11
Jimin is beautiful, breathtaking even, and that Jungkook has known since the first time he saw him sitting under that tree, covered in his own blood and eyes wide in fear. But he must admit that there's something even more beautiful, even more breathtaking, in seeing him like this.
Like this, smiling at Jungkook with an almost fond look in his mismatching eyes, unafraid and trusting, open.
"How are you feeling?" the alpha asks quietly, watching as the other wraps a fluffy towel around his petite body. He himself has already dried and dressed in the comfortable clothes Jiwoo had left them, but Jimin had insisted on staying in the bath until the water ran cold and Jungkook had to literally lift him up from there.
"Fine", Jimin mumbles. "I'm fine. Just a little hungry."
Jungkook can't help but snort. "That's given – I mean, you've barely eaten anything in five days. Still somehow had the stamina of a fucking rabbit—"
The omega flushes red and throws the closest object – his damp towel – at Jungkook. "Shut up!" he whines in an embarrassed tone that only makes the alpha smirk. With a little quieter voice, Jimin adds: "And like you're the one to talk."
Jungkook wholeheartedly agrees.
While waiting for Jimin to dress, Jungkook busies himself with ripping the old sheets of the bed. It's not like they're usable anymore, his and Jimin's scents so strongly stuck in them that no amount of washing could save them – which is fine, because Jiwoo most likely doesn't want to have any of her future patients lying on sheets that were used during a heat.
When he turns back to Jimin, he's expecting the omega to be fully dressed and ready to head downstairs, but instead he's met by a firm hand holding a soft baby blue sweater to his face.
"What—"
"Scent it", Jimin grumbles, practically growls, and Jungkook sends him a half shocked and half amused look. The omega isn't even looking at him, his mismatching eyes fixated on the floor and a terribly cute blush adorns his cheeks. It's good to see that color is returning to his pale skin.
"Why?" he asks although he's pretty sure he knows the answer. Omegas tend to be more vulnerable after heats and having their alpha's scent on them does wonders to their agitated nerves. Jungkook supposes Jimin is turning to him because he spent his heat with him and is, quite frankly, the only alpha available.
He also likes to think that he's the only alpha Jimin would ever even turn to.
The smaller man lets out a small, distressed sound. "Please don't ask, just do it. And don't act like you wouldn't know already—"
"Oh, I do", Jungkook chuckles, taking the sweater from Jimin. "I just want to hear you say it aloud."
The whine Jimin lets out makes him almost feel bad. "You can't just – ugh, fine. I need it – I mean, your scent, i-it makes me feel..."
"Makes you feel what?" Jungkook tilts his head a little and Jimin lets out another whine, but this time it really does sound quite distressed, hurt even. It makes the alpha regret teasing him, his protective side still running on overdrive, but before he can call it off, Jimin answers.
"Safe", the omega grits out, small hands gripping onto the soft material of his pants. "I need your scent on me because it makes me feel safe. Happy now?"
"Yes." Very. "Arms up."
Jimin is too embarrassed to question him, lifting his thin arms up towards the ceiling and Jungkook pulls the shirt on him in a blink of an eye. When the omega notices that it's not scented, a sound a little too close to a whimper escapes him, but Jungkook doesn't give him time to complain as he yanks Jimin forward and leans down to rub his nose against his jaw.
"You should've just asked to be scented, I wouldn't have said no", he murmurs against the omega's warm skin, dragging his lips over the scent glands on Jimin's neck. He's only answered by a breathy oh before his attention is wholly brought on dousing Jimin in his scent.
Jungkook only retreats when he's sure the other smells so strongly of him that it would make any alpha within five feet gag. And, of course, stay the fuck away from the omega.
Mine, his wolf howls happily, becoming even more satisfied when Jungkook notes the dazed look on Jimin's face. So wholly mine.
The thought sets fire to Jungkook's heart.
"C'mon", he says and coughs when he notices how rough his voice sounds. "We should go eat."
