𝐈𝐍 𝐀𝐌𝐀𝐋𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐀

"Sir Jeon.", Amalthea's second in command kneels down before his ruler and the throne, one of his hands on the ground while the other lays on his knee. "I'll take beheading as the punishment for the sin I've committed–" He's cut off before he can proceed.

"That's for me to decide, Taehyung. Where is she?" The man sitting upon the throne questions, his voice barely above a decibel. One of his hands thrums down on the silver ball of the throne's arm, creating a dinging tune from the metal when it crashing against his ring. The candle lit chamber only has the two men and a strange thick tension that almost suffocates Taehyung.
Fear creeping up his neck isn't a strange phenomenon when the man he's bowing in front of has wiped away villages without a second thought.

"Sir, the leader of the Belinay pack–" a loud crash envelopes the room as Taehyung squints his eyes shut, expecting a blow or a blade pressing against his jugular. Strangely, none of those come his way and he opens his eyes to see a shattered wine glass on his opposite side.

"You've carried out orders harder than this so well." What scares Taehyung even more is the fact that his leader doesn't sound angry. His tone is laced with an eerie peacefulness which he recognises to be the calm before the storm. Though Taehyung is sure that his life isn't on line, the image of disappointing his ruler at a task so feeble is what makee his palms clammy. He feels the man on the throne get up and stride down the stairs that lead to the throne. He still faces the ground, embarrassment splashed on his face when he sees a very known shoe in front of his eyes. "Get up, Hyung."

"I deserve to be punish–"

"I do not like repeating myself. You're not a shrilly rogue or a threat to my people, seeing you on your knees like that makes my skin itch." His voice isn't soft at all when he utters those, a glacial edge to them is etched instead. Nonetheless, Taehyung rises on his knees and diverts his eyes from the ground to the man in front of him.

"Jungkook, I really deserve to be put out in the trenches for a week. Don't go easy on me."

"I'm not trying to. I could've exiled you for a week without food but my priority right now isn't punishing you for your sloppy work. I need to track that child down and I need my second in command with me to achieve that, do you understand?" His words come out harsh but the meaning that lies behind them makes Taehyung nod.

"I'll hunt down this entire area and get that child in front of you, I promise. If only that cur didn't use his arcane on me, I'd have successfully had the vessel here by now."

"Arcane, huh? So Orion's a warlock too now?" Taehyung's resigned sigh confirms his suspicions.

"I think so. He has been under the rock for a good while now and not attended a single pack meeting at Estasia. Even the higher-ups were a bit worried about him but his pack turned peaceful after that incident. Not a single attack from them. It made me wonder too, what if he's got the child and is planning on revenge?" Taehyung's sentence makes Jungkook huff out a small laugh.

"Let him then, it'll be a fun game to play. Even better if the vessel joins him." His amusement worries Taehyung even more as he replies back,

"We do not know what kind of power the vessel carries Kook, do you really think we should be this lenient and not inform the higher ups about this?" The beta is met with an icy glare from his leader.

"I really treasure you, Hyung. I respect your leadership and opinions too but I'll remind you to learn when your opinions turn into a direct doubt on my actions. You shouldn't be worried about anything else other than the vessel that you lost for now, shouldn't you?"

"I apologise for questioning your actions, Sir." The honorifics return as Jungkook slams his palm on his second in command's back slightly.

"Apology accepted. Now I'll be leaving for the lake, ask Yoongi to make sure that the guards guarding the border of Amalthea and Belinay are more alert. I won't accept another mistake especially not as big as this one." The man in question immediately agrees as he picks his axe up from where it laid on the ground and leaves the chambers.

Jungkook watches him disappear behind the curtain and starts to walk in a completely different direction, towards his bed chambers. His room smells like cranberries, his favourite scent. It reminds him of her. How her sweet pheromones would lit up this now dead room and fill life into corners of the castle which are as good as deceased now. He stands in front of the tall body mirror and unbuttons the top of his shirt, his neck and chest coming into view. His thumb pads over the skin between the junction of his neck and shoulder, the faint but red mark still present. The only memory that he had of her.

His mating mark.

