(Y/N) POV:

There's still that clinging need to be close, unwilling to want to part from SJ as he towels me off, hands gentle and light, the towel's material soft and cushiony and plush against skin, mindful of the countless marks left across every line and curve of my body.

"Your scent's extra soft. Makes me want to scoop you back to go to bed for a nap." SJ mumbles, nose dragging across my cheek in a light, unhurried scent, lips warm as they press to my jaw, carefully setting me down on the large counter, deliciously cool against the lingering heat that simmers in my veins.

"I want to too... but I'm hungry." I admit with a wry smile, the curve of my lips pressed to his when he tilts my face to his, slotting our mouths together, gentle and unhurried and soft pecks, lips parting mine and tongue brushing against mine lightly.

He presses a final kiss to my lips, leaning away, antlers rubbing against my temple in a light scenting caress.

"Can't deny little fawn food, you've had an exhausting heat." He says, letting the towel pool around me as he reaches for clothes, smiling when I make a sound of protest when he begins to shuck on his own shirt, tugging at the fabric towards me instead. His eyes have a proud, satisfied gleam when he tugs it on me instead, loose soft fabric falling around me as he helps thread my arms through it, eyes flickering with smugness at the marks it leaves exposed when he tilts my face towards the mirror.

"Guess I'm going without one then." He sighs, tugging on boxers, snug around his hips, hiding dark marks under them, eyeing me with a playful smirk as he reaches for shorts. The lithe corded muscle of his torso is bare, warm honeyed skin littered with scratches and bruises. I remembered mouthing at skin, at tugging out groans and grunts until his control had snapped, flipping us over so his hands pinned my wrists to the bed and his wicked smile promised double the torment, coaxing out cries as I thrashed under him.

"You're not hearing complaints from me Junie baby." I croon, leaning forward to mouth at his jaw, fingers trailing across skin, curling around his waist and tugging him close, head resting against his chest as I blink slowly, body still sluggish from the bath and from the constant week of being consumed by need. It feels like coming down from a long high peak, body drained and aching and sore.

And curled up in SJ's arms is comforting and familiar, an intimacy my body and instincts recognise, the same buck bringing me down with grounding touches, soft light affection, scents to layer over me as my body shifted into post-heat.

His hands are light as they trail over my legs, helping me dress as he draws the underwear over my thighs, rubbing circles into my hips, deep kneading pressure that tries to leech away the soreness in them.

"Breakfast time then little doe?" He asks once he's finished his slow purposeful drag of mouth at my collarbones, nuzzling gently at my scent gland as my fingers clutch at him, cradle him close as o reciprocate, rubbing anise scent as my cheek drags against his, a soft smatter of kisses following the trail as I curve into his hold. Nodding against his throat.

My legs ache, a constant throb and stiffness in them as he carefully scoops me up, fingers curling around skin as he holds me against him, ankles locking at the base of his back, skin brushing against skin, head coming to settle against his shoulder as I peer at the hallway.

"What are you feeling up to? You need to eat..." he murmurs, concern lacing his tone as he sets me down on the kitchen counter, squeezing and massaging my calves as he peers at me, face close enough for our lips to meet if I chase fo close the distance between us.

"Fruit?" I say, watching his brows raise and wait for something to follow.

"And~" he nudges, waiting expectantly, butting the side of my cheek with his antlers when I don't respond, stepping away to rummage in the fridge for fruit, smirk tugging at his lips when he emerges triumphant with fresh ripe peaches clutches in his hands, setting them down before he continues to search.

"Berries if there are any." I ask, smiling when it makes me think of Tae's scent; nearly always soft and sweet, brimming with happy pheromones as he rushed about the apartments, eager giddiness in the quick swish of his stripey tail.

"Berries... ah! That's what stripes smells like." He says to himself, waving a punnet happily at me as he closes the fridge door, eyes flicking to check on me before he's walking over to rinse the fruits, uncaring of the water that splashed across bare skin as he shakes them off.

I hum in agreement.

"It's such a sweet scent... Yoongi's citrus, Hobi's nutty caramel...." I muse, feet dangling in the air, swishing them lightly enough that it doesn't aggravate the soreness of my thighs but each swish has my calves protesting.

"Sounds like one of your fantasies rolled into one." Seo Jun teases, laughter lacing the low rough quality of his voice, just as much affected by his rut, but easier for him to reach normalcy, fingers deftly moving as he slices the fruit, hands moving quickly.

My eyes linger appreciatively on the broad plane of his back, trailing over red lines that mar warm golden skin, feeling a flare of pride at the marks his shoulders bear, coloured by my teeth sinking in to muffle cries, lips and tongue flicking over apologetically afterwards once the heat had lowered into a simmer.

And despite a whole week spent lost in each other's bodies, in drowning in each other's scents and melting and falling apart to each other's touch, his words still make my cheeks heat, aflame with the casualness and playful tone.

"Don't worry I won't tell your feline crushes~" he trills.

Easily having picked up on that it had been Yoongi courting me but all three felines that had been making me feel tugs of attraction but also want, to get closer and to know them more.

My ears flicker with sensitivity, twitching at the sound of approaching footsteps, the mixture of silent padding and rustly wings, head turning towards the doorway that stretched out to the living room.

Blinking before smiling at the sight of two glossy brown ears that popped and perked up, straightening when his gaze fixed on me, a toothy scrunched smile as Kookie hurried in.

"Your heat's broken!" He says by way of greeting, feet hurrying as he moves towards me, nose twitching lightly.

I know undoubtedly he can smell it on me, can smell the loss of the breeding urge and mating need from my scent, know because he doesn't jerk back and he doesn't in turn get slammed into a rut by my pheromones, energetic and buoyant as he leans against the counter, clearly having led the way for the other two. Jin who's smile is warm and tender, wings flapping as he approaches and a silent black panther with a silently curling black tail that sways and cuts through air, soft padding footsteps and worried eyes blinking at me.

"Bun could smell you from the other side. And we figured since your heat broke the least we could do is make sure you finally get a meal inside you." Jin whispers as his hands flit, a nervous flutter that extends to his hands, wings rustling behind him before his hands cup my cheeks, soft and gentle as he presses a kiss to the tip of my nose.

"You didn't eat dinner last night and I know you find it hard to eat in post-heat but something light?" Yoongi asks, the feline slant of his eyes hopeful and imploring.

And when I give a weak nod, caving immediately to his request, his citrus scent sweetens, soft and soothing and refreshing, curling sweetly around my lungs as I breathe it in.

"SJ you and (Y/N) can go rest in the living room... I know it's the opposite with bucks, laden meals after ruts right?" Kookie asks, already gathering ingredients as he peers at the plate he's carrying, peaches sliced and berries halved.

Seo Junie's face softens, nodding and his pheromones are light and inviting and disarming, immediately dismissing Kookie as a threat to me in post-heat, padding over with a low murmur of thanks.

"Are you sure you'd don't want me to help?" He offers, plate set aside as he reaches me, fingers unconsciously beginning to knead at my calves as he peers back at them.

But when he gets a shake of heads he doesn't hesitate in facing me once more, gaze resigned when he sees me slide off the counter, hand steadying me before I straighten. Taking slow shaky steps to the doorway.

"Little fawn...." He begins dismayed and fond all at once when he takes in the wobble to my legs, jittery and locked up, before arms loop around me and a warm chest presses against my back, heat seeping through the swipes shirt as he takes slow, halting steps with me out to the living room.

