(Y/N) POV:

I rush away from the kitchen, the sight of Tae causing my stomach to unconsciously tighten, cheeks threatening to heat up with recollection at what exactly I'd run away from. It doesn't help that when I peek through the doorway, he twists in his chair, leaning back against it with a fluid ease, a mark colouring his shoulder, lips slightly mussed and hair tousled.

But even so I make myself meet his gaze, smiling tentatively, hoping that he doesn't think bad of me rushing away from him in the bedroom, before he'd caught scent of my guilty secret threading through the air sticky sweet.

Waking up to him had awoken a very clear realisation in me, had made me consciously aware of how touch-starved I was for intimacy, with the feeling of a body pressed close and responding to mine, coaxing reactions out of my own. Had me realise and forced me to acknowledge just how much my body yearned, how much I longed and wanted...wanted that inexplicable feeling of bliss and pleasure and relief.

And I rush away because another part of me is thrilled at the thought of slipping away, lips stretching wide even as I turn, teasing Minnie over my shoulder as I head for the doorway, tugging on my shoes. This time I decide to take the stairs, delight in rushing away and down each staircase, hearing the yell of an indignant fox taking chase, minty scent too far away for me to detect but I already know that it'll be strong and heavy, the coolness of it burning anyone who inhales a gulp.

But luck and legs can only get you so far. And it doesn't matter that does are biologically inclined, benefitted with the ability to run and travel quick, legs designed for that fast pace. Because as much as I have that biological advantage...so does Minnie as a fox, as a hunter because I don't hear the silent approach, don't sense his presence until a wall of mint slams into me and a pair of firm arms yank me back against a solid chest, body bracketing mine.

"Running away again? A low voice whispers, dangerously smooth and heavy. Lips brushing against my ear as he leans in.

"Not at all." I manage to get out.

Furiously ignoring how solid his body feels, ignoring how it feels like I'm caged in by his arms, ignoring the way his mint teases. Sweet thick waves that brush over me, make my already swollen scent gland throb and pulse, so sensitive to the scent that curls around me in a heavy wave.

"You don't get very far...you're not very fast for a doe." He teases, pointing out that yet again he's managed to catch me.

As if I wasn't purposely slow. As if teasing wasn't just teasing. I wasn't actually going to remove myself from reach or the building. Not when Jiminie took his job as protecting so seriously, not when whatever this was, was for my safety. Not when actually putting myself out of reach would put me at risk, when we didn't know when or where a threat could lurk.

"You're not very quick as an officer if I manage to get away every time before you catch me." I retort. Feel his grip tighten.

I banish thoughts, countless streams of thoughts that threaten to veer into dangerous territory, that threaten to make that earlier thread of need to pulse and flare once more. Not here. Not to Minnie. Not to someone who meant so much.

Ignore the way my heart skips and stutters at the way mint curls dangerously sweet and seductive to my senses, fight the bodily shiver at the thick accent that drips off his lips.

"Maybe I enjoy a good hunt. Maybe I enjoy working for it." He croons.

The words that could so easily slip free don't, tugged out of my mind by that low dangerous murmur.

Remain unspoken on the tip of my tongue, beading there in droplets of sticky anise.

Maybe you're not the only one.

"Then work for it Minnie. Until the day you can catch me properly." I say, emboldened but also so, so enthralled by the idea.

Smile when his arms uncurl even if my body yearns, pleads for that warmth. For a body to curve against mine.

I shake myself out of those thoughts when he steps up beside me with a crooked grin.

"Better start upping my game then. I'm letting my fox down." He says with a sigh, stepping close to me, matching pace as we begin our walk through cold air once more.

I don't say anything at all about how my doe feels anything but failed. Don't say how thrilled it feels at a chase, how instinctually satisfying it is to rush away and to be caught. Don't say that my doe has begun to crave and anticipate these moments, excited by the thought of a fox rushing after me. Something so dangerously seductive and riveting about a predator hunting down a prey and maybe...maybe there was nothing I wanted more.

Don't say that at all as we begin talking, a soft low flow of chatter between us.

And time and time again I forget at times what we're talking about, drawn to the curve of his lip when he smiles, to the silent flash of protectiveness in his eyes when he tugs me beside him when there's people milling about, slotting himself between them and us.

Time and time again I find that control slipping, a greater part of me wishing for his fingers to linger around my waist, wishing for him to be seated on the same side of the table from me rather than across- when he tugs us insistently into a café and pushes food forward with sharp narrowed eyes.

"Eat up. You didn't come to breakfast." He says firmly.

And though it's habit, though this isn't the first time he's done it; staring at me intensely across the table, watched me eat, it's not the first time I wished he wasn't across me, that his leg would press against mine as we ate. And though it's habit, it still thrills and touches me when his gaze softens when I comply, a crooked fond smile tugging at those lips.

I silently take the mug, head ducking when I think of why I didn't join them at breakfast.

Don't say that I couldn't. Because Tae's sleepy rutting had made my body turn molten, that it had made my scent sticky with desire, that it had made my body want and want. That it had me need. That I'd had to stifle dissatisfied whimpers when the cold water did nothing to leech that heat away, when it had just made my body seem hyperaware of the throbbing need. When it'd left me feeling coiled up and pent-up; unable to expel that bubbling need simmering in my body.

Couldn't say that I'd stepped out of the shower with a string of messages left behind by SJ; each heated and filthier than the last, promising distractions and roughness and more than just one tumble in the sheets. Couldn't say it had flared that burning need to an inferno; waiting to be unleashed and to engulf every inch of skin.

When I looked at Minnie's face soften as I ate; pleased and smiling, ears twitching and perked up, I didn't have the words to say I had needs I wanted met. That I needed SJ. That I needed that satisfaction. Couldn't look at the person, who was becoming everything to me, and ask him to take me.

"I don't have time. I shouldn't have let you take me here." I mumble, gulping down scalding mouthfuls and hissing slightly at the way it burned going down my throat, ears twitching with slight discomfort as I forced myself to finish as quick as possible.

A hand curls around my wrist, drawing the mug down onto the table. A frown twisting pouty lips.

"Stop doing that. You're burning your mouth. And where's the fire? I'm sure training will still be there if you're five minutes late." He says.

Mint soft as it brushes at my nose.

Soft and tinged with slight worry.

"It's just...I've got to take Ji Ah for her check-up and get her on vitamins that are designed for her. I need to take Min Junie to his lessons, need to take him for a check-up too...I promised to do something for Tae and then I've got training." I say, words spilling out.

My fingers begin to tap restlessly against the mug when I say them, realising that it's going to be a bustling day. Busy and full. Mentally cataloguing all the small tasks I need to get done too, sorting through options for any caretakers I could ask for help. Frowning when I realise that the blood test still needs to come back, need to know who's blood stained the inside of my cubby.

I unconsciously shudder, eyes turning to face Minnie when he squeezes my fingers.

"Don't get lost in your mind lovely. You're swamped with work...but bit by bit. Take life bit by bit at a time. Don't fret, you're more than capable." He soothes, words soft and gentle.

I wonder how lost in my mind I must've been that I hadn't realised he'd stood up and walked around the small table, standing beside me, body curved over as he looks at me.

I nod, heart aching at how gentle his scent's gone.

"I'll try." I say quietly. A promise to me as much as it is to me. To try and not get swamped. To try and manage it better. To stay firm and not crumble.

He smiles.

"Good girl."

I can't quite hide the smile at that.

-------

I hurry to the training rooms, the phone a brand against my thigh, scorching with its heated messages, clothes fitted and changed for the final part of the official work day. As if my body already knows, knowing where I'm heading, it releases pheromones, push against the barrier of scent blockers to burst through- to let its sweet floral scent to seep into the air.

To broadcast exactly what it is I'm feeling.

To broadcast exactly how much excitement courses through me as I step closer and closer to the large doors that grow closer.