Jimin can only nod numbly and comes easily when Jungkook takes his hand.
"They're alive!" is the first thing Taehyung says when they step into the kitchen, the silver head cheering loudly over his plate of beef stew. "And it looks like they didn't mate – see, I totally told you that they had this under control, didn't I?"
Jungkook turns to look at Seokjin, who's standing by the stove with an unreadable expression on his face. But as soon as Taehyung's words reach him, the older man scoffs.
"Oh, we'll see", Seokjin says, giving Jungkook a pointed look. "I better not become an uncle anytime soon."
Jimin, who had been standing right by Jungkook's side, hides behind the alpha with his face aflame and if Jungkook wouldn't be overtaken by a wave of protectiveness over him, he might've felt embarrassed as well.
"I guess I could say the same to you, then", he growls, unconsciously moving to stand more in Jimin's way. He doesn't like the air of hostility coming from his brother but since it's his brother, he's ready to let it slide. And Namjoon would kill him if he even as much as raised his voice at Seokjin.
Taehyung coos. "Look hyung, he's being all defensive, it's so cute. Jiminie, you have such a good alpha – lucky, how lucky."
Somehow, the silver head's words seem to break the tension and Seokjin smiles. "It's cute, I have to admit. It's not every day I get to see my idiot younger brother being so serious about something." He tilts his head a little to catch a glimpse of Jimin. "I'm sorry if I came off rude, little one. Just come and eat now, Taehyung and I will leave soon."
"Will we?" the silver-haired omega asks.
"Yes", Jungkook and Seokjin answer at the same time.
Taehyung lets out a disappointed whine. "But I want to play with Chim. You've been with him for almost a week, Kookie, and I still have to beat him in blackjack—"
"Take your gambling games out of here", Jiwoo enters the kitchen, walking past Jungkook and Jimin with a low grumble. "And I really suggest not agitating an alpha right after his omega has gone through a heat, or you might end up losing a limb or two, Taehyung-ah."
"I guess you have a point."
"A very good one, if I may say", Seokjin snickers, earning a glare from the silver head.
The casual joking around helps Jungkook to relax his tense muscles and as his pheromones settle down, so do Jimin's. But that doesn't last long – the alpha is fine with having Jiwoo, Seokjin and Taehyung around since they're all submissive wolves and no danger to him or Jimin, but the second he senses another, dominating presence close by, his primal instincts flare up, and the growl Jungkook lets out is loud and ugly, almost completely unrestrained.
It's even worse that this other wolf isn't just some random alpha from his pack, but it's Namjoon – one of the alphas Jungkook has no power over.
Namjoon is standing a few meters away from them, obviously having just entered the house, shards of amber glowing in his orbs in a clear sign of warning. He might not have any ill thoughts in mind and the rational side of Jungkook is very well aware of that but the irrational side of him, the one always involved when it comes to Jimin, screams danger.
Jimin lets out a small sound of confusion when Jungkook yanks him to his other side, hiding the omega's smaller form completely from Namjoon. The air is tense, crackling with electricity, and both of the alphas are unmoving.
Jungkook absently thinks that the small hands clutching onto the back of his shirt are the only thing stopping him from making the worst decision of his life and attacking Namjoon.
He'd lose. He'd lose for sure.
But he isn't scared of that. What he's scared of, is how readily he'd still do it for Jimin.
"Joonie..." Seokjin breaks the tense silence, eyeing his brother and soon-to-be mate warily. "Now would be a very good time to just take a few steps back... and maybe exit the house."
The older alpha lets out a disgruntled noise at that, causing Jungkook to growl as well, Jimin's hold on him tightening. The omega keeps repeating the word stop, his voice muffled against Jungkook's back.
It does very little to calm down the alpha's nerves.
"Namjoon, please. Whatever you're here to talk about, we can do it elsewhere, can't we? You know Jungkook isn't completely in control right now", Seokjin continues when Namjoon doesn't move an inch.
