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Date: October 13th
Time: 9:42pm 
Location: The sidewalk bordering three convenient stores
Mood: So tired his tired is tired
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"Where the hell are you!" Jimin flinched as his hyung, Yoongi, snapped at him through the phone. Not because Yoongi was particularly scary, but due to his sensitive hearing. Yoongi knew that and it made Jimin grind his teeth together to keep from snapping back.

It had been a long enough day without anyone adding on. While the majority of his friends had attended normal universities, he'd moved on to the police academy, which meant that Saturdays were usually reserved for physical training. That in itself wasn't hard at all, really. Being a supernatural creature that could transform into a full blown wolf whenever he liked meant that a stronger body and extended stamina was a given.

It was the fact that he had to pretend not to be as strong as the humans around him that was stressful. Yet that was the order that the elders of the pack upheld with a strict hand. No drawing special attention to one self, no showing off any special power or increased strength. He hated it, but hated the idea of being kicked out of the pack or putting any of his pack mates in danger even more.

Reigning back his temper, he glanced around and explained his surroundings to his hyung (noting with some surprise that he'd strayed close to the little shop his cousin owned) who instructed him to stay put. There was no telling why and Jimin was too exhausted at this point to care. After hanging up he felt a desperate need for coffee and made a bee line for the smaller business out of the three presented. He'd never hear the end of it if he chose one of those over one owned by family.

A bell above the door chimed, a signal that his whole life was now changed.

The scent nearly knocked him over. It wasn't strong, but intoxicating all the same. The ocean, warm sand, salt, and a hint of wildflowers filled the small space of the store. There was an automatic click in his head and his usually silent wolf inside roused, springing to attention and yelling at him.

Over there!

Momentarily frozen to the spot, hesitation held him back. Obviously that powerful scent and his wolf's alertness let him know that this was his mate. But. What if he wasn't good enough?

Why does that matter, when mate is more than anything?

Did that even make sense?

Maybe. Did any insecurity or worry matter right now? No. This was something all wolves waited for and he wasn't about to let someone made just for him go. All he had to do was be cool. Be calm and approach in a normal manner. Just like his hyung, Namjoon, had done with his mate.

Be cool. He could do that!

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, his eyes sought out the source of that scent.

And he immediately fell in love.

A piercing howl resounded in his head as he shuffled forward. He was in trouble, in so much trouble and he knew it. Long hair—he'd always loved girls with long hair—pretty skin, her body so tiny and delicate and he noticed with immense satisfaction that she was shorter than he was.

Thank god for that.

There was no denying it. She was the most perfect woman—no. She was the most perfect mate that any werewolf ever in the history of the entire worldly universe, and on this plane of existence to ever be. A tiny, soft marshmallow that he wanted to hide in his pocket and shield and protect from the rest of the world, yet at the same time wanted to show off so that they could see, so they could all see how their mates paled in comparison to his own.

Without his noticing, he'd come to a stop at the front counter and propped his chin in his hands, hungrily drinking in every single thing about her.

A white, over-sized sweater. An odd, circular scar on the back of her left hand that gave him pause, and a powerful desire to grab it and kiss it better. The strait ends of her hairs, a sign that it had recently been cut. The idea of scissors anywhere near her head made him nauseous.

Her scent. It was salty yet sweet, lighter on the sweet but salty enough so that it blended together perfectly. His mind instantly jumped to any possible future they might hold together. Will she like him? His pack? His college friends? When did she want to get married and how many kids did she want? Will she let him mark her right away?

He could nearly feel his wolf shaking his head. Not yet. Let's look at her for a while.

That was a command easy to follow, and not altogether surprising. He and his wolf were the same person, but opposites in a lot of ways. Where Jimin had a thinner threshold for stupidity and was irritated easily, his wolf was laid back. When he could be impulsive, his wolf was more practical and mellow. Although for now, when it came to their mate, it seemed as if they were on the same page.

She was too beautiful to touch.

It was better to stare at her hungrily like a pair of creeps while quietly murmuring their love for her.

...Now go back and read that in a sarcastic tone.

Upon hearing him speak, his mate jumped and nearly dropped the phone she had been scrolling through up to this point. Jimin's heart clenched when he realized that was his fault, and the last thing he should ever make his mate feel was scared.

Her head lifted up to look at him, giving him a clear, uninhibited view of her face for the first time. His breath caught and there he was, falling in love all over again. How many times was that going to happen? And how was it possible, even if they were soul mates, for that small moment of eye contact to make him feel as if he'd found everything? They were naturally wide and staring back into his own. There was surprise, a small amount of fear, and they reflected something that resembled a hidden pain locked away deep inside.

They say that our eyes are the windows to our souls. In that moment he determined the statement to be true and swore to himself that his new mission in life was to find her pain, to crush and burn it, till it was nothing but ash beneath her feet.

Eyes blinked maybe three times before the most adorable red blush filled the entirety of her face and she ducked her head, causing a whole new wave of protectiveness to wash over him. The action added something different to her scent, maybe something like rosemary and he soaked it up, breathing in and committing the smell to memory.

That's when he noticed it. Something that should have immediately been recognizable, but had been pushed to the back of his mind in his exhilarated state.

Human. She was human.

And he was overjoyed.