I step through, leaning against closed doors, a shaky breath rushing past my lips as I peer at the figure that straightens up. Tall lithe body uncurling as his hands leave the training mat. A crooked wicked grin on his lips.

"Ready to spar sweet thing?" SJ asks, shucking off his damp top layer, discarding the shirt as he stills. Doesn't approach me.

But stands there.

Waiting. Watching. Eyes narrowed into thin slits as his lips quirk. Antlers tall and proud, adding to his height. He looks towering even from this distance.

Waits for me to step forward, hands slipping free from the handles.

"Uh uh. Lock the door. I want to spar undisturbed." He says.

I flush when I step back, doing as he says before I'm padding forward, posture loosening and relaxing at the appreciation that sparks in his eyes, burning and hot.

Unhesitant to run my own appreciative gaze over his clothes, over the damp slithers of skin, stepping onto the mat before stilling in front of him.

"Is that so SJ? Or is it because you don't want anyone to see how easily you can be pinned down?" I ask, lips twitching at the indignant look that replaces the heat. Flashing with challenge instead.

There isn't any warning when his body whirls close, hands clamping onto my hips even as his leg sweeps across mine and knocks off my footing from the mat, sending me tumbling down as his body falls with me.

My head hits the mat, breath hitching at his body leaning to mine, leg trapped under my body and his knee coming to rest against the side of my body.

Nose brushing mine softly as he presses a quick searing kiss to my lips. Wicked and promising for what awaits on the other side of this.

"Looks like you've forgotten something (Y/N). Looks like your last heat wiped this memory clean." He muses, breath warm as it curls around my ear, eyes sparkling with amusement and heat.

I narrow my eyes at him. Body shifting under his.

"And what's that my dear buck?" I ask, a hand darting up to run a finger across the side of his antler, knowing exactly where and how to touch to get...

My lips quirk at the hiss he makes through gritted teeth. Running my finger continuously across the groove of his antler, trailing up to rub at a certain spot and head falling back at the groan that slips out when his hips buck up, a sudden thrust against my core. Fierce and hard.

And a hand tugs my fingers away, pins it to the training mat under me, eyes meeting mine. Dark and molten and fiercely intense.

"It's me who does the pinning...and if memory serves me right, then isn't that exactly what you cry out for?" he whispers.

My cheeks burn, flames of heat licking at skin at his words.

The heat softening a fraction when he laughs, a soft warm bubble of sound as he leans back, drawing me up with him, fingers fussing as they brush against the back of my head.

An apologetic rub to the back of my ears for the sudden knock to the ground even if his scent says otherwise; smug and satisfied.

"So come on then sweet thing...let's make you break out a sweat. Let's push your body to its limit." He says as he straightens my posture, leg worming between mine to nudge my legs apart, widening my stance to help balance my weight across both.

I let my body calm, willing my breath to even as I shift my weight carefully, eyeing his own posture, purposely tall and intimidating and brash.

"Now...pretend I'm here to attack you. I'm an intruder to the centre. How are you going to protect it?" he says.

And because I know his body so well, so intimately familiar, well-versed with it as I am with my own, I strike. Moving to attack his weak point.

Heart thrumming as adrenaline courses through me at the grapple, at the fight to win, to be on top.

If someone intrudes, if someone moves to invade, to hurt my own, to hurt the centre I worked tirelessly for...I attacked. I protected.

Protect, protect, protect.

The mantra runs through my mind, numbing out everything else as I spin, fist curling to strike at his unguarded stomach.

A splinter of guilt flashes through me at the small grunt he lets out when I manage to land a punch. It vanishes when his arm hooks around my throat, tight enough to let me know that in a real situation...it would be game over. Another hand pressing to my stomach, curled up in cruel imitation of where a knife could strike. I'd left myself bare when I'd moved to land a strike on him. Had moved rashly.

Always guard your weaknesses. Never let your biology work against you.

And when his fingers brush against my swollen scent gland, anise pulsing out at the insistent rub, my legs buckle, held up by the hand that now turns into a belt, pressing me against him and supporting me.

"Game over. Though I'll say...I haven't seen your gland all swollen and that responsive for some time? Makes me want to take our tumble somewhere else." He whispers, voice low as his teeth nip the curve of my ear.

I pant, chest heaving with the adrenaline merging with desire, so easily responding to his touch and words, to his low voice which drags across skin, fingers leaving my gland.

"Game's over when I've got nothing left to give." I manage to shudder out, foot curling around his ankle and twisting to knock him over. Not expecting for his hands to fly out to fist at me and yank me down beside him. For his eyes to burn as they look up at me, uncaring even though it's him underneath now.

My knee goes to worm between his legs, pressing against the hard outline of his crotch.

"And just how much do you have to give SJ?" I ask, eyeing his own scent gland, unmarked, untouched.

"Everything." He breathes back.

Lips quirking up as he smiles at me.

"I've got everything still to give." He promises.

And I know that this day is far, far from over.

------

I twist my hands, trying to get them from free from the long fingers that pin them down, crying out at the thrust when his hips push forward, snapping them against mine, other hand teasing at my breasts, wormed under my torso and tugging a whimper out of my mouth, muffled against the pillow.

"Sweet thing...I've missed this." He groans against my ear, antlers rubbing against my nape when he lowers his head, pressing scorching wet, open-mouthed kisses to my back, hips pushing forward, punched-out moans slipping free from my bitten lips.

I've missed this too. Missed this burning frenzy. Missed this feeling, head floating in a haze of anise and sweet wild peaches, body twisting and shuddering at the trail his teeth marks.

"Missed seeing you like this. Missed how perfectly your body responds to mine." He says, hand sliding down to brush against my stomach before flattening, tugging me back, tugging me upwards to meet his thrusts, hips raised for him.

My hands curl into sheets, head dropping forward when I try to raise it and a sharp thrust has my body trembling under him, that tautness growing, body jolting with every roll of his hip against mine, insistently dragging my body upright, away from the support of the bed. Without pillows to muffle my cries and with nothing to steady myself against.

My hands tremble, unclenching and clenching as I try to reach out to press them against the mattress, needing something to steady me, body jolting forward even as he incessantly drags it back, pulling my hips flush to his. Unable to move or escape the harsh deep rhythm his body sets to mine.

My eyes clench shut when a rough thrust has the tautness snapping, body trembling in his hold as pleasure slams in, wave after wave as I tip over to that abyss once more, body stiffening momentarily, bracketed by his as he holds me, fingers rubbing circles into my hips, soft touches that ground me, hold me even as I shake against him.

I gasp out, head falling forward, blinking my eyes open slowly, feeling the feverish drag of lips to my nape, brushing kiss after kiss, light and soft. Slow and unhurried.

Writhe when I barely come down from that edge and his hips are rolling deep circles, back pressing against mine, reigniting that inferno that hasn't gotten the chance to cool to embers yet.

"Too much...'s too much." I gasp out, hand curling behind to grip at his thigh, trying to stop his movements even as my body reacts, pleasure flaring and blooming low in my abdomen, head dizzy with the way his scent thickens, seeping into my skin.

Feel his lips curve into a smirk against my neck, wide with wicked intent.

"What was it I said earlier (Y/N)?" he asks.

But the way he's begun to thrust again, shallow and slow, has my mind blanking. Unable to form coherent words as I try to string together a sentence, a response.

"I said...I still have everything to give." He croons.

Lowering me down back to the bed, sheets brushing against my hypersensitive body. But still I sink into them gratefully, reprieve in the way he's content to trace my body with his hands, mapping me out under him, thumbs rubbing at the base of my spine.

Curling to tease at my tail, breath hitching and hips instinctively pushing back at that teasing touch.

Hear his stuttered groan at the movement.

"Everything to give. Everything to take." He says in a low tone, promise dripping from his words.