He caresses the faint but present memory as the night of their union flashes itself onto the mirror. The world may forget but he'll carry her existence with him. If he could he'd write her name on every single object so the world would remember how beautiful of a being it has lost.

He relishes into the memory of her elevated expression, her breathless sounds when he took her right in front of this mirror. Their eyes met through the glass as his hands wrapped themselves around her throat, titling it to the side and exposing her bare shoulder to him. Never did they break away from their gaze as his teeth sunk down on her, marking her as his forever. She returned the favour and gifted him his biggest treasure too that night. They had made love all night after that, oathed a promise to never leave the other's side though only one of them ended up fulfilling it.

There wasn't a single object in this room that didn't carry memories of them.

Jungkook discards his shirt with his black pants on his bed and the room fills with cracks again. Where once stood tall a godly man, now stands a magnificent beast with raven fur and crimson eyes. His reflection in the mirror makes him look like a painting in a museum. He takes off without a second thought, leaving his castle and land behind for a brief moment to run across the woods of Amalthea. The sunlight reaches through the cracks of the tree branches onto the forest floor where the thumps of his paws reverb, alerting the rest of the wild animals who knew what this chase was.

A predator out to hunt.

Without a reason or hunger.

Hunting was the closest thing to peace that he had received after his lover's demise. He found tranquil in the carmine that gurgled through his mouth when he had his prey's neck or leg or a limb in it. Maybe it was the satisfaction of erasing another useless life that had no meaning on planet earth or maybe it just fed his imagination of himself being a monster.
An unlovable monster who didn't care about anything else except him and his which was partially or maybe completely true. All that mattered to him were his land, his people and a tiny hope that never seemed to leave no matter how many times he tried.

'I'll come find you, in another universe. Another dimension where we could finally live the life we had dreamt of. You'll wait for me right?'

How could he cease to believe her words when those are the only reasons why he's roaming this place.

He increases his pace and races with the winds, the leaves and trees of the forest dishelving his fur in the process. To his dismay, there's not a single animal for him to hunt in sight, not even a rodent. It annoys him to say the least but he decides to visit another place for now and takes off towards the rocky part of the forest.

The silent sounds of water flowing makes him slow down. He jogs towards the lake and settles on the bank, lurching his neck forward to get a sip of the cold water.

Wolves have excellent hearing and his ears twitch up at a single creak coming from somewhere on the other side of the lake. He remains immobile, letting whoever this imbecile was think that he has no idea of them trying to snoop around him and continues to lap the water with his tongue. Soon it's not a creak anymore but rustling of dried leaves and footsteps that are not even hushed. Jungkook may have misunderstood this intruder's aims because they for sure don't want to remain hidden. It's at the sound of someone getting into the water with a splash that he finally looks up.

The melanistic creature freezes right in his place at the glance.

Jungkook seemed to be perfectly awake this morning when Taehyung reported to him, he also looked awake when he glanced at the mirror then how come a dream was walking towards him? There must've been something arcanic in this lake's water. Maybe his enemies found this sacred place of his and drugged him to overpower him so he stands up and takes his stance growling lowly at the figure approaching him through the water. The body swims when it reaches the mid river but doesn't halt its journey, seemingly wanting to get on Jungkook's side despite his teeth being bared at it. He positions his front and hind legs, ready to pounce on its body but the figure dips into the water and for a moment he thinks its probably a nymph, trying to chastise him with its tricks until a huge splash of water pours over him and the figure appears right before his face.

He pounces on it, on her and rolls the body over on the dried bank. He has her seized under his forearms, pinning her straight on the dirty forest floor and waits till whoever this moron was to reveal themselves. Whoever this was perfectly knew that he couldn't attack or kill them with this disguise but his wait seems worthless as the being doesn't even thrash for freedom under him. She just lays there, taking his form in while her eyes reflect the thin rays of sun falling on top of them.

He smells her torso with his muzzle but to his surprise there isn't the slightest stench of arcane mingled in her being instead there's something else that blurs his eyesight.

Cranberry.

She smells like cranberries.

His mind races through a million different scenarios on what this is when he feels a warm hand on his face that just stays there. He feels afraid to look down because he knows this is just another mind trick of his brain and the dream that laid under him will disappear as soon as he peers down.

