Namjoon
‘We’re running out of food Yoongs,’ I said as I looked at our small amount of meat we had managed to hunt. It was worrying and I could feel my stomach grumble. I knew Yoongi had been sharing his portions of food, claiming he was not hungry.
‘I could go to town and get some things. Maybe some bread and milk,’ he began before he turned to look at me. ‘We still have some money left from what that elderly couple gave us last time, right?’ he asked and I nodded.
‘Just the last bit. I was thinking of going into town and see if I could do some odd jobs here and there, get some money,’ I admitted and he nodded.
‘Not a bad idea. Maybe Hoseok and Jin could help too,’ Yoongi suggested.
‘Yeah and I was thinking maybe Taehyung and Jungkook could hunt and Jimin gather some fruits and berries,’ I said, still not convinced. You never know what you’ll get with a hunt like that.
‘Sometimes I wonder whether it would be better to just go live in town. Find a small house and we could all cram in and find some jobs but I get terrified that we’d be found,’ Yoongi said.
‘Those hunters are always looking out for people like us,’ I said, a hint of anger in my voice. I could never understand why they hate us so much. I understand fearing us but not all of us want to use our strength to hurt others. I shook my head, trying to keep the cobweb of thoughts out of my brain. ‘Like this, we don’t get that much attention while still providing, but I get what you mean. Sometimes, I feel so damned useless. I wish I could provide more for our family,’ I said.
‘Joonie you’ve been doing a fantastic job. Don’t be so hard on yourself,’ Yoongi said just as we both heard a twig snap. We turned around to see Taehyung there with misty eyes. He looked like he wanted to cry but was keeping himself back.
‘Hey, what’s wrong?’ I asked as I quickly rushed next to him. He shrugged as he fought with himself to not cry.
‘I’m so sorry Joonie. I should be the one leading this pack but I ended up giving that burden to you. I'm useless being an Alpha,’ Taehyung said but I shook my head.
‘It’s not a burden Taehyung. You’re an Alpha, the only Alpha in our pack and you will always have my respect. The moment you want to be the leader of our pack, I will gladly kneel down before you and follow you, but until then, I am honoured that you left our pack in my care,’ I said.
‘It’s just, I don’t want to be like my father. It terrifies me that I could be like him,’ he said as he literally shook and trembled. We all knew how much he feared and hated his father who was an Alpha like him – except unlike Tae, his father was cruel and violent.
‘Hey,’ Yoongi began as he rubbed Taehyung’s arm. ‘You’ll never be like your father Taehyungie. You’re nothing like him, at all,’ he said. Taehyung smiled a small smile and nodded.
‘You’re planning to go to town?’ he asked, suddenly changing topic, a clear indication that he did not want to talk about his father anymore.
‘Yeah. Get some food and maybe spend a couple of days doing some odd work. We were thinking that maybe you and Jungkook could hunt for some food here and maybe Jimin does some gathering,’ I informed him and he nodded.
‘Good idea. You can try the construction sites. They tend to hire people for odd jobs sometimes,’ Taehyung said.
‘Not a bad idea,’ I said as I looked at Yoongi. ‘Let’s go get the others and we’ll get going,’ I said. They nodded as we went to where the others were gathered, huddled together.
‘Food is running out so we need to divide in groups,’ I began as everyone looked at me. Seeing the way they looked at me for guidance filled me both with worry and pride. I took a deep breath as I readied myself to talk. ‘Hoseok, Jin, Yoongi, come with me to town. We’ll see what we can get, maybe even find some odd jobs. Tae, Kook, we need you to try and hunt for some food here and Jimin, maybe you could see what you can gather,’ I explained as everyone nodded.
‘How long will you be gone?’ Jimin asked as he approached us. His eyes were big and round, a hint of sadness in them. He always hates it when the group has to separate for a while. I shrugged, not entirely sure what to answer.
‘I don’t know. Maybe two or three days. I um,’ I paused, feeling my cheeks heating up.
‘Awh go on Joonie, say it,’ Jungkook teased as he also stood up. I heard Yoongi chuckle quietly while Hoseok was laughing loudly. Jin was looking expectantly and even Taehyung was smiling.