And everything means wringing every drop of pleasure from my body, stealing away coherency and leaving my mind with only the thought and feel of him. Everything means that I forget that I came with a wolf, was to leave with him. Everything means that a buck swallows whole the fawn.

Consumes the prey.

HOBI POV:

"What are you working on hyung?" I ask, stepping back to our bedroom, hand towelling my hair as my gaze goes to the notebook Yoongi hyung had been pouring over. Intently fixed to even when I'd come home and even now when I step back in, moving to the drawers to tug out clothes. Hand clutching at the towel as I rummage with the other.

My gaze distractedly turns to him when even as I rummage through the drawers, not getting a response out of him.

His tail is still, curled across the sheets and his ears twitch occasionally, perked up and focused. His hand continues to move, hunched over as he writes, posture still save for the way his hand brushes against paper.

"Hyung...what are you doing? Writing love letters or something? What is it that's got you so focused?" I ask.

His head snaps up at that, cheeks pinkening slightly. The barest flush visible on his pale skin.

My eyes fixate onto the sight.

Blushing hyung.

I was wholly certain it involved (Y/N) then.

A new development to discover the same crush we'd teased him relentlessly over, had prodded and poked him about, had been delighted to point out at every chance... had been the same sweet floral fawn that was living with us.

What a small world.

"Oh...is it something for (Y/N)? Must definitely be a love letter then...you know I'm hurt. You've never written me or Tae love letters- were we not worth the effort to woo?" I ask, randomly grabbing a shirt as I stalk over to the bed.

Grinning at how his body curves protectively over it, snatching it up to his chest, eyes narrowing into feline slits, tail beginning to swish.

"No...it's not a love letter." He denies fiercely, hands clamping down to protect the notebook from my eager eyes and swiping hand.

"Then why won't you let me see? Are you writing something else then...something a naughty kitty would dream about?" I tease, wiggling my eyebrows at him suggestively.

Laughing at the heated glare I get.

"No! And kitty?" he splutters, tail swishing and reaching out to swat me when I lean close, flicking against me warningly.

My scent sweetens, smug at successfully riling him up.

"But you never denied that it was about (Y/N). So what delicious secrets do those pages hold?" I ask.

He sighs, but his hands don't uncurl, looking at me balefully.

"Just stuff....yes it's got to do with (Y/N) but no I won't spill!" he says, catching my mouth opening and speaking defensively.

I grin. Hands raised in surrender, tail curling and swishing behind me.

"Fine fine I won't. I'll respect your crush and let you moon over her from afar...from the words your ink leaves." I say, sighing.

My hand lets go of the towel, tugging the shirt over my head. I feel the towel loosening, slipping free from around my waist but when I peer down, hair and ears rumpled. It's to see two hands tugging at it, notebook vanished from sight and a feline's gaze fixed on me.

"A kitty was it you called me?" he asks, dropping the towel beside him on the bed, clambering off and standing up.

My eyes flash with delight.

"Maybe...what are you going to do about it?" I ask, knowing very well what thin line of patience I'm full-on dancing across.

Knowing just how well to play the push and pull game, pressing every button there is and tearing down the walls; restraint and control vanishing with each provoking swipe I make.

My tongue flicks against my fangs, a wide grin and I see his gaze drop to it.

See his tail curl before it reaches forward, brushing against the side of my bare leg. Warm fur curling around damp skin.

"What do you want me to do? Kitties take to training well no?" he says softly.

Voice a smooth low whisper.

"I promised a tussle no? Does that mean you want to be on top? Show a kitty how it's really done?" he asks, voice coaxing out my scent, coaxing out that need.

My tail swishes in excitement. Ears twirling at the offer he's making.

Hyung never gave up control easily. To see him offer it up with a sweet curve of those pink lips, that his tongue swipes out to wet, and his scent- light citrus turning heavier, has my body leaning in close.

"You'd let me? You'd let me take you apart bit by bit, put you together too?" I ask.

"I'd let you...take me apart as slow as you want, I'd let you take and take until I'm all you can taste." He murmurs, slow and unhurried as he leans to nuzzle against my cheek, against my throat, cheek rubbing against me as he scents.

I groan, wanting nothing more than to bury myself skin deep, eyes fluttering at the slow scenting, at how it's soft and chaste in comparison to the heat that pools at his words, mind full of his words.

"Then let me hyung." I whisper, hands dropping to his waist.

His head rises from where it settles on my shoulder, peering up at me.

Ears tickling at my jaw when he straightens.

"Let you take care of me?" he whispers, nose brushing against mine.

I nod, breath shaky with anticipation.

Moving to curl my fingers into his trousers, delving clean under his boxers, moving to tug them free.

Frowning with confusion when he takes my hands and draws them away, stepping back.

His fingers toy with his clothes.

I smile.

"Stripping for me yourself hyung?"

His hands drop.

And his face turns predatory and sharp. Something purely feline in that smirk.

"Sorry Hob-ah. Kitties are underage no? No naughtiness for them. I guess the big bad cat will have to take care of his... little problem himself." He says, eyes dropping down before returning.

Padding away with a smile, despite how I indignantly call after him.

Little problem. He's left me with quite a big problem actually.

-----

I make a pointed effort to skirt around Yoongi hyung as I sit down for dinner. Plopping down to Jin hyung and shooting a miserable look at my plate.

"Something wrong Hobi?" Jin hyung asks, shooting me a look as he takes my plate, filling it for me before my hand can even reach out.

Taking in the disgruntled look Yoongi hyung gets in response.

My own hand reaches for Tae's plate, gaze turning fond when I see him fill Kookie's plate for him, an excited swishy stripey tail moving as he does so, putting food on for him.

"Just feeling the neglect and lack of love. Nothing poor old me couldn't fix...alone." I say scathingly, poking at a piece of meat, lips tugging at the soft sympathetic sound Jin hyung makes, filling my plate up further.

His hands come to pet at my ears, soft light rubs and his lips press a soft kiss to my cheek.

"This hyung loves his kit." He whispers to me. Smiling when it makes my tail swish, curling to drape over his thigh.

Eyes twinkling knowingly as his wings flap and settle. Tucked up against his back.

Silently taking Yoongi hyung's plate to fill it too.

"Don't worry Yoongi-ah. Hyung loves his other kit too." He coos.

Smiling at the way Yoongi hyung flusters and pokes at his plate, his gaze settling on mine. Watching me eat before he begins.

Lips tugged in a way that's smugger and more satisfied than contrite. But...I can't begrudge him.

Not when this too is part of the tug between us.

Not when it makes things more exciting, more thrilling when you have to work and chase after it.

Not when I can cuddle it all out tonight.

My eyes drift over three empty chairs.

Joon and (Y/N) hadn't returned.

But Jiminie had. And yet he wasn't here.

"Where's Jiminie?" I ask.

Gaze drifting across the table.

Tae frowns. Sweet boxy smile that had stretched triumphantly at Kookie's flustering stilling. Drooping slightly.

"He smells bothered. But what it is he won't say. And he won't let go of his phone either." He says.

A chair drags back.

Kookie resolutely getting to his feet.

"Hyung needs to eat...he's probably been on his feet all day too." He says, circling around the table to get to the doorway. Ears perked up with determination, tail twitching behind him.

And he vanishes through the doorway without another word, even if the pink on his cheeks shows he isn't oblivious to how every gaze had turned to him. Had focused there.

He really was adorable.

Fussy determined bunny? Nose twitching with worry?

Even more so.

The next time I managed to get close, I was going to pepper kisses across that sweet nose and pink cheeks.

And his determination wins over whatever's been bothering Jiminie because Kookie appears a while later, hand clamped around a wrist and tugging along a fox who drags his heels, tail brushing against the floor and lips twisted into a frown. Protesting even as he follows.

"You could eat and then come to see me Kookie. Does it really have to be at the table?" he sighs.