"Love…" the voice calls out. That voice.

He can't stop the streams that flow from his eyes at the name. How long had he waited to hear that name from that voice again and for once in decades, he prays. Prays to every single deity present in this universe for this to not be a dream.

"Won't you look at me? Please? Jungkook…."

A broken wail leaves his throat, his animal form not able to express what big of a wall is being broken inside his chest right now. The pain and relief are so equal in amounts that he howls. Howls so loudly that his sentries may follow him here thinking he's in trouble but he doesn't care, doesn't care about anything in the world when he looks down and still finds her there. Her face and voice feel the same, her touch a bit foreign to him but her eyes.
The ocean blue eyes were replaced by hazel orbs now which only made her look more breathtaking. Her hand finally moves through his fur, caressing him as her soft and wobbly voice make him grunt in pain.

"I took too long, didn't I?I.. I'm so sorry love and thank you for waiting. I'm here now, okay? You're safe." Her words cocooned him into a warmth who's touch he had forgotten long back.

Before he could shift back into his human form and fill her in his arms, footsteps break out from all sides of them.

Memories of the night rush by in his brain as he pushes her even further into his fur, making sure that she's invisible to any threat. The soldiers of Amalthea reveal themselves, surrounding the lake and trying to figure out what's wrong with their leader but Jungkook's vision is too blind for him to realise that these people aren't threats. They are his people, they're not going to harm him or the being that lay under him so he bares his teeth at them and howls. Not an order but a threat and all the soldiers are left confused until their second in command makes his way with their army chief by his side and orders them.

"Back off everyone. No one goes near him." He barks orders while Yoongi, the army chief, tries to analyse what's going on using his arcane of infinite vision and he is the only one to notice the being hidden beneath Jungkook's fur.

"Jungkook." Yoongi states. "Who are you hiding?" That sentence takes Taehyung by surprise as well, the beta taking a step towards their leader and Jungkook's growl is fierce this time as if he's not even recognising Taehyung.

"Hey hey Kook. It's me, it's Hyung. I'm not doing anything to you, I promise. See I've got my hands raised." He walks towards the wolf with his hands high up and Yoongi monitors the scene closely, ready to jump in whenever required. Though his help ends up not being needed as Taehyung kneels in front of Jungkook and bares his neck at him.

An act of submission.

It's this time that Jungkook's dilated irises go back to their slit form, his rationality returning. He slowly gets up from the being hidden under him still mindful of his surroundings and ready to pounce on any possible danger.

It's comical how the entire pack army present at the lake freeze, including Taehyung who's still on his knees and Yoongi who's eyebrows seem to fly off his forehead.

There stands in front of them, her figure in all her glory. Blonde hair completely wet but still looking godly, her white dress drenched with water and sticking on her like a second skin but what fazes them is her face.

"Luna…" Taehyung rasps out as his own vision blurs with unshed tears and Yoongi immediately screams at the soldiers to lower their gaze to the ground and show some respect or else he'll rip their throats off. Taehyung has Jungkook's earlier shirt in his hands which he meant to give it to him in case he needed to shift but now he asks Jungkook instead. "Alpha, can I?" The wolf nods its head, allowing Taehyung to offer her the shirt which she wraps around herself and buttons up.

"Thank you." She smiles at him and Taehyung can't help but let his tears of joy flow. When he looks back he notices Yoongi too, tearing his way back into the woods while leading their soldiers away who looked escasted at the sight of their Lost Luna.

"Don't you want to shift, love?" She calls out to Jungkook who simply nuzzles his head on her hands, earning a giggle from her. "I'll take that as a no." And it gets more and more difficult for Taehyung to hold in his sobs as he sees Jungkook behave like that. He understands that Jungkook probably wants to escort her safely back to the castle and makes it his own responsibility to make sure that neither of these two have even a single scratch on their bodies this time.

Jungkook gets her on his back and starts to walk back towards their castle while Taehyung too, shifts into a brown large wolf who guides the two from behind with an intent of getting them unharmed into the privacy and safety of the castle not caring about his clothes scattered torn on the forest floor.