0.1 PREQUEL OF THIS BOOK IS OUT NOW

READ THE A/N AT THE END FOR AN IMPORTANT CONTINUATION OF THIS STORY. . .

IF YOU ARE A REGULAR READER OF THIS STORY, YOU'LL NEED TO READ THE ANNONCEMENT AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER.

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3 AM :

Jimin watched the beautiful angelic girl open her blue eyes hazily and give him a soft smile. She snuggled a little deeper in her pillow as her skin appeared luminous in the moonlight and low lamp light reaching her.

He sensed his brother behind him silently getting up and slowly coming towards them, rightly sensing his mood.

Jimin ran the tips of his cold finger over her cheeks, tracing them lightly along her jaws, her bare throat. Anya arched into his touch and smiled a little more. Jimin slowly reached for the thick plait and brushed it away from her shoulders, baring her neck to him.

"They were right Master, Your trust IS addictive." He murmured as he bent forward towards her soft sleepy figure, his chin touching her shoulder.

Then, he plunged his fangs in her neck, covering her mouth with his other hand as he let the venom flood her blood.

Anya's body jerked hard and Jimin climbed on her, his weight pressing her down on the bed. The teeth pierced through her flesh, followed by venom entering her blood. Her neck burned, feeling like a red hot poker had been stabbed in her.

The hand covering her mouth clamped down harder as she involuntarily let out a scream of unexpected pain, but simultaneously, her other hand lifted in air, stopping Jungkook from interfering.

Jimin settled in heavily on her, his venom a continuous flow inside her, as her blood wet his tongue. The taste, the enhanced stronger scent of her essence filled his senses, making him groan. His arms went around her body as he released her mouth and lapped up her blood, the taste driving him higher.

Anya felt a stream of fire enter her body, spreading throughout. She gasped at the intensity of the pain she was feeling, trying to remember if it had been the same the previous time. May it be for her emotional state or the venom when his Vrâg was not awakened, this venom was much more potent than the past.

She closed her eyes as she felt Jimin's thin fangs slowly retract, but his body remained a heavy weight against her, pinning her in a way she was rendered immovable. As time moved at its pace, Anya and Jimin lay locked in that deadly embrace, his cravings and her love combining in a blood kiss of pain.

Feeling that weight, smelling that forest and pear scent, knowing it was her Cobra, her sweet hybrid, Anya felt a lightness, a happiness radiating, spread in her chest even in the pain she was in.

Her Jimin was embracing her. Her body was completely entwined with him.

At last.

She relaxed completely on the bed and turned her head slightly, giving him easier access to her neck as she felt wet thin streams of her blood dripping down from the wound.

Unknowingly, her actions spoke in a language as old as time itself. Unconsciously, Anya did something that screamed her acceptance, her love for him, even in the face of such a violent, brutal affection.

She submitted to him.

Whether it was because the flow of the venom had ceased or from her submission, but Jimin drew back instantly at that. The arms around her withdrew too as he placed both his hands on either side of her head and lifted himself a little above her, to look at her.

Making sure to keep her caged in.

Anya's body was BURNING, tiny drops of sweat forming on her forehead, her body restlessly started jerking as she battled the venom pulsing through her veins. But she turned around, to look at her Cobra.

Thankfully, the pain disguised the slam of fear she felt when she gazed at his visage. Her already fast heartbeat, masked the heavy thud from the shot of fright she experienced.

In the dimly lit room, the shaft of moonlight from her balcony fell in a direct way on Jimin.

On a Jimin, who was not normal.

Faint markings of scales covered his skin, the lines of the scales moving and undulating in a manner, making it seem like it was underneath his skin. His whole face seemed like a shimmering visage of a human snake, the scales appearing and disappearing.

While his eyes were black, faint silver glimmered in the centre.

His lips and chin were covered in scarlet, few drops falling on her.

What? The? Hell?

This, was what a demon would look like. This, was a Monster.

A monster who caged her with his body, who desired her

Jimin remained still above her, his eyes focused on her face, giving Anya some time to adjust to the terrifying new development. Every part of her body, every limb felt weighed down like lead, but still, she shakily lifted her hands.

He did not react to it, he just kept watching her, her blood staining his lips. His venom pulsing in her. Her pain, his gift.

With hands that still jerked slightly at the burning pain of his venom, Anya picked up her blanket and gently wiped his chin. With care, she cleaned the blood while the Cobra's heavy stare never left her.

"We really need to work on your table manners." She said to him with a smile in her voice, which also contained the strain of the pain she was enduring.

Once her task was finished, her hand flopped back on the bed, the little strength it had, drained.

"That was your blood." Jimin's voice was deep. Deep enough to resonate in her. He leaned in further, his body cold body pressing into her lightly thrashing, overheated one. "Your blood on my lips."

Anya clenched her teeth against the pain.

"My venom is in you." The dark voice continued. A hand lifted from beside her, the thumb brushing her pink lips, then tracing to her wound from which blood dribbled out. The finger swiped the dark ruby liquid and brought it before her face, showing the blood stained digits to her.

"THIS, is what I did to you." The hand then roughly palmed her curves, his palms sweeping over her pain ridden body, "THIS, is what is the result of my affections."

Jimin caged her again with both his hands beside her head, the muscles of his forearms taut as he leaned in towards her, the silver in his black eyes becoming stronger with each second, the silver linings of the scales on his face becoming more prominent.

"Such is my love that my brother needs to hover behind me when I am on the bed with you, I cannot be left alone. Such is my trust in you, that knowing you have not touched another, I am still burning in a black rage about who you are seeing. Every single promise that I have made to you lies in ashes, blazing in the fires of disappointment."

Pausing, his voice steadily becoming tinged with the demonic tone, he added, "And you still submit to me?"

"I am happy." Anya whispered.

Her face portrayed the strain of the havoc the venom was wreaking inside her, but her eyes were alight with the emotion she claimed. The truth of her statement was clearly seen in her eyes, a truth that made Jimin stop.

"Why?" his voice was quiet.

Her whisper, was filled with a soft adoration that singed his every cell.

"Because this made my wish come true." She raised both of her arms, and pulled his body on her. With her neck still bleeding, her body still writhing with venom, she embraced the monstrous hybrid's cold body, closing her eyes when she felt his weight.

"Because I can hold you at last." She murmured in his ears. Her hand lovingly held the back of his head close to her, "Because I missed you so much."

Jimin sagged at that.

"I missed you so very much." Her voice sounded tortured, the longing she felt at the distance her snake put between them had been hollowing. She had respected his wishes and had not gone to him to demand an explanation, but that had cost her. She had missed him terribly.

Jimin had made himself a habit, an addiction to her.

Not having him clinging, not having the hard cold embrace had been making her depressed.

Jimin held her close to him, his face on the crook of her neck as he said, "No. No. I am supposed to be your sweet hybrid. Your bestest hybrid." He burrowed himself deeper in her shoulders, moulding his body to her.

His voice hollow, "When you came to the room to say our Codes were wrong, when you looked at me and said Unclassified, I screamed at you. I screamed at you." His voice went out.

He closed his eyes tightly, the raging mess of emotions inside of him churning hot and fast.

"I was crying that I would never hurt you, for you to not give me back." He gulped, "You should have. You should have known that a snake does not speak the truth."

His hug became suffocating as his emotions overwhelmed him, "You should have never bought me."

"Jimin," Anya tried to make him look at her, but the Cobra was clinging to her desperately, not letting go, "This is not pain that I fear. Its not something that can ever make me hate you."

His face peeked at her. Although the gesture was violent, his black eyes still indicated the violence brewing inside him, "Then?"

"Your warm body lying still in my arms. Of you not opening your eyes. You thrashing in pain that I am unable to stop. The fear of you dying. That is a pain I cannot go through again." Anya swallowed thickly, even the memory haunting her with a backlash of torment so string, that for a minute the pain of the venom did not register.

"I cannot live through it again Jimin. I wont be able to."

Instead of his eyes becoming soft, they hardened. He pushed himself up on her suddenly, black lines spreading over his skin, the scales disappearing.

"THAT IS EXACTLY WHAT YOU SHOULD HAVE DONE! FELT ME DIE!"

His scream was of his Vrâg.

Anya shut her eyes and turned her head at the multiple possessed voices screeching above her, her hot body breaking out in goosebumps.

A hard hand cupped her chin and turned her to face him again.

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND LOVE! I ONLY RECOGNISE MY OBESSION FOR YOU! AND IF THIS CONTINUES, EITHER YOU WILL DIE, OR I WILL!"

"You said you find my trust addictive? Then indulge in it. I know you will stop at the right moment Jimin." She tried to keep her voice calm.

Only for Jimin to scream at her.

The terrifying ungodly bellow he let out was inhumanely demonic. He screamed at her, then grabbed both her shoulders.

"And if I Don't????? and if I don't stop in the right moment?????"

"Then your brothers will pull you back." Anya tilted her head a little towards Jungkook, who was standing right beside of him. His eyes trained on her. "They will pull you back until you learn control."

She gave him a solid solution, not any whimsical nonsense of romanticism when she could plainly see just how unstable he was. When she could sense just how terrified he was at not being able to control his own urges.

Jimin stopped at that. "Whats wrong with me?" his tortured voice pierced her heart, "I only want to love you. I only ever wanted to be near you, but I cant control myself anymore. I don't recognise myself."

He fell on her again, "Help me Angel," his tears slowly leaked out of his eyes, "Help me, please, help me." Hot and wet they dripped on her skin.

Something in her clenched and suddenly, she felt a sense of unhappiness burst through. Irrational Fear and longing swirled around faster and faster. She blanked out, for no possible reason.

She fought against that immense feeling, the pain in her body aiding her to refocus on what Jimin was saying, but it was hard.

"I just want to be your sweet hybrid, not . . . This. Not, whoever I am right now."

Anya simply enveloped her in her arms, knowing she could not repeat to him the reality. This was who he was becoming. The real him. Jimin knew it, but he did not want the effects it arrived with.

"Your darkness, your obsession, the mind games, your venom. All those things make who you are Jimin. And I love you. I always will. The person you were, and the person you will become, both are mine. Don't you know that? I wanted a life partner Cobra, and that is who I got."

Jimin hollowly, "You wanted a partner in life, but you got someone who will not let go of you even in death. You still don't understand just how badly rooted we are in you. You are still innocent to the devil you are blindly dancing with."

In her periphery, she saw Jungkook harshly inhale at that statement. There was no doubt, what Jimin said was true.

At that moment, Anya understood something.

Jimin was unstable, because he was torn between two sides of himself. He was seesawing between them, his base personality in war with the real being he was. His mentality in crossroads with his soul.

This was exactly what had happened with Suhan.

Exactly what had happened to him.

Which was why, she knew how to help.

"Jimin?"

Anya waited till he looked at her, his eyes dark and wet.

"Will that devil I am dancing with, let me go?"

Jimin's grip on her hardened, his face becoming merciless, "Never."

"Even if I want to? Even if I ask him to?"

"Even then." Came his reply without any hesitation.

"Will I never be able to free myself from the grasp? Have I lost my freedom completely? Am I captured that entirely? Will I truly never be able to leave that devil?"

A cruel smirk twisted his lips, "Oh Angel, are you understanding this just now?"

Anya's smile was beautiful in contrast, "Then why are you trying to stop yourself? Why are you so conflicted? If I cant leave, if you are aware of your darkness blanketing me, then why do you want to go back? If the end result will be the same, why do you want to change? Why do you want to not fully embrace yourself? Either ways, I will still be yours. Sweet hybrid, or a handsome devil. Why not make me addicted to you? Will you take that challenge?"

The black from his face and eyes receded swiftly, his intelligent gaze sharpening.

He recognised the pull of light and dark he was experiencing, the two ways he had been torn. Wanting to keep the light of his past to be closer to her ideals he was suffocating on the darkness that was his nature.

He was trying to be someone he was not, for her sake. Not his own.

What Anya had just made clear was that she did not need someone who had the same nature as her, because she was angelic enough to embrace the darkness and still love him.

And he was devilish enough to greedily take all that she had to offer.

That realization ended the churning mess of emotions inside him, like a heavy burden being free. She knew him, knew his obsession and accepted him, so who was he to keep denying them both?

But his body, unexpectedly became weak. His mind, hazy. He blinked rapidly against the sudden bout of extreme draining lethargy.

"Your Venom is drained. Your body needs to shut down. Sleep Hyung, I'll take care of Master." Jungkook bent to roll Jimin a little away from her, as he scooped her in his arms.

Jimin blearily blinked from the bed to see her sweat covered pained body resting trustingly against his brother's strong muscled frame.

He nodded once and looked at his Master.

From tomorrow . . .

He promised her in his mind as his eyes shut on its own.

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ANYA :

Anya could see Jimin's eyes clear out, could see the very moment he decided to give up clinging on to the last vestiges of the shred of innocent light he had in him. That light, had been a temporary effect of the abuse he had suffered, more like the timid personality he had fashioned to avoid being tortured.

As soon as he firmed himself to take on his emerging, true traits, his body too, felt lighter at the end of his conflict, letting the biological reaction from his venom being drained catch up with his mind.

"Your Venom is drained. Your body needs to shut down. Sleep Hyung, I'll take care of Master."

On hearing Jungkook's calm and confident voice, Anya turned to smile at him, only to again, be locked at a stare of the reality she knew was true, but had avoided thinking too deeply about it.

Jungkook's face was covered in its Vrâg markings, his eyes reflecting the endless blackness.

But his voice was normal. His actions, normal. His thought process, steady.

Anya felt Jimin slide to her side as Jungkook rolled him, but suddenly, the pain in her body took a backseat at the emotional turmoil she faced at being confronted by what she had suspected to be true.

Jungkook was only his animal psyche and his Vrâg.

As her Panther scooped her in his arms, he looked down at her, noticing the naked emotion in her face, her sadness of losing the hybrid she had bought.

Immediately, the blackness of his skin and eyes retracted, as if he suddenly realised his mistake at the leak and willed it back.

The easy way he controlled his Vrâg transformation, yet again drove home the fact to her. He was no longer a hybrid, because the human half of his mind, was long dead.

Jungkook instinctively lifted her a little more closer to his chest, then turned around without looking at her. He went to the balcony door and paused there to look outside. It was raining heavily.

"Mmm" Anya winced at a particularly bad bout of burn she felt, huddling closer to him, spurring him to open the glass door and step outside.

The cold wind of the rain instantly hit her overheated skin, soothing her to some degree. Gently, Jungkook lowered her to a huge recliner under the shade and then went back in.

Minutes later, he returned again and lifted her up. Settling down on the recliner, he then carefully placed her in his lap and then wrapped her up in the thin blanket he had got from inside.

Anya curiously kept looking at him, observing the way he cared for her. He was fussing over her, his eyes concentrating on keeping something beside him while his arm was a solid band wrapped around her protectively, to keep her in place.

A black tee and joggers made him look casually handsome, no trace of the innocent cuteness in him at the moment.

Jungkook slid back in the recliner and pulled the pillow from behind him. Then he eased her in a way that she was sitting on him sideways, her legs draping over his thighs, her head on his chest just below his clavicle. He raised his knees and placed the pillows on her lap, cocooning her before finally looking down.

His eyes, were alight with concern and desire. His expression so very gentle and loving that Anya swallowed at the emotions it stirred in her.

His big hands touched her face lightly, urging her to tilt her face.

She did. It exposed the site where she had been bitten.

Jungkook looked at her once, then dipped his head down.

Anya closed her eyes as she felt his tongue lazily licking over her, following the trails of her blood and swiping over it, indulging over the taste.

The dark night sky occasionally cracked up with the zigzagging white of the lightening, dark clouds roaring its fury as the rain slashed down on the ground. The winds brought a few stray raindrops where they were sitting, quietly locked in an dark embrace.

She could listen to the occasional security, doing his perimeter below her, while she breathed the scent of the rain, battled the pain. And felt Jungkook's tongue in a lover's caress over her skin, cleaning any traces of her blood. Tasting her with excuse.

Anya leaned back a little as his warm tongue carefully swept over the puncture site, wetly swirling on it a little.

Then he lifted his head.

Jungkook did not allow her to look at his eyes, as he bent on his side and picked up a packet of sterilized cotton. Opening it, he focused again on the wound as he used it to wipe away any more blood. He was thorough in his job, his hands light and careful, his actions protective and tender.

Once it was done, he put the cotton in the packet and set it aside, "Hyung's fangs are thin, this will not scar." He said softly, "Unlike the one Taehyung Hyung has given you." Then he pulled another packet of adhesive bandage.

Opening the wrap, he cautioned her, "Don't move." And conscientiously placed it over her wound, covering the surface completely. Satisfied with the outcome, her then took the bottle, opened the cap and placed it over her lips.

"Take small sips."

Anya obeyed him. The cool water felt good in her parched dry tongue. But she winced again at the throbbing ache of the venom, the bottle jerking as she abruptly pulled away.

