𝙲͢𝚑͢𝚊͢𝚙͢𝚝͢𝚎͢𝚛͢ 𝟸͢𝟿͢

Papa didn't say anything to me about staying here with Jungkook, but did he hug me a little tighter than normal before he said goodbye, walking out the door with misty eyes.

When he was gone, the silence of the cabin spooked me more than any spirit I'd ever seen or dealt with. Being the eldest of seven siblings, I'm not used to quiet, not at all. So I called Wooyoung to check in on things and to see if we had any new clients to get to before the storm hits.

We don't, but we talk anyway, talking in-depth about some of our favorite conspiracy theories. He's obsessed about anything concerning Roswell and I'm one to entertain everything. Princess Diana was murdered by the royal family? I can see it. The Illuminati? Yes. A foreign, reptilian species runs our governments? I'm a wolf and I'm out here living a normal life so yeah, that idea isn't crazy. The earth is flat? No. That's just stupid.

At least we agree on that one. I don't listen to a lot in school, but I do have a basic understanding of science. If you can see the curvature of earth with the naked eye, then that means it's not flat.

As we talk I go around the cabin and set up my spiritual wards. Dried sage over every window, dreamcatchers over both of our beds, talismans and coins to ward off evil that I hide all over the place, and the huge ring of rock salt outside that I circle the entire cabin with twice. It's overkill but since my chosen is going to be in this house, I'll do everything to protect him.

As much as I miss him, I'm glad that Jungkook left today so that I could do this without him questioning why.

Eventually we hang up and I'm so uncomfortable with the silence that I turn on some random podcast and crank up the volume just to hear other people's voices.

I'm showered and in a fresh pair of pajamas—tonight it's Jungkook's sweatpants and hoodie that I've shamelessly stolen from his bag—when my chosen finally gets back. I have to force myself to stay seated on the couch and not run to him, to jump in his arms and hug him until I'm sated. But I do none of that.

Instead I give a calm hello that surprises even me as he walks through the door with his cat in one arm and a load of her things in the other. Kicking the door shut behind him, he places her empty litter box and a pile of toys on the floor and holds her up with both arms so that they're face-to-face.

"Bunny," Jungkook starts and is answered with a 'meow'. "Listen. I brought you here because there's someone important you've got to meet. Remember Lucretia, my soulmate that we talked on the phone with?"

"Meow."

"Yes, I knew you would remember, you're so smart and cute and fluffy."

Ok so Jungkook baby talks the cat. Noted. Jungkook also talks to his cat like it's a human. Double noted.

But on second thought...I can't judge him because he talks to me like I'm a human. Double notation scratched off.

I understand that everything is already so weird here with the werewolves, the ghosts, the Lycans, the magic, and all the random foreigners in South Korea that speak Korean perfectly, but it gets weirder.

Getting back to the basics, I'm an animal. Animals communicate differently than humans. I can't directly speak to Bunny with words, but we both understand each other when Jungkook moves over to where I sit on the sofa with her in his arms to formally introduce us.

She's wary but trusts Jungkook. That's obvious by the way she leans into his chest and looks over at me. I meet her gaze and signal with a slow eye blink that I don't want to challenge her. Then I tuck my chin closer to my neck to show that I'm no threat. A second later she reciprocates the eye blink and chin tilt. Standing up, I slowly move my face closer to hers until we're able to smell one another, the last test to see if we can be friends.

Bunny's scent is friendly like sunshine and trees and I guess my own scent agrees with her as she allows our cheeks to rub against one another.

Human subtitles in case you didn't understand that:

Bunny: "Dog ass bitch, this is my best friend. If you hurt him I shall release my brethren upon thee to gut you like a cow."

Me: "Nah, bestie, we good. See? I ain't gone' fight you. I love Jungkook."

Bunny: "Really? Me too. Let's be friends for now until you gain two more legs and I can smell your butt to make sure you're cool."

It's the best I'm gonna get for now.

Grinning as though he knows exactly what just went down (maybe he does?), Jungkook lets her drop to the floor where she leisurely stretches out before racing off to explore the cabin in its entirety.

"How was your day?" I ask tentatively.