‘Fine, I was going to say that I doubt I can last more than three days without seeing you three,’ I mumbled under my breath as I looked down at the ground, unable to look them in the eyes.
‘Awhh! We’d miss you too Joonie,’ Jimin said as he came to hug me which caused me to smile. Jimin always was such a cuddly person and he’d hug anyone for any reason… sometimes, for no reason at all and we all loved that about him.
It was never easy for him being an Omega. In the pack he used to be in, he was regarded as the weakest link of the pack when it was not even his fault. He was mistreated, mocked and made fun of. He was practically the punching bag of the pack. He was turned into a servant boy for the alpha until he decided to run away. Years of abuse though did make him weaker than other wolves and he needed more affection, reassurance and protection – things we were more than willing to give.
‘We’ll see you soon Jiminie. Be careful and stay safe,’ I said as I let go of the hug and looked at three younger ones.
‘Don’t worry Joon. I’ll keep them safe,’ Taehyung said with a determined look on his face. I nodded at him, knowing he would do anything to make sure they remain safe.
Hoseok, Yoongi, Jin and I arrived in town around two hours later. It had been a long run but we managed to make it in time, before the day could really start. Hopefully that meant we could find some work. We went to the construction site where we saw a number of workers there. The town was small and it only had one construction company that did all the work.
‘Well this is it. Should we go ask for the person in charge?’ Hoseok asked as he scratched the back of his neck awkwardly. We've been on our own for so long that sometimes, it made it harder to communicate with humans. I blamed it on the fear of being found out and the fact that we were always moving from one place to another.
I nodded as I began to take a step forward until a man jogged towards us. He was wearing a safety hat and a highlighted yellow jacket. He was sweating, probably from the sweltering heat. His face was red and he looked tired.
‘Hello. By any chance, are you here looking for work?’ the man asked, almost with a pleading tone that sounded hopeful. The boys and I exchanged a look as I smiled. Did we just get lucky?
‘Actually we are. We’re kind of travelling through and need to make some quick money for food and necessities,’ I explained. He seemed to relax as he let out a breath of relief.
‘That’s awesome. You’re just in time. Unfortunately, there’s the flu going around and six of our workers are out on sick leave and we’re falling behind on schedule. The place needs to be finished in three days, do you think you can stick along for that long?’ he asked.
‘Definitely. Three days is perfect,’ Yoongi said, unable to hide his excitement. The poor man seemed to visibly relax even more the longer we talked.
‘Oh you’re heaven sent. I can provide food and water and lodgings so don’t worry about that. I will pay you daily each. What do you think of that?’ he asked.
‘Sounds amazing. Thank you sir,’ Jin said, a big smile on his face. The man smiled as well. Sometimes the world has a funny way of working out. He needed workers to replace his sick ones and we needed work and money. It was also a reminder that a lot of humans were good people, willing to help. It was just sometimes, they were not ready for the truth about our existence.
‘Come then, follow me,’ he said with a big smile as the four of us just followed behind him. ‘Make sure you wear the safety shoes and hat. They’re very important. I will send Leedo to come and guide you on what needs to be done,’ he said as we nodded.
‘Thank you,’ I said as the four of us bowed down. The man smiled, clearly happy as he opened the storage room so we could change. I turned towards the others as he left, all of us smiling.
‘Wow I can’t believe we got this lucky,’ Hoseok said, getting excited as he reached for a pair of boots.
‘Right? I was thinking the same thing!’ Jin said, handing me a pair of boots for myself.
‘Now it’s important to work hard and not disappoint him. That man looked exhausted and he seems like he could use the help,’ I said.
‘Yeah Joon is right. It’s definitely not easy to work on something like this when you’re understaffed so let’s make it count and give back to him,’ Yoongi said.
‘And be careful. We can’t expose our strength and I don’t want to see anyone getting hurt,’ Jin said, being the caring wolf he is. I could not help but smile as I patted him on the shoulder.
‘We’ll be fine. Come on, let’s get to work so we can make some money and take some food to the others,’ I said. I smiled happily, thinking how happy the others will be when we gather some proper food for them.