"Who are you fooling? We both know the panther gives you an extra shakiness." He whispers, low enough that only I hear, ears flickering with alarm but my legs buckle, decoding to give up and he doesn't miss a beat, scooping me to his chest as he strides quickly to the couch, sinking down with me tucked on his lap.

I borrow my face against his chest, mouth brushing against warm skin.

"That obvious?" I ask, hushed and shamefaced.

Lips press to my temple, hands tightening for a fraction as the sound of a plate being set down behind us is heard, head ducking low to whisper into my ear.

"Just to me. Although I'm not sure panther likes me cradling his sweet girl." He says with a lily, reaching past before a piece of fruit nudges at my lips.

"You don't mean that. We're just heat partners." I mumble defensively.

SJ's eyes flicker with mischief, thumbing at my lips, tongue flicking against the pad of his finger as he wipes it clean.

It makes my body jolt. Both with how playfully seductive the gesture is and how much it reminds me of what Tae has done, unconsciously swiped a finger across my lips and licked the juice clean.

"And your courting feline is not at all jealous that I'm very much acquainted with you on every physical level?" He croons, eyes flicking past my head as he brings a slice of peach up, satisfied with whatever he finds.

And when I push away the umpteenth piece of fruit away from my lips with a grumble, nudging it back to his own, his hands curl around me, happy to hold me as I settle against him, still drained and exhausted. Body feeling coiled up despite the bath and muscles sore and protesting.

SJ begins to scent. Light nuzzles of cheek rubbing against skin, my body instinctively responding, head tilting to encourage the slow drag of a cheek against my own, of lips and fingers gently ghosting along swollen, aching and tender scent glands, coaxing out a rich burst of pheromones with even the slightest pressure. His hands curl under his shirt, settling on my waist as he tugs me closer, fingers tracing shapes and patterns onto skin even as his antlers gently nudge at my cheek and throat, a slow drag as he layers me with peach; no longer sticky sweet with arousal but soft and fragrant and light. I sigh with relief, lips brushing a kiss across his shoulder with gratitude when his hands slip lower over bare legs to knead. Rubbing and easing out pressure and stiffness with expert familiarised and learned hands, coaxing out the tension and leaving a boneless limp feeling as I sag against him, slowly losing the ability to keep myself upright in front of him. My fingers rub circles onto his gland, down the sweeping breadth of his shoulders, scenting him back.

I groan when his knuckles rub a line up and down the side of my hip, pressing firmly as he cradled me, fingers brushing across the hem of my underwear, curling under to rub at the bruises we both know are hidden under it.

"I love soft snuggly post heat fawn." He murmurs, pleased and content to hold me, scenting each other with lighter scents and unhurried focus, my hands reaching for his own, tips of my fingers rubbing a line across his wrist scent glands, curling my fingers around them as I hold them to me.

"Thank you Seo Junie ...for helping me. For not letting me be alone during any part of it." I mumble gratefully. His answer is a soft peck to the crook of my neck and a silent promise in a squeeze that tells me he will always, without fail, be there.

"Always got you sweets." He mumbles back, mouthing gently at my throat, nosing at my neck and I feel the smile against my skin when it makes me squirm in his hold.

By the time Yoongi pads in quietly, voice soft and gentle, and oh-so-low in that soothing timbre that has my body instantaneously melting and relaxing, drooping further against SJ, my mind is already a haze; floaty on the mixture of peach and anise, sluggishly nuzzling and scenting SJ's bare shoulder, breathing slow and deep as I curl into him.

"Sweet girl breakfast." Yoongi murmurs, fingers trailing carefully over the back of my ears, a soft rub that has them bending, head sagging and a thin trail of citrus curling through the haze.

It takes considerable effort to lift my head, blinking slowly at the sight of him when I turn my head, entranced and tugged to the soft gummy smile he gives me, fangs peeking out.

"You're really pretty Yoonie." I mumble, pushing myself upright off SJ's chest, body swaying with the enticing tug of sleep and body a loose puddle of limbs by the kneading and massaging Seo Jun's hands had constantly been doing as he scented, his head rising off the back of the couch to straighten as I let my fingers brush across Yoongi's lips, a light ghosting touch as I straighten.

The citrus sweetens.

"You're prettier." He says easily, hovering, black tail swishing silently as I try to stand, wobbling and staggering even more before SJ's hands easily catch me, a muttered huff under his breath before he carefully scoops me to him, padding back to the kitchen.

I hide my pinkened cheeks against SJ's skin, flustered and pleased and gushing all at once at Yoongi's words, ankle nudging against his when we sit.

And silently his ankle locks around mine, hooked together and his soft warm tail curls around my bare calf in a caress, eyes worried and examining as he puts food down in front of me, fussing in a way I knew was courting behaviour; that biologically instinctive need to show that he could provide with food, that he could take care of me in a very primal way, intrinsic to that survival need.

On my other side SJ digs in, appetite active and working in full-force, replenishing all those lost nutrients during an intense week of rut, needing to make up for that lost difference as he happily eats, eyes wide with wonder as he shoots Jin a thumbs up, the curves of his lips stretched wide. But he still nudges my ankle with his, moving the lighter options to me and murmuring for me to eat, eyes soft and carrying that flicker of worry that always settled post-heat; fretting and complaining that me pushing food away made his biology feel failed.

And Yoongi sees my picking at food, silently nudging the plate back as Kookie sets down a mug instead. My lips curving up at the sweet hot drink, eyeing the all the extra garnishes and shooting Jin and Kookie a grateful smile, fingers curling around the handle.

"But hot drinks and snacks work." Jin says, eyes flitting over me.

Relaxing when I lift the mug to take a sip, eyes creasing with fondness before a finger dabs at the tip of my nose, clearing the whipped cream off it. Quickly and silently done and I turn to see Yoongi continue to eat breakfast, lips tugging at the corner when he senses my gaze on him.

"Drink up sweet girl. It won't taste as good cold." Eyes drifting to me, expression flickering with both tenderness and amusement as he tilts his head, peering at me.

"That means I appreciate the gawking but I'd rather you fill your tummy first." SJ whispers with a low hiss, tugging my attention back and saving me from my cheeks pinkening, pressing a cookie to my lips until I take a bite, fingers reaching to take it.

My eyes scrunch, recognising the taste as the ones Kookie's had left me with the day I'd had to stay home, soft and buttery and sweet as I bite into it. My body unconsciously tilts towards SJ, towards that mixture of our scents intertwined and drenching him, instinct tugging me back to the same person who'd helped me through my heat, the person who my biology trusted and felt soothed and settled with. And with the way his hand comes to rest on my bare leg, rubbing circles to soothe both of us with the light grounding touch I know he's feeling the same need to be close.

But all too soon breakfast ends and I find the comforting light haze of cotton, vanilla, citrus and peach lift, the others flitting about as they clear up, legs aching and beginning to jitter as I watch SJ help; unsettled by the distance it puts him at from me. Distantly, I can hear the others. Know that on the other side of the apartment the others are having breakfast, moving about their day, mind twisting with yearning for the same mint haze that had coaxed and nudged me into pre-heat.