Secretly, he'd always hoped his mate would be human. His mom had been taken from him early due to cancer, and she had been human too. His dad had always insisted that human mates were more special, because a human makes a deliberate choice to stay with their werewolf counterparts, as opposed to the predestined wolf mates that automatically fall in love.

Jimin's mother had been everything to him. The belief that she was a super hero still held to this day. Living in a pack of werewolves, everyone around was stronger and more powerful than she was. But one of the strongest, his own dad, had followed her around like a lost puppy and obeyed every instruction she gave without question. Once when he was around nine, the alpha, Hoseok's dad, had walked into their house with muddy shoes and earned a reprimand. The way the dominant alpha male had apologized profusely and helped clean up was still fresh in his memory.

So happy in this newfound revelation, he blurted out without thinking: "You're human!" A smile brighter than the sun stretched across his features. "I hoped you would be human. My mom was human, too."

I wouldn't have said that, but you do you.

Jimin probably wouldn't have either, if he'd been thinking clearly. But his mate was like a drug, and one that he would happily become addicted to.

Danger!!

The bell above the door irritated his sensitive ears, but the pain went unnoticed when the familiar scent of another wolf entered his senses. Yoongi came into the store, already scolding him for some reason. The urge to protect was like nothing he'd ever felt. It wasn't like he wanted to hurt his hyung, but at the same time, if he even looked at his mate wrong, he was going to sit on him. Or something.

Did he growl? He didn't mean to growl but there it was anyway, bubbling up out of his throat as he moved to a defense stance so as to block Yoongi from getting to his mate. And he was too close. Three meters was absurdly close in Jimin's opinion.

A knowing look flashed in his hyung's eyes as they narrowed in on him, taking in the protective posturing, but careful to avoid the girl behind him.

Yoongi wasn't stupid and he'd been around Namjoon and his mate enough to recognize the look in Jimin's eyes. Internally he sighed.

All of his friends were so annoying.

Having no desire to be sat on by Jimin's thunder ass, he backed away, cautiously holding his palms up to signal forfeit.

Only when Yoongi had exited the store and his scent was faint did Jimin deem it safe enough to turn back around.

Namjoon is safe because he already found his mate. Jin is safe because he's omega. Watch out for the others. Especially Yoongi.

He wondered why he had to watch out for Yoongi but his wolf went silent at that question. Not that it mattered. Yoongi was gone and now he could focus on his mate. Find out what her name was. Ask her if she preferred a spring or autumn wedding. Tell her all his deepest secrets and invite her to move in with him.

When he saw her, it was to find her mouth ajar and a strange tingle in his ears that for some reason gave him the urge to hug her and tell her everything was going to be ok.

That means she's scared. 'Tingling ears means our mate is scared?' Apparently.

"Sorry...did I scare you?" He hoped to god that wasn't true, but there was nothing else here that would have done that to her.

Thinking from a human's point of view, of course she would be frightened of this strange man coming in and staring at her and then growling like a wild animal.

I'm a domesticated wolf, thank you. 'That would make you a dog, then.'

No reply to that.

Gently gauging her reaction, he reluctantly moved his gaze from her tomato red face down to her interlocked fingers, which she seemed to be gripping far too tightly to be deemed comfortable. She glanced at him once before looking away again, a shaky breath telling him that she was, indeed, scared.

The concept caused something raw and instinctual inside of him to come alive and claw at his lungs. It wasn't right. It wasn't natural. This was wrong and backwards and he'd just met her and already messed up. Time to go into fix it mode. Hopefully, if the moon goddess really knew what she was doing, then she gave Jimin a mate that had some sort of short term memory loss where she only forgot all the stuff that Jimin wanted her to forget, but none of the important things.

"Don't be scared. I won't hurt you." The words 'I hurt you' all in one sentence tasted wrong in his mouth. He'd sooner set his own head on fire than hurt her. Or anyone, really. But most especially her. When she refrained from replying he opted for a different tactic, pointing at the name badge pinned to her chest, but then immediately retracting the hand when he realized how close it was to that certain part of her anatomy.

"Your name is Y/n? Did I pronounce it right?"

Again he was met with silence and down turned eyes. He shifted from foot to foot, feeling anxious and impatient, but his wolf urged him to calm down and keep a gentle countenance.

But why wasn't she saying anything? Was he really that scary? Or was this innocent little ball of fluff easily intimidated? That wouldn't do. Not when it came to him.

"Look, Y/n, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. This, I can promise. I won't hurt you. I will never hurt you."

That finally drew a response. There were those eyes. Those eyes that were so deep, the eyes he loved already, the eyes that begged him to go away.

We should leave. She needs her space.

Sometimes he hated that his wolf was leagues above his own maturity level, but in times like this when he really had no idea what to do to fix it, he was glad of the fact.

"I'll leave. I can see you're uncomfortable. Just...don't forget me, alright?" It was doubtful that was likely to happen, what with the choices he had made today.

Leaving her now, when he'd finally found her made him feel weak. The soles of his feet screamed at him for walking away, a strong tugging on his heartstrings urged him to go back. His wolf whimpered but that was the only sign he let on that this was hard for him too. He was just glad that his ears weren't tingling anymore.

He'd failed to realize that even as he was fighting his own body to move away it had been doing so backwards, so as to stave off the inevitable moment of when his eyes would have to leave her.

"My name's Jimin, and I'll see you again!"

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Edited 6/9/22