Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It wasn’t supposed to be like this.

Celine shouldn’t have had to break down the door into her home to a soundtrack of the screams of one of the people she loved most in the world. She shouldn’t have pushed the debris into the fire at the side and felt her heart stop as she saw Her, doused in blood from head to toe.

 The smell permeating the air was unlike anything she ever wanted to experience, but she knew every note. She could smell the hideous influence of demons, the smoke of the fire, the faint pheromones of the heart of their pack fading, and a new scent that was oh so similar in all the wrong ways. 

Celine’s head slowly clears as she notices Her losing breath as she gasps “ … Rumi”. Celine  rushes over to Her, and falls to the ground at Her side. A weak breath escapes as She repeats, “Please, protect her, protect Rumi”. 

Celine’s hands scramble to hold Her close, tears falling to the ground as she begs, “You can’t leave me,” a desperation falling from her lips she was never expecting to feel, and yet is the only possible response to losing the rock she has anchored to for more than a decade, “we need you, I need you.”

Her breathing gets shallower with every exhale, and Celine could do nothing but hold Her tight, arms slick with blood as she faintly hears “Please keep her safe for me,” and feels the last breath leave Her chest, taking every one that Celine hoped that she could have shared with it.

Celine couldn’t stop the tears from falling, from clutching onto Her lifeless body, every confession she wished she could have made swirling through her head as her life collapsed around her.

A sharp cry cut through the air as that terrible smell from earlier intensified. Celine looked at the source and saw something that she knew would haunt her days for the rest of time. She saw a child so similar to Her, and yet marked by the very monsters that had taken Her away from Celine. The child’s scent was so similar to everything that Celine had loved about Her, and yet it was tainted by knowing that this Thing wasn’t Her . She wished that this wasn’t Rumi, that She hadn’t asked Celine to protect this monster that had taken Her from the world too soon. 

Celine knew she couldn’t do what was asked of her, that she would never be able to protect this Thing , but as she picked the child up in her right hand and summoned her blade in the left, the Honmoon wrapped itself around the crying Thing in a way that was all too familiar to her.

It could not have chosen a worse time or a worse creature for this, her tears hadn’t even dried on Her corpse, and yet the Honmoon decided that this monster was going to be one of the new generation of hunters, a generation that was only needed because of the pain and suffering that It brought about.

The very thought of raising the child that had killed Her on its own would have been a heavy burden unlike any she had faced before, and that weight became truly crushing with the knowledge that this child needed to die for the world to be safe. 

Celine bent down to kiss Her forehead one final time, and closed her eyes. Standing up, the knowledge that she now needed to live in a world without Her punched into her chest once more, and the tears that hadn’t stopped fell from her face onto the ground once more.

Celine shifted Rumi into her left arm, rested the child against her hip, and felt a blanket tear under her feet as she left a room she couldn’t bear to see for even a second longer, too many reminders of Her taunting Celine as she stumbled into the future, forever changed by all she lost.

***  ***

Rumi hates Sundays, hates them so much, but the worst part about them is that they’re needed. Sitting still as Celine pushes in something Rumi imagines must be every moment in the future. Only having to deal with it once a week is a gift for something needed, (not wanted, never wanted), but there was knowledge that someday this pain would be never ending.

And so Rumi sat with quiet lips and quiet hands on the stool.

(Celine didn’t like it when she was loud.)

(Celine hated touching her.)

The air in the room stung, a clinical emptiness to it that made finding any other feeling to focus on beyond the hurt pouring through impossible. Feeling the poke leave, hearing a clink, and then the retreating steps of Celine signifies the end of the treatment, but nothing was possible other than freezing like a statue as the fire grows inside.

It had been a while, because the treatment is always done right after breakfast, and the sky was painted in a sea of oranges, but it never felt like any time had passed.

Grabbing the little plastic plunger from the ground and dropping it into the intended box is routine at this point.

Getting ready for bed on Sundays was never fun. Using the burny soaps, changing the cotton thingy on the air machine, and so many more things to make the treatment and medicine work better, to keep the house from being filled with the presence of a creature. The presence of a demon is horrible, and there are no exceptions

Once they finish the Honmoon, Celine won’t have to keep a reminder of Her around, no more exemptions to killing all of the demons. It was Rumi’s fault She was gone, the evil patterns, the icky smell, and every other part took Her from Celine, and Rumi regrets doing that to the only person willing to help make up for it, to make the world better than it ever would be with her in it.

She went to sleep that night feeling miserable, and hating that she can’t accept that it needs to happen anyway.

*** ***

Keeping up with the routine to make demons suitable for being around people is entirely habitual at this point. Demons are physically repulsive to people after all, in presence, scent, and all other parts of them are disgusting. It is very important that every single step in the treatment plan is followed, and that is far from a challenge at this point.

It has been difficult trying to keep up with that routine while on the audition tour, what with needing to do the injection without assistance before sleeping, but Rumi knows it needs to be kept up with. Knows that the hunters have heightened senses, but if the routine is maintained, they won’t have to do anything about it. Celine had been very clear that under ordinary conditions, the hunters are a destined pack, but that she didn’t want them to be hurt by revealing that the final spot of a hunter was lost to a demon, and the best way to do that was to keep her traits suppressed.

Celine had even managed to get an appointment to cauterize Rumi’s scent gland, to ensure that there wasn’t even a hint of the disgusting smell that demons bring with them. The procedure is going to happen while Celine gives the two hunters a crash course in everything they will need to know.

So far they haven’t had anyone with even an inkling of the Honmoon’s influence walk onto the stage, but something is hinting that that is going to change.

A tall, pink haired woman walks onto the stage, and Rumi finds herself entranced by the way the Honmoon spills and flows around her while she dances the choreography to one of the original Sunlight Sisters’ songs. Hearing the scratching of a pen against a clip board next to her, Celine marks down that she noticed the same.

Reading the top of the paper, the name Mira is attached to the face of this elegant beauty as she strides off stage, her performance having finished, and the auditions marched onward.

Several cities and two weeks later, there’s a  reminder of how it felt watching Mira walk on stage when an adorable girl with space buns and a smile on her face walks up to the microphone.

Watching in fascination as the girl then completely changes into a force of nature as she plows through one of the most impressive songs Rumi has ever gotten the pleasure to experience, words echoed in the strings of the Honmoon below and around the girl.

The third hunter has been found. 

The remaining auditions pass in a blur, a mere formality as the plans for putting together a group with the two discovered hunters begin to form.

Chapter Text

Mira couldn’t get the audition from a few weeks ago out of her head. Something about the girl sitting next to Celine ( one of the Sunlight Sisters!!!!!!) had been playing on repeat in her head. Mira thought she saw a recognition in her eyes before Mira started her routine, and something in her heart told her that she would be seeing the girl again.

That didn’t mean she expected receiving an invitation to Celine’s personal estate!

Mira,

We here at Sunlight Entertainment are delighted to formally invite you to a chemistry test for the new group Huntr/x! We think your talents as a choreographer and dancer may be exactly what this group needs to reach success! You will find a separate paper attached with the details of the test, but please reach out to us at (xxx) xxx - xxxx to RSVP. We hope to see you there!

Best Wishes,

Sunlight Entertainment

The test was only a few days away.

She would get to meet that girl again!

Mira springs out of her chair and begins pacing around the room. She begins to run through the thousand and one things that need to be organized to make the best impression she can. A faint scent of excitement begins to fill the room as Mira is one step closer to something she can’t quite name.

*** ***

Zoey could barely keep still.

The excitement of finally getting the opportunity to put her words in front of more than just her own eyes was right in her grasp and all she needed was to…

Zoe’s thoughts were interrupted by the door opening and one of the most gorgeous Alphas she had ever laid eyes on strode through the door. Her pink hair spills from her head like a waterfall, and a scent of spices and smoke begins to make its way into the room.

Zoey finds herself transfixed by the beauty of this girl as she stalks into the room.

“You here for the trial run too?” the girl asks as she relaxes into one of the chairs nearby.

Her voice is absolutely perfect, ideas for how to use it in songs already swirling through Zoe’s mind, phantom rhythms backing the inspiration she’s experiencing. Zoey feels the rhythm tapping on her leg, and looks down to see that her fingers started moving on their own.

“You alright over there? You seem a bit distracted,”

Zoey starts out of her composing, and turns to see the other girl looking at her, a scent of concern filling the air.

“Oh yeah!” Zoey starts, hand jolting away from her leg and finding its way brushing through her hair, “I’m just a little nervous. Celine is so cool, and I really want to impress her,”

“I know, right? One of the biggest stars to ever grace the stage, and she wants us to form a group with her ward? It's definitely a lot of pressure.”

As they seem to settle into the beats of a conversation, the door opens once more and out walks Celine, followed by a scent of fresh daffodils and something else as the alpha strides into the room.

“I’m glad you both were able to make it” She starts, gesturing for them to get up and follow her. “Unfortunately, I did lie about the pretenses of this meeting. You are both absolutely going to be invited to join Huntr/x, but that is not why I brought you here today.”

They make their way through the halls of Celine’s home, faces of confusion traded back and forth between the young women as Celine slides open the door to a table in front of a projector.

“Now, I know you both are going to have questions, but if you could hold them until the end, I would appreciate it.” Celine grabs a remote off of the table next to the projector, and takes a seat near the front of the room.

“The first thing I am going to need both of you to do is answer this question honestly.” The look of concentration on Celine’s face is matched by a scent in the air that sets Zoey on the edge of her seat.

“Have you ever seen what you felt were magical strings reacting to a musical performance of yours? Even just to yourself?”

Zoey’s world stopped. She knew exactly what Celine was talking about, but she hadn’t thought those were anything more than yet another thing wrong within her head. Zoey’s nose picked up a sudden scent from the pink haired girl, spices permeating the room in a way she assumed hers were doing as well, and the look on the beauty’s face matched the thoughts running through Zoe’s head.

“Those are real. The strings that you see belong to what we call the Honmoon. It is the net that keeps the world above safe from the corrupting and fatal influence of the demons.”

“Wait,” The girl starts, “You mean to tell me, that not only have I not been seeing things , but that the strings I saw are keeping demons out of the world? ”

“Yes Mira, that is exactly what I’m telling you.” Celine turns the projector on and points to the photos. “There are details to this photo that only those who have been chosen by the Honmoon can see, and only if they look for them. What do you think those are?”

“Is it that uhhhh, Honmoon, you were talking about? Those strings everywhere?” Zoey stammers out, trying to pretend that she isn’t second guessing every word.

“Exactly, Zoey, that is what I’m talking about. The Honmoon chose the both of you to protect the world from demons. Every generation, it chooses a new group of three to strengthen its weave against the forces of Gwi-Ma who try to steal the souls of all those who live.”

“Wait, three?” Mira asks.

(Oh how nice it is to have a name to put to that gorgeous face.)

“Yes, the third hunter has been found and trained already. She had an unavoidable appointment today, which makes this the perfect time to catch you up to speed.” Celine answers, clicking through the slides. “A hunter’s goal is to bring about the Golden Honmoon, an impenetrable barrier to keep the demons from ever taking another soul.”

“And what happens when a soul is taken?” Zoey asks, worried that she already knows the answer.

“The person dies, and their essence is fed to Gwi-Ma in the underworld, strengthening him and his influence. This is what hunters exist to fight. In order to do so, the Honmoon will grant you a number of gifts.”

The slides contine, Celine activating the pointer on her remote, “These abilities include heightened senses. You will feel demonic influence through the strings of the Honmoon when breaches occur, or when danger is at hand. You will be more resilient, more physically adept, and your body will repair itself more quickly.”

“The most important gift of all, however, is unique to each hunter. You will gain the ability to summon a manifestation of the Honmoon to aid in the banishment of demons, the form of which will be uniquely suited to you.”

“Do you have any questions?”

Zoey’s thoughts are running fast enough to set records, so many different questions swirling inside her that she can’t even tell where to begin. Those strings she saw as a child are real? Demons exist? Does this make her a chosen one? Were the Sunlight Sisters hunters too? Do demons hurt turtles? What kind of weapon would she get? How was she chosen? How many people have the demons killed? Was that missing person case she was obsessed with back in middle school a demon? What was the third hunter like? Was it the cute girl from the auditions? What if Zoey didn’t fit in? What if they don’t want her? They have to want her, right? 

Her spiral is broken by Mira, a sharp tang of accusation in her scent guiding the words “And how exactly do you expect us to believe this? Or do anything about it?”

“You will come to believe me in time, and you will be trained as huntresses in tandem with the preparations for becoming a member of Huntr/x.”

“Wait, what do demons have to do with pop groups?” Zoey blurts out, hands springing up to cover her mouth and embarrassment creeping into her.

Celine turns to face the two young women fully as she explains “The Honmoon is powered by the hope and emotion that the music of its chosen brings into the souls of the world. Your power in the Honmoon gives your music a resonance to strike a chord deep within the hearts and minds of all those who listen. When hunters perform a song, their power spreads through the strings of the Honmoon to wind around each listener’s soul, the emotion strengthening the Honmoon in tandem with the performance.”

“There is a great deal more to teach the both of you, but that will come in time. The final hunter should be returning soon, and it is time to begin your training.

Chapter Text

Zoey’s memory did not do the girl justice.

The sculpture that just walked through the door in the studio was the kind of girl that absolutely made sense as an international pop star. Zoey could still barely keep track of anything beyond running through the steps of their exercise, the introduction long since having passed.

Celine taught them how to pull the threads of the Honmoon into their bodies to increase physical performance, and then gave them a circuit of exercises to practice the technique and understand how the Honmoon affects them. It is taking every ounce of Zoey’s will not to melt into a puddle on the floor. Counting every single part of her body that wasn’t sore wouldn’t even take a full hand, and yet Celine is still showing no sign of letting her and Mira take a break.

Celine gestures to a button on the wall, and the girl walks over to push it. Apparently, this place is even fancier than Zoey already thought, because a portion of the floor seamlessly pulls away, and a rack of weapons pushes itself up from somewhere underground.

The girl then grabs two swords off the rack, and hands one to Celine. The two center themselves in the room, and a breath later they explode into motion. Zoey can barely even follow the two as they circle and collide with one another, silver flashing in the lights of the practice room.

She breaks her eyes away to see if Mira is as distracted as she is, and finds the dancer’s eyes locked onto the tornado of motion in the center of the room, flicking to and fro as Celine and the third hunter rocket around one another.

“Get back to your routines you two!” Celine demands between clashes, eyes never leaving her opponent, “Training is far from over.”

Zoey feels her cheeks redden with embarrassment as she goes back to her run, her honey and sunflower scent trickling out of her beyond her control as she tries to get back on task. Pulling the strings into her body, she can do this.

***

Mira thinks that disintegrating into a pile of dust would probably be less painful than feeling all of the different parts of her body screaming in protest at their treatment. Frankly, lying down on the floor as she is now still seems to be taking too much energy from her body. She sniffs the air, and finds that Zoey’s sunlight and sea foam scent has lost much of its intensity. Mira turns her head towards the younger alpha, and she sees Zoey in much the same boat as herself, which is frankly surprising given how much energy the maknae seems to have most other times.

“You can’t just lay there forever you two,”

The purple haired girl bends over between the two, holding out her hands for the two floor bound heaps to grab onto. “Come on, the food is nearly ready and you need to eat something”

Mira weakly grabs the hand, and feels herself get hoisted off the ground, stumbling into the girl, a faint scent of aloe coming off of the beta.

As all three of the girls file out of the room, Mira can’t help but feel her mind wander, feet robotically following behind the beauty.

“I don’t know if I introduced myself, my name is Rumi, and I will be taking the place of the third hunter.”

“What do you mean taking the place of the third hunter?” Mira finds herself asking, confusion leaking out of her glands as she brings her eyes up towards Rumi’s face.

“Unfortunately, we haven’t been able to find the third hunter as chosen by the Honmoon, but because my mother was one of the Sunlight Sisters, I do still have some ability to connect with it. I have been trained in all of the skills needed for a hunter, and will help guide the two of you until the time comes that either the Honmoon is turned gold, or we find the missing hunter.” Rumi explains, eyes never looking back as she leads Mira and Zoey through the halls.

“The two of you wouldn’t have gotten the chance to notice this, but when a hunter spends their rut or heat with a member of their trio, a bond is created between their souls, fed by and feeding the Honmoon, strengthening the camaraderie and teamwork of the hunters even beyond a traditional destined pack bond.” She continues, opening the door to a dining room, ushering Mira and Zoey in past her.

“Is missing the third hunter going to affect our ability to help the Honmoon?” Zoey’s quiet voice asks, her seafoam and sunlight scent turning more turbulent as the worry shown on her face grows.

“Luckily, the differences should be minimal. Due to me being the daughter of a huntress, I will be able to take the place of a sort of placebo third huntress for the Honmoon. Our bonds will likely not be as strong as those of the destined trio of hunters, with me not being able to enter a heat or rut, but it should be more than enough to push the Honmoon to gold.” The purple haired girl’s face seems very apologetic as she continues, “I’m sorry we have to do this, that I have to take the place of your third hunter, but Gwi-Ma’s influence grows every day there is not an active group of hunters, and the safety of the world is the top priority.”

“How will we know when the third hunter is found?” Mira finds herself asking, slightly saddened that their third hunter isn’t going to be the beautiful girl sitting at the table with them.

“The Honmoon reacts to its chosen. As I’m sure you have noticed, when you see one another perform, you can see the threads of the Honmoon begin to wind around the performer, and see the pulsing of energy from those threads out into the audience. That phenomena is only possible for individuals either chosen by the Honmoon, or their close descendents. As an individual's connection to the hunter grows more distant with generations, the ability of that individual to affect the Honmoon decreases significantly. Additionally, hunters are always alphas or omegas, their instincts and connection to their nature are augmented by the Honmoon, and it piggybacks on their cycles to create its bonds between hunters. Essentially, we’re on the lookout for an omega performer who strongly affects the Honmoon around her.”

“I guess I can follow that, do you have an estimate of how long that would take?” Mira finds herself asking, her excitement over finding a group that would be hers dimming, the distance to that pack seeming to grow so much further than she originally thought it would have been.

“We honestly have no clue, the search could take anywhere from a year to a decade, frankly, the fact we were able to find the both of you so quickly after one another was a shock. Now, the food’s getting cold, so feel free to dig in you two.”

As the three begin their meal, conversation about expectations and future plans begin to form around them, a structure for the group to guide themselves on in the coming days. Mira notices Zoey’s scent begin to regain some of its usual color, focusing on it taking Mira back to the visits she had to the beach with her family before she presented.

She could make this work until they found that last hunter.

*** ***

Zoey couldn’t believe it.

Magic was real. Like actual magic, bringing weapons out of the air, mythical monsters, and the power of friendship were like, actual things .

Lying down in her bed that night, she found her mind wandering to her two bandmates. The past few months had been grueling. Every day was a nightmare of conditioning, improvement and training, but Zoey could feel the changes it was bringing about for her, and could absolutely see the ways they were changing Mira.

Mira was genuinely one of the most stunning alphas Zoey had ever been blessed to see. Even thinking about the girl had sent Zoey’s heart into a flutter, and she was very excited for their upcoming bonding rut. Zoey would finally have something that was hers, that she would get to keep forever, that she would always get to know was there.

And Rumi.

Rumi was a blessing, she was always there to help her and Mira whenever they needed, the beta a rock in the storm that was the preparations for their debut. She didn’t spend as much time with Zoey as Mira did, but someone had to go protect the people from the demons that spill through tears in the Honmoon, and seeing Rumi come stumbling in as Mira and Zoey had breakfast on more than one occasion after a night of patrol had only strengthened Zoey’s resolve that some day she would be able to take a bit of the weight off of Rumi’s shoulders.

Zoey is getting closer every day, to being able to protect Rumi the way a good Alpha should, to taking this geas that an amazing person had picked up by choice, to help her , to help Mira , to help everyone, because someone had to. Zoey knew Rumi was Atlas, and she couldn’t help but hope that one day she would get the chance to give someone else that weight, to finally drop the rules and roles of a hunter, to be able to show her faults and fears, to leave behind a burden she never should have had to carry, much less alone the way she has been up until now.

Chapter Text

Mira had always thought that her ruts were rather annoying to deal with, but if that history is what she had to go through to experience this with Zoey, it was all rather worth it.

Celine had explained to the two of them that the first cycle they go through with a fellow hunter would be rather intense, and that they aren’t likely to do much beyond general physical affection, which had eased some of Mira’s worries over spending a rut with another, admittedly adorable, alpha that she had only met scant few months ago. 

Reflecting on that little tidbit as she holds Zoey in her lap, ears picking up an old record playing in the background, Mira found herself relaxing in a way that she hadn’t had many opportunities to since she came to train for Huntr/x, Zoey’s oceanside scent a gentle breeze through Mira’s senses.

She rubs her hand on Zoey’s back, earning contented noises from where the maknae’s head rests in the crook of the dancer’s shoulder, a gentle rumble making its way through the both of their bodies.

A warmth blooms in Mira’s chest as she feels her connection to the Honmoon begin to pulse emotion into her core, a sensation of someone holding her body and keeping her safe that Mira knows is not hers and yet understands to perfection.

That awareness of Zoey only deepens as the two of them listen to that same album, a connection between them blooming in ways that Mira had never thought possible, an understanding of the beautiful creature in her lap, of the way that she perceives the world, of the way she perceives her .

***

Zoey is wanted.

The certainty of that statement reverberates through every fiber of her being. It feels like being wrapped by a warm blanket and handed a cup of tea as you sit around a bonfire. It feels like Mira.

Zoey knows that she isn’t the most traditional of alphas. She knows that she isn’t as territorial as others, that she doesn’t feel the need to fight anywhere near as strongly. That she’s different. That she’s never the right amount. Never alpha enough, never quiet enough, never forgettable enough. And yet here, in Mira’s arms, it feels like that doesn’t matter. That Zoey can be herself, all of herself, and just herself, and be the right amount, whatever that ends up being.

She doesn’t think she ever wants to leave this moment, to leave this embrace. 

If this is what she gets in return for being a hunter, this fundamental understanding of someone so close to her core, and the knowledge that they will fit together forever, then every moment of training and every day of effort will be worth it.

This isn’t even the best it’s going to get, she realizes as her thoughts begin to form around and with the connection. There is going to be a third hunter, a third piece to the puzzle in her heart, that she is starting to notice a spot for, different from Mira, complementing, not replacing. 

Zoey can’t wait to meet her.

*** ***

MIra was not prepared for tonight.

Celine had decided that now that the connection between her and Zoey had been established, it was time to start taking the two of them as overwatch for night hunts. Apparently, they are going to be following Celine from a distance, and getting used to sending warnings to each other through the Honmoon.

The three of them piled into Celine’s car, the streets whipping by them in a frenzy as they tore into Seoul, chasing down a warning from the Honmoon into the heart of the city.

Mira has never felt more exhilarated.

As they get closer to the disturbance, the tension in Mira’s chest that she was learning to associate with an incursion on the Honmoon only grew bigger, and she knows that her anxiety is spilling over to Zoey the same way hers is trickling into Mira’s chest.

The two scramble onto the nearby roof as Celine bounds up with ease, hands and feet finding holds with a dancer’s grace that Mira can’t hope but to one day replicate.

There is a wrongness to the air here, something that triggers a sense of unease even beyond anything they had expected from the warning from Rumi that demons are unsettling, that they have a scent that is just two shades off of a regular person, and yet somehow that small distance makes the creatures all the more unnerving.

They stop as their elder holds her hand up, and a hush falls over the trio. Celine slowly creeps her way to the edge, and peeks into the courtyard of a garden.

‘ I need the two of you to stay here and to stay quiet, this is larger than I thought’

And without a second more preamble, Celine launches herself off of the roof, sickle materializing in her hands as the hunter descends from the sky with the power and shine of a falling star.

There’s an explosion of movement as the retired singer lands in the center of the garden, the demons turning as one towards the intruder in their midst. A great hulking creature quickly brings its club overhead, tip dragging on the ground and splitting the earth in its wake. The behemoth charges forwards, a roar launching from its lips that shakes the building Mira and Zoey are hiding on, a terror rattling itself into their bones unlike anything they had faced before.

The two find themselves transfixed on the scene in front of them as the brute slams its club into the ground, cracking the earth where Celine once stood. Sidestepping for a moment before closing the distance, legs powerfully kicking off the ground as the fallen star severs the creature’s neck, head rolling to the side as the meteor continues on its course.

The horde of creatures slowly begins to thin as the dervish of destruction that is their mentor makes her way through the garden, corpses falling into pools of blood that slowly disappear into the Honmoon, essences sent back to Gwi-Ma and his and his infernal court.

‘ Now that the herd has been thinned somewhat, I want the two of you to keep an eye out for demons that get close to me, and seem like they have a chance to hit me, can you do that? A simple clock direction will do.’ Celine sends them, the message flowing through the strings in between.

‘Right! Yep! We can do that!’ Zoey returns, embarrassment flooding the bond between her and Rumi.

‘ 8 O’Clock’, Rumi cuts in, a lithe blue demon rushing past its compatriots, whip sword readied in its spindly hands, a look of glee on its visage as it crashes through the line Celine has been holding.

Without even a glance behind her, the hunter flips into the air, catches the demon’s weapon and twists it out of the fiend's hands. Without its weapon, the creature readies its claws to slash Celine once she returns to the ground, but she instead jumps across the heads of the demons while detaching the weapon from her sickle, sending the sword flying through its user’s skull as she returns to the fight.

The demons have been scrambling to try to put together an offensive, but find themselves severely outmatched by the hunter, falling to her blade of starlight and returning to the void that they crawled out of.

Mira feels her stomach unclench as the demonic scent slowly filters out of the air, a tension in her shoulders and in her connection to the Honmoon easing into the calming presence she has grown to know it as.

“That was a rather small incursion,” Celine states, startling Mira out of her thoughts, “ In time the both of you will be able to handle similar situations on your own, though the ideal is to have you working as a team, to cover yourselves as you are learning to cover me.”

“Wait, that was small?” Zoey’s voice pipes from behind her, apprehension noticeable in her scent.

“Yes, when a tear opens in the Honmoon, as many demons pass through as possible, which gives us situations like tonight.”

Celine’s face steels as the trio feel another pulse in the weave.

“Seems like our work here is not yet finished. Follow me.”

They fall in line and head off into the night, tension playing in their every step.

*** ***

Zoey’s legs give out under her as she collapses onto the bed, dragging Mira down with her.

A muffled groan sounds out of the pillow beside her, and Zoey entirely understands it, the sun is going to be up in three hours, and that is nowhere near enough time for Zoey to even begin to process everything from that night, let alone fall asleep.

With the reluctance of a dragon leaving its hoard, she slowly rolls off of the bed to take care of her nightly routine before heading to sleep, leaden feet harder and harder to move with every minute she spends outside of the beckoning warmth that is her bed.

“How often are we going to have to be doing this?” Zoey forces out, even getting the words past her lips taking as much effort as she can muster.

“Celine said that with the Honmoon as it is currently, probably three ish times a week?” Comes the reply, Mira’s voice carrying into the bathroom from their shared room on a drained and depleted scent, and Zoey knows that Mira is just as exhausted as she is.

“Fuck, really?” She can’t help but reply, filter entirely out the window. Frankly, it was taken into the garden and removed from the world by an executioner's blade, but Zoey thinks that may just be the sleep deprivation talking.

“Yeah, Celine said that Rumi would be covering for us as we get used to using the Honmoon to recover, though, something about practice making habits or whatever.”

“I know this is far from new, but, how the fuck does Rumi do this like, every other night? And still kick our butts in training? I already thought it was impressive, but that was before I had to deal with it myself, and now it's even more impressive but also incredibly unbelievable” Zoey muses, hands rubbing in one of the many steps to her skincare routine.

“It really is, and I’m nowhere near where she is, so I’m going to crash. Feel free to join me when you’re done Zoey.” Mira says, voice broken by yawns as she taps the doorway to the bathroom, turning on a heel and returning to their bed.

“I’ll be there in a bit Mira, just gotta finish up here!” Zoey replies, sending her admiration for Mira over the strings of their bond.

She still isn’t used to having someone there for her, but she’s getting closer, and sometimes that’s what matters.

Zoey shoots a quick message off to Rumi, wishing her luck on her solo hunt as the maknae hears the singer’s bike tear out of the estate, chasing the ripples in the Honmoon.

Zoey could never thank her enough for taking some of this weight off of her shoulders, especially as she is starting to learn just how large it is, but she hopes that someday she’ll manage to get close. Maybe ideas of how will play through her mind as she rests.

 The girl turns off the lights, and slides under the covers next to Mira, sleep catching her before her head even finishes hitting the pillow.

Chapter Text

Mira liked working with her hands.

Elbow deep in an engine had always been a safe place for her, the routine maintenance lulling her into a rhythm that always seemed to help.

She remembers the first time her dad showed her the ropes, back before the deal, his gentle voice walking her through the steps, a guiding hand as he shared something with his kid.

Those days formed something in Mira. That little connection to what her family used to be grounded her, made it easier to remember what things were like before dad got his buyout, before they had to live like something new, something that Mira never quite seemed to fit into, an alpha daughter not quite matching their picture perfect family, an oil spot on a pristine floor, a valve out of tune.

But here, checking over her bike, its gorgeous four cylinder working in harmony, each engine stroke a part of the symphony that made movement, that made motion, that made freedom, she could pretend things were okay.

It made things a little better, just for her, just in her head, the one thing she could control.

*** ***

Something about the way a sound could ring through a home had always been important to Zoey. How a laugh could be heard from another room, the knowledge that there were other people in the house, that there was other joy in there with her, had made itself a part of her core.

She missed that, the laugh as dad told another joke Zoey didn’t get yet, and mom leaned into his side, a smile on her face wrinkling the edges of her eyes.

The day those noises changed, Zoey didn’t quite notice. Didn’t think to realize that the emotions that rippled through her home had changed, that things were different.

She still listened, but it was weird. Dad didn’t sit next to mom on the couch any more, mom didn’t make his favorite food every 17th of the month, and a distance grew in the nest that wasn’t there before.

Looking back on it, Zoey thinks she preferred the silence. It was so much better than what came after, and she cursed herself for wanting to hear the sounds of life filling the house again. They did, in ways she never would have wanted.

Celine reminded Zoey of her dad a lot, the same way with words, that same disappointment. She was used to it. 

She could take it.

She should’ve been the one who had.

*** ***

It started with a hunt.

Mira and Zoey had managed to pull their gifts from the Honmoon, had been training with them for weeks, and had been shadowing Celine for even longer.

It was time for them to begin to spread their wings as a group, to leave the nest and fly.

And so Celine sent them off, a warning to be silent, to be unnoticed following them.

It took a turn for the worse when the tear shuddered, the hole beyond this realm rupturing, hordes spilling out even faster than before.

Zoey was supposed to be watching their backs, was supposed to be protecting them as they tore through the demons, Shin-Kal in hand to keep them safe.

She failed, she didn’t see the creature until Mira was on the floor, blood oozing from her back as its wiry frame brought the cleaver back around, only to be stopped by Rumi, dashing across the alley to rip through its arms, starlight sword leaving trails in her wake.

Zoey messed up.

She couldn’t protect them, laid another burden on Rumi’s shoulders, what a wonderful Alpha she was.

Zoey’s mind was in a spin the entire trip home, holding the bandages in place as they made their way back to Celine’s.

The door crashed open, fury in every part of the air as the older Alpha tore out of the house, a look on her face that the wounded kid inside her found all too familiar from under Mira’s arm, hobbling towards the infirmary.

Before she could even think of accepting her incoming lecture, the elder turned to Rumi.

“How could you let this happen.”

As the beta began to open her mouth, Celine bulldozed over her, lecture already in high gear.

“You are supposed to protect the hunters. They have a mission. They are what keeps this world safe from demons, from falling to the patterns and forces of Gwi-Ma. You are supposed to be their shield until they are ready to turn the Honmoon golden. What the fuck are you here for if you can’t even keep them from getting hurt.”

Zoey wants to interject, to take the blame that she knows she deserves, but as she feels the objection bubbling in her chest, the look on Rumi’s face stops her.

She’s accepted this. 

She thinks this is her fault.

And Zoey is too tired to fix that. To take responsibility for the mistake she knows she made, yet another drop in the waterfall that is her misdeeds.

The worst part is that she’s grateful she doesn’t have to. That Rumi is taking yet another burden off of her shoulders, easing the fate that Zoey was destined for but is nowhere near prepared to finish taking up.

The two hunters stumble into the house without a word. Mira needs to be patched up, and it doesn’t look like Celine is anywhere near done with Rumi.

*** ***

Mira was never great at pretending things are fine.

It had caused so many issues for her, and every time she thought back on them she couldn't help but wish that she could have.

That she could see Rumi walk into the kitchen in the morning, footsteps even more silent than usual without tearing into her. She wished she could ignore the part of her that was desperate to see anything out of the beta, rather than the husk that had been guarding the estate.

More than that, though, she wished she could do anything to fix it.

She can’t, which makes it that much worse when everything keeps spinning, the world keeps turning and the girl has to pretend the ache in her chest isn’t there because there is nothing she could do to help.

And so she marches forward, faults and fears unseen. Demons don’t wait for the hunters to be well before they snatch souls from the unsuspecting.

She still caught glimpses of that person, she thinks, in the dance practices for their upcoming debut, a camaraderie between the three in the studio as they perfect the choreography she designed, but never for long. 

Never enough.

But in these moments, Zoey’s head on her shoulder as the three laugh at a slip up during practice, pretending gets a little easier.

*** ***

The promotional circuit for a new group is a unique kind of hell, in Zoey’s opinion.

Talk show after performance after game show after performance after fan signing after performance after everything else that never seems to end.

This is for the Honmoon repeats in her head like a mantra, body protesting every early morning and late night that seems to suck the energy out of her.

Slogging through it is easier, however, with Mira and Rumi at her side, their presence and scent reassuring her that even if it's a challenge, she isn’t in it alone.

The nightly demon hunts are far from a help either, but they’ve become a part of Zoey’s schedule that she can’t really see avoiding. Rumi goes out every night to protect the world, and Zoey has to be there at her side, easing the weight off of the beta until she doesn’t crumble underneath it even more than she already has.