I longed for the safety I'd felt then, cocooned by him, caged in protectively, eyes flashing with dominance and predatory hunger. It made me want. Stirred up longing and stirred up a carnal hunger, it had pushed me right into SJ's willing and ready arms. And as I'd whimpered and cried out, as I'd come down from highs, coherent enough to be aware of my surroundings it had been with shaky tears and that small whisper at the back of my head that Minnie wouldn't want to see me like this, that he wouldn't be able to stand the sight. And heat driven tears had led me to mumble the fears against SJ's skin, feeling his hand warm and firm settle on the low of my back, low voice soothing away those fears with a certainty flashing in his dark eyes.

"It wasn't too bad on the others was it?" I ask tentatively.

Staring at the dredges in my now empty cup.

"No-one got thrown into rut. It was just... unusual." Kookie says as he leans over the table, fingers brushing against mine as he takes the cup from me.

I tilt my head at him, ears flickering.

"Unusual...?" I ask, trailing off.

But his bunny scrunch is both adorable and disarming, ears flopping as he nods eagerly.

"It's not quite the same without you. Everyone's.... loud." He confides. But the scrunch of his nose tells otherwise too.

Loud. But also predators. And silently for each other we'd been presences diffusing the natural sharp dominance that crackled in the others' scents. A soft lightness underlying our pheromones because of the biological difference between prey and predator.

And Kookie had missed that.

The thought makes my eyes sting, blinking away wetness as I look at him.

But his words also makes my cheeks warm.

Wondering whether we'd been too loud. Wondering if the others had heard.

I didn't know whether the walls were soundproof, I knew to an extent they must be, they blocked out most of my heat pheromones from seeping out because when I'd stepped out, the air hadn't been thick with arousal and electric with heady desire. I knew the rooms were scentproof; most buildings were designed that way now.

But I didn't have the confidence to ask, to confront and hope that they hadn't heard whatever had transpired between me and SJ. Even if the claims and marks lay clear on our bodies, littered with purpling bruises and swollen glands.

They knew SJ was here to help me through my heat, they'd called him for me. They knew and yet I didn't want to confirm myself, didn't want to ask whether we'd been too noisy, whether our cries and breathless yearning for each other had been caught by sharp hearing from all the way on the other end of the apartment.

"You could just say you missed her bun. And that you've joined my stress baking." Jin says, voice warm and fond and teasing, eyes gleaming with mischief.

And it's Kookie's cheeks who take a pink tinge as he leans away, ears flopping and he tugs on one end to cover part of his face as he turns, tail twitching as he rushes back with a scandalised call of 'hyung shhh'.

My lips tug upwards, smiling at the sight of Jin's wings flapping with pleased countenance, dodging Kookie's swipes and swats of a kitchen towel, voice a low hissed protest as he hurries about. SJ flits in and out of the chaos, helping Yoongi sort out the food and pack it up, nudged back into my direction.

"Why don't you get little doe comfortable?" he nudges.

And that's all the encouragement SJ needs before he's hurrying back, antlers nuzzling and butting against skin, a shaky exhale muffled against my throat as he curls close, hands sliding around my thighs to scoop me to him. A stifled 'thank god' as he clutches me tightly.

"If you were that antsy you didn't need to go." I mumble, fingers rubbing at the nape of his neck as I burrow close.

His voice despite its shaky quality is assured and confident.

"And leave a bad impression on your courting panther and his pack? Never... he's wooing our little fawn, let me at least have this." He mumbles, one hand falling away, supporting me with his body, pressed slightly against the wall as he nudges my bedroom door open.

Stepping back into the heavy cloud of anise and peach I know will linger, will permeate into the essence of the room and seep into its corners and edges. Will come to settle here.

"Some cuddles before I eventually have to leave?" he asks, voice hopeful and low.

I feel my body relax under the low timbre, feeling his chest reverberate against me from how closely we're pressed together. I let out a small hiss as I lock my legs around him, tugging him closer with beseeching hands.

"Please."

A huff of laughter brushing against the curve of my neck, ghosting along my gland as he lowers me onto the bed and splays on top, weight carefully pinning me to the mattress. Burrowing his face into my neck.

"You've done enough pleading this heat. Leave some pleading for the fox to do."

And with a smirk curled against skin he begins to scent.

Lazy unhurried thorough drags of skin against skin. Of mouth, antlers, nose pressing to skin and layering me with his pheromones.

Tugging me back to that hazy state where my mind blurred, thoughts clouded by pheromones.

Tugging me back into him.

And my body tugs at his, fingers imploringly winding around him in silent search for his own throat. Every slow scent a thanks. Every drag of skin and lips against his a wordless piece of conversation.

Knowing each other so deeply, so wholly and so intimately that words aren't needed.

Thanks for being with me. Thanks for trusting me.

--------

"Sweets I've got to go." He huffs, trying to tug himself free, laughing and falling back forward when my hands tighten, grumbling as I tug him back, hands silently tugging his to wrap back around me, back under the shirt.

"I'm not done cuddling." I mumble.

Lips press gently to my cheek.

"You know I can't stay. As tempting as it sounds to spend all the time in the world like this, I've got to go. Namjoon only asked for me to stay for your heat. I can't stay longer." He says regrettably, guilt lacing his words.

"I don't want you to. Please stay." I ask, head turning to peer at him, watching his body hovering behind mine, dark soft eyes turning sharp as he leans forward.

"Do you feel unsafe here sweetheart?" he asks carefully.

I know what he's asking.

Do I feel safe here instinctually? Does my biology get scared and unsettled at the thought of being left in post-heat without him? Do I feel unsafe in trusting the others in being there during my post-heat?

The last heat had snuck up on all of us.

This one we'd prepared for.

And SJ looks at me, carefully searching my face for hesitation or nervousness.

I shake my head.

"I feel safe. I just wish you could stay." I murmur.

His eyes soften, leaning to peck the tip of my nose.

"Then I'm leaving you in safe hands. But if you need me...say the word. And I'll fight the fox to get to you." he promises.

I nod, that sleepy feeling coaxed back with his low murmurs to rest, hand brushing across the curve of my hip, a silent goodbye before he presses a peck to my flickering ears.

"Rest well sweets. No rushing about on your own two legs." He warns.

I nod, eyes fluttering open to peer at him standing at the door, soothed by his presence and eyes drifting over him as he moves to leave.

His expression goes tall and protective as the door opens, slipping to block off the space with his body; instinctively guarding, body and scent a deterring barrier.

And as my head sinks down into the pillow, the scent of soft mint trailing through my lungs in a ghosting caress, I wish and wish and yearn.

For a certain fox to be there too.

JIN POV:

Jiminie returns, face tight with simmering anger and ears pinned back. Tail swishing silently, a furious quick flitting movement, back and forth, back and forth. Eyes narrowed dangerous slits and mint stinging at my eyes and heavy in my throat as it goes down with each breath.

He returns, sans buck and body trembling with restrained, suppressed emotion, sinking down when Joon's hand tugs him onto his lap, broad frame curling around him as he holds him, a growled warning as he clutches at his mate; cloying damp earth mingling with piercing mint and making the room thicken with tense impatience and need. Cloying heavy need to tend to (Y/N), to get to her.

She remains on the other end of the apartment, holed away in her bedroom, tucked away from our scents and from noise.

SJ left. But the peach scent remains. It clings in the other part of the apartment, a subtle floral sweetness, ripe and rich and heady but I know it's nowhere near strong enough or richly clinging to every fibre in (Y/N)'s room. But (Y/N) doesn't appear.