But there's no mischief or laughter in his voice, there's this resignation even as he allows Kookie to tug him along. Pushing him onto his own seat and turning to me with a soft smile.

"Hyung can you shuffle down one?" he asks sweetly.

And when I turn, I see Jin hyung's already done so, looking expectantly at the empty chair for me to scoot into.

Already either having anticipated his bun, or have done it without hesitation when he'd heard.

I eye his face.

"Come here Kookie." I say softly.

Curious and confused, he complies.

Jerking in surprise before stilling when I peck his nose and scoop his cheeks to press kisses there.

"Sweet bun. Of course I can." And then I'm wriggling over and tugging him down into my now vacant seat.

"You play fusser so cutely." I whisper.

Watching him make a plate for Jiminie.

It's worth it, seeing the pink on his cheeks deepen, ears drooping to try and cover them as his head ducks away.

It's disheartening to see those efforts wasted when Jiminie barely picks at it, trying for Kookie but ultimately giving up, eyes glued to the phone that sits by his plate.

Tapping it every now and then. But the dark screen only illuminates to reveal nothing.

It's as if he's waiting for something.

But what that is, he won't say.

His scent speaks for itself though. Dull mint, freshness gone from it. Stale and muted.

A staleness that has Kookie wilting as he curls beside Tae, seeking out comfort in the ever-sweet berry cub who brightens and makes it a mission to distract him. Sneaking hugs and pecks as they curl together, playing something on the TV. The sounds of the game drowning out the silence that pours off Jimin in waves.

It's a silence that can't quite be penetrated, that can't be broached no matter how gently and softly both Jin hyung and Yoongi hyung try to coax it out of him. Asking what the matter is.

It's a silence I can't bear.

So I tug him down. Tug his stiff frame down from where he sits, drawing his head onto my lap. His ears flicker when I brush my hand over them.

"Our sweet pup. You won't say what's wrong. But that's fine, for now it's fine, just let us be here for you until you're ready to say." I say softly, rubbing the base of his ears.

Fingers trailing up and down through soft fur, repeating the cycle of rubbing one ear and then switching to the other. Rubbing until his ears don't flicker or stiffen.

His head turns, curling against me to burrow his head against my stomach. Hiding away as his body twists, hand still curled so tightly against his phone.

Mint softening the barest fraction.

"You barely touched your dinner...so make sure you at least snack later." I say quietly, fingers brushing through his hair now. Nails trailing and lightly scratching at his scalp, gently sorting through slightly tangled strands. Damp and carelessly dried.

Hurriedly.

As if something else plays in his mind.

Slowly I untangle strands of orange hair, massaging his scalp lightly and brushing it away from his face.

His tail which had been bristly and poofy all night, slowly sags. Goes limp as it curls over the curve of the sofa.

Slowly I watch Jin hyung slither off his own place on the couch to lean against our own instead. Fingers soft and careful as they reach to brush against the tip of his tail. When the tail slightly twitches, brushing against his palm, Jin hyung continues.

Light pets as he brushes over his tail. Soothing soft touches as he pets.

Frowns then. Turning to Yoongi hyung.

Murmuring quietly to ask for one of the products on the bathroom shelves and a brush. Something that hyung returns with quickly, silently padding back in before wriggling closer. Curling to the end of the couch he'd been on. watching with fascination towards the scene unfolding in front of us.

Watch Jin hyung's tender light touch as he carefully applies some of the product to the base of Jiminie's tail, carefully brushing it in. Soon the wilted tail becomes glossy and poofy- under hyung's sweet light ministrations, the puffy orange tail swishes bit by bit, face burrowing further against me, arms snaked around me as he curls close.

The hard feel of the phone still presses against my back.

It still remains.

Like a ticking time bomb that he awaits the detonation of.

Problem is...we don't know what sort of explosion it'll implode on us. And whether we'll be able to survive its aftermath.

And maybe...maybe my own scent tinges with fear and worry, melding with mint that strengthens, overpowering and strong as time ticks away.

Tick. Tick. Tick.

JIMIN POV:

I stare obstinately at my phone, thinking if I focus hard enough, if I stare at it long enough, I'll have more information to go off than just the simple text I'd received hours ago. Had received barely five minutes before I was setting out to get (Y/N) from work.

Don't worry. I'll get (Y/N).

And that text had been before she was set to finish work. So where were they that hours since she'd finished her shift, they'd yet to come home? And why wasn't she answering her phone?

Why wasn't I to get her? Where exactly did Joon take her?

And the worry began to worm away at me, began to stir up a restlessness in me, began to make my instincts turn and whine, distressed at the thought that something might've happened, that she wasn't home because something had happened to the two of them. And that they weren't contacting me because they couldn't.

And that slight feeling of contentment I had initially felt, curled up and burrowed against Hobi hyung, the light soft feeling of my pet being groomed, brushed gently by Jin hyung's hands, had long since vanished.

Antsy and restless as I paced our bedroom, the scent of Joon hyung's earthy leafy richness being overpowered by the scent of mint clogging up the room, seeping into crevices and souring the contentment that the bed held with our merged scents.

I stare at my phone again, tapping to check the time.

Frowning at the lack of calls and messages.

Just why weren't they back? What was taking them so long?

The others had gone to bed, soft murmurs of reassurance and soothing promise in their hugs. Jin hyung had folded me into his hug, curling soft warm black wings that had shut away the world and all of its worries as he'd held me.

"They're okay Jiminie. Give them time and trust your mate." He whispered, pressing a soft kiss to my temple.

Despite all the fear and worry and anxiousness coursing through my veins, I'd curled close, chasing the comfort he offered. Tucked myself against him, hoping and wishing that when his wings would unfurl, it'd bring with them Joon hyung and (Y/N).

"How'd you know hyung? How can you be so sure?" I'd asked.

Voice muffled against his shoulder.

"Hyung knows these things that's why. Now sleep pup. And don't fret." Wings brushing against me even as they uncurled.

Promise and seriousness shining in those soft brown eyes of his.

And he hadn't let me linger in the living room, he'd made sure I'd entered my room before he'd left.

Reassurance in his goodnight.

He was so sure. So certain that nothing was wrong.

But it hadn't quietened those frantic whimpers building inside, hadn't quietened the way my instincts were shifting constantly, pleading to make sure, too fidgety and fearful to even find comfort in our room. Tossing and turning, dragging my nose across Joon hyung's pillow and whimpering when it brought no relief, no contentment.

So I give up.

Slipping out of our room quietly, padding over to the other end instead. The door dividing the two apartments remained open now. Something I was grateful for as I slipped through noiselessly, moving towards (Y/N)'s room.

Pushing the door open and stepping through. Closing it behind me as I drew in deep lungfuls of sweet anise, body relaxing at her gentle scent.

Pad over to her bed and drop onto it, burrowing my face against the pillows that carried her scent so strongly. Smelt so much like a soft soothed fawn. The smell of her safe content scent that seeped through my skin, brushed against frazzled instincts and murmured in a voice so soft and gentle, that she was okay. That she was okay.

She'd be home. She'd be home soon.

Her scent coaxed me to relax against her pillows, body finding relief and respite in the way the scent curled around me; a phantom embrace that for a moment let me feel her soft curvy figure wrapping around me. Holding me.

Home. Please come home safe.

There was just another reason they were caught up, a reason that they weren't back. Joon had just taken her out for something, had helped her get a breather, a break from this situation. She wasn't hurt, he wasn't hurt. They were fine.

And with every plea, I burrowed myself further into the pillows, tried to chase reassurance in the way her scent was sweet, was trying to lull me to relax.

I knew until I saw them I wouldn't be able to rest.

Knew that I needed to see for myself that they were fine.

And then at some point the sound of a soft low voice reaches my ears. Has me scrabbling off the bed in haste because I'd recognise that deep smooth voice anywhere. I'd recognise my mate anywhere.

