meets Ran’s eye from across the hut and jerks his head in the direction of the entrance.

Ran nods. He glances down at Nahoya and Keisuke, who seem to be fast asleep, wrapped around each other, and then pushes himself up, meeting Chifuyu in the doorway.

“We’ll force them all to eat something later,” Ran says, arms crossed. “When they’ve, uh, worn themselves out a bit more.”

Chifuyu hums his agreement. “Doesn’t it bother you?” he asks, eyes on Nahoya.

“I’m positively jumping with joy, actually,” he grumbles, then sighs and lets his arms fall. “It’s better if he’s with another omega in heat. Same state of existing, or something.”

“Wouldn’t his mate be better?”

Ran turns away, staring out into the clearing. “We never—“ He catches himself, shoulders going rigid. “Never you mind, Matsuno. Let’s go.”

Chifuyu trudges after him.

Not entirely unexpectedly, Ran hasn’t given him a moment to himself, and doesn’t seem to have any intentions of doing so.

Another chance for Chifuyu to check if the Chos found his bracelet is gone, and leaves him with the uneasiness of wondering if they’re onto him. Fear and faith, he keeps repeating to himself all day, a mantra to hold onto the shreds of his sanity.

It doesn’t help that the rigidity of Ran’s shoulders seems to grow worse with every passing minute, a constant tension that seeps into his entire body as the day goes on.

He’s even more snappy than usual, bossing Chifuyu through the tasks he finds to keep them busy. His scent rots and sours, and then finally swells into an acrid rage, not too long after the sun settles and they’ve managed to get the other omegas to eat something.

Out of anything useful to do, they sit out on the porch of Ran and Nahoya’s hut. It’s there that he turns to Chifuyu, his eyes narrowed and jaw tense, voice coming out as a hiss.

“I’m only doing this because I am a reasonable man, because Nahoya is rather fond of you and I love him— so, I will give you one chance to correct the lies you’ve told Izana and Kakucho, and I suggest you take it right now.”

Chifuyu looks at him and frowns. He has told many lies, but he isn’t sure which one Ran is referring to.

“I genuinely have no idea what you’re talking about.”

Ran scrunches up his nose, scowling at him. “You told Izana that Hanma killed his sire.”

Chifuyu can’t stop the chuckle he lets out, relieved that apparently, they’re not onto him at all. He sits back and stretches out his legs, resting one hand on his stomach.

There is that tingle again, the same he felt by the river, just a tiny spark of confidence.

“I did.”

Ran growls. “That’s a lie. Tell me the truth.”

“If it’s a lie, then Shuji lied to me, as well.” Chifuyu shrugs. “Tell Izana that, if you’re so sure.”

Ran scoffs and crosses his arms. “If Hanma killed his sire, that’d mean he was very young. Unpresented, probably.”

“Yep.” Chifuyu pops his lips on the p. “He was. Presented a year after.”

“Stop,” Ran hisses, “lying to me, Matsuno.”

“I am not lying to you.” Chifuyu narrows his eyes at the other omega. “Again, Haitani, if it’s a lie, then I was told one, too. I wasn’t there when he killed him. I told Izana what Shuji told me.”

“Why,” he spits, “would Hanma kill his sire before he presented? Did he know?”

Chifuyu frowns. “Did he know what?”

With a growl, Ran is in front of him, hands twisting in the front of his shirt. “Did he know he’d present as an alpha before actually doing so?” He yanks him to his feet, noses almost pressed together. “What did he tell you about his bloodline?”

Chifuyu’s first instinct is to push Ran off, a growl building in his chest. He glares at the other omega and then falters, hands halfway up to claw at his wrists.

The scent of rotting flowers fills the air. Laced with desperation. No anger, only fear. Uncertainty.

Slowly, he takes Ran’s wrists, and frowns when he lets him put distance between them.

“He told me they were careful. Chose the right omegas to ensure a strong alpha lineage.”

Ran’s shoulders sag, relieved.

Chifuyu’s frown deepens when he says a quick, “but,” and Ran’s eyes widen, the fear now shining in them as well.

“But, he said that they suspected he might present as—“

“An omega,” Ran finishes with an exhale, eyes darting to the side, lips pressed together tightly. “The entire west was holding its breath, anxiously waiting to find out if the Hanma pup would be an alpha or not.”