She doesn't appear after breakfast. She doesn't appear and the others begin to fret, protectiveness and worry seeping in; making them antsy and restless.

Her heat's broken and all of our noses can detect it. Her rich scent of the past week, intoxicatingly enticing, mellowing out into a softness, something light and gentle and vulnerable. Something that tugged and yanked at our biology to go, to get to the source of the scent and to soothe and protect and help. Her softer scent was still strong enough in its intensity that my nose could pick it up, wings rustling and fidgeting, fluttering with unease behind me, wanting to go to her, to fuss and look after.

But I couldn't.

Because despite whatever has made Jiminie turn antsy and bristly and fussy as his tail swished back and front on Joon's lap, eyes narrowed hardened slits; I also knew there was no way that he would've left her alone if he had the choice, neither would have Yoongi; especially in this fragile new state of courtship, where his biology was beginning to recognise hers, was wanting to act instinctively and rush to her, to help ease her through her pains.

And my own instincts, despite not calling to hers, not responding the same way I knew some of the others were... my own instincts demanded to protect. Because (Y/N) had long since grown to be someone who mattered, someone part of our lives and someone I wanted to keep happy and healthy and safe. Someone's whose smiles I never wanted to fade. And someone whose hurts I wanted to take away. She was the only other prey hybrid other than Kookie and that natural biological softness only heightened the need to fuss over her.

"I can't hear her. Do you think she's okay?" Tae mumbles, stripey tail curled and latched onto Hobi's leg, body tilted and burrowed against Kookie, arms curled around his torso and head burrowed close to his scent gland. Voice muffled and reverberating against skin, the slight shudder of Kookie's body not going unmissed.

And despite the way Jiminie's mint crackles; sharp piercing mint that clouds the air and burns the lungs, it's him who turns from where he's curled into Joon, nodding even if his dropped wilted posture suggests he's still not fine with it.

"SJ said she's sleeping off a pheromones high. He left her settled, her body's just been tugged under all the scenting and exhaustion." He shares.

But the bite to his words give away how displeased he is. How much it hurts him not to be with her, how much that despite the relaxed tilt of his body, it thrums, coiled up and high strung. And I know it'd take all but one sound from the other end of the apartment and he'd be tugging at those same arms his hands had been clutching at, fingers curled with silent gratitude previously.

"So we can't go check on her?" Hobi asks, voice tinged with slight distress and displeasure at the thought of leaving her alone and leaving her without physically confirming with his own eyes that she was okay.

"I don't want to disturb her rest. SJ mentioned post heat she doesn't like others being close, not when everyone's scents are sharp and strong, not when her body and biology are both easing her off her heat." I add.

Frowning because it means staying away.

But if that's what she needed, if that's what her biology needed at the moment, why would I begrudge her that?

"But we were there last time... we stayed with her in post-heat and she wasn't affected then." Joon mumbles, wide eyed and imploring, looking simultaneously soft and lost in that moment. A large fretty alpha pup who wanted nothing more than to make sure that she was okay, his wolf instincts likely frazzled with that need to assert that the little doe under his protection was okay.

Kookie shakes his head, curling into Tae. Unconsciously relaxing and leaning inwards the more Tae desperately chases the scent of softened cotton now that his body isn't pushing for a rut that can't happen.

His leg jitters slightly even as he reclines.

"It's not the same. Last heat her biology was painfully aware that she had no-one. And so she craved that closeness that she was denied of during her most vulnerable. This time round she had SJ to satisfy and satiate every need, over and over and over again. This time she wants to remain in the peach haze and slowly be eased back into everyone's scents. It would tear away that safety if we rushed to her." he explains, nose scrunching at a particularly thorough drag of Tae nosing at skin, deliberately slow and unhurried which has some of the tension bleeding out of Kookie's spine.

"When she's ready. There's no rush." Yoongi echoes, a soft murmur as he leans in when my fingers scratch at the base of his ears, a content rumbly purr slipping out even as his tail swishes silently; at odds and conflict with himself. Wanting to go to her, to his sweet girl, his fawn, his years-long crush as Hobi had confided to me in a hushed, giddy whisper.

No rush.

Because we had to wait for (Y/N) to come out and approach, just like the last time, because she needed time for her biology to settle and shift, for her instincts to want to step out of the peach cloud that cocooned her still.

She needed time.

But I couldn't help but think of just how much my protective need was growing, how in the same likeliness I was beginning to assimilate her tendencies, my fussy behaviour and need to dote in the same light that I did to Kookie.

Something about her lighter scent, about her fierce stubbornness to push and ignore her own health until she physically couldn't struck a chord in me, made me want to take care of her so she wouldn't have to. Made me want to nudge her to think of herself first every once in a while.

And that feeling was steadily growing.

It grew more and more when I saw shadowed eyes and a gaze that told me that a night had gone by without sleep. It was in the way that those days her body would sway slightly, exhaustion tugging at her frame even as she busied herself, rushed about getting ready. It was in the way she stifled cute yawns at dinner, eyes fluttering with sleep with each lazy drag of her lashes brushing against skin before she'd sit up straighter, moving away from the body she was tilting into beside her.

And it was in the way that during this heat I had been able to make sure that at least through SJ she was easting something. Wasn't neglecting herself.

That there was someone, close and privy to this period of fragile biological need to help her through it. It didn't help that a few times when SJ had opened the door, body a protective barrier barring both entry and sight to (Y/N), an unconscious primal want to hide and protect her in this state, that the scent of softened anise would seep out. Softened after a heat cycle, softened as she slept, softened as she turned cognizant and coherent. It also didn't help that past SJ when he'd shift back, carefully holding a tray to set down on a surface or turning to close the door there'd be small glimpses of her, face blissed out in sleep, the bare curve of her back, sheets pooled around her hips and hair splayed across the pillows.

He'd worn every mark on every inch of bare skin with pride and satisfaction as he'd opened the door clad in boxers. He'd been a satiated, preening buck as he shielded his in-heat fawn, wearing every claim with his posture tall and confident.

There was something so vulnerable and so gently enticing about the image and I wanted nothing more than to curl close and curve my wings around her. To cocoon her away from the hurts and just hold her.

To relish in that feeling of protecting and caring.

To feel her body lean comfortably against mine.

But she doesn't come.

Lunch passes.

The day begins to turn, darkness curling over the sky, the air getting chillier from the kitchen's open windows and the thermostat turned up as the windows are tugged shut.

And it's when the room is encompassed in a low dim glow, everyone piling close; instinctively chasing familiar scents and warm throws and the extra scented cushions, bodies intertwined and pressing that we all sit down, a movie playing in the background.

The stress of the long day unwinds, slowly unfurling, knots loosened and limbs relaxing against each other, the sight of lazy unhurried content scenting as Yoongi nips at Joon's ear, tail curled around him and drawing out a keening satisfied whine as he trails his lips to mouth at his throat, fangs scraping.

Tae still hasn't let go of Kookie, having attached himself to our youngest packmate and clinging. Stripey tail curled around him and ears flickering as he nuzzles at Kookie's floppy brown ears, a rumbly chuff building louder the more he relaxes against him, sinking into a berry embrace. It's warming and soothing to see that I'm not the only one who's picked up on the slight fidget and antsy behaviour, that it hasn't slipped past others' notice too. That he has a fret, nuzzly, scenty tiger clinging to him.