"Careful." Jungkook brought her closer to himself, one arm around her back, while the one holding the bottle wrapped around her from her front, steadying her in his secure hold.

Breathing deeply, she shook her head when he brought the bottle again and lay her head on his firm chest, listening to his heartbeat.

Jungkook put away the bottle and wrapped his arms around her again, holding her close to him, resting his chin over her head. He stared out in the rain, silent and contended to have her and the moment to himself.

Anya too, enjoyed the pocket of time in the roaring storms, safe in the arms of her Vrâg.

"Suhan had said that you knew. You do, right?"

Anya nodded against his chest, not pretending to not understand right away.

His next question was spoken in such a low voice, that over the sound of the rain, she barely managed to catch the words.

"He also said you will still love me the same. Will you?" he was laying his heart open for her, completely defenceless.

"Always."

She could feel him nod a little.

"The first time I became conscious to the world, I was only 4. I was trapped in my own body, the feelings getting filtered in, but I could not feel, could not see. I was awakened before anyone else, I was awakened before the animal psyche was."

He was talking about his Vrâg. If he was conscious that early, then it meant it was almost around the time when the hybrid psyche was going to be split.

"I felt the split."

Anya dragged air in her lungs with effort, her suspicions being confirmed by him. It would have been painful, if the split had been done with brutal trauma.

"Unlike what Flaker said, with the beatings, hypnosis played a huge part in it too. I remember feeling so disjointed, so alone, not understanding anything that was happening. Only strong emotions filtered in to me. Mainly pain, of my human half."

Jungkook was going to lay bare everything he had hidden, Anya understood. She braced herself for it. He had been the hybrid who was the most silent of the pack, in a way, she was glad that it had taken time, but he was finally opening up.

Even if she knew most of what she would hear was something that would feed her nightmares, but still, at least, she could help carry the burden.

Especially if it was for his Vrâg.

Anya had failed to save his human half. She would be damned if she failed him ever again in any sense.

"Our Vrâgs can sense each other, communicate, without actually exchanging words. Its difficult to make someone understand, but our Vrâgs, they know what the other is thinking, exactly what they are thinking or feeling, if we want them to.

I felt the other Vrâgs, firstly Jin and Yoongi Hyung's. others had not surfaced yet. And according to them, mine was the first to surface. Jin and Yoongi hyung's Vrâgs, they kept me calm, they soothed me and taught me how to see through my animal, because we were not completely disconnected.

Slowly, I understood why I surfaced so quickly. Before the others did. It was because my human half, went through a worse pain than the rest. A torment, that it could not handle by itself."

The hypnotic way he spoke without any inflection in his voice, made it easier for Anya to take. If his voice betrayed even a tingle of pain, she would break.

"You might be thinking the pain was physical?" he chuckled, but the sound evoked a deep sense of unhappiness than humour. "You know something? I never let my Hyungs know.

I could have easily taken the physical pain, just like them. I would never have been weak against it, never would I have been that well conditioned, if it was just physical torture or abuse. I would have been just like them. Both me and Taehyung hyung."

No. No. Just No.

Cursed with a mind that could swiftly understand the unspoken dilemma, Anya understood what he was saying. What exactly, had compelled him to the edge of that cliff.

She felt her heart clench in her chest, the realization too bittersweet.

"You realized?" Jungkook murmured in her hair, then placed a sweet kiss on it.

"Yes. It was because of my Hyungs that this happened to me."

Anya bit her lip hard as the emotions overwhelmed her. It was painful to hear the consequence of good intentions, pure intentions going this horribly wrong.

"I told you, did I not? My Hyungs would take my punishments for me. Every. Time. They protected me in any way that they could. Me and Taehyung hyung. But then he did it for me too. I was the youngest, and I was shieled as much as possible.

But that exactly was the pain that was overwhelming for me. That was the agony which damaged me the most.

To see them covered in blood, being demeaned, in my place. To see them limping, their face bruised, to come hug me, to sing to me, even in their obvious suffering. The knowledge of them trying to be my shield by taking blow after blow for me, tore me up.

I was becoming the reason for the additional pain to My hyungs. I, was someone they kissed gently with their bleeding lips. I, was the youngest for whom they sang, in their broken voice with their broken bones, just to comfort me."

Jungkook was breathing harder now, the memories having the same effect as the original time had.

His voice was thready and filled with the tears he did not allow himself to drip from his eyes.

"I felt lower and more pathetic than the filth discarded on the floor. It was disabling. Was I someone who only brought pain to the 6 brothers I loved? Was I someone forever to be comforted while they ignored their pain?

That broke me. So completely made me undone. I could not tolerate it longer. I just . . . I just could not." He bowed his head.

It was tragically humorous, that in shielding him, in caring for him, in loving him, the other had unknowingly inflicted the worst hurt possible in the world.

Anya could not defend Jungkook's point, nor could she disagree with what his hyungs had done.

They protected him as much as they could. How were they to know that, that very protection, tore him apart in shreds? How could they have stopped protecting their little baby doe eyed brother?

Their love compelled them to shade little Jungkookie from any possible pain.

His love, cried at the crutch he was becoming for them.

Love, sometimes, was acutely cruel.

"At that time, my human mind wanted to make their pain go away. My human half wanted to stop their torment. I remember when I was 7, weeping huddled in the corner of the cage with my hands covering my ears, trying to make myself smaller as I heard the lashes of the whip and the grunts from Hobi hyung.

That whistle when the whip cut through the air, that sound when it landed on his skin, the way the air shifted as my hyung's body jerked forward, pierced me deeply. Even worse was his obvious attempts at not making a sound. So that I would not feel bad.

It was because of me. Because I, had disobeyed Flaker. Hyung took that punishment."

And that must have shredded little Jungkook apart.

"That was when I remember my human half screaming in its mind, to make it a point to obey. To make sure to always do EVERYTHING those masters commanded of me. That was the point, I willed myself to become conditioned. In that way, in my way, I could at last help my hyungs with something. . . Anything."

Anya burrowed deeper in his body, while his hold of her tightened.

"But it was hard, Star. It was so hard to obey when all my instincts resisted. My Code was preventing me, that I know now. But back then, I had no idea.

The frustrations kept mounting as one transgression after the other resulted in cries of pain of my Hyung. My human half was breaking, he was shattering.

My own abuse did not faze me, but the tears of my Hyungs? It was drowning me. I was drowning, Star, drowning without any hope to stay afloat." His voice cracked at the end.

Her own pain was long forgotten, as in that stormy night with harsh rainfall, Anya clung to him. Trying her best to provide him with an anchor, trying her best to make sure he did not get lost in that ocean of clutching ache.

"In that early age, my human half was swiftly getting weak. Although Taehyung hyung was also having the same cause, but he too had someone to protect, he did not get rugged the way I did.

Resisting the natural instincts, to become a dumb obedient pet, required a will power strong enough to smother them. At that time, my Human half was barely keeping it together."

"That's why your Vrâg could connect with it. Your Vrâg, made sure to obey, to slowly let your human consciousness be conditioned." Anya whispered, the entire thinking breaking her heart.

All that happened was unavoidable in the circumstances. He had been doomed from the start.

She felt him nod again.

"Ironic, is it not? The fierce untamed, wild Vrâg that the trainers feared, was the reason why the hybrid they knew as Jungkook was conditioned?" he laughed sadly at it.

"But that was why, I, could understand everything. I saw, I felt, I knew. I adapted. I got educated. Even though I remained in the subconscious, merged completely with my animal psyche, I interacted the most. I learnt the most. Better than my human half which was in control." A pause, "My Vrâg became different, better than others."

Jungkook shifted her slightly on his lap and tucked the blanket closer around her shoulder where it had slipped. Securing her safely again, he continued.

"I wanted to believe Michael, which was why I was the one who urged the others to manifest. But once I saw the betrayal, I retreated again. Just like my human self, I lost any reason, any motivation to live. What was I supposed to do? For what reason was I supposed to live? Was there any left?

Which was why when my human self took the piece of broken vase the day of the auction when Yoongi hyung was being carried away, I decided to surface and aid him. The day Jimin and Hobi hyung would die, I had determined, so would I."

He paused for a bit, and then kissed her head again, snuggling her closer. His bent legs ushered her closer, his arms holding her preciously to him. His hold on her was firm but gentle. Her slight weight on his lap, his beautiful blessing

"Then, You happened."

"Yoongi hyung was not brought back that night, but Jin hyung said something absolutely bizzare. He told us on the night of the first day of the auction that he would approach you to buy us all. We had heard about you from Wilson talking, but apparently Jimin and Jin Hyung had met you. They believed you could be persuaded to buy us all, even the snake hybrids. Unknown to all, I did not sleep that night. The whole night, the entire night, I had prayed to whoever would listen. My human half, and me, we had prayed that you would take us all. My two hyungs would be saved. We would remain together.

The next day, I remember a feeling of anxiousness so acute, that I remained unaware of my surroundings. My lips never once stopped moving in prayer. Not until the evening. When Hyung did not come back, I understood unknowingly that I had started hoping. As the hope started fading, my pain . . ." Jungkook stopped, shaking his head.

"But, I did buy you all." Anya smiled.

Nodding "You did. My human self wanted to make a good impression on you, he was determined to make sure that you knew from the get go that I would be perfectly obedient. But he failed your very first command."

Jungkook was smiling now, which made her happier.

Closing his eyes Jungkook inhaled her vanilla and soft cherry blossoms fragrance, "your fragrance hit me hard, when you entered the room, that quickly, with just one whiff, I was entranced. My human mind resisted, but I, could not. Then you asked me to look at you, and I was gone in that little glance my human half could manage. You looked like my home."

"That quickly?"

"That quickly. I dont know how it happened or how to explain the instant profound connection to you, but it was exactly what took place."

He stopped for a bit and Anya rested against him again, but the question in her mind made her speak.

"If everything was going well, then, why. . .?"

In a sombre voice, Jungkook returned, "Do you know, once there lived a couple in dire poverty. For more than 20 years, they could only eat bread. Just dry bread. They were happy enough with it. Then one day, the king of the kingdom was giving a feast to all its inhabitants, the couple was invited too. There, they entered a tent where the feast would be held. The table was overflowing with different dishes, beverages, food of variety that they didn't even know the name of. Do you know what happened to them that day?"

Anya knew the tale. She knew this psychology, and it made sense to her now. Anya started shivering now, even though she was warm because she knew what had happened to the sweet, sweet hybrid. She understood.

The couple had died when they had seen the food. The happiness of seeing that amount of food after 20 more years of dire poverty had been a bit too much for the couple to take, the aroma, the sight had induced a heart attack. They had died, smiling and happy.

It was a dreadful tragedy. A tragedy of human nature.

"You brought too much happiness in my life Star, you weakened me with it."

A sob escaped Anya at that. The venom could not make her cry, but she had no hopes of fighting her emotions against this.

"That night, I had pushed my human half to make a demand when you asked about the lights, when you agreed, I did fall for you. I imprinted on you, I accepted you as my Master. Don't ask me why or how. As I told you before, the path that I walk in your love is tilted, uneven, but I don't care about it.

Then came the times of sleeping on a bed, eating food while sitting on a sofa, the ceremony . . .

Master, my human half was so happy. Deliriously so. The time when he invited you to rape him, to mark him and the way you made us understand, at that point, my human half settled down. The happiness just made him settle down. The problem was, that I, by then, had become too powerful than that psyche."

He continued.

"Communicating and helping since the longest, my Vrâg is capable to imitating a human the most. In every single aspect, I was more overwhelming. But I was intelligent enough to hold myself back because I wanted you. And you, would only come to me if my human half was intact."

He had been manipulating his human.

"When we came home, you showed us our rooms? That night, my human half felt the happiest. He let go of all the misery, the regret he had held, the bitterness he had blamed himself with for bringing his pack pain. But, you know what happens when that happens, right?"

Yes, she did.

When a person had been battered down from a long long time of abuse, for many, the will power crumbles down. Their mind becoming destroyed at the continuous assaults. In those situations, strong negative feelings hold them up, give them the power to survive.

May it be regret, revenge or bitterness.

The power of those strong negativity could keep them afloat.

But if those would go away, the person would become hollow. An void, a emptiness left without anything to fill them with. Although, with time and care, they could be revived.

But Jungkook did not have that chance. Did he?

That first night in this house, had been the last one for the innocent, pure hybrid Anya had brought. The last time he slept with his Hyungs. The last time, he laughed with them.

"He loved the breakfast that day."

Tears silently escaped Anya. She still remembered the way his eyes had rounded at seeing the table. His disbelief and excitement had been palpable.

"Is this all for us? We can eat all this? All we want?"

The question had been bubbling with excitement. Never had she known, that was the last day of his identity.

"The melding of human and animal was needed. Otherwise, the bond of imprinting would have gone horribly wrong. You were right in saying we needed to transform.

But when our minds melded, mine was too powerful over his. I could not help it Star, I took over. His psyche got merged and lost in me. He was too weak to survive that.

In a way, he is still a part of me, but in such insignificant terms, that his identity will never come back." He paused. "I am sorry. In terms of reality, he is dead."

The storms started winding down, but the one inside Anya reached a fever pitch. She sobbed against his chest, all the while he held her securely to himself.

Why had this beautiful soul suffered so much? Was the only reason for his life's misery that the soul had been born ina hybrid body? Being born? That was his transgression?

"See? She will show me, Not you! Suck up!"

The moments when he had been carelessly teasing Jimin came to her mind. No one knew what would happen.

But Anya had known something had gone wrong, she knew it. After the transformation, the Panther had been feral. His eyes, his growls had spoken of a anger that had not been a part of the Jungkook she knew.

She knew something was wrong, but never could she understand that, that very moment, was the time when the human conscious was dying.

The Panther was becoming feral, because his Vrâg was slowly taking over. Consuming his human identity, who peacefully, weakly, had submitted, never to surface again.

Anya sobbed harder when she remembered that time. She had been watching, Jungkook's sweet identity, disappearing forever.

"I was disoriented, not completely in control because the animal was. I remember feeling a rage when I came to first." Jungkook cupped the back of her head and kissed her again, "Even though I already considered you Master, you were still in danger that afternoon Master. You were standing in the field with a Vrâg."

Anya barely heard him, too lost in mourning the person she had failed.

"But your laughter . . ." His voice changed, "That laughter when I fell, your willing touch even when you were afraid, it snapped me back. I was . . . enchanted. That laughter felt nostalgic somehow. Like I had been searching for it through eternity. I felt stunned and hit with a feeling of déjà vu. I felt like, I had achieved what I was born to do, I had reached my goal. You were born in this time, to meet me. And I was born, to capture you."

Jungkook pushed her a little away, exposing her tear stained face. With gentle, careful fingers, he wiped them, "I wont give you up. Even if I deceived you, you are mine. Vrâg or human, my claim on you is independent of my nature. If I exist, then you are belong by my side."

"And if you didn't exist?" Anya smiled with effort, her chest still heavy, trying to make the atmosphere light.

Jungkook too smiled and bent forward to kiss the tip of her nose, then closed his eyes and bumped his nose with hers, cupping both side of her face in his palms gently.

"Then you would be dead. I will kill you before I die." He murmured those chilling, horrific words.

Involuntarily, a chill spread down her spine as Anya jerked back and looked sharply at him. Jungkook's eyes still smiled as he allowed her that distance. His demeanour relaxed, as if he had not just delivered an ominous threat.

He lifted a hand and softly touched her cheeks, "I may be calm, Master but you should never forget I am a Vrâg. And you, are my bonded."

Anya still felt the words he had said. Those had a ringing truth in it, no whimsical, empty, passionate declarations. It was just a fact.

Jungkook put a hand on her back and pulled her a bit. Anya resisted. Jungkook simply applied more pressure to get her to lay against him again. Her head resting below his collar bone.

"What I said is a sentiment that all Vrâgs share. Not just me. We will please you, love you, play with you, laugh and goof around. Make love, fuck, have fun. But in the end, even after a lifetime together, when we are all old, either we will follow you in death or we will make that death embrace you if we are the ones departing first. Either ways, You are never going to be escaping us Master. Never. As Jimin hyung said. Not even in death."

The rain had stopped by then, but the night wind still remained chilly in the sky that was still painted with heavy clouds. . .

The silence lingered on.

"Don't be afraid please, I'll make sure if I am the one, I will make it painless."

Funny, that statement would just evoke more fear.

"As for the Vrâgs, you should know something. I am the most dangerous out of the 7 for the world. To you, I am the most harmless."

Finally, something normal that she could inquire about, Anya thought. "Meaning?"

Jungkook hesitated. Sensing it, Anya pushed on his chest to sit up straight, but Jungkook placed his palm on the back of her head, keeping her in place.

"Unlike the others, my bond to you is balanced. My imprinting is not just driven by obsession. I love you." He said as he slowly opened her plait, running his fingers through the long strands of her hair.