“Right…”

Ran’s eyes jump back to Chifuyu. “Tell me the truth. Why did he kill his sire, if not to prove his worth as an alpha? To show his people that he’d be a worthy successor?”

Chifuyu licks his lips, heart skipping a beat. It’s not his story to tell. If Shuji wanted anyone to know what really happened, he would’ve told them himself.

But… the way Ran is looking at him— frantic, unsure…

One day, he’s sure, he’ll need to face the gods’ judgement and beg for their forgiveness. The list seems endless already. Betraying Shuji’s trust by sharing his past might as well be added onto it.

“Shuji’s mother was still a child when she gave birth to him. Doing so caused so much damage, her following pregnancy was incredibly problematic. She died giving birth to his sister, and the girl died a few days later.” Chifuyu frowns again at Ran’s widening eyes. “When his sire told him… Let’s say he did not do so kindly. Shuji lost himself to his grief and anger, and killed him.”

“No,” Ran says, slowly, like he’s talking to a child— an insult to himself or Chifuyu, he isn’t sure. “Shinichiro killed alpha Hanma. The same night he also killed omega Hanma and their newborn pup. And his heir, he fled, swearing revenge on the south and Shinichiro. Which…” He closes his eyes and nods. “Which led him here. Where Mikey let him in, blind to the imminent betrayal.”

Chifuyu shakes his head, hands sliding up Ran’s arms, resting on his shoulders. “Ran…”

“I chose to flee to the south because they’d proven themselves stronger than alpha Hanma,” Ran says, eyes snapping open. “Your mate lied to you. And now you are lying to me.”

“Ran—“

With a snarl, Ran pushes him away and takes a step back himself. “You’re a fool, omega. He lied to you. Do you hear me? He lied.”

Chifuyu shakes his head. He can’t bring himself to meet Ran in his rising anger, not when he sees the other omega’s world crumble in his eyes. “He wouldn’t lie about his mother. I would’ve known.”

“You don’t know anything,” Ran spits, jerking away from Chifuyu.

“I know my mate,” Chifuyu says softly, turning his head away, baring his neck. “I know my Shuji.”

“I hope he gets you killed.”

Chifuyu shakes his head again. He stays in place— showing submission, extending nothing but trust to Ran.

“He won’t, Ran.”

“He will, Hanma.” He sucks in a sharp breath. “You’ll die bearing a liar and a traitor’s name. May the Gods keep your soul from ever finding peace!”

Chifuyu takes a breath, slowly turning his head to face Ran again.

He’s looked down upon with an arrogant tilt of Ran’s chin, arms crossed over his chest. A silent challenge, waiting for an equally spiteful reaction.

Instead of that, Chifuyu lowers his eyes and bows, hands relaxed on his knees, careful to keep both defence and offence out of his body language.

“I’m sorry for what the west did to you and your brother, Ran,” he says softly. “I’m sorry Shuji scares you.”

It feels good, to speak truthfully for a change.

Ran lets out a low growl. “If you think you can manipulate me—“

“I don’t think that at all.”

The truth feels so good, so light and sweet on his tongue, he doesn’t even attempt to stop it when more of it starts to spill.

“What I do think, is that you’re a lazy, arrogant coward. I don’t hold any particular affection for you.” Chifuyu nods and takes a step back onto the stairs to put him at eye level with Ran. “Gods forbid that day ever comes, but if I were put in a position where I’d have to die for you, I’d think twice before doing so.”

Ran’s scowl deepens.

“I resent you for what you did to me and Shuji, but had our roles been reversed, I’d have done the same. Especially if it was you I’d be throwing to wolves, so to speak.” With a sigh, he dusts himself off. “I told Izana many lies. But not about Shuji’s sire. The man taught him how to kill, so he did.“

“When morning comes,” Ran growls, “I will tell Izana the truth. I hope you’re content with those being a few of the last words you’ll ever speak.”

Chifuyu lets his head fall back to stare up at the starry sky. “I think I am,” he mumbles, trying the remember which constellations Shuji pointed out to him once.

When he draws a blank, he looks back at Ran, who is still trying to mask his fear with rage.

“I’m very tired, you know that?” He sighs and digs his fingers into his scarred shoulder, attempting to ease some of the tension out. “Shuji is, as well. Maybe death will be the break we deserve.”

Ran scoffs. “Am I supposed to feel sorry for you, or him?”

