Chapter Text
It was freezing. Chan hated the winter.
"H-hyung?" Felix's teeth stammered, eyes loathed to crack open as Chan packed another fur coat around him and pulled him closer to the fire, "H- H-.... Hy…"
"Sh, it's alright, little one," Chan's hands lingered on his ears, rubbing warmth where he knew it would quickly flee from again, "Back to sleep, shhh… it's alright…"
The blizzard was just an insult to injury, an already miserable winter determined to become devastating. The wolf packs surrounding had decided upon the first storm and the signs of the season coming that they would not be able to brave it– almost all had migrated away in hopes of making it to the mountains north for shelter, or the forests south for warmer winds.
But one pack did not have the option of travel.
"Hnng," whether little Chaeryeong was snoring, sleep-talking, or whining, it was hard to say, " Hn… hng…"
Chan checked her cheeks, the red betraying that the bitter cold had already bitten through, before pulling the hood of the fur around her, tucking her hair to keep her as warm as he could.
"Hyung? Oh–" Changbin shifted, and rolled closer to his sister, pulling his fur around them both, "I've got her, I've got her hyung, you go, get some rest."
Chan nodded, but they both knew that was impossible. Chaeryeong's sounds continued in a steady rhythm.
"Hng… hnnnng… "
The elders of the pack had been locked in disagreement for many days. Chan had been summoned on several occasions to give his assessment on the matter– as though they didn't already know what he thought.
"The little ones will freeze and starve," he'd insisted.
"And the same fate if we leave, or worse!" They would insist back.
Not two seasons ago, they had considered themselves blessed among wolves, the favor of the moon on them for all the pups welcomed into their pack. It only took the first frost for it to sour into a curse. Too many littles ones slowed down the urge to migrate. Too many little ones meant many hungry mouths to feed.
Too many little ones took up every bit of space.
"Oppa," The whine immediately pulled Chan to the floor, where Lia's finger shook as she reached out to grab him, "Op– Seungminnie, Seung– he d-didn't eat, I saw him, h-he gave h-h-his– he g-gave– his p-p-p-portion to Yej– to Yej-j-ji, I s-saw–"
"Sh, sh-sh," Chan pushed her head down and tucked her hand back under the fur, closer to her chest, looking over her shoulder where Seungmin was a lump of furs, "I'll make sure he eats tomorrow, hm? No worrying, don't worry…"
There was no wolf in Chan's packhouse who didn't trust Chan's word. No matter the anxiety, under his roof, under his watch, under his word, nothing was overlooked. Lia's eyes closed as though resting in this. Chan lingered by her side till her breath evened out, before carrying on with his rounds around the floor of the packhouse.
It was a little cramped, a little uncomfortable, with eighteen wolves stuffed in one place. But not as terrible as it would have been for them all in their wolf forms.
Chan slipped back to the corner where all their youngest ones huddled, taking baby Jiwoo from Jisung's loose grip and holding her close to his chest while his own pups all cowered close, indiscernible, from the pups who didn't have the warmth of their own parents to comfort them.
The youngest, orphaned by the unforgiving winter, and not destined for very long. Jiwoo was only four months old– Chan didn't have much to feed her without her mother, other than water.
She shuffled and nipped at him in her wolf form.
"I know, littlest," his hands covered her entire body, and he gave her his fingers to nibble on while he pulled them under the fur, his own children shifting closer, unconsciously, as they felt his warmth.
Jisung rubbed his face against Chan's arm, before cracking an eye open, "Appa..?"
"Sh, sleep, aegi," pushing Jisung's head down and combing through his hair, "Appa's here, appa's here, sleep."
He resisted the pull of exhaustion, "Jiwoo…?"
For whatever reason, his son had grown a protective instinct over the baby ever since she’d come into their packhouse. Chan couldn’t discern the source of his intentions, but it was heartwarming all the same.
"I have her," Chan promised, "Now, sleep…"
Jisung turned, Chan's fingers through his hair pulling him back to unconsciousness, his arms reaching to pull something to replace Jiwoo in his arms, and finding his sister. Haewon tugged away, but he was bigger and stronger, and he eventually dragged her closer, and in turn pulled two pups sheltered in her arms. A chain of linked arms and hearts, little hands that didn't know where they belonged or what they were missing.
