The wolves near the border [SKZ fanfiction] | HanJisung

Chapter 16

And that's how a whole week passed. The pack resumed their tasks to prepare for the upcoming winter and Chan kept patrolling their borders every day to make sure they would be safe. Felix had become quiet. He wasn't the biggest speaker in the first place, but now he mostly kept to himself. Only allowing Jisung to hug him and occasionally sleep with him in the same bed.
Minho had told Jisung Felix needed the support and with Jisung's pre-heat still going on his scent would be the most calming and comforting to the alpha. Minho had sounded worried and Jisung had at first hated the thought, but gave in when he saw Felix visibly calm down when he nuzzled his nose in Jisung's neck. He never asked to be scented, nor did he scent Jisung, so the omega felt alright and accepted his new role of caretaker of the alpha as moral support.
Jisung's thoughts kept wandering and at multiple times he found himself worrying about Heikin being alone out there. The flashbacks to the house, the bloodied body of Nelaya and Heikin in pain popped up whenever he wasn't distracted with something to do and now, on the eighth day he was done with it.
"For the moon! Stop it, Ji," he scolds himself, wringing out a tunic above the river. "Stupid brain."
If Minho hears him, he doesn't say anything about his little outburst. It helps Jisung stay grounded and keeps him from mulling to no avail, so sometimes he just has to say things out loud.
He looks up to the sky when a soft speck falls on his nose. That's it. The first snowflakes show up and he's done waiting and pondering.
"Sungie? Where are you going?" Minho asks him while Jisung stomps out of the water and makes his way back to the base.
"I'm done waiting anxiously!" he grunts to his Luna. "Winter is coming early and she won't survive if she stays there."
Minho tosses the rest of their clothes hastily into his basket and jogs after him. "Hey, hey! Wait a moment. What are you blabbering about and why are you upset?" He grabs the younger boy by his arm but Jisung shrugs him off.
"I'll talk to Chan and ask him to bring her here. I don't care if she needs space to mourn!"
His brain is overworking while he stomps over to their cave where Chan is cutting wood together with Felix. The pack alpha lifts one eyebrow when Jisung walks over to him with an angry face and with Minho following him to calm him down.
"Chan hyung, I want to go over to their house," Jisung starts off his rant when the alpha lowers his ax.
"Is this a pre-heat thing?" he hears Seungmin snicker in the background, but Chan shuts him up with one glare.
"What's the matter, pup?" he asks Jisung.
"What's the matter? Does none of you really care?!" he asks loudly enough for Felix and even Jeongin to stop what they are doing to look at the agitated omega.
"I don't understand how we're okay with leaving her there, knowing she won't survive the winter on her own. I mean, we all need time to process what happened and mourn, but at least we have each other! She has no one and whatever killed Nelaya is still there somewhere outside of our border. I'm not asking here, hyung. I'm here to demand you bring her over so she can at least survive as that blockhead of a girl is probably too stubborn to even understand how small her chance at survival is if she stays there! I want you to get her and bring her here."
His rant makes him out of breath and the others stare at him impressed with his words. He looks up when he hears a soft snickering.
"Blockhead huh?"
He turns around and sees none other than Heikin herself. Clearly exhausted with large bags under her eyes and empty looking eyes staring at him.
"Gosh! Girl, what are you doing here?" Minho rushes over to her to place his hands on her shoulders to inspect if she's alright.
Heikin averts her eyes from the pack Luna and clenches her hand around the handle of her bag. Minho releases her and Heikin rubs the nape of her neck unsurely when she faces Chan.
"I was hoping the offer would still stand," she softly mumbles, but loud enough for them to hear. "It's still difficult, but Jisung is right. I can't survive on my own right now. I don't want to be part of your pack, but I hope you're still okay with me staying with you." She's looking at the ground with sloped shoulders, looking lost and in need of protection.
Chan can only smile with empathy towards her and Jeongin rushes out to take her hands and usher her over inside.
"Of course you can stay!" he says warmly. "Let's get you inside and warm you up. It looks like you haven't eaten in days, am I right?"
The girl simply nods, but Jisung can see tears glistering in the corners of her eyes. The others look at how their beta leader takes Heikin inside before returning to their tasks. Chan looks over to Felix who is still staring at the cave entrance.
"You good, boy?" Chan asks him and Felix only nods.
"Welp," Minho says, glancing over to Jisung who is still shocked with Heikin showing up as if summoned. "Looks like you got what you demanded. In the meantime, empty your room, cause you'll be lending yours to our guest."