"She'll be okay kit. Give her time and then you can check on her." I murmur quietly to Yoongi, smiling when I feel his ears flicker against my fingers, leaning in to press a kiss to the tips of them. His head tilts back as he peers at me, eyeing me with thinly veiled concern and relief all rolled into one.

The way his body sags is an immediate giveaway as to how much it was bothering him.

"Really?"

"Of course kit. I'll make sure your scent doesn't slam into her." I whisper.

His lips quirk up, gaze soft and he quickly leans to press a kiss to my jaw, nuzzling against it in a soft tender scent-mark.

I tilt his chin up, lips brushing against his gently, softly. A soft ghosting touch of his lips warm and giving under mine, plush and inviting. I kiss the soft pink gently, cradling his face towards me, smiling against his mouth when I feel the tips of his ears flicker against my skin, a small content sound muffled against me.

"Anything for my sweet kit." I murmur.

But as he settles against me, comforted and soothed for the time being, Kookie stiffens in Tae's hold. Ears twitching and perking up, nose scrunched as he tugs himself away.

Confusion flickers across Tae's face as he lets go, straightening up and rubbing a hand down the curve of Kookie's spine. Trying to ease him at whatever's startled him.

"Did you hear that?" he asks, voice hushed.

But it cuts through the din and makes the others pause, postures straightening. But despite their ears flickering and straining to catch the sound that he has there's no flash of tension searing across their faces and nothing that comes of it.

Kookie's ears droop, relaxing when he doesn't hear a sound but his words are enough to have my eyes silently flickering to the door, watching and straining for something; head turning every now and then to catch sight of something that never appears.

The pack silently settles, Tae goes back to scenting Kookie, Yoongi relaxes further against my shoulder and Joon and Jiminie both curl around Hobi; sandwiching him in between them, who's ears twirl with delight from the double scenting he's receiving as he focuses on the film playing, occasionally flitting to the two of them to nuzzle back and scent at their throats with a purr of appreciation rumbling against skin.

And my head droops against Yoongi's, curling closer to him, hands entangled and breathing in each other's lightened scents, sinking against each other when a startled soft gasp has my head rising, elbow pushing myself upright and the slightest nudge against my skin. Warm and slight.

I turn towards the touch, eyes dropping low when I don't see anyone and find my heart catching, clenching tightly at the sight.

Heart melting and gushing as my breath catches at the sight of large doe eyes peeking out at me from behind the arm of the couch, wide soft trusting eyes that peek at me. I watch painstakingly still as the eyes loom closer and a tiny nose brushes against my forearm, a small boop to my arm.

I lean forward, peering over the arm and my wings flutter, a quick rustle as they flap restlessly, heart aching and warm as I see a small fawn peering up at me, legs wobbling as she teeters to remain on balance, swaying and ears flickering when the others hush their exclamations; wonder and awe all mingling together.

"Oh sweetheart. You're just beautiful." I breathe, hand curving out to offer it palm up, wanting nothing more than to brush my fingers through the soft brown, watching as those large doe eyes blink at me and her head lowers to nose at my palm, the sensation ticklish and light, head turning to nuzzle the side of her face against my hand.

She takes a small staggering step forward. Nosing at my palm and snuffling lightly. Her hair is warm and soft to the touch, eyes blinking slowly as I lean over the sofa body curving over to look at her, wings flapping loudly, wanting nothing more than to curve around her.

I hear a soft coo, head turning to see the way Hobi's eyes shine, glowing wit excitement and giddiness, leaning forward from the middle and the two just as intrigued and enamoured. Her head turns towards the sound, peering at him and his ears twirl as his eyes shine, lips stretched wide.

"Pretty dear baby." He murmurs, not tugging himself free in case it startles her but Jiminie begins to lean forward regardless when she sways, small frame trembling on shaky legs.

I don't expect for her to turn her head back, resolutely taking small, small wobbly steps even as Jiminie stands and hovers fretfully, tail swishing slowly and mint softening into something sweet and calming as he watches her. I don't expect her to take those small shaky steps towards me, nudging at my knee as her head dips, eyes peering at me in silent search for something before her legs stretch upwards. Front legs raised and leaning against mine before she clambers on to me.

My wings still. The fluttering and flapping ceasing as she propels herself up onto my lap, wobbly legs on my thighs as she gently nuzzles against my jaw. Her ears flicker as she curves her face forward, a small bleat as she ducks her head under my jaw, tucking herself closer.to me. My hands lightly ghost along trembling legs, gentle touches as they drift over to trail my fingers over soft brown hair, silently marvelling over the feeling, fingers brushing over white spots of hair as my fingers sink and I massage a line over her back. It's no little amount of satisfaction and pleasure when another small blest brushes against my throat, soft and high, before her legs fold. (Y/N)'s body sinks down, curling up into itself as she curls into a small circle on my lap, head peeking out as her gaze goes to settle on Yoongi, who's eyes are soft and tender and awed as he watches her.

He holds his hands out, pale slender fingers stretched out towards her and a gummy smile tugs at his lips, stretching wider when she nuzzles into it, face tilting as she blinks up at him. Silent as she curls into the touch. He leans over, eyes warm as he tilts his head low to brush a kiss between her flickering ears, other hand rubbing at the back of them in a way that has her curled up frame drooping further on my lap.

"Can I come?" Kookie asks voice hopeful and eager, peering at the sight as he leans forward from the adjacent couch. Tae's arms have loosened in his own excitement, both watching with wide eyes, a stripey tail swishing back and forth as he looks on delightedly.

I give a small nod because she's not spooked, because when the two approach, sinking down to their knees to peer at eye level to her, her head turns to track their movements. And when Kookie looks closer, floppy ears bouncing in his haste, they stiffen and pop, perking up when she raises her head, rising from the small curved up ball she makes to brush her nose against his, hair brushing against skin as she leans towards him. His hands come to cradle her face, thumbing over soft brown hair and we watch as her eyes flutter, head dipping into the touch. Lips brushing in a soft gentle kiss between her ears, nosing at them as he cradles her close, head tilted to hers.

And he's barely leaning back, body curled against my legs as he peers up at her that Tae rushes to fill the space, stripey tail swishing and curling behind him, ears twitching with giddiness as he leans forward, eyes shining with excitement. But he doesn't immediately crowd her space, hovering a small distance away, hand curling to brush over her hair, slowly familiarising her to him.

I realise that his scent is going to be much more intimidating and crowding to her, the sharp underlying spike of predator pheromones that'll put a part of her biology on edge regardless of his sweet berry scent. He slowly allows her to familiarise to him in shifted form, her head lifting to nudge at his palm, butting against it to encourage a more thorough and deeper petting, snuffling at his skin in an eager bump. It coaxes out a deep rumbly chuff, tail swishing giddily and a smatter of kisses across her face, a soft bleat being swallowed under the chuff that continues to grow in volume and depth; the scent of berries growing saccharine sweet.

"Tae let (Y/N) breathe." Yoongi admonishes, nudging him aside with a fond smile, black tail flicking chidingly against him to stop him from crowding closer, from nuzzling and scenting the small fawn that remains curled up in my lap, her head dropping and eyes fluttering shut with every ministration.

His lips form a pout, jutting lips pleadingly beseeching as his long fingers pause and settle on her back.

"Oh hyung~" plaintively whining as his eyes widen, swishing tail stopping.

