The wolves near the border [SKZ fanfiction] | HanJisung

Chapter 5

Winter arrived harsher than they expected. With last winter being pretty mild and snow only lasting a mere two weeks, they didn't know what to expect for this winter. But the season decides to not only knock on early, but overstay its welcome with snowstorms coming and going for over a month. They had to stay inside much longer than anticipated and their pack hated it. Jisung didn't mind it that much, liking the comfort of his room and being able to keep himself busy with mundane tasks like sewing or weaving baskets.
The others on the other hand - especially the alpha's - had a tough time sitting still and waiting for the weather to get better. More than once a small fight broke out when one of them got uncomfortable with any other member and Chan had to use his pack alpha authority more than once to keep them from being at each other's throats.
With the preparation of the bearmeat they had plenty of food and didn't have to worry about going out hunting in the frequent snowstorms.
Their rationing of vegetables on the other hand had to be done carefully as they found out a whole bag of potatoes had started rotting in the back of their pantry to their demise. The rotten vegetables stunk up their whole home and Jisung had gagged multiple times when cleaning the wet stain the vegetables had been sitting in. Of course they made him do it, as it was partly his fault for not checking up on the sacks. He was too lazy and was sure the vegetables would be okay. Yeah, wrong and it came biting his butt...
Still, with the small struggles and setbacks, they still had a pretty comfortable winter period up until now.
Only one thing had bothered Jisung in the back of his mind and clearly he wasn't the only one when Felix spoke up after their fifth week sitting inside.
"How do you think they hold up outside there?"
He didn't need to mention their names for them to know who he meant. The females had visited them a few times before the weather got too bad to go out and since it had been snowing they hadn't spoken to them.
Minho patted Felix his head and the alpha leaned into the touch of affection. He always had a worrying nature when it came to others and it was one of the traits Jisung appreciated about his pack member. It didn't matter to Felix who the other was or what its subgender represented, he cared with his whole heart. Although not always showing it openly.
"They'll probably alright," Minho sussed at him. "The temperature hasn't dropped that drastically. It's mostly a lot of snow."
Felix had huffed and pointed out that that was exactly the problem. "They're only with two. We can handle the cold, but they eventually have to go out to hunt. And with this much snow... I'm afraid they're struggling."
Jisung couldn't help but agree. He couldn't care less right now about them being females or not as he had banned the longing in his heart, but they were still wolves living close to them. He hoped they were faring well.

After the following week where the snowstorms didn't show any sign of going down, eventually there broke a sunny morning through, with no wind and no signs of more icy weather.
"Oh for the love of the moon! We can stretch our legs!" Seungmin had yipped before storming off outside, followed by Felix, Hyunjin and Jeongin who also needed to release their pent up energy. Jisung had watched them from out of their cave entrance while Chan had stretched out as well to gather his pack to use their energy wisely by shoveling snow in front of their cave away instead of peppering him with the white powder.
Minho and Changbin had stayed inside and used the opportunity to clean out the caves a little without the balls of energy keeping them from sweeping the floors. Jisung took the task to brew them all some tea to warm up and sat with his own cup on a tree stump he placed right in front of the entrance. Watching over them and waving when they called for him to show off who could take the biggest scoop of snow on their shovel without losing their balance.
The weather stayed nice and sunny for the rest of the morning and after their lunch -consisting of mainly jerky as their vegetable stock slunk a lot- Felix brought up the topic of their neighbors again.
"Could we maybe check up on them if the weather stays like this? I just want to be sure."
"You just want to be sure your potential mate is safe," Seungmin had jabbed at him and Felix had lunged at him to keep the other alpha from talking.
"Stop that," Minho nagged at them. "Channie-ah, he's worried. What do you think?"
Their pack leader was deep in thought before giving an answer. "I was planning on taking the alpha's and beta's out for hunting. Would you be alright taking Jisung with you?"
Jisung wanted to complain that he could stay home alone without worry, but his pack alpha wasn't having it. "Either go with Minho and Lix, or we'll have Seungmin and Hyunjin babysit you."
That made the alpha and beta mates complain immediately and left Jisung with no other choice than to join his Luna to visit the camp of the females.


"Min! I'm okay! I don't need more!" Jisung complained when his Luna tried to fit another mantle over his shoulders.
"It. Is. Cold!" he scolded his youngest omega who kept struggling out of his embrace. "Even if the sun is shining, it's still freezing. So stop wiggling your butt and stay still!"
Jisung whined and glared over at Felix who waited for them, leaning to the cave wall with his arms crossed.
"But Lix is only wearing one mantle!" Jisung pouted.
The alpha only now paid attention to the two struggling omega's and softly chuckled.
"Hey! Stop that!" Jisung huffed at him, but all Felix did was hold his hands in the air and push himself off the wall.
"Sung, I swear- Oh my moon, you insolent brat!" Minho clasped the mantle close and released him from his death grab.
Jisung jumped up and attempted to unclasp the mantle, but with a low growl of his Luna he stopped and gave up.
"Stupid Minho," he dared to mumble and with that he got a hit on the back of his head by said omega.
"Thank me later," he said, rolling his eyes to his youngest one and giving the bag filled with things to exchange to Felix.
The alpha asked if they should change into their wolves but Minho told him they would ride on his back to reserve their energy.
Jisung complained again, but refused the helping hand of Minho to climb on Felix's back.