That night Heikin holes herself up in Jisung's room while the omega is banished to go sleep in their communal area. He sulked over it only for a hot minute till Jeongin gave him death glares whilst bringing some soup over to the female alpha.
Now he's tossing and turning around to find the right side to sleep on. He's tempted to go over Felix's room to sleep there, but Minho had warned him it would be a bad idea as Jisung's pre-heat could turn into his heat any moment now. Being in an alpha's den would surely set off his heat and Jisung wasn't a fan of the idea to be covered in Felix's scent now the alpha was clearly not alright.
Jisung wakes up early when Minho stumbles into the room to go to the kitchen to start up the fire to make breakfast.
Jisung stays rolled up in his furs with one eye open until he sees Heikin coming out of his bedroom and softly closing the door behind her. Without saying a thing she follows Minho into the kitchen and when Jisung finally gets up and walks over, he sees how she's silently helping the pack Luna preparing food.
"Ah, morning pup. Had a good night of sleep?" Minho asks him while lifting a pot on the small fire.
Jisung looks over to Heikin who is cutting some greens before shrugging his shoulders.
"Eh," he answers. "Could've been better." He walks over to Minho and grabs the bucket beside him to go outside.
"Sung, wait till one of the others are awake," Minho tells him, but Jisung sighs out loud before turning around, swinging the bucket with him.
"C'mon Minho hyung," he whines. "The river isn't that far. I'll hop in and out quickly."
Minho glances over to Heikin who drops her knife and walks up to him.
"I'll go with him," she mumbles and although Jisung wants to protest, he doesn't when he sees her zoned out face.
They walk in silence to the river to fill the bucket and go back to hand Minho the water to start up their morning soup. Heikin simply picks up where she left with cutting the greens and Minho ushers Jisung to wake up the others.There's a lot to do today and the earlier their pack rises, the earlier they can get started.

In the following weeks there's a silent agreement that Heikin would participate in their daily tasks like any other pack member. She helps where needed and doesn't oppose whatever the task is. She's not even nagging when doing stuff she normally dislikes and Jisung is curious if it is a coping mechanism or her way to show her thanks for being taken in. He also notices how Felix has been extra cold and apprehensive of the female alpha. Going as far as blatantly ignoring her. Whenever the two are together there's a weird tension in the air and Jisung can't pinpoint why that is.
As for Jisung's heat, it hasn't shown up. Like, absent completely. He got worried after the second week still being in pre-heat, but now, almost a month later, he thinks his heat is either skipping over or the stress has interrupted it. Not that it really matters. Jisung is secretly a little happy that his body is skipping it as it seems. With his room lent out to Heikin and the knowledge his mind will probably be clouded by both unmated wolves near him he won't have any excuses to embarrass himself out in the open. Thus his body deciding to not go in heat is a good thing for the time being in his eyes.
Minho had tried bringing up the conversation every time they were alone, but Jisung averted the talk and walked out in search of the others to avoid the topic any further.
Like right now.
However, he pauses his walk when he sees Heikin snooping in one of their storage rooms where they mostly keep their herbs.
"What are you searching for?" he asks her and Heikin shrieks visibly when she hears him behind her.
"N-nothing," she responds before seeing who it is and sighs with relief. "Oh, it's you."
Jisung scoffs before hurrying over to her to close the door behind them when he hears Minho call his name. He places one finger in front of his lips and Heikin stares confusedly back at him.
"Jisung? Gosh, why must he be so stubborn every time," they hear the Luna moping before his footsteps indicate he left the room.
Jisung exhales and looks back at Heikin. "I'm avoiding an embarrassing talk," he states, earning a soft snicker from the female alpha.
"Got it," she answers before turning around to examine the different herbs. "And I'm searching for the Jambu— the...tooth- toothache thing?"
He sees how she's not looking at him and fumbling with the cord from her pants whilst biting her lower lip nervously.
"There's none," he answers her. "You told me the dried ones were useless after a month, so I got rid of it."
She looks surprised with his statement, as if she doesn't believe he actually listened to her. Jisung tilts his head a little. "Why do you need it? Maybe there's a substitute herb we can use if you tell me what you need it for?"
She swallows dryly, still avoiding his eyes and softly shakes her head. "Euhm, are there still some growing near the dunes you reckon?" she asks.
"No? It's the start of winter. Toothache plants die off as soon as the temperature drops, don't you know?"
She now looks at him annoyingly and huffs out loud.
"So? What do you need it for? If you need something for a little pain relief, there's plenty of other options," Jisung says, a little snobby.
"Ugh. Never mind. Forget I asked," she nags and Jisung frowns hearing her tone.
"Hey, I didn't want to be mean," he says surprised. "I just want to help."
She curses beneath her breath before walking past Jisung out of the storage room, surprising Minho when she almost slams the door open in his face.
"Heikin?" he asks, but all she does is grumbling and pointing at Jisung who looks just as bewildered with the sudden change in her behavior.
"What was that about?" Minho asks him and Jisung can only shrug.