The never ending march seems to ease, however, after a month of nonstop work when Celine calls them into her office to introduce their new manager.

“This is Bobby, he will be taking my position as manager of Huntr/X. He has plenty of experience in the world of KPop, and I leave you in his capable hands.” As she finishes her explanation, her hand lifts to point to the beta, a gentle smile on his face, hands clasped in front of him with a scent of cinnamon and apples wafting into the air.

“It’s lovely to meet you girls! I love your new album, and I hope we can build a wonderful career for you three. If there is anything you need, never hesitate to call me.” The man explains, a gentle but hopeful look on his face as he holds a hand out for the three girls to grab.

“I have another meeting in five minutes, so if you could find another place to finish introductions, that would be preferred.” Celine says, hand waving the group out of the office.

“Why don’t we handle the introductions over lunch, you three? Get to know each other, what we’re hoping to make Huntr/X, this week, this month, and more. Go from there?” Bobby asks as they make their way to the elevator.

“That sounds like a wonderful idea.” Zoey says to the beta as the door closes behind them.

Chapter Text

Mira much prefers having Bobby as the manager for Huntr/x.

She doesn’t want to sound ungrateful, Celine did so much for them after all. She trained them in how to protect themselves, she gave Mira her Zoey, and so much more that Mira has lost track. She knows she should be grateful, Rumi certainly is.

But Bobby gives them time to breathe.

He makes sure that they have time to recharge between the onslaught of work they have to do getting Huntr/x off the ground. He doesn’t know about their demon hunting, but he sees the way that they get worn down and down into little nubs in the circuit. He gives them time to just be, to enjoy each other’s company.

And that is something Mira desperately needed, even if she didn’t know it.

Sitting on the couch, Zoey in her arms as she rambles on about the latest bits and pieces of information and life that have caught her attention is a blessing that Mira has never been able to describe. To sit and exist with another part of her soul, one that she didn’t know she was missing but fit oh so perfectly into her heart.

Just relaxing and enjoying taking in all of the different subtleties of Zoey’s scent as they spend time just existing together.

Mira also enjoys the trips the two take to the bathhouse together, but they wanted to spend some time with Rumi today, and so they’re sitting on the couch in their lounge, sunlight filtering in through the window, rays kissing the faces of the two most beautiful women Mira has ever met.

These small moments, just the three of them, are a gift that Bobby has given them, and Mira will never be able to thank him enough for that.

*** ***

The thing about Zoey is that even when she’s relaxing, she’s still a ball of movement and energy.

Her dad used to say that she had more than enough energy for the both of them when she tried to get him to play with her after work, little hands tugging at sleeves and fingers in a way she’ll never get to again. She’s always had something to do, something to be or say that spilled out of her lips or her arms and legs like her body was too small a container for everything that she wanted to do and be.

She still feels like that some days, but Mira has helped her reach those dreams in ways that she never thought possible. The quiet hand on the small of her back as Zoey struggles through their latest song lyrics, the gentle coaching as she shows Zoey the latest steps to their choreography, and so much more that she wonders how she ever made it this far without her.

This wonderful girl who was meant for her, who the very fabric of the world decided was going to be hers, that she would get to have and hold this intelligent, caring, and beautiful person who complements her so well.

And so she gets to sit here, in Mira’s lap, as the pink haired alpha listens to Zoey ramble on and on with all of the words that spill out of her, onto pages and into sounds and the home around them, the small sounds of a lived in house filling the air as the three girls recover from the world that takes so much from them.

Zoey just wishes that she could see Rumi join in.

Their unnie is always there when the two hunters need her, their leader guiding them into the world as the idols that the Honmoon always intended them to be. She’ll sit with them on these slow days, but there’s always a distance. The singer's aloe scent never seems to relax and ease the same way Mira’s does as they enjoy their time off, the walls around the girl always keeping her just out of reach.

Some nights, in those twilight hours where the world is paused, Zoey finds herself wishing that Rumi was the third hunter. That Zoey would feel a link to Rumi the same way that she is connected to Mira, that awareness of each other in the core of her being, the knowledge of how their partner feels, all of the things that words are never enough to say despite the hours spent with her pen in hand, trying to paint the breadth and intensity of what she feels and knows.

And Zoey knows it isn’t fair. That somewhere out there, there is an omega girl who has that same hole in her heart that Zoey did before she met Mira, that aching of feeling without knowing that a part of her is missing, that there is someone out there who fits so neatly against the very core of who she is, who adds colors into a world that she didn’t even know she would get to explore.

Zoey still wants to meet her, but every early morning in the kitchen, the three of them puttering around each other, so used to one another's presence, a part of Zoey finds it harder to keep wanting to find the third hunter, when it means that she will lose this with Rumi. That Rumi is only here until they find who they are actually supposed to be with.

She reminds them of it every now and then, tries to keep her distance, to leave space in Huntr/x for where someone new will take her space, and every time she does Zoey’s heart drops a little. 

Sometimes she forgets that Rumi isn’t the third hunter.

And what hurts the most, is that those moments are more beautiful to her than any work of art she has been able to see.

*** ***

Mira never enjoyed when she felt the Honmoon ripple on days they were supposed to be relaxing.

But when she feels that tension fill her body, that pulse from the Honmoon that tells them a rupture has formed, she’s on her feet in an instant, Zoey pulling herself out of her lap as they dash to ready themselves.

This one doesn’t feel particularly big, the band’s first album resonating with their audience in ways that strengthened the Honmoon, so glad to have hunters performing once more, but the ripple is still there.

The three girls find themselves dashing through the city, buildings and lights whizzing past them in the cool night air, legs pushing off the ground at speeds that even athletes would find shocking. On some nights, she’ll find herself aimlessly travelling the city, enjoying the feeling of rushing through the world, but tonight they’re on a mission.

As they draw closer, Mira feels the honmoon grow more jagged and energized, trying to repair itself as quickly to prevent more demons from spilling into the world of those it was meant to protect.

Perfect.

The hunters launch themselves into the fray, demons scrambling past and through one another to be the first to free themselves from the rupture, joining into a cacophony of noise and terror that they have long since grown accustomed to.

Mira stops focusing on scent, and begins using her eyes to survey the field when a warning pulses through her connection to Zoey.

Spinning around, she pulls her Gok-Do from the Honmoon, starlight and magic weaving into a blade in the chest of a demon that was about to bring its club down on her head. Her body becomes a maelstrom of movement, tearing its way through any demon that finds itself unlucky enough to meet the storm.

An unassuming figure steps into the fray, dressed in traditional garb, and Mira feels her blood turn cold.

Dashing backwards, never taking an eye off of the new threat, she finds herself next to Zoey, a determined set to both of their faces as they prepare for the worst.

Fire erupts where Mira stood moments ago, a lazy hand pointing at the stones she had dashed from, and she sees a wicked smile full of fangs turn its attention towards the two of them, Rumi on the other side of the alley seemingly dealing with yet another of these creatures.

Mira steadies her arms, and launches herself back into the fray with the beast, its flames dancing inches from her skin as she twists through the attacks, closing the distance at a speed she knows will hurt in the morning, but is absolutely necessary in the moment.

Getting mere inches from its face, the creature’s grin somehow lengthens, mouth stretching painfully at the edges, teeth bared, as it brings a clawed hand forth, catching her blade between its fingers.

Wrenching her weapon free from the demon’s grip, Mira begins ferociously clashing with the creature, claw meeting starlight as the two dance around the scene, clashes vibrating through the both of them as they strike with all of their might to end the other.

Just as Mira is able to tear through the demon’s defenses and spear it through the chest, she feels a cold pang of panic in her chest from where she knows part of her heart reaches out to Zoey.

Before she even has a chance to guess what happens, that panic is accompanied by an anguished scream ripped from Zoey’s mouth. Without hesitation, Mira turns back to face her fellow hunter, only to be met with the sight of Rumi with a blade buried in her shoulder that Mira knows was not meant for the leader.

A familiar rage courses through Mira’s body, and the world disappears into a haze of destruction as she clears the world of the remaining demonic scum.

She doesn’t know how long it takes, how much she tore asunder in her rage, but she comes to her senses as Zoey shakes her, the demons gone, and the three find their way back home, carrying one another with all of their cuts and breaks back to their nest, a quiet settling over the trio as they trudge through the night.

Pushing the door open, and being greeted with the scent of the home that Mira is starting to build for herself alongside these two girls, Mira hears a cough as Rumi pushes herself away from the two of them.

She had hoped that this time, Rumi would allow them to patch her back up, to let the atlas that has carried their failures on her back without complaint relax even an iota, but instead, the leader speaks up.

“Both of you are pretty banged up,” The beta starts, and as the words register in Mira’s mind, she notices the sluggishly bleeding wounds on her arms, and the cut oozing blood on her head. “Let’s get the two of you patched back up so you can rest, I’ll take care of myself when we’re done.”

And Mira wants to protest, to stand up and protect this girl, to finally get her to put herself first, but the world is spinning, and Mira can’t even keep herself conscious, the world fading to black around her as the adrenaline crash catches up with her.

Chapter Text

Mutt couldn’t help the smile on its face as its hand closed the door to Zoey’s room, having put the exhausted girl to bed after taking care of the hunters.

As it walks to its lavishly decorated kennel, its arm begins to burn as the wound stitches itself closed, a radiating heat travelling through the body as the creature begins to repair its body.

The kennel door swings open, and Mutt steps inside, flipping the light switch and tottering around the room. It goes through the general upkeep, refilling the perfume bottle that Celine had gotten it, replacing the air filter for its kennel, and other general tasks that the creature needs to keep up with to make its presence tolerable for the humans around it.

Finishing with the tasks, Mutt takes stock of its body once more, and finds that the burning in its shoulder has stopped, the flesh a violent red, patterns crawling back onto the newly created flesh. Seeing that the wound is closed, it makes its way to the attached bathroom, grabbing the scent removal wash on the way.

The cold shower turns on, and it steps under the stream to continue the routine. Lathering the wash over its body, a faint acidic feeling washes over it as the top layer of skin flakes off of it under the high pressure. Mutt makes sure to lather the soap on every inch of its skin, paying special attention to the scar on its neck and the patterns on its shoulders, ensuring that any hint of its demonic scent is thoroughly eradicated for the next day. The thing stands there, cold water peeling away the horrendous smell.

As it steps out of the shower, it grabs an orange bottle from behind the mirror, popping two into its maw and swallowing. Walking back to the kennel, Mutt grabs the perfume from the mantle, and takes a needle from the container nearby. Filling the syringe with the artificial scent, it injects the aloe into the pink of the scar on its neck. The scent begins to surround the creature as it continues the nightly treatment plan.

Mutt starts to feel the familiar sensation of its demonic instincts dulling, its wants slipping behind an opaque glass as the comfortable stone settles itself back into its gut.

Turning the lights back off, Mutt settles into its bed, sheets pulled tight as its mind wanders towards the two hunters.

Mira is absolutely incredible. The alpha does an excellent job of protecting Zoey, of being there for her fellow hunter in all of the different ways that she needs. She even attempts to be kind to the replacement, to make the time it has before the Honmoon turns golden more bearable. Her warm scent soothes something inside the creature, and it can’t help but hope that it will follow the creature until the end of its time on this side of the weave.

Zoey is much the same. If mutt had to put it into words, it would say that Zoey’s scent matched her so well, that the ocean of her scent could change just like the tides, and that the maknae matched it so well, with her enthusiasm and her vibrancy, but that underlying power, that ability to change the world nestled in such a small form.

Mutt would miss them when it had to go back home, but the memories that they let it make now would stay with it for an eternity.

*** ***

Soft morning sunlight started to filter through the curtains, and Zoey knew that it was time to get out of bed, but the warmth of her sheets and the familiar spice of Mira’s scent in her hoodie made doing anything other than simply basking in that warmth a unique challenge.

A knock sounds at her door, accompanied by Rumi’s voice, “Breakfast is ready, I’m going to make sure Mira recovered alright after last night. See you in five?”

Zoey hums an agreement to the beta, and hears her feet pad away from the door towards Mira’s room.

Rolling out of bed, she rubs the sleep out of her eyes, and slowly makes her way to the kitchen.

A few minutes later, Rumi walks in with Mira, and the dancer already looks much better than she did the previous night. Honmoon enhanced healing really was a blessing, and Zoey was so glad that it saved the girl she was growing to love from some of that pain.

“Rumi, are you okay? You said you would patch yourself up after you got Mira and I settled, so did you?” Zoey asks, concern laced into her scent as she looks at their leader.

“Yeah, I have more practice with using the Honmoon, I’m all good, don’t worry.” The beta says, scent unchanged with pain or discomfort, and Zoey finds herself believing the girl, even if her worry won’t disappear completely.

“Why did you do it.” Mira asks, voice flat. “Why did you take that hit for me, why didn’t you get me to dodge, or tackle me out of the way. Why did you let it hit you.”

“I didn’t have time, Mira. I needed to make sure that you were okay, and that was the best way I could.” Rumi explains, face neutral as she looks at the alpha from across the table.

“And you don’t think that maybe we also need to make sure that you’re okay?” Mira grits out, scent changing slowly.

“I can take it, I’ve been doing this for far longer than you two have. You’re still learning, and you’re going to be doing this for the rest of your lives. I need to make sure that you’re prepared for what that looks like, for a life of riding this world of demons.” Mira says, face and scent unchanged as she soldiers onwards.

Zoey sees the other alpha’s face cycle through so many emotions, scent a roiling sea of changes, and hopes that she doesn’t have to see these two girls fight in front of her, taking this home that they’ve filled with the gentle sounds of life and twisting it into something that she wishes wasn’t oh so familiar.

Sensing that discomfort in her bond with the rapper, Mira instantly turns to Zoey, already sliding out of her seat as she walks behind the smaller alpha. The maknae feels arms wrap around her, and relaxes into the touch of the other hunter. 

“Rumi, please, we care about you. We don’t want to see you hurt, can you at least try?” Mira asks from above Zoey’s head, voice filled with a desperate plea for their leader to even slow down and think of herself for a moment.

“I’ll do what I can, alright?” Rumi concedes to the two, concerned playing in her eyes that Zoey knows is aimed at her.

“Alright, then we’ll leave this.” Mira says, “For now”. 

The girls finish out their breakfast in a relative silence, tension slowly dissipating as they ready themselves for a new day.

*** *** 

Mira knows that the idol awards are coming up.

It's a small and quiet thought in the back of her mind, always there but never the focus.

They’d debuted just after the last one, Celine wanting them to have enough time to really make it big before the next one.

Doesn’t mean she’s prepared for their group chat with Bobby to get sent a message that tells them they’re going to be finalists for this one.

Seeing those words on her screen, shock fills her scent and she feels the eyes of the other two members of Huntr/x land on her, sensing the change in her state.

With a shaky voice, the girl whispers, “We’re in the idol awards.”

The room freezes, gears spinning in all of their heads as they catch up to what Mira just said. They hadn’t been paying attention to public sentiment, too tired with all of the work that came from establishing their group and growing their fanbase. It was a big one, they knew that, but that didn’t mean any of them expected the public to react this strongly to their image. 

Mira hears an explosion of movement as Zoey scrambles over to Mira on the couch, grabbing at her phone to see the news with her own eyes. She thinks the maknae is trying to make a sound, but either it's so high that only animals can hear it, or the wind has been knocked out of the girl.

Getting her voice back underneath her, Zoey bursts into a waterfall of speech, “Holy fuck we’re finalists for the idol awards. We’re playing the idol awards. People like our music. Like I know they liked it because the Honmoon gets a little better when we perform, but they really like our music. People like my lyrics. The fans like your choreo Mira. They like your voice Rumi. They like us. Holyfuckholyfuckholyfuck.”

Mira puts a steadying hand on the younger alpha’s shoulder, the frenzied scent cooling off ever so slightly from its peak as the two look at each other. Eyes locking with one another, the two burst into a round of laughter, tumbling off of the couch in a clamorous heap. 

Once they catch their breath, the reality of the situation fully settling into their bones, the knowledge that what they are trying to do is working, that people are starting to like Huntr/x, the two find hope crawling over the bond between them. They may actually do this. They could turn the Honmoon gold. They can make the world a little better for people who shouldn’t have to fight demons.

As if on cue, Rumi reaches down to help pull the two hunters off of the floor, her face brimming with delight as she sees the two so happy about the news.

“This is a big step, you two.” The singer starts, a fond look in her eyes as she goes on. “We’re going to be on the biggest stage we’ve ever gotten, we’re going to be in front of the nation, and we’re going to be that much closer to turning the Honmoon golden and ridding this world of all of the demons for good.”

“And hey, maybe the third hunter will see the performance and find herself drawn to you two. You’ll finally be complete.” Rumi continues, unaware of the stone that drops in both of the alphas’ stomachs.

A painful reminder that this joy that they’re sharing with each other, with Rumi, is going to change some day. Something about that makes them want to remember this moment, this feeling as they get the news that they’ll be in the idol awards together, for the rest of their lives. To engrave this memory into both their souls and the Honmoon, never to be forgotten.

“So hey, why don’t we celebrate? Go on a snack run for some ramyeon, and celebrate the news? Maybe invite Bobby?” Rumi asks, a hopeful look on her face.

“That sounds perfect, Ru. Let's go get ready!” Zoey tears off down the hall, and a smile pulls itself onto Miras face as she watches her discovered soulmate pour even a small amount of her energy into the apartment that the three of them share.

Slowly following after, Mira shoots a response to Bobby to tell him to come celebrate with the trio, and the girls disappear into their rooms to prepare for a day of celebration. They’re definitely going to want something like this to look back on in the next month as they prepare themselves for every aspect of the idol awards after all.

The three girls get dressed and journey out of the house. 

Their destination?

The corner store.

The goal?

Food comas for all three of them.

And Mira knows that she never wants days like this to end. A small, shameful part of her hopes that Rumi is wrong. That their third hunter, whoever she is, doesn’t see them during the idol awards. She just needs a little longer with Rumi around, that’s all.

Chapter Text

Watching his girls perform on the biggest stage they’ve ever gotten the chance to grace moves something so deep inside Bobby that he can’t help but let the tears fall from his eyes, droplets slowly meandering down his cheeks.

As the final note rings out into the stadium, Rumi’s vocals fading along with it, Bobby rushes to the side of the stage, eager to congratulate his girls on their victory.

He can already imagine the smile on Zoey’s face, and Mira’s arm wrapped around the smaller alpha’s shoulders. Just as easily, his mind shows him the soft look on Rumi’s face as she follows behind them.

Waters in hand, he finds his girls, and just like he knew they would be, the trio are basking in the glow of their first win at the idol awards, during their debut year no less.

“You girls did phenomenal ! Is there anything you need? Want?” Bobby rambles, handing the bottles off to the girls.

“Mostly we want to go home and collapse onto the couch.” Mira drags, the familiar exhaustion of a performance weighing down her bones.

“I can absolutely make that happen. The car should be around in 5, if you want me to walk you through security to get there.” Bobby answers, already leading them through the labyrinth of backstage chaos.

“You’re a lifesaver, Bobby.” And the small smile on Zoey’s face that comes along with it is more than enough payment for him.

“Now, is there anything you’re going to need for your cycle retreat, girls? I know yours and Zoey’s are coming up, Mira, we’ve got the days booked off for you and everything. And what about you, Rumi? Anything you need while these two are off taking care of that?” 

“I should be okay, Bobby. I’m staying with Celine while the two ride their rut out, I don't want to make them uncomfortable or anything.” Rumi answers as the group walks through the door.

“Alright then, if anything comes up, feel free to give me a call, text, email, telegram, or carrier pigeon. Get home safe!” And with that, he closes the door to the car for his girls, a smile on his face as they drive off to finally get a well deserved break.

*** ***

The knowledge that the mongrel was back in the house settled an unease in Celine’s chest.

That didn’t mean much, however, with how often she was keeping that thing busy. One of the benefits to having a disgusting creature like it on their side is that Celine doesn’t have to patrol. She can have the mutt take on more responsibilities and patrol in her stead. It knows that it needs to do well. She’s rather proud of the training she put the mutt through, it doesn’t even use the name that She gave it anymore, though it is very good at acting, and keeping up appearances so that the hunters don’t become uncomfortable.

Speaking of, she needs to finish the order of its medication. Keeping the mutt neutered is a challenge, what with needing to get the instinct suppressor and presentation blockers under the table in much higher doses than a human would need. Having connections from her time in the Sunlight Sisters is absolutely proving to be useful.

With the order and payment organized, Celine finds her mind wandering to the mongrel’s other two victims. They’re on a rut break for the week, spending time with one another and deepening their connection in the Honmoon. It's such a shame that hunters don’t experience traditional ruts and heats until all three have been found, and that the damn mongrel took the spot in their souls that Her omega child would have occupied. 

Decision made, she sends the two young alphas a gift basket, soft things for their beds to relax on with one another, calming scents and teas, and a selection of other items to make the process of getting through their rut together slightly more tolerable. It’s only fair that Celine makes up for her mistake with those two, even if they don’t know it yet. She will never forgive herself for not preventing that damn mutt from becoming one of the hunters, from ridding the world of its demonic stench, but she can offer gifts to her successors to ease the pain of her failures.

*** ***

Mutt crashes through the broken window, body rolling along the jagged shards as it struggles to right itself on the concrete. 

Before it can even begin to get its feet under it, the same demon that threw it through the window slams onto the ground right next to its head.

Rather than continuing to attempt to get to its feet, the mongrel spins around, sweeping the demon’s legs out from under it, and the creature clatters onto the glass just like Mutt.

Jumping to its feet, the mongrel summons its saingeom and cleaves the head from the demon's shoulder, starlight falling like an executioner's blade onto the damned. With a wicked grin, the mutt launches itself back through the jagged glass, the edges slicing skin as it jumps back into the fray.

The creature rampages through the demonic horde, sword in hand as demons turn into black mist in the air, damned souls sent back under the Honmoon into Gwi-Ma’s embrace.

Adrenaline slowly fading, the mutt looks around, and finds that the other monsters are already taken care of, the battle haze slowly draining from its eyes.

With a determined set to its shoulders, the mongrel strides back into the night, its work unfinished.

*** ***

Basking in the afterglow of her rut with Zoey was quickly growing to be one of Mira’s favorite sensations. 

The feeling of the younger alpha’s body nestled oh so gently against her chest has Mira’s heart aflutter, basking in the presence of the gorgeous girl that she gets to call her own. The feeling of soft breaths on her skin never failing to soothe the aches of her soul.

Her mind wanders over the last week, the sounds that Zoey makes as her back is rubbed, the feeling of playing with the girl’s hair, and a thousand other moments that make these weeks the stuff that dreams are made of.

She hopes that someday, she’ll be able to share something even remotely similar to this with Rumi. The beta keeps a distance between herself and the hunters, not wanting to take the space that the third hunter is supposed to slot into in their lives, but Mira knows that she will always have room in her world for Rumi. The girl who carries the weight of the world on her shoulders, who laughs at Zoey’s stupid jokes, who listens to them ramble, who sits on a stool next to Mira as she does maintenance on her bikes, listening patiently to all of the things that make them unique.

The dancer is snapped out of her thoughts when she hears the bell to the apartment ring, and with a heaving sigh, she slowly disentangles herself from the maknae’s clinging grasp, pulling an outfit on as she meanders through their home to the door.

Behind their door is apparently a large basket of items, and so Mira cautiously picks it up, eyes flicking to the letter in the center of the arrangement.

Congratulations on your first idol awards, hunters!

I remember that my ruts before we found our Omega were always rather draining, and so I figured I would send along some of the things that helped me the most when I had to get through them.

Enjoy your time off, we’ve got everything covered.

Celine

Mira can’t help the surprise she feels flooding the bond between her and Zoey, and she barely has the door closed once more and the basket on the table before the dark haired girl is padding out of the hallway, a questioning look on her face hidden behind the last remnants of sleep.

“What’s that?” The girl asks, confusion laced in her seafoam scent.

Mira loved the way her forehead scrunched when the younger girl didn’t fully understand.

“Its a gift, from Celine apparently. Wanted to congratulate us on our performance at the idol awards and give us something to make it through our ruts. Can’t say I was expecting it.” Mira answers as she looks back at the collection.

“Huh, can’t say I expected that either. Do you think her and Rumi were celebrating without us and didn’t want us to feel left out?” 

“Maybe? It's very nice though. Here, come feel this blanket.” Mira answers, holding out the blanket in her hand as Zoey finishes closing the distance.

“Oh, that is very soft, 11/10, would sleep under.” 

“I know right? And there's a bunch of other stuff here too, there's some tea for relaxation, some face masks, and so much more I honestly lost track.”

“Well then, what do you say we treat ourselves to some of this? She wouldn’t have given it to us if that wasn’t what we were supposed to do.” 

And the look on Zoey’s face, a small, mischievous smile only made all the more obvious by the way her scent changes under Mira’s nose tells her that they are absolutely going to be enjoying their next few days.

*** ***

Mutt felt the knife in its hand slice through the skin, and brought the tweezers to the newly created wound.

There was one downside to how fast it healed, and that was if something got stuck inside once the skin closed. The healing was always outside-in after all, and so it was more than familiar with the process.

Slowly, it moves along its arms, small plinks as the glass drops into the ceramic bowl on the counter. The routine continues, first the other arm, then the legs, then the torso, but Mutt’s mind wanders.

Its focus shifts to thinking about the last week, the time that it has spent as an intruder in Celine’s estate.

The creature’s attention goes to the increased hunting expeditions that it has been going on. When Zoey and Mira are busy, someone needs to pick up the slack after all, and why should it be a person when there is a perfectly good weapon ready to keep the demons at bay.

One of the best parts about these weeks is the little part of the mongrel’s heart that knows that the hunters are getting a chance to relax, to unwind, and to be themselves together. People need breaks in order to stay in top condition after all, and it is more than happy to ensure that those breaks will be as fruitful as possible.

The familiar ache of wounds stitching themselves closed snaps the mongrel out of its reminiscing, attention snapping back to the task. Keeping weapons in peak condition is rather important after all.

With a small noise, the final shard drops, and the mongrel hops into the shower to hose itself off before beginning its routine.

Stripping soap.

Scrubbing.

Showering.

Drying.

Scent injection.

Instinct suppressors.

Filter change.

Organizing.

Cleanup.

Walking through the steps is a rather comforting routine for Mutt. It knows it should be happy that it isn’t taking up space near the hunters, that there’s less of a chance for those two to realize that there is a demon in their midst when she is with Celine. And yet it can’t help but feel a longing for the two that are destined to help it reach its destiny.

Without a noise, the mutt turns off the light to its kennel, climbs into its bed, and allows the sweet embrace of nothingness to overtake its mind.

Chapter Text

*** *** 

With blearily blinking eyes, Zoey finds herself waking up to being wrapped around Mira, and the low heat that had been coursing through her veins had dimmed beyond even embers.

The first day after her ruts was never fun, and Zoey’s mind can’t help but feel the aching deep in her muscles, radiating into her bones in a way that was all too familiar. Holding something or someone usually helped, however, and so Zoey subconsciously curls even tighter around Mira’s softly breathing body.

Gentle light that filters in past the curtains and shines a light just above Mira’s sleeping form, and Zoey can’t help but admire the sheer divinity of the sight in front of her.

Pink hair fans out over the pillow in a halo that catches the light in ways that makes Zoey intimately understand all of the poems that had compared the author’s love to the moon, a searchlight in the darkness that the world could become, how its presence brings about the rise and fall of the tide, and watches it with a loving eye.

Sometimes Zoey thinks that she matches the word awesome. Zoey says it a lot, don’t get her wrong, but this one is special. Mira is the kind of awesome that makes one fall on their knees in worship, inspires jaw dropping fervor in the people that are lucky enough to see her beauty, she is the kind of awesome that is saved for the stars and the heavens.

She is so glad that this woman is hers, that there is a small connection in Zoey’s chest to her, that they can understand each other so deeply and wholly in ways that Zoey had never thought anyone would.

And so she waits, eyes never leaving the face of this other part of her soul as the rays slowly drift downward, a halo of light illuminating the sleeping beauty’s face as she slowly stirs into the world of the waking.

“Good morning Mira,” Zoey whispers, her breath ghosting across Mira’s collarbones.

“Good morning to you too, are you feeling okay this morning? I know the day after hits you pretty hard.” Mira asks, hand already rubbing circles into Zoey’s back, soothing even just a portion of the soreness that seemed to dominate her being.

“I’m still feeling a little sore, yeah.” Zoey mumbles into Mira’s chest, melting into the feeling of comfort that the alpha brought, her spiced scent enveloping the younger girl in a sense of familiarity and safety.

“Do you want us to stay like this for a bit, or do you want me to get you some tea, Zo?” Mira asks, her gentle voice floating through the air.

“Tea please.” She murmurs to Mira.

“Alright, I’ll be back soon.” And with that, the dancer slowly disentangles herself from the clingy writer, and walks out of the door.

With her source of heat gone, Zoey turns on her phone and is reminded that Rumi will be getting back today from her time with Celine, and sends off a message to their leader.

Me

what time are you going to be getting back today???????

we miss you!!!!!!!

Rumi 🧭

The car should be getting there at 12:30. Are you both doing alright? Do you need anything picked up on the way?

 Me

perfect! well see you then!!!!!

yes we are, thank you for checking Rumi!

uhhhhh, gimme two seconds to ask Mira

“Mira, is there anything we need Rumi to pick up on the way back?” Zoey asks, voice just loud enough to echo through the apartment.

“We could use some more gochujang? We finished the last of it a while ago but we haven’t had the chance to pick any more up yet.” Mira answers as she walks back through the door, two cups of tea in hand.

“Alright, I’ll let her know,” Zoey says as she turns back to her phone.

Me

mira says we need gochujang and i say we need you, so do with that what you will.

Rumi 🧭

Alright, we’ll get the gochujang on the way.

Me

see you then rumi!!!!!!!!

With the last message sent, she turns back to Mira and accepts the cup of tea, warmth spreading from her fingers through her arms and soothing some of the aches in her chest.

Sitting there in that comforting silence with Mira as they slowly wake themselves fully, shaking out the aches and pains in their bodies before going about their morning together, cleaning the apartment up in time for Rumi to get back.

At 12:30, just like she had said, Rumi walks back into the apartment, a grocery bag in hand and backpack slung over her shoulder.

Zoey notices the way Mira’s face noticeably lights up, her scent picking up on her happiness as their bond is flooded with Zoey’s excitement at seeing Rumi again. They have another week before they have to get anything else done, and it’s about time they spend some quality bonding time with Rumi. They have no idea how long they will all be together after all, so it's about time that they start building that relationship.

“Welcome back Rumi!” Zoey bursts, legs carrying her across the room in an instant as she launches herself onto the older beta.

“Hi Zoey” Rumi forces out around being tackled by her bandmate.

“We missed youuuuuuu! How was your break! Did you do anything fun? Anything relaxing? Did you remember to take care of yourself?” the rapper rambles, her energy coursing through her body, shaking the leader as the neverending tide of questions pours from the alpha.

“IIt was fine, not really, not much in specific, and yes, in that order Zoey.” Rumi answers, a slight laugh in her voice over how quickly the younger alpha can get spun up.

“Good! We’ll put the groceries away, you go drop your stuff off in your room. I have three new shows, two new movies, and eight hundred short videos to show you, so be prepared.” The girl instructs, slowly climbing off of Rumi.

“Alright, then here you go, I’ll be back in ten?” She hands the bag to Mira, the taller girl headed towards the kitchen with the goodies.

Zoey watches the two of them leave, following their steps as they disappear into other rooms. With an excited shout, she dashes into the lounge, vaulting over the back of the couch before landing on the cushions and turning the screen on, queuing up the first of many videos for the trio to watch.

As she is finishing the final touches on volume, the other two walk back into the room and settle onto the couch, Mira pulling her close to her side, and Rumi taking a seat near the arm rest.

“Why don’t we get started, we have a lot of relaxing to do,” Mira says as Zoey presses play and the three settle into a watch party.

*** ***

The last week of their post award break went by far too fast in Mira’s opinion. They were unable to get Rumi to go to the bathhouse with the two of them, but they did get a number of viewing parties, game sessions, and the like together. It astonishes Mira just how bad Rumi is at the games they played, but then again the girl has such an odd skillset.

Those moments are going to stay with Mira for a very long time, and are part of the inspiration for their next album, and are helping fuel this practice rather well. They’re in the studio, Mira sending them through the routines they need to learn as she watches with a careful eye, but at this point it’s mostly mastered, leaving her without much to do.

Standing here, looking at Zoey left Mira’s mind wandering to the changing of the seasons. The maknae changes the older alpha’s inner thoughts in the way that colors seem to become that much more vibrant as the seasons change from winter into spring, and she can’t help but think that Zoey is the same. That meeting this wonderful girl was like the sun of her life changing from a cold winter into a blooming kind of spring, a sign that things were only going to get more beautiful in the future. She entirely understands how people can compare their love to the sun, how the writer can see that the subject of their affections is so incredibly radiant, infusing the air around them with a light that makes the colors of the world a little more beautiful, and only wishes that she had the ability to put that feeling into words for others to understand.

Her eyes shift over to Rumi, and finds that the beta resembles the stars much more closely. A guide to lead them through the world when things get dark, a personal polaris to protect them on their journey. And just like the stars, she is oh so far away, a distance between them that she desperately wants to cross, and hopes that she will be able to do so someday, just as humankind has always wanted to reach the stars in the heavens above.

From her position, she watches, and she thinks, mind flooded with thoughts of the two girls that she has begun to know over the course of the last year. The girls she has learned to work with, to live with, to trust with that part of her that wanted to do something that helps, that inspires.

To trust with that fragile part of her that wanted to matter.

These training sessions are always a lovely time to Mira, just her and her girls in a studio, the music that they made together playing as they lift one another up with gentle hands and strong support.

These periods always seem to pass in a blur. From the small booths with Zoey’s head and hands buried in a book, to the studio where they put the music together, to the studio where they learn the steps to their latest creation, to the stage where they show that piece to the world around them, and hope that the audience feels their emotions in the piece, that they resonate together, the unity behind a leader amplifying the Honmoon and its protection of those behind it.