"Move up cub, I want to see my beautiful dear." Hobi's voice calls, hand gently ushering him aside and to Yoongi's awaiting side that he curls against immediately, a whine muffled against his lap as he burrows his head, complaining about being denied to be cooing over such cuteness. But his head still turns on Yoongi's lap, eyes glittering with something heavy and unspoken and yearning as Hobi crowds close to gently cup her face, fingers rubbing circles to the back of her ears, light touches as they trail up to her ears; a soothing massage that had her head immediately tilting into the touch, body unfurling a bit to get closer to him.

"You're baby sized." He murmurs softly, awe colouring his tone as he continues the light massage, fingers trailing to rub circles to the back of her neck, sinking into brown glossy hair and kneeling as he peers at her curved frame.

There's a small soft bleat that escapes at that, swallowed whole almost by the bubble of laughter that escapes his throat as he continues, a coo as he fusses and brushes gentle fingers over her, light pets that has her head twisting in search to see and follow his movements.

And under each touch, her scent softens. Slowly shifting or trying to bridge that transition from heat to post heat. Anise turning sweet and gentle and calm. But after a while she nudges at Hobi's hand, head rising to nose at his cheek before her legs wobble. Standing up and shaky as she staggers forward, clambering off my lap, body tilting forward alarmingly that Kookie immediately steadies. And he nudged aside the cushions and draws his legs in when he realises she's making small stumbling steps forward, eyes wide and fixed onto the couch where Jiminie and Joon are sitting; eyes wide and soft and so, so tender.

(Y/N) seems determined, taking each step even as her legs give a vicious jitter; heart in my throat but the decision is made for her when Jiminie frowns, mint sharpened with distress as he kneels forward and carefully scoops her up. Her legs folding as he cradled her and sits back with her drawn to him as he leans against the couch.

"Stop being stubborn little fawn. It's not hard to see there's seven of us waiting to help you." He murmurs, voice low and gravelly and chiding. His legs fold and she curves within the space between them, head drooping to rest on his lap, peering at him dolefully. Wide eyes unblinking and softly imploring and a moment later tension seeps out his body as his shoulders droop, a huffy breath exhaled and a hand coming to rub at her ears, cradling her head as he bends over.

She makes a soft, soft bleat. High and light and quiet. Head dipping forward to nuzzle against his palm when I remember something.

"Why don't you scent her? She has glands under her eyes." I say.

Remembering Binnie's words and that aching clawing need that had arose at them.

You can always smell when she's been sad because her tears cling to her glands.

But the touch Jiminie gives is light and soft and so, so tender as he leans to cradle her face, thumbs brushing under her eyes in incredibly gentle sweeping motions that has a soft bleat slipping out, muffled when her face dips against his palms and settles there, eyes fluttering shut and ears flickering.

"We're always here for you sweet fawn." He murmurs, shifting to let Joon slip off the couch and curl close, a low keening whine as he sees her eyes blink open blearily towards him, towards his scent of rich forest, fresh and crisp dew on leaves, pressing a smatter of kisses to her face, nosing at her ears.

"We'll protect." Joon mumbles, voice low and husky and full of natural authority, that yearning to protect and dote and curl around her in her heightened sense of vulnerability; to shield her.

We will protect.

We will guard and look after.

And the flickering look of longing in his eyes, scent fiercely protective as it curls and intertwines with mint, merging as it floats in a cloud over her.

(Y/N)'s eyes flutter open and shut, wide eyes drooping shut as her head comes back to rest on Jiminie's thigh

"We're always here for you sweet fawn." He murmurs, shifting to let Joon crowd close, a rumbly growl building with every nuzzle and scent to her ears and curve of her face. The two of them curve around her in the same way they'd unconsciously flanked Hobi, pressing close to cage her from sight, encompassing her with their shared scents; something so warm and earthy and natural and rich.

When I see her curved out of sight, relaxed and hazily drooping onto Jiminie's thigh, eyes fluttering shut and ears stilling, I see exactly what it was SJ was protecting.

I saw why Jiminie was so adamant about being her protection detail.

Why Yoongi was so smitten and taken and why he'd spent her entire week caring and fretting in silent, unspoken ways.

Why Tae and Hobi curled around him and why they were eager to take suppressants if it meant a chance of being able to cross over and help with something... anything, even if it was the simple act of hovering as we took food to her, or flitting around when SJ stepped out.

I see why Kookie saw and felt such a tug. Why he was drawn to her soft, sweet nature and why he confided in her.

I see why slowly the need to hover and protect has grown and why my wings automatically respond and react at the mere sight of her.

I see her. Curled up and drifting to sleep between them, enticed to rest by the soothing timbre of Joon's low growls and Tae's chuffs.

I see. And I want. I yearn.

JOON POV:

It's no little amount of satisfaction to see (Y/N) drift off. To see her float in the haze of our scents and to see wide doe eyes blink trustingly at me and flutter as exhaustion and tiredness tugs at her small, shifted form.

And it makes this protective need rise, well up and spill over the surface when I smell her scent turn unbearably soft, her pheromones tugging and calling for someone to take care of her, to shield her and to help her.

Jiminie's body arches over hers, head tilted close and fluffy orange ears standing to attention, mint sweetly strong and intertwining with my own.

"She's asleep." He mumbles, head rising to peer at me, his hand stilling behind her ears. His eyes are dilated, pupils blown wide and heavy with protective instinct that his body thrumming and so highly attuned to hers, legs locked around her, a cradle formed for her between them, her head settled against him.

"She's still exhausted. Shifting also makes her unable to ignore every sensation and instinctual need. Shifting also took a lot out of her." Hobi says, voice soft and gentle.

His eyed warm pools of brown when I turn my head to him, ears twirling as he watches the sight with yearning and soft affection.

It makes me wonder why she had shifted.

It was something my mind was turning over and over through my head as I saw each wobble, each jitter to her leg and each soft trembling bleat, soft and quiet and swallowed whole under other sounds.

And when I saw how relaxed she looked... body curled up and scent much lighter than it had been when she wobbled in, tugging a gasp out my throat at the mere sight of her. Soft brown dotted with white spots, ears flickering and eyes warm enticing and wide.

And as I see her eyes shut, ears still in sleep and unconsciously nuzzling at his thigh, nose brushing against fabric as her face turns... I realise that she'd shifted to reach that ease herself on a deeper level. To feel comforted and surrounded by our scents which should've been more intense for her in shifted form but it had eased her to sleep instead.

Shifting required trust. Required the utmost feeling of safety and protection for someone to let it happen.

Shifting put us at our most vulnerable, at our most heightened animal instinct and at whim to our hybrid biology.

Shifting meant that (Y/N) trusted us at her most vulnerable, at her most fragile state. It meant she felt safe.

And knowing that, seeing that with how she drifted off regardless and uncaring of all the predator scents clinging to every particle of air, it meant she felt safe. Every bit of her biology did.

The way Jiminie clings to her... the way his own scent has finally settled because of her, it's unmistakably apparent how much he loves her and wants her. How much it matters and means to him that she's chosen to curve against him and fall asleep.

His eyes are filled with love and protective need. He cradled her close, legs shifted wider to stop from pressing in on her and finger rubbing lines up and down her ears to ease her further against him.

And yet I don't know why he holds back.

Why he holds back from saying everything his eyes do. Why he holds back from telling her just how much in love he is with her.