Backing away from a younger, lower ranking alpha wouldn't look good for an alpha of Namjoon's caliber – but in the end, when it's Seokjin asking, the amber-eyed alpha relents.
"I'll wait outside", he says, tone tight, and leaves without another word. Only once the door behind Namjoon closes, does Jungkook stop posturing, sighing when he can relax his tense muscles. Jimin keeps his hands firmly wrapped around his shirt for a moment longer, looking over Jungkook shoulder at the door.
"He's not going to come back", Seokjin sighs at the two. Then he walks up to his younger brother and whacks him on the head weakly.
"Do not ever challenge Namjoon like that again if you value your position in the pack, Jungkook. He might consider you as family, but you know he doesn't stand disobedience."
"I can't make any promises", the younger just mumbles back, earning a glare from his brother and a pinch to the side from Jimin.
"Well", Jiwoo chimes in from behind them. "We can't forget that Jungkook has an omega to protect now. Don't say Namjoon doesn't act all alpha around you, Seokjin-ah."
"You mean stupid and reckless?"
The healer's eyes glimmer in mirth at Seokjin's answer. "Exactly. That's an alpha's nature."
"It's not", Jimin disagrees, leaning against Jungkook's shoulder. He's still completely soaked in the alpha's scent but some hints of sweet honeysuckle pierce through and wrap around Jungkook in an attempt to pacify him. "It's their stupid pride that always makes things hard."
Jungkook snorts and wraps an arm around Jimin's shoulders, pulling the omega flush against himself. "You sure it's my pride we're talking about?" he asks, leaning down to nibble on Jimin's ear. His sudden action makes the omega turn bright red and one of his small hands comes to yank at Jungkook's hair, not hard enough to hurt but definitely to get him to stop.
"You two are cute", Taehyung laughs. "Can't believe you used to hate each other."
Jungkook can't quite believe it either, but he has to question if he ever even hated Jimin. And, as he gazes into the mismatching eyes closely watching him, he wonders if the omega ever truly hated him either.
"Sit down and eat now", Seokjin ushers them towards the table and soon enough Jiwoo drops two full plates in front of them. "I'm going to go and talk with Namjoon, it's not good for his health to stand outside in the cold for long. Jungkook, behave. Taehyung, ten minutes and you better be outside as well. And Jimin—" The smaller omega lifts his gaze up, curiously looking at Seokjin who offers him a small smile.
"—take care of my brother, okay?"
The elder's smile turns fond and Jungkook doesn't think he needs to worry about Seokjin accepting Jimin.
With his brother gone and no apparent threat around, the alpha feels comfortable enough to dig into his food. He takes pride in his stamina as an alpha, but he must admit that Jimin's heat put it in a real test – Jungkook is starving and judging by the way Jimin quickly follows his lead, the omega is too.
"While you're eating, do you mind if I check your wounds, Jimin-ah?" Jiwoo asks after the two have practically inhaled half of their food.
The abrupt question results into Jimin choking on his food, the small omega doubling over with coughs and Jungkook can't quite hold back the glare he directs at Jiwoo. "Why?" he asks, sounding awfully defensive even to his own ears, one of his hands coming to rub Jimin's back in a comforting matter.
"Because I'm concerned that you might've caused some damage to them while going at it." The healer gives him a questioning look. "There's no way you could've not touched any of his wounds in the past five days."
Jimin gets his coughing under control quickly, greedily gulping down the water Taehyung offers him while Jungkook keeps his eyes fixated on Jiwoo.
"His wounds are fine. Actually, better than simply fine. They're healed", he states.
Now had the healer been eating something, she might've choked as well. "Healed?" Jiwoo repeats. "What – what the hell do you mean healed? Wounds like that don't just heal in five days, Jungkook."
"But he's right", Jimin cuts in softly. "My wounds... they're all gone. Jungkook healed them." Something in the omega's soft, gentle tone makes the alpha preen, extremely satisfied with helping his omega feel better. Jungkook feels so good about that, actually, that he doesn't even scold his wolf for addressing Jimin as his.