Can’t forget the interview circuits, doing the promotional tours, explaining what the songs mean to them, the ways that they put them together, and so much more. All for one goal, turning the Honmoon golden and killing off the demon threat once and for all.

Selfishly, Mira finds that that is not her only reason for doing it. She knows, in the back of her mind, that Rumi is destined to leave them after it turns golden, to no longer need to hold up this burden and take the fate of the world into her hands. Once that happens, Mira wants nothing more than for this Atlas to take the time she needs to prioritize herself and leave the hunting behind, but she cannot help but hope that it takes a very long time for them to get there. Greedily hoarding every moment that she gets to spend in this trio, the time where she is their whole world and she is theirs.

She adores the time that she spends with these girls, be it in first gear or sixth, she could never have her fill.

Chapter Text

Mira knew it was too good to be true, that she could have something with these two girls. The sun and stars in her sky that she had thought were just for her, they had to ruin it.

She hates her mother, she thinks, as she screens another call from her, head buried in one of her Kawasakis, the classic z650 on a jack in front of her, the rest of her collection behind her. Her mind wanders to another one of the bikes as she thinks of leaving it all behind for a bit. She loves her Rune, and is sorely tempted to take the Honda out for a ride to clear her head, but she knows that she isn’t in the right headspace for that.

Isn’t in the right headspace for anything, really.

Her phone rings again, and the disgusting feeling that she was holding down inside her chest boils over. Hands dart over to the phone in her toolbox, and she hits accept on the call.

“Mira, darling, your father and I were-” her mother starts, voice that bland, even tone coming through the speaker of her phone.

“No, fuck you, fuck off, fuck this. You don’t get to pretend all of this didn’t happen. You don’t get to pretend you didn’t screw up.” Mira grinds, her wrench over tightening a bolt on the old Kawasaki she’d just picked up.

“Mira, dear, can’t we leave that in the past? Be a happy family again?” Her mother asks, sickening syrup in her tone that was never used for what it should have been.

“Fuck. No.” Mira answers, the tornado of thoughts in her head launching through her mouth as she continues, “You and dad don’t get to pretend. You don’t get to pretend that the second dad got that promotion, and you had to be a perfect family, that you didn’t try to send your daughter , your child , to a fucking camp to beat the disobedience out of her. That you didn’t try to shove me into a box that we all knew I was never going to fit because you have to pretend to be one of the fucking chaebols . You don’t get to pretend you had anything to do with who I am now, I built this shit with my blood, sweat, and fucking tears out of the rubble you all turned me into. I don’t want anything to fucking do with you, can’t you get that through your thick. Fucking. Skulls. ”

“Mira, is that any way to talk to your mother?” The harpy asks, voice already descending into a tone that Mira was all too familiar with, images of her mother’s face, red with anger and mouth spitting acid across Mira. 

“What FUCKING MOTHER! ” 

The words explode out of her in a moment that shocks Mira, entirely unexpected, but now that they’re out there, she can’t help but feel that they are the truth.

“ Mothers don’t send their daughters to fucking conversion therapy . Mothers don’t foist their daughters off to correctional facilities . Mothers are supposed to support their children, to hold them when they cry, to be a shoulder when they don’t get invited to a party. You are no fucking Mother . Do not call me again. Do not attempt to reach me again. Do not attempt to involve yourself in this life I have built, are we fucking clear .” 

“Darling, you’re making a mistake, don’t you want to be a family again?” Her mother pleads, desperation inching into her voice over the phone.

“No, I’m making a choice for me. ” And with that, she hangs the phone up.

She crumbles, pulling her head to her knees as tears fall from her cheeks, scent awash with agony. The knowledge that this was the right thing to do for herself, for her future, that doesn’t stop her from feeling the hurt as this door closes shut behind her, never to be opened again.

*** ***

Bobby loves the new album his girls came out with. They poured their hearts into it, and the fans are reacting just like Bobby thought that they should. It did have an unintended consequence, though, as apparently Mira’s family had decided to reach out to attempt to mend the gap in their relationship.

He doesn’t have the full story, but what he knows has sent his blood boiling. These pieces of filth had thrown Mira to the side the second she was no longer of use to them, and now that she had built something for herself, a little family to call her own that Bobby was so proud to watch blossom under his care, they had come attempting to waltz right back into her life now that she had become something that they could use to further themselves.

He wouldn’t fucking have it.

Sending various messages off, he quickly spreads the word within those around and involved with Huntr/x that Mira’s birth pack were to be considered persona non grata in their camp, and if they ever try to reach out, he is going to bury them in litigation so fast it will make their heads spin.

These girls are under his protection, and goddamn if he isn’t going to do the best he can to make sure they’re okay. With the click of a button, he prints off the last page he needs before going to see the girls.

As he walks into the room, he finds Zoey holding Mira’s head to her chest as the older girl sobs, the last few days having been rather hard on her. With gentle hands, he sits next to them on the couch and starts rubbing Mira’s back, holding the two of them close, and releases soothing pheromones into the air, trying to ease some of the burden that his girls are carrying.

“The team has been made aware that as of now you are to be considered no contact with your birth pack. If they ever try anything again we’re going to wring them out for everything they’ve got. You never have to deal with them again.” Bobby tells the girls, his voice calm, the anger he feels boiling inside him entirely unhelpful for Mira at this point.

With that, Mira’s sobs worsen, her chest shaking with every breath as she falls apart between them. Rumi walks back into the room, a tea tray in hand as she slowly comes back to the couch, settling it on the table in front of them before sitting on the other side of Zoey, a calming presence even if she doesn’t join the hug.

“Now, I don’t want you to think this is because I think there is anything wrong with any of you. You are all perfect and I love you very much, but I think it may be beneficial for you all to consider getting a therapist. Being an idol is very hard work, and having someone to help you with the emotions of that could be helpful. I know my group could have used something similar back when we were around.” The manager’s voice slowly brings into the room, his scent never once wavering from the calm and collected presence that these three girls are relying on.

In this moment, all he can think is that this is the kind of thing he wishes he had gotten a chance to do with his old group, to take care of pups, to be parents to the children that they never got to meet, his bandmates taken from him far too soon.

These girls are his pups, even if he’s only willing to admit that to himself, in his heart.

Shaking his thoughts, he grabs the folder of papers from his case, gently laying them on the table next to the tea. Rumi pours cups for the four of them as he gets the girls’ attention.

“I have a few therapists here that Sunlight Inc has worked with in the past, they’re very discrete, and they should be able to help you girls. You don’t have to pick one now or ever, but I think that it could be very good for all of you to have someone in your corner like this. Is that alright?” Bobby asks, his voice layered with concern as he takes in the state of his pups.

Zoey is still holding Mira close, but the dancer’s sobbing has eased at least a bit, the air around her filled with the calming scents of the people that she has grown to care for, this little pack that she built for herself. Rumi is still hovering just at the edge, concern evident on the younger beta’s face as she sits there unsure of what to do.

Bobby’s heart only breaks further when Mira starts to choke out between shaking breaths and words breaking apart as she tries to mold them into a sentence, “Yeah, Bobby, I’ll give them a look in a bit.”

And so the four of them sit there, a little pack taking care of one of its own as Mira breaks down in all the safety and support that they can offer. 

He will be here for his pups in any and every way that he can, it's the least he can do for these amazing girls that brought light back into his life, so dark in the loss of the rest of his five man band.

*** ***

Zoey feels her heart shatter for the girl in her arms, this wonderful alpha, the rock for so many of her storms, as she shatters into pieces.

Mira has always been the kind of alpha that Zoey could look up to, and now she was finally getting the chance to return the favor, to be there for this wonderful other part of her soul in all of the ways that she had been helped.

She still remembers the moment where Mira stopped remembering to block the bond she had been walling for hours. The moment a tidal wave of turmoil crashed over Zoey and threatened to pull her under. Remembers what it was like to follow the Honmoon into their garage, and see Mira curled up on the floor, bawling her eyes out.

She had never known the weight that Mira was carrying, not to this extent, and Zoey cannot help but be grateful that now she is. That now she knows even just a little better the weight her fellow alpha was carrying.

She hopes that she is doing even half as good a job helping Mira as the dancer would do for her. That she is the rock that her moon needs at this moment.

And these small moments have shone a quiet light onto something deep inside Zoey’s chest. She has absolutely come to love this alpha, this other part of her soul, so intensely that it shakes her to her core, and so deeply it has infused into the marrow of her bones and the strings of her soul. She hopes that some day, the two of them will get to discover more of that together.

The rest of that day, that week, blurs together. Rumi goes out at night if the Honmoon needs to be protected, and Zoey stays at Mira’s side as they slowly piece the girl back together. 

Days have highs and lows. Some times, Mira rambles on and on about her motorcycles, all of the different things that she’s planning to trick them out with, even occasionally goes on rides, Zoey a tight backpack as they weave through back streets and winding roads.

Others have Mira waking up in the middle of the night, tears and sobs caught in her throat as she struggles to understand how parents could have thrown their daughter away so callously. Those nights are the hardest, seeing this incredible girl that found her way into Zoey’s heart, that Zoey never wants to see leave, could have been disposed of, treated as an obstacle, as she was anything other than a marvel was one of the most baffling things Zoey ever thinks she will be forced to see.

And so she sits in these moments, in this space and time as they build this member of their pack back even just that little bit better, safer, more cared for. Let her know that she will always be wanted, always be needed.

Their little pack is going to come out of this having changed for the better, even if it is a mountain to climb at the moment.

*** ***

Mutt hates this feeling in its chest. It hates the way its heart clenches when it hears Mira break into another round of sobs. It hates that it doesn’t know what to do about it.

It thinks this may be sorrow. It doesn’t know how to help someone that it has come to care about so deeply. This incredible alpha has done so much for it, given it so many memories to cherish once it comes time for the end of its stay. 

Mira has helped give mutt a small hope, deep in its chest, that maybe once that time comes, it will be remembered fondly. That a part of it will be carried close to their hearts.

And the fucking mongrel doesn’t even know how to help. How to give even more to this girl that deserves the world, who is so kind, has so much room in her heart, that she can bring herself to care for something like it. That kind of girl, that is who Mira is.

The least it can do is pick up the slack for the hunters, to give them the time that they need to recover, to get back to their best, and to give them space to heal.

A selfish part of it hopes that some day it will be able to help them in the same ways that they help each other, to hold them close, to wipe away their tears, to do everything that they do to soothe one another.

It knows that they are so incredible, after all, that sometimes, they even make it feel like Rumi isn’t just a mask of a person it pretends to be, that maybe it can be a person, at least around them. That kind of feeling isn’t meant for creatures like it, but these saints have found it in their hearts to allow it the chance anyway.

That kind of gift is something that it will spend the rest of its life repaying, that it will do everything it can for these two in repayment.

Deep inside, it dares to hope that the time it spends with the alphas, the hunters, will be a little bit longer than it absolutely has to be.

Chapter Text

Mira is very thankful that she took Bobby’s advice and met the therapist now that they’re in the runup to their second Idol Awards. Everyone knew that Huntr/x was going to be one of the finalists for this year, having won the year previous and launched a new album that was still making waves half a year later.

The stress of training alone has been enough to drag a lesser alpha under, but on top of all the preparations they have to do for the awards, the demons seem to have decided to increase how often they burst out of the Honmoon.

She, Zoey, and Rumi are all running themselves ragged trying to repair the Honmoon, to prepare for the idol awards, and so many other tiny things that they’re barely managing to eat, let alone sleep. 

Exhaustion permeates the atmosphere of their apartment, the air thick with stress and skipped sleep. Mira is incredibly thankful for her therapy appointments. Bobby and her girls would move heaven and earth to make sure that she is able to make it to them every time, and she is so thankful for it.

Therapy has even helped her realize that she has absolutely begun to love Zoey in a way that shakes her foundations. The bubbly girl has wormed her way past every single defense that Mira has, and made a home for herself right in Mira’s chest.

Sea foam and the breeze fill her mind as she thinks of the younger alpha, and she feels the tiny warmth in her chest grow at the mere memory of her. Zoey had an individual interview on her creative process this morning, and she’s still out of the apartment. 

Mira is very excited for that evening, though. She decided that they have all been working very hard for the last month, and they deserve a night for themselves, cleared it with her therapist and everything. The kind omega had sounded positively delighted when told that she was going to be doing something with her girls.

They aren’t doing anything like the bathhouse, much to her chagrin, because even though she would love to take Rumi to one some day, the beta is still entirely uncomfortable with the idea, and now is not the time to try and push her out of her comfort zone.

Finishing the final details of the food delivery order, she looks up just in time to see the door swing open, and in walk Zoey and Rumi. The two look positively exhausted from their days, and Mira feels a tiny pang in her heart for the other girls.

“Alright you two, we’re relaxing tonight. You both go get washed and changed, because once you do we are not leaving this couch until I say so. Understood?” The alpha instructs, voice leaving no room for argument from the other two.

“That sounds perfect, Mira. We’ll be back in five? Ish?” Zoey answers, already dragging Rumi into the hallway leading to their rooms.

Mira turns on the TV, browsing until she finds the new turtle documentary that Zoey had been dying to watch. She pulls some of their blankets out of the pile and onto the couch, and grabs the delivery at the door. Just as she’s putting the final touches on the array designed for best snaccess, both of her girls come stumbling back out into the lounge.

“We’ve got that turtle show cued up, now sit your asses down and relax. Therapist’s orders.” 

The two make their way to the couch, Zoey slotting herself comfortably under Mira’s arm as the three turn their attention to the screen.

“I don’t know if I’ve told you this, but I’m proud of you both. We’re doing a great job, we’ve got two years running in the bag, I have every faith.” Mira states, scent unchanged as she releases the truth into the air.

The maknae in her lap, however, lights up like a firework anyway, scent flooded with embarrassment as she slinks further into Mira’s side.

“You can’t just say that, Mira.” The rapper grumbles into her chest, having buried her face there in embarrassment.

“I think you’ll find that actually, I can and did.” comes the reply, a smug grin oozing into her words. “Don’t think you’re getting out of this either, Rumi. You are doing a fantastic job every day, I’m so glad we have you to lead us through it. You make this a little bit less of a burden every day.”

The noise that springs out of Rumi does a rather excellent impression of a strangled balloon, and the singer drips entirely off of the chair, body looking like it is attempting to disappear into the aether.

She can’t help but release the laugh she was holding trapped in her lungs. These two wonderful, strong, intelligent, caring girls can’t even take a single compliment. Guess she’ll just have to keep trying. There is the rest of the night, after all.

Completely forgetting about the upcoming idol awards, the three find themselves slipping away from the world, lost in the presence of their packmates, spending time with each other in a way that they hadn’t had the chance to for a while.

*** ***

Clambering into the car after winning their second idol awards, Zoey finds herself losing every ounce of courage she had built up to tell Mira what she’s been feeling. The sheer terror of trying to tell this amazing woman that she has fallen head over heels into her lap, that the dancer’s laugh sits inside Zoey’s chest at every moment, has the girl near paralyzed.

She is entirely unable to force the strength together to go through with that plan before they get home, before they spend another day, week, and more together, before she gets the news.

Her dad had brain cancer, apparently.

They didn’t tell her until he died.

And suddenly, it doesn’t quite matter as much that she didn’t get a chance to confess to Mira that maybe she had fallen in love with her, and that she maybe would like it if the polearm user kissed her once. Or maybe twice.

The world had turned sideways on the 17th, again. An innocuous little text sent to her at breakfast, her mother having long since grown to resent every part of the man that Zoey still wanted to call dad. She didn’t get a call, she got a text.

A text to tell her that her father was dead.

That he had been dying for a while, but that he didn’t reach out, that no one thought to tell her. She couldn’t help but the way her heart bitterly thought that he really didn’t care about her, that he didn’t care enough about his daughter that was just a little bit too wrong, that he didn’t want her to know that she was about to lose the ability to ever spend time with him again.

Nobody had wanted to tell her that the man she had been trying to reach out to was never going to give her the chance to prove to be what he wanted. Even if he was willing, he wasn’t around for her to mend that relationship with him.

She was never going to get the chance to be enough, not for him.

Nearly the moment she got that text, Mira had rushed into the room and pulled Zoey into a hug, but she hadn’t felt a single bit of it, not as she worked through the tides that threatened to pull her back under.

It takes her more than an hour to even pull herself out of her thoughts, Mira having long since moved them to the couch for an impromptu cuddle session.

She didn’t notice the way Mira held her face tightly into her chest.

She didn’t notice the loud clatter as the door flung open and Rumi rushed to the two of them.

It took hours of sitting there, the two trying to be there for the girl that had become the source of the sunlight that brightened their worlds.

Zoey comes to in Mira’s arms, the feeling of Rumi’s hand oh so hesitantly reaching out to rub her back so new that she froze, the hurricane of thoughts in her head silenced as the purple haired girl tentatively began to swirl her hand in circles.

They sit there in that moment for a while as Zoey finishes coming to her bearings.

“My dad’s dead.”

Zoey feels the heartbreak that seeps out of her with those halting words.

“He’s been sick for a while, I guess. No one told me, though. Wasn’t good enough, important enough to tell, I guess. Don’t even know why I’m that broken up about it. I didn’t matter to him, he doesn’t matter to me.” 

The lies pour off of her tongue in a vain attempt to hide the little girl in her chest who was never the kind of alpha she was supposed to be. Too weird, too different, too much, too Zoey . They obviously don’t do the job, though.

Mira wouldn’t be crying if they had done what they were supposed to. Wouldn’t have felt those tears on her gorgeous cheeks for a girl that didn’t deserve it.

A warmth slowly burrows its way into her chest, the love of her Moon cutting through the wall of hurt that threatens to break Zoey, their bond flooded with the sorrow that Mira feels for her, the love that she hopes is enough to get them through this.

Zoey can’t help but think that this is the first time Rumi has physically comforted anyone in the group. Their leader that had shown them the ropes, that walks them through their career, that carries so much weight for them, had finally brought down some of her walls enough for her to reach out to Zoey.

She didn’t deserve it, but she greedily drank their attention up like a dying man in the desert, absorbing every single drop of it that she could.

There would never be enough time in the world for her to have her fill of these two, she might as well take every second she can get.

Chapter Text

Mira found herself more thankful that Bobby put together that list of therapists a few months back than she ever was when it was for her.

Seeing the way that Zoey had stilled upon being told that her father was dead was a unique kind of horror. The motion, the neverending tide that flowed like waves, froze over. It took days to even get her to eat with them, let alone the smile that still hasn’t quite come back yet.

It certainly helped that Mira had been going to therapy for a while now, because it meant that Zoey didn’t put up a fight when they told her that she was going to be attending.

The therapist has been helping Zoey rather significantly, which is good because the two of them are about to go into their cycles, and she much prefers it when Zoey has an easier time with their ruts.

Bobby has proven himself to be an excellent guardian for the girls, their manager giving them the time to reorient after their second win and the bombshell news. And Rumi has been reaching out to them a little more, sitting without a cushion between them on the couch, accepting high fives, rubbing their backs after long days. The girl is warming up to them, and Mira couldn't be happier.

It’s probably going to be a while before they find the third hunter if they haven’t after two idol awards, so getting used to one another is a very good idea. Didn’t hurt that Rumi was the kind of girl you’d move heaven and earth to keep around, in Mira’s not so humble opinion.

Mira is looking forward to this week, they’re planning all of the trio activities that they need or want to get done before their upcoming cycle break. It’s important to Zoey and Mira that they spend time strengthening their bond as a group before their ruts. They don’t want Rumi to feel left out, or that she doesn’t matter to them, and Mira has the hope that maybe they’ll get Rumi to sit next to them rather than on  the other side of the couch.

Her hopes are made manifest when, four days later, they are watching the latest episode of one of Mira’s dramas and Rumi closes that last little distance, and rests her head on Mira’s shoulder partway through the runtime.

Trying not to make a big deal out of something that you have been waiting literal years for is absolutely a challenge, but Mira knows that she absolutely can not scare the skittish girl off at this point if she doesn’t want to set everything back literal months . 

It happens one or two more times in the next three days as the trio begin to workshop ideas for their third album, and every time Mira feels her heart melt just a little, seeing the tentative attempts of their leader to bring her walls down, even just an inch.

She couldn’t be happier about the time that they spend together, and she knows the memories of this past week are going to be rather close to her chest in the times to come. As the door closes on the ride Rumi is taking out to Celine’s for the next week, Mira can’t help but wish that it passed in the blink of an eye.

Zoey looks up at her from the place at her side, and Mira finds herself lost in the eyes of this wonderful girl.

“Uh, Mira. I have something I think I have to tell you and I know it's going to be weird, but I have to tell you and I just don’t want to make anything awkward and- “ Zoey’s mouth opens and suddenly a torrent of words spill from the rapper’s lips, speeding up with every syllable until Mira can barely follow along.

“What is it, Zoey? You know you can tell me.” Mira assures, her arm never leaving the younger alpha’s shoulders.

“I know its a little weird because we’re both alphas and Celine says that we probably won’t feel anything like it until we get our omega hunter, but I think I already fell in love with you, and I want to kiss you and hold you and I’ve wanted to tell you since the idol awards but I couldn’t bring myself to and then my dad died and you’re not saying anything and I’m just going to shut up now.” Zoey’s scent is awash with nerves as the younger alpha bares her soul to Mira, the bond between them flooded with a love and admiration that sweeps the dancer off of her feet, body frozen in the face of this wonderful ray of sunshine turned human who just confessed to her.

She knew it could happen to them eventually. Hell, it had already happened to Mira, but that doesn’t mean she expected their maknae to be the first to confess. Gathering herself together becomes much more important with every second as her Sun seems to shrink further into herself.

Not trusting her words, Mira closes the gap between the two of them, hand coming up to tilt Zoey’s beautiful lips upwards to Mira’s, and without a sound she closes that last inch of distance.

The world around her doesn’t exist anymore, music ringing in her ears as her every sense is overtaken by the bond she shares with Zoey. First shock, then hope, and settling on worship, as the two of them try to fuse their beings into one.

Nothing had ever been this right, not to Mira. The way the two seemed to slot against one another perfectly, wrapped in one another's embrace, Mira understands exactly what their next album is going to be about.

Frankly, the fact it took her this long to figure it out was a shame.

*** ***

Zoey has been on cloud nine for the last two weeks. Once she managed to confess to Mira, she hadn’t managed to get a moment to herself, not that she wanted one. The first week they could barely keep their hands off of each other, and their ruts hardly helped matters. They hadn’t done anything more than kissing, Zoey was far too nervous for anything like that, but her lips still remember the feeling of having Mira’s pressed close, lips slotting just above hers.

Then Rumi came back, and they had another week to themselves to finish their recovery. They watched more movies together, ate meals with one another, and enjoyed each other's company as they discussed their plans for the third album. She hadn’t graced them with another tentative touch yet, but Zoey knew that Rumi was very skittish, so it didn’t surprise her.

It also didn’t seem to surprise Zoey that Rumi was a little quieter when she came back into the apartment, a silent part of Zoey’s mind reminding her that she always was when she came back into the house after a rut week.

She used to think it was because they were spending time as part of the hunter pack, rather than the Huntr/x pack, but it wasn’t like this unless she went to Celine’s. Rumi always hangs onto the woman’s every word, and she believes without question that faults and fears must never be seen.

Zoey thinks that maybe it's okay for them to be seen by her girls.

Every time it's happened so far has only brought them close together. Mira’s terrible ass family reaching out, her losing her father, and all of the little stressors of being international sensations have made them better and working together, at being together.

Reminders of being separate from the pack don’t create this reaction, this one is just from going to Celine’s. She’s not positive, but it seems like the most plausible explanation. If it happens again after the next one, she’s going to bring it up with Mira and see if she thinks the same.

In the meantime, she’ll just have to pull Rumi into them whenever she can. 

Discussions of the album rally back and forth as they work through their duties, demons falling to their blades, rehearsals for older songs, gym days to keep in shape, and every other responsibility that they have to carry.

Mira does manage to get them all to eat, sleep, and relax on a fairly consistent basis. Even makes sure that she and Zoey have some time here and there for cutesy couple stuff.

They all end up settling on telling the story of learning to become a team. How they feel knowing that they have people who are right behind them as a safety net, that they would fight for if it was ever needed. All of the words that have been growing in Zoey after they helped her wade through her grief spill onto page after page of her notebooks, and putting those words into songs to perform with her girls touches a very deep part of Zoey, makes her think that maybe they understand the words that she so desperately clings to.

The three of them manage to weave together what they feel is their best album to date. Zoey’s lyrics, Mira’s moves, and Rumi’s voice combine into a work infinitely greater than the sum of its parts.

Fans seem to agree with her, too.

Huntr/x breaks international and domestic records with their latest album, and performances routinely sell out entire arenas within minutes. They even manage to see the Honmoon beat in perfect harmony with their song as they pour their souls into the music.

Zoey couldn’t be more proud of them, of the work that they put into making something new, something beautiful. 

Just like her girls.

*** ***

Bobby loves his pups.

Not that he’d told them that that was how he saw them.

They had released their new album, and it struck a chord within him that ached something fierce. The message of teamwork, of opening yourself up to the people around you, of holding and being held reminded him so strongly of his boys. 

It even came out the week of the anniversary, not that his girls knew.

He still remembers the horror of waking up in that hospital room, the only one who got to. He remembers the agony that ripped through his soul when he was the only one left in it.

Time has dulled that agony to an ache in his chest, never fully going away, but he’s grown to live with it. Sometimes it pangs in a fond way when his new pack acts so similarly to his old, little behaviors from his girls that he so clearly remembers from his loves, that he had always hoped their pups would have.

Little reminders that the people who he loves live on in spirit, even if they don’t in body.

Organizing everything for his girls, for his hunters, as they promote and perform their new album and enter as contenders for their third idol awards in as many years is child's play for a veteran like Bobby, all of the best time slots and networks falling over each other for a glimpse of Huntr/x.

Putting it all together is second nature at this point, and he goes through every event on their agendas for the next week during their pack dinners on Sunday nights.

He adores those quiet evenings as they sit in one another’s company, eat, and live life as their own little pack. He would do anything for these girls, all they needed was to say the word, (Sometimes not even that), and he would have it done.

And when Zoey and Mira come up to him, nervous energy in their bodies and terror in their scents, and ask if it would be possible for him to limit contact between Rumi and Celine two weeks before the idol awards, his heart breaks knowing that he wasn’t the only one seeing something fishy.

Seeing that something wasn’t right there, even if he couldn’t put a finger on it.

He just wishes that he was.

Chapter Text

Zoey is about ready to tear her hair out at this point.

They won the last idol awards, and afterwards she and Mira went to Bobby to tell him that something was fishy with Rumi and Celine. They don’t have anything concrete, but every time when she comes back from Celine’s, especially after rut weeks, Rumi’s emotional state is significantly worse.

Bobby had noticed the same thing, apparently, which wasn’t ideal because it meant that they weren’t just making problems out of thin air.

On its own, that isn’t ideal. Zoey is not particularly fond that Celine seems to be bad for Rumi in a way that they haven’t quite put a finger on yet, beyond a suspicion of something underhanded. It sucks, but that’s not why Zoey is ready to burst into flames.

The issue is the fact that Rumi doesn’t seem to be cooperating . Bobby wasn’t able to manage to get anywhere for Rumi to go in time for the first rut after their three-peat, and so she went to Celine’s, at her own insistence. The next rut, three months later, coincided with the release of their next album, and so Bobby was able to get her on a press tour for part of the week, but halfway through interviews fell through, and Rumi was back at Celine’s for the last few days before Mira and Zoey were good for slightly polite company.

Don’t even get her started on everything that came up with the rut after that, Zoey is frankly astonished that she didn’t end up on the news.

All three of them are determined to keep Rumi out of the country at this point for the upcoming week, but the girl seems just as set on going to Celine’s. They’ve tried even just gently poking at the issue, but the second Rumi gets even an inkling of the topic at hand, she clams up and removes herself from the conversation.

Luckily, it seems that Bobby has been able to keep everyone’s schedules just dissonant enough that Rumi is going to have several international engagements over the next week, and Celine has a number of different deals of her own to handle, making it impossible for the two to see one another during the break.

Fingers crossed everything will go well, but who knows at this point, their luck certainly hasn’t been the greatest.

Watching their jet lift off of the tarmac, Zoey and Mira clamber back into the car. With a heavy sigh, they flop onto their seats and gesture for the driver to take off.

“She really doesn’t know when to quit, does she?” Zoey finds herself asking, the words filtering into the air slowly.

“Absolutley not, which is lovely except for the fact that we care about her . She’s going to burn out if she keeps lighting both ends like this.” Mira answers, arm slinging over Zoey’s shoulder and pulling her a little closer.

“Do you think we’ll end up seeing the Golden Honmoon with her? Do you think she’ll make it that far? Because honestly, I don’t know if she will.” Zoey finds herself admitting, scent souring as she grapples with the idea.

“At this point I don’t know, Zo. We still aren’t having any luck with finding the third hunter, which would be the easiest way to get Rumi to take a break and take care of herself for once, and praying for that seems like a great way to watch her crash and burn.” Mira’s heartbreak is so evident to Zoey with that one, the string connecting their souls awash with despair as the two sit in the knowledge that Rumi is working herself into an early grave.

“She doesn’t even need to be doing this to herself! We’re the ones that are supposed to be carrying the weight of the Honmoon, trying to turn it golden, and yet she seems even more burdened by it than we are.” Zoey spills from under Mira’s arm, taking comfort in her moon’s presence as her heart breaks for the girl thousands of feet overhead.

“Do you think that maybe next time we just say fuck it and make her stay home with us?” Mira finds herself asking, toying with the idea as it passes her lips.

“That may be what we have to do at this point, honestly. If this plan doesn’t work, I don’t know what will. Do you think that the third hunter would be okay with that?” The words slowly crawl their way out of Zoey’s mouth, hesitation in every syllable as she agrees with the dancer.

“She better be. We’ve been through so much with her, and anyone who is supposed to love you and I like we love each other should be more than capable of falling for Rumi.” 

Mira sounds a little unsure as she forms the next words, “Honestly, I think if she isn’t, I think I would pick Rumi.”

The shock of those words echoes through Zoey as she knows, down to her very bones, that she agrees. The third hunter hasn’t been there for them on the quiet nights when it feels like everything is falling apart. She hasn’t been there to guide them through their debut, through three consecutive idol awards.

Zoey can’t help but think that she would rather tear apart the strings of fate than live in a world where she couldn’t see Rumi. 

“I think you’re right.” Zoey replies, voice soft, yet laden with the heavy weight of what she is admitting, even just between the two of them.

A quiet settles over the two of them as they finish the rest of their ride back home, missing the third part of their trio. They have gained something, though.

They know that they will never choose to say goodbye to Rumi.

*** ***

Rumi is wigging the fuck out.

She ran out of her meds yesterday, and she hadn’t even noticed that she was running low until she got off of the plane.

Celine is in a different fucking country and it ran out of its meds .

The last few hours had been a scramble of tabs and research as she tried to piece together what she could even take that would affect it like its meds do.

It had eventually found that the closest thing it would even theoretically be able to find to what Celine said its meds do is something called Ice.

According to what it was able to find, the drug was a sort of cocktail commonly used by individuals trying to suppress secondary sex characteristics. Some people use it because they have secondary sex dysphoria and don’t have access to traditional treatments, some people are forced to use it under less than ideal conditions, and some people use it because they can’t handle their secondary cycle.

Mutt doesn’t know if Ice will affect demonic instincts the same way it does secondary sex instincts and traits, but she thinks it's as close as it will get on such short notice.

Getting its hands on the drug was surprisingly simple, which would have concerned her under more ideal circumstances, but it is far too preoccupied with its panic at the moment to care.

All it needed to do was visit a shadier hotel and wait around out back for a minute.

The walk back to her own hotel room, pocket heavy with the freezing vial, is full of suspense, the cold weighing down on its body.

Without a noise, she slips into her bathroom and grabs a needle. Gently lowering herself into the cold tub, it prepares itself for the medication.

Steps all too familiar for her, she smoothly gathers the arctic liquid into the syringe and injects in her leg, body faced with a creeping sensation as the cold seeps from her leg into her every atom.

She had thought that it had grown used to pain, but this injection was a fresh hell tearing her apart.

*** ***

Mutt didn’t know how long it had been in that tub, but based on the fact no one had come barging in before now, it couldn’t have been more than a few hours.

With a groan, it slowly clambers out of the tub, shaking out the soreness that seeped into every limb, having gone still for far too long.

Taking stock of its body, it finds that everything is right where it should be. There is a numbness even greater than its old treatment regiment was able to instill into its body, and it knows that this medication works far better at keeping Mutt’s demonic traits at bay than any previous cocktail.

Perfect.

Now it didn’t need to worry about slowly worsening medications, never quite doing enough to keep the monster in its chest suppressed. It could spend time with Mira and Zoey without needing to worry about disgusting them with its filthy demonic impulses and scent.

A tiny part of it, the corner that still keeps insisting on calling it Rumi, is oh so pleased that it won’t need to go back to Celine’s in order to get its condition treated.

What a perfect little concoction that it had found!

*** ***

Bobby is so glad that the plan he cooked up with Zoey and Mira had managed to work last cycle. Trying to help Rumi through dealing with a visit to Celine on top of the preparations for this idol awards was not something that he was looking forward to, and avoiding it had taken a huge weight off of his shoulders.

Now he just needs to make sure that everything is safe for his girls at the idol awards.

Running through his own personal checklist as he scans all of the safety features requested, he finds his nerves slightly settled.

Only slightly, though. It’s hard to find himself not at least a little on edge when the girls are using pyrotechnics in a show. Funny how your four loves of your life dying in a fire makes you nervous around the stuff. 

His checklist completed, he sends a message off to a secretary saying that the venue is up to Huntr/x’s standards.

Schooling his face into a smile, he opens the door to his pups’ dressing room to deliver the news.

“Alright girls, everything's how it should be for the show, are you ready to run dress rehearsals?” Bobby’s voice picks up a little bit of pep as he takes in the wonderful young women on the couch in the room, scent matching that joy as he smells their little pack all huddled together.

