Chapter Text
Jungkook wanted to get as far away from the facility as possible but he also knew that he needed to save his strength to keep going, that he needed to have that talk with Namjoon soon and that he would have to address the other wolves as well to tell them what was going on.
His wolf was pushing him to keep running, to continue until he had put so much distance between him and his capturers that they would never get a chance to catch him again but realistically Jungkook knew that he might not even feel safe after another hour of running - or ten - so he slowed down somewhere in the forest where the ground looked untouched and the trees were dense, a place that gave him at least some semblance of security.
Nonetheless his whole body was still on high alert as he trotted along, waiting for all the others to catch up to them and gather around in a circle. As he waited Jungkook could feel the gentle caresses and soft touches against his fur making him all too aware of Namjoon’s presence. Strangely enough he liked them.
Jungkook gave a soft grunt as a warning before he shifted his weight and went down on his paws for Namjoon to get off his back more easily.
Slowly and carefully the scientist slipped from Jungkook's back. It felt strange to stand back on the ground, with his muscles tense from holding the awkward position for so long and the adrenaline slowly starting to fade. He wasn’t sure what to say so he just looked at Jungkook while he still could, trying to take him before the other would run off and he would never see him again.
“Good luck, Jungkook,” he finally whispered, “I wish you all the best. I hope that someday you will be able to forgive me for keeping you in that cage for so long.”
It was the only thing he still hoped for knowing that he was about to be left behind to deal with the consequences of what he had done.
Before the other could simply turn his back on him, Jungkook was changing back and reaching out for Namjoon’s arm right away.
“Wait…” Jungkook was still panting from the run and shivering from the exertion. “Before you go I want to know why!”
He hushed out the words, as if speaking too loudly would disturb the peace of the forest and its creatures.
“We fought, I went asleep and then…what happened? What did they do to make you set us free?” He was scared that something horrible had happened, that the company had done something so awful and drastic that it made Namjoon change his mind even though he had still been loyal to them 24 hours before.
It left him with way too many questions and he needed the answers if he ever wanted to leave this all behind him.
“Don’t worry, nothing happened. Nothing new, I mean.” It had truly been a night like every other - except that he had finally seen through the company's fake promises and had therefore decided to change the course of his life entirely.
“There is no great explanation but that you opened my eyes with what you said to me before. I wanted to prove to you that the capture of the pup had been a misunderstanding and instead I’ve been told that he was supposed to be treated like a normal patient. I found out that he wasn’t the first and that I apparently missed the big memo that said that we would start using pups for luxury fur now. The other departments already did.
So after I had proof that it was real, after I had seen the data and watched the videos for myself... it became clear to me that there were no boundaries or rules that the company was still afraid to break, there was no ethical code left that I could hold onto as small as it might have been before.
After I had gotten rid of that illusion I had to decide if i wanted to keep working here and accept that I was playing a part in the torture and death of wolves and pups alike - or if I wanted to still be able to look at myself in the mirror. I chose the latter.”
Jungkook had made him look at himself with different eyes and see the truth and afterwards he simply couldn’t go on like that. Namjoon would be lying if he said he wasn’t devastated that his hopes of finding a cure would stay a distant dream now, that all the work he had put into developing new and better medicine had been in vain but he wasn’t willing to continue while having blood on his hands.
Besides, there was no guarantee that he would have actually had a breakthrough one day even if he had kept working there. Maybe it would have just been him trying and failing to justify his work while his patients were fading away one after another. He didn’t want to turn into a monster like that. An actual monster, not what he had thought wolves to be before he had met Jungkook.
Jungkook’s hold on his arm softened but he didn’t let go of Namjoon just yet. The pup next to them was starting to get visibly nervous, a mixture of being unable to stay still for too long with all that adrenaline left in his system and the fear about them possibly being found by the wrong people.
Jungkook swallowed hard. Time was running out on them.
“I know you wanted to do the right thing, even when you were blind to the truth. I’m really glad you’re finally able to.”
His expression softened into a smile but his heart didn’t seem to calm down. “There’s a reason I never really fought you the way I fought the guards or tried to sabotage you when you were working with me. I knew you actually wanted to help, I just didn’t understand how you could work for them while doing so.” He raised his eyebrow with a teasing smirk as he leaned in. “And maybe I also just didn’t want to ruin your pretty face with my claw marks.”