“Not at all.” Chifuyu takes a step back, higher up the stairs, then another, until he’s standing on the porch. “Just wanted to say it out loud, just once. So, thank you for listening, I suppose. If you don’t mind, I’ll be needing my energy to lie my way out of Izana’s grasp tomorrow.”

“Trying to do so will be futile,” Ran snaps, storming forward to take a seat on the steps. “And don’t even think about sneaking away. I’ll be right here. Awake.”

“Never thought I’d see the day where you act in service of the pack.” Chifuyu slides the doors open, but pauses in the doorway, glancing back at Ran. “I really am sorry, though, for the life you must’ve lived to make you turn out like this.”

Ran’s shoulders hunch up, but he stays quiet.

“And, this is me trying to manipulate you— I hope you realise Shuji’s hasn’t been that all that easy either. Nor has mine been.” Chifuyu purses his lips and taps his fingers against the doorpost. “I made him happy, though. I can find my peace in that. Again, I’m saying this to make you feel bad— I hope you do the same for Nahoya and yourself. That doing this will make you feel like you did the right thing for your mate, just as me saying all this, makes me feel like I at least tried, for Shuji.”

The door softly clicks against its post when Chifuyu slides it shut. The sweet taste of the truth lingers in his mouth when he lays himself down to sleep, and with it, that powerful feeling continues to rage deep within him.

When morning comes, Chifuyu half expects to hear voices outside of the hut, proof that Ran sought out Izana and laid ruin to all his plans.

What he hears instead is the gentle chirping of insects and birds, the rustling of leaves, the world slowly waking up around the hut. But no signs of danger.

All things considered, he’s surprisingly well-rested after a good night’s sleep. Perhaps his omega or wolf knew something he didn’t fully grasp himself yet, because when he steps out onto the porch, Ran is sitting on the steps.

His shoulders rise and fall gently, partly obscured by his long hair, loose from their braids. His scent is clear, calm, and confident. He barely moves when Chifuyu slides the door shut behind him and steps closer.

“Izana wanted me to get answers from you,” Ran begins, his voice soft. “All of this, this cruel separation of the omegas from their mates during their heat, a ploy for me to get you alone for an extended period of time. Win your trust. Get more information.”

Chifuyu nods, though unseen, and wraps his arms around himself.

“I didn’t agree with it. I still don’t. Especially when he told me about what happened to alpha Hanma, what… Shuji… did. I knew there was no incoming danger. I knew that everything I’d been told about the fate of the Hanma bloodline was a lie.” He groans and lets his head hang. “I think that maybe, Izana knows that as well. Not that Shuji is innocent, but that he’s far too incompetent to oversee a large-scale attack like the one he and Ryusei have been alluding to.”

Chifuyu sits down on the other end of the steps, keeping his distance.

“Does Mikey know?” Ran asks, glancing at him.

“I’m not sure.” Chifuyu grimaces. “I suspect that Kisaki knew, maybe Mikey as well, but— not even Ryusei was aware when I told him.”

Ran nods. “It never made sense to me why Mikey allowed Shuji to join. If he did know, that explains why. If not… then he’s an even greater leader than I previously thought.”

Chifuyu looks at Ran, who is looking at him almost curiously, as if he’s seeing him for the first time.

“You carry your anger well,” Ran says after a short silence. “With elegance. Reminiscent of me, were I younger, stupider, and less beautiful.”

Chifuyu purses his lips. “Thank… you?”

“It’s not a good thing.” Ran turns away, staring ahead. “It makes you less human, to keep so much in. Outwardly, at least. I hardly considered you as such, until yesterday.”

Chifuyu hums.

“It’s Shuji’s downfall as well. His foolish inability to speak about his past made me think he didn’t hate it.” He sighs. “And my own downfall, too.”

“It is.”

Ran bounces his leg, one hand carding through his hair. “Was he scared? Shuji?”

“Terrified,” Chifuyu breathes. “Sometimes I think his sire is still alive in his head. His mother, as well.”

“Yuua.”

Chifuyu looks at him, eyebrows shooting up.

“I heard she was beautiful. Shame your bastard mate didn’t take after her.”

Chifuyu takes a moment to smooth out his expression and smiles. “She was from the north. It’s for the best that he doesn’t. We might’ve ended up looking like brothers.”

Ran huffs out a laugh, and surprisingly, it’s a wonderful sound.