Chan would take them in as his own for as long as they were with him.
Littlest Jiwoo sucked on his knuckles and didn't know any better.
A deep primal part of Chan wished he could sleep in his wolf form like she did. Every wolf knew that it was warmer that way, a thick winter coat to protect against the elements. It was a natural instinct to remain a wolf, all winter if necessary, to protect oneself.
But natural instinct did not provide for them already packed together like littermates, barely any room to even turn over in their smaller two-legged form. Chan was sure someone would roll into the fire, should even a couple of them take turns in shifting.
No, it was far too risky, their only source of warmth apart from each other, crackling in the center of the house, smoke rising through a hooded hole in the ceiling that kept them from suffocating on smoky breaths.
Chan peered up at the night sky, visible through the small opening between the clouds of smoke, and barely made out the stars. They twinkled all the same. Cold. Uncaring.
A face snuggled into his shoulder, his Lily, curling her hands around his arm like she was going to lose him. She wouldn't, Chan was far too necessary for the survival of his packhouse, much more so for the entire pack, to let the cold kill him. He was just too stubborn to die, but that was hard to explain when Jeongin and Yujin hugged the empty space where their father had promised the same just behind her.
Jinni was in her wolf form. Although he ought to wake her up to have her shift, Chan found himself unwilling to. He knew she would cry if he did. She didn't understand, and Chan didn't expect her to. It was a comfort Chan would need to lack a soul to deny to their most vulnerable. It was a comfort they gave the very pregnant wolf, scared and hiding in a corner, plagued with believing she didn't belong because of the space she took up between her brother and the wall, while many pups shivered in their skin.
Chan had been, and still remained, insistent. Although they had little hope for Yeji's pup, there was no point in losing them both before they had to by having her remain in her weaker form. It was a rather dark reasoning, but it gave them a reason nonetheless, and a reason for life was always better than an excuse for death.
Lily's nails dug deep into Chan's skin. The pain reminded Chan to stay alive, so he didn't dare move her away.
Chan peered over huddled bodies, glancing over to see Minho clutching his own pup in one arm, and his brother to himself in the other. Felix was leached to his side, the shaking and shivering greatly reduced. It warmed Chan's heart, just a little. There was still an empty space where his mate and youngest pups ought to have filled, as well as his sister. But the space allowed Jinni to yawn, stretching her long limbs before settling with a huff, snout on her paws.
If he looked a little closer, he could see Minho was awake. Blinking up at the ceiling, a pup in each arm, perhaps just to ground him. Ryujin was still sniffling with the cough she'd developed several nights ago– Minho was probably wondering if it would be the sickness that stole her from him.
Changbin, their resident healer, had done everything he could. He insisted she would be fine but… anything could happen. Winter was nothing if unexpected and harsh.
The door to their little house cracked open, a biting draft running in and over them. Chan and Minho both leaned up to go close it, but stopped at the sight of two shadowy figures by the door.
Something in Chan's heart rested. Minho let out a sigh of relief.
"What took so long?" Minho whispered, trying to keep his tone as light as he could, even as both he and Chan knew there was a serious terror laced beneath it.
These were their mates after all.
The little group had left for business with a neighboring packhouse with every intention to return before the sunset. The sun had set several hours back, and it had taken all their trust in their packmates to not set out in the cold to see what had gone wrong, or even allow their contenance to betray worry to the others in the pack who weren’t aware of these plans.
"Your eomma needed help,” the second shadow split into three, one bundled up in Yena’s arm, the other pattering by her feet, shifting by the time he reached Minho and diving into his appa’s lap.
“Cold, Jun-ie?” Minho rubbed warmth into the little wolf while Yena settled on the other side of Ryujin, their youngest pup cradled against her chest. They’d had a litter together a couple months before the cold set in, a set of three boys. One was buried in the trees just outside, beside the roots of the strongest oak, a testament to the strength of his parents. Of the two that remained, Gyehun had proven to be the strongest, a pup determined to live.