I'm surprised when he drops to the couch and scoops me up to sit in his lap. I blink stupidly at him but he either doesn't notice or care and nuzzles into the side of my face with a contented sound. Jungkook is always affectionate. But never quite this bold. I love it.

"I took your advice." His voice rumbles into my ear. Just as I move to turn my head toward his, his teeth latches down on my ear. Whatthafuck.

"Yeah?" If I could admit that I was anything other than whipped for Jungkook, I might deny how I whimpered that word.

"Yes." He lets go of my ear and I breathe a sigh of relief or passion, I can't tell which at the moment. But then his tongue swipes out to soothe the sting that his teeth left behind and I almost miss his next words. "You were right. They were upset with me for keeping it to myself. But we talked for a long time. It was all in my head...they were just busy and now we have a pact to check in every week, just the seven of us. Or at least those of us that we have at the moment. Namjoon and Hobi-hyung plan to enlist next spring."

Even though most of what he said is good news, his expression grows sad at that last statement. When I see the look on his face I try to distract him.

"I might have got blessed by a god today." I say in an overly cheerful voice. "And he's on Zeus's shit list so that means we are too. Not that I wasn't already. How confident are you in Artemis...or Selene, as you might call her?" With her musty ass and all.

"I...excuse me? What?"

"Yeah so I was at lunch—wait! Before I get into that, you want to hear all the crap papa brought for us?"

At his nod, I continue and give him a short run-down of my day. He's not bothered by my weird, 'maybe-a-god-answered-me' story, just curious. But I'd rather not think about it, and I ask him about his day went, apart from what he'd already said.

"Namjoon-hyung said that he was proud of me for speaking up, but not to do that again." He grins. "Hobi-hyung ordered me to never do that again. Tae hit me and told me not to do it again, 'or else'. Jimin-hyung hugged me and made me promise not to do that again."

That rundown there felt the most like an introduction to their characters that I've ever heard from Jungkook. Although if this Tae dude don't keep his hands to himself we're gonna have issues. No one hurts Jungkook. Ever. Not even me or the common cold.

"Then they all promised to keep all of this between us. As long as I didn't do it again. They threatened to tell on me to Jin-hyung."

I laugh. "Why is that a bad thing?"

The expression on his face grows dim, his arms tense and pull me tighter against him. "Jin-hyung is scary."

That's all he gives me on the subject so I let it drop. For some reason he doesn't talk a lot about his friends to me, apart from the general descriptions of their character. That's odd because it's obvious that he adores them. But I always give him the personal space I feel like he needs. If he wanted to talk about them he would. If he wanted us to meet then we would.

Unconsciously, my body tenses when he presses his nose to my pulse point and inhales deeply. That's a very vulnerable place. I wonder if he knows that. I wonder if he understands how much it shows that I trust him for me to allow him near my jugular. In the wild, that would be my end.

"What are you thinking about?" He murmurs against my skin.

I swallow roughly. What am I thinking of? ...Nothing, really. Maybe about how much I love him?

"What is it?" With another deep sniff, he presses for me to answer, his tone bordering desperate. "It's the best smell."

"What does it smell like?"

"Cedar, but it's on top of your natural scent."

"What's my natural scent?" I ask, just now realizing that I've never asked this before.

"Like warm vanilla cupcakes. And jasmine flowers. And coco butter."

That sounds divine. I'm not surprised. It is me, after all.

But why do I smell like a whole cake?

"I'm just happy." I finally answer his original question. "I wasn't thinking of much. I'm happy to see you."

The end of that sentence comes out in a high note as he presses a kiss to my neck. Aphrodite, I don't think I'll ever get used to how good that feels. Like a million little fragments of bliss spreading over my skin.

With a happy sigh, I drop my head backwards to expose more of my neck and tell him playfully (but more seriously than he probably thinks), "devour me, daddy Jeon."

His eyes roll at my dramatics but his lips are quirked up in a grin. "Should I?"

Fucking YES. Poseidon, I'm such a slut for this man.

Get it?...Cause Poseidon is the god of the oceans.

And I'm wet...yeah, I'm hilarious.

When Jungkook doesn't make a move, I decide to. Respectfully, I'm done with him gatekeeping his dick.