I rush forward, tail swishing and ears perked up as I detect Joon's voice slowly approaching the door, hurry to the door and tug it open, heart that had been clenched in a vice slowly relaxing, slowly soaring with the knowledge that they were back, they were home.

They were...

Their heads snap up when I tug her bedroom door, my mint slamming into them in a way that has Joon hyung's ears straightening and stiff and his tail going still. His eyes are wide and startled as he looks at me. And (Y/N), (Y/N) is the opposite. Hazy gaze meeting mine, ears flickering and a small smile tugging at her lips. My eyes drop to the way Joon hyung's hands hover about her, dart to steady her when she takes a wobbling step forward, and then another. Shaky on her legs, loose-limbed but in a way that was void of stress, was void of any restless anxiousness that clung to her.

For the first time since I'd seen her, known her, she was detached and loose and droopy in a way that was all at once unfamiliar and stingingly knowing. As I'd tugged the door open to meet them, stepping into the hallway, my scent had slammed into them.

But at the same time my body had been slammed into with the scent of rich wild peaches. Sticky nectar and sugary tones that clung to (Y/N), drowned out her scent, only the barest weakest tendrils of anise that clung to the foreign scent. Shaky and loose-limbed, lips mussed and swollen, bruised with another's lips. Hair tousled and rumpled in a way that suggested hands had been buried deep in them, had tugged at them. Her eyes are unfocused, hazy and dilated pupils blinking at me slowly, blissed-out face and body carrying that afterglow, that dewy sheen that made her gleam slightly under the hallway's lighting. Her legs wobble as she takes another step forward, body unable to move properly with the way Joon hyung's hands don't move away, remain to steady her. Eyes alert as they watch the two of us.

She's drenched. Drowning in a scent that isn't hers. Buried deep and flooded with a scent of someone else, someone that wasn't us. A scent that wasn't familiar, wasn't known.

My eyes catch to splotches of colour disappearing under the hem of her clothes, vanishing under the neckline of her shirt. See them curl around her throat, see her gland that had been so carefully wrapped earlier, the swollen sensitive area covered up meticulously, now dark and seeping out pheromones in a sweet sticky trail, proud and glorious in its aroused, stimulated state.

Silently I realise that this must be her buck's doing. Her heat partner. This faceless unknown man who's laid a claim that's beyond skin-deep, that's melded to the crevices of her body, clings to her in rich heavy layers.

I feel my ears pin back, feel my tail swish and a growl rumble in my throat, slipping out as my teeth bare at the scent. At the claim that's dominated her body. Growling at the faceless figure who's scent threatens to cloud the space, to linger there.

"Where've you been?" I manage to get out.

All those questions and worries vanishing. Knowing what exactly the sticky arousal meant. Knowing and recoiling at the mixture because it wasn't my scent. Because the foreign scent of an unknown male on her made my instincts hiss and growl with anger and hurt and pain.

Because this entire time they'd been gone I'd been fretting and worrying.

And she'd been in bed with someone.

"I took (Y/N) to SJ. She asked me if it was possible...and I took her." Joon hyung says.

Filling the silence. Looking at me in the eyes. Unhesitant, unafraid to say exactly what's happened.

"For the hours you've been gone...you've been in bed with your buck?" I ask. The words sound incoherent to me. Slip free low and rough.

The words sounding hollow and empty to my ears, that roaring in my ears, those pained shrieks and whimpers and whines forming a wall. I see her nod, face still blissed-out, eyes glassy with pleasure and body unable to support itself.

All that worry. All that manic panic that something had gone wrong, that they weren't able to contact me, that something had gone horrifically, woefully wrong shatters. I hear it like splintering glass that cascades around me, pinpricks of pain that pierce every inch of skin. Hurting. Hurting.

Agonising.

Joon had taken her to her buck. Hadn't told me. He'd not thought that I'd needed to know. Hadn't thought it was worth telling me. It was something that I, as her guard, as her protector, wasn't told.

He'd gone and taken her to the buck. Hadn't scoped out the area. Hadn't checked with me. Hadn't asked me as his partner whether he should go through with it.

He'd been careless. Had thrown safety and protection away for favour of helping her satiate this need.

And I hadn't known. Hadn't known where they'd gone. So if things had gone awry, had taken a sharp turn into something dangerous or risky...I had no idea where to begin. Had no idea where they'd vanished off too.

It all makes my blood burn, hissing and bubbling, with slowly mounting fury and anger and hurt. Rage that spills out in a low hissed growl as I look at her.

Stare into those dilated pupils, at those eyes lidded with pleasure and ecstasy.

"You left for this? You vanished and went out of contact for hours because of what? A tumble in your buck's sheets? Are you so blindly careless? What if something had happened to you? I didn't know where you were, I've been losing my mind with worry, panicking because I didn't know where I'd go if you needed help...to keep you safe and what? You were getting your needs met?" I growl out, hurt spilling out in an endless wave. Slamming at the barrier of sweet, sticky peaches and battering at it.

I see her body flinch. See that her eyes blink, some of that haziness vanishing as she looks at me.

Tear my eyes away to glare at Namjoon.

"And you? You didn't just let her go to SJ's house...but you took her there yourself? Without scouting it? Without following protocol for someone under police protection. What if something had gone wrong? What if she'd been hurt or taken or lost?" I grit out, fangs pricking against my lip as I seethe.

Fear and panic rearing its head as an ugly vicious monster that clawed, struck out.

I see his mouth open, see his body shift ever so slightly.

I shake my head, feeling my mint sharp and poisonous taint the air, stain the inside of my mouth. It tastes vile.

"Did either of you stop to think? For even a moment? You can't even go to your pack house for a goddamn reason (Y/N)! Why did you think your heat partner was any different? That he didn't fit into those restrictions put into place? You're under police custody for your safety! I'm meant to protect you and today I felt like a failure because you two kept me out of the loop." I say, tail swishing and scent burning my nose as I step forward.

One step. Two.

My chest heaves with the air I try to draw in, burning as it goes down. Sharp and overpowering mint.

Clouding that once sweet scent she'd been so happily cocooned with.

I see her posture stiffen, lock up.

See her shake her head, eyes wide and baleful as she opens her mouth to speak.

"Jimin...I didn't..." she begins. Her voice is achingly soft, trembling.

My eyes flash, staring at her.

"Didn't what? Didn't compromise months of safety for a night of heatless hook-up?" I push.

"Baby..." Joon begins. Voice soft and imploring.

Failing to soothe with its gentleness.

"No! You left me in the dark this entire time. You knew and you never said. You didn't care or stop to think that maybe you should've told me. Maybe...just maybe there was someone on the other end; worrying as an officer but even more as a friend. You didn't care. Didn't think. Neither of you did." I hiss.

It burns to breathe. Hurts to breathe that scent of wild peaches that still cling obstinately. Still hold her whilst I stand, a small distance away.

All those thoughts about curling up beside her crumbling and falling away.

See how her body curves back, slightly pressing against Joon.

See the way when I stalk past, body tense and coiled up, I catch a glimmer of shiny eyes. Glassy for another reason entirely as I move past them.

Step away from the scents that were always so soothing, so welcomed.

Step away because in this instant I can't bear them.

My tail swishes sharply, cutting and cleaving through air as if to bat away the scents that threaten to follow me back.

Moving away from the sight and smell of them. Moving to get back to my own room, no longer wanting to stay in the same room that would clog up with her buck's scent. Would remind me night long that she'd spent it in another's arms, in another's hold.

Ignore the fact that I could hear a low soothing murmur, could hear the soft click of a door and could hear the rushed sound of footsteps behind me.

I don't care if the sound awakens anyone as I slam the door to our room, sinking down on the far corner of our bed.

