Third person pov

Taehyung shuddered when he saw the huge lonely room. He had just woken up from a nightmare.

There were so many toys and books in his room along with all the things he requires like food and snacks but he didn't need any of those at the moment.

The five-year-old needed a presence beside him. He felt lonely and scared.

He got down the from the bed and waddled to the door.

He doesn't dare to open the door because his mom had ordered him in the sweetest way to not do that.

He had never left this room, never seen what the outside world looked like.

He was locked here for years, and it would continue to be like that unless he decided to go against his mother and leave the place.

"Mommy?" He called, voice sounding desperate as he hoped with all his will that his mom would come to him and calm him with her soothing words.

He placed his chubby hands on the door and pressed his ears against it to try and hear footsteps.

It was midnight so his room was dark and scary. He could barely see anything which made him even more terrified.

"Mommy, I'm scared," he whimpers, tears welling in his eyes.

"You promised you'll come when I call you..." He starts sobbing quietly.

He snapped his head towards the window when a small light flashed into the room from outside.

It was probably just a car or some bratty teenager who was roaming in the streets at midnight and trying to cause trouble, but his innocent self thought that it was a ghost.

"Mommy, there is a ghost here! I'm scared!" He yells.

Eunae knew her son was calling for her but if she left now, Doyun would be mad.

She gulped and looked up at her mate who stirred softly in sleep Tightened his hold around her waist.

She softly patted his chest so he doesn't wake up because of the yells of their son.

She bit her lip because she knew that it was almost impossible for her to leave.

Taehyung sat down on the cold floor and curled into a ball, wailing softly.

This was how his days were every time.

He would sob to sleep every night, wanting to be with his mom but would get up in the morning and forget about everything-- his nightmare and the loneliness-- as soon as he sees his mom in his room.

He longed for her as she was the only one who actually loved him. His dad never came to his room to even look at him, and his elder brother, Jaewon, preferred going out and playing with his friends rather than coming to his room to play with him.

He could only see the alpha and beta children who played outside on the road from his window, couldn't join them no matter what.

Oh, how he wished he could go out of the room and touch the trees and plants, sit below the tree and sleep or play with somebody of his age, a friend.

He was very innocent and followed everything his mom told him without even asking why he had to do it.

He didn't ever ask her why he wasn't allowed to leave the room while his brother and the other children were.

It was love. He loved her so much that he couldn't go against her orders and wishes.

It would only take a little effort and he could jump out of the window and escape, but he never tried that.

He never would.

He walked up to his bed and buried himself inside his bedsheets and said innocently, "Ghostie, don't hurt Taetae. Just go away without hurting me."

And just like that, the child fell asleep.

He woke up again in the morning when he heard the door of his room opening.

He quickly got out of the bed and ran to his mom.

"Mama!" He yelled happily, wrapping his arms around her legs and burying his face in her knees.

"Did my son get a nightmare again?" She cooed, kneeling and embracing him, cradling his head to her chest. She felt him nod against her chest and smiled sadly.

"I tried to call you but you didn't come," he says after breaking away and pouting, upset.

"I'm sorry, baby, I didn't hear you. I was asleep," she muttered, feeling guilty because it was a lie.

"Let me make it up by reading a book to you?" She asks with raised eyebrows and Taehyung immediately nods, excited.

She took out one of the hundred books from the shelf and sat down on the ground, making Taehyung sit beside her.

It was a pretty small story of two lovers, humans who got together and married each other after facing a few problems caused by their families who rejected to accept them and their love.

"Were they mates?" The boy asks with innocent doe eyes staring into his mom's after she completed reading the story.

Eunae chuckles and says, "This is a story of a human, son. Humans don't have mates, but you will have a mate because you are a beautiful omega werewolf."

Taehyung grins cutely and says,

"Will my mate love me? Will he be my friend and play with me? Sleep with me in the same bed while cuddling? Let me go out and relax under a tree? Will he let me talk to others?" he rambles, listing out things which he, at the moment, couldn't do.

Eunae smiles sadly. She didn't even know if Taehyung will ever meet his mate and about love...she didn't know if he'd ever feel such an emotion.

Yet, she says,

"Yes, my baby. Your mate will let you do everything you want."

Those words just excited Taehyung more, his hopes rising terribly.

He innocently thought that his mate will be the one to bring him everything that he wants, that is, happiness and love.

He believed that his mate will be the one to get him out of this stupid room that he is stuck in.

And unknowingly, he already started loving his mate.

"Mommy, I want to meet my mate!"

Eunae chuckles, patting the head of her overexcited pup and says, "Hmm? But what if he isn't the way you think he is? If he is rude and arrogant?"

"No, he will be the best mate anyone could get. He will be the one to get me out of this room" He said confidently.

Eunae frowns at those words.

"Baby, the day you get out of here won't be the best day of your life. The world is cruel and dark, my child, not all happiness and smiles. Trust me, when you get out of here, you will want to just come back and stay here forever."

"Why are you saying that, mommy? Don't I deserve to be loved?" The child asks, tilting his head innocently and frowning.

"You do, you deserve every happiness but..."

"But?"

She sighs and decided to not tell him anything. She didn't want to make her child sad by telling him what was going to happen to him in future.

That he was going to become a slave to the demon wolf as he was sold to him. She quickly changes the topic.

"I made your favorite dish--pancakes with maple syrup--today. Let me get them for you, alright?"

Taehyung immediately forgets about their previous conversation and squeals at the mention of pancakes.