"When I acknowledged you as my Master, I truly did give you myself. I am yours to command, yours to abuse. Yours. But that is what is different from others. . . Unlike them, I only will love YOU. Just You. No one else. If push comes to shove, I will not spare anyone."

It was a good thing he had prevented her from sitting up, because her shock would have been conveyed to him.

What Jungkook was trying to say was that he appreciated Suhan and the rest, but only She was the person he would answer to.

In that aspect, Jungkook, a Vrâg which was more manipulative than any other human, and much more powerful too, was indeed a threat to her family IF they ever betrayed her.

Thankfully, since that was an event that would never take place, Anya could breathe freely.

"Jungkook?"

"Hmmm?" he had opened her hair till then, and was indulging in combing the long skein of silken weight.

"The hypnotic trigger words were inscribed in the human and the animal psyche. Since the melding, only the person whom the animal trusted would be capable of commanding you. Only the ones the animal acknowledged as someone who would not harm them, would be able to induce the hypnosis. Which was why Sebastian could not, which is why no one accept me can."

"But since my human half is gone, why did I respond to it?" Jungkook completed the question for her, "Caught that?"

Anya remained quiet.

"The training, the hypnosis only worked because I had aided my human half. I told you this earlier. In a way, my Vrâg, me, was susceptible to it since I have taken you as my Master. Although . . ."

"Although . . ." Anya caught on, "That was the first and the last time it happened. You wont respond to it anymore."

Jungkook nuzzled her neck, "Hmmm."

Anya absorbed it and then asked something she had wanted to since she had sensed the change in Jungkook, "What do you desire from me?"

Jungkook chuckled, "Don't worry about that Star. I'll take whatever I want from you myself." He lifted her up as he stood up from the recliner. He closed the balcony door when he entered the room and glanced on the bed to see Jimin sleeping.

Jungkook held her close as he existed the room and went to his own. Reaching it, he laid her down on his bed and quickly shed his clothes to climb in after her, reaching for the blanket to cover them both.

Holding her close to him, he spooned her body with his from behind and whispered in her ears, "But I will love you till my last breath and the life beyond death. All I want from you in return is that you let me."

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

MICHAEL :

Michael kept staring at the email and the package that had been delivered to him. The email was from someone in Anya's household. Someone who had betrayed her to send him the information.

He scanned through the email again, an id that could not be traced.

Michael

This is someone from Kim Anya's inner security. I will be keeping this short. I am someone who sympathizes with hybrids and feel they should be treated better. But with the position I am in, I cannot change the world. But, I am associated with a fairly large group of underground activist supporters.

The hybrids Kim Anya has bought are being horribly treated. Both by her and her brother. The inhuman things being done to them and their screams keep me awake. But I knew I could not do anything and so I turned a blind eye.

Since the past week though, the hybrids are behaving differently and Kim Anya has been dosing them with some drug regularly. She and her brother seem to be shaping a different front of the hybrids against the society for some purpose.

This was since she had captured both Flaker and Sebastian. Now, both are being kept locked in the house.

In the night when I talk to the hybrids, they keep crying out your name, saying that you are the only one who loved them, they wish to return back to you.

Which is why I am giving you an information. 2 months from now, Anya is planning to show off her hybrids in an event similar to the Auction they were bought from. Security around them in the crowd will be less. Either you can save them, or I will be taking them in the shelter of the supported group.

I will be sending you the proof of my statement.

Wishing you well.

Michael looked down at the two pictures the package had contained.

Looking at it, it was obvious that the picture was taken by someone who had been hiding while taking them.

The first one showed all the hybrids shirtless and kneeling down with their collars and blood smearing their chest, the silhouette of a man before them.

Michael felt his anger climb up. Only HE was supposed to be the one who should have enjoyed their submission! Not these idiotic brainless rich playboys!

The next picture was of the hybrids clothed in designer clothes, each holding a cup. Their expression was dazed.

It was clear to his critical eyes that they had been drugged. To what purpose, he had no clue.

With a roar of frustration, he threw away the pictures which fluttered to the ground uselessly.

Those hybrids had been HIS project! He was the mastermind who designed them! Made them what they were. HE was their CREATOR! By all rights, they BELONGED to him!!

Michael picked up the coffee cup in front of him and hurled it at the wall.

But someone else was enjoying them. His blood boiled at that thought! He had long suspected that both his partners might have been caught by the bitch.

Had she learnt of the secret? Did she know about the Vrâgs?

That quickly, Michael discarded the idea. An airhead fluffy rich princess and a top notch careless playboy whose only reputation was due to their Uncle, did not have the mind that was required to decipher his masterpiece. They wouldn't even have a clue.

But this hybrid supporter, whoever he was, was a threat to him. He could, in his sympathies, take the hybrids away.

He needed to attend this auction, IF the information proved to be true.

For the thousandth time, he dialled D's phone. His call, was not attended. For whatever reason that son of a bitch had started ignoring him.

No matter.

He was a person who could intricately make a Vrâg and embed them exactly how he wanted them to be. He could easily navigate his way.

Already, he had an advantage.

He was always one step ahead of that bitch Anya.

Laughing Michael called another number.

He had long ago seduced someone from Anya's inner circle, making her his bitch. And she would help him now.

Kim Anya, you have no idea who I am. I will bring you down to the level of maggots.

The line on the other end answered, "Michael! I have been waiting for your call love! Oh baby why don't you call me? When will you come to me? I have never felt your arms around me and it feels like if I go on even a day longer I might die!"

Michael chuckled. Oh yes, Anya was dead meat soon.

"Adora darling, I missed you too. Work had kept me busy. But worry not, I am planning on returning very, very soon. Only for you."

"Really? When? Please come to me quickly. It feels strange how I can fall in love with a man who was at such a long distance from me."

"Relax love. You know we both connected. I am thinking of coming back after 6 days."

"Oh my! I cant wait."

"But love, will you get the holiday from your boss?" Michael probed cunningly.

"Don't worry about her. She hardly ever notices me. Snooty bitch is too high and mighty to actually take a notice whether her employee is in the building or not."

"Oh yes? I thought she was nice?"

"My foot! She is the worst possible human being who was born in this planet. Shallow, stupid and arrogant. You know how I feel about her!"

Yes I knew she was just a little rich princess playing at being tough.

"Since I am a hybrid trainer, tell me, how does she treat her hybrids?"

A little pause. "Why do you want to know about her hybrids? I thought you were interested in me?"

Michael backpedalled, "I do love! Its just that she has the hybrids I had trained. Its just, the way a person treats a hybrids says a lot about them."

"Oh yes. You are correct. Wow, I love that I fell in love with such an insightful and intelligent man."

Michael smiled.

Adora said, "Awfully. She treats them so awfully. Lately she brings them to her office all suited and booted up for some magazine shoot, but then takes them to her room and beats them with a spiked metal rod shouting at them. The way she cheapens them, it makes me cringe Michael. Many a times just for own amusement she had me whip them with a belt and then she fucked them. I have seen people doing bad things to hybrids but she takes the cake!"

Michael smirked. He had been way worse. It seemed even in her indulgence this Anya was tame. She was no where near close to what an intense man he was.

"But," he made his voice sound really curious, "I heard she parades them around without collars?"

"Yes! She doses them with some drug. It has made them addicted to it. So they obey her otherwise they wont get their fix. She carefully made that drug for them."

Ah, so that was how. Michael knew hybrid physiology was NOT susceptible to common drugs but with the money she had, it would have been easy for her to get some scientists to make a perfect drug. In this way, she could keep the hybrids without any messy collar.

Michael had to reluctantly give some points to the heiress. It seemed she did have a few braincells.

As for Adora, he would make her bring him the sample of drugs. But not now, otherwise she would suspect him.

"That's sad, but good for us. Make sure she is entertained so that your frequent absences would not be noticed." He said, making his voice sounding exuberant.

"Really?? Frequently??"

"Of course my love. I dearly want to make love to that body of yours repeatedly. I am afraid once might not be enough for me, I am starving for you."

"Oh shoot, she is coming. . . love talk to you later? Text me when you will be coming!"

"Of course. Love you."

"love you too."

Adora cut the call.

Michael smiled. Now to verify the information about the supposed auction like celebration. If it was true, then he would be arranging a few surprises and moves to get his hybrids back.

Also, he wanted to know how Jimin escaped his plan.

And who knows, might as well as fuck this Anya as a parting gift. After all, the woman did give him the idea of using drugs to control them.

But something was off. Michael needed to check a few more things, plus, he still had some cards up his sleeves. Things that Flaker or Sebastian had not known.

He already knew he could use Adora, but there was no harm in formulating another backup plan, just in case. This time, with careful planning, he'd be able to do worse damage.

Something that would leave the heiress in shattered pieces, or better yet, dead.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

ADORA :

Adora cringed and cut the call.

Then she stood up and screamed loudly. From beside her, Yoongi started laughing hard, "Well, you did handle it well!" he complimented her.

"SHUT IT JAGUAR!!! Fuck, I will have nightmares about the last line!" she shuddered in disgust.

Suhan said from behind her, "Well, do you want that to happen? Then I can make-"

"AND I, CAN CASTRATE YOU!"

Suhan lifted both his hands up in the air, surrendering and walking back.

Yoongi smiled at the exchange as he worked swiftly on his laptop. A signal popped. The trace was complete.

"Wow" Adora said appreciatively, "You are a fast learner! You really did trace the encrypted call?"

Yoongi shrugged, then stood up. "That's one of my specialities." He winked at Adora as he snagged the keys of the car from the counter, "I'm driving." He told Suhan, who smiled and nodded.

"Going so soon? At least wait for the Pasta?" Adora asked, puzzled at the abrupt departure.

"Its been too long without her scent. I am getting antsy." Yoongi replied back, making sure to keep his back to Adora.

Suhan swiftly said his goodbyes and caught up with the Jaguar, sliding in the passenger seat. When he glanced at Yoongi, he wasn't at all surprised to see his Vrâg markings and black eyes.

"You cant live without her being near you." Suhan stated as the car smoothly pulled out to the road.

One hand on the wheel and the other on the gearstick, Yoongi answered back in a normal voice, "The whole reason I am alive, is because of her."

"Because she bought you?" Suhan asked.

A slow smile touched Yoongi's lips as he kept his gaze on the road ahead, "The fact that you are asking the question should be indication enough Suhan."

Suhan looked back ahead. Yes, he knew. Something else was at play between these hybrids and his sister.

Something, that he instinctively knew, not to be interfere in.

"Don't hurt her." Was all he said.

"Its too late for that wish." Yoongi replied.

"I don't mean hurt in the involuntary, inevitable side effect sort of way." Suhan said in a long suffering tone.

Yoongi remained quiet for some time. "Then you have nothing to fear for Suhan. Just know, we were born for her. She, is our fate. Try as she might have, in her life, she could not have escaped the storms that brought her to us."

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

MORNING :

"WHAT?"

Anya and Suhan calmly kept having their breakfast.

"You want us all to go give the presentation in front of your official executive team???????"

Anya winced at the volume, "Hobi, calm down. I know you can do it. Its why I am asking you too."

"Wait a minute. Just, like hold on." Namjoon sat straighter, "You want to launch a line of jewellery credited directly to us? Like Us? Hybrids? No wait scratch that, being as unusual you are THAT I can get, but are you really serious about us going to give a presentation to your executive team with 4 other designers competing to be launching the line?? And you gave us no time to prepare for it??"

"Hey!" Suhan protested, "We both have been prompting you guys since we got the designs. Why do you think that was? We were preparing you!"

Gobsmacked, Joon stared at him, "That does not count!"

"We will be seen as hybrids! We have an appointment in the clinic!" Jungkook said, appalled.

Anya dismissively shook her hand, "In 2 days you'll be going to the Gala anyways. As for the appointment, I have shifted it tomorrow."

Jimin went to open his mouth to speak when Taehyung overrode him, "Leave it. Look at the stubborn tilt of her head. We are not getting out of this. Its better if we skip this and start preparing." He sighed.

"Ah see? Tae knows me well!" Anya chuckled.

Tae smiled.

"1 o clk. Arissa will help with the Suits. Joseph and choi will bring you to the office. Me and Suhan will be in the room as well, but we will mostly let the other ask you questions." Anya stood up, "Don't be late. And most importantly, be yourself."

Anya chuckled as she remembered the exchange in the breakfast hour. Currently it was 12:45 pm and everyone was assembled in the conference room.

The four other designers were checking their last minute details, wanting the exclusive line, but Anya knew their designs were no where near her hybrids.

Suhan and her were seated at the head of the table, both sharing the space.

Her cell pinged with Adora's message of her bringing them in. Anya smiled and braced herself.

As soon as the door opened, the seven magnetic hybrids strolled in with a alluring aura, not looking at the gasps and sharp intakes of breaths their appearance caused.

And it should warrant those reactions.

Anya surveyed every single one of them dressed in sharp suits, their demeanour as expensive as haughty. The seven of them looked too arrestingly handsome. Almost, otherworldly.

They nodded their head once at her and then went to get seated at corner where chairs were arranged for them and the 4 other artists.

Her executive staff, including the members of the boards, lawyers, assistant and executive designer, media and business PR manager were all quiet. They knew she had always boldly reached for ways in the industry where no one dared to step. Bringing hybrids into the fold was something that no one in the world did, but when it was her wish, they trusted her that the results would be worth it.

The four other designers, although were extremely insulted, they remained quiet.

Anya indicated for all to be settled. "For the purpose of making sure none of the designs by any artist can be copied, the chairs are set in a manner where you will not be able to see the monitor of the person showing the presentation. Are there any objections to it?" she asked the artists, who shook their head.

"Begin."

One after the other, the artists gave their presentation. By the looks of most of the people, none of the designs hit the spot needed. The line was going to be presented to sheikh Khalid and also catalogued as the companion series of the Empress Constellation. Only the best was needed.

Soon, it was the turn of her hybrids.

Confidently, Jungkook, Taehyung, Jimin and Hoseok rose and walked forward.

The presentation started smoothly while each of them took turns to explain their designs, whenever a question related to the significance of the selection of stones was asked, Seokjin was the one that answered.

The designs, predictably, blew away all the occupants. They were all mesmerized by it. The designers, curious as hell on seeing such reactions.

Once it was over, they retreated back.

It came as no surprise when the board wanted the hybrids to remain and the rest to go out.

Then began the discussion. The necessary questions.

"Even though it is that beautiful, it will not be received well. Hybrids are slaves. Jewellery designed by them, even though alluring, will sadly not be taken seriously."

The point made was valid.

Suhan and Anya kept quiet.

From his place, Yoongi spoke up.

"That should not be a problem." His deep voice caused every person to turn to look at him, his voice alone making an attraction palpable. He sat on his seat, arrogantly smirking a bit, knowing the effect he had on them.

Resting his arm on the table, he leaned his head on it and continued, "The shoot for the Scionvierra brand was a success with the launch being tomorrow. Already the test reviews were the top you have ever received over the generations this empire was built. Safe to say it was for the models, not the clothes."

The officials all adjusted themselves on their seats.

Yoongi continued, "Hybrid or not, the craze over the sex appeal will soon catch fire. You all should know, you were the ones who did the PR after thoroughly examining all aspects. Knowing that the hybrids in question belong to Kim Anya and thus are completely unattainable, will only serve to ramp up the desire amongst the women. With me so far?" He called out the room full of humans coolly, not a hint of servitude in his tone.

Surveying every face, the Jaguar said, "the Gala is the day after. And the attendees are the elk of the target audience for the line to be launched. Trust me when I say, that night will leave an impression over the speculation generated by the photoshoot. And none of it will be negative."

One of her top lawyers spoke, "Trust your word about it? Blindly?"

Yoongi inclined his head, acknowledging her point, "We are known in the circles. Becoming unattainable, coupled with the way we are, will have the desired affect."

The female lawyer scoffed, "Aren't you a little too confident?" a few people nodded.

Anya and Suhan suppressed a smile. That was the wrong thing to say to the Jaguar.

Yoongi's eyes zeroed in on the lawyer. He kept his gaze locked with her as he slowly straightened on his seat. Then, still maintaining the eye contact he stood up.

Buttoning his coat, he flicked a look at his watch as he took measured steps towards the lawyer, one hand going in his pocket.

Reaching the table, he leaned down in front of the lawyer and said in a darkly seductive whisper, "I got you aroused and wet after talking for just 5 minutes. That too not aimed at you." He leaned down further, "Judging by the way your pupils are dilated and the way you are rubbing your thighs, you tell me."

His voice dropped down an octave, "Is my confidence not warranted?"

The lawyer made some unintelligible noise in the back of her throat.

I feel you sister. I so feel you.

While Anya sympathised with the lawyer, Suhan bent to whisper in her ears, "Damn, I think I should take lessons from him."

Trust her brother to say that.

Yoongi abruptly straightened and dismissed the lawyer who was still dazed and panting at the close contact she had had with the Jaguar.

"After the Gala, interest in us will be quadrupled. If it is to be announced that more shoots are on the way, the subscriptions and the frenetic haze will multiply. It's a well known experience, if the wealthy are denied something they want, instead of backing out, an obsession starts."