“Did it make you feel good? To call me a, ah, what did you—“

“A lazy, arrogant coward.” Chifuyu hums in contemplation. “It did, yes.”

“Right.” Ran glances at him. “I have every reason to be. I have done… a lot, to get Rin and me out of the west. I deserve to be lazy and arrogant. And I— I deserve Nahoya. I do.”

“Are you telling me that, or yourself?”

Ran bares his teeth. “Shut up.”

Chifuyu holds up his hands, then gestures for Ran to continue.

“But I have no right to be…” Ran glares at him a moment longer, then averts his eyes. “No right to be a coward.”

A small inkling of guilt bubbles up. Chifuyu scrunches up his nose, almost scoots closer to pat Ran on the back, but decides against it.

“I don’t really think you’re a coward.”

“Yes, you do. Don’t lie to me.” Ran shakes his head. “If I’m gonna help you, there can be no lies between us.”

Chifuyu nearly pulls a muscle snapping his head around to gape at Ran. “When you what?”

“I’m not doing it for you,” Ran snaps, fists balling up against his knees. “Or for Shuji. And I’m not going to apologise for what I did. I stand by that.”

“I know I shouldn’t, uh, as they say, spit a gift horse in the mouth—“

“No one says that.”

“But—“ Chifuyu turns to fully face Ran. “Why?”

Ran rolls his eyes and purses his lips. He taps his fingers against his legs, seemingly contemplating his answer.

“The things I had to do,” he begins, slow, “made Rin feel indebted to me. Which is nonsense, but he’s stubborn and a bit of an idiot. He’d do a lot for me, even—“ He sighs. “Even going with me to Izana, knowing it’d make Souya hate him.”

Something pained flashes across Ran’s face, but he straightens it out quickly and rolls his shoulders. “And frankly, I’m tired of Noya giving me the cold shoulder. I want him back in my nest, not besides it.”

Chifuyu nods. He doesn’t want to insult Ran by saying something nice, so he keeps quiet.

“So,” Ran goes on. “The west, right?”

“How did you—“

“I know your type.” Ran raises an eyebrow, looking Chifuyu over with not nearly as much judgement as he probably means to come across. “The kind of fool who wants to make things right for everyone. Can’t do that here, or in the north.”

“I could, if I wanted to,” Chifuyu huffs, if only because directly admitting it feels like baring his entire soul. “But, sure, yes, the west.”

Ran hums. “What do you have, and what more do you need?”

“I got a message out to the Chos.”

If Ran is surprised by their mention, he doesn’t show it.

“And the backpacks.”

“Right. Nahoya’s attempt at being subtle. What else?”

“That, eh…” Chifuyu looks away, hands clenched between his knees, shoulders drawn up, readying himself for what will no doubt be a scolding. “Is it.”

“Okay… and what did you agree upon with the betas?”

Any minute now.

“Not a, uh, lot. Nothing, really.”

Ran inhales slowly, exhales even slower. “What did your message contain?”

“Well it, uh, wasn’t so much a message as an attempt to confirm that they’re close.”

“Are they?”

“I don’t… know… yet.”

“Oh, for the love of the Gods.” Ran groans and gets up to glare at Chifuyu with his hands on his hips. “You are incompetent. How did you picture this going? Walk up to the heat hut, grab your alpha, and skip out of here?”

“No!” Chifuyu bites back, then shrinks in on himself again. “Was gonna take Koko and Seishu, too.” He frowns. “The heat hut?”

Ran ignores him in favour of pacing up and down, fingers pinching the bridge of his nose, muttering insults under his breath.

Each insult to his intelligence is, in all fairness, completely deserved, so Chifuyu sits and waits for Ran to be done.

“Alright,” he finally says, turning to Chifuyu. “Until the last heat breaks, we have time and some freedom. You get in touch with the betas— don’t tell me how, or it’ll just piss me off. Tell them to be ready by the full moon and— don’t ask me why!”

Chifuyu snaps his mouth shut.

“Shuji is kept in the heat hut. The beta in Hinata’s, Ryusei in Takashi’s, and the omega in Draken’s. I will give you one chance, one window of opportunity. After dinner. Figure out a route. If you mess it up, it’ll be on you.”

It makes more sense than how he had previously imagined their locations. Spread them out, especially Shuji, making an escape even harder than it already was.

Chifuyu frowns when the rest of Ran’s words sink in and holds up a hand. “Ryusei isn’t—“

“Yes, he is.” Ran’s tone leaves no room for discussion. “If you don’t take him, the deal’s off.”