“Yeah, we’ll be out in five! Gotta put on the last touches before we run the routines, ya know?” Zoey answers from where she’s fiddling with parts of her outfit.

“Alright, if you need anything, anything at all, let me know, okay?” Bobby tells them, familiar words rolling off of his lips as the door closes behind him.

Getting everything ready for his girls’ fourth idol awards has been one hell of a journey, but he has every faith that they’ll take the trophy home again this year. 

And watching that victory on screen is oh so satisfying to that little part of him that wanted to watch the people he loves succeed. He almost smells his old packs scent in the air as Rumi gives the acceptance speech on stage. 

They would’ve loved these girls.

Chapter Text

Mira doesn’t manage to broach the topic of Rumi staying in the apartment with her and Zoey in the week or so between the idol awards and when they go into their ruts, but Bobby did manage to book enough events that week for Rumi and Celine that they wouldn’t be able to see one another again, assuming everything goes according to plan.

That next week is a blur for both of the hunters, moments of clarity where they check on Rumi interspersed with a haze as the two of them fall in and out of protective frenzies, keeping one another in their little nest, and feeling an ache in their heart knowing that someone else is supposed to be there. 

It has room for three, and the hunters feel a pang in their chest every time they notice the empty space, but they can never bring themselves to make a two person nest.

Even just making sure that they both get enough to eat is a challenge on some days, their inner alphas screaming at them to find and protect their missing piece, and no remedy for the pain in sight.

Gentle hands hold one another as the honmoon writhes around them, reaching out for something that both they and it know isn’t there. Doesn’t stop any of them from hoping that it will be found anyway.

In the quietest moments of the night, Mira cannot stop the wish in her chest from flowing out into the Honmoon. Every single night, her very soul aches for Rumi, wishes that the Honmoon had chosen her, that their wonderful beta had been born an Omega, and would complete their little pack. That she could feel Rumi in that little spot in her chest, cords tangled with both hers and Zoey’s.

She curses herself for it every morning. For begging the Honmoon to have chosen Rumi when there is a girl out there so desperate to be loved, an ache in her chest even worse than the one that plagues Mira, who destiny has determined would love her fellow hunters more than anything else in the world.

The cycle repeats every day and night of the hunters’ rut, leaving them wrung out and emotionally distraught by the end, their home thick with a dual scent of love and despair.

Frankly, it's a miracle the two alphas don’t burst into tears when Rumi comes back to them, door swinging open slowly as she drags her bags into their home.

It should be expected, of course, that Zoey flies across the room, the girl turned rocket colliding with their leader mere moments after she walked through the door.

“Rumi, we missed you! How was the trip? Were the interviews okay? Did you see anything fun? Do you get presents?” Zoey launches into an avalanche of words the instant she wraps herself around Rumi, scent awash with excitement at the sight of her.

“Slow down, Zoey, take a breath, we’ve got time. And uh, in reverse order, yes, yes, eeeh, and alright.” Rumi gently sets their maknae back onto the ground, her voice melodic as she answers the questions Zoey had peppered her with.

“How are you two? I know your ruts aren’t easy on you, especially while we haven’t found the third hunter. Is there anything either of you need?” Their leader continues, slight concern on her face as she intently looks at the two alphas.

“We should be okay, Rumi. Just need a bit of time to get back to one hundred before we come back from break.” Mira answers from her spot leaning against the back of the couch.

“Yeah, we just need a week of couch and Rumi time, and we should be ready to go!” Zoey tacks on, the smile on her face not having left since the door swung open.

“I’ll do my best to make that happen, alright? I do still need to get my bags put away, though. See you both in five?” Rumi acquiesces, hands going back to the handles of her luggage as she pulls them into the hallway.

“See you soon Rumi! If you’re gone more than ten we’re coming hunting!” Zoey responds, teasing words passing her lips like she isn’t torn up at even the idea of Rumi leaving her sight. Like she isn’t scared every time she sees someone leave, it will be the last.

It takes seven minutes, but Rumi comes back out to their lounge in a hoodie and sweats, and flomps onto the cushion next to the two of them.

“What do you have for us today, Zoey?” She asks, pulling herself into an actual sitting position rather than the pool of exhaustion she was previously.

“I’ve got two new documentaries to show you, one of ‘em is about the discovery of the Galapagos island, the other is about prehistoric turtles and other animals that lived to the modern day. After that, Mira found a few videos she wants to show us about some cool bikes she’s thinking of getting.” The rapper responds, her words fuzzing together a tad as they pass her lips.

“Sounds like a plan.” Rumi answers, getting comfortable on the couch nearby, but not quite touching either of them.

The trio watch videos into the night, the world slowly slipping away from around them until it's just their little pack in the quiet of the void.

*** ***

Celine is so glad to have even just one of that fucking mongrel’s issues off of her plate.

Apparently, the mistake had been told about a medication that was stronger than the ones it had been burning through previously, and at her own examination, it seemed to be doing its job.

With her stamp of approval, it would be taking charge of its own treatment regiment at this point, with surprise check-ins from Celine to ensure that it isn’t skipping out on any of its treatment.

One less thing she has to keep on her plate, one less reminder of the mutt she wishes she could dispose of.

Perfect.

*** ***

Zoey loves the new choreographies for their next album that Mira cooked up.

Running through the steps, music in the background as she and her girls flow through and around one another to the beat is lovely. Sometimes, sitting in the small moments like this is all that Zoey’s heart wants to do.

It wants to appreciate the simplicity of these moments, of the quiet closeness as her scent mixes with those of her fellow performers, a connection in the air that they don’t feel the same way as the Honmoon, but almost more meaningful because of that lack.

The way the light of the sunset filters into the studio, illuminating the two most beautiful women that Zoey has ever seen in a corona of light, strikes Zoey with the sudden realization that this must be what divinity looks like. 

Mira with her quiet confidence, in the final pose of the dance, hip jutting out into her hands, long legs spreading downward, grace and power corded through their every fiber. The smile on her face, the little one that she gets when she nails some dance routine or puzzle, sends Zoey’s heart fluttering in her chest.

Rumi, on the other hand, is far more ethereal. A smooth grace flows from her every pore, curves that would feel perfect under her hands hidden ever so slightly by the girl’s baggy workout clothes. And her face, that quiet calm as everything goes exactly the way she wanted it to, a slight curve to her lips, barely there, but visible to those who know what to see.

She could frame this moment in her heart forever, her two girls in a perfect moment, just them.

*** ***

Bobby adores his pups’ new album, and he is more than happy to heap praises onto the trio during their weekly dinner.

“Seriously, you all did so well! The fans are loving it!” He tells them, a smile on his face at seeing his girls get the recognition that they deserve. “You should be proud.”

“Thank you, Bobby, we are.” Mira replies, the only one not in the middle of inhaling her bowl of ramyeon.

“Now, I’ve got a few different press events lined up for you girls over the next week. The rollout of a new album is always a lot, I know, but we’ve got this, girls!” The beta explains, pointing towards his laptop as he turns it to face the trio.

The rest of their dinner passes, Bobby explaining the different stations that would be having them on, when they would be needed, what times were penciled in for practices, breaks, and every other minutia of their schedule.

Walking through a schedule and living through a schedule are very different, though, and Bobby is running on an unreasonable amount of caffeine as he bustles around various sets and offices.

There’s always so much to do for his girls, safety checks to require, to validate, costumes to pick up, and an infinite number of other things that make his head spin when he doesn’t take them one step at a time.

For his girls, though, he’d do it in a heartbeat.

*** ***

Mutt was growing used to the changing routine that came with adopting a new medication. Rather than needing to take a selection of pills every night, once a month it would disappear into its room for a day and handle its injection.

Tonight, as the needle slowly retreats from its skin, a familiar sensation overtakes its body.

A little prick in its thigh, and the warmth of its body slowly pulls, down and down towards the site, leaving the rest of its body in a numb cold, sensations dulled as its limbs lock up for the next few hours.

It always takes a while for the drug to run its course, to hide away all of the disgusting parts of it that should never see the light of day, never even be near the two amazing girls that have given it a place to stay.

Luxuriating in that quiet numbness, Mutt finds itself thankful that Celine had approved this new treatment. The memories of the first few injections are still covered in a haze of pain in the mongrel’s mind, body unused to the chemical cocktail it needed to keep the creature inside of it at bay. Now, though, its mind simply floats out of its body for a while, a distance from the disgusting creature it is.

And for a moment, it doesn’t have to be a creature, a mongrel, a mutt. It doesn’t have to be anything.

It doesn’t have to be.

Mutt thinks that maybe, that is the headiest feeling of all.

Chapter Text

Mira absolutely adores her girls. Every morning she wakes up with Zoey in her arms, a little part of her porcelain heart settles back into the whole. How couldn’t it, when the world is just that much softer in their bed, together. Those quiet moments are made beautiful through things like sunrise filtering in through the curtains as the younger alpha walks out of their bathroom, toothbrush sticking out of her mouth, entirely focused on telling Mira about the latest little bits of information that floated past her eyes.

Sometimes, it's that little love that makes the day a tad kinder, easier on the soul as the weight of their responsibilities bears down on their shoulders.

Every practice with Rumi, days that found their leader determined to prepare their little trio for everything that the world can throw at them. The quiet support, that unwavering belief that her girls are more incredible than they or the world know. A mere fact of life to the singer, as though believing the world of Mira isn’t something that the fragile girl still stuck in her parent’s home couldn’t have even dreamed of having.

Getting through the promo cycle for a new album is never easy, but with her girls by her side, Mira could take on the world.

Didn’t mean she wasn’t absolutely craving couch time by the end of it. Collapsing onto that cushioned heaven after their final show of the circuit was a balm to the ache in her soul, and the noise that pulled itself out of her was so hedonistic that Dionysus would be impressed.

“I’m not getting up from this couch for seven thousand business years, and you can quote me on that.” Mira says, eyes closed as she lies down on the couch, head on the arm rest.

“Not even for the ramyeon in the kitchen that Rumi just finished?” Zoey asks, mischief playing in her scent as she looks over the couch at Mira’s exhausted form.

“Maybe for that.” She answers, rolling off of the couch with limbs fighting every effort to move.

The trek to the kitchen is harder than the last song of an encore, but the enticing smell of food wafting towards the two hunters keeps them planting one foot in front of the other.

“Alright you two, dinner’s served. You need to get some food in you, but after that we don’t have anything to deal with for the next 24 hours. We’ve got leftovers in the fridge, snacks in the pantry, and shakes already mixed up for recovery.” Rumi tells the two of them as they sit down at the counter, the beta fluttering around the kitchen, her faint aloe scent background noise in the kitchen’s ambiance as she puts away the last of the leftovers.

“Thank you Rumi, really. I did not have enough energy to cook after today.” Mira groans from her stool, the steam from the bowl in front of her wafting a delicious smell just past her nose.

“Yeah, and this smells delicious!” Zoey adds, only slightly more energy packed into her words, but still a noticeable drop from where she is at the start of a day.

A small smile graces their leader’s lips as she takes a seat at the corner of the counter, and the three girls start inhaling their food like it’s going to disappear if they don’t get it down as fast as physically possible.

The rest of that night passes in a haze of exhaustion, the trio finishing their dinner and heading back to Couch, tv set to an old movie that the three of them enjoy. Sitting in that familiar space, fond memories come flooding back to Mira as she thinks of all of the conversations and moments that happened on that couch. She thinks about the quiet kisses she gets to leave on Zoey’s forehead when the younger alpha finally crashes and falls asleep. She thinks about pulling a blanket up over Rumi’s sleeping form, the girl always stirring if she gets picked up to be moved back to her room, unlike Zoey who could sleep through a hurricane. 

Her girls need their rest, and Mira can’t seem to fall asleep with them, so she might as well make sure that they have a good rest. The quiet noise of their home in her ears, Mira picks Zoey up in her arms reverently, the girl a precious treasure to be protected.

After she’s tucked her sunshine into bed, Mira goes back out to the couch to wake Rumi. Their leader needs sleep, but as great as their couch is, a bed is significantly better for sleep. With a gentle nudge to her shoulder, the braided beauty stirs just a tad.

“Rumi, you fell asleep on the couch, want me to take you to your room?” Mira asks, releasing a calming scent into the air as the sleeping beauty blinks the sleep out of her eyes.

“I’ve got it, but thank you, Mira.” The girl answers, voice broken by yawns as she slowly makes her way through the sentence.

“Alright, well if you need anything, just let me know okay? Gotta pay you back for making dinner for us.” 

“It’s okay, I just wanted to make dinner, and you two were probably just as hungry as I was.” A relaxed look on the girl's face as she slowly pulls the blanket around her before standing up.

“Still, if you need anything, we’re always here for you. You know that, right Rumi?” The words coming out of Mira are just as laced with concern as her scent.

“Yeah, I know Mira.” Comes the answer from Rumi, a look on her face that Mira still hasn’t been able to quite place after all of this time.

They walk together down the hallway, splitting off when they get to Mira’s door. With one last smile, she pulls Rumi into a quick hug before they head to bed.

Drifting off into sleep, arms wrapped around her love’s body, Mira knows that she would move heaven and earth to make sure that they are both as cared for as they make her feel.

*** ***

Zoey was so glad she had managed to convince Mira to try some formal dance together for one of their dates. 

The soft music playing in the background as the tall alpha sent her into another spin, before catching the younger girl in her arms and flowing into a dip, lips meeting one another in a tender kiss at the end of the song.

Mira’s breath ghosts against Zoey’s collarbone as she pulls away, and the smaller alpha can’t help the shudder that ripples through her body. This woman is going to be the death of her.

Slowly, Mira pulls her back upright, pulling the girl tight as she gets her feet under her. Zoey is so glad Rumi made them take the weekend off before they dove into preparation for their fifth consecutive idol awards.

Bobby had pulled together the arrangements for the two to have a weekend just as a couple, having gone months without some time alone to themselves. They hadn’t wanted to make Rumi feel excluded, like she mattered less now that the two had gotten together, but the beta had put her foot down and told them it was okay to take time just for the two of them.

The last two days had been a wonder, in Zoey’s opinion. After more than two months of nonstop promotion from their new album, they were desperate to find some time to appreciate one another’s presence. To show the care and love that burns beneath their chest through actions rather than just words.

Dinner last night had been particularly incredible, in Zoey’s opinion. They’d been given an itinerary by Bobby before they left, but it had left a number of surprises to be revealed over the course of the night. All they had to go off of was that they would be picked up at six from their hotel, and that they should expect to be back some time well into the evening.

Pulling into the most romantic restaurant she had ever seen was certainly an experience that she was never going to forget. They had quite literally driven under an arch of roses, and it only got more extravagant from there. Apparently the restaurant was doing a celebration of its owners anniversary or something similar, and the theme for the night had been romantic love.

Course after course of the most delicious food either had gotten a chance to try in their lives, wine flowing between the two as they basked in one another’s presence.

Mira had laughed, and suddenly Zoey was overtaken by the sheer force of how much she loves this woman. The memory of how her scent of spice and smoke was full of mirth, reminds Zoey of the camping trips she used to go on back in the states, sitting around a camp fire and laughing with family friends as they caught up. The laugh rings through her body and resonates down to her soul, and Zoey finds that there is not a single day she doesn’t want to spend with this girl by her side.

The end of the meal comes after they finish a lovely dessert, some fancy french dish that Zoey is slightly too wine drunk to even begin attempting to pronounce. Hand in hand, the two walked out to their waiting ride,  and silently held each other on their way back to the hotel room, far too exhausted from a lovely night to do much beyond fall asleep in one another’s arms.

This afternoon, though, is an entirely different story.

Zoey is still far too keyed up from the way that their practice ended for anything other than the feel of Mira’s body on hers to be in her mind. The instant the door to their hotel room closes behind them, the young alpha pounces on Mira.

Hands wind their way around her waist, and Zoey kisses Mira with the passion that has been burning inside of her for far too long. Slowly, she begins to drift down, lips finding Mira’s jaw, then her neck, and then landing on her collarbone just over the taller alpha’s scent gland.

Being this close to the source of Mira’s pheromones, Zoey notices the instant that her scent starts to gain an aroused twinge, and takes that as confirmation that she’s on the right track.

Mira barely manages to form words in her head, let alone with her lips, but she does find enough of her voice to say “God, Zoey, at least let me get you to the bed before you devour me.”

The smaller girl can’t help but yelp as she is interrupted from covering Mira’s neck and shoulders in hickeys by her moon lifting her off of the ground and sweeping her into a princess carry.

With a giggle, she pulls herself up to kiss Mira on the cheek as they cover the last remaining distance to the bed, the younger alpha being gently laid on the mattress like something precious.

Zoey can’t help but feel like she is going to be worshiped as her lips are captured in a kiss by the gorgeous woman above her. Their bond is flooded by the sheer love and dedication that Mira feels for her as hands find their way into Zoey’s hair, gently holding the back of her head just that much closer into the kiss.

Slowly, those hands find their way down her body before catching on the hem of her tank. Gently, it is lifted over her head, and suddenly much more of Zoey’s skin is available for Mira to run her hands over, and they certainly take full advantage of that.

They softly trail along her, long since having memorized exactly which kinds of touch pulled a symphony of noise out of the maknae’s lips. Her breath catches, however, when those hands deftly unclasp her sports bra and pull the contraption off her. One hand comes down to her chest, playing with her rosing chest, but the other drops even lower, working its way into her waistband. 

“Hey,” She starts, voice already breathy from the moans that Mira is pulling out of her. “It’s no fair I’m the only one showing skin here.”

“Alright, princess, let me fix that.” Mira chuckles, hands pulling away from the younger girl.

With a teasing grin on her face, the taller alpha slowly removes her own clothes, each article pulled away slowly, leaving Zoey on the edge of anticipation. It takes what feels like an eternity, but eventually Mira is fully stripped, and dives right back into finishing doing the same on Zoey.

Cold air rushes over Zoey’s legs for but a moment, but then Mira’s thigh is between her legs and she’s grinding herself into it, trying to get as close as she can to the beauty above her, chasing the feeling between her legs that she’s been desperate for.

A soft chuckle floats its way past her ear, and suddenly her hips are being pinned to the bed by Mira’s left hand, the grip on her bones like iron shackles, keeping her in place. The other hand finds its way between her legs and slowly starts to circle her folds. 

“Someone’s a little worked up, isn’t that right baby?” Mira’s honeyed voice washes over her ear, heat sending tingles down Zoey’s spine.

“Yes, yesyesyes please touch me Mira, I need you so bad.” The alpha doesn’t even think as the words spill past her lips, mind already having left, leaving her body chasing the sensations that Mira is so lovingly lavishing it with. 

“Oh, you poor thing, let me fix that.” 

The promise echoes in Zoey’s mind as she feels the hand between her legs slow to a halt. Before she can even start to complain about the loss, a single finger slowly slips its way inside, and the last remaining thoughts in her head slip out.

With a steady rhythm, that finger starts to pump in and out of her soaking entrance, curling just the right amount to hit the perfect spot inside on each thrust, but she still feels so empty.

“Please, please I need more, please Mira, I need you.” Zoey’s never heard herself beg like this before, but she knows that she looks absolutely pathetic beneath the taller girl, face flushed with embarrassment as her hands scramble to find something to hold onto above her head.

Mira seems pleased to give Zoey exactly what she wants, if the appreciative hum she gives as a second finger joins the first inside Zoey.

A noise rips itself out of Zoey’s throat, body far too overcome with sensation to do anything that would hide exactly what it’s feeling. The moans only gain strength as Mira starts returning the favor from earlier and marking up her own collar bone.

Teeth run over the healed mating mark on her scent gland, and Zoey fully whites out, sensation too much as pleasure rips its way through her body, tearing asunder her very foundations as she screams on Mira’s fingers.

“Well, someone seems to be enjoying herself. Isn’t that right, princess?” Mira teases, affection evident in the scent that floats into the room.

“Yes,” Zoey wheezes out, word breaking and restarting itself numerous times as she tries to form even a single word.

“Are you ready for it, baby?” Mira asks, and suddenly Zoey recognizes the sensation between her legs as Mira presses herself close, fingers having come up to hold her wrists together. 

“Please.”

With that single word, Mira slowly inches herself inside the girl, the slick of her orgasm slowly dripping along her length. Hips bottom out, and Mira finds herself pressed as close to her Zoey as she can be.

And then she starts to thrust.

The sensation of her love pulling out and pushing back into her, pace slowly picking up with each repetition until the only thing that Zoey can focus on is the sensation of connection between her and Mira. Their bond slowly fills with more and more pleasure as the two fall further and further into one another.

Mira’s pace reaches a crescendo and Zoey’s voice hasn’t stopped begging. More. Harder. Please.

The words rocket down Mira’s spine and into her core, this gorgeous girl falling apart at the seams, unravelling herself in her hands. Mira curses that she never had Zoey’s talent for words, because here, in this moment, she understands how a war was fought for Helen. How a single woman’s beauty could be the undoing of nations.

An understanding of that sheer beauty courses through her, settling in her bones, and she knows that she is never going to let this girl go. She is going to keep her close, to mark her as owned, for the rest of their lives together.

With a renewed fervor, Mira’s hips push Zoey deeper and deeper into the mattress, desperate to be as close as they can physically get.

“God, do you know what you fucking do to me Zoey?” Mira groans, words heaving out with each thrust into her, chasing the warmth of her sun.

“What, what do I do to you, Mira?” She gasps out, each thrust stealing the breath from her lungs, breaking the words each time she tries to say them.

“So. Fucking. Much.” The alpha grinds, a growl seeping into her voice as she takes the younger girl. “You make me need you, need your taste, need your touch, you drive me so fucking insane, Zoey.” 

“You can take it, please take it, please, I need you. I’m yours, yours to take, yours to use, please just don’t stop.” Her raspy voice picks up speed with every word until they’re blending together into a single stream, scent awash with desperation and need.

Mira’s thrusting suddenly becomes infinitely more desperate, and Zoey finds herself thrown over the edge of another orgasm, body spasming once more with the sheer pleasure that Mira is thrusting into her.

A heavier groan than anything previous pulls itself from Mira’s lips, and the girl slams her hips down one final time, her own peak rumbling through her body and leaving her weak at the knees.

The two collapse into one another on the bed, energy spent as their souls intertwine. 

It takes a while, but they manage to pull themselves together enough to get cleaned off before they fall away to the land of dreams, holding one another in their arms as the world passes them by.

*** (End of smut) ***

Mutt was so glad that Zoey and Mira had taken that romantic getaway it and Bobby had cobbled together. 

It meant that no one else was home in the apartment when its drugs ran out a day early. With panic written in every inch of its figure, the creature stumbles its way into the bathroom and takes its medicine a day earlier. Even adds a little extra, just to be safe.

As the pain turns every other sense inside off, Mutt is glad that those two don’t have to be there for this.

Chapter Text

Bobby isn’t sure why, but something inside him is screaming that something isn’t right with his girls. More specifically, Rumi seems to be struggling with something, and he doesn’t know what it is or how to help.

The first hint came when she had the wardrobe team change her outfit to show even less skin. Which isn’t a problem, at least not on its own. Bobby was suspicious because of his pup’s demeanor as she asked for the changes, a little shifty, like she was trying to hide something, to hide herself.

His suspicions only grew when she started organizing more duo trips for Mira and Zoey, claiming that she wanted the girls to enjoy their relationship more now than they had gotten to previously. It started growing to more than one weekend a month, and while he is sure that they are enjoying it, something about the arrangement is raising alarms.

Decision made, he asks Rumi to stay behind for a bit after one of their meetings about the upcoming idol awards.

“Rumi, is everything okay, you’ve been a little down lately. Anything I can do to help?” Bobby asks her, voice soft and scent laden with concern looking at the most reserved of his pups.

“Yeah, Bobby, I’m okay.” The voice that comes out of his girl is heartbreaking. Soft resignation in her tone, this girl is hanging on by a thread.

“Darling, I can’t force you to tell me, but something is up. What can I do? Please?” His scent is awash with heartbreak, begging his pup to let him help.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Bobby. I’m just tired from the prep for our fifth awards. There’s nothing you need to worry about, I promise.” Rumi looks at him, and the quiet steel in her gaze tells him to drop it.

“Okay, but if this keeps up past the idol awards, I’m asking you again.” He tells her, a hard compassion in his words that says this isn’t over, but that he’s letting it lie for now because that’s what she needs.

The rest of the time before the idol awards passes in a blur. Meeting after meeting after practice after promotional stunt after interview after performance after a million other issues that has Bobby stretched to his very limits organizing it all. 

Standing here backstage as his girls are handed a trophy for their fifth idol awards victory in a row, however, makes every second of that mad dash worth it. He can’t help the pride that swells in his chest watching his three girls get the recognition that they deserve.

Celebration turns into his pups’ rut week once more, and Bobby is incredibly proud that he managed to keep Rumi and Celine separated for another cycle, even around all of his other responsibilities for their performance.

Rumi comes back from that break even worse than the ones she spent with Celine, and his pride is dashed upon the rocks when Mira and Zoey tell him that they swear something is up.

“She’s closed off even more, Bobby. We don’t know what happened, we don’t know what’s wrong, we don’t know how to help, we don’t know anything, and we need your help.” Zoey tells him, a concern in her features and scent that breaks his heart.

“You haven’t been able to talk to her about it?” He probes, trying to get a full map of the situation in his head.

“Every time we try she clams up and leaves. Always has an excuse, but it’s only ever pressing when we bring up how she’s closing us out again.” Mira explains, turning her own eyes to look pleadingly at him.

“We’ll see what we can do, okay girls?” The assurance that pours out of his lips is joined by his fall scent taking on a protective tinge.

It takes time, the triumvirate schemes well into the evening, but they piece together a seventy six step plan to get their skittish bandmate to accept help.

Said plan is thrown out the window the next morning when Celine calls all four of them into her office and tells them that Sunlight Entertainment has been offered a deal to make a Huntr/x world tour happen, and suddenly there are significantly more pressing things that everyone needs to be doing.

*** ***

The thing about planning a world tour, Zoey has found, is that for every problem that gets solved, another two pop up in its place, like some sort of musical hydra.

First it’s getting the visas needed for every stop of the trip organized, then finding venues in what feels like five billion cities, and so many other issues that the fact Bobby can deal with it makes her head spin, let alone trying to organize it herself.

She’s barely had time to crash in her bed the moment she gets home, which means they can’t find the time for even step one of their brainchild SuperCoolPlanToGetRumiIntoTherapy TM . 

Bobby and Mira don’t know the name yet, but Bobby will love it, and Mira is always willing to indulge Zoey’s creative impulses .

They have, however, been able to start the process on their fifth album which will be debuting right before their world tour. Putting together an expansion to their discography on top of everything else they’ve had to deal with has left them running on empty tanks. Frankly, it's a miracle they were able to put together a single to release if they see the Honmoon start to shimmer with faint gold, but Rumi had been adamant that they were getting closer to their goal every day, and that this world tour could be the thing to catapult them across the finish line.

She’d been pushing them towards their goal so much harder ever since Zoey’s arm had been broken by a demon. A part of her thinks it’s because the incident reminded Rumi of just how hard it is to be a hunter, and how their singer doesn’t have to keep doing this once the golden honmoon is sealed, she can retire after that, and they can’t do the same. This burden is theirs to bear, not Rumi’s, but she’s helping them carry it anyway. Maybe the weight has been getting to her more recently.

The little girl whose father snapped at her when she asked if she could play with him thinks that maybe, she wishes that she’d been better. That she’d been enough. That she hadn’t gotten herself hurt, so that Rumi didn’t have to be reminded of how terrible hunting life is. Injuries, sleepless nights, patrols, and everything else had slipped into the back of their lives, and one event brought them crashing into the forefront.

Ever since that night, those pained grunts as Mira set her arm back in place before the Honmoon could weave the bones back together, Rumi had been pushing them for gold harder than she ever had before. She still made sure that the two hunters had time together, citing that they ‘needed to spend time as a couple to destress’, but any activities that would have included Rumi either dropped the older beta, or became work focused in short order. They hadn’t had a conversation in weeks that didn’t involve some form of scheduling or business talk.

Panic blooms in her chest as she realizes that this breakneck pace isn’t going to stop any time soon. Their next year has already been booked to the gills,there isn’t going to be an opportunity to even begin an attempt on SuperCoolPlanToGetRumiIntoTherapy TM , they are going to have to come up with a new strategy.

They are nothing if not flexible, though. She’ll have to bring it up next time she sees Bobby.

*** ***

Mira has never been as impressed with Bobby as she is right now, at this moment.

The older beta is walking the trio of performers through how their schedule is going to look for the next eight months. Each day has an itinerary, flight plans have been organized, pickups, practice, and every other issue that they are likely to face has been noted and accounted for. It starts with their release of their next album tonight, and ends three months before their sixth idol awards, giving them time to transition into preparing for that.

His words are clear and concise, answering every question that his girls would have for him before they even ask. She knows where she’s going for her ruts, including a gorgeous Italian villa, she knows where she and Zoey are going on dates, she knows when has been penciled in for recuperation, and every other aspect of their lives over the next near year.

World tours are something else entirely, and that comes from someone with five years of experience as an idol, and a successful one at that.

She misses the time she got to spend with just her girls every day, even when she’s right next to them. Something about the experience of just basking in their presence, no responsibilities, no judgement, just rest, that has been sorely missing from her life.

The worst part, though, is that Rumi wouldn’t even do it if they did have the time. She’s been getting progressively more skittish with every week that passes, and it certainly doesn’t help that Celine is extremely involved in the management process for their tour. No matter how hard the trio attempt, Celine and Rumi continue to be forced to meet alone for various managerial and other duties.

Rumi always seems a little quieter after those meetings, shrinking into her body as though she takes up too much space. Mira hates it, hates seeing this incredible woman act as though she doesn’t deserve the sun and the moon, that she doesn’t deserve to be worshiped. Like she isn’t a goddess gracing the earth with her presence.

Above all, Mira wishes that she knew how to help. How to take the weight of the world off of her shoulders, to let their miracle, their atlas, rest. Nothing seems to be working, at least not to the lengths that she would like them to go.

Drifting apart isn’t really in the cards at the moment, though, with how the trio were practically living on top of one another. The fact that they managed to get a separate room for Rumi every night was a logistical feat, and that closeness makes it very hard to drift away from each other.

The one saving grace of the tour.

*** ***

Mutt can’t stop the beat of its heart from thundering in its throat. The hunters had come back mere moments after it regained consciousness in the tub. Mere seconds of difference, and they may have had to see something that it doesn’t want to bother them with.

It’s done enough of that already.

Not for a mongrel that will be out of their way forever soon. And it knows, to the core, that those two amazing girls would care, would care about this disposable thing that was always destined to be thrown aside. Would hate to see it degrade, patterns inching their way longer, medications working less and less every month. It’s already up to two injections a month rather than the previous one, and the dosage has nearly doubled.

Although the medications are working, they are having a negative impact on the mutt’s ability to perform its duties to the fullest. Exhaustion is creeping its way through the bones of the creature, and nothing seems to be stopping it. Nothing it’s allowed to do anyway.

Despite its best efforts, though, the two still seem to notice the struggle, the decline that the creature is going down.

Pulling it aside, Mira’s voice gently says, “Rumi, we’re here for you, if you need anything at all.”

It feels a warmth bubble in its chest as it is reminded that Mira and Zoey never call it anything other than Rumi, other than the kinds of things they would call the third hunter. Giving that same care to the wretched changeling that stole the place from who they were supposed to love, that didn’t know what to do with that kindness, but yearned for it down to its very core.

“I’m okay, Mira. I promise. It's just the tour, no big deal.” Mutt reassures her, not wanting the hunter to waste even more effort on a creature that didn’t deserve it.

“Once that proves to be the case after the tour then, we won’t have to talk about it again.” The alpha states, a slight protective growl in her voice as the words form.

That’s the best it’s going to get for now, but once the Honmoon starts shimmering with gold like it can feel it is so close to reaching, they’ll forget all about it.

Mongrel deserves it, after all. It’s disgusting presence has prevented these two wonderful hunters from finding their third soulmate, from creating a golden Honmoon even earlier. 

If it hadn’t been there, they would’ve had the Honmoon sealed before Zoey’s arm was broken again.

Mira wouldn’t have had to get stitches on her chest.

Zoey wouldn’t have dislocated her shoulder.

The list of its sins was large, after all, and it is time that it stops trying to delay its execution. Mutt knows that it did its job right when it sees a flicker of golden light on the last stop of their world tour.

Perfect, one step closer to Mira and Zoey dropping the dead weight holding them down.

Chapter Text

Jinu is particularly proud of his plan. The idea had sparked when he found a quartet of dead KPop stars a decade and some change back. Apparently, the four were a part of a band that suffered a tragic accident on stage, and had bartered with Gwi-Ma in their final moments to give their remaining vitality to their group’s maknae. He hadn’t gotten the story of how they ended up in Gwi-Ma’s domain yet, but he knows that it’s going to come up as they launch the Saja Boys.

Aseong, one of the alphas of the group, had been extremely hesitant to allow the group to join before he convinced them that the destruction of the Honmoon would allow for free travel between the mortal and demonic realms, would allow demons to come and go as they saw fit, which seemed to be exactly what the quartet had wanted to hear.

It had taken a while to argue out who would be taking which roles. Bon-Hwa, the stubborn alpha with a scent of Peppers and Red adamant that he wasn’t going to allow one of the other members to be objectified and infantilized as so often seems to be the case in the modern KPop scene, and put himself down for the identity of Baby within their band. Aseong, the other alpha, his scent of charcoal and black tea is pleasant as he takes the role of Abby for their group. Minhyuk, the group's sole beta, adopts the role of Mystery, with a claim that the character concept fits his ink and wax scent to a tee. Rae-Joon’s honey and green tea scent is costumed for the role of Romance, playing up the omega’s touchy and lovey nature amongst his pack for the audience to appreciate.

Which leaves Jinu, and the omega’s jasmine and yakgwa scent as the one taking the role of group leader. Aseong refused the role when it was offered to him, citing that his last time working as a leader had lost them someone very close to their hearts, and none of them were prepared to take up that mantle.

The hunters aren't going to know what hit them when his group makes their debut on the surface. 