Yoongi strolled back to his seat, "That's the obsession we will feed. With daily tidbits of shoots, or interviews, or ads. PR can come up with it. Enough until it becomes a common knowledge.

When you drop the line then, combined with the brilliance of the designs and the frenzy, the line, will no doubt be accepted."

A pin drop silence followed during which Yoongi casually uncapped a bottle of water and drank.

Men and women alike, were captivated by his animal magnetism, the mysterious draw of his voice.

Thankfully, one of her borad members found his voice, "Although I suspect what you are saying is true, we will still sustain a hit."

"No doubt about it." Namjoon was the one who spoke now, drawing the eyes to swing in his direction.

The Grey Wolf hybrid, seated elegantly on his chair had a different attraction. The gentleman façade hiding a deep wildness was apparent to all human eyes.

His physique, combined with his cultivated speech, unknowingly mesmerised people.

"The hit will be a neat amount if the hybrid status is revealed in a naked truth for the world. But if a viel is cast over the truth with pseudonyms used, the pseudonyms an open secret of the elite, making the privilege of knowing it a status symbol, then protest from commoners will not arise immediately."

Joon looked at the pad he had been taking notes on,

"I invite you to correct me if I am wrong, but from what I gathered, the project of Scionveirra is likely to produce an 64.7% of profit, higher than the predicted numbers from last year. The Empress constellation also had a profit over the prediction by about 56%. If we were to count the investment in this line and the expected profit, the hit we will take during the first week will be less than 27%." He paused, "Obviously, recoverable."

Joon looked up at the room.

"That can also be easily remedied. Hold the designs of certain pieces and let them be sent to Sheikh Khalid and certain influencers making sure to not include them yet. Let the attention be divided, one for the pieces to be launched and the other for the pieces not accessible yet, but worn in international events. After about 2 weeks, if the catalogue would be added, the redoubled orders for both the launched items and the soon to be will be increased. It will be a two fold approach."

The whole room was dumbstruck. As were some of them . . . aroused.

Because if Yoongi was raw fire, capable of burning people in their own emotions, Namjoon was the opposite.

Like water, at first approach he could lull a person in a charming manner, soothing them with his geniality, but then, like the churning whirlpool of the seas, his sharp intellect combined with his deadly looks and personality could mesmerise a person and draw them in the centre, to drown in the violent waters.

Her entire executive branch, were currently experiencing that.

"Furthermore, if it were to be "leaked" that the pieces manufactured were only in the amounts of 30s or less, the time needed to decide would be less. If the first line proves to the world to be a success, the fact will already be established for the next time." He concluded

The board member that Anya respected the most spoke, "Young man, a lot of this resides on the Gala being a real success. But for that to happen, I do not want you all to prostitute yourself."

Suhan barely supressed a laugh, "Direct as ever." He whispered to her. Anya smiled back.

Namjoon paused for a second, and then smiled, his dimple winking at the room, making them silently admire him more.

"No Sir. Our self respect is something our Master has strived hard to make us understand. That is something we will not compromise on." He put down the notebook and gave his attention back to him, "Having said that, I have no intention to claim pride as my fault, but the fact cannot be ignored."

He stood up.

"We Don't need to. The ugliness of the society's elite for hybrids hidden behind the veneer of civility combined with the our potency in regards to our personality and. . . shall we say, charms? It's a trap that no one in the Gala will be able to escape."

Anya counted the seconds no one talked. Then, as if in unison, all the chairs turned towards her and her brother.

"Why the hell are they not hired yet???"

Suhan answered with a smile in his voice, "We were simply waiting for you."

Anya looked at her pack, the seven who stood together at the end of the table, and smiled. An excited light entered their eyes too, their Vrâgs silent.

Little did they know, that in a way, Anya was taming them too.

"HIRE THEM!" came a mixture of voices.

Laughing Anya looked at Suhan. Their plan, was successful.

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25 MINUTES LATER :

"You all can work here and learn from the best along the way. I will be evaluating your interests, especially in designing and asking you to shadow one of my executive team. They will be teaching you most of it. For now, use my room until a proper space is made for you."

Hoseok still appeared dazed, "A job? A proper job?"

"Well, not yet, but you are being trained for one, yes." Suhan answered him.

Hobi inhaled deep, but then asked, "My Vrâg, its . . ."

"A little afraid? Anxious? Nervous? Unsure?" Anya prompted.

Hobi nodded.

Anya's smile spread.

Jimin narrowed his eyes, "You knew this would happen?"

Delighted at that, she laughed, "Of course I did! Think about it!"

Taehyung sat down on her armchair and loosened his tie, swivelling around, "This is an environment our Vrâgs are completely unfamiliar with." He said slowly, understanding his words as he spoke, "Jobs, or responsibility, something they don't know."

"Exactly. This is something healthy, but unfamiliar. Which is why mostly, they will be timid. Just curious to understand, to try and get a grasp of it."

A scoffing sound made her turn. She barely suppressed her laughter and a pouting Jungkook, "Do you get how difficult it is for me then??? I am all Vrâg!!!"

"Awww poor Jungkookie" Jin taunted him who ignored his hyung and buried his head in his palms.

"Relax, I have a job for you anyways."

"What?" Jungkook said without looking up.

Anya went to the centre of the room and looked at them surrounding her. She knew what she would say might have different reception that the time from before, "By now, you guys know what tattoos are right?"

As expected, it drew interest as she counted eight nods of head.

Anya gave a drained out, resigned sigh, "Naturally, I don't mean you Suhan"

"Ah, oh, right. Sorry." He turned around towards her bookcase.

"I know you all were set for getting the Mark from me, but what if I propose a different idea? What if, you come up with a beautiful design, something that means something to you, and the seven of you have it tattooed in a part of your body? More that a Mark, it will be something that will be a sort of pack mark, and also an identity to the world signifying MY hybrids?"

All the hybrids had gone still at the mention of Mark, making her doubt if they had heard a single word after that.

Seriously??? After all that had happened, they were still fixated on the Mark?????

"Hey that's a cool idea!" Suhan gave her a thumbs up, while the hybrids were still in a trance. "Not now Suhan. Read the room!"

Suhan glanced at the hybrids and realised, "Ah. Again, my bad."

Why was I given him as my brother???

Anya thought for the 92768309287702th time in her life.

"You are finally giving us the mark?" Joon asked cautiously.

Here we fucking go again!

With patience in her voice she enunciated carefully, "No. I am not talking about the mark. I was giving you the idea of having a particular tattoo together just for you seven which would signify your bond and also be known as the mark present only on my hybrids."

"You said Mark."

"Yes," Anya fisted her palms, biting her tongue, "But in a different-"

"You said yes!"

"No I did not."

"You said Mark, then yes, then Mark again!"

Suhan stood there scratching his head at the scene, "I am confused. Mark was not really said as the Mark you meant, more in the terms of Marking a Mark which would Mark the bond you all shared in society. Why are you interpreting the Mark she said as the Mark you are conjuring?"

Deep long breaths Anya, its fine. Its okay if your hybrids are mules and your brother and even greater donkey.

Yoongi and Hobi stood up from there seats, and went directly to Suhan. One pushed at his chest, the other covered his face with his palm and pushed.

"Hey! Hey! This is my office! Hey! Come on! Wait! Not cool!"

And then somehow, they pushed her protesting brother out of the office room and closed the door. For good measure, Yoongi locked it.

"NO. Just no. No no no no no no no. No. I am not doing this again." Anya turned away shaking her head.

"You said Mark!"

"You are deliberately misunderstanding me!!!!!!!!"

"Then why did you say it???????"

Shocked anger coursed through her, "SERIOUSLY?" she looked at Jungkook, "You are a whole ass grown Vrâg and YOU crave the Mark???"

Jungkook defensively shot back, "Well, I told you my human's side was extremely close to me, his desires rubbed off on me." Then his face took a cunning look, "As for him, should you not be giving me the Mark he so deeply wished for? Sort of like giving him a farewell tribute? Like-"

"Oh no! No No you cunning manipulative Vrâg, you are NOT guilt tripping me!"

"Let go of that," Tae said, "What do you mean she only give YOU the mark?" he asked Jungkook.

He again shot back, "Well find your own ways to convince her. She is a complete tease when it comes to this subject! To each their own!"

At that Joon winced. Right so.

Anya rounded at Jungkook, "TEASE??????????????"

Jin cleared his throat, "Well, he is, kinda right. You said about the Mark-"

"YOU? SEOKJIN YOU? DARE CALL ME A TEASE? AFTER WHAT YOU DID TO ME? MULTIPLE TIMES?"

Jin backed away a little, "That's a completely different matter entirely!"

"Besides, I think it was our only wish." Yoongi added.

"No, my question is, if you did not mean the Mark, then why did you even bring it up? You could have just said about the tattoo?" Hobi stubbornly came in front of her.

"Because I did not know you violent, bloodthirsty, demonic little satans still wanted it!!!!!" Anya crisply countered.

"But you had made a promise to Tae and Jungkook in the auction. Was that not unfair to us? The rest of us???" Jimin hotly said from behind.

He did not notice Joon facepalming himself or Jin frantically motioning for him to stop.

He continued, "But then you did not even keep their promise! So naturally-"

"Jimin. How did you know what I promised Taehyung and Jungkook in the auction? There is no way those two greedy hybrids would have said anything to you." Anya's voice was dangerously cool.

Jin and Joon looked away, while Taehyung started opening the drawers, interested in its contents. Jungkook gladly joined him.

Hobi stood frozen with a half smile half grimace while Jimin himself froze completely.

"Umm, I heard it?"

"Naturally." Anya walked towards him, "I am interested in knowing how."

For whatever reason, the sly snake's cunning quick wit chose that very moment to completely evaporate, "Umm, we, umm spied on you?" he said in a haltingly diminishing voice.

"NO! oh no you don't!" Jin shouted, "Me and Joon had nothing to do with it!"

Hobi and Yoongi turned on Jin, a scandalized and shocked expression on their faces, "Why would you throw US under the bus too??"

Jin delicately shrugged, "As Jungkook said, to each their own."

"Master." Anya felt Taehyung wrap his hands around her from behind. He rested his chin on her shoulder, "We really want your Mark. That is the one thing from our training that still haunts us."

Anya closed her eyes, "Fine." She said, "Fine, we'll have you all get a tattoo of the pseudonyms that you will choose."

Taehyung's hands tightened around her, "Yeah little Fairy, that really does not count."

"Wait, Master, no." Hoseok came closer to her, "the Mark has to be made by something sharp, to carve the name you give us. Now we are okay to compromise with just our initials or the pseudonyms but we wont compromise with the tattoo."

Yoongi too came closer, at least they were discussing the topic!

Jungkook kept talking while reaching her, "I'll design the tattoo too. We'll get that as the sign of the Pack and your hybrids, but don't compromise on the mark."

"Besides," Taehyung murmured as he kissed the still healing deep wound he had inflicted on her, "We have hurt you far worse. So you don't have the excuse to say you wish to keep pain away."

"Speak for yourself" Jungkook's voice held a little pride "I haven't hurt her. You all have."

Hobi cleared his throat and Jungkook added, "Well, Hobi hyung too."

"Hang on? Forgetting someone?" Joon pointed at himself.

Jimin shook his head as he said in a deriding tone, "Please. They way you choked her the night your Vrâg came out! Me and Yoongi Hyung were halfway down to save her before her eye vessels burst!"

"Master?" Jin alone noticed her silence.

Anya silently stood in Taehyung's arms while her hybrids kept chattering around her.

She could not hear anything, except a high pitched voice in her ears, her heart, for no reason at all, was pounding away a mile a minute. And she had the overwhelming urge to cry.

To wail. To sob.

Her heart, was breaking. Her body shook slightly.

"Master???" Taehyung and Jimin said together, alarmed now. Jungkook swiftly went in front of her, cupping her chin, he gently lifted her eyes to his. Hers, were vacant.

It was the same expression he had seen her fight with when Jimin had been asking for her help last night.

Jungkook ignored everyone and kissed her.

He slowly moved his lips over hers, softly coaxing her to respond, giving her little, small licks.

He kept himself a little away, so as to not overwhelm her, but close enough for her to feel his body heat. His kiss was adoring and soft, "Come back" he said against her.

Few seconds passed before Anya responded. She kissed him back.

Relieved, Jungkook pulled back and looked at her. She was confused, her eyebrows drawn together, pressing back on Tae as she shook her head, battling against something while simultaneously trying to refocus.

"I'm okay, sorry. I'm fine." She muttered. Pulling away from the Tiger, she freed herself and walked a little away, still a little disoriented.

She went to the table and took the glass filed with water, drinking it all. Feeling the sensations receding completely, she turned to look at the faces of 5 concerned hybrids.

Seokjin was looking at her with a guarded expression she now knew how to read. He was suspicious about something, whereas Yoongi.

Yoongi looked a little . . . Pleased? The corner of his lips were turned up while he lazed back against the wall, his eyes glinting with a mysterious satisfaction.

Sometimes, her hybrids could be a real mystery.

"Its fine. One of those dizzy spells. A lot has been going on with my body lately." She said lightly to get them all to relax, "What with me fighting your Vrâgs, continuously having mind games, acute sexual frustration due to a certain Eagle, aphrodisiac and counter drugs, hot wax, late nights, venom . . . my poor human body is a little out of sorts."

Hobi came towards her, his arms open.

She gladly went in the warm hug from her cold snake, snuggling into him, helping herself to the immense love he had for her.

He enclosed her within his arms and bent his head protectively. "Why don't you go home? Your work is done, is it not? We still have that meeting, but we'll hurry home after that." He kissed her lightly.

Anya nodded.

"Even I don't have much to do. Besides, Peter wanted me to learn something. I'll go with you." Taehyung came forward.

Anya did feel a little out of sorts, no doubt because of what she had listed.

She smiled at Hobi and looked back at them, "About your marks? You win. I'll give them to you, provided, I'll decide where and which sixe I prefer. I wont be carving your skin the way you imagine. Deal?"

"When?" Jin asked.

"As soon as you have decided on your pseudonyms." She said, "You can either go with your initials, or something you crave. Keep in mind that it will become your identity of sorts, so don't rush. I consented, right? So take your time choosing. I'll Mark you after the Gala."

All the hybrids nodded.

Waving them bye, Anya waited for Tae to walk beside her as she walked away from her office and towards her brother's. Peeping inside, she told Suhan who was busy with his financial reports,

"I'm going home Suhan. Since Joseph drove the pack in the limo and he himself has gone to visit a friend, I cant go with him. So why don't you come back later with the hybrids and Joseph?"

Suhan nodded and took out his car keys from his pocket. He threw it towards her which was neatly caught by Tae.

"Nice catch." Suhan winked at him.

Boys.

Anya waved again and turned back.

"Are you sure you are okay? Should I drive?" Tae asked.

Anya walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the underground parking, "You have learnt it so fast?"

Tae reached out to tuck a strand of her hair around her ear, "We all have, well except Joon hyung. Personally I don't think he can ever drive."

Anya laughed as they walked away from the lift. She had been hearing the same thing from Suhan, Peter and Jackson, "How bad is he?"

Taehyung winced.

"That bad?"

Both of them got in the car, "Worse." Tae said laughing a little.

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D POV :

"I am pausing a little till the Gala. What is there to say?" D said on the phone.

"Don't lie to me. What is going on?" X asked again.

Sighing, D answered, "Yoona. That secretary is what is wrong. I did not know she was such a smart one. Somehow she figured out my ploy. That's not something I am scared of but she has been probing into my business a bit too much in retaliation. Fielding her is just . . . irritating."

A silence, "Does she know your identity? Anything that can compromise you?"

D looked up as a waiter approached and put the ordered coffee on the table. Nodding at her, D waited till she was gone, "No. obviously she doesn't."

"Make sure to keep it secured. If not Anya, Suhan would simply kill you."

D scoffed, "Please. He will not. The only guts he might have would be to get his Uncle after me. Anyways I have full trust in Gong Yoo. Suhan wont be alive for long."

X asked in a low voice, "So will I be meeting him for the last time in the Gala?"

"Probably." D answered back, unconcerned, "Or who knows? He might be dead before that."

"The hybrids. Anya's hybrids have created quite a buzz lately." X said again.

D sipped the strong unsweetened coffee before replying, "Rumour and probes have told me those are just toys for her. Shiny new things that she wants to show off. Hurting them might hurt her ego but ultimately, she would just buy more and get even with whoever inflicted the damage for the sake of her pride. Those hybrids are just another way of her showing off to the society how very different and better than them she is. I have heard she has been abusing them quite a lot at home."

"Is that why you are giving up on the perspective of the hybrids?"

"Yes. I stopped contacting the trainer and those two vapid socialites. I blocked them. And since they don't know any other way to contact me, it fine." D said.

"Lee called me." X told D, "He is going to up his game."