There was no other way to survive. Chan held Jiwoo a little closer and prayed she would find that will.
“Where’s Amaru?” Minho reached over, hand on Gyehun’s head to assure himself he was there, before settling Yena down under the furs with them, brushing at her bangs, tangled in the wind.
Before Chan could hear what she replied, the shadow he’d momentarily forgotten crouched down next to him, gently taking Jiwoo from his hands and into hers, wrapping the pup in an intricate blanket she’d brought with her. His instinct was to protest, despite the aching muscles in his arms from being terribly careful, but his eyes meet Sana’s and his hands give up the pup. Her expert hands tucked Jiwoo close to her chest, where the little one snuggled closer. Sana kissed her nose, before slipping next to Lily.
“Amaru?” Chan asked quietly, before remembering that Yena had left with Minho’s sister, “And Mijoo? Where are they?”
Sana didn’t answer immediately, having jostled Jeongin and Jinni on her other side, the two young wolves waking up blearily as she tried to calmly put them back to sleep.
“Sh-sh-sh, it’s just me, Innie…”
Somehow that didn’t comfort the waking wolf, whose lip quivered, “A-appa?”
It had only been three days since Dowoon had been struck down in the hunt. Chan had been there, he’d watched when the stag had suddenly turned and pierced through wolf hide. Blood splattered the snow and it had hurt, hurt too much to bear, watching one of his oldest friends bleed out, too far to get him to the packhouse to be stitched up, too far to even carry him back. There was no proper ceremony, no closure in burial like they’d had for little pups born at the unfortunate turn of the season. Innie and Jinni hadn’t even mourned the death of their father– he was still a figure they expected to come through the door at any moment.
“Appa isn’t here,” Sana whispered, and then held him tightly like Chan did whenever he could, determined that he should never feel colder inside or out, “Bring your sister close, come, we should gather close in this weather, noona will keep you warm.”
Chan watched and waited, Lily turning to latch onto her mother’s other free arm as they settled. She was smiling, Sana was always smiling around the pups, never giving off a hint of worry or trepidation like Chan could betray in his weakest moments. Like he had, unable to stop his tears when he’d returned with the stag from the hunt, leaving it for the younger wolves to divide as he shifted and collapsed at the oak outside their house, weeping until his energy was full spent, and Minho, with whatever energy he had left from the hunt and dividing up portions, had come to carry him back inside.
Sana didn’t let their pups carry her burdens.
But Chan saw them regardless.
When everyone had settled, she dared to look back at him– her eyes were heavy.
Frowning, he whispered, “Nayeon?”
Biting her lip, she nodded.
Swallowing his thoughts, he nodded and settled back under the furs. Minho’s mother was one of the more resilient elders of the pack, the first woman among their pack to put her foot down and her word into their decisions, a word not just for herself, but for every younger wolf, pup, and overlooked member who never had a chance to speak before the council. She was a mother, she was a grandmother, she was a cornerstone to the pack.
And she was also dying.
It made sense that Mijoo, her eldest daughter, had probably stayed with her, to nurse and comfort her. Perhaps Yena had seen the wisdom in leaving their weakest pup to not gamble a cold journey from the neighboring pack house through the wind, and left Amaru with her sister-in law. Nayeon’s pack house was full of older, mature wolves, very few pups, but plenty of willing hands.
Maybe Yena also saw fit for Nayeon to hold one of her grand-pups before she passed. Yena was wise like that, attune to little measures of happiness, the small crinkles of an eye-smile, the weeping of the soul, indiscernible except to the sensitive heart. A lot like Minho, but each in their own way. A good match.
Nayeon had blessed it with so much joy, any opposition had been quickly buried. Even if Yena was from a pack they weren’t on particularly good terms with. Leave it to Minho to be the one to challenge those dynamics.
“I’m hungry…” he heard someone mumble, probably Ryujin from the way her voice scratched.
“Appa’s will go hunt something good tomorrow, hm?”
“Another stag, appa? A big one?”
“Mm, maybe, little one, maybe a whole stag.”