Feeling hopelessly alone and on-edge as I glare at the corner of our room. Ignoring the way every inch of my body burns, lungs trying to cleanse themselves of that thin trail of decayed flowers I'd caught as I'd moved away. Heart heavy and aching.

And instincts whimpering. Curling up on themselves.

Hear the door open behind me, much quieter and softer. Hear the click echo in the silence of the room, over the harsh panting of my breath as I breathe in and out.

"Jimin-ah...oh love..." Joon whispers as he pads closer, clambering onto bed behind me. The mattress sinking behind me as he curls behind me, arms winding around my stiff frame.

He noses at my crown, soft rubs in apology. That earthy freshness dampened and turned damp and heavy. Cloying like wet earth.

I don't turn to face him, stiff as he continues to nose at my crown, a small, whimpered growl slipping past his lips as he scents. Smells my own rage and sadness and pain.

"I'm sorry for not saying. For not telling you Jiminie. I'm sorry for being a bad officer and a bad mate...but I really did what I thought was best." He murmurs.

My head snaps to him, the prickling sensation in my eyes that I'd ducked away to hide now clearly seen when he meets my eyes.

Ears droop and wilt. Curving up.

"Best? What was best about not telling me?" I ask.

But his gaze is steady. His voice is level and unhesitant when he speaks.

"Best because it's clear something bothers you so much about her leaving for a hookup." He says, eyes boring into mine.

Prodding and poking at those walls. Trying to find a crack to slither in through.

I grit my teeth.

"Wasn't it both of us who told her she wasn't a prisoner. That none of us wanted her to feel caged. That we'd do whatever we could for her. Wasn't it you who's told her time and time again that it's not just about her needs being met but her wants too?" he asks, tugging me back, drawing me against him.

Moving me to the centre of the bed rather than the corner, ignoring the way my tail swishes and tries to bat him away.

Wants and needs.

What was this then? Did she go to her buck for a need? Or a want?

It hurts, stabs that I couldn't fulfil either.

That it couldn't be me. When I wanted nothing more than to take care of her in every way.

"So what was it? A need to be itched? A want?" I ask.

He growls.

A sound full of warning. Feel his fangs snap, grazing against my ear.

"Don't say it like that. You don't think she deserves every right to have that intimacy? You don't think that she's constantly surrounded by signs and proofs of intimacy in the pack when she's alone?" he asks, breath hot and dangerous at my ear.

It makes me feel pinned with the way his body curves around mine. Something admonishing and chiding in his tone, something laced into the growl his words take.

My back curves as I slump, head burrowed in my hands, tugging at the strands of my hair as I hide my face away from the sight of disappointment I know will be on his face.

Smell his dampened scent mix with my own mint; overpoweringly sad and stiff.

"She wanted something. For the first time since she's been here she asked me for something. You thought I'd really say no? You really questioned and doubted me both as your mate and as an officer that I'd blindly let her go into danger? As if I wasn't part of the very patrol making sure no-one got close to his house?" he asks.

I don't expect the sudden yank as he manoeuvres me across the bed, manhandling to tug me down, pinning my body down as he peers down at me.

Fire crackling in the light that flickers in his eyes.

Fangs bared as he takes in my defensive posture. Flicking to my pinned back ears.

"Really Jiminie? You think that little of me?" he asks.

Voice a sharp snap, softened only by the way his eyes look at me. The way it feels like he's searching and probing. Stripping me bare with that penetrative gaze, delving to see every reason for that hurt and pain.

"I...I don't. But what do you think it made me feel? You go without contact for hours, you tell me not to pick (Y/N) up. And you return with her looking like that." I bite out.

Trying to banish the way she'd looked in that instant. Trying to banish how if it hadn't been for that incriminating scent of a buck's claim on her, how I'd have loved to have been the reason for it.

Ignore the way it stabs when I recall hooded hazed blown-out pupils losing that loose relaxed feeling, replaced with glassy tears.

Try to push away the whine that sits in the low of my throat.

"Like what? Like she'd been taken care of? What's wrong with that? What's wrong with a man taking care of her pup?" Joon pushes.

Leans in. Breath warm as it fans across my gland.

An image of a swollen dark stimulated gland flashing in my mind.

I clench my eyes shut.

Feel teeth scrape against my own.

"What's wrong with her being claimed so well? With her smelling like someone else? What's wrong with her being taken?" Joon hyung says before his mouth sucks harshly.

Pushing my body down when it bucks instinctively. Denying me that movement.

"Listen to me Minnie. What's wrong with her having needs? Nothing. But there was something wrong. And that's how you flung your protection, your care for her as something nothing more than duty in her face. As an officer who didn't know where the person in his custody was." he grits out.

I feel shame pool in my body, feel that stinging in my eyes grow, tears trickling out from under shut eyelids, seeping out.

Turn my head away because it hurts to be forced to confront that.

Even if I never wanted it to be like that.

"I didn't mean that. I'd never mean that. She's not just..." I begin, voice shaking.

A hand turns my face back, he waits for my eyes to open. Meeting his with guilt making me stiff.

"But that's what it sounded like. That's what (Y/N) will think. She went from being the most relaxed I've ever seen her, to a crying sad bundle who wanted to be left alone. So tell me Jimin...why did you? Why did it matter whose arms and whose bed she was in? Why did it matter her need wasn't heat driven?" he asks.

There's no escape. There's determination in his piercing gaze. Demanding and protective anger flickering in his own.

"Because it hurts it wasn't me. Because I love her!" I snap.

Shaking as tears trickle down, hot and heavy as they mark their trail, sliding to sink into the sheets. Taking my confession with them. Taking them and hiding them there. Holding them in the room.

I twist my hands free to cover my eyes, breath ragged as I let the confession hover between us.

Because I love her.

Because I love (Y/N) it hurt to see her looking blissed out and taken care of. Because the person who made her like that wasn't me.

Because I wanted (Y/N), wanted her, loved her. Adored every bit of her.

And she was in someone else's arms as I waited for her.

Because I loved her.

Because I love her.

Love her.

And I hurt her. I made her cry. I threw everything we shared in her face. I made her feel like a burden.

I was horrible. I didn't deserve her. And my fox whines at the thought.

I wanted everything with her, wanted her as my mate, as my equal, as my everything.

And now...now I'd thrown it all aside because I was jealous. And I'd given her pain.

The grip on me loosens and hands gently come to tug away my own, brushing at the tears that seep out, collecting my sadness onto the pads of his fingertips as I blink up at him.

"Oh pup...I know that, you know that. When will you tell her that?"

And a pit inside me opens, empty and gaping. A deep cavern, a cavity that chips at my heart, makes it hurt to breathe, hurt to feel the thud of his heart against mine. Empty because I'd carved a hole there. Empty because I hurt the person it was meant for, the hole tearing at the edges, spreading, gaping. Weeping tears of blood.

Did I even deserve to now?

--------

I step out onto the balcony, arms curling around myself as I pad over to the edge. Peer at the way the night blankets the sky, curls around me, darkness settling against me as I breathe in sharp piercing wintery air.

Anything to get rid of the way the scent of hurt and agony clung to my nose, burned to breathe and inhale. Burned to remember that the scent of anise going decayed and wilted was because of me. Because of my words. Remember that the sadness I smelt of my own mate was also my own doing.

Because I'd thrown accusations at him. At every shred of faith and trust I put in him as my mate, as my equal both in my life and in the station. I'd doubted him.

I'd thrown words at her, anything to batter at the sticky sweet fruity scent that clung to her, that settled on her skin as if it belonged there.

I was a fool. An angry hopeless fool in love.

And I'd hurt the two people that meant everything to me. I'd hurt (Y/N), the very person every bit of me had long ago began to see as mate, began to yearn and wish for. I'd pushed at her because I wanted them to feel even a bit of the agony I was feeling, had been feeling as I waited for them.