“But—“

Ran shakes his head, his eyes oddly soft when he glances at Chifuyu. “Don’t separate him from you two.” He clears his throat, features hardening. “You clearly lack a brain. Shuji lacks— most things, really. The both of you need him more than he needs you.”

“I… suppose you have a point,” Chifuyu mumbles, relieved in the most terrible way to get some sort of strange permission to take Ryusei.

Admitting to himself that he was wrong about Ran doesn’t feel nearly as sour as he thought it might. He smiles at the other omega, even when it isn’t returned.

“So,” he says, “how will you—“

“I said don’t ask questions!”

“Right.” Chifuyu holds up his hands in surrender. “Sorry.”

Ran huffs and sits down again, nodding once.

Silence settles between them. Not uncomfortable, but not exactly comfortable either.

Chifuyu fidgets a bit, deciding on what the best thing to say might be.

“Y’know,” he mutters, “I think Nahoya would’ve forgiven—“

“Don’t.”

The silence does get more uncomfortable then. Chifuyu drums his fingers against the wood.

“I, uh, really appreciate—“

“Shut up.” Ran rolls his eyes. “Go check on the others. I need to think.”

Chifuyu nods, grateful for the escape, and springs to his feet. “Is there anything—“

“No.”

“Al-right.”

“Izana goes to Shuji after dinner. Leaves when the moon is at its highest.” Ran looks up at him, raising an eyebrow. “Wait until then to seek out the betas. And do not go see your mate. Understood?”

“Didn’t plan on it,” Chifuyu says, shaking his head, even if a part of him is aching to rush over to the heat hut right that instant.

Ran raises a brow, but doesn’t call him out on it. He jerks his head in the direction of the omega hut and shoos Chifuyu away.

“And Matsuno,” Ran calls after him without looking up. “Thank you for not involving anyone. You’re an idiot for it, but— thank you.”

Chifuyu smiles. “You’re someone, Ran. I’m sure you’ll think of a way I can repay you.”

And he does, much sooner than Chifuyu expected, mere hours later when the sun starts its descent into the sky.

He meets Chifuyu at the entrance to the omega hut, after a day of looking after everyone and keeping a close eye on how their heats are progressing at different speeds.

“Omega.”

Chifuyu frowns at the formal tone and glances back over his shoulder— everyone how he left them, dealing with their heat in the way that suits them best. He looks back at Ran, unsure why he’s addressing him as their leader when that position is no longer his.

“I have never spent a heat with my mate. Out of fear, not wanting to confront my past, my own lack of a heat cycle… and I have a lot to make up to him. I haven’t always done the best job of showing him that I love him. And I do.” Ran averts his eyes. “I do.”

“Say what you want, omega,” Chifuyu says, mirroring Ran’s formality in tone, and by straightening up, folding his hands away behind his back.

“I want to spend the last days of his heat together. I prepared an unoccupied hut. Your scent in ours would only upset him.” Ran nods, a little shakily, eyes darting to Chifuyu. “I-I know it’s selfish, and maybe an abuse of my position, so that’s why I’m asking you, and I understand if—“

Chifuyu holds up a hand and smiles. “I’ll get him for you, so the others don’t resent you.”

But of course, there is no resentment when Chifuyu makes his way back inside, only understanding shining in the other omegas’ eyes when he gently guides Nahoya outside. Not even Keisuke, who’d been wrapped around Nahoya, has anything to say in protest, only burrowing deeper into the blankets surrounding him.

Nahoya’s enthusiasm is subdued, a small nod when Chifuyu whispers Ran’s name, getting up on shaky legs.

The way he falls into his mate’s arms shows his full relief, easily enveloped by Ran, pulled close and held tightly.

“I’m still mad at you,” Chifuyu hears Nahoya mumble from his spot in the doorway. “I’m so mad at you.”

“I know,” Ran whispers back, eyes squeezed shut. “Be mad. That’s alright.”

“Hope you ate enough,” Nahoya grumbles, already pushing at Ran’s chest to get him moving. “Not gonna let you leave until this is over.”

Ran nods, smiling, and untangles himself from Nahoya. He wraps an arm around his shoulders and starts to lead him away, only pausing briefly to look back at Chifuyu.

“The moon,” he mouths, pointing up at the sky. And then, with shining eyes, a soft whisper, “thank you.”