Why is it he can't say how every instinct is tugged towards her, to protect and shield her.

I see her and I want to protect.

That need that's begun to grow fiercer and stronger since the instant I'd seen her, eyes wide, blown out with silent panic and yet posture unrelenting and unflinching as she cradled Min-Jun close and twisted to protect him from the car.

My eyes had settled on pink cheeks and wayward hair first. Tumbling out from under a cap and lips rosy. And I'd watched as I hurried forward, heart leaping at the sight of her, and watched as her eyes shuttered with panic and her lips stretched wide in an alarmed cry, body hastening forward to get to Min-Jun as he rushed away, small giggles soundless over the rush of traffic filtering through my ears. Remember my heart seizing in my throat and every instinct shrieking with terror as I saw Min-Jun rush into the road and (Y/N) right after him. Remember my body rushing forward, yanked towards her, alarm flaring and a sickening feeling as my stomach lurched and my feet propelled me closer, quicker and quicker.

And remember that sinking, numbing feeling when I couldn't get close enough, couldn't reach her quick enough, watching almost as if disconnected as the car she shielded the baby bear from, spun and twisted to avoid her. But the front of it slammed into her side. Slammed into her and had her body crashing to the ground, her cry of alarm sharp and piercing and fisting into every instinct of mine and begging for help.

Remember how my wolf thrashed and whined as her name tore out my throat; inhumane and carnal as I saw her body hit the road, curved in a protective hold around the bear cub she'd rushed to save, body bearing the brunt of the collision, a sickening thud as she fell. Remember my throat raw as I pushed past people and hurried to her side as Hobi did. Remembered snapping orders for people to stay back and calling for an ambulance, fingers trembling as I clutched the phone; thrumming with panic and nerves.

The feeling of failing her, or not being able to keep the vows I'd made to protect her and to keep her from harm. Terrified about her being in pain and stomach lurching viciously when I saw the blood staining her skin and pooling sightly around her. That consuming terror that I was losing her, that she was hurt and I was there watching her in pain and unable to stop it. Terrified and consumed with horror that I was unable to help her, to shield her from a threat. It had made my body curve defensively over her, growls slipping out when scents got too close and people hovered, remembered that snarl that had torn out when the driver's loud volume had made her ears flicker with sensitivity. Trying to push away everything that was causing her distress.

I remember my hand sticky red, bloodied anise clinging to me as I sat in the back of the ambulance; heart in my throat as I watched her eyes flutter in and out of focus, consciousness drifting in and away as she tried to focus on her surroundings. Remembered her body tilting to mine unconsciously, towards my scent, a shaky plea for me to stay.

I couldn't leave.

Couldn't bring myself to.

And I couldn't bear to see her hurt.

And now seeing her curled up close, body tilted again once more towards me, I felt the aching yearning build. To look after her in every way.

I just didn't know what was holding Jimin back.

He whines. A sad keening whine when Yoongi hyung suggests moving her to bed, to have her resting somewhere else. Eyes flickering with protectiveness and a want to keep her close to him.

"I think she'll sleep better if she sleeps undisturbed by strong scents." Hobi says as he peeks over my shoulder at her, eyes softened and lips curved.

A small protesting sound slips past Jiminie's throat at that, lips trembling.

"But I..." he begins. Voice helpless and the love plaintive. Yearning love.

And I didn't know what SJ had said that had had him so riled up, had him brimming and seething silently. Didn't know what had been exchanged between them that had his mint prickling my nose and eyes, lungs full of overpowering pheromones.

I didn't know what and why was still holding him back.

I knew...I'd seen how much he'd suffered during her heat when we were on the other end of the apartment. When we knew that there was someone helping her, tending to her during her heat and he wasn't. That his own silence was costing him.

I knew how much his ears had flickered and pinned back everytime the deep smooth voice filtered through, tone at ease and confident. I knew how much he'd been riled up when SJ had first arrived.

Knew it when I'd walked in to seeing Jimin's body curved in a possessive, protective arch over Kookie on the bed, mint layered across the cotton and Kookie's eyes dilated with an approaching pheromonal high. Hands clutching at him to keep the source of mint close, throat arched in submission to the predatory claim being laid.

I knew he was seething. He was fuming.

And yet.

Yet he still held back.

He still fled and moved away with his tail ducked away between his legs, slunk low as he stepped away from her. Stepped away from her when he'd been the one to rush back, eyes clouded with want and smelling of pre-heat.

I tug him back when his arms curl protectively around (Y/N)'s sleeping form.

Watch as Jin hyung carefully scoops her up, eyes soft when she shifts closer unconsciously, ears flickering and face drooping; tucked away in the crook of his arm as he carries her. Watch as Kookie hops up, eyes bright and eager, and as black wings flap and curve to cocoon her within them.

Stepping away with a smile and a soft goodnight; eyes knowing as they linger on Jimin's torn, pained expression.

"You need to sort out your thoughts before they get messy for everyone pup." He murmurs softly, a kiss pressed to his temple and then mine, nosing at skin in a way Jin hyung knows satisfies our biological instincts even if it doesn't affect his. Soothing us and our hybrid instincts in a way he knows works.

Jin hyung's eyes are always knowing.

And even as he cradles (Y/N)'s shifted form to him, his gaze as his head turns is encouraging and nudging.

To take steps in the right direction.

To move towards what we want rather than away from it.

And as the scent of sleepy anise drifts away the mint steadily mounts.

My hand catches Jiminie's wrist as he moves forward, tugged to her soft, vulnerable scent and that ever-constant need to protect.

"Joon she—" he begins, voice imploring.

"She will be fine. But will you?"

--------

"What's going on with you?" I ask once the door closes behind me.

He tugs his wrist free as he steps away; scent spiking slightly. Posture defensive and prickly, back to me.

"Nothing hyung." Is the blunt answer I get,

The frustration in me rises, welling up steadily and it makes a growl slip out my throat.

Tired and done with his prickliness, with his ever-constant wall that to him seems so strongly enforced when the truth is that it lies around him; rubble and disintegrated. Cracked and broken.

His ears flicker at the sound, head turning and eyes narrowing at the sound.

"Nothing? It's really nothing?" I ask, brows raised.

His arms cross. Posture defensively curling around himself.

The posture of someone cornered and still trying to brave his way through.

My jaw tightens at the nod I get.

"So pining and yearning after (Y/N) is nothing? Your declaration of love is nothing now?" I ask.

His eyes flicker with challenge, with spiky defensiveness as he growls back, arms unfolding as his tail swishes back and forth silently.

"No. I never said that." He says.

Something in his tone vulnerable, lost under how stubborn he's being.

"Then? Why won't you say? What are you waiting for? For SJ to continue helping her through her heats? For her to step out smelling bred and claimed. For her own scent to be drowning under peach syrup?" I prod, stepping forward towards him.

My words make his eyes glint. A dangerous sharp gleam entering them. Hands curling into fists.

"No." a tight-lipped answer, air crackling with his own pheromones pushing against my own.

"Then? What are you waiting for? What's holding you back Jimin?" I push.

Hand tugging at the strands of my hair as I push them away, ears flickering with the slight discomfort as I stare at him. Eyes unwavering from his.

He shrugs. A tight roll of his shoulders.

"I don't know. Just seems like the wrong time. I couldn't ask her after I accidentally pushed her into pre." He snaps back.