Never in his whole life will he admit Minho was right. With them not running and using their energy, the icy winter wind is bone chilling against his skin. Even with Felix radiating his welcoming heat underneath Jisung's legs, he is shivering. And although Minho probably wants to berate him for his stubbornness, he doesn't say a thing and simply pulls Jisung closer to his chest.
Traveling to the west territory border doesn't take that long. Especially considering when running in their wolf forms. Chan never had the urge to expand their territory that way as it was closer to the sea. The side they wanted to avoid the most. Traveling towards the plum orchard doesn't take them an hour like this and Jisung is silently thankful for that when Felix slows down.
"They said they would set up camp around here. But where?" Minho says, sticking his nose in the air to see if he can smell their scents.
Jisung rubs his hands together and blows on his freezing hands. He should ask Seungmin or Chan if they can catch rabbits next time they go out. Maybe he could make some mittens out of them with their fluffy winter coats in this season. His old gloves didn't fit anymore and he deemed them redundant, only fooling himself the cold wouldn't bother him.
"I smell smoke, so they must've made a small fire somewhere," Felix says, looking up in the sky to see if he can find a column of smoke.
But Jisung is quicker and points a few meters outside of their border. "Do they call that a camp?"
He's both intrigued and shocked upon seeing smoke rising out of what looks like a sort of small dome of snow.
"Did they snow themselves in?"
Minho is the first to walk closer and bends over to see if he can look inside the weird shelter.
"Are you there? Nelaya and...Hei-"
"Heikin," Jisung fills in, seeing his pack Luna struggle remembering their names.
Felix his head shoots up when they first hear a faint whimpering and a distressed scent drift their way. Not knowing how to enter the shelter without the possibility of destroying it, Minho pushes him away to enter first. They can hear his faint shriek and soft words indicating he found one of them inside.
"Ji?" Minho calls for him and Jisung shuffles towards the entrance to get in.
"Can you give me your spare mantle?" Minho asks and although not too happy to lose the extra layer of cold protection, Jisung doesn't hesitate when he sees Nelaya shivering next to a miserable small campfire. The girl gratefully takes the fur and pulls it as close as possible, not minding it probably smells like him and simply enjoys the body warmth the piece still holds.
"Tell me why you're here in the cold," Minho purrs at her. "And where is your sister? I thought you two were inseparable?"
Nelaya softly whines and pulls her legs closer towards her chest. "She's out hunting. We've been fasting for the past week and it's finally not snowing. She had to go out, but my leg is still weak. So I had to stay behind."
The omega instincts of Minho and Jisung immediately kick in and Minho pulls her into a hug while Jisung hurries outside to get the goods they've taken with them off of Felix's back.
"Give her my satchel as well," Felix tells Jisung. "There's no need for me to transform anyway. I'll guard until Heikin is back. Give her sister my clothes."
Jisung only nods and huffs, dragging the heavy bag inside. Minho helps him pull stuff out of it while Jisung hands Nelaya the clothes out of Felix's satchel. He ignores the blush forming on the girl's cheeks and holds up his mantle to form a makeshift dress screen so the girl can change. When she's done he places the mantle back over her shoulders while Minho finishes emptying the bag.
They hear Felix yap once to tell them the older sister has arrived and within a few seconds they hear trudging feet slow down and a small snarl warning Felix to either look away or move.
Heikin tries to enter the small space and has to stop at the entrance when she sees the space is already packed with him, Minho and her sister.
"Everything alright?" Heikin huffs.
"Shouldn't we ask you the same?" Jisung remarks upon seeing her bewildered look.
"Wha- Oh shut your snout," she grumbles at Jisung who makes an offended sound and looks at his Luna in disbelief of the disrespect she shows him.
Minho simply ignores her response and points at the stuff he put down. "Enough proviand for at least three days. Together with an extra bundle of kindle and a fire stone. I'll lend you my mantle for today and we'll bring you one to keep if the weather stays nice enough for us to travel back and forth. You two are some stubborn idiots for not asking for help earlier. Don't try to argue!"
The fierce eyes of his pack Luna even scare Jisung and he sees how Heikin swallows dryly before hanging her head low and clenching her fists.
"Yes, Luna," she answers and Jisung is honestly impressed the alpha isn't barking back for meddling in their affairs.
She begrudgingly accepts Minho's help and acknowledges her shortcomings.
"Did you even manage to catch anything outside?" Minho nags at her and Heikin lifts her head a little.
"Yeah!" she says. "A hare..."
"And?" Minho stares at her and the alpha slumps her shoulders. "That's it. I understand you don't want to impose us in any way, but this is about survival. Felix!" Minho yells to their alpha outside who responds with a soft; "Hmm?"
"You're on carrier duty from now on. Twice every week until the snow is gone. Understand me?"
The alpha only hums back and both Heikin and Nelaya look at Minho with big eyes. Never in their lives have they seen such a bossy omega, Jisung thinks. Minho isn't afraid to order people around him and even dares to speak up to their pack leader without flinching. Making him a fearsome pack Luna but also an extremely reliable one. Taking charge as soon as needed. Like for this instance.
"Minho-ssi, that's too much!" Heikin whines, but shuts her mouth with only one angry glare from Minho.
"We thank you," she and her sister mumble with lowered heads.
Minho unclasps his mantle whilst standing up to make room for the female alpha to enter and places the piece of fur around her shoulders before stepping out.
"We'll be back tomorrow. Go eat and rest. Where did you leave that hare?"
Heikin points outside and Minho drags Jisung with him, not showing a flinch when the cold wind blows in his face.
"We'll take it and prepare it at home. Felix will bring everything back tomorrow."
With that he jerks his chin towards Felix to turn around and bring them back home. Jisung can't even sputter when Minho forces him on the back and places himself behind him. They faintly hear Nelaya yip "So cool!" to her sister when they run off back to their base.
Jisung looks up to his Luna behind him and can't disagree, until he sees the goosebumps on Minho's arms.
Jisung chuckles at the sight. "So far for our 'cool' Luna."'
"Shut it."