Sunrise ||| Ateez

32

Yes Seonghwa hisses in pain as San grabs a splinter, not so gently either, and plucks it out with the tweezers. The beta growls, "Hold still."

"I can't when you're ripping something out of my skin and not being gentle," Seonghwa snaps back, causing San to rip out another splinter underneath his nail, making the alpha yelp in pain, "Easy!"

He ripped his hand away from San, which caused the beta to huff, "If you're not going to sit still then you're going to have splinters up your nails and in your knuckles from now on. Quit being a fucking baby and hold still!"

"I'm trying but you're not helping!" Seonghwa snaps back, sighing, "Why did Hongjoong pair you with me?"

"Probably because Yunho is busy with him and Mingi," San sighs, plucking out another splinter and jerking Seonghwa's hand back to him.

Seonghwa sighs, letting the silence wash over them before pursing his lips, "I'm sorry."

"For what?" San scoffs, not looking up from his task.

"For whatever I did to make you hate me," Seonghwa mumbles, "And for being a jack ass."

San snorts, "I don't hate you." Seonghwa arches his eyebrow and the beta continues, "I don't particularly like you either, but I tolerate you because of Wooyoung. I was in his position before when you guys first joined our pack. I was in a relationship with an alpha who was possessive, mean. He was sweet and loving when he wanted to be don't get me wrong, but the possessiveness got a little too much sometimes."

Seonghwa was silent, not even feeling the splinters being plucked out now as San continued, "He beat me, many times throughout the day. Starved me. Took me whenever he could against my will even if I was in so much pain. I thought it would get better but it never did, it just slowly became more and more of a horrible nightmare."

"One day," San takes in a deep breath, grabbing the alcohol after removing all splinters, "I found out I was pregnant with our baby."

Seonghwa jerks his head up, "When you seen Wynter with Wooyoung-"

"Yes," San nods, "It pissed me off. You took Wooyoung against his will and then he got pregnant because of your needy actions."

Seonghwa flinches, San continues his story, "I was pregnant with our baby. I was so happy, and so relieved that maybe this would change him. This would make him see I am a good mate and I will bare him pups to make him proud."

Seonghwa swallows harshly, "Was?..."

San swallows roughly, Seonghwa can see the tears forming but the beta pushes it all away as he grabs a cotton ball with some alcohol on it and dabs at the injuries on Seonghwa's knuckles to clean them, "I told him the good news, thinking he will stop the beatings and will straighten up so we can be parents together."

San pauses again and Seonghwa frowns, "But he didn't..."

San's lip quivers as he shakes his head, "I lost the baby a couple days afterwards," his voice cracked, "He walked in on me, seeing all of the blood on the floor made him angry that I made a mess. He was even more angry that I lost his pup, and tried to strangle me to death. Somehow, I don't know how to this day, I managed to break free and run to the kitchen. I had always been careful of using knives around him, he's the kind of person who would trip you if you were holding one just to see if you would stab yourself."

Seonghwa's eyes widen, but San continues, "He shifted and lunged for me. I took my biggest kitchen knife, and stabbed him sixteen times. Sixteen. Many in the chest, many in the heart, once in the neck and once in both eyes. It nearly killed me to do so, but I couldn't take it anymore. I couldn't take the pain this man was putting me through," he snorts, shaking his head as he lets the tears fall, "Sometimes I think to myself that I deserved all of this."

"You didn't deserve that at all San," Seonghwa whispers, "He wasn't an alpha for hurting you like that."

San was quiet as he continued to patch up Seonghwa, his injuries were now clean as San wraps his hand in some kind of gauze. The alpha in the room was suddenly taken by surprise when San grabs his hand and links their fingers together, looking in Seonghwa's deep blue eyes, "Promise me you'll be the best alpha you can be for Wooyoung. Be the best father to Wynter. Not everyone is lucky to have an Alpha that treats us kindly and with respect."

Seonghwa nods, "I'm trying."

A throat cleared itself in the doorway and both turn to see Hongjoong there, watching them. He nods once, "It's time to make a game plan."

Everyone gathers in the living room, except for the children who were all sleeping at this time. Hongjoong stood in front of everyone, pacing back and forth. They all knew that since Yeosang is gone, his wolf is on high alert and he's not able to focus on anything at all except for the return of his mate and other pack members.

"So, we don't have any ideas of where these fuckers went?" Hongjoong asks, looking at each one of his pack members individually.

"Their prints are still fresh in the ground," Yunho comments, "They could be easy to track based on smell too."

"Has anyone tried linking them?" San asks, looking at everyone.

"I tried," Seonghwa shakes his head, "They're either too far or they're unconscious. I hope to moon goddess it's neither of those things."

"Tomorrow, all of us except Yunho will go out and track them down before the sun rises," Hongjoong nods, continues to pace back and forth in front of his pack members.

"Yunho is staying here by himself?" San frowns, "With all of the children?"

"Yes," Hongjoong nods, "We need all of the help we can get and Grayson is too little for him to be gone for long without his mother."

"So is Wynter," Seonghwa breaks in, "She's too young to survive without Wooyoung and she's never been away from either of us for a long period of time."

"Hongjoong I don't think I can watch all of these children by myself," Yunho admits, Mingi wraps his arm tightly around his mate's shoulders, "You know how much of a handful the boys are, plus taking care of two babies and Irys-"

"Call someone from a neighboring pack," Hongjoong raises his hands in the air, "Preferably Keonhee and Hwanwoong."

"Who are they?" Seonghwa asks, sitting up straight, "Are they from another pack?"

"They are, and they're good friends of ours," Yunho nods, "They're really good to us."

"I'm not having a stranger watch my child," Seonghwa growls in warning, "Wynter won't have any idea who he is and will be scared-"

"Do you want her to have a mother or not?" Hongjoong snaps, "Right now, we really don't have a choice on who watches our children Seonghwa. If you want to stay back and watch your daughter, you're more than welcome to. But just know if you do there's a good chance it'll fuck everything that you built with Wooyoung up. He will be disappointed that you didn't come be his knight in shining armor to save him from these beasts."

Seonghwa was silent, and everyone felt the tension in the air before Yunho takes Seonghwa's hand in his, "I promise you nothing will happen to her. Keonhee is a sweet and kind beta, and Hwanwoong is an even kinder and a gentle omega. They wouldn't dare hurt anyone's child nor would they hurt us."

Seonghwa debates the decision for a bit in his mind, Hongjoong has eventually had enough as he shakes his head, "Tomorrow we leave as soon as the sun rises. Yunho, contact Keonhee. Seonghwa you can either join us and save your mate or stay here and hide with your daughter like a coward."

Everyone leaves him to the living room to get a good nights rest, something they wouldn't be doing for a while. Seonghwa sighs and runs his hands through his black hair before standing and walking to his bedroom. Wynter was fast asleep in their bed, and he carefully crawls towards her and lays beside her.

The little girl purses his lips in her sleep, nuzzling against Seonghwa's chest before cooing adorably in her sleep. Seonghwa runs a hand through her dark hair, leaning down to nuzzle his nose in her hair and breathing in her fresh baby scent. He needed to do what was best for his daughter.

And that was to go get her mother and bring him back to her.

****
Written by jinjin0309