Taehyung and Jiwoo share a weird look and suddenly the silver head jumps up from his side of the table. "Can you show us, Chim?" he asks, already walking around the table but before he or Jiwoo can lay a finger on Jimin, Jungkook yanks him firmly to his chest, eyes flashing gold.
"Easy there", Taehyung sends him a pointed look. "I'm not going to hurt him, and you know that."
"You're not touching him if he doesn't say yes", is all Jungkook answers, his hold around Jimin's waist firm.
He knows, he knows no one there is going to hurt Jimin, but the thought of anyone else touching the omega sends something uncomfortable down his spine and there's possessive heat curling in his stomach. Inside, his wolf is bristling, and Jimin must even feel the growls vibrating in Jungkook chest through his back.
"Dear mother nature", his best friend rolls his eyes, groaning. "You're so much worse than Yoongi and Namjoon combined."
Jimin lets out a soft sigh and rests his small hand over the alpha's arm. "Jungkook, it's fine. Tae won't hurt me and all I have to do is lift up my shirt, right?" Jiwoo nods and the omega twists his head a little to give Jungkook a long look. "See? Everything's fine, so stop acting like a stupid baby alpha."
"I'm not a baby", Jungkook growls back, his hold all but tightening and Jimin squeaks, a bright pink hue coloring his cheeks when he's practically pulled on the alpha's lap. The taller man leans to nose at Jimin's neck, scenting him once more just to remind that no one else has any business touching him without consent.
Then, albeit reluctantly, he lets go of the omega to allow Taehyung pull him closer to himself.
"Shirt up", Jiwoo steps closer as well, gently turning Jimin around so he's facing Jungkook with his back towards the two other wolves.
The omega's mismatching eyes find Jungkook's, and with that embarrassed flush still on his cheeks, lips pursed and uncertainty in his gaze, he lifts up his shirt. Jungkook lets his eyes travel over the other's pale skin, covered in purple bruises and occasional fingerprints.
There are no signs of claw marks, aside from some older scars Jungkook can only now see in the bright light of the kitchen.
He's slightly horrified to see the number of them and there's an unsettling feeling in the pit of his stomach, as his eyes fall on a particularly cruel looking scar that cuts through Jimin's lower stomach all the way to his hip.
Only a knife could have done something like that.
"This is impossible..." Jiwoo suddenly breathes out, snapping Jungkook out of his thoughts. He lifts his gaze to look at the healer, whose warm amber eyes are locked on Jimin's back. "There are no scars, no trace of them at all. It's like—"
"He never even got hurt in the first place", Taehyung finishes for her, trailing his fingers over Jimin's shoulder blade, making the omega flinch and Jungkook growl in warning.
"Haven't you seen enough?" the alpha asks, foot tapping the floor impatiently. "You're making him uncomfortable."
"And you really need to control your alpha", Jiwoo says back but she still lets Jimin lower his shirt and return to his earlier position, curled up against Jungkook's side.
"So?" the small male asks in a quiet voice after a moment.
"So?" Taehyung repeats.
"You two look like you know something", Jimin clarifies and Jungkook must agree – Jiwoo's eyes have darkened, a thoughtful look fixated on her face, and even Taehyung seems a little more serious than usual, a storm swimming in his brown eyes. "I know for a fact that stuff like this doesn't happen – not even between mates. My wounds were too big, too deep. Jungkook shouldn't have been able to heal them."
"Maybe it was the heat? That's when your body is the most capable, isn't it?" the alpha offers but his voice is filled by uncertainty.
Jimin shakes his head. "The most capable as in ready to bear children – not this."
"Okay then", Jungkook turns to Jiwoo. "You tell us what's going on."
The healer is quiet for a long moment, her gaze flickering between the omega and alpha. She opens and closes her mouth several times, obviously unsure what to say and that if anything makes Jungkook grow tense.