“...will you take me with you? I’m big now, not like Gyehun and Amaru, I want to hunt now.”
“Oh,” little Jun peeped, “Me too, appa. I hunt too!”
Chan smiled as he started to sleep, the image of a four year old pup nipping at her father’s heel with her littermate jumping at the idea of hunting, a sight that took him back to when he was young and the cold winters were no match for the place pressed between his parents, Changbin whining as their mother groomed him by the fire. They were only eight in a packhouse, back then. Two families usually, with enough grown hands to handle the litters of pups. Back when their pack was something small because it was growing, not because it was being cut down by death, and the council were noble and just friends who always saw the packs in paws, not in numbers.
Autumn was painted in gold. Spring in bursting colors. And the deep green of summer.
Winter was just a season of rest. Training in the warmth of the fire, but only by tackling Sana to the ground, too young to realize this was the wolf he was going to court. Nothing like courting now, where Seungmin and Lia danced around each other, not because there was anything unknown between them, but because to mate was to court death, and not just toe the idea, but to expect it. There was nothing joyous about courting in the snow, not in this season.
Yeji could attest– and her mating ceremony only happened to fall in the frost because of the early onset of the season. Maybe it was because of her they held off… maybe she had told them not to. Her celebration had been followed by mourning within three weeks. It never felt any less like a punishment to her, no matter how much they reassured her, or Hyunjin held her till she’d been bled dry of tears, or the little ones closed around her to feel the pup kicking inside her.
The fire pit crackled as the first hints of sunrise broke through the treeline. Although Chan liked to be the first one up, to make sure everyone survived the night and to avoid certain shenanigans. Lily and Haewon were sitting together with the younger pups Haewon had been comforting all night, drawing on the floor with the remaining charcoal.
"Good morning, girls."
The other two had the sense to look ashamed immediately dropping the charcoal, Haewon quickly shifting to hide the evidence of their morning activities. But Lily smiled broadly, charcoal in hand.
"Morning, appa," she pointed to the space between her feet, "Look, I drew our pack."
He frowned at the various circles with lines sticking out of them. He couldn't tell who was who, except for perhaps Yeji, who Lily did her best to make look a little rounder than the other wolves.
"Mm, very nice, aegi," he cracked his back as he got up, hiding the terrible feeling of age as he stretched, "Clean it up before everyone wakes up, hm? I don't want you giving your eomma or anyone else extra work, okay?"
Haewon diligently nodded, dusting her hands off in the pit before grabbing one of the girl's hands, Jinsol, if Chan's memory was correct, and running for the water bucket in the corner.
"Look, Sullyoon," Lilly scrubbed the floor harshly and showed the other pup her hands, "We can get a lot of it off like this…"
Lily treated everyone like her brother or sister, whether that was for better or worse. Sometimes it meant screaming and demanding the older boys fetch things for her, like Jisung would dote one her, or getting into their pranking business to cause the most trouble. But often, lately, it meant smiling at Sullyoon and Jinsol as if they were no different than her Haewon, two litters born two seasons apart, and treating them as though they were of her own litter.
Although Chan had no idea where the two girls had come from, it felt like they belonged here.
Chan was glad Sana was still asleep– he could practically hear her clicking her tongue in disapproval as they invariably made themselves messier in trying to clean up. He rolled over to where she was lightly snoring, Jiwoo having shifted sometime in the night, little baby hands curled tightly in Sana's hair as she made soft cooing sounds in her sleep.
She looked at peace like this, Chan's hand hovering over her, before gently combing away the wispy baby hairs from her face. Jiwoo resembled Jisung, Chan remembering when his first pup had come into the world, and Chan had been enamored with those rosy round cheeks, lips pouted, and eyes wildly turning to grasp at the world.
Jiwoo took a deep breath in her sleep, frowning, before resolving something in her little mind and letting out a shallow sigh.
There was a skin of milk by Sana's head. Chan didn't remember her bringing it in, but she'd probably gotten it while visiting the neighboring packhouse. There was a cow they raised, since Dahyun had adamantly refused to kill it last season. Her foresight had been nothing short of vital wisdom– all their orphaned pups had at least a little hope.