*** ***

Mira feels the exhaustion that has made its home in her core heavily as she flops onto Couch when they finally get home after their last world tour performance, back where it kicked off in Seoul. She and Zoey had already grabbed the piles of snacks they’d had delivered to their home, and she was more than excited to finally take a moment to cease doing anything after the grueling year they’d had.

Which is why she feels it is very reasonable of her to groan harder than she ever has before when Rumi’s head peeks out over the back of the couch, a small smile on her face as the realization sinks into the alpha’s heart that yes, that is Rumi in her outfit for Golden , and yes that does mean that the leader was planning to kickstart their preparations for the single to release.

“Rumi, do we have to?” Zoey asks, exhaustion evident in her scent as that final syllable drags on for far longer than it should.

“The Honmoon shimmered golden tonight, girls, what better time is there for us to start the release?” Rumi’s voice comes through, a slight cheer in the beta as she holds out their own outfits for the song.

“C’mon Rumi, we just wanted to take a break, just a little one, please?” Zoey returns, her body language and scent not having stopped broadcasting the girl’s exhaustion.

“We’re just doing a teaser post, you two, so put on your outfits quickly and you can go back to watching your video compilation?” The beta tells the two alphas, placation evident in her tone as she offers them the outfits once more. “Think of it this way, once the Honmoon is golden, we can all take the break we deserve. Maybe think about a longer hiatus to recover? We just need to get this song out for the idol awards. What better stage could we possibly have to turn the Honmoon golden permanently?”

“Fine, but you owe us.” Mira answers, hand on Zoey’s back as she forces the two onto their feet.

True to Rumi’s word, they have a few pictures to post in their new single’s outfits, along with the teaser they’ve had in the works for a while. She hits post on her account, finishing her own contribution to the announcement, and takes the costume back off so quickly that she’s surprised it didn’t rip.

She and Zoey do manage to salvage their night after that, Rumi wasn’t kidding when she told them it wouldn’t take up much of their time. She doesn’t join them in that relaxation, though, too focused on putting together a list of things to get done for the taping of their music video to go alongside the single’s release. It takes a few days to get everything sorted, even with Rumi and Bobby doing their best to schedule all of their different needs.

In the meantime, she and Zoey continue their relaxation and recharging. Trips to the bathhouse, massages, and more to get their bodies back into good condition for the final stretch to the Golden Honmoon. Rumi continually refuses to join them for it, though, which makes the pleasure and relaxation twinged with guilt, their beta always citing a previous commitment when they try to pull her away from work even for a moment.

Guilt worms its way into her chest every time they try. Rumi deserves to be free of Huntr/x, to not have to carry this burden, and the singer is trying her hardest to get them to a point where she can without feeling like the work is unfinished, that people are going to get hurt because of her ‘selfish’ desire to rest. And so Mira doesn’t push as hard as she wants to, doesn’t force their guiding light, their polaris, to rest with them, shaming herself for the greed in her heart that clamors for more time with the beta. They’ve relied on her charity for too long, taking up a burden that should’ve just been Zoey and Mira’s to bear, it’s time that they set Rumi free to find the people and love that she deserves. They just have to make it to the idol awards.

She tells herself to ignore the small part of her that wishes the Honmoon hadn’t shimmered, that the light at the end of the tunnel was a little farther away, that they could walk with Rumi for a bit longer.

*** ***

Zoey can’t let this go for much longer. 

Rumi just ran off their practice stage, voice cracking as she says that she’ll be back in five.

They all knew that their leader was burning the candle at three ends, but they’d been giving her space to come to them for help, rather than forcing the issue. Apparently, though, Rumi would rather work herself to the marrow before asking for help, and it's time that the issue is forced.

Bobby calls their first live show for Golden off entirely. He knew it was a possibility, that they had just come off of the most successful world tour KPop had ever seen, that his pups had been working night and day for the fans. She and Mira find Rumi as she’s walking back down the steps, having gone up to the roof to get some fresh air. 

“Rumi, are you okay?” Zoey asks, rushing up to the beta and wrapping an arm around her, scent changing to one of protective concern.

“Yeah, I’m okay.” Rumi answers, but her voice is hoarse and cracks far too much, the noise breaking Zoey’s heart.

“No, you’re not.” Mira cuts in, her own scent of spice and smoke taking on just a hint of frustration as she continues, “You’re not okay, you need to take a break. Your voice needs a rest, and starting to promote Golden is not going to give it that.”

“But we’re so close, can’t you two feel it? We just need to keep pushing a little longer!” Rumi’s voice steadies just a tad as she works through the sentence, her face serious, aloe scent giving nothing away about her condition.

Zoey knows that she doesn’t have as good control of her scent as Rumi does, that her emotions leak into her own scent far more than the beta’s do, but its moments like this where she wishes that their leader would loosen the reins on her control just a tad, so that they could understand the singer just a little better.

“Rumi, we’re taking a break while your voice recovers. Bobby already canceled the show, the only thing we have going on tonight is drinking warm soup and relaxing, do you understand? You don’t get a say, you’re taking a break.” Mira’s tone brokers no room for argument, her scent thick with the finality of her statement.

Their leader opens her mouth to rebut, but Zoey’s fingers cover her mouth, voice cutting in quickly, “Nope, you don’t need to talk. Rest your voice, don’t argue, and relax. Understood?”

It takes a minute, but eventually their leader nods, and the trio make their way out to the car Bobby organized to take them back home. The drive is silent, Mira and Zoey squeezing Rumi between them, gently holding their leader. Walking in the door, the trio smell something delicious wafting over from their kitchen, and see that there is a spread of easy and warm foods laid out for them. Zoey feels her heart overflow with love for their manager as she looks at their dinner, the need to organize something of the kind falling off of their shoulders as they sit down to eat.

Dinner passes in relative silence, no one quite ready to talk about what they’re going to be doing while they try to speed up Rumi’s recovery.

Zoey thinks, though, that she may have found something as she scrolls through various pages on her phone, that may be just what Rumi needs.

*** ***

Mutt can feel its pulse race when Zoey proposes that they all go to a healer that she read about the next day, only waning just a tad when the alpha further explains that it's for a herbal remedy that testimonials that she read swore by.

Waking up that next morning with tension pooling in its gut, the creature readies itself for the day ahead. Hopefully, the tonic will fix its singing voice. The Golden Honmoon is so close, and Mutt knows that the constant work to reach it is wearing the hunters down. All it has to do is get them there, and then they can rest. 

It's the least they deserve, after everything they’ve given to the disgusting mongrel that they’ve allowed in their presence for far too long.

The walk to the healer’s is uneventful, but the moment they walk into the lobby, the dread that was slowly gathering in its chest turns to lead and plummets. An unassuming beta greets them as the door opens, and directs them to an office further in the back. The door closes behind them, and the trio are left to sit while the healer finishes with his last patient.

Hearing the door open, the thing’s eyes flash over to where a skinny beta is introducing himself, “Hello, I’m Healer Han, what are we here for today?”

“Her voice is struggling, and we were hoping you could help?” Zoey answers, concern in her features that makes its chest clench, knowing that it doesn’t deserve it.

“And she’s the one you need me to help?” The healer asks, fingers pointing at where the mongrel has taken a seat on the bed.

Without a word, he closes the distance between the two, and suddenly Mutt has the very distinct need to pull up every wall it has ever constructed around itself.

“And I see-” He starts, posture ready to dive into an explanation, before the wind is knocked out of his sails by the brick wall that the mutt cobbled together. “Absolutely nothing. You are walled off to the world like no one else I have ever seen before. I can’t even get anything out of your scent.”

It loses focus on the room around it, only coming to as the doors to the clinic close behind them, a box in its hands full of pouches given to them by the healer. 

Suddenly, a strange scent wafts past its nose, and it tumbles to the ground, only looking up in time to see a group of five boys walking away from the trio where they are on the ground.

Chapter Text

Mira can’t stop the gnawing feeling in her chest that something is wrong. It started a few minutes ago in that healer’s office.

After he made a comment about Rumi’s scent, the girl seemed to shut down. She only gave one word answers to the questions he asked, and Mira knows that Rumi is touchy about her scent. When Huntr/x released a perfume line based around their natural scents, Rumi had gotten in her head then too.

Part of her thinks that maybe it’s a scent defect that the girl was born with, her aloe scent doesn’t have anywhere near the emotional range that everyone else they interact with has. She hasn’t brought it up with the girl, though, because every time they talk about scents, the beta either quickly changes subjects or otherwise removes herself. Mira knows when to take a hint, and with everything that they need to help Rumi with at the moment, she’ll let that one slide.

That doesn’t mean she didn’t put a little note in her phone about the things Healer Han said, she doesn’t usually believe in the kinds of doctors that Zoey brings them to, but this one in particular seemed to at least be very good at reading people.

He sends them off with a box of tonics that Mira isn’t particularly hopeful about, but she’s willing to take any excuse to get Rumi out of there. As they close the door behind them, a group of dipshits bump into the trio, knocking them to the ground.

Eyes dart towards them, and see the most foppishly dressed boys she thinks she’s ever laid eyes on. They’re in color coordinated outfits, and Mira would absolutely laugh if she wasn’t ready to punch their lights out.

A growl slowly rumbles out of her chest, picking up volume as the group turns around to look at them. “Watch where you’re fucking going, knotheads.”

“Oh? And what are you going to do about it if we don’t?” The tallest answers, the alphas black tea and charcoal scent spiking at the challenge from Mira.

“I’ll knock your goddamn teeth in, that’s what.” Mira grinds out, fangs extending in her mouth as the tension in the air turns thick enough to touch.

A small touch on her shoulder, though, has her looking at Rumi, who absolutely doesn’t want to be there right now.

“Looks like you need to take care of something then, see you around.” The shithead mocks, waving for his group to follow them.

As the quintet leave, the shortest, some blue haired twink that looks like she could break him over her knee flips the bird at them.

Soothing the raging inferno in her chest is far from easy, but Rumi needs her more right now than she needs to knock their lights out. With an internal sigh, she turns her back to the end of the street that the boys left on and focuses her attention on their beta.

*** ***

Bon-Hwa can’t get the thought of their maknae out of his head all throughout their performance. 

Standing here, on this stage, performing for a crowd of humans feels wrong without their missing piece by their side, and Jinu is not doing a good job of making up for the loss of Bobby. The new omega is certainly a piece of work, the old fart. At least in Bon-Hwa’s not so humble opinion. Nice eye candy though.

One bright side, though, is watching the trio of hunters in the audience absolutely livid about seeing them and being able to do nothing about it. The look on the pink one’s face is absolutely going to be replaying in his mind as he laughs about it with his pack later.

That will have to wait until after the variety show, though, because Jinu had apparently worked some black magic, (Probably demonic if he’s being realistic, but sue him, he makes himself laugh), and gotten them that night's spot on the largest game show in Korea.

He is ever so thankful that his packmates love giving him their spicy food as he chugs down a bottle of hot sauce, face unchanged as the liquid slides over his tongue. Frankly, they could’ve picked something a little stronger for him, but he’s not complaining as he watches his packmates fall one by one. 

Above the stage, he catches sight of the hunters, teetering on the edge of the backdrop.

Perfect.

*** ***

Zoey really hopes that Healer Han’s tonics are going to help Rumi, their beta really needs it.

The trek back home after picking the tonics up is interrupted, however, by those guys from earlier, who are apparently doing a pop up concert to launch their band. Normally, Zoey is happy to see other bands start their careers, but these five were just absolutely the worst, real jerks in her opinion.

“Did you two see that?” Zoey hears from behind her, and turns to see Rumi pointing at the band on stage.

“See what?” She asks, confusion on her face not quite knowing what their leader is referring to.

“I think they have patterns.” Comes the answer, a hesitation on Rumi’s face as she says the words.

She feels a wild sense of vindication when her eyes catch on the patterns on the lead singer, his smug grin an eyesore as the group, apparently called the Saja Boys, finishes their song. This band is made up of demons, which is certainly a first in Zoey’s experience.

Demons are never this coordinated though, at least the ones that she’s fought haven’t been. Why is Gwi-Ma sending a demon boy band now? How is it supposed to stop them from reaching the Golden Honmoon.

Her question answers itself as the final note rings out, and the trio watch as the Honmoon ripples around them, weakened by the adoration that the crowd felt towards the monsters on stage.

That’s what Gwi-Ma is planning.

Mira grabs the other two girls by the shoulders and pulls them into an alley, concern in her scent matched by the words, “Did you two feel that? The band played a single song and they weakened the Honmoon measurably. We have to stop them.”

“Yeah, I felt it. That leader dingus said that they were going to be on a game show tonight, do you think we should try and catch them afterwards? Can’t do it in public where people would see, but maybe they’ll be more isolated tonight?” Zoey answers, her own thoughts spilling out of her mouth as she scrambles to find a solution.

The two hunters turn to Rumi, and the look of devastation on the girl’s face settles in Zoey’s stomach like a stone. All the beta had wanted was for the Honmoon to turn gold, to reach the goal that their trio had been striving towards for so long already, and here these boys came out of nowhere to undo all of their hard work. 

Zoey feels her determination to kill them only grow with every moment she has to see this look on Rumi’s face. No one gets to hurt Rumi, not on Zoey’s watch.

Rushing back home, tonics in hand, doesn’t even wind the trio who are oh so familiar with pulling the Honmoon tight around them. 

Arriving back home, they hear noise in the kitchen and see Bobby’s gentle form slouched on one of the chairs but perking up as they walk into the room.

“Hey girls, didn’t hear you come in. How was your day?” His voice questions, something in his tone that feels slightly fragile as the words come out.

“It was okay, we saw some stuff, and apparently there’s a new band debuting at the moment.” Mira answers, her voice casual as she pulls the dishes out of the oven where they were being kept warm.

“Oh, I think I may know who you’re talking about. Is it the Saja Boys?” The question seems casual, but there’s something in his demeanor that isn’t quite sitting right with Zoey.

“Yeah, that’s the one. Their concert was in one of the plazas we passed on the way back, why do you ask?” She says, probing to see if there’s anything more Bobby feels like sharing.

“No reason, just thought they were familiar, that’s all.” 

Zoey knows that Bobby isn’t telling them everything, but the man has done so much for the three of them, and if he doesn’t want to talk about it, then she’s just going to let it lie for now.

The rest of their meal/meeting passes by quickly, going over how Rumi’s recovery was going, which events had been pushed back to when, and a myriad of other issues that doesn’t send Zoey’s head spinning only because she’s been doing this for years.

Walking their manager to the elevator, she doesn’t stop the quiet words that bubble up, “Bobby, if you need anything, we can help. I know you’re always the one doing stuff for us, and we really appreciate it, but we can be there for you too.”

“Thanks, Zoey, but I’ll be okay.” His scent has a twinge of melancholy to it as the doors close behind him.

Meeting dealt with, the trio find themselves reminded that they had something they were going to do tonight, assuming everything goes according to plan. One of the benefits to having Mira as a member of Huntr/x is that she made sure they all had proper protective gear for using her motorbikes. Turns out, the overlap between protective gear to prevent becoming a meat crayon and a meat paste/shishkebab is rather significant. It doesn't hurt that the outfits look phenomenal on them, either.

Donning their gear, the trio head out into the night, the Saja Boys in their sights.

*** ***

Mutt was not expecting to have to do things tonight, which was perfect, given that the ICE is starting to wear off after the last two weeks.

It would really rather this demon group not pop up today of all days, but it is also used to not getting its way. Without a complaint, it leads the hunters towards the studio where the Saja Boy’s guest appearance is being filmed.

Hearing the noise of the crowd inside laughing turns the mongrel's stomach. Those poor people don’t know that they’re in the presence of demons, the disgusting creatures playing at being human.

Footsteps quiet, the trio slink their way into the backstage, blending into the shadows as they close the distance to the stage. Carefully, they peek over the backdrop of the stage to monitor the Saja Boys and ensure that they didn’t run away.

That plan is quickly dashed, however, when a stage light shines directly onto their hiding forms at the back of the stage.

“And here are our special guests! Everyone give a warm welcome to Huntr/x!” The black haired omega on stage gestures his arms up to their hiding spot with the flair befitting a game show.

Noise erupts from the crowd as a set of slides is brought onto set from the other side of the stage, and the trio are forced to use the terrible plastic death trap to join the Saja Boys on stage. The creature knows that Mira is absolutely furious with the look on the leader’s face, and hopes that there will be a safe outlet for that anger soon. Mira’s never taken her anger out on the mutt, but the tiny part of the mutt that is waking up to the drugs wearing off remembers when that was true of Celine too.

It’s able to spin some story about how they’re here to congratulate the boys on their debut single doing so well on the charts, how they’re so excited to see such fresh talent, and a myriad of other things it doesn’t even remember past when the words leave its mouth.

The second those curtains are drawn on the bowing forms of the bands on stage movement explodes from both sides of the stage, chasing the boys out of the studio and into the street before barely seeing them duck into a bathhouse on the other side of the plaza.

Crashing through the doors after the demons, the trio feel their hackles rise even further as demons begin to pour in through tears in the Honmoon, but it caught the scent.

Trusting the hunters with the horde in the room proper, it explodes out of the room and along the trail of the demon’s yakgwa and jasmine scent. Tearing through the halls, it corners the monster in a dead end.

Seeing the pathetic creature on the floor, it calls on the Honmoon for its weapon, the sword coalescing in its hand as starlight drips from the blade. Bringing the edge to bear over the demon and swinging down, it hits a wooden barrel, the demon having teleported to the other side of the room in a hazy puff.

“Come on, hunter, what’s the harm? We’re just trying to share our music, you don’t have to fight us like this.” Words ooze like honey from the omega’s lips, a smile that wouldn’t melt butter peeking out from behind.

Mutt doesn’t even bother replying, dashing back towards the demon, sword raised, when a pain wracks through its body.

Guess the ICE was a little closer to flushing out of its system than it thought.

The demon across from it takes a chunk out of its shirt, the mongrel having only just dodged in time, but not quite soon enough it seems, as the demon asks, “How do you have those patterns, hunter?”

Chapter Text

Aseong smells a change in the air behind him, and knows that Jinu did something dumb. Pivoting on his foot, he shoots over his shoulder to his three sensible bandmates, “Jinu did something, I’m going to bail him out, and we’ll catch up.”

Minjyuk grunts in affirmation, herding the other two boys out the back of the bathhouse, ink and wax scent wafting past with just a twinge of exasperation.

The tall alpha closes the gap between him and the old geezer, tracing the connection between Gwi-Ma and the singer. Rounding a corner he expects to see Jinu in some kind of fight with the hunters, only to instead be faced with seeing patterns on a hunters arm. A hunter that he can sense is connected to the honmoon, has patterns. What the fuck.

Patterns are how Gwi-Ma spreads his influence into demons, their bodies changed to allow for the coursing of magic in their veins, and those are not small patterns. More importantly, how does he not sense Gwi-Ma in her veins, how is she not caught in his grasp. Is it something to do with the Honmoon?

(Is it something he and his pack can do?)

Both demons are frozen as his footsteps slow, though that changes as he arrives. Jinu turns to see him, shock written in the omega’s face in a way Aseong had never seen before. The elder demon had always been collected around him and the other demons in his pack, years of experience having long since built up behind his eyes.

He does not want to deal with this right now. Without a word, he grabs Jinu by the waist, slings him over his shoulder, and bolts out of the room after the other Saja Boys. 

That hunter’s entire deal is something for him to deal with when his mouth is not still on fire from chugging literal hot sauce.

Game shows are fucking bullshit.

*** ***

Mutt stands frozen in place watching the demon’s fleeing back, still reeling from the shock of its patterns being exposed for those creatures to see.

A scream sounds from the bathhouse, and mutt quickly ties one of the smaller nearby towels around its arm, white slowly changing as blood creeps into the fabric. Knot secured, it summons the borrowed blade and lunges through the doors back towards the hunters.

The sight before it stops the blood in its chest and the hum of the Honmoon in its veins.

Zoey is standing in front of Mira, the taller alpha clutching at her side, blood spilling past her fingertips. Demons surround the hunters, bearing down on the two as Mira’s chest rises and falls in wet coughs.

“Rumi! Help!” Screams tear their way out of Zoey’s mouth, the girl not having noticed the mongrel’s arrival.

This is all its fault. It shouldn’t have left these two behind. It should have fought with them, they were meant to fight in a trio, and the abomination stole the best version of that from the hunters, it needs to make up for that gap in every way it can.

And it failed.

Heart stopped in its chest, the creature tears through the demons in front of it, closing the distance to Mira’s slouched form.

Its blade sears through the demons, creatures set ablaze with the power of the Honmoon as the hound picks off its fellow demons. Screams ring in its ears, and ash singes its nose as the Honmoon’s will is made manifest by its debtor.

Monster after monster throws itself between the hound and its handlers, trying to keep the hunters isolated and easier to finish off. Mongrel, seeing this attempt, barrels through every creature, ignoring the sensation of pain in its back as it nears.

The younger hunter’s head turns towards the commotion, and hope finds its way onto the girl’s face as the mongrel plants its feet between the demons and the hunters.

“Help Mira.” Mutt’s voice is hard, brokering no room for argument as it thins the herd of demons around the trio.

Zoey pulls enough energy from the Honmoon to seal the wound in Mira’s side, her connection to the Honmoon burning as power courses through the conduit. Skin red and angry, Mira wrenches herself off the wall, pike materializing in her hands as she rejoins the fray.

Huntr/x are able to dispatch the rest of the demons in quick succession once they’re all working together, creatures falling to blades of stardust one after another.

Without a word, the trio make their way back to the hunters’ home, and Mutt feels its body teetering on the edge of a crash.

It brushes Zoey off with some comment about how Mira needed her attention more than it did, and closed the kennel door behind it. The second it hears the lock click, it bolts into the bathroom and scrambles to pull a vial out of its stash.

Shaking hands pull the ICE into the syringe, and it injects the concoction into its leg.

Five hours later, according to the small digital clock on the counter, it pulls itself out of the heap it fell into on the floor and sets about its getting ready routine.

It wasn’t going to get to sleep before the next day, not enough time for mongrels to rest when there is the Golden Honmoon to reach.

*** ***

Jinu doesn’t quite know what to think about the hunter with Gwi-Ma’s brands. 

They weren’t flowing with power as the patterns do in all the demons he’s met before, and he needs to find out how she dammed that flood, his boys depend on it.

Putting together a plan takes a week or so, trying to cobble together some method of investigating  the disconnect, seeing if it can be replicated. It all starts with the note he gives to Derpy, the adorable glue sniffer to deliver to Rumi.

He isn’t expecting her to show up, not on this first attempt at least, which is how he justifies the undignified yelp he lets out when the bird lands on his shoulder, the unexpected sensation of claws digging into his flesh.

The warning was necessary, though, because it means he remembers to set the mannequin up before Derpy gets back with the hunter, his joke introduction ruined as the girl’s sword slices through the plastic neck of his standee.

“I can’t say I was expecting a warm welcome, but I will say that I hadn’t thought you would be gunning for my head on a silver platter quite this soon, hunter. After all, I haven’t done anything about knowing you bear his marks, have I?” Jinu can’t help but release joy into his scent, the words spilling out of his mouth bringing a smile to his face.

“You’re a demon, a danger to the Honmoon, and a black mark on the world. How could it be anything else?” The hunter swings for him once more, rage evident in her mannerism.

“Come on now, sweetheart, is that any way to talk to your senior after I’ve done you a favor? Our kind has to stick together.” His scent is rife with mirth as he ribs the younger omega.

“ Our kind? I have nothing that matters in common with you, wretch.” Rumi has yet to stop swinging her blade at Jinu, and he can’t help the way it reminds him of a pup fighting with an older packmate. It’s honestly adorable.

“Really, sweetie? Nothing at all? Even outside of your patterns? Come on, be honest, I won’t tell.” He slowly releases a scent as the words pass his lips, one that only an omega would recognize or produce.

“There is nothing we have in common.” Steel lines her voice, and the aloe scent remains unchanged beneath his nose.

He can’t help but feel like he’s missing something, and that feeling pops in his chest as he realizes her inner omega hasn’t reacted to anything he’s done over the course of the meeting, no wonder she’s still fired up. How is she supposed to know it's in jest if her omega isn’t noticing the cues. Not unpacking that can of worms tonight.

“If that’s what you want to believe, dear.” Teasing this girl just comes so easy to him, its honestly adorable. He’s about to move forward with asking how she keeps Gwi-Ma’s influence away, if she even knows, when the brands on his skin burn. The king is summoning him to court.

Without another word, he teleports away, diving back through the Honmoon into the realm of demons.

It’s never been good for servants to leave the king waiting.

*** ***

Bobby knows that he’s projecting, but he can’t help the way his heart sees the men he loves in those new Saja Boys. Abby, Baby, Mystery, and Romance remind him of those men he had planned to start a family with, but lost far too soon.

Huntr/x have been trading off weekly performance metrics with the band, and while he loves his girls, some nights he can’t stop his finger before it hits play on their album, and their voices take him back to bittersweet memories.

Leaving that memory behind in the elevator as the doors ding open into his pups’ den, he launches into their latest discussion on metrics that the group is chasing, what they can do to beat out the Saja Boys for the next week, and a million other things to cover with the girls.

Their dinner is interspersed every so often by a pang in his chest as he thinks about how his loves would have fit so nicely into the meal, playing off of his pups, helping him guide them in the world of KPop, other mentors that he could trust with their hearts.

He curses that he ever thought that Celine could be that for the girls.

Giving them the details of their upcoming week, the fan signing they have on that Friday, and catching up with them on how Rumi’s recovery is going all flow around the table in a rhythm that he has grown used to. 

Work talk completes, and the trio fall quiet around Bobby, the rest of the dinner passing in relative silence.

*** ***

Minjyuk hates the part of himself that wishes Bobby was here with them. The part that thinks of how Bobby always knew how to bring up someone’s spirits after they got rough news, or had a bad performance, or anything else.

The part that thinks Bobby would know how to help Jinu as he writes from nightmares sent by Gwi-Ma.

He wonders where their maknae ended up. If he moved on, if he ever found those pups they had all wanted to raise together. He hopes Bobby has found other people to love, the man has never done well alone. And maybe, he wishes that he was there with his fellow beta.

Laying there, holding Jinu close, he hopes that the omega will wake up soon, that he’ll get a chance to soothe his distressed scent into the pleasant home that had come to join their little broken pack.

Maybe, once this is over, they can find Bobby and introduce the two. Bring their old love into their pack once more, if he’s open to the idea at least.

They do look a little different now.

*** ***

Mira wishes she’d gotten more sleep last night. It's only a little wish, though, because Zoey had gotten rather pent up over the past week and some change before their fansign, and needed some help with some stress relief ..

Sometimes she’s shocked she still has flesh on her after Zoey has her way. Those thoughts aren’t particularly helpful at the moment, and she is desperately trying to push them out of her head as the trio finish their morning routine before heading out to the fansign Bobby had organized for that week.

The drive is relatively quiet, the trio trying to hype themselves up to make it a good experience for the fans, even though they’ve been far from pleased with everything that the Saja Boys have been up to over the last few weeks.

Doors swing open and the fans filter into the queue, security briefing them on rules as the spots fill in. The front of the line makes their way out of the maze, five individuals in sleeping bags who seem very dedicated to making it to the front in those bags. It’s always funny when fans reference Mira’s met gala outfit.

She is significantly less pleased as the scent of those fucking Saja Boys hits her nose right before the sleeping bags drop to reveal the band.

Launching over the table and mauling them seems sorely tempting right now, but unfortunately the rules of polite society or whatever else Bobby would call them say that she can’t.

Looking at the man, she sees him making the exact face he always has when he’s panicking and trying to be professional through it.

God, her day just got so much more complicated.

Chapter Text

Zoey hadn’t expected today to turn into a dumpster fire quite this quickly, but seeing the smug faces of those Saja Boys revealing themselves at their fan signing has her inner alpha screaming at the invasion of a rival pack into their space, this time they were supposed to be able to spend with their fans.

“Table please!” She hears from their manager, the beta looking frazzled as these uninvited idols join the event. His hands continue to gesture and the venue staff rush out with another table and chairs for the Saja Boys. 

As the table is set up, half of the fans in line shift over to wait for the demons instead, and Zoey feels the simmering rage in her chest tick up just that much more. Before she or Mira can think to call security or anything else, Rumi announces, “We’re doing a joint signing! Why don’t you bring the table over here!” And then, slightly under her voice and out the side of her mouth to the other members of their trio, “We need all of the fans for the Honmoon, remember?”

The staff close the distance between the two tables, and then the Saja Boys are pulling chairs in between Zoey and her girls, the demons trying to separate her from her girls when there’s nothing she can do about it. Mystery and Baby take up either side of the alpha, and it takes every drop of will within her soul to stop the challenge her inner alpha is desperate to issue.

She looks down the table, sees Jinu cozying up to Rumi, and suddenly the rage that had been building in her chest turns to embers in the face of the new raging inferno. The smug fucking omega is smiling at their Rumi .

Ready to launch herself between the two, she’s snapped out of the rage by the fans finally reaching the tables and an adorable little kid holding up a poster for her to sign. As her signature dries on the piece and the child walks away, she pulls out her phone to message Mira.

Zoey🐢

Do you see how close that demon is trying to get to Rumi?

❣️My Moon ❣️

I know, that thing better keep its grubby paws off of her.

Zoey🐢

We’ll keep an eye on him, right?

❣️My Moon ❣️

If he makes a move, this event is over and he’s dead, PR be damned.

Zoey🐢

Maybe we *don’t* start a PR scandal right now, do you see Bobby?

❣️My Moon ❣️

I didn’t, why?

Zoey🐢

He seems really worked up about something right now

❣️My Moon ❣️

Fuck, you’re right. 

Fine, I’ll be on my best behavior.

The messages bounce between the two of them as they find space to while signing things for fans and answering questions. Baby and Mystery from either side of her smiling all the while like Zoey isn’t dying to rip out their throats.

She grumbles to herself as she greets fans, trying desperately to keep her frustration and rage out of her scent, trying not to scare off the fans that came all this way to see them. Think turtle thoughts, think turtle thoughts.

Her mantra is broken by a shout from Rumi as the girl announces, “Everyone give it up for Jinu!”

Every single thought she had been fighting down erupts to the surface as she turns to face the patterned monster that tricked Rumi .

This event may not be ending without her Shin-Kal seeing the light of day.

*** ***

Rae-Joon wishes he didn’t recognize the voice of the man who called for another table. 

That the voice didn’t make his pack all look over at the source, only to see their maknae, all grown up. He looked so healthy. He’d finally been able to stop forcing himself to match the beauty standards expected of an idol, and the omega is eternally grateful that their missing piece had been able to leave those bathrooms and the counting behind.

Bobby just looked more full of life than they’d ever gotten to see him. He looked more comfortable in his own skin, instructing the venue personnel to bring out another table for the Saja Boys.

Passing by the beta on the way to his chair, Rae-Joon’s nose catches on Bobby’s apple and cinnamon scent, the pheromones having gained some complexity over the years but still having that same core that he had fallen in love with. If only he’d been there as it changed.

He lowers himself into one of the seats next to the pink hunter, Mira, and tries to get his mind off of his lost heart. Looking down the line at the other members of Bobby’s pack, though, he finds that he’s not the only one struggling. Each of their presences in the Weave tinged with the loss of their beta, of the missing part of their whole.

At least he managed to find those pups he wanted. Rae-Joon just wished that maybe he hadn’t picked the hunters out specifically, that he didn’t have to fight the pups that Bobby had brought himself to care for, to protect, to love.

The signing passes in a slight daze, the omega trying to keep his mind off of the love he cannot have again with any distraction he can, but nothing seems to be working.

Nothing, that is, until the omega hunter, Weave flowing through and around her just as it does for Jinu and himself, stands up to cheer for Jinu. The shock of the action stuns him for just a moment, only collecting himself as the two alpha hunters ever so softly start to secrete aggressive pheromones.

Getting his boys out of there happens rather quickly after that, Jinu making up some story about a prior engagement as the quintet file out of the room quickly, the alpha hunters glaring daggers into their retreating forms.

As soon as they are all clear of the building, hidden in a forgotten alleyway, they dive back through the Honmoon into the demonic realm, landing in their den.

Jinu opens his mouth, a question on his tongue and in his scent, “Did you all know Huntr/x’s manager?”

Bon-Hwa is the only one able to answer, the alpha’s voice cracking as he says, “Yeah. That’s our Bobby.”

Jinu’s face falls, turns to the blue haired alpha, and gently asks, “Do you want to talk about it?”

Rae-Joon knows that no one else can bring themselves to voice what they did, but someone has to. “We were in a boyband with him, but you already knew that. The part you didn’t know is that we weren’t exactly under the best management. Aseong made a deal with Gwi-Ma to get rid of them, but as you know, that isn’t really a blessing. The stage caught fire, management died, and we all were hospitalized.”

The words are catching in his throat, reliving the last moments he spent with his pack whole and hale, before he forces them past the barrier trying to erect itself in his neck, “Us four woke up, Bobby didn’t. And then Gwi-Ma had another offer. We all join the ranks of his servants, and in exchange he would heal Bobby. Death was coming for everyone in that room either way, but at least if we took it, Bobby would get to live on. He deserved to be happy.”

“Even if we couldn’t be there to see it.”

*** ***

Mira can’t stop the way her fangs start to peek out as Rumi sends off a cheer for that fucking demon who is trying to take her from them . The way the omega had been dangling off of Rumi the entire signing sending tremors of rage up and down the alpha’s spine.

It takes everything she has in her to not go chasing after the demons as they leave the signing, too much time is left for Huntr/x to up and leave too without disappointing the fans. The next three hours pass in a haze, Mira only slightly calmed by the removal of the demons from her vicinity, from her territory.

Thinking about those demons between fans, however, gives Mira an idea. What if they wrote a song to expose the Saja Boys, to fight against the positive image the disgusting creatures were trying to create. Nothing with patterns could be good, after all, and it's the hunters’ job to protect the world from the creatures branded by Gwi-Ma.

Sending the idea to Zoey through their link, the general concept and purpose of the song travelling between the two. It takes the younger alpha a moment to gather her thoughts, but the confirmation from the maknae is just as strong as Mira’s conviction.