Chifuyu watches them go, relief and warmth bubbling under his skin. He commits them to memory, pressed together under the pink sky, soft sunlight shining down on them.

There are a few more days to go until the full moon, more time for him to bask in their and everyone else’s presence, but not nearly as much time as he’d like to have left with them.

He starts to make his way back to Ran’s hut, watching as pink bleeds into orange, the first stars slowly becoming visible.

He thinks he’ll miss the summer breeze, the sweltering temperature even at night, the dusty paths and yellowing grass. For once, he doesn’t long for the snow, but instead aches for more nights drenched in sweat, gross and sticky, washing off in a river that doesn’t make his skin prickle from its icy temperature.

The south, with its unrelenting heat and unbearably dry air, is a thing of beauty after all. A home he will come to miss dearly, and hopes, prays, begs the gods, he can one day return to as a friend.

Chapter Text

The single window in the side of Ran and Nahoya’s hut has the perfect view of the night sky. Chifuyu sits in the dark and watches it for what feels like an infinite stretch of time.

He watches it knowing he has two chances. Everyone’s scents had still been strong with heat, but it’d been waning. Either he finds the Chos tonight, or the next. After that— he doesn’t want to think about what would happen next, if they didn’t get his message and he’s on his own. Even with Ran’s help, it’d be a hopeless situation.

With the moon at its highest point, surrounded by countless little stars, Chifuyu pushes himself to his feet. He’s pulled on the easiest clothing he owns, wide and comfortable, nothing like the restrictive formal clothing he’s been forcing himself into each day.

Stepping up to the door, he feels more like himself than he’s done in a long time. Determined, or so he forces himself to be. Confident in this night, or the next. He doesn’t want to think about what would happen if he doesn’t find the Chos, because he will. He needs to. No matter what.

With a nod to himself, he slides the doors open. And immediately forgets all about his determination, heart leaping up into his throat when he comes face to face with Mochi.

He almost slams the door shut again, already half a step back, but— maybe it’s the way his clothes flutter with the movement, or the urgency, or the bitter taste that lingers in his mouth at all times.

Maybe it’s all of it. Maybe it’s nothing but Chifuyu himself that makes him push through, storming forward with a hiss of Mochi’s name.

“What are you doing here?!” he bites, dragging the alpha away from Ran’s hut. “That’s the second time you’ve scared me half to death! If I miscarry, that’s on you!”

“I’m sorry!” Mochi whisper-shouts. “Sorry. Are you okay?”

His eyes drift down to where Chifuyu has a hand splayed over his stomach— more a natural instinct, a subconscious thing, but no doubt giving the impression of defence and protection over his pup.

“I’m fine!” He continues to stalk forward, Mochi stumbling after him. “Why are you here?! Izana will kill you if—“

“I know, I know, it’s fine. He knows I’m making rounds.” Mochi smiles, a little dumbly. “I just— I wanted to check on you.”

Chifuyu growls and comes to a stop, halfway to the clearing in front of the omega hut, halfway to where he needs to go. “Oh for the love of— I’m fine! I have Ran to keep me company.”

“But Ran hates you.”

“Yeah, all the more reason to keep me alive— so he can kill me when I least expect it.”

Mochi frowns, eyes darting back to the hut.

“Gods. I hate alphas.” Chifuyu sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Just leave, Mochi.”

“Where were you going?”

Chifuyu considers the best answer. He peeks between his fingers, taking in Mochi’s wide-eyed concern.

“I needed a breath of fresh air.”

“That’s not…” Mochi steps closer. “I’ll walk with you.”

“That’s really not necessary.”

Mochi raises an eyebrow. “In case you forgot, Izana tasked me with making sure you don’t get up to anything stupid.”

“I’m not going to do anything stupid,” Chifuyu bites back, stepping closer to poke a finger into Mochi’s chest.

“Sounds like something someone who’s about to do something stupid would say.”

“Kanji—“

“You won’t even notice I’m there,” Mochi says gently, swatting Chifuyu’s hand away. “You have my word.”

“I don’t want your word.”

He’s losing time. Mochi is narrowing his eyes, and he’s not sure if it’s determination or suspicion.

“Either you let me join you,” Mochi says, a gravelly undertone in his voice, “or you turn around and go back—“

“I wanna get off!”