“Hm?” Sana frowned as she woke up, cracking open one eye to see Chan smiling over her, before closing it and giving him a responding smile, “Mm…”
“Morning,” he hated that he needed to wake her up, but he felt a little lost without her insight by his side. He would have asked Yena more details about how their journey to Nayeon’s packhouse had gone, but the way she and Minho were tangled in each other’s arms, pups to the side and around them, felt like a thing he didn’t have the right to intrude on. His own mate, she he could bother if he wished. It was one of those vows of courting that he never tired of using, and perhaps abusing.
“How are your sisters doing?” he asked softly.
Sana frowned, her sisters most certainly not on her mind, “Hm? ‘ho?”
She sounded like she was ready to sink back into sleep, Chan laughing softly to himself.
“Was it hard to get there?” Chan slowly brushed through her hair to wake her up, “To Nayeon’s packhouse– I didn’t think the snow had gotten heavier since we last went. Minho and I use that trail often, I thought the snow should have at least been packed down.”
“Mm, no, it was easy,” Sana yawned, “Jun had too much energy, and Yena had her hands full, so I had to chase him the length of the way and back before we got there,” she smiled, eyes far away, “He’s sweet. Reminds me of when Sungie was little.”
Chan snorted, “Minho always complains about having his hands full. If he’s anything like Jisung…”
“Yena has him, two puppies, and Ryujin. Not to mention Felix, who's still their baby for all the trouble he gets in. I’m pretty sure they have it worse than we ever did, Channie,” she joked, but was also dead serious as they looked at the little family, Ryujin wide awake and already up to trouble, sprawled across her brother and uncle, pulling her mother’s hair to give her father a moustache that would fly every time Minho breathed out, much to her amusement.
There were many things Chan could find himself envying about Minho, but his lot in parenting was never one of them. Minho never complained, but there was a sort of constant screaming behind his eyes that Chan could always hear, particularly during those long nights of fussy puppies and inconsolable wiggles.
“But he calmed down once we reached the house. It might have been a little overwhelming, seeing all those older wolves,” stretching her back, she propped Jiwoo in her lap and sat up, “They’re twelve wolves now, counting all pups. Mina and Momo are fine, just tired– they’ve taken on hunting consistently. Most of the packhouse is sick.”
Chan winced, “Nayeon?”
“Including Nayeon… though you would never know, the way she’s nursing everyone,” Sana smiled, but it quickly faded, “Yena and Mijoo could tell. I spent most of my time with my sisters, but they… they knew. I think Yena wants Minho to take them all to see her, perhaps stay there a few days…”
It wasn’t hard to read between the lines– Sana didn’t think Nayeon would last longer than a few days. Swallowing harshly, Chan nodded.
“We can do without them for a little bit. I’ll need help hunting but… we’ll be fine. This is more important,” it needed to be said, more for himself than anyone else, because he can already imagine how hard the hunt will be without some of their most skilled fighters, from Minho and Yena to even Felix, one of their younger but no less skilled wolves.
But even he needed to see his mother, as much as Nayeon probably wished to see him before she left.
“I’ll help,” Sana promised, kissing the frown lines that started to grow as she sensed his thoughts, “And Yeji can watch all the little ones– it’ll be good for her. And it will give you more wolves for a better hunt, mm?”
“Mm,” Chan looked down as Jiwoo started to fuss, her little fists punching through the blanket Sana had swaddled her in, eyes screwed shut in particular discontentment, “This is cute, the blanket. Nayeon?”
“No, Jeongyeon, actually,” Sana took the skin of milk and pulled a cheesecloth over it, a temporary bottle she tipped towards Jiwoo’s mouth, “She was so disturbed over the number of parentless pups in our care, she immediately started making several more before we left. I only took the one for Jiwoo, but I promised to go back and get the others within the week,” Sana frowned as she looked around, from Innie and Jinni to Sullyoon and Jinsol, “I told her about the two girls, but she had no idea which house they could be from. She recommended trying Younghyun’s– you need to visit them soon, don’t you?”