My eyes widen.

Interesting.

He'd pushed her into pre-heat?

He was the reason for his own frantic hurriedness as he told me, tugging out suppressants and pushing one past trembling lips, dry swallowing the medication to try dampen the scent of arousal and want pooling in his scent.

"How exactly did you Jimin? Was it all the pent-up need after the mission? She was the one who drew you back after all." I murmur, voice deceptively soft as I step closer.

The air thickens, pulsing with clashing scents; predatory pheromones slamming against each other, an unconscious push for dominance from the both of us as his scent spikes further.

"She... she submitted. So, so well to my fox. And I—I had to get away, I couldn't push her to instinctually react to what I want, what every bit of me feels." He says, voice shaky.

Sounding desperate and forlorn. Ashamed of himself but also pleading. Wishing he could speak past instinct, free of biology.

Because it wasn't his fox that craved her first.

It was him.

But his biology was pushing for it and he was cowering away.

He needed a nudge in the right direction.

Needed to be shown sense. Needed to be pushed to confess before he drowned under his own emotions; stifling and suffocating because they were going unspoken.

The thought of her submitting, throat arched and scent softly giving under his has my gut twisting.

"Why can't it be both? Why can't you want her? Aren't you fox enough for her? Where's my mate who knows what he wants and goes after it? Where's the predator gone? Where's the officer, the fox I let claim me? Who's the pup in his place?" I goad.

Riling him up, pushing and pushing. I needed him to snap. Needed him to realise he was more than worthy. That he wasn't a pup. He didn't need to hide, slink away with his tail hung low. He needed to own what he felt and needed to declare it unashamedly. He wanted his sweet doe, he needed to go after her and tell her that.

His eyes narrow into thin slits, tail swishing, poofy and bristling with crackling anger. Fangs bared as he snarls.

But I push on.

"Why? You need a buck to tend to your doe? In your nest, your pack space? You need someone else to do your duty?" I push.

Ears standing tall even as his pin back with the challenge. With the taunt and prod at his biology, at his supposed inability.

Stop being stubborn Jimin.

Why won't you tell her you love her so, so much? Why won't you see she loves you just as fiercely?

"Don't talk to me about duty Namjoon, SJ's her heat partner, they're not in love." He snaps, voice a laced growl, dripping with heavy accent, satoori rolling off his tongue and crackling with aggression.

I tilt my head at him, eyes sparking at the dominance that simmers in his.

Nearly there.

Nearly there. Almost.

Just a little more nudging.

"But SJ could tend to her in her post-heat. Maybe I was wrong... I should've told him to stay longer, to stay so he could hold her and scent her and make her legs wobble. Maybe you're not capable enough to do that for her. I know he won't turn away from her, I know he takes every chance he can get to satisfy every need and want." I whisper, taking steps closer to him, nose twitching and lungs burning with how sharp the mint gets, how his body stiffens and a low, rough growl slips out. Warning and threatened.

"You're my little pup. Alpha is more than happy to take care of you. And she can be his and Yoongi's little doe." I murmur, fingers curling around his waist, nosing at his jaw and breathing in every sharp burst of pheromones, rolling off him in angry, furious waves.

His hands plant on my chest and fist, tugging the shirt into his grip as he yanks me forward, face hovering close to my own.

"Stop that." He grits out.

My hand curls around his throat, a lazy rough swipe at his gland; a possessive touch that only serves to fuel the fire he's been letting engulf him too long, coaxing it out and uncaring if I burn in it.

"Stop what pup?" I question.

His fangs sink into the plush fullness of his bottom lip as he hisses, tugging me closer, breath warm and curling around me.

Tugging me to that searing blaze that consumes him.

"Stop telling me what SJ can do. You don't think I hate the scent of peaches clinging to her? That every sound, every mark I heard and saw doesn't tear at me? That I liked a buck coming into my nest and telling me that his job is pleasure and my job is to stay? To heel like a good dog?" he bites out, crackling embers in every word, molten heat dripping from every word.

"Then why don't you say it? Why let him lay claims that could've long since been yours?" I push.

Fangs snapping and grazing at his jaw, hand tilting his face towards mine and staring unflinchingly into the fire that pools in brown eyes that have darkened.

"Why don't you ask her Jimin? Both times you left her before her heat. Both times. How many more times do you think she'll let herself hurt? How many times are you going to end up pushing her right back into SJ's arms?" I say, fingers tightening on his waist, voice laced with a growl, the timbre of it making my chest rumble.

And I know it sinks in when his hands curl, a fierce tight pressure as his knuckles press firmly to my chest, fangs pooling out over his bottom lip as he stares at me.

Eyes softening and flickering with shame and guilt. Taking away the edge on his anger.

"I don't want that. That's the last thing I want." He says.

Voice achingly soft. Vulnerable and afraid and insecure. At odds and sharp contrast to his still fiercely defensive, aggressive scent.

"Then make her smell like mint and not peach. Make her see you're just in love too pup."

And when his lips press bruising against mine moments later, tasting faintly like salt from the sorrowful tang of his tears trickling down his cheeks, I know there's a promise in them. A promise to himself as he groans against me and clutches at me, tugs me closer and closer, pleading with every touch to not go. Mint softening as my mouth presses back just as hard, hands curling under his shirt to grip tightly at skin and yank him closer, knuckles kneading at skin and swallowing the growl. Telling him just as fiercely to go. There's something fragile and raw and utterly unguarded in the seal of his mouth slotted against mine, something hungry and needy and afraid but determined. And my lips press back against his, telling him over and over with the touch.

Go get our fawn.

And finally tell her.

(AHHHHHH! IT'S BEEN FOREVER SINCE I'VE UPDATED AND WRITTEN BUT I'M BACK AND WITH CLAWS COS I MISSED MY BABIE! AND Midiiplier , NO NEED TO MISS ANY LONGER BECAUSE HERE IT IS!! AND I HOPE EVERYONE LOVED THE FIRST SHIFT INTO BABY FAWN, UTTERLY AND TRULY LIVING UP TO HER ADORABLE NAME!! HOPE I DID EVERY SCENE JUSTICE IN THIS CHAPTER- SO CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT YOU ALL MADE OF IT!! WE HAD SHIFTED FAWN, WE HAD POST HEAT SOFTNESS WITH JINNIE, KOO AND YOONGI!! AND WE HAD THE CONFRONTATION WITH JOON AND JIMINIE!! JOON KNEW HE NEEDED TO GIVE SOME NUDGES AND BEING MATURE AND TALKING IT OUT WASN'T GOING IN ANY DIRECTION SO SOMETIMES OTHER METHODS NEED TO BE TAKEN.... SUCH AS TAUNTING HIM WITH SJ! AND Midiiplier  LOVE... THANK YOU SO, SO MUCH FOR THE COMPANY AND ALL THE INSPO AND DIALOGUE PROMPTS YOU'RE OVERFEEDING ME WITH!! LOVE YOU- MWAH!! I'M SO EXCITED TO SEE WHAT EVERYONE THOUGHT OF THIS AND CAN'T WAIT TO SEE WHAT THE NEXT CHAPTER BRINGS!! HOPE EVERYONE'S BEEN TAKING CARE... STAY SAFE AND ENJOY LOVELIES!)

QUESTION... Next shift preference? Tae or Jin?

Borahae! 💜💜💜

PurpleQueenie <3