I shudder at the way the air bites, nips at my skin. Harsh and chiding. Fierce just as my words had been. Giving me a taste of the same poison I'd given (Y/N).

My eyes drift across the balcony, heart aching when I looked down and remembered seeing (Y/N) there, legs swinging and body pressed close to the rails. Remembered slipping beside her.

Remembered the feeling of exhilaration even as my lungs burned but I still pushed to keep running with her. One lap and then another. Ran until our chests heaved and burned, hurting as cold air brushed against our lungs. Ran until all I could smell was her pheromones, until I could almost taste them, thick and sweet and exhausted but so, so content.

My gaze drops to the darkened greenery down below, dimly lit. Void and stark of life.

I feel my ears twitch and snap up when I hear a sound from across the air, hear the sound of a window being tugged open. Eyes honing in on the sight of a leg clambering out and then another. See two legs swing and twist as a body lowers itself carefully. Watch as (Y/N) slides out of her bedroom window, body bare of a coat as she slowly makes her way down. Inching across the pipes and lowering down and down, descending until she manages to reach the ground.

My heart pulses, feel the nervous thrum of its beating on my tongue, anxiousness spiking my scent as I see her figure wobble, steadying herself against a windowsill before she pushes herself away. Begins walking on the grass, barefoot, as she treads away. Figure illuminated slightly by the glow of the lights.

What was she doing?

It's franticness to let her not slip out of sight, to not be alone and unprotected in the dark night that has me tearing through the apartment, hastily yanking doors open as I run.

Running to get out of the apartment and to get to her, eyes wide and every sense on alert and keyed up, nose flaring as I try to detect any new scents, hissing at the way the cold pavement bites at my skin as I rush to the grass. Blades of grass stiff with night's frost crunching underfoot, loud and deafening as I rush, hurrying towards the figure that slowly walks away, gets hidden in the night's blanket the more she walks.

"(Y/N)! (Y/N) stop!" I call after her, heart aching and body pushing to go quicker, quicker. Rushing to get to her. I see the curve of her spine stiffen. See her ears straighten and tail flick, alert to my approaching presence, pace quickening as she continues to move away.

It hurts that I'm the reason she's walking away, the reason she doesn't stop even as she hears me move after her. Hurts that she rushes to put distance between us, not turning back.

I did that.

I growl when the sight of her slips under a slip of greenery where the overhead lighting can't reach, running quicker after her.

Breaths wet and harsh to my own ears as I move.

Urgent and frantic.

She couldn't be out. Mind racing as it automatically began to assess the surroundings.

It was a blind spot. She couldn't vanish.

"(Y/N) stop! You need to come back...you can't be out here." I call, trying to keep my voice low but urgency and fear makes it spike.

"It's not safe! (Y/N) please! We need to go back." I say, relieved when I catch sight of her, eyes adjusting to the dark and spotting her figure walking, moving out of reach.

She stiffens when my hand curls around her arm and tugs her back. Shuddering with relief when I get to her and tug her back round.

Eyes wide as I look at her.

See her glare, see the pain in her wide doe eyes and see the way she tries to twist herself free.

"Why? Is air not allowed either? Is breathing a want? Am I dragging out an officer past his hours of duty?" she hisses, each words a sharp venomous sting. Striking and battering and pushing back.

Officer. It hurts that the same word that had been so full of tease and mischief is spat out like poison, like an insult.

"No of course not. (Y/N) it's not like that. It's not safe. You're not...come back with me." I plead, words spilling out.

She yanks her hand away, other hand gripping my wrist and tugging herself free.

Twisting on her heels as she moves back. Steps away and curves away from the sight of me.

"Go home Jimin. Go to your mate. Go away." she says, voice angry and low. A push. And she doesn't wait as she continues to walk, each step stiff and moving away from me once more.

My hands grab at her, growling when she twists away, hands pushing and batting away at my own. Unflinching as she steps back, bare feet crunching on ice, the heat that had pulsed out of her body earlier is gone. There's an iciness that seeps into the distance between us.

But she can't put herself into danger like this. She can't endanger herself because I was horrible. Because I was the one who made her want space and air.

"You need to come home. You're putting yourself into danger (Y/N). We need to get back." I insist, eyes narrowing onto the way her face juts out, sharpness in those wide eyes and tightly pressed lips.

"What I want is air. But I guess my wants don't matter. Never have clearly." She bites out. Every word drowning with anger and pain.

But I can't let her go. Can't let her stay out here. At risk, alone and cold.

My heart aches and yearns. Pleads as much as my words do but she won't listen.

It's that franticness that snaps inside me then when she tugs at my hand. Desperate to be free.

And I close the distance between us, hands dropping to her waist and hoisting her up over my shoulder. Gritting my teeth at the indignant furious snapping of words as she tells me to let go.

I twist and walk back the way we came, heart curling up with sorrow at how she twists, writhing to get free, my hands tightening around her warningly, keeping her steady and scooped up against me as I step back through to the apartment block. Silent and unresponsive to her insistence as I get back and roughly shoulder the door open with my vacant side. Stepping through to warmth and a growl slipping free at the way her hands push and push.

"Let me go!" she hisses.

I grit my teeth.

Flinching at the vitriol in her voice.

"No."

But not letting go as I push open her bedroom door.

"Park Jimin, let me down now." She demands.

I twist, dropping her struggling form onto her bed, watch her scrabble for purchase, pushing her body up so she's not splayed out. Defensive and angry.

"What the hell do you think you're doing? First I apparently need your permission to have sex, now I can't take a walk? You've got some nerve Jimin if you think that I—" she says, hands curling into fists into the sheets, eyes burning with fire.

Scent sharp and decayed and tainting the soft lightness the air once carried.

"I'm not letting you put yourself in danger because of me." I snarl.

Ears pinned back and tail swishing as I look at her.

See her meet my gaze head-on, glaring back as she pushes herself upright.

"Let me? Just what else do I need you to let me do, what else is it that needs your approval before I do it?" (Y/N) asks.

There's not a flicker of that haziness now.

None of that loose relaxedness in her posture.

It's spiky and defensive.

"What? Officer Park says no walking, so no walking. Joon says I can meet SJ but until Officer Park knows, until he's fully on board...no relief or pleasure for the fawn in custody. No sort of longing and desires allowed for the one who's meant to be shut away for her own safety." She says, echoing me from earlier. And as she speaks she gets off the bed, stands up so she's standing in front of me, each sentence driven in with a jab to my chest. Pushing me away with the barest of touches.

Furious angry tears glimmer in her eyes as she looks at me. She doesn't bat them away or wipe them off as they trickle down her cheeks, splashing against skin and sinking into clothes.

It hurts and hurts.

"What else? Why don't you say it loud and clear that I'm stupid and reckless? That one night with SJ was one night too many? Because blowing off steam, destressing...all of that has to happen from the four walls of this room." She gripes.

I snarl when she moves to step away, catching her wrist and pushing back until she's falling against the bed, pinning her down with my hand curled around her wrist, legs tight on either side of her thighs as I look down at her.

Ears pinned, angry that she's using those same words and melding them to this.

She's never a prisoner. She's never meant to feel trapped.

"No! I never said that. You're not a prisoner but I won't have you leaving in the dead of night, to get air to clear your head because I made you need it. You want space, take it. But don't put yourself into danger because I was the stupid angry fool who threw every worry and insecurity at you. Because I care and I showed it in in the worst way. Because I acted as rash angry officer first and friend second. When I promised you that it would always be the other way around." I say, leaning down to still her wriggling body, tail drooping at the scent of her sadness, see it catch at her waterline and cling to her lashes.