“I do,” Chan narrowed his eyes at the girls, trying to see if they resembled anyone he knew from Younghyun’s packhouse, “But Seungmin doesn’t recognize them, and he’s been there much more recently than I have… I’ll ask nonetheless, but maybe pass the word on through your sisters to Jaebum’s house, further out. It’s a stretch but… ah, or I wonder if Bambam has welcomed new wolves into his house? He mentioned several strays and sole wolves that have asked for protection during this season, so maybe… I hope their parents don’t worry, wherever they are. I’m sure I would be, if my pups were missing in this weather.”
Sana’s gaze was harshly realistic as she lowered her voice, “I think it’s safe to think… I don’t think those two have parents worrying about them, Channie.”
Wincing, Chan nodded, watching carefully as Haewon pulled Sullyoon and Lily to wake up Chaeryeong, who screamed and in turn woke up Changbin. Jinsol was giggling from where she was trapped in Seungmin’s arms, Lia watching fondly from where she was brushing her hair a little further off. Although they had been asked and interrogated, the girls hadn’t spoken a word since arriving in their house. Changbin couldn’t find anything wrong, but advised them to not press it any further. They didn’t know what sort of trauma they’d gone through. The only medicine for it was open arms and warm hearts. The two girls might not have had parents worrying for them out there but they certainly had several worrying for them in Chan’s packhouse.
Hyunjin approached them carefully, bowing respectfully towards Sana and Chan before kneeling beside them.
“Hyung?” he whispered, always quiet, always with his head turned to the ground when he spoke, “Some of the younger ones were asking to train so they could hunt… I know I’m not very skilled but maybe I could– I mean, if it’s alright with you–”
“Don’t sell yourself short, Hyunjin-ah. You’re one of our most skilled fighters,” Chan fondly brushed back his hair and tried to bring his chin up, a little more confidently. Hyunjin had a lot to be proud of, if his ego was any bigger. He’d looked after his sister, taken the shoes of his father at a very young age, and never let his age be an excuse to not provide for the pack. Even if it wasn’t always his place, Chan was proud of him.
“Let me guess… Ryujin definitely… Jeongin? Chaeryeong? Tsk, not Yujin I hope. Yujin too? Hm…” Chan knew that if he didn’t let the younger ones rise to help him, they’d sink into a sort of coldness he had no hope of warming, “...You can train them. Why not? Sullyoon and Jinsol if they’d like to… and my girls could use it too. Maybe… in the valley field, east, away from the territory of larger animals,” his eyes twinkled, after the snow melted...“Bunny hunting. And take Jisung with you, it’d help him to train some of the younger ones.”
Hyunjin blanched at first but quickly bowed. Chan was no stranger that he and his own son didn’t get along most of the time. It was a minor issue that could become a great fissure in the pack if he wasn’t careful, so Chan made every careful effort to mend it while it remained inside his packhouse.
As Hyunjin got up, Jeongin and Yujin scurried after him, the latter having shifted into her human form, and quicker than her older brother in catching Hyunjin by the waist.
“Oppa, oppa, did he say yes?” she whispered, unaware of just how loud her harsh whisper was.
Hyunjin laughed, smiling down at the two who danced around his feet, “He did, little one.”
Doing a little twirl, she hugged Hyunjin, before jumping and launching herself into Chan’s arms, “Thank you, thank you! I’m a good hunter, I know I’ll be a good one!”
“Of course you will be,” Chan smiled encouragingly, which made her spring up and rub it into the face of her much more reserved brother, who’d never been terribly eager about hunting, until he’d reached the age of being the oldest unable to hunt in their little pack.
Chan didn’t doubt Jeongin would be a fine hunter, however calm and timid he seemed. Minho was a prime example of just how deceiving looks could be.
Everyone slowly woke up and gathered around the fire pit, a smaller one struck that would run through the day and be used to cook. Yena placed Gyehun in one of the hammock bassinets they had, hung close to the ground in the corner, made and remade with every new litter. Sana quietly placed Jiwoo next to him and the two talked about their plans for the next few days, and little Amaru, in safe hands, but far from Yena’s safe hands.
