Animal In My Heart
Newt perked up from his spot in the garden when he smelt a whiff of Minho and pushed the tip of his tongue into his gums when he felt his animal push in him to go and greet him. He heard the horn for dinner and put away his tools and talked with Zart for a moment until the runners filled out of the map room and went to go get dinner, plus see the new greenie.
"Newt!" Minho called from a few feet away to catch his eyes and smiled, his red eyes flashing before he jogged up to him, despite being exhausted, and pulled him in an embrace.
The younger boy smiled and hugged him back, kissing his cheek as his eyes turned naturally under the alpha's presence. "How was your run today?"
Minho groaned, "Of all the things, that's what you ask me?" He pouted, nuzzling him before pulling away to wrap an arm around his shoulders as they walked to get dinner. "It was the usual, as always."
The two walked into the dining area and were greeted by several friends, then left to get their food and sit down in the group of keepers who talked loudly and laughed about the stories others told.
While watching Winston explain a story, Newt glanced around at the several tables filled with boys. He bit the inside of his cheek as he watched some of them playfully glow their red eyes at each other as they wrestled until Alby calmed them down. He felt small, being surrounded by alphas, he swallowed and fidgeted with his food before an arm looped around his waist and tugged him against someone. He got a smell of Minho and gave him a quick smile to reassure him.
After everyone finished their food, Alby hosted the ceremony for the new glader. Some of the sayter's blew horns or flutes and others did drums, the loud beat vibrating Newt's heart. They gathered in a small ring around the sand pit where Gally was wrestling with some of the gladers before they cheered the greenie on.
Newt winced as he watched Gally throw him to the sand, his head barely missing hitting the ground. He furrowed his brows as Alby trotted to the center, his dark equine body was used to steady the boy as he led him to the ring again.
Gally looked at the crowd, raising his arms. "Who's next?" He turned to Minho suddenly, who was leaning by Newt. "How about you, big bad wolf?"
The crowd turned to him and he sneered, eyes flashing in a warning. He felt Newt nudge him and whisper "to just go on so nobody will make a big deal" and he huffed, kicking off the tree and walking to the circle.
Gally grinned, showing off his large canines. He let out a roar as the crowd cheered and yelled, clapping their hands. "Oh, come on, let out a little roar, alpha."
Minho licked the sockets where his canines began slipping out and looked to Newt, who nodded. He flared his maroon eyes and let a rumbling howl that felt as if the ground shook and the crowd clapped and yelled his name. The two alpha's stared each other down as they walked around the sand pit.
The taller alpha lunged forward, but was knocked into a stumbling walk as the other slammed a hand against his back to knock him off path. He growled and swiped a leg under Minho, knocking him into staggering but nothing else as he jumped at him, both of them ending up in the sand as they crouch into a pouncing position, growling and snarling as their eyes clashed with red on red.
Rolling into his side, Gally rolled into Minho, knocking him to his side with a howl of pain as he held his arm, obviously broken by his weight but he pressed down on it, rolling his neck to snap at him.
"Stop!" Newt called, pushing through the crowd and motioning Minho to him as he got to his feet and jogged up to him. He took his arm with gentle hands before pressing down, snapping the bone back into place as he let out a rattled breath. "You okay?"
Minho nodded, giving him a small smile of gratitude, despite the scratch marks across the side of his face. "I'm fine, thanks."
The larger alpha stood up and brushed himself off. "Were not done here, Minho, get back in the game."
"He's finished, he got hurt. You know the rules, Gally."
Gally snorted and cracked his knuckles, his long claws sliding out from their sockets in his nails as he licked his lips, his red eyes watching the two. "Well, how about you take his place?"
Minho let out a growl, but Newt quieted him and kept his hand on his, now healing, arm to assure him.
"Come on, foxy." He sneered, grinning wickedly. "Let's dance."
Newt glared at him, his orange eyes flaring for a moment before he nodded, walking to the center. He felt Minho try and snatch his wrist and felt his nails brush against his skin, but he moved too quickly for him to catch. He placed his smaller feet in Minho's footprints, looking up at Gally.
The hair on his cheekbones grew fuller and his snout wrinkled in a snarl, red eyes blazing as his long nails flexed. He rubbed his smaller claws and ran his tongue over his fangs.