It's nothing good, he deduces, and by the way Jimin's hand comes to clutch onto his thigh, distress radiating from him in waves, he knows the omega has figured out that much too. Unconsciously, Jungkook rests his hand on top of Jimin's.
"I um, I'm going to have to think about it a little more", Jiwoo finally sighs, shaking her head softly. When Jimin opens his mouth to protest, the healer just silences him with one look. "You two should just calm down now. Heats are never easy, and it takes a while for your hormones to settle down again – so eat and go take a walk or something, I still need to air this whole house. Come back later when you're both comfortable enough with other people around."
Jiwoo says nothing more; she just straightens herself and heads for the door, mumbling something incoherent under her breath. A heartbeat later Taehyung bounces up as well, saying that he's going to check on Seungkwan and leaves with a tense smile on his lips.
"Something's wrong", Jungkook frowns, watching as the door behind Jiwoo closes and Taehyung disappears into one of the private rooms.
"Stating the obvious, puppy", Jimin just hums, going back to playing with his food. He seems to have lost his appetite and honestly, Jungkook has too.
"What do I have to do to make you stop calling me a puppy?" The alpha grabs a hold of the other's neck, massaging the soft flesh a little harsher than he probably should. Jimin only grumbles in annoyance but doesn't push his hand away.
"You need to prove me you're not one, but you're really not doing a good job at it."
"Wasn't fucking you into oblivion enough?"
The omega chokes on air and angrily slaps Jungkook's hand away, his mismatching eyes narrowed and blush reaching all the way down to his collarbones. The alpha thinks it's quite adorable – if he knew that all it takes to get under Jimin's skin is to embarrass him, he would've started a lot earlier.
"This is exactly why you're a puppy – you don't just say things like that out loud!"
"Oh c'mon."
Jimin wrinkles his nose at him and Jungkook can't help but chuckle, returning his hand on the omega's back and without much thinking, he slips it under his shirt.
The smooth skin of Jimin's back feels nice under his roaming fingers.
Jungkook takes Jimin out to the lake located at the very end of their territory, the one thing that keeps them firmly apart from the mountains.
The village is eerily quiet when they march through it, Jimin trailing behind Jungkook's footsteps, one hand holding onto the hem of his coat. It has snowed a lot during the five days they spent within the infirmary, the snow easily reaching his calves. Also most likely one of the reasons it's so quiet – no one wants to be outside in the cold and wet unless forced to.
Jimin seems happy though, albeit understandably a little nervous. It's obvious that he's in his element and as soon as they leave the village behind, the omega's steps become lighter and the smile Jungkook sees slipping on his face is his most genuine one yet.
Freedom looks good on Jimin. Jungkook wishes that one day, hopefully soon, he could set the omega free for good.
"This way", he motions, gently pulling Jimin along towards the slowly dwindling trees. He's still half expecting the omega to run away from him, especially now that he's healed and much more capable in the snow than Jungkook, but he's happily surprised to see that Jimin never strays too far away from him.
The air is crisp, the temperature well under minus fifteen, and Jungkook's glad that as an alpha, he rarely feels cold. Jimin might have some trouble with that but so far the omega seems good, cheeks bright pink from the cold and the smile on his face turning his eyes into crescent moons.
"How cold is it in the mountains, exactly?" he can't help but asks.
"Well, it depends. In January it's always under minus twenty. In the summer, the temperature might go up to fifteen degrees. But I guess, from a forest wolf's perspective—" Jimin eyes him with amusement "—it's always cold."
"Fifteen isn't bad", Jungkook points out.
"Oh, well then how warm is it here in the summer?"
"Depends. July and August are our hottest months, somedays it might be over thirty, somedays just twenty."
Something sad seeps into Jimin's gaze. "That must be nice. Do children get to play outside a lot?"
"Of course they do. Don't they at your home?"