"Good. What about Cheon Seojin? Will she be attending the Gala?" D asked.

"I have no idea. But do you really think she hates Anya enough to go against her."

"For some reason she does."

"Take care of Yoona. If she is too much trouble, let me know and I'll make the little orphan nobody disappear. Till then, see you at the Gala." X cut the call.

While D muttered, "I'd rather we meet sooner at Suhan's funeral."

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ANYA :

Anya started the car and eased off the parking lot, her mind still occupied by what had happened in the office.

For some reason, two words kept resonating inside her, along with a deep deep seated sense of acute sadness. Fractured truth. Fractured truth.

The more she thought about it, the more upset she got.

Easing up on the road, she took the direction of their home.

"Master? Are you well enough to maybe take us somewhere, like a park? I want to be alone with you, away from the house." Tae looked at her from the side, his voice husky and appealing.

Who would ever say no to that. Anya thought of the nearest place that they could go to.

Taehyung waited for her answer, but saw her face go blank and then the car abruptly turned from the road, changing directions to go to a side lane.

He smiled, "Where are we going?"

"The place that you showed me earlier, where you wanted to go? Can you show it to me again?" Anya asked in a pleasant voice.

Tae's hand went to his cellphone in his pocket, "I can, but if I remember correctly, its in Daegu, not Seoul."

"Ah, oh, my bad." Anya said as she navigated the car through by lanes and alleys, not going on the main road.

Taehyung was a bit confused, "A public place will be better rather than any secret small place you are going Master. With D and all, I don't think it might be a good idea."

Anya did not respond, but continued down a lane, which opened up to a long road with only few vehicles on it unlike the weekdays traffic. Mostly family cars going somewhere.

Anya asked him conversationally, "Taehyung, you are one of the two people I had originally promised to give the Mark. I cant ask this to Jungkook because of his Vrâg, but I have often desired to ask something to you. May I?"

Even though he didn't understand why, but Taehyung somehow knew, something was bothering her. Immensely.

"Please do." He replied, but he studied her carefully. Her heart rate was normal, her expression normal, her voice, absolutely fine, her focus on the road, casual.

But something in him said, she was agitated.

"I often wondered at the trust and obsession you guys proclaimed. Especially you both when you were left in that room, wanting me to use you." She shrugged a shoulder, "Colour me as a normal human, but I often wondered how much of it was fake. To make me happy as a Master."

"None of it was ever fake." Taehyung gritted out. In an instant, it felt insulting to him. "Giving my life for you is something I can do in a heartbeat. Don't mock me." He added.

Anya shrugged again, "If you say so." She looked out of her window then back to the front again.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Tae turned towards her, his voice rising.

"Nothing." Anya smiled, "Its just, its easy to say big things like giving up your life when you know that is something which will never ne asked. Its just, poetic and romantic to hear. What about small things that proves your obsession? Like, smiling at the person while carving their name on your skin with a knife? Like jumping out of a moving car for them? Like walking backwards on a cliff, trusting them to make you stop at the right moment, like-"

"Don't ever mock me. You think what I feel for you is trivial? Why suddenly are you saying things that you normally abhor?"

Anya breathed out. "Nothing. Ignore me."

"Why?" Taehyung snapped off his seatbelt, "You are the one who told me one should take accountability for their words. You think you can ridicule my sentiments freely? Why say such bullshit when I know you would hate it if I do any of the things you just mentioned?"

"Tae, put your seatbelt on." Anya's voice was cautious.

"Another thing you should know, we hybrids, especially us Vrâgs, are different. We don't get hurt that easily. Easy enough for me to make you see that."

"Taehyung, don't do anything stupid."

Tae smiled, "You should not have said that then." Then he opened the door, and lithely jumped out, agilely landing with little effort on his feet.

He turned back, laughing, thinking of how cutely annoyed and frightened she would be only to see him absolutely fine. With the speed she was going in, for the Tiger, it was easy enough . . . even though she would pout, Tae could kiss her all he wanted to make up for it.

But.

The car did not stop. It just kept speeding away from him while Anya leaned over to close the door.

A heavy sense of apprehension and foreboding tightened his chest as he saw the car going further away.

He should have trusted his inner voice. She HAD been agitated, but was not showing it . Taehyung thought back rapidly to what had happened.

When he had suggested to go someplace else, at first, Anya had started to smile, then her face had gone blank and she had changed directions of the car.

Had asked him a question. Thinking back, how could a person so attuned to small details and having an exceptionally photographic memory have forgotten about its location?

She had not forgotten, Taehyung realised with dawning horror.

In fact she had remembered EXACTLY everything, including the fact that the picture was saved in his phone. She had been checking if he had his mobile on him!

Coupled with the way she had led the conversation, masterfully provoked him and known his ability to be okay after a jump, had skilfully planted the idea and made him jump from the car, it only led to one scenario.

With panicked fingers, Taehyung took his mobile out and called Suhan, while he started running in the direction of the car. He put his will in his legs, urging them to go faster and faster.

No, No Master, why do you ALWAYS have to take care of me so much? Why do you have to love me so consumingly???

"Hello Tae?" Suhan spoke.

"Suhan!" Taehyung gasped as he ran, "The car Master is driving, its brakes are tampered with."

🌸🌸🌸

Anya sighed when she saw him jump. She knew he'd be okay, she had seen too many of his training videos which made her know what he was capable of doing.

The second she had understood what had happened, her priority had been to get him out.

This was Suhan's car, and there was a hit out on him.

Anya bitterly sighed at the intense scolding she would get from her brother. It was the most basic thing, the most basic that they were taught. To always check the brakes as soon as they started the car, before completely exiting any given space.

She had been too lost in her head and had missed that essential step.

Damn it!!

Anya kept the car steady with her foot off the accelerator, she needed to get the car in a lower gear. Thankfully she and Suhan had been trained by Joseph on all routes to take from anywhere in Seoul, If by chance, a situation like this arose. The routes, especially from her office, had been drilled in her.

Thursday afternoon in monsoon season meant this road would likely be deserted, leading to the zoo.

But the traffic, still was heavier than she thought.

She had to apply the parking brakes and hope that they were still intact BEFORE she reached the crossroad, but the momentum of her car was still too great to shift to 2nd gear.

Anya looked at the road and saw the divider in place.

This would require skill.

Not thinking of anything else, she gently steered the car, making it go parallel to the divider, holding the car steady.

Please let this work!

Keeping her hand steady, she made the car strike the divider in a shallow angle then allowed it to scrape against it, letting the friction to slow it down.

During this time, Anya stayed calm, her gaze shifting from the divider to the road ahead then to her speedometer. She kept the steering absolutely steady, losing control of the car at this point would not only end in tragedy for her, but possibly in a tragedy for some unfortunate soul on the road too.

Up ahead, she could see the crossroad coming closer.

Her eyes kept tracking the decreasing speed needle, while her car kept resisting the friction from the scrapping. The divider was low in height, barely above her tires. One mistake and her car would shoot out in a different direction.

The crossroad had a red light.

The needle of the speedometer was still at 40, she was still at 4th gear.

"Come on, please, come on." Anya muttered as she pushed her car a little more closer to the divider, the noise from the scrapping of metal louder.

Something caught her periphery vision and she saw Taehyung running parallel to her car on the sidewalk.

Emotions lodged on her throat as she choked up. Even from the distance she could see the Tiger panicked, pushing with everything he had, EVRYTHING. His Vrâg was on the surface, giving him strength.

In that moment, the feeling in her office room rushed up again. A sense of inevitable unhappiness spiralling in her chest.

Taehyung . . .

The car suddenly pulled away from the divider.

Hurriedly she concentrated again, she was down to 30 now. Anya bumped the side a bit more stronger, her side of the car now rattling, but, the speed going down rapidly.

The traffic lights were just a few meters away.

Anya downshifted to 3rd.

Keeping her eyes on the needle, one hand rested on the gear. Her eyes tracked the needle dropping, the steering, resolutely stable.

28Km/h

Anya saw a Big luxury bus stop directly in her path in the traffic signal, beside it, 3 family cars.

25Km/h

There was barely any distance left.

22Km/h

Anya changed to second gear, the car jerked at that but held steady

The speed kept steadily slowing down, as her hand reached for the parking brake, praying that it would be working. She needed to stop in the next few seconds.

Even though there was a high chance for a little skid, Anya pulled on the parking brakes.

It did not work.

She was out of time now.

Quickly she checked the bus and the cars, deciding on the bus. One flick of her eyes to show the speed at 20Km/h and another to see her seatbelt fastened.

Here's to hoping at this speed, the airbag does not deploy.

She looked at Tae to see him shouting something at her, then closed her eyes and braced for impact.

Her car crashed into the bus, causing her to sharply jerk forward, the seatbelt tightening across her chest. Thankfully, the airbag did not deploy. The car stopped abruptly, but from the horrible metal sound and screech, she could just imagine the damage on the front guard and bonnet.

A few seconds after her car stopped, Anya opened one eye, then the other. An unnatural quietness descended for a moment. Right before the chaos started.

People from around came rushing in from all direction while she peeked up to see the damagen in the front. Wincing at the sight, and also to the beautiful artistry no doubt present on the driver's side of the car, she gave up and put her head down on the steering wheel, letting the people around her keep worrying.

Taking a deep breath, she closed her eyes and sagged in her seat.

She needed a minute of respite.

Only to jerk around when the passenger side of the door was almost taken apart from its hinges as Taehyung pulled it open.

He did not say a thing as he snapped the seatbelt open and scooped her against him. All of it happened in seconds.

Keeping her close, he jogged back, away from the gathering crowd, to the pavement and sat down with her pressed close.

Anya could feel his thundering heartbeat, could feel his shirt drenched in his sweat as the hybrid held her tightly in his arms, his head bent over her, frantically breathing her scent. He was beyond agitated. He was afraid.

"Never . . . never ever-in your life. . . do this . . . to me. . . again." He panted harshly, "I'll not . . .be responsible. . . for what I will do otherwise." He pushed his face closer to her neck, slight tremors running through his frame.

Anya tried to soothe him as the crowd shifted to them, but all she could focus on was one extremely damaging thought, soon to become her reality.

Suhan, is going to kill me.

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ONE HOUR LATER

HOME :

"How the fuck could you not check???? How the fuck are you fucking sitting there and having the fucking courage to tell that to me at my face??" Suhan's voice was loud as he paced furiously in front of her.

Everyone had gathered in the cozy back Parlour of the house after she was brought home by Choi.

Anya sat properly chastised, with her knees together, palms joined and resting on her knees, her head bowed. "I am sorry." She said quietly.

"Sorry does not cut it!" Suhan said savagely. He walked towards her and held her shoulders to jerk her twice, "It does not even begin to scratch the surface of what you did today!" he let her go roughly.

Arissa, Peter and Joseph were quiet too.

As were all the hybrids. They were fast understanding that if anyone broke the rules, they were equally treated. May it be one of them, or their Master.

"This is something I taught you the very day I started teaching you to drive." Joseph spoke gravely, his disappointment evident, "To check if the car has been tampered with. I taught you this the time I started teaching you what the pedals meant, how gears are to be changed. This kind of a carelessness was not expected from you."

Anya said in a small voice, "It just one time."

"One time is all that is needed." Arissa's voice cut like a whip, "Once is all that is needed to be killed. You are being trained especially so that 'One time' never occurs."

"What about Taehyung? You were lucky the speed was slow when you noticed it." Suhan rounded on her again, "The person who is driving is always responsible for their passengers. Even if you were successful in getting him out, IF something had happened, do you understand the guilt, the very unnecessary and wrongly placed, guilt he would have been crushed underneath??"

Anya fidgeted with her fingertips.

"We have given them the responsibility to uncover who is behind these attempts. The unspoken expectation is that we don't fall into paltry tricks like these! That's OUR job."

Suhan then strode towards the sofa and sat down before her. "Look at me when I am talking to you! Looking down is nothing other than the sign of cowardice or timidness!"

Hoseok winced at that. The pack looked at each other, finally understanding why Master had hated when they used to look down.

Anya raised her contrite eyes to her brother.

"Do you understand the gravity? If luck wouldn't have been in your favour, you could have died today. DIED. And that too for a silly mistake that you have been taught to never fall for!"

Before Anya could speak, Suhan steam rolled over her, standing up and pushing both his hands through his hair.

"An ex assassin, an ex underground fighter, a still functional Mob Consigliere, a Half psychopathic human and seven Vrâgs!! These are the people who live peacefully because of your light. Do you not understand the importance of your life?? Do you not get how dangerous it could be for the world if you were to die??" Suhan grabbed her shoulders again.

"What the hell were you thinking Anya??? What the hell is wrong with you??? You cannot make me start spiralling away with concern for you! You owe me that much!! You bloody owe me the peace of knowing my sister can take care of herself!!"

"Let go of her Suhan." Joon softly said as he walked to the human and laid his hands over his on her shoulder, "You are hurting her."

Instantly, Suhan pulled away, a mildly horrified expression on his face.

"Its okay. Hey, its okay. She managed it well, she is safe." Joon patted his back as he tried to bring him down from the emotional precipice Suhan was standing on.

"I am sorry. It wont happen again."

Suhan did not look at her when he replied, "You are right. It bloody well wont happen again."

He took a step back and composed himself enough to talk without raising his voice, "In these times when you know both you and I are being targeted, when you know we still don't know who or how many game pieces are on the board, you displayed an erroneous lack of awareness."

He extended his hands, palms up. Anya silently placed the car keys on it.

"As it stands, you have lost the right of independence in regards to this. From now until a time I deem normal, you will not be driving any car. You will wait for the good graces of someone who will accommodate you to drive you where you want. This includes any personal night jaunts you have. Either you will wait for any one of us to help you, or you will bloody well stay home!"

Jimin was slightly amused at the miserable face his Angel made. She was pouting so hard while she nodded, accepting her punishment. The whole picture was just too adorable. He looked at the side and saw Hoseok and Jungkook barely supress a smile.

Jungkook and Hobi were terribly amused. There sat the powerful Kim Anya being soundly scolded by her brother and family. Her slight figure was hunched over like a small child being verbally thrashed by their parents for doing a naughty thing.

Over it, Hobi was more beguiled by the concept of this household, this family.

Everyone was treated equally. A mistake was met with a concerned lecture accompanied with a fitting punishment. There was no exception to the rule. The love that threaded each member of this house would react badly at any action which carried a probability of harm befalling any other.

Suhan turned around without another word to walk away from the room, going towards the door which directly led to the outside backyard of forest.

Right at that moment, Jin spoke up, "In the state you are in, you are NOT leaving the house." His voice was filled with authority.

Suhan paused at the threshold of the door. Then cursed.

He turned around again and this time stalked towards the door that led to the inside of the house, banging the door as he went out, going towards the gym.

Yoongi slowly came towards Anya while Arissa and Joseph walked out too.

"Master?"

Anya forlornly looked at him.

Yoongi smiled a little as he guided her to stand, "Why don't you go and rest a little? We have a evening to ourselves today."

At that, she visibly perked up. Her eyes going wide and a delighted smile gracing her lips.

"Ouch. Seriously? That's the look you give him while you were ready to flee when you saw me in the room?" Jin dramatically placed both his hands on his chest, staggering back in mock distress.

"Do you blame her?" Hobi laughed, "I'd do the same"

"Hang on there Python, I wouldn't even want such a reaction from you!"

"That's a shame. You are shutting out the only sympathy avenue which could fulfil your desire Hyung." Jungkook teased.

"Arent you piping up a bit too much nowadays??" Jin reached out to teasingly pull his tail, which Jungkook deftly avoided.

The pack started talking and having light fun amongst each other, Yoongi joining in too.

Anya smiled at the cosy picture they painted, and walked away. She reached her room and tiredly stood at the middle, the events catching up to her now. She had really been utterly stupid.

The door of her room opened and shut again.

She felt someone walk towards her and hug her from the back, "I have never felt fear as I did today." His arms encircle her shoulders and chest, his voice in her ears. He pressed himself close to her back.

"What had happened? Why were you distracted? Headache?" his voice was silken and comforting, she felt herself wilting against him.

"I don't know Tae. I am truly sorry for today."

Tae turned her around and picked her up. Going to the bed, he placed her on the mattress and stripped her slowly till her undergarments.

Eyes scanning her body critically, relaxed when he found no injury. Then he climbed up on the bed too, causing her to scoot and the lay down. Taehyung climbed over her form to stare at her for some time.

"After the Gala, I wont wait any longer." He declared.

A thrill zinging through her, she nodded.

Tae slid off her and pulled her to him, her front tightly entwined with his, their legs tangled with each other on the bed, as he used the controller to adjust the air conditioner and then pull the blankets over them.

"Sleep princess. You need it. And I need you in my arms." His large hands caressed her back, making soothing rubs, hypnotically making her burrow closer to him. She felt her eyes becoming droopy.

When she was almost asleep, she thought she heard his voice, "My identity is what you gave me Anya, without you, it will be lost."