Gally suddenly lunged at him, nails pressing into his pale skin as he caught his shoulders, snapping at his face when Newt managed to push him back by kicking his knees.
Newt moved back, eyes flashing as he hissed, his long, sharp teeth clicked when he snapped at the air in a warning. Gally had laughed, mixed with a deep rumble of a growl and a mocking laugh.
They clashed, nails scraping against each other and teeth snapping at each other before Gally tossed him to the side. He rolled in the sand, just managing to miss a rock that almost hit his head as he whimpered in pain at the weight on his bad leg.
He shook his head as his eyes flickered from caramel to orange and he let a ragged breath out. He heard whispers in the crowd as he felt Gally slowly walk up to him. He opened his eyes to lock with his red ones before he swiped both of his legs against the back of his knees, catching him by surprise and making him stumble and trip over the sand piles, landing on his back.
This gave Newt the time to get his footing again, however he kept his left leg off the ground, barely putting weight on the tip of it. He could feel Minho's dark eyes on him and he could smell his anger and frustration as Gally stumbled back up.
He felt the full moons light against his back as Gally lumbered over to him, breathing heavily with a snarl. The larger boy leaned back with an open palm before striking it against Newt, sending him into the crowd as they screeched and hollered, helping to hold him up.
Newt couldn't see, but he was sure it was Minho, but he could hear a loud, deafening snarl that vibrated in his ears before they began to turn everything muffled and distant.
Minho pushed himself away from the crowd to slam into Gally, knocking them both to the ground as he sat on top of him, pressing his weight down to keep him from struggling. "Stop this!" He snapped in his face, leaning forward to get his eyes locked on his. However, the full moon had began to take hold of him as his large canines clashed and clicked, trying to lock on flesh.
Eyes bleeding into red, Minho let out another deafening roar, hair growing on the side of his cheeks as his nose bridge blended with the protruding bone of his forehead, wrinkled as he snarled and snapped at Gally until he calmed beneath the powerful alpha.
He motioned for the other keepers to get Gally as he jumped off him, running after the med-jacks and Newt. He went to go inside with them, but Clint pushed him back with a hand to his chest, shaking his head. He understood and slowly nodded, calming the fire in him enough to rid the features and eyes. After Jeff walked out of the room, he talked to Minho about what damage had been done, then allowed him in the room.
Newt was propped up against the wall, a pillow used to support his back. Minho couldn't tell if he was awake or asleep, but moved to the front of his bed. One side of his face was bandaged in a cream colored cloth, four lines of smudged dark red was visible from the scratch marks Gally had made.
Minho leaned forward to kiss his forehead, noting he was sleeping. He pulled a chair up beside the bed and leaned against the wall until he woke up again, saying that the scratches would heal in a few days and he just grinned as best as he could, like nothing had happened to him.
The next day, Gally quietly came into the room, feeling the fire in Minho's eyes, but he kept his on Newt. "I'm sorry, Newt. I didn't know what I was doing, the full moon took over me, I should have been more careful."
The blond boy looked him up and down and noticed some marks on his arm where he had pricked him with his sharp claws, then saw red blotches around his mouth and neck and noted that they had used wolfsbane to force Gally to calm down. "It's okay." He said, quietly, almost like a whisper.
Gally only nodded and made to move to the door, but Newt cleared his throat, making him withdraw his hand from the door. He turned to see Newt motioning him to come closer and he did, slowly and with caution. He got to the point where he was beside his bed.
Then, Newt hugged him. It made him have to bend down, but he felt the boy smiling and he hugged him back. He could smell a bit of jealousy from Minho, but he ignored it and pulled back when Newt let go, smiling at him for a moment before leaving.
Newt smiled to Minho, who's eyes left the door and moved to his, moving to kiss his cheek.
After a few days, Newt was able to get back on his feet, with a small crutch to help with his bad leg. The scratches had healed to a scab like texture with some bruising around it, but he still smiled when some of the gladers helped him with things he couldn't do at the moment.
Every night after Minho ran the maze, he would greet him with a kiss and pepper kisses across the scratches now that he knew it didn't hurt and it provided comfort to Newt's animal.