Namjoon’s breath hitched when Jungkook got close to him like that. “I’m.. grateful for that. I really am. I know how much strength and speed is hidden away in your wolf form now. You could have brought me down the second we were alone.” He wondered why Jungkook was still here with him when running away as far as possible was probably his most pressing need right now.
Jungkook took a deep breath and then just blurted out what had lingered on his mind the moment he had realized Namjoon was truly on their side now. “Come with us!” He spoke insistent but quietly as he let his hand slip down to Namjoon’s.
“I know you always wanted to know more about us and that way you would get a chance to truly see us as we are. You could be with a pack, an actual, real pack and maybe even continue your work if you promise to not harm us…” He didn’t think that Namjoon would ever try to hurt a wolf again but he needed to speak it aloud, for the sake of his pack. “If you agree to honor our rules and live by our ways then I can take you with me.”
“You would take me to your pack?” Namjoon stared at him, torn between sudden euphoria and shock. He had never heard of anything like that, a human being allowed to see a pack up close, especially not with the invitation of their alpha.
“What would your people say if you brought me? Won’t they think I did something to you, brainwashed you or forced you to take me with you? They will hate me if they learn where I worked and what I did to you!”
He trusted Jungkook by now but the thought of a whole pack full of wild wolves had the fear creeping back in. They would be right in wanting to pay him back for what he had done to their kind.
Jungkook shook his head softly.
“We’re a small pack and they trust my decisions. As long as you don’t betray us, you don’t have to be afraid of anything.”
He gave him an honest smile, intertwining their fingers because Namjoon so easily let him.
“Just promise me that you won’t see us as only your science project and I promise you, I’ll answer all of your questions. The pup will come along with us, too, until we find a way to contact his pack.”
Namjoon held his breath. He had thought that this day would ruin him and now it had brought him a gift he didn’t even feel worthy for.
“I promise. Please take me with you! I’ll never betray your trust again and I’ll prove to you that you are way more to me than any science project could ever be. Your pack too. I can’t wait to meet your family.”
He could feel his heart beating strangely in his chest, too fluttery for it to be purely excitement.
“I can also be useful to you and your pack; I can buy you food in the city and keep you safe in other ways or contact WERA again. I might not have the strength or qualities of a wolf but I can teach you new things too.”
He flinched when something cold and wet pressed against his hand but when he looked down it was the pup, pressing his nose against him and wagging his tail in a wolfish way of approval.
Jungkook chuckled at the sweet sight.
“You can definitely buy additional things if you want but you will see that we’re a pack of very skilled hunters. ” He leaned in with a teasing smirk. “I mean, just look at me, I’ve caught an exceptional human for our pack.”
He was relieved that Namjoon was coming with them, not just because he was afraid of what the company would do if they found out that Namjoon was behind the wolf’s escape. He also didn’t want to say goodbye.
“Now, let me talk to the other wolves first, ask them where they want to go and if they want to come along but then we should keep moving. We’ve still got a long way ahead of us as my pack should be a lot further south. I’m not exactly sure where they are hiding at the moment but I’ll find them. I’ll always find them.”
Namjoon nodded and then watched as Jungkook turned back, standing there tall and proud as he addressed the other wolves, talking to them like a true leader. Namjoon couldn’t wait to go with them.
His life would be completely different and definitely more dangerous but every second would be worth it if he would get to experience the truth about what wolves were like. If he had learned enough then maybe, with the pack's permission, he could publish something anonymously that could help more people understand the wolves and hopefully it could change how they were seen and treated. There were so many things and ideas that were suddenly possible, all because of one person. Jungkook .
Jungkook, who after everything that had happened had still reached out for his hand, who had trusted him and talked to him and had believed that there was something more to him from the beginning.
He would make up for what he had done and pay him back for his trust. He’d be there for the wolf and his pack, show him support and warmth and kindness and, if Jungkook would let him, then maybe they could even explore what had started to bloom between them that made Namjoon’s heart flutter like that.
After everything that had happened maybe they hadn’t just found freedom in each other, maybe they had also found love.