Strange, he never calls me Anya. . .

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

EVENING :

Something woke her, a sound. She was lying on her bed facing her bedside table, at the edge. She must have shifted when Taehyung had left.

Blearily she opened her eyes only to see a single small candle and a rose on the table in front of her, with a letter. The rest of her room, was completely dark.

A surge of excitement in her lower belly chased away any vestiges of sleep, as she remembered what the evening signified. The promise it held.

Yoongi.

Anya sat up quickly on the bed, holding the blanket in her front when the sound that had woken her came again from the front of her bed.

It was a low growl.

She looked in that direction, but in the dark, all she could make out was bright, animal golden eyes. Her Jaguar was in the room.

He growled again, then stood up from where it had been sitting. Slowly, it backed away and went to the open balcony, Jumping from there.

He had come to wake her up.

Anya gripped the blankets around her, a nervous happiness swirling in the pit of her stomach, making her a little dizzy. She licked her dry lips, trying to contain her excitement, trying, to control her heart.

Today, would be the first time she would be on a date, with someone who was already hers. With someone, she loved.

That someone, being Yoongi.

She pressed one hand over her heart, and absorbed this feeling, this emotion. The heady anticipation. Then she picked up the letter.

Bold. Yes, he was bold.

He is setting the tone of the evening . . .

Which meant the Jaguar would be highly potent. Dangerously so.

Anya remembered the way her employees had all been drawn inexplicably to Yoongi, staring at his raw magnetism while he remained coolly aloof. Almost insultingly so. He was a step further than Seokjin.

At least Jin had acknowledged their presence occasionally, while he had ignored them all. Not that it stopped them.

Anya got up from her bed, Switching on the lights with her controller. She went to her walk in closet, browsing through the sections.

White . . . hmmm.

Till she came to the part of her collection which she called her secret indulgence. There, she had stashed gowns that she would never wear publicly, but were too gorgeous to resist. She was girl enough to have succumbed to the temptation of buying them, although they simply stayed in her closet, gathering dust.

A seductive smile bloomed on her lips as she browsed through the gowns, her eyes settling on a white one.

It was erotically bewitching, the sequins providing a transparency that the protective inner layer inside failed to hide. It bared her shoulders and cupped her breasts in a low cut, falling to the ground.

The cuts of the fabric went deep enough to reveal her navel, her back left daringly, bare.

If the Jaguar was bent on seducing me, I will not just be a passive receiver. . . No Yoongi, I'll make you burn along with me.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

30 MINUTES LATER :

Anya stood outside Yoongi's room, her fingertips cold with nervousness. She had rushed through the process of getting dressed, but had still been patient enough to take pride in her appearance.

For the first time, she wanted the eyes of a male on her, she wanted him to be shameless about it.

Raising her hand and clutching the doorknob, she hesitated before opening the door.

"Master. Welcome."

The deep voice of her Jaguar came from within the room, making her grip the door knob tighter. His voice. . . it carried with it an aura of promise . . .

Anya pushed open the door, and went in his room.

Crossing the threshold, the first thing she registered, was that his room, similar to hers, had been purposely darkened.

Low dim lamps were left on in the corners, the fireplace lit. A table was set at the centre of the room.

Around her, beautiful arrangements of candles were lit in a simple manner, which enhanced the beauty. The cluster of arrangements were spread sporadically all over the room, giving an ambiance of elegant understated intimacy which highlighted the underlying seductive suggestion.

Anya went forward to study the nearest cluster.

There were low, small candles arranged in a glass with roses.

Beyond which, another cluster of tall tubes were set in a similar pattern. It was clearly, put together by Yoongi. He had taken the time and effort to create this. A soft smile touched her lips.

"Your silhouette in candlelight is bewitching."

Anya turned towards the voice.

Yoongi was dressed in all black, sitting in the unlit corner of the room. He looked every inch the wild Jaguar he was. A predator, who was sizing up its prey.

His eyes tracked the seams of the indecent, decadent gown draped over her figure, tracing every bared inch of her skin exposed by it. Insolently, he took his time to notice the transparency of the sequins, hinting at the pink nipples pushing against the white fabric which cupped her breasts lovingly, yet scandalously.

His burning gaze followed the wisps of the fabric across her soft swells, parting at the bountiful soft valley, exposing the sides of her smooth skin of her bosom. It tapered down to her navel.

He lifted his gaze to her dark hair left in a deliciously careless manner, giving a stark contrast to the white, falling down in a silken tangle as if shaped by a lovers hand.

Her lips, were painted a bold scarlet maroon.

Yoongi's dark eyes captured her azure eyes, his thick desire daring her to come closer.

"Ravishing."

The word carried within it, a wealth of barely leashed need.

Yoongi stood up from his seat, "Do you know why I love you in white?"

Anya tilted her head, shifting a little in a way that the dress parted from its slit, showing a glimpse of her thighs, "You saw me in white when we first met."

The light from the fireplace, and the candles, danced over her, bathing her in an ethereal glow. The atmosphere of the room painted her seductive form in an exaggerated beauty. In that intimate meeting, she looked like the goddess of moonlight, gracing the earth in her physical form.

"Hmmm." Yoongi stood before her.

Leaning forward till their lips were an inch apart, he reached behind her to close the door. Then, he put that hand on the closed door, breathing the same air as her, standing still.

"You looked like an Angel in that den of filth, absolutely apart from them all, draped in white." His voice was low, the words falling on her lips as warm breaths.

His eyes, traced her lips, "White signified a purity I never knew."

Anya had long since given up on getting her heartbeat under control. The nearness to him, his body heat, the hint of his wildness, was making her fingers itch to hold him even closer.

His scent was a mysterious blend which reminded her of night. And sin.

"And tonight? Did I change its meaning for you?" she could not recognise her own voice. It was sultry like a siren.

"Now," Yoongi leaned a little further, placing his lips at her ears, but still making sure to not touch her, "it is fanning the flames of my obsession to tear the gown from your delicate body, baring your nakedness to my gaze."

Their gaze connected, Yoongi backed away at her harsh inhalation, walking two steps back from her, putting an arms distance between them.

A small smirk lifted the corner of his lips, "And I have every intention of succumbing to that need."

I cant wait for it.

Yoongi extended his hands, palms up, "May I escort you to the table?"

Anya placed her hands on his, smiling at the big, strong hands engulfing her small ones. Expecting him to lead the way to the table.

She forgot, that her Jaguar was many things, Predictable was something, he was not.

Yoongi grasped her hand and roughly pulled her to him with a strong yank, making her collide with his body. His hand instantly went around her, tunnel through the wealth of her silky tresses, grabbing a handful and firmly fisting it. Making her bend her head to look at him.

His hold on her was strong, but not hurtful.

His wild eyes scorched her with its madness as he whispered, "You chose the wrong person to bait Master. I am not Seokjin. I wont quietly take your whims and control my desire."

He licked her lips with an intentional, long swipe of his warm tongue, "You taste like berries." Tightening his arm around her slim waist, his palms spread on her nude skin of her side, he asked in a rough voice, "Did you expect no consequences to accompany the decision of your attire?"

Anya clenched her thighs harder, his excitement digging into her stomach.

"It was you who said you would not take me to your bed."

"If I take you tonight, you will need days to recover from it." His hand slowly dragged around her bare back, his touch, unapologetically possessive, "Unlike the rest, I wont worry about being rough, I plan to completely indulge in my animal need, that insane fever. I plan to get high on that obsession."

He fisted her hair tighter, carefully making her expose her frantically beating pulse to his gaze, "I will make it a night where you submit to me as much as I will to you. I will break us both when I fuck you."

Her pulse hypnotised him, as he bent his head, to lick at it, "But the gala is the day after. If you want me to take you tonight, you need to cancel it. Because I will not compromise with my first time with you. I refuse to hold back."

"Even if it hurts me physically?"

A low husky laugh left his lips, "You will never feel any pain until the day after. I'll make you ride a high that no drugs will be able to give." He kissed her pulse, "That night, you will only know pleasure. The next morning? I'll serve you in your pain."

Anya let out a shaky breath, "Tall promise Yoongi. Words lose its meaning if you don't follow through."

Yoongi stilled, "Will you not go to the Gala?"

"You know its important"

Yoongi shut his eyes tightly and clenched his jaws. He rested his head against her neck. They stood in that lover's embrace for a few seconds, until Yoongi sighed, "Then we proceed with this evening exactly the way I had planned it."

"And that includes. . . ?" Anya shamelessness probed.

Yoongi smiled and lifted his head, "Don't you humans have a saying? Patience is a Virtue?"

Anya lifted one eyebrow, "Do I look like someone who is particularly virtuous?"

Yoongi genuinely laughed at that. He let go of her as he put some space between them, "No, you look like the temptation that would make me sin. I would gladly lose my wings for you."

Anya shook her head at that, "You can never be anywhere close to being an Angel, Yoongi."

His eyes glinted mysteriously as he replied in a husky voice, "Its humorous to me that you have no idea how extremely right you are."

He looked down at her again and groaned, "But did you have to make it so difficult for me?"

"Would you like me to be tame?"

Yoongi smiled as he guided her to the table, pulling the chair out, seating her like a gentleman. Bending down, he whispered, "You can never be something you are not."

And then went towards the door, opening it to go bring the dinner.

Anya sighed at the brief respite it gave her. She had no idea she had been holding her breath. Few minutes in his company and she was burning in her own lust. Few minutes was all it took for him to take over her.

Will I survive this night?

Shaking her head, she looked at the Table. As his style, it was elegant yet romantic. The seating placed close together.

Yoongi returned quickly, carrying a big bowl. He placed it in the middle of the table and hesitated a bit.

He is shy? Adorable!

"I, ummm . . ." He rubbed the back of his head as he ruefully smile at her, "I am still a newbie as far as my cooking skills go, but I think I have sufficiently mastered this . . . So, yes. I wanted to make the food you eat today."

Anya looked at the Chicken Fettuccine Pasta, it looked heavenly. If its smell was anything to go by, it had to be delicious.

"Wont you feed me?" she asked.

Yoongi smiled and pulled up his chair, seating himself, "I plan to." He said as he served her first and then himself. Lifting up his fork, he rolled the pasta on it and raised it to her lips.

"Open." His murmured.

As Anya obeyed, he placed the morsel in her mouth. As she closed her lips over the fork, Yoongi's eyes darkened as he slowly dragged the tines out of her mouth. Putting slight pressured over the utensil, it indented her lips as it pulled out.

Anya chewed the flavourful food, letting it flood her taste buds. She moaned appreciatively.

"Good?" Yoongi asked as he watched her intently, his eyes at odds with the cultured question his lips asked.

Anya traced the tip of her tongue at her bottom lip, gathering the small drop of sauce, "Its sumptuous."

Yoongi exhaled and put the fork on her plate, silently giving up on feeding her, understanding that his control would be threatened if she made that sound again.

Anya supressed a tingle of laughter at seeing the Jaguar getting so easily affected by her.

She let it pass as they both enjoyed a pleasant meal together, talking about his sessions, the ongoing education by Arissa, the encounters and experiences he was having in the past few months.

They kept the conversation light, laughing and catching up together.

When the dinner ended, Anya asked, "So where exactly is everyone?"

Yoongi was gathering the dishes as he absently answered, "Jungkook and Taehyung are with Suhan, he is teaching them about the business which we have already learnt. Hobi and Joon are with Adora while Seokjin is with your Uncle."

"Excuse me? What?"

Yoongi looked up, "Which part?"

Anya looked as surprised as she felt, "Adora? Uncle? Pick any?"

"Ah, I forgot you didn't know." He stood up, his hands holding the plates, "Me and Jin have been regularly going and learning a lot from your Uncle since the night of your dinner party. As I have been learning about computers and hacking by Adora. We all have been branching out lately. We need to."

"Why was I not told?"

Yoongi's arched an eyebrow, "Remind me again, where did you say you go in the night and come back smelling like hybrid and sex?"

Anya shut up at that.

Yoongi chuckled as he left the room again.

Feeling restless and wanting to process the emotions, Anya went to the en suite. Not bothering to turn on the light, she used the light from the open door to open the cabinet where they stocked extras and opened a toothbrush. She brushed her teeth while she cursed Suhan in all languages that she knew. Anya wasn't particularly bothered with where they went as long as Suhan knew, but the point was, nowadays, her brother was increasingly in cahoots with the hybrids, excluding her.

She pouted at that.

Finished with it, she looked at her lip stain. Satisfied with its longevity, she left the en suite as Yoongi entered again, this time with a bottle of wine and 2 glasses.

Oh. . . Was this the end of the evening?

Anya felt disappointment at the thought as she walked towards the fireplace. Yoongi easily uncorked the bottle and poured two glasses.

From her vantage point, Anya looked at his handsome side profile. This was one of the most dangerous people to be born, with who she was comfortably spending her night with, in a house, all alone.

"Checking me out?" he casually said.

"Do you have any objections?"

"Only that it can be done from a much closer distance." He kept the bottle of wine in the bucket of ice and looked at her, "You are just mine for this night, and I want you closer still."

Anya looked at the low table and the soft rug beneath it, him indicating to sit on it.

She willingly went forward, as he tugged her on the ground, making her land close to his body, her thighs flush against his own, sitting side by side facing the fireplace.

"Hmmm, much better." He said as he took one of her hand in his, curiously examining it, his thumb tracing the visible veins.

The caress of his rough pads of fingers on her skin, his warmth, was making her restless. Trying to hide her growing lust over a small touch, she asked him,

"Why did you suddenly want to talk to me?"

"Cant I?"

"No," Anya withdrew her hand from his, "You have been careful to not be alone with me for more than a few minutes since the night of the ceremony in that auction. Its been months. Why Now? Why not earlier, or later?"

The agile body of the Jaguar leaned back on his hands placed behind him as he looked at her with a slight smile, "It took me a while to control my Vrâg enough to be in your presence without harming you."

Yeah, right. As if.

Wait. Wait, what??

Anya thought back to the time after the ceremony. Since then, Yoongi had indeed not talked to her in a normal manner. Most of the time he had been in his animal form whenever he was around her for a long duration.

His Animal!

The day he had merged was the day since, he too had changed.

"You could hear your Vrâg." She said haltingly, "Since the day you changed."

"Wrong."

Anya closed her eyes at that. "Since before the auction." She corrected.

"Oh Master, your intelligence is one of the reason I am so drawn to you."

Not hearing him, Anya went on, "You heard it, but did not understand him. It only erupted as your own wild urges. That was why you were increasingly becoming erratic in Park's captivity."

Yoongi simply let her talk. He gathered her hair in one hand, making it slide over one shoulder, exposing her back to the night air. He traced her spine with a delicate touch, testing her supple body.

The creamy expanse of her skin invited him to touch it more, and Yoongi, didn't ignore it.

"The night I saw you, it was the Vrâg that bit Seojin, the Vrâg which clawed the other two men. The evening you transformed was simply the day you understood the Vrâg as another part of your psyche."

Yoongi leaned closer to her, watching the light from the fireplace making shadows dance over her body, he bent down to kiss her shoulder, tongue hotly tasting her skin, as his arm looped around her waist, drawing her even closer.

He drew back after making a trail over her shoulder and clavicle with his tongue, then blew cold air over the wet skin, watching goosebumps erupt over her body.

Anya was finding it difficult to speak as she felt her body being held by the Jaguar, "Until finally, your Vrâg was released the day Jimin whipped me. But doesn't that mean . . . ?"

Anya looked at Yoongi, who looked back at her. His face, a few inches away from hers.

Gaze connected with hers, his dark eyes, slowly changed to a bright golden of the Jaguar.

Anya jerked back from him, but he held her fast, not allowing her to move an inch away, "Yes, my Code, is Unlocked."

The hand around her waist pulled her body to him, his palms splayed at the side of her chest, as his canines lengthened.

"I am Animal, Human and Vrâg. I am not a hybrid. I am . . . More."

His deep voice violently clenched her insides, resonating and vibrating in her chest.

Unbothered by her apprehension, Yoongi bent over her again, and nibbled on her collarbone, his other hand now looped over her opposite shoulder.

The hand on the side of her chest dragged itself to her front, roughly cupping her breast.

Anya arched into the touch, body not understand the mixture of hormones flooding it. Should she be afraid, or aroused. Her Jaguar was capable of making her feel both, at the same time.

The hand on her breast tested its weight, before gently squeezing the soft curve, while his tongue kept tasting her skin, small biting kisses being placed over her chest and shoulders.

Anya moaned at the sensations, lost to the masterful way he was evoking her body to feel.

He lifted his head to look at her face, her expression openly showing her pleasure, as he squeezed her breast a little harder, making her undulate her hips involuntarily.

He loved the way she was slowly coming undone in his arms.

Pressing his lips to her throat, Yoongi breathed in her fragrance, rapidly sweetening with profound arousal. The scent making his mouth water. Making his urge to bite grow.