Leaving the fan signing behind, they return home. Rumi heads off to her room, the long day having gotten to her, at least according to the beta’s words. Mira and Zoey, though, aren’t complaining. Their leader needs rest, and her disappearance gives them time to head into the studio to potentially start working on their new song. 

Churning through concept after concept, the hunters eventually settle on calling the song Takedown , and the lyrics flow from there. It takes a few days to put together a beat, the lyrics, choreography, and everything else, but the duo know that it is absolutely going to rock Rumi’s world when they show it to her.

Mira is also rather proud that they manage to put together such a phenomenal single without needing Rumi to work herself to the bone for it like they had in the past. She needed the chance to rest her voice and body before the upcoming idol awards after all.

*** ***

Mutt closes the door behind it, heart screaming as the ICE in her system had already mostly started to filter out. Emotions crawled their way out of the box in her head, and it can’t stop the overwhelming feelings from flooding her body.

This dose took even less time to wear off, it’s getting to the point where injections are every 10 days, rather than the two weeks they had remained constant at for more than a month, her previous dose breaking its skin on the night of the fan signing. She pulls her next dose out of its stash, and welcomes the feeling of oblivion as the soothing liquid smothers the sensations crawling around in its chest.

A loud crash startles the creature out of its stupor, only to look through the bathroom door into the kennel and see a blue tiger being pecked on the head by some kind of bird in the morning light. With shaky limbs, it gathers its feet beneath itself and slinks behind the two intruders.

Neither notice, however. The tiger is too focused on an overturned bin, and the bird is seemingly assaulting the creature every time its paws fail to right the container. Honestly, it's kind of pathetically adorable. 

With a gentle grace, the abomination slides around the two animals and rights the garbage in front of the tiger. Seeing its face, the tiger’s tongue lolls out of its mouth, a letter in a plastic resealable bag slipping downwards and onto the floor.

Mutt grabs the bag, still dripping with saliva, and opens the top. It pulls out an envelope and reveals the content.

Hunter,

We Saja Boys have a question for you. 

How in the Weave do your brands not have Gwi-Ma’s influence in them? What trick are you using to free yourself of his chains? Is it something that can be taught? Is it something we can learn? 

We need to know, please tell us.

• The Saja Boys

Why on earth would those monsters send this? What does it even mean? Do its patterns serve some additional danger that it wasn’t yet aware of? Has it been an even bigger threat to Mira and Zoey than the abomination previously thought?

Looking into the bag as though it has some kind of answers, it sees another envelope, this one unsealed. With shaking hands, it grabs a pen and writes.

Demons,

What do you mean my patterns do not bear Gwi-Ma’s influence? They mar both skin and soul, a taint on the world around them. More importantly, why are you asking these questions?

It seals the envelope and replaces it in the bag, before giving the plastic back to the tiger and watching as it slowly sinks into the floor. Just as the portal seals behind the idiot, a knock sounds at its door.

“Hey, Rumi, do you have a bit? We have something to show you!” Zoey’s voice calls through the wood, her upbeat tone indicating that it's something the alpha is particularly proud of.

Throwing on a hoodie and sweats, it leaves its kennel to witness the hunter’s latest creation.

Chapter Text

Mira’s nose picks up on Zoey’s joy before the lyricist walks into the studio. Her love’s mood is absolutely infectious, and the taller alpha can’t help the excitement from twisting in her gut as the other two members of Huntr/x walk through the door.

“What exactly did you want to show me, Zoey?” Their leader asks, taking a seat in one of the chairs nearby.

“So, we need to win the idol awards and permanently seal the Honmoon, right?” Zoey starts, and both of her bandmates see in her body language that another Zoey diatribe is coming. Mira feels her heart overflow with love as her soulmate launches into the explanation she’d been cobbling together.

“And Golden, it's great, right? But the notes are a little out of your range, and that’s not super great for your voice, so I figured, what if we made another new single to debut at the show? One that would knock the socks off of the audience, make them realize how much better than those demons we hunters are, right? And Mira had this idea about a diss song for the Saja Boys, and thirteen bajillion notebooks later we have this. Mira, hit it!” Zoey gestures wildly to Mira with that final command, and she obligingly presses play.

The speakers blaze to life with their demo for Takedown , Mira and Zoey having taken turns filling in for what Rumi’s lines would be in the final edition for this version of the song.

It’s times like these that Mira wishes that maybe she could get a better read on Rumi’s scent, that they didn’t have to wait until the end of the song for the girl to share what she thought, but their leader’s face is as unreadable and unchanging as her scent.

Final notes fade out into quiet, and Rumi starts speaking, “That’s so great you two! It’s definitely the right song for sealing the Golden Honmoon!”

Mira feels a flutter in her chest at the praise, Rumi’s face featuring the small smile that she’s grown to love, that features in the quiet dreams about her future, that takes the place of whoever the third hunter was supposed to be. That hadn’t shown up for them like Rumi had, like she does .

“Perfect! So these ones are going to be your lines, and Mira already has some ideas for the choreography that we want to try, and this is going to be spectacular.” Zoey leans over the table, fingers pointing at different points in the lyrics that Rumi will sing.

“Well then, let's get started, we’ve got a lot to get done before the Idol Awards.” The tallest alpha starts, guiding her girls out of the room and into their practice space.

This song was going to kill at the idol awards.

*** ***

Zoey is so glad that Rumi likes their new song. The girl has been pulling away ever since her voice started acting up, but she shows up without fail to every single practice for their performance, and at this point Zoey will take any time she can get with the girl.

Part of her thinks that maybe Rumi is starting to distance herself from them so that once the Honmoon is sealed, she can leave the world of hunters behind, leave this chapter of her life in the past in a way fate will never allow Zoey and Mira to. The part of her chest that screams she isn’t what people want gnaws on the thought hungrily, running its teeth along every single thing she has done that could make Rumi want to leave her behind like everyone else has.

In these practices, though, that gnawing ceases, even just for a moment, as their essences harmonize into a single performance, movements and voices flowing into one another perfectly as they glide through her lyrics. Her lyrics that touch Rumi’s lips. 

Her lyrics that she is jealous of, even though she shouldn’t be.

Catching their breath and taking a water break as they finish the rehearsal on the Idol Awards stage, the trio sit in silence, feet dangling off the platform they will be performing on the next night. She takes a quiet comfort in this moment, just her and the two women that she’s spent more than half of a decade working side by side with, scents so familiar she could pick them out anywhere mingling in the open air of the stage.

The Honmoon ripples, the sensation of an about to form tear slamming into her senses, and the trio jolt to their feet. Pulling the Honmoon’s strength into themselves, the trio bolt out of the arena, whizzing past Bobby as he walks up to where they had been mere moments ago.

Journeying across the city on foot is never fun, but they don’t have time to use anything other than enhanced sprinting to get to the tear in time. As the rupture grows closer, the trio realize that it’s going to be on the train tracks over the water.

Feet pound against the ground one last time as they leap from the cliff and land on the roof of the train, impact jolting their frames as the metal of the train hits their soles. Without taking a second, the trio dash from where they landed to the front of the train, eyes trained on the tear forming above the tracks.

Distance closes between the tear and the train, each moment bringing the passengers closer to the danger at hand. As the train is about to reach the rift, demons begin to pour through, quickly increasing in number as the rupture grows.

Without a word, each of the girls summons her blade and launches herself at the demons. Teamwork second nature to the trio at this point, flying around and through one another, they slowly start to thin the horde of demons trying to snatch away the human passengers.

Practiced grace flows through them, Honmoon powering their every move as demons fade to dust, but that grace is slowly worn away by the tide of demonic creatures that never cease to flow, surrounding the hunters on all sides.

Her knife finds its way into the neck of the last demon as the train pulls into the station, her breath returning as they bask in their victory.

Jumping off of the train with the last traces of the Honmoon’s influence, the trio land in front of the subway doors, only to find the cars empty of passengers. The silence only broken by the numerous phones still playing Soda Pop on their tinny speakers.

Every wound, every scratch, every puncture on Zoey’s body makes itself acutely known to her mind, the throbbing in her neck only matched by the crack in her heart. 

She wasn’t enough.

Again.

These demons had taken hundreds of innocents into the land of Gwi-Ma.

Mira’s voice is low, scent tainted with aggression as she growls, “We’re going to make the demons pay for this.”

And Zoey’s very soul rings with agreement at the declaration.

*** ***

Mutt doesn’t quite know what is curdling in its stomach, but the trip back to the hunters’ home is marked by a rolling and churning that it doesn’t quite know how to place, but is all that it can think about.

As the elevator dings, doors opening to the apartment at the top of Huntr/x’s tower, its voice lets out, “I have to go do some paperwork for tomorrow, are you two going to be good patching each other up?”

“Yeah, we should be okay. Are you sure you don’t want help with yours, Rumi?” Zoey asks, her scent tinged with an undeserved worry in Mutt’s nose.

“No, I’ve got it, don’t worry about me.” It answers, feet already taking it to its kennel.

The door closes behind it, and the mongrel’s thoughts begin to wander. Apparently, the Saja Boys are trying to find a way to remove the patterns from themselves, to build a barrier between themselves and Gwi-Ma that can never be overcome.

Mutt knows that the only way to have that happen is to be on the right side of the Golden Honmoon, which is somewhere that a demon will never be welcome. It has known that for a long time.

The Golden Honmoon.

The goal it has been working towards.

The end of the road.

The time of its execution.

In this quiet silence, the mongrel finds itself glad that it will be completing the Honmoon alongside Mira and Zoey. The two hunters have been kind to the mutt in ways that it has never deserved, and it knows, at least in part, that they are likely to miss it when the time comes. That’s why it’s been distancing, why time is being dedicated to those two working together and not the trio of Huntr/x.

It is so happy that they were able to make a song together, that the mongrel didn’t need to do anything for the creation of the piece that could seal the Honmoon. Demons break everything they touch, after all.

But maybe, Mira and Zoey will finally be able to build something worthy of being proud of once it is gone.

It’s going to be gone.

Despite having lived its entire life knowing that this day would come, looking down the edge of that blade is so much harder than it had ever thought possible. Takedown does still need to be performed, its truth needs to be broadcast to the world. Demons are not worthy of the space that they take or the air that they breath after all.

Mutt doesn’t think that it can perform the song tomorrow, however. Not in its current state, at least, though there is something that could help with that.

Something that could numb the shock of dying at the hands of the hunters it has grown to love.

*** ***

Jinu can’t help but feel curious as the tiger’s portal opens in front of him. 

Every single time before now, the crow has given him a signal to indicate if they would be getting a response from Rumi in their correspondence, but he received no such thing this time.

Tiger walks through the portal, and on his back is the still form of the omega hunter, unbreathing and unmoving. His heart stops in his chest at seeing this pup so close to the edge of death, only the barest sense of the Honmoon’s Weave in her soul.

He doesn’t remember screaming for help, but he knows he must have when Aseong bolts into the room, eyes darting for the problem, only to be stopped dead in his tracks by the sight in front of him. The rest of his pack follow closely behind, though Bon-Hwa is the only one to close the distance between the door and Rumi.

“What happened?” Rae-Joon’s voice sounds, the tone so much quieter than the omega had ever been before.

“I don’t know, but she needs help.” The blue haired alpha answers, “We have to help her, she’s Bobby’s pup.”

The three stragglers close the remaining distance, all huddled around the unconscious form of the demonic hunter.

“We need to strengthen her connection. Hunters are able to pull the Honmoon’s influence into themselves, its power in the Weave fortifying its hunters for and healing its hunters from the challenges that they face. There is something in her system that needs to be flushed, but the only way we can do that is by empowering her.” Jinu answers, the experience and knowledge gathered around and in the Weave benefiting the group at the moment.

“How much do we need to give her, Jinu?” Minjyuk asks, words and scent laced with fear.

“Everything. She needs everything we have, and she needs it now.” And that answer ripples into their cores. They know what they have to do, and they know what it will cost.

Silence looms over the room as the quintet pull threads from their souls and attach them to Rumi’s, a demon's sense of essence far too helpful in the process for their own comfort. The last string is tied, and the omega’s form alights with energy, the Weave pouring through her body in a light show none of the demons have ever seen before.

With his last independent breath, Jinu whispers, “Tiger, get her out of here, please.” 

The surge of power from his patterns overtakes his mind, and Jinu knows no more.

Chapter Text

Mira stirs in her bed, Zoey wrapped around her chest like a barnacle, with an odd sense in her stomach. The day of the Idol Awards always makes her a little nervous, though, each year the pressure mounting higher and higher as they continue their undefeated streak on that stage.

Groaning, she slowly disentangles herself from her clingy love and pads out into the kitchen. Eating doesn’t sound particularly appealing at the moment, but they’re going to need something to get through their performance tonight.

Flipping on the light in the kitchen, she pulls out the ingredients for their breakfast, and sets to work. Takedown plays in the background to get the song fully in her bones, and she twirls around the kitchen, cleaning as she goes.

Her humming is interrupted by the ding of their elevator, and Rumi steps out, looking groggy and disheveled.

Strange, she didn’t think she’d gotten a notification that someone had left last night when she checked her phone, but she probably just missed it.

“Morning Rumi.” She calls out, gesturing to the pan in her hands, “I’m making breakfast, do you want any?”

“I’ll be okay, I ate earlier,” The beta replies before heading back to her room, “I’m going to get ready to head out, call me if you need anything?”

“Will do, before you go would you go check on Zoey? She’s in our room, I don’t know if she’s up yet.” Mira asks, turning back to the stove with her pan.

“Got it,” And without another word, Rumi disappears into the hallway leading to their rooms. 

A few minutes later, Zoey stumbles into the kitchen, still blinking sleep from her eyes as the maknae is led by her nose to the breakfast table. They eat in relative silence, the sheer weight of their task today bearing down on their shoulders.

It’s time to seal the demons on the other side of the Honmoon for good.

She tells her girls that she’s going to take her own ride to the venue today, she wants some time to herself before their performance. 

Zoey knows everything that she’ll need to bring for Mira, its already packed up and ready to go near the elevator, left there as the taller alpha reaches their garage. Picking out the keys to her Kawasaki H2, she swings a leg over the beast and tears out of the garage.

The route she’s planning to take is far from direct, giving her plenty of time to think, even if she can hear the pop from the supercharger as she revs the engine. 

One of her favorite parts about being a hunter is that she can use the Honmoon to enhance her reflexes, it makes travelling at 300kph significantly easier.

Wind rushes past her ears, and the world melts away beyond her cone of vision, dodging and weaving through traffic with a practiced ease, Mira finds her heart drifting to Rumi.

The girl has been even more distant lately, and Mira hates that she can’t do anything to stop it. The girl is ready to leave this dark chapter of her story behind her, to leave the midnight fights for the fate of the world, the bloody bandages the next morning, and everything else behind. Mira knows she isn’t happy about it herself, but at least she got one of her soulmates out of the deal.

Rumi hasn’t gotten that.

She hasn’t gotten that quiet companionship in her chest, hasn’t gotten the knowledge that another person’s soul is so perfectly molded to fit with yours, to hold you in all the ways that you need.

Frankly, her therapist is shocked how well Zoey is able to help soothe Mira’s worries, to ease the nights where she wakes up screaming.

And Rumi doesn’t have that. 

Their leader is going to leave, and Mira needs to kill the selfish part of her that wants to keep the beta close anyway. Needs to give the woman space to discover who she is on her own when not weighed down by a burden she wasn’t the one meant to carry.

Her engine slowly spools down, having pulled into the arena for the Idol Awards. Without a word, she walks through the doors and into the venue. Someone should be able to point her to Huntr/x’s dressing room.

*** ***

Bobby knows he shouldn’t, but he cannot help but watch the band that reminds him of his dead lovers perform their song on stage. Watching the four that look so similar to the men that he lost, like they hadn’t aged a day, sing and dance on stage just as they had with him, he finds himself entranced. 

But something, something is gnawing at him. 

He’s been a manager for various bands for over a decade now, and in the KPop scene for even longer than that, and something about this performance is too perfect. Each and every step is executed to exact perfection, faces playing through emotions just as they should. 

Every performance has an issue, a misstep that needs to be corrected. It’s part of what makes live music live music, and there is none of that here. Not as in there are so few mistakes due to it being the Idol Awards, but that there are no mistakes .

Watching the quintet dance on stage, he becomes more and more sure that something is off, but he doesn’t quite know what. The awareness that he should be doing his last minute checks dings in the back of his mind, but he cannot bring his attention away from the forms on the stage.

The song ends, and his attention is finally his own once more. Making his way to the girls, he leads them to the stage and wishes them luck before heading back to their prep area to put together everything that they will need.

His heart stops as he enters Rumi’s attached changing room and sees a needle discarded on the floor. With shaking hands, he picks it up, and sees a black liquid sloshing around inside. There is only a single thing he can think of that would look like this, and his blood turns to its namesake.

ICE.

*** ***

Mutt cannot help the slight tremors in its steps as the trio walk onto the stage to deliver its last performance. They passed the Saja Boys, and the blank looks on their faces seem to strike a chord within the mutt’s chest.

Its body protests every single step as the trio fall into their choreography, Takedown playing over the speakers. Muscles refuse to move, frozen in place like a corpse that has long since fallen to rigor mortis.

How wonderful that the mongrel has practice with perfect performance around that.

Cold seeps into its bones as the song flows from Mira’s lips, the Honmoon shining more and more with every verse that graces their audience’s ears, p[ower burning into its veins as gold becomes more and more prominent.

Debuting a new song at the idol awards, a song that so clearly references their competitors is a way that Huntr/x had never done before is sending the viewers into a near frenzy, and that emotion is only further funneling into the Honmoon.

Everything comes to a grinding halt around it as the sleeves to its jacket fall off, the threads at the seams coming undone in a monumental costume error, even if the mongrel hasn’t quite noticed yet.

Air hits the patterns on its arms for the first time on stage, and mutt is so thankful that the increased dosage of ICE is working, after last night's hadn’t done the trick. It had been sure that the dosage would be right, but it woke up feeling far too similar to before the injection.

It finishes its verse, only to notice that Mira and Zoey have frozen on stage, eyes locked on the pulsing purple brands that adorn the abominations skin.

The hunters continue staring, song moving past them as the trio is frozen in time on the stage.

*** ***

Zoey had thought something was off about Rumi from the moment she walked onto stage with them, and here that suspicion is proven to be real.

It had started with a scent, breaking through the aloe that she had come to associate with Rumi, a quiet cherry blossom and lavender tinged with something that she had only smelled coming from demons. The scent was small at first, but as they performed the song on stage it got progressively stronger until it drowned out the aloe that before had been the only thing she could smell from Rumi.

Then the sleeves to the jacket came undone, fabric panels falling apart leaving the demon that had stolen Rumi’s place bared for the world to see.

Mira grabs the creature by the shoulder, bolting off of the stage with the demon in tow. They need to find out where this demon has stashed Rumi, and they need to do it now. Rage burns in both of the alphas’ scent as they land at the bottom of the stairs, surroundings cleared of staff too busy trying to minimize the damage of a band disappearing mid performance.

Zoey summons her Shin-Kal to hand, holding one to the creature’s neck as fury boils over in her veins, “What did you do to her! Where is she!”

The creature makes a pathetic noise, a whine caught in its throat as fear dances behind its eyes. Mira’s Gok-Do pierces the wall next to its head, a demand screaming past her lips, “Where is she!”

The creature’s face falls to a neutral look that Zoey recognizes as so similar to the one Rumi gets when everything becomes too much, and the knowledge that this abomination knows their girl well enough to perfectly mimic that look only further sends her inner alpha into a rage, desperate for the knowledge of where her Rumi is. 

WhereissheIneedtofindherpleasepleasepleasedon’tletitbetoolate.

Voice monotone, the creature chokes out, “I don’t know where the third hunter is, I never have. I’m sorry I took her from you, I wish I hadn’t,” The demon's voice cuts off at the very end, scent tinged with such powerful despair that it sends Zoey’s head reeling.

That scent seemingly amplifies a thousandfold as the demon’s scent strikes a chord within Zoey’s chest. A chord that had been lying dormant, right next the one that Mira’s rut had strum, building the connection between the two of them. Zoey can’t help but think that the scent seems to have taken on the signals of preheat, the alien thought coming to the forefront of the panic in her mind.

“We don’t care about the third fucking hunter ! Where the fuck is RUMI !” Mira screams, fangs on full display as she bears down on the creature.

The creature that may be the third hunter. The one that may be Rumi, if she thinks the Honmoon is trying to tell her what she’s reading out of it. Before she can get that thought to Mira, though, the demon disappears in a puff of purple smoke.

Bobby sprints around a corner right before the demon disappears, a frantic look on his face and something in his hands. 

Something that shouldn’t be anywhere near anyone Zoey cares about.

*** ***

Celine knows that something is wrong when a demonic presence flashes behind her, only to be proven right when the abomination appears in her senses, stealing Her scent even with every. Single. Thing. She had done to prevent that.

Falling to its knees, words come tumbling out of its mouth, and Celine tunes them out.

Demons never have anything of value to say after all.

She does see as the mongrel raises the stolen sword, the one that its mother before it, the mother that was taken from Celine far too soon, had used at her side, and says, “They know, the hunters know and they didn’t kill me.”

Celine’s attention turns to the Honmoon beneath her feet, and sees the way it is weakening with every second, the mistake that this creature had made undoing the very threads that kept people safe from things like it .

It needs to fix this before she will allow it the fate it deserves. With a swift movement, she grabs the sword out of the creature’s hands and slams the pommel into its forehead. 

She roughly grabs the creature’s body, bringing it to her car. She leaves the unconscious abomination in the trunk before ducking back inside the house for the last remaining tools she would need.

The demon needed to fix the Honmoon, but that didn’t mean that Celine wanted to smell the perversion of Her scent for even a moment longer. Hands lock a collar around the mutt’s neck, slam the trunk closed, and Celine makes her way back into Seoul.

There is a job to finish.

Chapter Text

Mira wishes that she knew to feel dread when Bobby came rushing up to them with that glass vial, she wishes that she had recognized that black liquid that she had seen in Rumi’s bathroom a few months back.

ICE was a relatively new drug, at least in the public consciousness. A few months back, a high profile idol died of an overdose, trying to keep their alpha secondary gender hidden as the maknae of their band, management hadn’t wanted to promote ‘that sort of image’, or something similar. As a bombshell whistleblower report came out from the label, the public got a significant glimpse into the devastating effects of the drug, all of the different ways that it changed the people who took it.

Ways that lined up all too cleanly with the issues that Rumi had been presenting to the group, issues that none of them had put together in time.

“Where did you find that?” Mira finds her lips asking, but she knows in her heart exactly where.

“Rumi’s dressing room. What the fuck is going on. Where did those weapons come from? Where did yours go, Mira? Where did Rumi go? Why did she disappear into a puff of smoke? Why was she covered in glowing scars ? Girls, what the fuck is going on? ” Bobby asks, the worry evident in every inch of his demeanor.

“I, I don’t know, Bobby.” Zoey replies, staring at the knife in her hand. The knife with droplets of blood pooling on the edge of the blade. Blood that came out of that demon’s neck. Blood that came from a demon, creatures that Zoey had never seen bleed before.

(Blood that smelled like Rumi.)

“Bobby, I think we need your help.” The voice that pulls its way out of Mira’s throat is broken in a way that no one had heard in years. 

“Alright, what do you need, girls?” He asks, voice solid with determination, eyes lit by a fire just beyond where they could see.

“I think we need to find Rumi.” She answers, “I rode a bike here today, I’ll get a head start home, see if that’s where she ended up? You two follow behind, but keep an ear out for a message if we need to change plans? Maybe try and reach her?”

The other two nod, and Mira breaks for their dressing room, grabbing her gear as quickly as she can, and tearing off into the evening.

She pulls the throttle harder than ever before, revs climbing dangerously high in her ears as cars fall behind her. She needs to find Rumi now .

Pulling into their garage, she leaps off of her motorcycle and into the stairwell, her Honmoon enhancements even stronger in the wake of their performance, at least for now. Leaping between railings, skipping the flights all together, the alpha explodes into their apartment, hoping that their Rumi is home , that this is all some twisted fucking nightmare .

The alpha dashes through the doorway into Rumi’s bedroom, only to feel her heart stop. 

Rumi had always kept her room rather sparse, a few pictures, a chair, some odds and ends, but not much else. Tonight, every single one of those decorations is gone, the only sign of personalization in the empty room a letter on the stripped down sheets.

With trembling hands, she opens the envelope, and collapses onto the floor in agony, each word more damning than the last.

*** ***

Zoey rushes into Rumi’s room alongside Bobby, dreading what she would find, and still being broken by the sight of Mira’s collapsed form on the ground, the taller alpha crying on her knees clutching a piece of paper.

The girl turns to look at the other two in the room, offering the page without a noise.

Dear Mira, Zoey, and Bobby

Congratulations on the Golden Honmoon! I always knew you could do it!

I’d like to start by saying I’m sorry. I know you all have a lot of questions right now, questions that I should have answered a long time ago, questions that you all probably have after I disappeared.

I have patterns. Always have, always will. I was born to the union of a hunter and a demon, and the demonic curse has always flowed through my veins, and the Golden Honmoon was always going to get rid of me.

Don’t be sorry for me, though, you don’t know why I deserve that fate yet. Each generation, one of the three hunters is born to the previous generation, to the legacy of protectors that have come before, at least that’s what Celine says.

The third hunter was supposed to be the daughter of the Sunlight Sisters, and I stole her place. 

Zoey, Mira, you were never going to find the third hunter, not while I was around, taking up space in the Honmoon that should have gone to a human, not a mongrel. Now that I’m gone with the rest of the demons, though, the Honmoon should be able to find the soul that you two were always destined to love.

I’m sorry it took me this long to let go of the spot.

I just want to thank you for being kind to me in the interim. I know accepting that was selfish of me, that I shouldn’t have taken that care and affection from you without you knowing what I am. I shouldn’t have lied to you.

I wanted to pretend, just to myself, that you two wouldn’t hurt me, that you would let me pass below the Honmoon peacefully when it came time, even if I was exactly what you had been taught to destroy.

Bobby, thank you for being there for the girls, they’re probably going to need you to be a shoulder to cry on. They have always had a kindness in their hearts, a kindness I took advantage of. They’re going to mourn me, even if I don’t deserve it.

There should be a few papers left in the envelope that tell you all what needs to be removed from my kennel to make it a pleasant space for your newly found omega, whenever she ends up appearing. 

I do want to make sure, though, that you remove the air filter. Omegas and people need the familiar scents of their pack in their dens. Celine could probably answer any questions you have, there’s no way I got everything right.

Thank you all again for being kind to me, for being soft with a creature that never deserved it.

Zoey feels the blood on her hands, tacky and tainting to her very core. Blood that should never have left the body it was in, should never have met the air in the way it had.

With every word, her very soul grew more positive of the fact that Rumi was and always has been their third piece. That the ache in her chest was always meant for their amazing leader. Every time her heart longed for the wonderful girl just a room over, it was longing for someone that it always should have had. Someone who didn’t believe that she was worthy of being had .

The perfect girl that she had fallen for years ago but never let herself have. The beauty who didn’t believe herself deserving of the care Zoey wanted to give her.

A girl that Zoey had hurt. She had proven every worst fear true for their leader, and now, she regretted every single second of it.

Pacing around the room, her foot hits a box near the door, and clattering noises sound from within. Opening the cardboard folds at the top, she sees far too many glass bottles with the exact black liquid that sent her into shock back at the venue, empty but for a few drops at the bottom of each.

Rumi isn’t here. Rumi isn’thereRumiisn’therewhereissheIneed tofindherwhereisshe .

A ripple passes through the strings of the Honmoon, a faint connection to a flickering soul far off in the distance, fading, but there. In a burst of motion she grabs the frozen forms of Bobby and Mira, dashing into the elevator.

Just as the doors ding open to their garage, that faint connection cuts, and Zoey is left unmoored.

You killed her. Her blood is on your hands, you monster. You couldn’t protect her, you broken excuse of an alpha. But I can fix it. Fix you. All you have to do is follow my voice. I can make you enough.

A comforting voice plays in her head, and her feet begin to drag her body towards the source of the warmth, the fire in her chest that burns away all of the emotions she doesn’t want to deal with.

Even if she deserves them.

*** ***

Mutt wakes up to the jostling of metal ringing in its ears. The sensation on its back reminds it of the cage Celine used back when it was still an unwieldy pup and needed to be taken somewhere, and the burning in its chest serves as a reminder of the first trip to get specialized supplements to keep it pleasant to be around.

Light filters into the cage as the trunk opens automatically. A shock hits its neck, and the creature knows it is time to get up, to get moving.

“Welcome back to the land of the conscious, abomination. Trying to get out of your sentence before it is done is not an option, and I am furious you even tried. After everything I’ve done for you, you try to get out of paying me back? Paying back Zoey and Mira? After everything they’ve given you?” Celine’s voice is cutting, the truth in her venom sliding past every barrier that the mongrel had put up.

It opens its mouth to apologize, but is cut off by another shock buzzing into its neck. “Did I say you could talk? That’s for people, not creatures .”

The retired hunter herds the creature out of the parking lot, explanation of its duties on her tongue. “You are going to seal the Honmoon tonight. The Saja Boys have started a concert at Namsen Tower. You are going to interrupt their performance with the completion of Takedown. I will find Zoey and Mira. Once the Honmoon is golden once more, then I will grant you the mercy you are desperate to find at my hands.”

Celine walks away from the mongrel, and it lets its feet take one step after another into the stadium. Onto its execution platform.

“ My my, is it the mutt that tried to take my playthings from me? ” Gwi-Ma’s voice echoes through the air, into its soul, vibrating every molecule of its being. “ Such a shame that they lost their walls to save you. Thank you for making them into my puppets, my dear. ”

The vacant forms of the Saja Boys launch themselves off of the stage towards the quiet form of the abomination at the entrance to the stadium floor.

Lyrics flow from its mouth, singing every part of Takedown as the hunters who it was meant for are lost to the singer. Sword slowly gathering into its hands, the creature launches into a clash with the puppeted form of Jinu, claws scraping along the edge of the saingeom.

Each of the Saja Boys, the calming presences that reminded the mutt of Bobby, of the parental affection that it was just starting to accept in its life, is empty. No scent pours from their glands, no light exists behind their eyes.

Halfway into the performance, Aseong’s hand plunges its way into her back, claws carving themselves into its chest cavity, wrapping around its heart.

So this is how it ends, it couldn’t even get this right. Light fades from view, eyes slowly rolling up, before a wave of power crashes out from its body.

Zoey and Mira crash onto the ground next to its failing form, power trailing behind them as the Honmoon reacts to its hunters finally being reunited, desperate to keep this from being the last time the trio is together.

Threads weave their way between the souls of the three hunters, bond completed at long last, and the mongrel’s consciousness is sucked into a void between them alongside the girls that it had grown to love.

That maybe, had grown to love her, if the threads wound around the trio are to be believed.

Chapter Text

You break everything you touch, Mira. Too violent, too aggressive, too alpha. But I can fix you, all you need to do is join us, join us by the fire, let everything burn away, Mira.

The words float through her head in a loop, stealing the world from around her until all she needs is to make it to the tower, to the warmth that is awaiting there. She’s in the stands, crowd mesmerized by the pyre in the center of the arena, when a soft voice carries into the audience.

A voice singing a song that it never should have had to, words that should never have poisoned her lips, and the horror of the music starts to join the statement in her mind, the knowledge that something isn’t right dancing around one another in a viscous tango.

That tango reaches a fever pitch when her senses are sharpened against her will, and her ears pick up on the very second the tearing sound starts. The moment that demon’s claw pierces Rumi’s skin, and crushes the still beating heart in her chest.

Violence blooms in her chest, and she strengthens her pull to the Honmoon, launching from the audience to the side of the woman that should never have been hurt, not like this, not by her, not by anyone.

Feet impact the ground, and her consciousness is pulled into the bond between hunters by threads too powerful to resist.

*** ***

She has always loved her children, the protectors sworn to strengthen her defenses against the demonic hordes, to protect the souls of the world. She hasn’t always been conscious, but on nights like this, nights where the weave has been sculpted by her hunters, she can manage a form, can manage visions for her chosen souls.

And this night had finally removed the barrier between her and the first hunter from this generation. The hunter that she held within her embrace, only to have the child snatched away from her, hidden by some invisible barrier that she couldn’t find, let alone move around. Last night, those demons had poured their investiture into her child to enhance Rumi’s healing, to filter out the poison in her veins, even if it meant they could no longer hold Gwi-Ma at bay, could no longer keep their individuality.

Hopefully, she will be able to help them in return come morning light.

“Where are we?” Comes the voice of her spear, arm held out in front of the other two hunters, shielding them from the void surrounding on all sides.

“Fear not, my child. You know who I am.” The Honmoon answers, voice carried not by the air but by the strings between, the strings that connect every living thing together, her essence transmuted along to the hunters.

“Are you the Honmoon? Can you help her? Please, can you help Rumi?” Zoey’s voice is aching with heartbreak, blood pooling onto her legs holding the collapsing form of their omega. The omega they were always meant to have, but was hidden from them by someone that the Honmoon had once trusted.

A hunter who hadn’t changed as the Honmoon had, hadn’t seen the truth of Gwi-Ma’s servants as Ryu Miyeyong had, who had allowed her past teachings to harm the child entrusted into her care. The child she was supposed to love, to cherish alongside the other hunters. A child whose parents she took away. A hunter who still didn’t believe that the life she had ended belonged to their third, still imagining that the soul is trapped out there somewhere, replaced by one of Gwi-Ma’s servants.

“Yes, I can, I can help tonight, but there is something I will need in return, from the three of you.” The Honmoon hates that she needs to ask this of her children, especially in this fragile moment, but it is the only time that the change would be possible.