"Rarely. Especially lately, when winters have lasted longer than before. We've lost too many pups into the cold; it doesn't help that most of us have white fur, too. You take your eyes off your child for a second and that's it – they're gone. In the summer, if we're lucky, we might find their bodies."
Jungkook grimaces. "That's..."
"Life", Jimin simply states, brushing it off easily. "Different from yours, but completely normal to me. The mountains are a cruel place to live in. That's why there are strict rules we must follow and why everyone is needed there. I don't quite understand how they have time to come all the way down here to attack your pack."
"If everyone's needed back home, what were you doing down here in the first place?"
It's Jimin's turn to grimace, the memory obviously not something he's fond of. "Oh, I just – we visited the human city, my grandmother and I—"
"Why?"
Jimin comes to a stop and although there's still some way to the lake, Jungkook understands that he's already walking on thin ice. The look on the omega's face is bitter and sad, an all too familiar look, and he has a big urge to wipe it away – he just doesn't know how.
He doesn't know how to fix a broken heart.
"I was going to leave", Jimin tells after a moment. His voice is barely above a whisper.
"Leave – as in leave the pack? This whole... area?" Jungkook's stomach twists into a tight knot and his wolf howls in disapproval, not liking the thought of having almost lost Jimin without even meeting him first.
The omega swallows, looking down at the ground. It's obvious that he's embarrassed, ashamed.
"Yeah. I was going to leave the pack and my grandmother was just trying to help me out."
"Why did you come back then?"
"My grandmother, she was the old healer of my pack and there was a call – they said some accident had happened and the current healer needed help and I just, I thought I had to come back with her. It's not like leaving the pack was something I was excited to do, even though I've never particularly liked it there." Jimin shrugs his shoulders, a look of acceptance dawning on his face. He's lost many people already and although it's never easy, he has learned to just... live with it.
He's learned to live with the hole in his chest.
"We just never reached home. And if they have time to come and cause havoc here, I doubt there was any accident to begin with."
"Jimin, I'm – I'm sorry. Your grandmother, I'm sorry you lost her. I—"
"It's fine", Jimin cuts him off, shaking his head. "There's nothing you could've done about it anyway."
Jungkook knows that's a lie. If he had just been a little faster that day, he could've saved not only Jimin, but his grandmother as well. He knows he could have.
They don't talk about it more. The alpha understands to drop the subject and Jimin seems thankful about that, the smile quickly easing back to his lips.
Jungkook hates how it doesn't reach his eyes anymore.
But as they continue their way towards the lake, a heavy feeling settling down in the alpha's stomach, he realizes he never asked the question that matters the most.
Why, why would Jimin want to leave his pack?
The lake is covered in snow as well and it almost looks like a winter wonderland, like a snowy field that's just calling you to come and play on it. Jungkook comes to a halt right by the edge of the forest, skeptically eyeing the open space – their territory ends here, but the lake is neutral ground so it shouldn't cause them any trouble to step further.
Jimin stops next to him. "My pack—" he mumbles, pointing at the other side of the lake they can barely see. "—is there. That's a part of our territory."
It's weird to think that Jungkook and Jimin have always been just a lake away from each other.
"We live much further up the mountains though." Jimin narrows his eyes and probably sees something Jungkook can't exactly pinpoint. To him, the mountains just look big and dangerous, the tips disappearing to the dark clouds telling the tale of a closing storm. To him, the mountains have always been a distant threat.
Yet they've always been this close.
He looks at Jimin. There's no yearning in the omega's mismatching eyes.
"Have you been by the lake before?" Jungkook asks quietly. His mother's screams echo in his mind but he blinks the memory away, tries not to think about the black water hidden under layers of snow and ice.
"A few times. There's not much to see here, not much prey. I think my dad used to bring me here when I was younger. I'm not sure – can't really remember him that well." The omega frowns and tilts his head a little. "But he told me about your pack."
"Oh."
"The Kim pack. Strong but a little too prideful." Jimin sends him a wry smile. "Cruel but kind. Much kinder than the Park pack."