"I was not ready yet for the onslaught of fever you would pitch in me." His voice was between the Vrâg and his own, a tone which was as deadly as it was seductive. "I needed time to learn control."

Then abruptly, he left her.

Anya opened her eyes, breathing heavily, as she saw him casually reach for the glass of wine.

"Tell me Master, did you ever wonder? Why did you buy me?"

Even while he asked the question, his eyes brazenly stared at the pink nipple, pouting against the white sequin, straining against it.

Not bothering himself with any restrain, he boldly cupped her breast and flicked at the nipple with his thumb, rubbing it incessantly.

That caused a tug on her clit, the sensations on her nipple being transmitted to her weeping core as if connected by an invisible line.

"Because I felt a connection with you." She arched into his touch while backing away a little, titling her head back which caused the swathe of dark strands to slide away from her shoulders, to her back.

Taking mercy on her senses, Yoongi smiled and took his hand away. With his Golden eyes, still reminding her of the dangerous creature she was sitting with, he replied, "A connection? You know it as well as me that no connection can be felt that quickly. Especially not such a profound one."

He gave her the glass, "Especially not a connection so strong, that in that suspended moment, we felt as if our souls connected. No connection between strangers can be that instantaneous that you would feel my emotions, would cry for me."

Anya protested, "Any decent human being witnessing such an atrocity-"

"-will still not react in the manner you did." Yoongi cut her off. "I still remember, a male and female hybrid were being raped right at the entrance, more harshly than my circumstance. Tell me, did you connect to them?"

Anya shook her head, "I did not see their eyes."

Yoongi chuckled darkly, "You have grown up in a world where hybrids are treated worse than slaves. In your daily day life, thousands of time you see more. The bear hybrid? You saw the way he was abused in the ceremony, then you saw him with Han again.

I shall ask again, Did you feel a connection?

The hybrid that you said you killed, wanting to give him a mercy in his life. You saw his eyes, you did feel bad for him, but. Did you connect to him, like you did with me? Like you did with Jimin?"

Anya was feeling a slight chill at his questions. She placed the glass beside her as she backed away, shaking her head slightly. She stood up.

Yoongi's eyes tracked her every movement.

"What are you trying to say?" she asked.

The Jaguar lazily lounged back, the mysterious smile still on his lips.

"You are aware that imprinting can be swift. It is derived from the deep emotions of a hybrid. Then why do you never question, how could Jin and Jimin start imprinting on you the very day you met? Doesn't emotions develop over time? Where was that needed time?"

Anya's brows creased as his words blossomed into truth that were present in the garden of her memories, but for some reason, she had overlooked.

"Your interactions with us, your connection to us was varied. Mostly the only people who had a profound moment with you at the auction were me, Jimin and Jin. The rest of the pack mainly had better interactions when your brought us home. Despite that, ALL of us started imprinting on you? In the 3 days of that auction?

How? Why? Why did we all feel that obsession, that love, that lust take hold of us so quickly? We were sex slaves to be crying out loud. Why were we feeling such deep all consuming lust for you in just three days?"

"You were touch starved." Anya shot back, "You said it to me yourself the night I bought you. You needed a sense of pack, all hybrids do. They need affection, a sense of belonging-"

"Master?" Yoongi's calm voice made her stop. "Are we normal hybrids?"

Anya's mind started going over all the things he was saying when she suddenly realized, that she had known. She had known all of these doubts, but had unconsciously chosen not to interpret them.

"Speaking of normal. Tell me, why do you think our Vrâg keeps wanting your blood? Vrâg, is a psyche, a part of us. Biologically, it does not drink blood, we don't need it. In the few instances our Vrâgs have hunted, did you see a need for blood? Then why does it need yours? Don't think of Jimin, he tastes it whenever he bites, but us? Taehyung ? when he bit you?"

"I assumed its just . . . just . . ." Anya tried to think, " . . . an animal thing?"

"You know its not."

Yoongi got up, "Do you not find it strange? The way you fell so completely in love with us all, without any reserve? The trust between us, was established so easily and firmly? That you keep taunting our Vrâgs, who are bonded with you, but you know it in your heart. You know it, that we will never actually harm you. No matter what you do."

Yoongi kept advancing as Anya kept backing away, disoriented and confused at his questions.

"Think back once, for me. When you met us, saw us for the first time, was there any time when you felt, a sense of déjà vu?"

"Why would I feel that??"

"What happened today at the office?"

"What has that got to do with this?? What the hell are you going on about Yoongi???" Anya burst out, "What the hell are you trying to imply? That my love for you is fake??"

"On the contrary, it is the deepest anyone can feel in this world." Yoongi said.

"Then?? What are you saying!!"

Yoongi stopped for a while, studying her, then he said, "In my life, you are the only white rose I ever encountered."

Anya jerked back at that statement, her churning feelings suddenly stopping to give way to a sense of profound despair. The breath suddenly froze in her lungs, her mind going hazy.

Promise me. Promise me.

Suddenly. She felt Yoongi before her, violently backing her against the wall, fisting her hair harshly, pulling it back.

She focused back on him.

Seeing her eyes, Yoongi's grip loosened.

"What are you saying?" she said in a thready voice.

"That we were fated. All of this, this lifetime together, was meant to play out in this manner. There was no other way of life for you, as there was none for us."

Anya shook her head, "This is not what-"

"Open." Yoongi pressed the rim of the Glass on her lips, tilting her head back with the hand in her hair as he made her drink the wine.

His body pressed hers without any excuse as he ground his heavy length hard against her stomach.

Anya gasped at the sudden change of mood when the wine started flowing into her mouth. She drank it all, the glass being kept upturned as Yoongi firmly held it against her lips.

When the last of the ruby drop fell on her lips. Yoongi backed away from her, letting her sag against the wall. Before she had taken three deep breaths, he was back before her, this time carrying the bottle.

"What are you. . ."

She saw the Jaguar lift the bottle to his mouth, taking a mouthful of the liquid, his eyes burning hers. Then, he leaned forward towards her, his other hand cupping the back of her neck, keeping her steady as his lips touched hers.

Anya willingly opened her mouth as the wine trickled from his lips to fill hers, sharing the alcohol in the most intimate manner.

Yoongi pushed harder against her, caging her supple body against the wall, his own hot muscles straining against his clothes.

The wine overflowed from her mouth to drip down the corner but by then, Yoongi's tongue had boldly breached her soft cavern.

He devoured her mouth with his lips, as his tongue sinuously curled with hers, his taste along with the wine, a heady combination.

His hand left her neck as it dragged down her back to cup her bottom, harshly squeezing it as he desperately kissed her, roughly bit her.

His teeth tugged at her plump bottom lip, sucking it within his own mouth, then releasing it, to only bite it again.

Yoongi was hungry. He was voracious, and he was not holding back.

He slid his tongue against her, then drew hers in his mouth as he strongly sucked on it, making Anya moan loudly. The vibrations from it causing him to growl against her.

He pulled back, his face portraying his need, golden gaze piercingly fierce, while the black lines started creeping up.

Anya was panting at the onslaught he had unleashed. When she saw him take another mouthful of the wine, she protested.

"Yoongi, Slow-"

He crashed his mouth onto hers, thrusting his desire wildly, while his hand clawed at her back.

Anya drank from his warm mouth, his taste mixing with the red wine, his tongue mercilessly thrusting and going back, mimicking the age old dance.

His hand left her back and encircled her throat, choking her with just enough pressure that she felt the need to extend her neck in order to breathe., but not painfully.

But his lips on her, the harsh kiss did not allow her the air she needed.

Her own hands clung to his shoulder, pulling her closer, even as she struggled to breathe.

His mouth ravenously moved over hers as his canine, bit down hard on her lip, drawing blood. The taste made Yoongi groan as his movements became harder, rougher. His hand, tighter around her neck. He sucked on the plump plushness, his lips hungry and demanding, making the carnal sting ride her more fiercely.

Anya felt the vibrations of his groan from his chest, she felt his heart beating fast as he pushed himself on her, suffocating her, smashing her soft breasts on his firm chest.

When breathing became scarce, Anya's hand left his shoulder and grabbed his hair, pulling it hard.

Yoongi's lips let hers but he thrusted violently at that, appreciating her touch on him "God yes" he moaned then.

"Yoongi . . ." her senses were only filled with him, the wildness in him getting an equal cry from her own desires. Her body sinuously moving against his.

She was like liquid fire in his arms, her body moving against his in an tantalising invitation, cushioning his harness against her belly.

The undulating movement of her soft, supple body was igniting molten fire in his groin. He shuddered at the fierce wave of pleasure cresting inside.

"More." He said.

Keeping the bottle of wine down beside him, he bent a little and found the slit of the dress. His hands encountered her legs and he slowly dragged his palms up over it, breathing harshly, "I can smell your desire. So sweetly wet for me." His guttural voice said.

Anya rested her head against the wall as Yoongi straightened back, crowding her, his lips placing hot kisses on the skin behind her ears as his hand kept moving upward to her thighs. The had was warm over her sensitive flesh, unrelenting in its sensual dominance, wanting more. Questing higher. In a place where no one had touched her before. The closeness to his firm toned body, the feeling of being utterly captured by him, made her weak at her knees.

"Forgive me." Is all that he said as his other hand gave a vicious jerk on the fabric of her dress, tearing it like tissue. It fell down to her waist, exposing her naked breasts to his obsessed intense gaze. The creamy flesh vulnerable and unblemished, her breasts rising and falling rapidly with her breaths. They were beautiful, smooth, taunting Yoongi to sink his teeth in them. To mark it prettily.

To pepper kisses over it. To bruise it. To make it carry his finger marks.

Her pink areola held a pearled like a pebble, begging for attention. Her state of arousal slowly turning it in a darker shade of red.

"Fuck, you are beautiful." He said as her hands clutched at his shoulders to ground herself. "And all mine."

His hands reached the flimsy fabric covering her mons.

He bit her throat lightly, letting his canines scrap against her skin, tantalizing her with the promise, "Let me play with you." His voice was deep and raw.

Anya blindly turned her head and connected their lips, hungrily teasing him with her small tongue, licking his lips and retreating. She wanted his taste, she wanted that tangling with his tongue, wanted his groans spilling in her mouth. She coaxed a deep sound of pleasure from him, tasting its vibrations on her tongue. Then, she bit his tongue lightly, inciting his obsessed lust higher.

Yoongi growled and drew back, his palms splayed on her sides beneath her beautiful breasts, "Teasing me has consequences, Master." And then hooking his fingers in the fabric, tore away the triangular cloth between her legs.

"Hush, take it." Whispering, "Take all that I am doing to you." He said as he bit her throat again, letting his teeth ground a little more deeper in her this time, making a sweet pain bloom, his palm finally cupping her bare breasts.

Anya cried out in relief, but still taunted back, "Then make me."

A growl answered her as her breast was roughly squeezed, her pink nipple pinched between his fingers, "You want it rough?" he grit out, his mouth dropping burning hot kisses down the column of her throat, "You want me to make you beg?"

Her hands grabbed his hair and yanked his head back. She leant forward to lick at his pulse, laving the skin with a lustful appetite. Yoongi stilled at that.

And then, Anya bit him. Hard. Sucking the skin simultaneously while her hands pulled his shirt out of his pants, reaching inside to touch his back.

"Fuck" Yoongi ground out against her, thrusting so hard that her back painfully got bruised against the wall. "Fuck, yeah."

"I never beg Jaguar." Her voice ratcheted up his desire, the challenge in them clear.

Boldly, unhesitantly, Yoongi cupped her sopping core in his palms.

Anya let out a keening cry of pure unadulterated lust as his palm rubbed at the place where she most wanted his touch. She ground herself, gyrating her hips on his hand, wanting more.

Yoongi's lips trailed down from her clavicle to her breasts. There, he simply breathed, sensitising the nipple with his warm breaths. Teasingly, he blew on the tight pearl, which painfully tightened even more.

"Beautiful, so soft." He rubbed his chin on it, creating a sensation wilder than fire at her core, "Cherry like pretty, will it resemble the taste too?"

"Yoongi. . ." Anya moaned as her hands greedily moved at his toned sinewy back, urging him closer, begging without words.

Yoongi's fingers lightly touched the slick lips between her legs, the touch driving her crazy. Gently, he parted them, "Hold still." He said

Anya didn't listen, her body not in her control. At that moment, The Jaguar's teeth bit on her nipple as his lips clamped down on its softness, distracting her as two of his long, veiny fingers pushed inside her without mercy, without any warning.

Anya felt a pain so foreign in her that she stopped for a second before jerking to get away from his questing fingers.

Yoongi sucked hard on her nipple, biting it softly as a hand clamped her hips to the wall. His fingers moving, thrusting inside her deeply, forcing her to take him. Forcing her to take the onslaught of the wild hunger of the Vrâg for its bonded.

"It hurts."

Letting go of her breasts, Yoongi rose up to lick at her lips, "I know. Take it." He said as he added a third finger.

Anya moaned in pain as she thrashed against him, "Shhhhh." Yoongi spoke against her lips "You are impossible tight."

The slick walls of her core resisted the sudden intrusion, clamping down hard on his fingers, even as her desire steadily seeped out.

Reaching for the bottle of wine with one hand, Yoongi placed its mouth on her shoulder, then carefully upturned the bottle over her. The ruby liquid ran in streams down her body, over her breasts, as he latched onto it.

His tongue and lips moving over her, he drank the wine from her skin, sipped at it, luxuriating at the act he could perform on his Master.

He slowly took long licks over her breasts, sucking at the skin carefully, moving his mouth over her nipple, where he softly, wetly sucked at the very tip, drinking the drops clinging to the nubbin. The sensation for the soft sucking on her nipple in contrast to the harsh pace of his rough fingers moving inside her caused her to shut her eyes tightly.

A wave of pleasure churned inside of her, as his abraded thumb swiped gently over her swollen clit, rubbing it gently, even though his fingers kept thrusting inside, his force so great that her body jerked with it. His fingers were going deep inside of her, right upto the base, his arm moving hard, rough and fast.

The Jaguar pressed down at her clit, rubbing the bundle of nerves with more friction, as he dropped the bottle and joined their mouths again, his other hand going around her to hold her close to him.

"You'll come for me, wont you?" he breathed on her lips, "You'll give me this gift." Yoongi spoke urgently, his hands moving faster, the friction harder.

Anya felt the pleasure inside her wounding tighter and tighter, the force of it starting to spread from her belly, spirals going out to the different parts of her body.

"No one else will ever see you so undone in pleasure, these moans will only be for the pack to hear." Yoongi tilted his head to better kiss her, "No one will see you naked, these moments of your vulnerability locked forever with just us. You belong to me. In this world, in the world beyond, no one will ever be able to touch you."

Anya felt her climax approaching fast, but somehow could not reach it.

"Anya . . ." Yoongi growled, "Let me feel your body give in to the pleasure I am wringing from it. Cum."

Her name from his lips pushed her over the edge as she screamed his name. Her climax barrelled over her as she felt Yoongi capture her mouth, her screams, her moans with his.

His speed slowed down, but the gentle swipes against her clit continued, squeezing out the last drops of her pleasure, until she went limp against the wall, her body almost falling down, if not for Yoongi holding her up.

"Shhhhh, shhhhh, I've got you." He held her close, embracing her in his arms, as he carefully withdrew his fingers from her. He kept her within his secure and protective embrace, giving her the time to settle down, to calm down from the high he had pushed her too. He held her close as the tremors slowly subsided, rocking her, petting her long hair lovingly.

Anya gasped and swallowed, breathing through her mouth, softly panting, her body still out of it. Her mind, completely blank. All she knew was that she was enfolded in the safest placed she could be in.

A little while later, she felt herself being lifted and carried in front of the fireplace. She was softly set down on the rug, a blanket pulled over her as Yoongi left her there.

Feeling pleasantly warm and still fuzzy from the remaining endorphins in her blood, Anya lightly dozed where she lay. The sound of water running brought her out of her trance a little time after, but she felt too drained to go investigate.

Smiling to herself she snuggled a little deeper, loving the way the evening had turned out.

She heard Yoongi come out of the En suite and unlock his door to go out. That prompted her to get up. She turned towards the en suite, holding her dress to her front and walked towards it, only to grimace at the twinge of pain between her legs.

Yoongi had been too rough with her. It actually hurt a little to walk and all he had done was to pleasure her with his fingers.

I think the Jaguar was not boasting when he said I will need days to recover when we finally make love.

Smiling at that, she reached her destination, and entered it. Anya stood shocked at what she saw inside. The bathing area was lit with more arrangements of candles.

While the bathtub was decorated with petals, candles and more wine.

Yoongi had really planned it all out. Delighted at the unexpected surprise, Anya smiled widely, her eyes shining with the emotions she couldn't contain. Yoongi was so attuned to her, he knew she would need some extra attention, an emotional bond after what had happened.

Before she could go towards the bathtub, her reflection in the mirror caught her attention. Anya gasped again and chuckled at her reflection.