Threads flow from her fingertips, rebuilding the gaping wound within the omega’s chest, carrying along the message of what she needs done. “The Golden Honmoon was never what you three were meant to be aiming for. Last generation, the hunters showed me that not every demon is evil. Patterns are just an adaptation to the presence of magic, the presence of the Weave, and that Gwi-Ma uses them to control his demonic forces. Rumi’s alpha mother wrote a song that they were meant to play with the Sunlight Sisters, to reshape the Honmoon into something that could protect those individuals just as it did the humans. The Golden sheen would never do that, would never be that. It was always going to send beings with patterns into the realm of Gwi-Ma.”

Rumi began to stir moments after the threads reached her chest, tears flowing down her face as the message sank in, startling just a tad when Mira’s voice growls out, “You mean to tell me, that demons have always been complicated, that we never should have been taught what we were. That we never should have been taught what we put into Takedown. That’s what you’re telling me?” Mira has never been as furious as she is in that moment, scent a bonfire of rage as she glares at the Honmoon.

“Yes, my child, I am so sorry I could not tell you, I could not reach you. But we have a chance to make this right, to protect everyone who should have been protected for your entire life. This should never have been your burden, but I must ask you to pick it up anyway. Please, perform the song that should already have been played.” The Honmoon pleads with the trio, their tired forms huddled together. “It won’t be true, not for you, not yet, but I hope that someday, you will have come to believe the words you all will sing tonight, in this darkness before the dawn.”

Each hunter slowly fades from the vision, and the Honmoon feels something she thinks is akin to hope.

Rumi’s voice ripples through her strings, and she knows that it will work. Each of her hunters sings, aspirations dripping from their voices as they challenge Gwi-Ma.

A challenge that is stopped when Rumi collapses, electricity running through her neck from the collar whose remote is still held by Celine.

Celine, who killed the last hunter with patterns, who refused to see the world for what it could be.

The disgrace who took one of her hunters off of her feet, leaving her vulnerable to an attack from the king of devils himself. With a rage unlike anything she had felt before, the Honmoon tears along its connection to the abomination, ripping out every ounce of power in its frame and pouring that into a shield before the hunter it had damaged for far too long.

Let its end protect the birth of a future for the very girl she tried to stop.

*** ***

Bobby sees his girls collapse on stage, the magic coursing through them shines through their eyes before blinking out, their unconscious bodies slumping to the ground even just for a moment. His heart drops into his chest yet again when he sees Rumi’s body spasm, electrical charge taking the strongest woman he has ever come to know down to the floor.

Heart in his throat, he sees as the strings he had only come to notice that day, that night, ripple with an iridescent sheen, fire pulled underneath its cover down into the dirt. Shoving his way through a crowd has never been more pressing for him in his life, feet pounding against the stands as he fights his way onto the stage.

Chest heaving with effort, he makes his way to the group on stage, the singers that had reminded him so strongly of his loves a slowly stirring heap, his girls a sobbing mess around the huddled form of Rumi.

Just as he is about to pass the body that reminds him so strongly of Aseong, the leader who had tried to protect him before, a hand catches on his pant leg. “Did she make it? Is she okay? Please tell me she’s okay Bobby, I can’t have taken another person from you.”

And Bobby’s world tilts on its axis. That is Aseong, the alpha that he had grown to love what felt like a lifetime ago, the charcoal and black tea scent finding its way back into his heart, tinged with despair at what could have been, what very well may still be.

The leader of the Saja Boys finds his voice, the omega instructing, "Reunions later, everyone who matters is alive, we need to get out of here, now.”

Words that make the reality of their situation come crashing into Bobby. They need to get out of here, they need to do it now, they need to do it fast, and they need to do it stealthily. Throwing aside his emotions, just for now, he shepherds the group out of the venue and into a last minute vehicle. Perks of being the manager of an internationally famous band, he supposes. People try their hardest to keep him from waiting, which he is far from opposed to at the moment.

Souls heavy with everything that happened that night, bodies clamber into the vehicle he arranged, and drive into the morning sun, leaving behind the events of Namsen Tower, at least for now.

*** ***

Jinu couldn’t keep his heart out of his chest from the moment he saw his pup’s still form on the back of Tiger. Giving his investiture over to her had been one of the easiest things he had ever done, to even try to save the child he had grown to care for.

Here, in this room, sitting on some plush furniture, everyone around him falling apart, scents overcome with emotion, he feels slightly out of place. Aseong, Bon-Hwa, Minjyuk, and Rae-Joon reunited with Bobby, Rumi finally revealed to her fated bond mates, and Jinu, alone.

Like always.

An interruption to his brooding comes as Aseong gestures to introduce himself to Bobby, “And this is Jinu, he’s the reason we were able to make it out of the demon realm back to you. I know you don’t know him yet, but he’s done a lot for us, and we don’t want to see him go just yet.”

The beta answers, his scent tinged with a sorrowful joy, like a wound that needed to be lanced hurting, but leaving relief in its wake, “I’m sure I can try, if he’s the reason I have you all back in my life.”

Jinu can’t stop the tears that flow down his face, in the wake of the hope that he may be able to spend a little more time with this pack, broken and mishappen, but cobbled together by his hands, with his love.

*** ***

She hasn’t been able to think of much between when Aseong’s clawed hand plunged into her ribs, rippingtearinghurtingshredding, but she has been able to feel so much.

Love, adoration, care, sorrow, apologies, dread, protective rage, and so many more things she never would have expected being pointed towards her. All of that and more, radiating out from the bonds in her chest connecting her to Mira and Zoey, bonds that bring a warmth to her body she had forgotten in the last year.

“Rumi, fuck, Rumi, you’re ours, okay? You were always supposed to be ours, I’m sorry we didn’t know.” Zoey’s words are rambling, desperate to convey some sort of meaning to the girl trapped in her embrace, aching to reassure her that she is wanted.

Maybe, maybe they’re telling the truth. She doesn’t know what to believe, the last day has been a rollercoaster, and here she is, on the precipice of the drop, anticipation pooling inside her. Maybe, she can walk off of that execution platform she was raised for, a lamb to the slaughter walking out with its head held high. Maybe, she can spend some time with those two figuring out who Rumi is.

Can figure out if maybe, Rumi is someone that they can love.

Chapter Text

Zoey needs those demon boys out of their den, and she needs them out yesterday. It's a wonderful thing that she can shove them into the elevator and send them off to Bobby’s floor for some catch up time, because if she has to see a single one of them near Rumi once their leader wakes up, the alpha may actually go feral.

Rumi crashed moments after they got home and has yet to wake up in the late afternoon. Zoey is just glad because it’s given time for her and Mira to talk through even some of the bombshells that altered their very foundations over the last day.

“Rumi is the third hunter.” Zoey’s voice is distant even to her own ears, the shock of the events catching up to her now that adrenaline has started to fade. “She always was. And we didn’t know.”

“She didn’t know.” Mira responds, scent overflowing with devastation at the realization, words leaving her lips before she consciously picks them out, only registering in her head as they hit the air.

“Mira, I hurt her. I held my knife to her throat . I feel her blood on my hands . Mira, she thought she deserved it .” 

“No, no, there’s no way she thought that.” Mira’s denial is desperate, aching for the truth to be anything else.

“She thought we were looking for the third hunter . She apologized for not knowing . She didn’t think we were looking for her .” Zoey’s head is spinning, trying to make sense of the situation in a way that doesn’t break her down to her very core.

(A small part of her knows that there is no other way that this truth can go, not when she still feels their omega’s blood below her fingernails, tacky on the palms of her hands.)

(Her mind flashes back to that letter, to the line, “ I wanted to pretend, just to myself, that you two wouldn’t hurt me” , and Zoey cannot stand that she’s the one who made it a lie. That her desperation to be the alpha to protect Rumi was the undoing of that hope.)

(She’s never been a good alpha)

“She left us that letter, Mira. She was never expecting to come back from that performance, she was expecting us to kill her , she thought we wouldn’t care if she died .” Zoey hates the stutter in her voice as the words tumble free, desperate to ease even some of the whirlwind of emotion in her chest. “What do we do, Mira? How are we supposed to fix this?”

“There’s only one thing we can do Zoey. We have to prove her wrong.” Mira’s words have a core of steel to them even in the miasma of despair that their speaker is wading through. She pulls Zoey closer, tears staining the front of her shirt as they sit in the knowledge of what they’ve done. What it almost cost them.

They sit there, next to the unconscious form of the omega they have always loved, but never gotten the chance to show just how deep their care goes, for what feels like hours, until in the waning light of the day, Rumi stirs.

*** ***

She’s warm.

It’s the first time she’s been able to say that in a while, and she just lays there, basking in the warmth that she had been denied for far too long. The only way this could be better is if her girls were here. Her girls.

Her girls that don’twanthertheysawtheyweredisgustedthey hurtherlikeshealwaysdeserved

A hand reaches out, hesitantly touching her shoulder, diverting the spiral, even for just a moment. She turns to stare at the hand, only to be met with the concerned faces of Mira and Zoey.

(Why are they concerned, why are they looking at her as though she is something that deserves to be cared for )

Zoey breaks first, eyes welling over with tears as she launches herself at Rumi, “I’m so sorry Rumi, I’m so sorry.” The words repeat over and over like a mantra, the alpha’s head buried into the crook of her neck, scent full of sorrow, regret, and love.

She feels tears spill over in her own eyes, emotions reaching a fever pitch inside of her chest, as she asks, “What are you sorry for? I deserved it. A demon with no feelings don’t deserve to live , right?”

A question that tightens Zoey’s arms around her body like a vice, tears unrelenting from the normally bright alpha. “We were wrong, Rumi. We were wrong, remember? The Honmoon said so, you have to remember, right? Takedown is wrong . We never should have sung it, never should have performed it.” Mira’s voice is even in her ear, holding the two smaller forms in her arms, scent laced with a determination that eases something in her heart.

In that moment, both of the alphas she had wanted for so long, alphas that had always been meant for someone else, wrapping themselves around her body, she finds the time to just exist. To let out the tears she never allowed herself to fall, to sit, held close by the women she had admired for so long. Inch by inch, her walls drop, until her very soul is bared for her sun and moon, the light that guides her when things are at their darkest, and the source of joy and illumination in her world. A quiet noise leaves her chest, pheromones untrained in expressing emotions as came so easy to everyone else, still desperately trying to convey how happy she is in this moment.

Hesitant eyes look at the faces of the alphas surrounding her, only to see the moment her scent hits them, and the two hunters freeze.

“Rumi, are you in pre-heat?” Mira asks, a grit in her voice that seems to be fighting something, something that Rumi doesn’t quite know.

“No, I don’t think so? Betas don’t have heats, right?” She answers, voice hesitant under the watchful gaze of the alphas holding her close.

“Starlight, you’re not a beta.” Zoey says, having pulled her head back to look the omega in the eyes. “Why does it matter that betas don’t get heats if you aren’t one?”

“But, but I am? I am a beta. I’ve always been a beta?” Her voice wavers, suddenly unsure of the knowledge that she’s carried with her across her life.

“If you’re a beta, then why were you taking ICE?” Mira’s question is gentle but firm, leaving no room for anything other than a direct answer.

“It was, it was to keep my demon side locked away. Celine didn’t want my demonic traits to surface around you two. Said that if you saw them, you’d kill me like she should have, and then the Golden Honmoon wouldn’t be created, and I wouldn’t have been able to make up for my mistake.” Words feel like acid on her tongue, but the idea of keeping them trapped in her chest seems even less appealing.

“Your mistake?” Zoey asks, dreading that she knows the answer already.

“Being born.”

The words echo off the walls of their den, the weight of their reveal crushing Mira and Zoey. This incredible woman, who has carried them through so much, who has led them to saving the Honmoon, to stopping Gwi-Ma thinks that she’s a mistake. Neither of them can stop the anger that finds it way into their scent as Mira growls, “Celine was a fucking liar .” 

“Rumi, you were never a mistake, never.”

Their words wash over her, soothing some deep corner of her chest. Not healing, not yet, but easing the pain just a tad.

“Rumi, I don’t think that’s why she made you take them. If I had to guess, she knew you’re an omega, and didn’t want you to bond with us like you would have without her intervention. Can’t you feel it? That little string in your chest that feels like me? The one that feels like Zoey? Those strings would always have been there, you were always our omega. Celine just tried to keep you from us.”

Mira’s words don’t just travel over the air, they pull themselves through the faint string growing between their hearts, a message desperate to reach Rumi. “I, I feel it.” She answers, words incredulous as she basks in the faint connection tying her to Mira.

“Starlight, I think you’re going into heat.” Zoey’s words come alongside a wave of something that washes over her body, patterns shining in the fading light. Worry blooms in the wake of the sensations running over her body, unsure of what to do in the face of something she’s never faced before.

“What, what do I do?” Her voice is giving out on her, stuttering over her words as warmth flows from her core across her entire body. “I don’t know what to do. Mira, I’m scared.” The words are matched by a distressed keen that pulls its way out of her throat, scent tinged with fear.

Mira and Zoey trade a look over the shaking form of the newly discovered omega, Zoey’s voice unsure as she coughs, “If, if you feel safe, we could help you? We could bring you into our nest, make sure you’re nice and taken care of? We, we don’t have to do anything more than cuddling if you don’t want to? Or if you want, we could maybe help you through your heat in a more traditional way?”

A voice inside her preens at the idea of these two wonderful alphas wanting her, wanting to protect her, to hold her, even if the idea of these two beautiful alphas wanting something like her in their nest seems a bit far-fetched. Her lip quivers, a quiet whisper easing past her lips, “Promise?”

(Zoey and Mira’s hearts break at that word. At the way their omega’s voice broke , like she couldn’t believe they would want her, would want to protect her, to have her, to hold her.)

(To maybe do some other things with her too, even if they were trying desperately to avoid those thoughts.)

“Of course, Rumi. We’ll help you, we promise.” Mira’s voice is soothing in her ears, the slight purr to the alpha’s voice comforting to that voice inside her.

“Even, even if I want you to help me like that last part?”

(The two alphas look down at the most beautiful omega they have ever seen, and swear vengeance on anyone and everyone who made this gorgeous soul feel like she isn’t a goddess sent to visit the earth, to bless the mortal plane with her beauty, like anyone could do anything other than covet her beauty.)

“Whatever you want.” Zoey’s words are a statement, a declaration of intent, a confirmation, and her chest settles in the face of such certainty. Surrendering to the haze of heat, she lets the tide she had been holding back crash over her, here in the safety of their embrace.

Slowly, as though they are carrying the most delicate treasure in the world, Zoey untangles herself from the omega, and Mira stands, cradling the heat stricken Rumi into their nest.

Into the place she always belonged, even if none of them quite knew it yet.

Chapter Text

Mira’s grip on sanity is desperate, fingers of iron holding onto the edge of a cliff as the most delicious scent she has ever smelled plays under her nose, full of hope and arousal in a heady way that makes her heart clench. Putting one foot in front of the other on the way to their room is one of the hardest things she’s ever done, rather than just pinning this beautiful woman to the wall and ravishing her where they stand. The only reason she hasn’t is that Rumi deserves to be worshipped as the star she is, the guiding light that she’s always followed.

Zoey pushes open the door, and Mira gently lays their omega in the center of their nest, letting the girl situate herself amongst the plush pillows and soft blankets. With hesitant eyes, their Rumi turns to look at the two alphas still standing outside the nest, “Do you, do you want to come in?”

The invitation hits their ears, and both alphas scramble over the edge, rushing to hold their love. Hands wind around her huddled form, enveloping their omega in their embrace once more. Rumi’s hands fall to the hem of her sweater, face flushed with heat, and her alphas get the message. Taking over, they slowly work the sweater off of Rumi, savoring every inch of revealed skin, patterns that match the colors of the honmoon flaring with intensity as their fingers ghost over the surface.

Everything stops, however, when the sweater is fully removed, and the two alphas see their omegas neck. On the sides of her collarbone, where they expected to see the source of the delicious lavender and cherry blossom scent, they see mangled scar tissue, burns that had long since healed. 

“Rumi, baby, what happened?” 

“Demons don’t smell right, and, and, Celine didn’t want me to push you two away with my repulsive scent, so she, she made it so that I couldn’t.” Rumi shrinks into herself with every word, shame over the scent she can’t stop spreading creeping up her neck.

“Celine was wrong, darling. Nothing about you will ever be disgusting to us. Never. Do you know how you’re giving off a scent now, though, if she stopped you from doing that before?” Zoey’s voice flows over the trio in their nest, gentle and caring, desperate to understand everything she can now that she’s been given the opportunity.

“I don’t know, I don’t know what’s going on, I didn’t know I was an omega, I don’t know how my scent is spreading when we fixed that , I don’t know .” Each word out of her mouth feels frantic, the admissions only sending her further and further into a spiral.

A spiral that is stopped in its tracks as Zoey’s lips find hers, and the world stops in its tracks, frozen in the moment where those soft lips met hers, breath ghosting across her face mere moments before the alpha captures her mouth in a kiss. A hand pulls up, thumb resting behind her ear and tangling into the braid of hair on her head, and Rumi melts. Melts into the embrace of one of the alphas she has wanted for so long.

Mira’s hands find their way around her waist from behind, pulling in close to the melding forms of the other two parts of her soul, and folds herself into the scene. Playing with her waistband, Mira’s hands slowly drop Rumi’s sweats, leaving the omega bare to her alphas in their nest, panting and needy, putty under their fingers.

“It’s okay, princess, we’ll worry about that later when you’re feeling better. Right now all you have to do is lean back against Mira and let your alphas take care of you, does that sound okay, my love?” Zoey’s voice is thick like honey in Rumi’s ear, the sheer sensuality of the words mixed with the alphas scent being pumped full of aroused pheromones has the omega whimpering.

Then those strong arms from before, the ones that were holding her so close, guide the two of them against the wall of the nest, resting against the pillows as the taller alpha’s words rumble around her, “Just like that, starlight, relax for us. Let us show you just how much we love you, how much we care for you.”

Zoey’s eyes drip with hunger as she looks at the sight before her. The two most beautiful women she has ever laid eyes on, bared to the air of their nest and the need in their cores. Slowly, as though the omega were spun glass, she follows the two of them down, lips capturing Rumi’s in a delicate embrace. Trying to show this beautiful girl just how deep the well of her affections runs, her hands wrap around her omega’s neck, holding close to the one thing she could never bear to live without. The world around them falls away for a moment, just the three of them in this perfect moment, souls ringing in symphony as their trio is finally made whole.

Breathing is, however unfortunately, mandatory, and surfacing to catch her breath after forgetting for who knows how long. This does, however, give Zoey a very excellent opportunity. With a grin that promises trouble, the younger alpha begins peppering kisses on her omega’s lips, slowly drifting away until she’s leaving marks on Rumi’s jaw.

Rumi can’t stop the moan that rocks its way through her core, heat having fully overtaken her senses, leaving her alight in the arms of her loves. That moan only intensifies as Mira’s mouth joins Zoey’s on the other side of her neck, small nips against the skin that make the heat so much better and so much worse.

“That’s a good girl, making such pretty noises for us.” Zoey is but a whisper in Rumi’s ear, and still sends an inferno of heat rippling through her core, desperate and wanting.

Mira’s chest rumbles with a satisfied growl as the alpha marks her love, covering her in reminders of just how much she is loved, how much she is wanted . The alpha’s hands relax from their grip on Rumi’s waist, slowly drifting upwards, caressing each inch of gorgeous skin as she takes in the work of art that was given to them.

Zoey, seeing how distracted Rumi is getting, decides that it’s time for her to make Rumi squeal in her own way. Slowly, but deliberately, the alpha begins trailing kisses down from the omega’s jaw, down and down until she’s passing over her chest, then her stomach, then her hips, until the lyricist is kissing the thighs of this astounding girl, each moment of contact pulling a gasp from the beauty’s lips. At her destination, Zoey begins lavishing her omega with attention, trailing kisses along the inside of her thighs, a slow spiral closing in on her dripping core.

“Look at that, starlight, our gorgeous maknae diving between your legs. Can you see her eyes? It looks like she’s starving. Should we give her what she wants, baby? Let her get a taste of you?” Mira asks the question, a small smirk on her face as she looks down at the younger alpha.

Rumi barely manages a single nod before Zoey dives in, eager for a taste of the woman she’s wanted for so long. Broad strokes of her tongue begin to play around the omega’s entrance, ghosting ever so slowly around the edges, flicking up tantalizingly close to that button of agony, but never quite reaching it.

“Please, pleasepleasepleaseple-” The words sound foreign, half incoherent, and Rumi doesn’t realize until her lips have been captured in yet another kiss by Mira after a strong hand pulled her in that she was the one voicing the need.

A chuckle sounds from between her legs, muffled by the desperate grasp of the omega’s thighs, only stopping for a sensation that ripples up from her core as the maknae finally presses the button, tongue licking devastatingly slow circles across her clit, sending waves of tremors up the omega’s body as she bucks her hips in a desperate attempt to deepen the sensation, already dangerously close to a peak she’s never reached quite this quickly before.

“Zoey, sunshine, would you be a dear and finish your meal? She can’t quite keep still, and I wonder if that will help.”

Rumi’s senses, already narrowed in far beyond what she ever would’ve expected, pinpoint to the sensations between her thighs, to the mouth desperate to devour every inch, every drop, every molecule, of the girl on its lips. The mouth that is speedingupohgodohgodohgod-

Screams rip their way out of her throat, thighs clamping down on the head trapped between them as the omega feels the heat in her chest ease for just a moment, only to flare once more the moment the peak finishes.

“How was it, darling?”

“Oh, Mira, she’s delicious. Melts on your tongue in the best ways, do you want a turn?” Zoey responds, already pulling her body up to take the other alpha’s place behind the heat stricken Omega.

Rather than answer, Mira disentangles herself from Rumi, passing the omega’s frame over to Zoey before crawling between the same thighs the younger alpha had been spreading mere moments before. Breathing in the lavender and cherry blossom scent of their aroused omega has the alpha throbbing as she begins lavishing her love with attention.

It doesn’t take much time for Rumi to fall apart all over again, between Mira lavishing her with attention on her core and Zoey covering her neck in kisses and whispering quiet praise into her ear, the omega falls apart embarrassingly quickly.

“You know what, Zoey, you’re right. Our omega tastes just as sweet as she smells.”

“Hear that, starlight? Mira loves the way you taste, just like I do .” 

She can’t help but whimper at the words, at the eyes of the two women she has loved for so long she can’t remember when she didn’t, at the eyes that worship every inch of her. These perfect women, who are trying to make her believe that she is worth that. That she is worth all of the attention they are trying to drown her in, all of that and more.

Attention that could maybe help with the ache between her legs. The desperate need to be filled by the women that she can feel pressed against every inch of her body. “ Mira , I need you inside me, I need you inside me right now . Please. ” Words that sound pathetic just past her lips, even to her heat addled brain drowning in the scents of her loves.

“Oh, princess, you sound so pretty when you say my name. Of course I’ll fill you up, I would be honored.” A tiny voice in the back of her head thinks that the smug tone to Mira’s voice at this moment means that she’ll be hearing about this later. Not that she minds.

A single finger circles around her, spiralling in more and more until it’s buried inside of her warmth. Picking up a gentle rhythm, working her open more and more on each stroke. 

Rumi thinks she may be burning alive.

She also doesn’t know if she minds, honestly.

Cushioned between her alphas, her loves, as they take care of her, anything could happen to her and she’d adore it. That idea isn’t really tested when Mira slips in another finger, though, as it is even more incredible than the omega thought possible. Stretching more and more around the hand of her shelter, she desperately craves to be even closer.

As if sensing how needy Rumi was getting, Mira takes her fingers out of Rumi, theatrically licking the slick off of them as she lines herself up to give their omega exactly what she wants. 

Mira finally plunges into their omega, and the release of pheromones that pour from Rumi as the alpha’s hips slam into hers fills the room in a heady arousal.

“Did you like that, starlight?” Zoey’s voice is annoyingly condescending in her ear, which makes Rumi hate the way it makes her clench around Mira.

Pulling out and rocking back in, Mira finds a rhythm, covering their omega’s face in kisses as Zoey whispers praise into her ears. Rumi loses track of everything other than the pleasure rolling across her bonds with the other parts of herself, desperately clinging on to any form of life raft in this ocean of sensation.

The lips kissing her face hone in on her lips, capturing them in a lock of passion threatening to unmoor the omega in this storm, only to be fully cast away as the alpha moans into her lips.

Mira’s hips stutter, and Zoey’s praise instantly turns dangerous, “Oh Mira, are you getting close? Is our starlight so perfect you can’t help yourself? Need to give her exactly what she wants? Do you want that Rumi? Do you want Mira to bury herself inside you? Do you want her to knot you?”

The last question has Rumi locking her legs around the alpha trying to pull out, hips bucking in pleasure, “Please Mira, please knot me .”

Hearing those words come out of Rumi’s lips sends Mira careening over the edge, hilting herself inside her love, desperate to entwine them as much as she physically can. The moans that pull themselves out of Mira’s lips are a sinful noise the likes of which Rumi has never heard before, and the knowledge that she is the reason that her love is making them, breaks the last string holding together her sanity.

Climax isn’t quite the right word for what happens to Rumi, at that moment. Climax seems almost mundane in comparison to the sheer ecstasy that washes over every inch of her consciousness, blindingly powerful as it overwrites her existence for but a moment.

Slowly falling from that high in the arms of her loves, she feels the energy drain out of her, the sheer torment and power of what she’d just been through leaving her boneless in its wake. Feeling Rumi flag, Mira and Zoey fall into taking care of their exhausted love, rubbing gentle circles into her back and holding her close as endorphins crash.

Eventually, they disentangle themselves, picking up Rumi’s spent form as they set to pampering their heart, gently tending to the awareness of reality catching back up to them. Drying off, the duo bundle their girl up in soft fabrics, before climbing back into their nest and holding each other close.

Falling asleep is hardly a challenge from there, tangled together with the girls she always should have been able to love like this.

The women she will get to love from now on, if she’s willing to hope.

Chapter Text

Mira slowly stirs as the light of the morning sun filters though the curtains onto the sleeping forms of the trio collapsed onto the bed. Slowly, she leans up from where she was lying on the bed to look at her girls, and finds herself struck with a love so deep she’s not sure she’ll be able to articulate it. Here, in this quiet moment, looking at the beautiful faces of her loves, her heart feels more full than it has ever been before, adoration for her sun and stars bubbling over in her chest leaving her giddy and elated. Seeing the light kiss the faces of the two women she loves most in the world sends every molecule in her body spinning, only to right themselves in a configuration both different from everything she’s experienced before, and the only possible one that could make sense for her into eternity.

She wants to stay in this moment forever. 

That doesn’t mean that she will, however. The last week had passed in a blur, the morning after Rumi’s heat started itself in earnest triggering Mira and Zoey’s ruts, leaving the rest of the week to continue in a haze of passion and love as the trio’s very souls were tied together by the Honmoon, its three hunters finally connected as they always should have been. A slight twinge on both sides of her neck reminds Mira of the mating marks that were left, the healing scars in the shapes of the mouths she would love to kiss every morning.. She’s rather glad that she and Zoey had waited to mark each other until they had found their third, it made the last week all the more special.

Zoey and Rumi are probably going to wake up incredibly hungry, though, because trying to do anything other than drown in the love flooding their newly formed bond was a herculean task, which means that they are absolutely going to need breakfast when they wake up.

Unwrapping her arms from Rumi and kissing both of her loves on the forehead, Mira removes herself from the bed, only to find herself frozen in the moment as she watches the two loves of her life, the other parts of her soul, sleep in their nest. Zoey is wrapped around Rumi like a barnacle, holding the omega’s head to her chest in their sleep, and Mira adores the sight of her soulmates entwined on the bed, yet another reminder of the love that has filled her being from the moment that she woke up. An eternity could pass by like this, and she would be no more aware of it than she is of an insect on the other side of the world, attention too focused on the delicate forms of her mates.

She does, unfortunately, have things she needs to do this morning, if she wants to make her girls’ life a little bit better.

Gently, she clambers off of the bed, footsteps silent as she walks to their kitchen, falling into the routine of making a breakfast spread for her loves. She isn’t quite sure what they’ll want, or what they’ll feel like, and she’d rather over prepare than under. Her phone starts to play a quiet mix of songs, soft and gentle, a small reminder of the warmth in her heart that has yet to fade in that early morning light.

Breakfast is almost done when Zoey walks into the kitchen, Rumi’s rousing form cradled in her arms before being gently set on her chair. Pulling some of the dishes out of the oven where Mira was keeping them warm, she brings them over to the table, setting them in front of her girls, leaving a kiss on the tops of each of their heads as she passes. The last dishes finish, and as she sits down at the table next to her loves, she hears Rumi’s quiet voice.

“Did you mean it?”

Her heart breaks at the hesitation, at the unease in her love’s tone, the nervousness in her newly discovered scent, and the body language that screams that she wants to disappear into the darkest hole she can find. 

“Mean what, starlight?” Mira asks, grabbing the omega’s hand and looking into her eyes with as much kindness as she can manage, even if it isn’t as much as her love deserves.

“That it’s okay for me to want you? For me to have you?”

“Of course, baby. There’s nothing we want more than to be yours and for you to be ours.” Zoey’s words are solid, the kind of foundation that legacies can be built upon.

Tears pour from their leaders eyes at the words, and Mira is struck with the image of their personal atlas finally allowing them to join in carrying the weight that had been crushing her for so long. Every ounce of strength that had been keeping their omega up slips from her body, the girl collapsing into the embrace that Mira and Zoey had pulled her into.

It doesn’t fix everything, it isn’t any more than a bandage on a weeping wound, but after so long of having nothing, even that quiet comfort is a profound step forward. There will be so many more to make before the damage will heal, but that is a problem for a Mira that doesn’t have a crying Rumi in her arms.

Responding to the message that Bobby sent is a problem for Future Mira. Right now, she has far more important things to deal with. 

And years worth of love to catch up on.

*** ***

Alright hunters, buckle in because this one is a doozy.

I’ve gotten so many comments asking for a collected explanation for the whole SituationTM that is happening at Sunlight Records with our girls, and I, in my elder fandom wisdom have elected to put everything together. This is a lot of guesswork on my part, between footage that's been collected and stories etc.

TW: Death, Child Maltreatment, Drug Abuse, Abuse of Power, and a bunch of other stuff I can’t even think to name. If there’s something that should be here, let me know and I’ll update the list.

There’s a lot that we’re going to need to go over, but I’ve put together a handy list of the topics we’re going to be covering in the order we will be doing so.

• Takedown causing a stir at the idol awards

1. The last minute saja boys concert that no one remembers but did happen
2. Pyrotechnics failures, a how to guide
3. Celine of Sunlight Sisters fame is dead, and this is apparently a good thing?
4. Huntr/x’s upcoming hiatus that is absolutely understandable
5. Conclusion and junk

So! To start!

Part 1: The Takedown performance.

Hype was through the fucking roof at the Idol Awards when Huntr/x came on stage to perform a brand new song. A song that is apparently meant as a takedown (Haha) of the Saja Boys, which everyone was a little shocked by, given that Huntr/x hasn’t ever had beef with other idol groups before this point, though there is an explanation to that, it’ll come up later.

During this performance, however, Rumi has a catastrophic costume issue. Like straight up, the jacket she was wearing literally fell apart at the seams . Accounts from people near the stage also say that at this time Rumi’s scent changes from the aloe we’ve all come to expect, it’s literally her scent perfume after all, to something significantly sweeter. They also note that Rumi’s arms were covered in scar tissue. The source of this will be explained in part 4, but we didn’t know this at the time.

Essentially, Rumi’s jacket falls apart, leaving one of the most modest idols in the scene exposed on stage for a few moments before Mira and Zoey rush her off stage. Did give us an explanation for that modesty, though.

If I catch anyone talking shit on Rumi for her scars, I will personally show up to your house, fuck your mom and dad in front of you, and then steal your bones to build an apology sculpture on your behalf. Good ? Good.

Given the incident that happened, the idol awards were semi-cancelled/delayed? We’re still not entirely sure, and the Saja Boys apparently book Namsen Tower last minute to do a concert to distract/overtake the story in the news? Which leads up to our next point

Part 2: The last minute saja boys concert that no one remembers but did happen

The following are 100% true facts about the concert

• The tower stadium was full to the gills
• The concert started at midnight and went until sun up
• I have pictures of myself at the concert, blitzed out of my fucking mind
• I do not remember a single moment from the concert
• Huntr/x closed the concert out? In the midst of one of the worst pyrotechnics accidents in KPop history
• Like, worse than the one that ended their manager’s career 
• It apparently didn’t kill his band mates though? Still not clear on the mechanics of that one
• No one who was there remembers anything, and no one tested positive for any drugs in their systems. No clue how this one works, honestly, seems like fucking magic.
• A number of people died in the fire notable names including:
• Celine of sunlight sisters fame
• All of the Saja Boys
• A number of concert goers

Which leads us to our next point

Part 3: Pyrotechnics failures, a how to guide

Due to the last minute nature of the concert, certain critical safety checks on the pyrotechnics setup were not done.

The general story seems to be as follows

1. The Saja Boys were in talks with Sunlight Records to potentially sign under their label
2. Sunlight records wanted a distraction from the cluster fuck that was the idol awards
1. More about the idol awards and why sunlight records wanted it forgotten in section 4
3. Partway through the concert Celine shows up with Rumi, but not the other two members of Huntr/x
4. Celine goes backstage, presumably to check on the pyrotechnics which hadn’t quite gotten out of hand yet? Or some other backstage thingy
5. Rumi starts performing Takedown solo/with the Saja Boys, rather than with Zoey and Mira, who have yet to show up. She has been put in a new copy of her same jacket from the idol awards performance

Probably not the same one, given the whole falling apart at the seams thing 

1. Mira and Zoey show up, performing another new song, but we don’t have a title for this one yet
2. In the middle of this new song,  the pyrotechnics experience a cascade failure, burning the stage to the ground and killing the above mentioned

Which brings us to part 4: Celine of Sunlight Sisters fame is dead, and this is a good thing, apparently.

So, apparently Rumi has been an omega literally the entire time. Celine didn’t like this for some reason, and has had her on a suite of blockers and suppressants from birth . Frankly, the fact the girl is still alive is a goddamn miracle. About a year and some change ago, though, they stopped working. And do you want to know what Celine’s solution to this was? (Hint: You don’t). Too bad!