"I thought we had a reputation of being quite vicious?"
"Puppy, you haven't seen vicious until you've met my pack-leader."
Jungkook doesn't like the hatred that seeps into Jimin's tone at the mention of the head of the Park pack. It's not exactly the way he'd imagine anyone talk about their own head alpha, no way in hell would he ever speak of Kim Chaerin with such a disgusted tone.
"Stop calling me a puppy", Jungkook complains, thinking it's better to avoid the subject of Jimin's pack. He doesn't want to pry too much, that would most likely make the omega suspicious, but more than that, he doesn't want to be the one to wipe away the warm glimmer in Jimin's eyes.
"Never."
And suddenly he's smacked in the face with cold snow, Jimin bolting away from him with a laugh.
And he dares to call me a puppy, Jungkook thinks, wiping the cold substance off his face before scowling.
"Oh, you're on."
The omega sticks out his tongue at the same time he leans down to pick up snow from the ground. Jungkook narrows his eyes at that and without a warning bounces on him, growling as he tackles Jimin on the ground.
The blonde shrieks and puts up a fight under him, laughing and screaming profanities at Jungkook, trying to wriggle out of the alpha's grasp in vain. Jungkook does get smacked with snow once or twice but his hold never falters and after a few minutes Jimin gives up, still giggling but out of breath.
"You should've seen your face", the omega snickers, taking off his gloves to rest his small, warm hands on Jungkook's cold and wet cheeks.
"You're ridiculous", the alpha just murmurs, shaking his head. Seokjin and Jiwoo are going to be overjoyed when they return with their clothes soaked wet – but as he takes a look at the small omega lying under him, Jungkook can't really get mad.
Jimin's hair is fanned out beautifully on the snow, glimmering eyes filled by mirth and full pink lips open, hot puffs of air tickling Jungkook's chin. He wrinkles his nose cutely and smiles, eyes turning into those stupid crescent moons that make Jungkook's heart do a weird thing and the alpha leans down to rub his nose against the omega's before he can stop himself.
The touch is warm and surprisingly intimate. The fire in his heart grows and he moves down to scent the omega once more, drawing out small, satisfied noises from him. He could go on forever.
When Jungkook leans back, Jimin is already looking at him. The universe he holds in his other eye is dark and tempting as ever, but the warmth of his amber eye looks like home.
Their lips are almost touching. The urge to lean down and press his own against Jimin's is stronger than it was during the omega's heat – and it's the thought of that that makes Jungkook pull away.
It's a sign to stop before they cross the line no one ever should.
Because the worst thing you could do, is to fall in love with a wolf from another pack.
"C'mon, we should start heading back. You're looking a little cold", he says, swiftly pulling Jimin up from the ground. The omega seems everything but cold.
"Have you?" Jimin asks just before Jungkook manages to turn away and head back to the direction where they came from. "Have you ever been here before?"
The alpha purses his lips. "Twice. I don't really... like it here."
"Why? Because it's too open?"
"My parents died here."
The following silence is heavy but Jimin's gaze on him feels heavier.
"Your parents... you said that there was an accident. Did they—"
"They drowned. It was a bad winter and the ice wasn't strong enough to hold their weight. My mom fell under and dad went after her without thinking about the consequences. Neither rose back to the surface", Jungkook says it all in one breath, hands balled into tight fists by his side. He's recalled the story many times, the pack's pups tending to be a little too curious about why he doesn't have parents, but it never gets easier.
It never hurts any less.
"I'm... I, Jungkook, I'm—"
"Don't say it", he shakes his head violently. "It happened a long time ago and I don't deserve anyone's pity."
Jimin's eyes are filled by a feeling he'd rather not name.
"Why?"
"Because it was my fault."
"You were a kid, Jungkook, how could it have been your fault? It's not like you pushed your mother into the water, was it?"
"No." No, he didn't need to do that. "She came after me."