I see her lips, wet and damp with tears, swollen and bruised with the touch of another's. And even now want nothing more than to wipe the touch clean. To show her just how much she means, just how exactly I yearn for her. Lean to slam my lips down against hers, bruising and angry and hurt and needy. Feel the heated sensitive flesh of her lips push against mine, hot and feverish as they meld to mine, hands gripping at her wrists tightly, slipping free to cup her face, brushing at her tears and wiping them away. my mouth moves hurriedly against hers, slick and salty with our tears, burning gasps of breath against each other as I clutch at her, fingers brushing against warm skin, noses skimming each other. I groan into her mouth when her hands curl into my hair and yank at the strands, tugging me down against her, mouth parting for me, a wet swipe of her tongue against my lips, taking the taste of salt with her, coaxing my tongue to snake into her mouth, inviting and warm. My tongue sweeps against hers, fighting for control, fighting for dominance as she meets each thrust and roll of my tongue with her own, body pushing up against mine as her back arches, chest flush as it heaves, gripping at me tightly. My fangs scrape against her bottom lip, tug it to my mouth and bite down. Heat curling around me at the way she moans, body writhing and shifting against me, hands unclenching and clenching at my hair as she whimpers, head falling back, moving away had it not been for my hand that snakes around to curl around her nape. To keep her still and anchored to me, biting and nipping at her swollen lip, dragging my teeth over it as I tug it into my mouth, sucking at where my teeth leaves slight indents. Tongue laving over them before I'm licking into her mouth, grounding my body down against hers just to hear that startled hitch of breath. Scent pulsing out thick and strong, laced with crackling desire. I want to kiss away every hurt, every inch of pain, I want to kiss across every inch of her, wipe away the hurt my words brought and replace them with my touch.

I shudder as I look down at her, see the tears trickling down her cheeks as her eyes flutter shut, hiding away from the sight of me. Hiding away because of me, the wave of emotions that slam into me when I see her, body tilted away from mine rather than close. Wanting nothing more than to lean down and press apologies and kisses to her skin, to wipe away the tears with my lips and murmur to her just how deeply in love I am.

Look at her and know I can't.

Can't burden her with that when I've already wrought so much damage, so much sorrow. Not when I've made her suffer like this. When I've snapped her out of that hazy pleasant afterglow bliss by making her cry, by making her body shake and tremble with cold and grief.

"I'm the idiot. I'm the one who hurt you. But don't take it out by hurting yourself. Don't punish yourself for a mistake I made. Don't do this." I plead. My own eyes growing wet, the sight of her blurring as I beg.

Plead and look at her.

Her body sags, sinking defeatedly into the mattress. Defeat and pain lining each beautiful feature crumpled with distress.

"I was scared. Terrified that something had happened. That I wouldn't be able to help. But that doesn't excuse the way I acted. But (Y/N) please...please don't think that." I say, tears spilling down my cheeks, peering down at her with agony tearing and tugging at every bit of me.

I'm sorry. I love you. I'm sorry I hurt you.

I was terrified for you. I was terrified you'd be hurt and slip away.

But those words never make it out, never manage to be verbalised by the choked broken sound that tumbles past my lips as I drop my head forward, apologies in every touch as I burrow myself close, nuzzling at the taint of hurt I've left behind, gentle light touches as I nose at her skin, whisper them wetly too.

"I'm sorry. I never meant to hurt you." I whisper, voice hushed and wavering, trembling as I curl over her, mint brushing tentatively against her.

I gently nose at her jaw, at the skin where it curves, dropping to scent at the line of her throat, hear the aching slow thud of her heartbeat as she trembles, loosens.

Sorry. Sorry. Sorry.

"I'm so sorry. Please don't put yourself at risk to get back at me." I mumble. Hands skimming up and down her arms before reaching to squeeze her clenched fists.

Pleading and begging.

Please forgive me.

Over and over I scent, hear the way her heartbeat doesn't push and thrum quick and harried, thumping with agony against her chest. Hear it quieten and slow. She doesn't respond. Hitched shaky breaths turning quiet.

And when I raise my head, it's to see her own tilted to the side, eyes shut and dried tearstains against her cheek. Body limp and loose with sleep.

Exhaustion having won her over. Having tugged her away from me.

Her throat is exposed, displayed in sleep.

My eyes drop to her swollen gland, so puffy and sensitive.

I lean down to press a final kiss, brush so gently against her gland and feel her pheromones tickle at my nose. Soft anise.

"I'm sorry. I love you and I hurt you." I whisper to her sleeping figure.

And lean away. Move my body off hers, eyes unable to tear away from the sight that her hands had remained curled up. Fisting into sheets.

Carefully I move to get a blanket, drawing it over her. Levering a pillow under her head. Fingers brushing against damp cheeks.

"I want to protect you as a mate first, friend second and officer last. Always." I whisper.

Unable to bring myself to leave her, aching and alone.

I curl up into a corner of her bed, eyes settling on her sleeping figure. A pillow lies on my lap, my body folding around it, breathing in her soft, sweet scent. Heart yearning and pleading to get close, to curl beside her and hold her.

But not knowing if I could. If I even had that right now.

I remain in the corner of her bed, eyes closing to the image of her body curled up on her bed.

And when they open. It's to the sight of an empty bed stretching out across my sight.

No sleeping fawn there. No sight of (Y/N).

Gone.

Slipped away.

As if she'd been nothing but a sweet enticing dream. A dream that faded when the sun rose. The sweet scent of her a ghost that lingers.

That reminds me of what I did.

And taunts at my senses.

That I didn't deserve it.

Didn't deserve the dream of her as mate.

Her as mine.

(NEAR 13K OF A CHAPTER AND TYPED UP ROUGHLY...26 PAGES ON WORD?? WOW WOW...THAT'S A LOOOOONG CHAPTER! BUT I HOPE YOU ENJOY EVERY SINGLE WORD OF IT BECAUSE THERE IS A LOT GOING ON AND A LOT TO PROCESS! AHHHHHHHH! WHERE TO BEGIN? WITH THAT OPENING OF TEASING FOX AND FAWN?? TO SJ?? (BTW LET ME KNOW HOW HE IS TO READ~ ANYONE LIKE HER BUCK? WAS THEIR INTERACTION GOOD??) TO THE VERY FIRST MATURE SCENE FOR BABY FAWN?? TO~ HOBI AND YOONGI?? I LOVE HOW HOBI IS JUST BEING WRITTEN AS THIS DOWNRIGHT TEASE! THE KITS HAVE A LOT OF FUN TOGETHER AND THAT EXTENDS TO TEASING AND RILING EACH OTHER UP! WE HAD SOME SOFT PACK TIME OF THEM HELPING MINNIE! AND THEN!! AND THEN!! WE HAD THAT EXPLOSIVE NEAR 5K CHUNK OF JIMINIE WHICH WAS SO SO HEAVILY INSPIRED AND CRAFTED WITH MY BEAUTIFUL LOVE Midiiplier , SO... CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU ALL MAKE OF THAT!! I GENUINELY TEARED UP AND CRIED WHEN I WAS WRITING THEIR ARGUING JUST BECAUSE!! THEY'RE PERFECT AND THIS WAS THE FIRST TIME OF WRITING ANGSTY FEELS!! AND THE KISS!! AHHHH HAHA THE KISS!! THE KISS THAT COULD'VE BEEN BUT WASN'T?! I BLAME MIDI ENTIRELY AND I'LL JUST *DASH* AND LEAVE YOU ALL TO PROCESS! I LOVED WRITING THIS CHAPTER, CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU MAKE OF IT!! LET ME KNOW! TAKE CARE AND STAY SAFE LOVELIES!)

QUESTION... ANY TRAIT OF THE CHARACTERS OF CLAWS YOU THINK YOU CAN RELATE TO? A HABIT OR MANNERISM?? OR MAY JUST EVEN BE THE WAY THEY REACT TO SOMETHING!

Mine is...like a certain baby fawn, if I'm piled under work...I work till I physically can't anymore. Sleep? WHO? And like baby fawn I'm more the type to bottle up emotions just so it isn't bothering anyone!

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3