Eunae chuckles before getting up and leaving the room. She closed the door behind her back, listening to the baby voices Taehyung was making while playing with his toys.

I hope...I hope you get a very loving mate who saves you from this dark world and protects you. Who isn't a coward like I am to love you but not do anything to protect you.

--------

"Gem?"

Jungkook's heart seemed to stop when he heard that voice. There was no change in his expression but he felt fear crawl in him.

He got up from the floor, hissing because his knees and limbs hurt from being hit, and tiptoed to the door.

He gulps when he feels the presence of someone outside.

"G-go away," he whispered, breathing ragged. He hoped that they'd just go away.

He hated it when they came here. Their visit never ended well as Sangmi would always send them away and abuse him for talking to them.

"Why? We just came," Hoseok, his cousin who was about five years elder than him, said, knocking on the door again.

Hoseok kept coming here even after being yelled at by Jungkook and sometimes even hit by the trueblood who'd try to send him away always.

His reason for doing that was simple. He felt great sympathy for the young trueblood who seemed to be living the worst life he could.

He wanted the boy to feel a little brotherly love as he failed to recieve love from anyone else.

Moreover, he was attached to Jungkook. In the past years, he had been visiting once in a few months.

He liked doing so even if the trueblood was trying his best to push him away.

Gem. That was what he called Jungkook. There was a reason to that too.

He wanted Jungkook to believe that he did actually care for him and loved him so he told him that he was as precious as a gem to him.

Well, the nickname did seem to make Jungkook shocked but it wasn't strong enough to make him believe him.

Jungkook sealed his lips shut because he didn't know what to say. He was scared and wanted nothing more than to send him away.

"Look, I brought Jimin along," Hoseok said, urging him to open the door.

The nine-year-old slowly unlocked the door and took a few steps away from the entrance. His eyes and features hardened as soon the two walked into the room.

He glared at them, showing them as much as harshness and rudeness that he could so they would stop coming here.

He didn't like being hit.

He didn't like to be in such a helpless state, and whenever they came to see him, he'd end up getting hurt.

However, he felt so much better when he came. Hoseok was the only one who came to meet him and talk to him.

He was the only one who seemed to see through his harsh and unwelcoming facade.

Hoseok gave him a bright and huge smile, his glare not affecting him at all, as he made his way to him and enveloped him in a tight hug.

He flinched and pressed his hands on his chest, pushing him away and scoffing arrogantly.

"Why are you here?" He growled even though he wasn't angry. It just wasn't possible for him to smile and be happy now.

Why? Because he had been tortured by Sangmi so much that he hated being seen as helpless, soft and sweet. He did this to make sure that no one else would think of him as a weakling and abuse him in the way Sangmi does.

At the end of the day, he was only trying to protect himself.

"It's been a few months since I last came here, gem," Hoseok said, looking to his side to see Jimin frowning, disliking Jungkook's rude way of behaving.

Jungkook maintained a great distance between them, not letting him go any closer to him.

"Please leave," the trueblood growled. "I hate having you here. Especially him," he said referring to Jimin.

Jimin scoffed and glared at him.

"I don't like coming here too. I hate the way you behave and speak... If it wasn't for Hoseok hyung, I wouldn't ever come here."

The youngest alpha present there, Jimin, looked angry now. Hoseok held his shoulder, shooting him a warning look to tell him that he shouldn't behave like this.

Even after being told that Jungkook has a harsh and rude, Jimin disliked him and spoke in this way.

Hoseok understood that there was no point in trying to make the young boy understand why Jungkook behaved like this.

He smiled at Jungkook who had his head ducked down, eyes staring at the floor.

"I'm leaving," Jimin spat. "I'm not going to come here again. However much you try to lure me into coming here, I won't come here. I hate him and the way he behaves."

The boy turned around and left the room. Hoseok followed him out and tried to stop him from using the stairs as there was a high chance of Sangmi seeing them.

Before he could do anything, Jimin bumped into Sangmi in the corridor.

Hoseok gasped, covering his mouth with his palm.

Sangmi's face turned disgusted as she stared at the two kids in the corridor, eyes trailing to the open door of Jungkook's room.

"Why are you here?" She asks sternly.

"Jungkook called us here," Jimin lied out of spite towards the trueblood.

"No, he didn't!" Hoseok shot back back immediately, trying to plead Jimin to not do this.

"Both of you," the elder female growled, "get out of here."

Hoseok tried to protest but was being pulled out of the mansion by Jimin.

Jungkook's heart sank when he realised that Sangmi knew of their presence now. He ran to the bed and hid himself between the bedside table and the bed.

He hoped Sangmi would let him go. His hands and legs hurt from being hit just that morning; he didn't want to be hit anymore.

But his wish didn't come true as Sangmi entered the room as soon as his cousins left.

"Didn't I tell you that you're not allowed to speak to anyone?!" She yelled, grabbing his shoulder and pulling him to his feet.

His wolf was burning in disgust towards Jimin and Hoseok, blaming them for being abused again. He just hated all those people who caused him pain, and unfortunately, everyone around him was like this.

He hated everyone.

Again, he was abused. Pain, pain and pain.

He knew that as soon as he can, he'll leave this place. He get out of here.

Some elder had told him that he can do what he wishes right after turning eighteen, and all he wanted was to leave.

Leave this house forever and live all alone in some other house which will belong to him.

He hated this woman and his ignorant father.

He hated the life he was living at the moment.

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