The moment he says it, Chifuyu instantly regrets it. He slaps a hand over his mouth and stares at Mochi, who stares right back, frozen in place.

In the silence of night, the words seem to echo, and really, Chifuyu might as well lose his last shreds of dignity.

With a scoff, he crosses his arms and tilts his chin up, daring Mochi to say something.

“You— you want to…”

“You heard me.” He sniffs and turns his head away. “You should see what they’re getting up to in the omega hut. I’m just a guy, and, ah…” Chifuyu glances down, then back up at Mochi. “Pregnant. Hormones. Raging. I just— do you have any idea how long it’s been since I had the chance to satisfy any cravings?”

“Cravings…”

“Cravings!” Chifuyu snaps. “So I just wanted to sneak away, get comfortable, and shove my fingers—“

“Okay!” Mochi holds up his hands, eyebrows almost up to his hairline in exasperation. “Okay. I get it. I’m sorry.”

Chifuyu nods. “You should be.”

“I am.”

“Good.”

“Yeah. I—“ Mochi audibly gulps and steps closer, his voice lowered when he asks, “do you need any… assistance?”

“What?” Chifuyu whispers, arms falling down, all but gaping at Mochi.

The dark, musky scent of arousal hits him full force, all at once. Chifuyu inhales sharply and takes a step back, looking Mochi over, and—

It was never Chifuyu’s intention to turn Mochi against Izana. But if ever there were an opportunity to take the innocent affection he was after, and turn it into loyalty, ripe for the taking— now would be it.

Having Mochi on his side would make everything so much easier. He’d have someone on his side that has Izana’s trust.

It’d be easy. The way Mochi is looking at him isn’t all that different from how Shuji used to— eyes filled with hunger. The problem, Chifuyu finds, is exactly that.

Just beyond the hunger, he sees ravenous desperation. Mochi wears it just as Shuji does, hidden deep in the darkness of his eyes; something small and vulnerable, begging and screaming to be loved.

It’d be easy to play coy, to leave the door open for the future, when he might need Mochi after all.

And it’d be impossible, now that he sees the softness in Mochi’s rough features.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea,” he gently says, and smiles at the hint of disappointment that flashes across Mochi’s face. “But I do appreciate the offer.”

Alongside with the relief he felt about speaking the truth to Ran, settles the relief to know that Mochi, twice Chifuyu’s size in both directions, is nothing like the alphas he encountered before.

A sour relief, riddled with wishing things could be different, but relief nonetheless.

“Not an entirely selfless offer,” Mochi grunts, turning his head away.

“I’d hope not.” Chifuyu chuckles. “I’d be insulted if it were.”

Mochi clears his throat and is quick to change the subject. “Will you at least let me know where you plan on going? In case you go missing and I need to track you down.”

“The river.” There is something strange in Mochi’s eyes when they settle back on Chifuyu. “To wash off immediately after,” he adds, more an afterthought, not entirely sure why Mochi looks at him like that.

“There’s a lot of land not currently under Izana’s watch that stretches on behind the river,” Mochi says, then purses his lips.

Chifuyu tilts his chin up. He prays it comes across as defiant, and doesn’t show the worry that’s starting to creep up on his thoughts.

“I’m aware, Kanji, but I trust in the safety Izana provides, even over land that’s not actively under patrol.” He raises an eyebrow. “Don’t you trust in Izana?”

Mochi steps closer. “I trust Izana.”

“Good. As you should.” Chifuyu stays rooted in place, even with his omega screaming at him to back down under Mochi’s narrow-eyed stare. “He’s very competent.”

“He is.” Mochi’s eyes dart to Ran’s hut. “Have Ran walk with you. To put my mind at ease.”

“No.” Chifuyu takes a calming breath, reminds himself that he has nothing to fear from him. “I don’t think that’s necessary.”

Mochi sighs. He looks conflicted, glancing between the hut and Chifuyu.

Their eyes meet and lock in a stare, equally tentative and intense, and after several long seconds, Mochi breaks with another sigh, shaking his head.

Chifuyu’s eyes dart to the side, then back at Mochi. He raises an eyebrow, continuing to stare him down as the alpha takes a step back.

“I’ll let Izana know things are going well here.”

Chifuyu nods, unmoving in place as Mochi continues to back away.

“First heat will break tomorrow.” He glances up at the moon, hanging bright and close to full in the sky. “A day or two, and we’ll all be reunited. I’m looking forward to it.”