Jimin doesn't say anything, just steps a little closer. Jungkook isn't looking at him, his eyes fixated on the snow-covered lake, but he can imagine the look on Jimin's face. Pity, always so full of pity, and Jungkook hates it.
He has moved on. Both he and Seokjin have, time has done its healing – but not even time can ever make him feel like he isn't the one at fault. Not even time can take away the fact that he had parents, loving parents, who he ended up losing because he was too reckless.
"Like I said, it was a bad winter. It wasn't as cold as usual, which should be good for us, but it really wasn't. There wasn't any more prey than before, even less actually, and the pack was starving. I wanted to help, so one day I went to hunt with my parents – it was just supposed to be practice for future, my father didn't expect me to catch anything but then I saw this deer and I thought that I was good enough, strong enough to catch it."
Stupid is what he was. A seven-year-old who hadn't even presented running after a grown deer? Jungkook hadn't stood a chance, but the need to prove himself to his alpha father, the need to make his mother proud, had overcome any rational thought.
"You were just seven", Seokjin had said many times to him. Occasionally, when the memories catch up to him in the form of ugly nightmares, he says it again.
"You didn't know it would end like that."
But his mother warned him, and he should have known.
"I ran after the deer without a second thought", Jungkook continues, his voice becoming quieter, almost nothing but a whisper. "My mom, she kept screaming at me to come back because she knew, she knew I was running towards the lake, but I didn't listen and then suddenly, there was this loud cracking noise and then..."
Then it was dark. It was cold.
And they were gone.
"The next thing I knew, I was in the infirmary. Seokjin was sleeping next to me and Taehyung's father was sitting next to the bed. He was awake and I still can't shake off the way he looked at me when I asked where mom and dad were. There's something... very unsettling in seeing a grown man break down like that."
Jungkook shivers at the memory, feeling almost as cold as he did that day.
"We couldn't even find their bodies until spring, when all the snow and ice had melted, and it was save to dive underwater."
Seokjin had lost it the moment he saw their mother's body being lifted from the water. Jungkook himself had literally thrown up, and Namjoon's father had whisked them away before their father was even found.
They buried more wolves that spring than they had ever before.
Taehyung's father had been killed a few weeks prior by a rogue wolf alongside Yugyeom's beta mother. The former pack-leader died two weeks later in a fight with the Lee pack and Chaerin rose to her current position.
Jungkook thinks that, in a way, that winter changed the whole pack. It gave them all a new feeling of cold that he still hasn't been able to shake off.
But when Jimin's small arms wrap around him, the omega leaning his head against Jungkook's shoulder and trying so hard to cover the alpha completely, as if to protect him from the whole world, a part of that cold begins to melt.
"Wasn't your fault", the omega mumbles. "A parent always protects their children. They were just doing what they had to. It's what love does to people."
"Kills them?" Jungkook asks dryly and Jimin tightens his hold, sniffling quietly.
"No. It saves them."
He can't help but scoff. "Saves them – how was that saving anyone? They both died, Jimin, they didn't—"
"They saved you."
Jimin lifts his head up to look at Jungkook properly. There's no trace of pity in his eyes, just sorrow and something so awfully warm, almost protective, and the alpha is reminded of the scent of vanilla and jasmine.
Jimin looks like he's hurting for him.
They leave a few minutes later and there's something between them, something that wasn't there before. Maybe it's mutual understanding but whatever it is, it's something small, very small. But it's also something warm and Jungkook wonders if it could someday grow into something bigger.
Big enough to melt away not only the coldness in his heart, but also Jimin's.
The omega is walking a few steps ahead of him, wet gloves hanging from one hand and Jungkook kind of wishes he had the courage to hold his other hand.
"You mentioned that you have lost your parents, too", he breaks the silence, earning a confirming hum from the other. "Can I ask what happened to them?"
"Oh. It's not really that interesting. They were killed when I was five."
"By enemy wolves?"
Jimin turns to send him an almost amused look.
"No."
Jungkook doesn't need to ask why anymore.
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