"Taehyung."

In my dream, an old woman with sagging skin calls me. She beckons me to me, and I walk past the kitchen table to stand beside her. She points to the big bowl resting on the kitchen counter, and I look over to peek. The beady, brown almond eyes of a woman stare back at me, her head is severed from her body, and covered with boiling blood. It's my mother's head. I scream.

"Lunch," the woman says.

"Taehyung!" I hear it again. My body jostles awake, and I open my eyes. Jeongguk stands next to my bed, a towel wrapped around his shoulders, and he smells fresh.

"You were screaming in your sleep," he tells me, "I couldn't bear to hear it."

My eyelids feel heavy with fatigue, and I rub it to keep the tiredness away. "Sorry I woke you up," I apologise, and Jeongguk just shakes his head. "It's fine, I was already up. Just thought you might want to get ready now."

Jeongguk points to the clock resting on the nightstand between both of our beds. He grabs my arm and hauls me up, handing me the towel resting on my bed.

"Go take a shower, you're drenched in sweat," He says, and starts to exaggerate, covering his nostrils with his finger. I roll my eyes and playfully punch Jeongguk on the chest. Something in me warms up. There is something fuzzy and warm blooming inside of me, but I ignore it either way.

When I step inside the bathroom, the feeling disappears at once, and dread starts forming in the the pit of my stomach, making me feel sick. The nightmare I had haunts me. I can still picture the pained look on my mother's severed head, her mouth open as though she was gasping for air, not willing to let go of her last breath. It was unreal, but it surely felt real.

"No, stop thinking about it. It's not real," I try to convince myself, but I'm already failing. I strip out of my pajamas and step into the shower.

+++

"Alright class, get yourself a partner when we reach the starting point. Report to me if you're feeling unwell now or during the run," Jiyeong says, "Jihyun will be running at the back to make sure none of you are walking and I'll be at the front to lead the route. Report to either one of us if you're feeling unwell. Clear?"

The class nods.

We cross the roads and walk up an overhead bridge, by the time we reach the starting point of our run, my legs feel weak, and my gastrocnemius muscles feel sore. I am too unfit.

"You have five minutes to find yourself a partner. You have no reason to be alone as five minutes is more than enough time for you, and if you happen to be alone, we will pair you up with anyone available. Have a sense of urgency, initiates," Jihyun instructs, and we all scatter around, looking for someone. My gaze floats around the class of initiates, searching for Jeongguk.

"Hey, Jeongguk, wanna be my part—" I trail off when my eyes catch Eunra wrapped around Jeongguk. A weight drops in my stomach, my insides churn.

"Hey," a voice from behind me snaps me back to reality. I twist my head around to meet Jimin's.

"What do you want?" I ask rudely, flicking Jimin off. Jimin's face falls, and his eyebrows turn downwards. "Oh, so you weren't planning on partnering me," he accuses.

"I was," I defend myself, "I was just distracted."

"Time's up, class. Line up in twos, we'll be starting the run now," Jiyeong tells us, and the class scrambles behind him.

"I was just joking, Taehyung," Jimin assures me as he pushes me in line.

Jiyeong holds up a whistle to his lips. It blows. We run.

When I run, the intense wind slaps my face and presses my jumper to my body. A bead of sweat rolls down the back of my neck when I sprint to catch up with the others.

"You're so unfit," Jimin points out. By now, I am panting and gasping for air, my steps faltering. I turn to look at Jimin, and compare his body and mine. His steps are constant, and there is a certain rhythm to it. His breathing is shallow. His lips are not cracked like mine.

"Your face is really, really red, are you feeling unwell? Do you wanna tell Jihyun?" Jimin slows down to match my pace. I bend forward and rest my palms on my thighs, trying to recover my breath.

Initiates rush past Jimin and me, and I realise I am slowing Jimin down. I don't want to be a burden.

"You can go first, I'll catch up with you later," I tell Jimin, even though I am not sure if I am able to catch up with Jimin without passing out.

"Are you sure? I can stay here with you, it's fine," he tries to assure me, but it doesn't lighten the feeling of being a burden to an alpha.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine."

Jimin sprints forward so fast, when he leaves, a sudden gush of wind slams against my body, threatening to lift me off the ground.

"He's so fast," I tell my wolf, who howls in agreement. I may enjoy training and studying combat, but I certainly do not enjoy running Long distances because even the shortest run winds me.

When I look back, I am the second last, and Jihyun is jogging closer towards me. My heart rings in my ears. If they catch me slacking, they may change their mind and pair me up with someone else instead of Jeongguk, so I push myself to run as fast as I can.

I don't know why I care about Jeongguk being my partner or why I only want him as my partner for our combined training; I don't want to know. With effort, I push those thoughts away from my mind, and concentrate on the sound of my heartbeat resonating in my ears.

My sides hurt with every breath, I feel myself slowing down. Black spots paint my vision. I will myself not to throw up breakfast, but it's tough. My legs give way, and my body slumps to the ground in defeat. I am too weak, but I won't give up.

√a.n.

It's been a really long time since I updated this book so here's another shitty chapter, with an usual crappy ending. Also, I came across this comment on a profile that alphaxomega werewolf au fanfics are too overused so I'm trying to make this as unique as possible, even though I'm failing, but I'll try my best of course <3 thank you for your support, strong power thank you ♡

Edit: I love how my story doesn't have that much readers but all my readers are a loyal bunch, I love and appreciate every single one of you <3

P.S. Never forget how happy taekook were after finding out they were in the same group