A mother’s anxiety that couldn’t be rationalized with. Calm and steady Yena, but the separation from one of her pups was making her hands shake. Chan let Sana sing her experienced wisdom, and gave them a comfortable distance to talk in peace.
He stopped short by the door, where Minho was poised, ear inclined to their porch. He looked poised, like they were hunting. Chan couldn’t smell anything, but he trusted Minho’s instinct, and whatever he heard.
“What is it?” Changbin asked quietly, and when he turned, Chan saw that the entire packhouse was on edge.
Chan put a finger to his lips. Yeji pulled Jeongin and Yujin down next to her, motioning for Chan’s girls to come close as Hyunjin crouched next to them, ready to shift. Chaeryeong hid behind her brother, Seungmin placed himself between Lia, Sullyoon and Jinsol, and the door. Yena and Sana pushed Felix and the rest of Yena’s pups behind her. They were all poised, ready to attack.
Scanning at them all, Chan nodded at Minho, and they tiptoed to the door.
Then nodding, Minho reached for the door, and they counted down together– three, two–
Whirling the door open, Chan’s gaze was momentarily blinded by the pure white of the snow, a bright day shining as it reflected on the sparkling shine of the ground. Little hills molded by the wind. His immediate reaction was confusion, as his gaze would have landed on a wolf of threatening size and he wouldn’t have been blinded, was followed by a second, when his gaze quickly fell lower, until it landed on–
“H-hello.”
Chan had to blink several times before he got his bearings, immediately loosening his stance to crouch down.
A wolf, yes, but a pup. No bigger than Lily, shivering in a thick fur haphazardly pulled around her shoulder.
“Hello there, little one,” he smiled, “How can I help you? I’m–”
“Ch-Chan-oppa,” the little wolf smiled, “They told me to find you.”
“Oh? Who?”
“Them,” the little wolf didn’t clarify, shifting from foot to foot, her breath steaming into clouds before her face, “They said to come here. They said I’d be safe here.”
Chan looked past her, seeing paw prints in the snow, from the east, not from any path he or his pack had trod recently. She must have been instructed to shift at the door to appear less threatening, the snow shaken off on the front steps.
“You will be safe here,” Chan promised, beckoning her inside, “Come. What’s your name, little one?”
She shuffled inside, and Chan was horrified to see her bare feet turning blue from the cold, Minho quickly closing the door and starting to rub them. Her teeth chattered and she couldn’t bear to answer, but she smiled and bowed politely towards everyone in the room all the same.
“I-I… I-I-I’m… I–”
“Yuna?”
Freezing, they looked across the house to see Jinsol and Sullyoon, wide-eyed and amazed as they realized–
“ Yuna!”
They launched themselves at her, the little girl nearly knocked off her feet. The three were wrapped in each other’s arms, Yuna being pampered and fussed over by the other two, and Chan only had to take one long, deep breath to realize what was going on here.
They were littermates. Sisters.
“Where did you–?”
“Eomma said–!”
“I thought we’d–”
Chan couldn’t discern a word. He didn’t know where their parents were or who had sent them or why they had been separated, but that could all be figured out later. The love and happiness was too radiant to interrupt, Yuna’s cheeks wet with happy tears telling him all he needed to know.
“Come,” he motioned them away from the door and towards the fire, “Come sit, warm up Yuna, warm up with your sisters, you’re safe here, I promise.”
“Oh!” Yuna suddenly pulled away from her sisters and undid the fur wrapped around her, “I have– my eomma always said– always said to never come empty handed so I– hold on, I… here!”
She pulled something tucked between her clothes, holding them proudly with both hands. Chan’s eyes widened at the sight, the color awakening hope in his chest.
“For you, oppa,” Yuna bowed her head, and then looked up at him with a big smile, “Aren’t they pretty?”
The first flowers of spring. Bright, and beautiful, yellow and blossoming like stars, warm and brilliant.
Smiling, Chan took them with both hands, bowing.
“Yes, yes they are,” he whispered, feeling warm as he took them from her, “Thank you, little one.”