Hair, fluffed up, her cheeks pink, her lips deep pink with a gash on the bottom corner, she looked down at her body, letting go of the fabric which fell to her waist. Topless, she examined herself.

One side of her throat was marked in red hickeys which would turn bluish purple later, similar love marks placed over her breasts. Her normally pink nipples were still budded and dark with the attention they had received. Her arms and shoulders had imprints of his fingers, likely to bruise by tomorrow.

Ravished. I look completely and utterly ravished.

Movement in the mirror pulled her attention to Yoongi casually looking at her from the wall. Although his eyes were still intense, still hungry.

Pushing away from the wall, he came to stand behind her, his hands going to the waistline of her dress, unzipping it swiftly, to make it fall on the floor. His eyes on hers in the mirror, he enfolded her naked form from behind, his arms resting just below her breasts, his own clothed body providing a erotic contrast.

In the candlit space, Anya was mesmerised by the reflection in the mirror.
There stood a slim, naked girl with the light dancing over her bare skin, her hair unbound, in the arms of a man wearing formal clothes, his eyes dangerous, expression hungry.

The hands of the man banded around her but his palms possessively caressed the indentation of her waist on her sides. The clothed arm was rough on her soft nude breast.

It was deliciously salacious. The reflection of them right then.

"Any pain?" his dark voice asked softly.

Anya blushed a little, "You were a little rough."

"Hmmm." One hand went to her legs, and tapped it. Anya looked down at his urging to the inside of her thighs. There, a streak of blood mixed with her desire lay drying on her skin.

Confused she looked up at the mirror to see him.

"No matter who takes you for the first time, you will still be hurt physically due to the Vrâg's passion. There was no need to add to that pain by your own biology." Yoongi calmly said as he gathered her hair and wound it about, tying it in a bun.

Understanding dawned. He had been rough because he was trying to tear her hymen. The blood was the proof of that tissue's existence. At the time she would make love to a Vrâg, the pain of having it torn by their length would have been too much. In this way, she had one less ache to deal with.

That was extremely thoughtful of him.

Too thoughtful?

"How were you able to think that carefully in your passions?" she asked, her voice still a little hoarse.

"Master, I never lost control of my passion." He said as he scooped her up in his arms and went towards the Tub.

"What?"

Gently, he placed her in the warm water. Anya winced at the sting between her legs, but the water soothed her beautifully sore muscles.

Yoongi sat down outside the tub on its rims, and started to fold the sleeves of his shirt up.

"Tonight was all about you. For that to happen, I needed complete control over my desires."

Anya watched him pick up the bath cloth and wet it in the tub, then he proceeded to apply the shower gel to it. Once he deemed it to be enough, he reached for her.

"Then your actions? These marks?"

"Are nothing." Yoongi carefully took her arms, rubbing the bathcloth on it, "My lust was in check. What happened tonight was tame, was me being at my absolute tamed self."

This was tame??????

He carefully and adoringly kept washing her body, his mannerism almost reverent. His touch, gentle and worshipful.

Anya was jolted at understanding that her Jaguar had actually been serving her all evening. He had been serving his Master, never even thinking about himself.

"Trust me Master, when I let go, you wont look the way you do now."

"How will I look?"

"In place of those hickeys, there will be bite marks. Every inch of that pretty skin will carry deep bruises of my fingers. Your nipple will be dark red, too agitated to be soothed. Your muscles will be so sore that the thought of walking will give you nightmares."

He casually reached for her other arm, "Inner thighs will be bruised, along with-"

"I get it. And somehow that will all be pleasurable to me?"

Yoongi just smiled.

Anya relaxed back, allowing him to take care of her.

"We need to talk about your unlocking the Code."

"Tomorrow. You are wiped out today."

Anya looked at her Jaguar, his head bent as he bathed her. His love for her was dangerous in its intensity, but pure and giving. He was a Vrâg whose full potential was still unknown to her, but his devotion to her, was unending.

He himself had not taken any pleasure, his only aim had been to make her feel cherished. With the way she had been restless since the incident with Hoseok in the swimming pool, she had direly needed this.

"Why did you ask those questions Yoongi?"

"Forget what I said. I fancied those questions one night by myself and came to this conclusion with conviction that Fate had designed for us to meet."

"Like soulmates?" Anya curiously asked.

"No." Yoongi reached her chest, "something deeper than that. Anyways, those were just my fanciful projections. I should not have burdened you with it."

Anya remained quiet but she knew he was lying.

How?

Because each and every question had resonated within her. She had felt a sense of familiarity when she had seen them. A sense of déjà vu. When Jin had asked her to buy all seven of them, that number had felt right, felt natural, obvious even.

But for now, she was too tired to think.

She closed her eyes and enjoyed his touch.

Promise me.

"White rose?" Anya sleepily asked. She did not notice him jolt at that, did not see him clench his eyes tightly. Failed to see him biting his lips and looking at her.

But she did feel it when he placed a kiss on her forehead, "Choi's rose reminded me of you. That's all."

Liar.

Anya drifted towards sleep, crashing hard.

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

NEXT DAY :

Anya had woken up about 10 minutes back. It had been a surprise for her to wake up in her own bed, her memories drawing a blank after the bath tub. She had no idea what had happened afterwards, where she had slept or where Yoongi was.

Once glance at the clock had revealed it to be 5 pm. She had slept the entire day.

That had prompted her to get up, but she still remained seated clad in her nightgown, covers drawn over herself.

The door of her room opened and Taehyung, Joon and Hobi walked in.

"Heard your breathing change. Goodmorning to you." Hobi said brightly as all of them came to her bed, Joon carrying something.

"Why didn't you wake me up?

"You needed the rest. A lot has been happening to you in terms of your emotional, mental and physical side." Joon climbed up to her and leaned over. He placed a lingering, warm kiss on her lips.

"Sore?"

That little word was enough to make her blush all over. Still, she nodded. After all that was the reason why she could not get down.

Joon took out a medicine from the small bag he had been carrying hand gave her a tablet, Hobi plucked the bottle of water from her table and placed it on her hand.

Taking the medicine, she asked him, "Your clinic appointment?"

"Suhan and Choi attended. We were given the shots except Jimin and Hobi hyung." Tae said.

Nodding, she relaxed back against the pillows, "What else did I miss?"

Hoseok smiled, "Ah I don't know, nothing that important. Oh, just the media launch of the new collection of Scionveirra with the models."

OH DAMN HELL!!!

Anya tried to leap up, but was caught by her waist by Taehyung, who laughed and kept her in place.

"Its okay! We'll brief you!" he was still laughing at her struggles.

"Damn! How could I forget??? There was supposed to be a press conference!!" looking at Hobi she rapidly fired her questions.

"Did you all attend it?? Was it successful?? What was the initial review?? What was the response???"

Joonie groaned and flopped back on the bed. "Please don't inflate his ego, those are all wrong questions to ask."

"Hey!" Hobi slapped Joon with a pillow, "I am still at a tolerable level than Jimin and Jin hyung!"

"That's true." Taehyung had laid down over her lap, his hands playing with her hair, "Currently Suhan has disconnected the landline and switched off his phone."

A positive hope emerged, "Because too many people were calling?"

Hoseok winked, "The press conference was not only a success, it was a rabid frenzy. The buzz on the market about us is too strong. Let me tell it all-"

🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸🌸

NIGHT :

Han-bin exited the nightclub from its backdoor, shutting it off to keep the loud noise in.

He got a cigarette out of his pocket. Placing it on his lips, he lit it. After taking a few puffs, he checked the watch to see it was 2 am in the morning.

It was a good night for him. He had fucked 2 smokin hot sisters and then had a male hybrid service him for an hour. Even though his attempt at Suhan's life had failed, he knew he had a better chance at it the next day.

He walked away from the door of the club, going deeper in the dark alley where he had parked his bike. Reaching it, he straddled it and threw the butt of his cigarette down.

"Rare it is to see a man being this happy moments before his death."

Han-bin jolted at the unfamiliar deep voice, looking in the shadows. Another noise of a clicking of metal came. His hand reached for his gun, "Come out. Who the fuck are you?"

"You are one of the member of that Mob. Did the two dead bodies of your friends not indicate the folly of going against the person you are so hell bent on killing?"

Han-bin got up from his bike, looking in the direction of the voice. Swiftly he put his silencer over his gun. "Who the fuck are you."

A laugh came from the shadows.

But that laugh, made Han-bin jostle wildly, his heat kicking hard against his chest. His hand trembled as the laugh made his knees go weak enough that he fell down.

The laugh was inhuman. Six of seven different pitches of voices horribly clashed together in a way that reminded him of a demonic possession. The laugh was not of this realm.

"Lower your weapon. Pull out the knife from your belt and keep it on the ground"

The voice induced a fear so thick in him, that choking on his own spit, Han-bin let go of his gun and quickly placed his knife before him.

There was no doubt in his mind, the devil had come to hunt him.

From the shadows, a figure emerged.

Seeing it, the human's teeth rattled against each other, his shaky breaths turning into silent cries. The thing that stood before him had pitch black eyes, black vicious markings twisting around his face, covering one half.

He was holding a pair of metal handcuffs, playing with it. As he watched, the thing casually broke it apart as if it was made of tissue paper. Then, it crushed both of the handcuff in its palms, the metal snapping and bending like a toy biscuit. It ground it in its fist, twisting the metal easily. Apparently growing bored, he dropped it on the ground before him which landed in two balls of malformed steel.

"Why are you targeting him?" the thing asked as it bent down to reach for his lethal knife.

The monster's voice and its casually extreme power making him cry with fear, his answer bubbled out, "Hye has promised us half of his cocaine shipment if Suhan is dead. His uncle and we share bad blood over the girl he loved. Our boss loved her too, but Si-Hyuk had him killed. Years later, Suhan hunted about half of our brotherhood and butchered them in front of us, in a bloody game. We gladly took the opportunity to take him out."

"But you harmed her sister instead." The thing cocked its head as it snapped off the blade of the thick knife, breaking it an inch at a time, its black leather gloves smoothly wiping the blade before snapping another inch off, "take out all the drugs you have on you."

Crying, sobbing, Han-bin unloaded the 11 packs of cocaine he had with him.

"Tell me the address of your current boss."

The thing snarled as he then reached for his gun.

The address flew out of his mouth before he could even think.

Han-bin knew, he was being possessed by the demon. He was no longer in control of his body.

"Open all the packs, eat it."

Han-bin did not think to disobey. He did as instructed, pouring packet after packet of the drug in his mouth, gulping it.

When the human had eaten two packet worth, the hybrid shot him in his eye. Dropping the gun near the body, he picked up the chunks of knife and the twisted handcuffs and left the corpse to bleed out.

🌸🌸🌸🌸

Jackson stirred as the door to the driver seat of the car opened and the hybrid put his seatbelt on.

"Everything good? Got the info?"

The hybrid nodded.

"Do I need to take care of a body?"

"No its handled.

Nodding sleepily, Jackson settled down in the passenger seat, "okay. Wake me up when we reach home."

The drive continued in silence until they reached their society, the gates to the Mansion was opened by the guard on duty.

Parking the car in front of the house, the hybrid nudged Jackson awake and climbed out. Without wasting a minute, he went directly to Anya's room.

Approaching her, he saw a Cobra and Joon sleeping on the bed with her. Bending over her, he kissed her forehead, feeling a sense of peace flow through him. She was the reason he could breathe.

Retreating quietly, he avoided making any noise to wake her or his brothers up.

The hybrid reached his room and slipped inside it. He locked the door and turned around to face the other two hybrids in his room.

"Was it as easy as predicted?" Jin asked him. Nodding he went to the couch, seating himself in, "Perhaps we are used to better class of criminals. This one was pathetic, worse than pathetic actually."

Jin sighed then spoke again, "With the way the photoshoot exploded, the Gala is going to be worse."

Yoongi was quiet but he agreed. The international calls to the company had been few, but all the elites of South Korea had gone in a frenzy on recognising the models. Especially in the way Jin, Hobi and Jimin were presented.

"The crème de la cream of the society we will meet in the Gala are all people who have previously used us for their pleasure. Seeing us again, but this time, with our Vrâg auras, will cause a lot of attention. Expect a lot of people to descend on us."

From the sofa, the hybrid spoke, "We are propagating the image we agreed upon?" even though his voice was casual, his body was wound up tight.

Yoongi answered him, "We'll be extremely charming, mysterious and alluring, our behaviour with Master will be obedient and instant. But while we attract more people, we'll have to leave hints and impression that our Master is, abusive."

"Keep it vague. Make sure no one actually asks but knows beyond a scope of doubt that she is cruel. And we are somehow bound in a way we cant leave. Drive and feed their madness but make sure not to touch any." Jin completed.

"I am not sure I'll be okay." He said, while his legs bounced restlessly. His need pulsed hotly, his vision tinged in a dark filter.

Yoongi and Jin looked at their brother, who continued, "I am too unstable."

"Whatever happens don't merge with your Vrâg. Do not unlock your Code." Yoongi enunciated each and every word.

"That is all you have been telling us since our Vrâgs came out. At least tell us why." Seokjin sighed at the Jaguar's stubbornness.

"Just trust me. Don't merge."

"But look at you. You were worse than Jimin. We had to sleep with you, drag you from near her before you hurt her in your madness Yoongi. Before the day of the whipping, you were more unstable than most. At one point we kept you chained to us at night, afraid that you might kill her in your crazed obsession." Jin said.

"But now? You can control yourself to the point that you can forget your own desires to give her a night of pleasure." The hybrid gritted out, "I need that control Hyung, I am losing my mind."

"The cost at which the control came, is something I would rather not pay with. Is something that I know YOU wont be able to afford. What is worse, your case will affect her much stronger."

"You are not making sense Hyung." He told Yoongi.

Shaking his head, Yoongi tossed him a big vial which he easily caught, "Tide yourself over with that for now. Keep it together for the Gala. No doubt D and X will be present there, along with a possible threat to Suhan. We'll talk about this more when we all come safely back to home."

He walked out of the room, followed by Jin as they bid her goodnight.

The hybrid looked at the vial.

It was filled with her blood.

Like an addict needing his fix, he uncorked the bottle and inhaled the scent. The fragrance slammed into his senses, soothing his Vrâg, who contentedly faded back. His body relaxed, the tightly held muscles relaxing. Though his canine itched and his mouth watered, he held the vial close to his nose, not tasting it.

It took him 10 minutes to calm down, 10 minutes with her blood to settle down in the semblance of his normal self. For his vision to clear up.

It took him that long to finally feel like the hybrid he was, and not a dark creature who posed a threat to the existence of her.

This was bad, he thought as he closed the vial. This was bad. If he was separated from her beyond a stretch of time, a change took place in him. He lost it completely.

His Vrâg roared to the surface, his aura darkened to a point he could not recognise himself. He became violent, a deadly savage creature, wanting to only destroy.

His need for her kept mounting, his harsh desire crossing a mark beyond which, rational thoughts or actions could not be expected from him.

If he went to her in that state, he wouldn't even register if his hold might break her.

He shuddered to think what he might do to her. With the haze in his vision, he might kill her before realizing the fact.

Going before the mirror, he looked at himself.

His normal dark brown eyes were tinged with green, his Code on the very surface. Unlocking it, merging with the Vrâg would only take a breath for him. But he was fighting against it, for a reason still not shared by Yoongi.

He looked at the vial of blood.

Oh yes, he was unstable as hell. Glancing up at his reflection, Taehyung willed the green away.

He just needed to somehow make it through the Gala filled with enemies and vapid past abusers, tonight. That, and Lee Dong Wook and the secret guy Anya had once had a crush on.

Something about that unknown guy was stabbing him deeply.

An interesting night ahead . . .

A/N : RIGHT AFTER THIS, CONTINUE WITH THE PREQUEL OF THIS STORY IN "LETTERS" AVAILABLE ON MY PROFILE.

READ "LETTERS" BEFORE THE NEXT CHAP OF THE GALA.

My book was named "Storms of Fate" because of this. "Fate." Did Yoongi's question seem correct? The answer to it is in the Prequel of SOF:- Letters.

I wanted to give you the completed book, so I really worked hard. The chapters of the side story are short, very short (Unlike this one). It will give more depth to the characters, make you understand their feelings more, and also, lead to a few questions.

I had given hints of it right from the very start, if you want, hunt them?

I'll give u one recent one, not of this chapter : Tae and Anya's talk alone in the bedroom in chapter 26. But you will only be able to catch it after reading Letters.

Do comment and vote on that story too, and let me know how you feel.

I wanted to give you guys a surprise for 100k reads with a chapter and the book.

Now this chapter, (29k)😅🙈

CAN YOU GUYS BELIEVE THIS BOOK GOT 101K READS?????? A SILLY TALE I WROTE!!

THANKUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU SOOOOOOOO MUCHHHHHHHHH!!!

Yoongi Date, any thoughts? iItried to make you guys feel the atmosphere of it, hope it got conveyed.

Taehyung's instability hint you might find in Letters.

GALA NEXT.

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