She put Rumi on ICE . Like the drug that made headlines a year ago for killing another idol .

Apparently the last batch she took had some sort of defect, and the stress of the reveal on stage burned it out of her system or something, which is why the scent changed and why Mira and Zoey pulled her off stage.

This plus a slew of other things that legitimately made me throw the fuck up when  they were published mean that the news that Celine is dead should be met with celebration and elation. The first time I saw the burned corpse of that bitch, I mourned the loss of a childhood idol, but now whenever I see it a slick sense of satisfaction crawls up my spine.

Bitch got out easy, honestly.

If you want more information about this, there’s a couple police reports that are going to be linked below for those interested, but I need you all to know that if you cannot read these, that is not your fault. This is some of the heaviest shit I’ve ever read, and the fact that Ryu Rumi made it through even just alive is a goddamn miracle .

Which brings us to part 6: Huntr/x’s entirely understandable hiatus.

Given all of the information that I have shared above, I feel that anyone with a heart in their chest and a brain in their head can gather that Huntr/x has a lot of shit to work through. Apparently, Mira and Zoey didn’t really have an idea of the extent of the treatment Rumi was facing at the hands of Celine, which sucks but is fair given that the woman had immense control over them and literally raised Rumi there's so much to unpack there, and I guarantee we do not know all of it .

Which means that for the next three months (Or longer, if I’m being realistic) will see Huntr/x on the first significant hiatus since their debut. (Is there a small part of me that hopes that we’ll see Polytrix confirmation now that Mira and Zoey know Rumi is an omega? Maybe. What can I say, it’s the shipper in my heart). 

If anyone, and I mean anyone gives them shit for this break, I will find them and steal the right half of their DNA leaving them cancer stricken or whatever. Do I know the specifics of what will happen? No. Do I care? Also no.

Part 7: Conclusion

I spent a lot of time on this fucking essay of a blog post so you better goddamn read it.

Final thoughts:

Rumi is like, my fucking IDOL now. How the fuck do you survive what she did, let alone smile like she has for the entire goddamn time we’ve known her . Because this bullshit? It’s been happening the entire goddamn time we’ve known her. Including when her age was in the single digits WTF .

Links and sources below for those who are interested!

Chapter Text

Waking up in the middle of the night has become something of a norm for her pack. With all of the tragic events that unfolded only a few weeks ago, getting sleep at all is inconsistent, much less a night without one of the girls shooting up in bed.

That doesn’t make it any easier to hear choked sobs coming from the bathroom as she opens the door to see Zoey, hunched over the sink scrubbing her hands raw, desperate to wash her hands of the blood she never should have spilled, even if the last speck had long since disappeared.

Gently, Mira wraps her arms around the younger alpha, releasing soothing pheromones into the air as she guides the two of them back into bed. One hand softly leads the other to the sleeping form of Rumi, helping her distraught sun find the pulse of their star, gentle, quiet, thumping away in the nest that none had been able to sleep outside of.

Yesterday was hard. They had taken Rumi to see a secondary gender expression specialist, to try and determine what the negative impacts of Celine’s medical abuse of their love had come to, all of the different ways that the bitch had hurt their guiding light, their northern star. She knew going into it that the results weren’t going to be pretty. 

That didn’t mean that she could handle how ugly those results were.

Rumi has substantial scent gland damage . That fucking monster tried to burn out her supposed daughter’s scent glands .  Had nearly succeeded too. The doctors thought that the partially recovered nature of the flesh was due to the initial procedure being botched, but Mira knew better. She knows that the only reason those glands are even capable of baseline functionality is due to the healing of the Honmoon, to the sheer power of their omega being the anchor for the rebirth of the Honmoon.

Her love had been immersed in that singularity of near unfathomable power, the personification of the will of each hunter past and present coursed through her body, stitching together a gaping wound in her chest, and the glands were only half functional.

Luckily, that halfway healing would give the doctors enough to work with for a reconstruction. A reconstruction that could only happen after a myriad of other issues are fixed. Issues like a significantly damaged connection to her instincts, a traumatic trigger that is activated every time she notices those instincts, significantly less control over her pheromone production, significant circulation issues due to the prolonged usage of ICE, a fucked hormonal system due to the deprivation of certain chemicals during key developmental steps, and so many more issues that its frankly a miracle of demonic biology that she’s even still alive.

That very same demonic constitution does make it possible for medical intervention in combination with their obscene wealth and connection to the Honmoon to recover their love and set her up for a long and healthy life, even if it is likely going to be a long road of recovery.

Coming home after that visit had been heartbreaking, when Rumi mumbled into Mira’s sweater as the taller alpha carried her back to their nest, that she’s sorry that she doesn’t regret taking the ICE even though it was bad for her. That numbness and floating feeling, that ability to shut out the world around her, had been the only thing keeping her feet falling in front of one another.

That knowledge has been rattling around inside Mira’s chest all night. Her omega was suffering so much, so acutely, that she felt like she couldn’t even exist without it hurting, and that she needed to pump herself full of poison in order to numb that pain. Rumi was hurting, and Mira had no clue. Had done nothing. 

She refuses for that to be true anymore. 

Coaxing Zoey back to sleep takes time, and as she feels their sunlight still on the bed, wrapped around the body of their omega, clinging on like a lifeline. Mira stays there in that moment, reassuring herself that both of her girls are safe, that they’re here, that they aren’t suffering, that they’re willing to let her help them. Soothing her own fears takes even longer, and as she looks at the clock, she sees that it’s far too late for her to consider going back to sleep.

 Extracting herself from the bed with practiced ease, she sets to handling the band’s meal prep. Rumi is going to need some very specific nutrients in larger quantities than normal, and keeping up with those needs is absolutely going to fall by the wayside if she’s the one in charge of it. 

Good thing the omega has a pack to look out for her, and an alpha that doesn’t mind getting a bit of work done in the kitchen. Reclaiming something she was taught back when she was expected to be the perfect omega son for her parents, rather than the alpha daughter they ended up getting rid of.

*** ***

Bobby froze the first time Bon-Hwa called the girls his pups. They’d been having dinner in his dining room as a full pack discussing the story that he was planning to feed the media, trying to explain how his loves look like they had aged along with him, the Saja Boys disappeared, and everything else.

Bon-Hwa made some offhanded comment about how interesting it was getting to know the pups Bobby had collected, and those words smashed into the stability of the conversation that evening. Looking back on his stuttering explanation, trying to deny that he saw them that way because he had never wanted to put that on them when they have such complicated relationships with their parental figures while also talking about how anyone would be lucky to be a guiding figure for the girls. Aseong’s barking laugh at the four talking over themselves was a saving grace, even if none of them knew it at the time.

He can’t say he doesn’t adore that it happened, because now he gets to call his girls his pups out loud, and not just in his heart. He gets to live with his pups, he gets to introduce them to his old pack, the one he never thought he would get to see again, and now gets to hold every night. The pack that’s now one soul larger, a second omega that brought his boys back to him, that is guiding one of his pups through what it is like to be a demonic omega. A demonic omega, that in the quiet one night, confessed that she reminds him of the sister that he was forced to leave behind. A sister that now he gets to remember through guiding a young girl that needs love and care just like she did.

Bobby isn’t ashamed that the confession brought him to tears, the weight settling over each of them within their nest, limbs tangled together as they rest.

Not all of the catching up is quite that intense, though relearning his loves has certainly been an experience. Spending time with each other as they piece a relationship together, similar to the one they had before, but the pieces old and weathered by time change its shape ever so slightly.

A new shape that he never even knew he should want to see, to experience, but now that he does know, that he has, he can’t help but pity the version of him that hasn’t learned quite yet.

These days are filled with little things like this. Things that he never even knew he wanted, but now that he has them, he’ll never be able to let go of. Getting to this point has been a challenge, and there is a long road ahead before that challenge will ease, but each step is worth taking if it's into a future with his pack.

Healing will take time, but they all have something to heal for, and that is one of the hardest steps to take.

*** ***

Some evenings, all she can do is sit on the couch and stare into the sunset.

Mira will be on a call somewhere, and Zoey will be caught up in a game or story or project on the other side of the couch, and she will sit and stare. 

There’s a work, she thinks, to being Rumi.

The alphas have been so very kind, they keep giving her space to learn her character, her core, now that she’s supposed to be Rumi and not the Abomination, the Mongrel, the Creature, the Thing. Space that she wants to use, wants so that she can explore who she is when she’s a she and not an it . But that exploration is a lot of work, trying to piece it together.

Sometimes all the energy she has is barely enough to let her stare into the distance instead of it .

They always notice when she slips away into it , they say her scent nearly disappears into the void. 

Becoming Rumi is going to take time, time that she never thought she was going to get. Sometimes the knowledge that she’s living in a time she never thought she would get to, that the idol awards came and went, that the Honmoon was evolved, that the girls found out about her, and that she’s still around to see it. Waking up the day after your supposed expiration is a wild experience, in her opinion.

Waking up each morning in the nest of her loves, though, does make it a little bit easier to imagine what the future after that date looks like. A future with some extensive therapy, both psychological and physical, if her pack has anything to say about it. Frankly, the only reason she’s still waking up in their nest every morning is that uprooting her from her den would do more harm than good.

It's become general knowledge that the originally forecasted three month hiatus is going to end up being somewhere between six and nine months. Their fans have been nothing but supportive, however. Celine’s journals getting leaked to the public created one of the biggest scandals in KPop history, and fans have rallied around her in a way she never thought they would have.

Sometimes, though, she’ll laugh at the people calling Celine a basket case. Reading through her journals without the knowledge that demons and magic are real makes them sound like the confessions of a madman. A small part of her feels a sense of satisfaction over the woman who felt like she was so much more important than her, so much better than her, being described as someone who had lost so many screws the panels of her brain were falling off.

Even some of the most popular groups of gatherers had joined the hunters in their mockery of the dead woman, and the reminder of the name for their antis sent her into yet another fit of giggles when she learned about it.

Zoey scoots along the couch, phone in hand, and pulls her out of her thoughts, ears picking up the tail end of “-- and it made me think of you.”

Her eyes drift down to the screen in the writer’s hands, and sees some silly post that’s meant to be sent to a partner or whatever, and feels tears start to well up at the sheer simplicity of it. Just the casual way she felt the need to share her love of Rumi, as though the quiet nature of the action made the meaning all the more powerful in the omega’s heart. Here she was, barely believing herself deserving of any manner of affection, and along Zoey came giving it to her as though it were as natural as breathing.

A sob builds up in her chest, and that overwhelmed sensation pours out in her scent, sending Zoey into a slight panic, “Starlight, what’s wrong? Was it something about the video? Baby, are you okay?”

The concern only prompts more tears to fall from her eyes at the near instantaneous reaction of the, no, her alpha, how ready she is to care for Rumi at the drop of a hat. “It’s, It’s okay, Zoey, just, big feelings? I think?”

“Oh sweetheart, okay, do you want anything?” Zoey’s words are kind, the alpha having climbed into her lap to cradle her face as she cried.

“Just, just stay? Please?” She tries not to shrink into herself as she asks, bashful hope worming into her scent.

“Of course, Rumi, anything you want.”

That’s how Mira finds them, hours later. Cuddled together on the couch, having fallen asleep in each other’s arms, quietly keeping each other close.

Chapter Text

Some days, Zoey can forget the sins that stain her fingertips.

Can run those fingers through her love’s hair, braiding the long purple locks into a familiar look, silken strands dragging along her fingers. Can hold her polaris close, hand in hand, as they watch some silly video that popped up on one of her feeds. Can hear the quiet laughter when she does something stupid just to put a smile on her love’s face..

Other days, the red that just won’t wash away rears its ugly head.

Days like today.

It started when Zoey awoke to Rumi’s pained whimpers as they hit her ears, their omega stuck in another nightmare, the scrunched look on her face and the iron grip of her fingers all too common over the last few weeks.  But then she begins to mumble. 

“Please, please I didn’t mean to take her from you. I don’t know where she is. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, please stop hurting me.” Each word a stroke on the canvas forming in Zoey’s head. Their love, the girl who has gone through so much, is being reminded of the most heinous sin Zoey has ever committed.

How can she deserve to hold her love like this, the omega’s fists clenched around the fabric of her shirt, face buried in her chest as though it will protect her from the weight of the world, when she is the reason for the distress in the first place. When she is the reason that this beautiful soul had yet another stone added to her shoulders, dragging their star down from the heights she always should have been able to reach.

The omega’s patterns flare as her scent piques with distress, and Zoey starts to feel a wet spot slowly spread from where Rumi’s head is buried into her. Her love is crying, and it is her fault . What a wonderful alpha she makes.

Alphas are supposed to protect their pack from the things that go bump in the night, not be them .

A particularly viscous sob crashes through Rumi’s body, the omega startling awake against Zoey’s chest, and all the alpha can do is attempt to soothe the distressed omega that her actions created. Hiccupping breaths slowly even out as the omega follows Zoey’s guide. If there’s one benefit to their familiarity with nightmares, it's that helping each other regulate after waking from them has long since become a habit at this point.

Rumi carefully pulls her face out of Zoey’s chest, looking up at the alpha as she asks, voice shaking, “It’s just, it’s just a dream, right? You don’t, don’t need to hurt me to find her?”

The question lances through the alpha's heart, the unsteady voice of this incredible girl weighed down by all that has happened to her, scent only carrying a hint of hope under the despair of the nightmare she is still recovering from. Getting the words past her lips alone would be a challenge, but she needs them to be steady. Needs to make them as unshakable as they can be, to give a rock that can be grabbed onto in the raging storm of pain that their starlight is desperate to escape. 

“Darling, why would we need to find her when she’s right here . You were always the love we were looking for. It’s the truth, and we’ll say it as many times as you need to hear it. We love you so much starlight . You never did anything you shouldn’t have, you’ve never done anything but your best, and I’m so sorry we hurt you anyway. You didn’t deserve it. You never did.”

“You keep saying that. You keep saying that you shouldn’t have hurt me, but you didn’t know. You didn’t know it was me, that I wasn’t just some demon that had taken the place of the third hunter. Sometimes even I forget that I’m not, how could I expect the both of you to?” Rumi’s voice is hoarse as she stumbles through the words, tears still running down her face in the dark of their nest.

Zoey was not prepared for that. They haven’t really talked much about that part of the night, the wound still far too fresh to be prodded at, but it seems like that didn’t do much good. “Oh, Rumi ”

One of her arms unwraps itself from around Rumi and nudges Mira awake because, unfortunately, it seems like they need to talk about it now. Putting it off for too long has let it fester, and now it was time to drain the wound, even if it would be painful.

Mira rouses slightly at the touch, blinking sleep out of her eyes as she looks at Zoey, face confused and half asleep as she searches for an answer.

“We need to talk about it, Mira. Can’t put it off any longer.” Zoey’s voice is small, and shaky, but there all the same.

Wrapping her arms back around Rumi, she looks the girl in the eyes and asks, “Do you want to talk about it here? Or is there something we should get first? Anything that would make you feel more comfortable?”

“Um, it’s always a little better when we have Mira’s tea?” Rumi sounds so fragile as the words leave her, frozen as though even the slightest change could make her shatter in their arms.

“Of course, starlight, anything you want. Anything.” Mira’s voice is gentle, as though coaxing a lamb out from where it is hiding, and given the sight she woke up to, Zoey can’t say she doesn’t understand the hesitance.

Gently, the smaller alpha lifts Rumi out of the nest in her arms, the taller following as the trio make their way into the kitchen. Zoey distracts herself by settling Rumi onto one of the chairs as Mira boils the water and gets out the tea.

Three cups are poured, smells wafting upwards, and a thick silence falls over the table, only broken when Zoey breaks into choking sobs, fighting words past her throat that are desperate to stay inside, as letting them out means that they’re real, and at this point, they have to be, “I’m so sorry, Rumi, so so so sorry. We shouldn’t have done that, I shouldn’t have done that. You didn’t deserve it! How am I supposed to be an alpha for you when I can’t even protect you from myself .”

“But, you did what you were supposed to do, right? You thought some abomination with patterns had stolen the third hunter, and you treated it like it deserved. That’s what you were supposed to do.” Rumi’s voice is quiet, her scent having all but disappeared into herself, and it breaks Zoey’s heart. She can almost hear the unspoken ‘It’s what I deserved’ on her starlight’s lips, and that fully breaks Zoey.

Launching herself off of the chair and latching onto Rumi, Zoey can’t even string together the apologies that she should be making. She should be on the floor, on her knees, begging for a forgiveness that won’t come, not after what she did, and instead she already had it before she even knew she’d done something wicked. She gets to wrap herself around this saint of a woman and cry into her shoulder as she desperately tries to convey the depth of her guilt.

“No, Rumi. What we did was wrong. You may not believe us yet, you may never believe us, but that doesn’t take away even an iota of the truth I need you to know. You did nothing wrong. We should have known it was you, and we’ll be making it up to you for the rest of our lives. We were in the wrong. Not you. Never you.” Mira’s voice is iron, hand holding onto Rumi’s shoulder as she pleads with the girl to understand, to realize that they’re the ones that made a mistake, not her.

“But -”

“No buts, starlight. We hurt you when you didn’t deserve it. You may be trying to forgive us, but we haven’t earned it yet, and we will spend the rest of our lives doing our best to deserve this gift you’ve already given us. We swear.” Mira cuts Rumi off before she can even start. This isn’t something that’s up for debate, it is a fact of reality.

The sheer conviction in Mira’s tone brings a fresh set of tears out of Rumi’s eyes, the omega collapsing into her alphas as the trio sit at the table, Zoey and Mira murmuring apologies into her back as they hold each other. Eventually, the trio move out to the couch and try to get more comfortable, even if no one is going to be able to fall back asleep.

Zoey has a hope that tonight helps their leader, because even if their starlight doesn’t believe them yet, Zoey is holding out hope that someday she will.

*** ***

Sometimes, Mira wishes Celine hadn’t died the night of the Namsen Tower incident.

She’s glad the bitch is dead, don’t get her wrong, but when shit like this call happens, she wishes she had done it herself. Maybe taken her time with it, walked Celine through each of the punishments she wrote down in those vile journals of hers, paying extra special detail to all of the little parts of it.

Made the monster heal herself with the honmoon before cutting out the asphalt stuck under her skin.

The investigative team found another journal in the course of their investigation of Celine’s estate, as apparently in order to maintain her treatment of Rumi the monster had developed quite a collection of black market acquaintances which the authorities were all too happy to get a lead on. A journal that was just shared with Mira in order to prevent her or her girls from being blindsided by it when the document inevitably leaks. The authorities are doing their best to keep things under wraps, but sometimes the things the Hunters are capable of scares Mira, and she knows that it’s unavoidable that things get leaked. Doesn’t quite mean she’s ready for this one to follow into the public eye.

Of all the journals discovered so far, this one is the most recent, and it covers all the way up until the first meeting of Huntr/x. Which means, tucked away at the very end, she sees a tiny note. 

One single inconspicuous line that threatens to send Mira spiralling off of a cliff, thoughts of all of the things she could have lost without ever knowing she should have had them a tornado around her soul.

Note to self: If the cauterization proves to be unsuccessful in the long term, remember that I’ve put together a document for all that would be needed for the mongrel to undergo a gland removal.

The sheer terror that winds its way around her heart at that single sentence feels like an underreaction to her. This monster was planning a sterilization and gelding procedure in the event her original fucked up shit wasn’t fucked up enough . 

Mira only found that little tidbit after she had ended the call with the detective, being given her own time to process the information and read through the journal, and she doesn’t know how long she stays in her desk chair, frozen at the sheer hatred that Celine had for Rumi , the single kindest and most beautiful soul that Mira has ever or will ever see.

She does know that she comes out of it to Rumi as the omega is worming her way into the alpha’s lap, wrapping her arms around the older girl’s neck, and trying oh so sweetly to release soothing pheromones into the air around them, her starlight burrowing into her embrace as tightly as possible.

“Rumi, baby, what’s wrong?” Mira asks, attention instantly locked onto her love as the smaller girl settles into her lap.

“You were getting dark, and you say it’s not good when I do so it isn’t when you do either, and being close helps me when I’m feeling dark, so I thought that maybe they would help you too?” Rumi is stumbling over her words in the way she does when she’s trying to put words to a feeling, thoughts tumbling over each other in an ungraceful tide.

Mira instantly feels the hatred she had been stewing in wash into the background under that very tide, and all that’s left in place is astonishment.

That this awesome girl, still fighting every day on her own journey of healing, saw someone else struggling and did her best to help in the only way she knew how. That she wanted to share and give this thing that she has for so long been missing. That this battered and bruised soul still cares so deeply for the people around her that helping is second nature to her.

A wet sensation slowly crawls its way down Mira’s cheek as she wraps herself around her polaris as tight as she can, clinging to the light that has been a guide for so long.

Chapter Text

The world feels both overwhelming and like a void of nothingness.

She (?) slowly opens her eyes to see two absolutely gorgeous women looking at her, and feels her face flush at the concern in their eyes, at least she thinks that’s what it is? Her nose is also saying that these two are alphas, but she isn’t super sure. Everything is kinda floaty and weird and different.

“How’re you feeling?” The pink one asks, and the care reminds her so much of her moon that tears start to well up in her eyes. “Does something hurt? Do we need to get a nurse in here?” 

A shake of her head answers the question, and the other pretty alpha asks, attention focused as the beeping from the nearby machine slowly picks up, “Why are you crying, starlight?”

Starlight, that’s what Mira and Zoey call her.

The second reminder of those two gorgeous souls, those saints who found it in themselves to care for her, (Damaged, broken, and wrong her ) only worsens the flow of tears in her eyes.

Tears that only further send the two alphas into a frenzy, soothing pheromones released into the air around her, words falling over themselves trying to guess what is sending the omega into a tearful fit. They shouldn’t be worried about something like her, and she needs to reassure them that nothing is wrong.

“It’s okay, it’s okay, nothing's wrong,” Her hands are sluggish as she tries to reassure these two pretty ladies, “It’s just, you two remind me of these girls I know. They’re so nice to me even when they shouldn’t be. I mean, look at me, I’m disgusting, all these patterns and scars on me like some kind of monster, but they’re nice to me anyways.”

As the first words leave her mouth, she finds that she can’t stop them, but that she also doesn’t want to. Talking about her girls is always nice, so hopefully the pretty ladies will want to listen? More people should know about how incredible her girls are, even if she can’t always explain how special they truly are.

“You know, they probably wouldn’t be happy I’m saying all this, but that’s just because they’re nicer to me than I deserve. They say they aren’t nicer to me than I deserve, though, so don’t tell them I’m telling you this, pretty ladies.” With that instruction, she swings her face between the two ladies, a serious and determined look on her face instantly being overtaken by a bashful smile as she launches back into waxing poetic about her girls, “So it’s like this, right? I’m an abomination, born that way, some mongrel mix of human and demon, and this lady raises me because she knew my mom and wants to make sure her mistakes don’t taint her legacy or whatever.

And she trains me to make up for being a demon, to protect the world from monsters like me. Even gave me a roof over my head and food in my belly sometimes to make sure I could do that job reaaaaaallll good.”

The two pretty ladies haven’t said anything, but she knows they’re listening, just like Mira and Zoey would be if she ever told them this. “Then, I’ve been with the lady for like, aaaages, and I almost look like an adult, you know, and she finds the two hunters that aren’t born to the previous general, generator, generation, that’s it, and she trains those two to be idols and hunters to protect the world and stuff. They do such a good job at it toooooooo, like, I don’t want to brag, but do you know Huntr/x? That’s them!”

Each word is matched by wild gesticulation and a rollercoaster in her scent, pheromones not quite responding in the way she had started to grow accustomed too, almost like someone cranked the sensitivity of her control up a thousandfold. “I’m there too, of course. The lady said I needed to stick with the hunters because there were supposed to be three, but because I stole the place of the third when I was born I needed to help them to make up for it or something. And so like, I did my best to make sure that I helped them in every way I could, ya know? Sometimes they’d still get hurt, though, and I didn’t like that. Mongrels don’t fix things, so there wasn’t anything I could do, but I tried anyway. Tried to make sure that I was taking the hits for ‘em, stuff like that.” 

As she starts to explain her relationship to her hunters, she tries her best to school her face into something serious, continuing her rambling and gushing with the words, “And these beautiful girls, I have to do my best to protect them, ya know? And so sometimes I’d get hurt because I didn’t do a good enough job, and they’d try their best to fix it for me! They weren’t allowed to, of course, I shouldn’t stain peoples hands with fixing me, but they wanted to! They’re literally the nicest girls ever. Like seriously, they’re so sweet and kind and nice and pretty, even prettier than you two, which is saying something, and they want to help me. Me. And like, they keep saying all these nice things about me, and giving me hugs and letting me scent them and scenting me! They even gave me their bites, pretty ladies. Yeah, those ones, I know, right?”

The pretty ladies seem to blush rather heavily at her last sentence, which is entirely understandable. Imagining Zoey and Mira loving anyone let alone her is a rather arousing idea, in her own humble opinion.

“They’re just, they’re everything, ya know? And it's kinda selfish of me, but I really like it, and I really hope they’ll keep me around for as long as they say they will.” As the last word tumbles over her lips, the energy that had been running through her body fled, leaving exhaustion in its wake. Near instantaneously, keeping her eyes open is so sososo hard, and she can’t do anything to stop the yawn that escapes her mouth.

“Sorry pretty ladies, I’m about to sleepy again. Remememember, don’t, don’t tell Zoey and Mira what I said, they’d get sad. I don’t want them to be sad.”

Consciousness fades around the memory of the smiling faces of her sun and moon.

*** ***

Zoey hadn’t quite known what to expect when Rumi woke up from the anaesthesia. The doctors had said that due to the extensive reconstruction of her glands, it was likely that the omega’s instincts and senses would be rather sporadic and inconsistent, at least for some time.

Apparently the way that ended up presenting was their starlight not recognizing them, which certainly gave them a number of things to give to Rumi’s psychiatrist before the next session. And a few to talk about with her own therapist.

Rumi’s tendency to forget to eat is significantly less cute and significantly more concerning when it’s due to not getting enough food as a child.

Every day, Zoey wishes that Celine hadn’t died during Namsen Tower, as there are far too many things that the bitch needs to pay for, and she wishes that she could be the one to dish out the consequences. 

There is one hunter’s blood that should have spilled on her Shin-Kal, and it wasn’t Rumi’s.

Returning to their den yesterday had left Zoey reckoning with the fact that Rumi’s space had not even next to, but in fact zero personalization. The only things in that room are reminders of the terrible way that Celine treated their love, and Zoey will not have that. 

Which means that the next day is time for a shopping trip to find soft things for their omega to decorate and cover her room in, little comforts in her own space that she’s never gotten the chance to have. Walking through the department store finds Zoey absolutely engulfing the cart that Mira is pushing in soft fabrics, pillows, and more.

Each isle finds Zoey carefully considering each option available, presenting the best choices to Rumi for a final verdict before shoving another item into the cart.

“And I think this one would work really nicely as like, a base for the edges of your nest, Rumi! It’s firm enough that it’ll keep its shape while still having a bit of give and cushion to it! What do you think?” Zoey is holding out a longer pillow for the omega to grab, her starlight gently taking it out of her hands and feeling the heft to it.

“That makes sense, it doesn’t seem bad? Maybe?” Rumi’s voice is hesitant, as though the girl was waiting for her input to be steamrolled over and ignored as it was for far too long.

“Wonderful! Into the cart it goes!” With a flourish, Zoey slams the pillow into the basket, forcing down the mountainous pile of comforts to fit even more options. Only the best, and all of the best, for their omega. It’s what she deserves, always has, always will.

The trio continue on their trek through the store, visiting each aisle to peruse its contents. Turning down the next, Zoey’s heart stops in her chest when she sees the most adorable stuffed purple tiger in the next aisle. That would be absolutely perfect for Rumi.

Unrestrained excitement has the smaller alpha dragging their polaris towards it, and Zoey shoves the plush into Rumi’s arms with the exclamation, “Look, it’s you!”

“It is?” The confusion in their omega has Zoey’s heart clenching slightly at the sheer cuteness, the slight head tilt next to the giant plush only further fueling the desire to bundle this perfect girl up in the softest blankets to hide from the world forever.

“Yeah! Cause it’s purple, has stripes, and is sooooooo cute, just like you! We have to get it!” With her argument clearly made, Zoey returns to the start of the aisle to begin her perusal of the options she skipped past in her eagerness to grab the tiger.

She and Mira are looking through some of the first items when she feels a tap on her side. Turning around she sees Rumi desperately trying not to shrink into herself as she holds out a plush green turtle and a polar bear balanced on its back, “Can we get these two as well? Maybe?”

Zoey’s stomach does a flip as she takes in the sight of their girl asking for something. Her inner alpha is screaming to give this girl everything in the world, the very moon in the sky, if that’s what she wants. Squishing the plushes between them, the alpha envelops their third in a hug, “Of course we can, darling! Anything you want!”

The rest of their trip does change slightly, as Zoey can’t get Rumi to put the two stuffed toys down for long enough to get her opinion on other items, which leads Zoey to displaying them like some sort of infomercial. Each item is showcased for their omega, descriptions of textures and other factors being hammed up as much as she can get them, trying to keep that smile on their starlight’s face as they walk through the store.

Checkout is a rather long process, what with the sheer quantity of items that were picked out, and loading them into the back of the car takes far longer than Zoey would have thought. Frankly, she’s genuinely considering calling another car to come pick up the rest of the stuff they got so much, but luckily they manage to shove everything in. 

Her girls pile into the back of the car, turtle and polar bear plushies still firmly in Rumi’s grasp as they head back to their den to help Rumi build her first nest. She’s rather glad that the team had gotten the air filter in Rumi’s space uninstalled, as they have wanted to give their girl a place to call her own, but they couldn’t do that while it was so antithetical to all of the things they wanted her to have.

Seeing their leader’s beaming grin as she settles into the newly constructed nest instantly washes away any lingering thoughts her inner poor kid had about the insane price tag from the trip.

Zoey would spend every single cent of her fortune if it meant that Rumi never had a reason to stop smiling like that, scent overcome with joy as she peeks out from underneath the three stars of the trip, the oversized plushies crowded around the smiling face that the smaller girl would love to kiss.

It’s a good thing that Rumi needs more physical affection now.

Chapter Text

The last few months have been exhausting for Rumi.

Every week she’s had multiple appointments with her therapist, weekly check-ins with her psychiatrist, and so many more things that she kinda gave up on keeping track and just goes where her pack tells her to. It’s nice not being the person in charge of maintaining schedules for once.

Her pack has been a rock in the storm that she’s weathering, making sure her every need is taken care of, that she has everything she could want and more, because apparently she ‘operates under a gross misunderstanding of her value and the things she allows herself to want’, which is probably true, but as her therapist says, habits can be hard to break.

Luckily, with her last surgery completed, she’s at the tail end of her recovery, the six month long journey having been among the hardest things she’s ever done. Unlearning everything that Celeine did to her is probably going to be the work of a lifetime, but she has more good days than bad now, and she’s starting to believe the things that her girls say about her.

She’s also been working on accepting her secondary gender and all of the instincts that come along with it, which is much easier said than done. Learning how to tell her girls when she needs something and being willing to accept help from them has been a mountainous climb that she still struggles with, but her sun and moon have been there to help her every step of the way. Holding her when she needs to feel protected, supporting her when she needs to feel challenged, offering her the tools she needs to make things a little bit better, one thought at a time.

Gratitude is too paltry a term for the devotion and care that Mira and Zoey have been giving her, but it’s the only one she can think of that even comes close to the aching in her chest that eases every time her girls are near. She never wants to lose them again, and they seem to fully intend to ensure that she never will.

Now that they’re three months out from the end of their hiatus, however, it’s starting to look like they need to begin preparations for their comeback album. Not a single peep about it has been heard at their weekly pack nights when Bobby and his boys come around for dinner and various shenanigans, but Rumi is starting to get a bit stir crazy not having anything to work on other than herself.

Sitting here on the couch, cradled between her two girls as Mira and Bon-Hwa snark back and forth at one another around the movie, those thoughts start to creep into her mind again. Thoughts of the songs she wants to sing about the love she’s grown to know from these incredible souls, who looked at something far more broken than anything they’d seen before, and decided that they wanted to help. That they wanted to help her pick up those pieces and meld them back together into something new, something beautiful, something whole in a way she’s never been before.

Zoey must’ve noticed the way she was lost in thought, as the alpha’s hand turns Rumi to face her, “Is everything alright, starlight? Seems like you’re floating up with the rest of the stars right now.”

Rumi feels a warmth in her heart at the reminder of the care her loves give her, how her Sun is more than happy to be a light in the darkness whenever her thoughts get too heavy as they are all too wont to do, even if that isn’t what she’s thinking about now. “It’s okay Zo, just, just thinking about maybe now that we’ve gotten my appointments down to once a week we could maybe start working on our comeback album? I know you’ve all wanted me to focus on my recovery, but I think that maybe having something productive to do, a goal to work towards might help now? And just, I really miss working on music with you two.” She can’t help the hopeful tilt that worms its way into her voice as she stumbles over the last words.

Her question slowly fills the room, and she sees in each of her pack’s faces a hesitation at the prospect. Consideration slowly starts to build as they consider what she’s asking for, and the silence is broken when Bobby answers, “If you think you’re ready, maybe we’ll give it a try? Nice and slow, though, we don’t want anyone to fall back into any less than ideal habits, okay?”

“And you have to promise to keep us in the loop about how you’re feeling, okay Rumes?” Zoey’s voice asks, gentle care seeping into every word.

“I’ll do my best?” Rumi responds hesitantly, suddenly unsure of her ability to actually do what they’re asking. 

“That’s all we can ask for.” Mira reassures, tightening her arm around Rumi’s shoulders as she holds the singer close. 

The rest of their movie night passes rather calmly, the occasional chatter about how plans will change over the next week to slowly ease the girls back into idol work fluttering in the air during slow parts of the show.

Rumi really hopes that the rest of her life will be a mosaic of little moments like this, relaxing with the people that matter to her, basking in their love and loving them in turn. It’s something she hadn’t even known she could want as a pup, but now that she has it, she’s never going to let go.