A Lone Wolf • Mark Tuan

[21]

Breaking the kiss, Mark cupped your face and looked deep into your eyes. You saw his eyes start to glisten. "I've missed you so much," Mark whispered, pressing his forehead against yours. "I thought I was going to lose you in so many different ways, and I was so scared."

Mark's tears dripped onto your hands, and your heart cracked. You didn't want to play the blame game anymore. You had blamed Mark for pushing you away, Jaebum for enticing you, yourself for not being strong enough, but none of that mattered anymore. What mattered was right now you were safe in Mark's arms.

You brushed Mark's tears away and pulled him into another kiss. "I'm never letting you go, not again."

"You couldn't get away, even if you tried." Mark kissed you again, pressing his mouth roughly against yours. He had been so scared, and you could feel it through your lips.

You heard the door open, and before you even looked, you knew who it was. You broke away from Mark's touch, more out of shame than anything else. You had made your decision, and you knew that Jaebum was the one who lost in this situation. Despite what you originally thought, Jaebum was a good guy, and he didn't deserve this pain, but you had to be true to your heart.

Finally, you looked over at Jaebum and locked eyes with him. His gaze burned into your soul, and you both understood what decisions had been made. He didn't say anything, though. He only looked at you. You could feel his hope wither away, and you knew then that Jaebum would no longer fight for you, because he knew he didn't have a chance.

Jackson cleared his throat, breaking the awkward tension. "We should get out of here and get these two cleaned up," Jackson said, picking up Bambam and carrying him on his back.

"I don't want to go to the hospital," you said immediately. You had spent too much time there as it was, and you didn't want the doctor's poking around at your miracle healing anymore.

Mark caressed your hair as if you were made out of glass. "You might have serious injuries."

You shook your head. You couldn't go back there, because it was too hard on you emotionally. "Please, I don't want to go back." A sob caught your throat, and you felt embarrassed for being so weak.

"Okay, okay, I won't make you go back," Mark cooed, "but there's no way you're staying here."

You nodded. Your place felt so foreign now anyway.

"She'll stay with us," Jackson said definitively. "So will Bambam."

Junior and Yugyeom glanced at Jaebum to see how he would react, but Jaebum only nodded. Looking around at everyone you had a feeling something shifted in the dynamic between the two packs, but you weren't sure exactly what it was.

"Can you walk?" Junior asked you to break the silence.

"I'm fine," you insisted, even though you knew you were far from fine. You tried to stand up, but you were too weak to support yourself.

Mark didn't hesitate to scoop you up into his arms. "Come on. Let's get you some rest."

"What about me?" V asked, drawing everyone's attention.

"You'll come with us for now, and you're fate will be decided once y/n is strong enough to deal with you," Jaebum said, grabbing V by the back of the shirt.

"Why me?" You looked at Jaebum curiously. That kind of decision shouldn't have been left up to you.

Jaebum glanced at the others, and they all shared a knowing look. There was something you were missing once again.

"Because," Mark began before anyone else could. "You're a real alpha now."

"What do you mean?" You weren't sure what had changed.