Mix and Match ~ TK

24

"Taehyungie!"

A pair of arms circled around me in flash as soon as I stepped into my brothers apartment.
I recognized the scent to be Jin hyung so I hugged him back tightly.

"How are you doing Tae Tae? You got us all so scared!"

He detached himself only to hold me at arm's length, diligently studying me.
I weakly smiled back, noticing Namjoon's figure standing tall beside the large glass wall of the penthouse in the background, his face barely showing any particular expression from my point of view.
When he catches my stare he came forward and hugged me tighter than ever.

"How are you feeling?" He asked in a clear but relatively warm tone, a bit of concern showing in his dark maroon eyes.
I shake my head slowly, smiling comfortingly to my caring hyungs. Times like these make me feel deeply thankful that I have them by my side.

"I'm doing alright." I chuckle. I add, wanting to cheer them up badly, "although I guess someone saw fit to put me in a stranger's bed while I was unconscious."

Jin head bowed down at my statement, the tips of his ears growing a bit red which was very surprising considering how much of a confident force of nature our Luna is, hardly ever being reluctant about anything.
My eyes trailed to my brother when he cleared his throat, snapping my attention away from his mate.

"I carried you to Jungkook's apartment last night."

He declared without an ounce of uncertainty. I furrowed my eyebrows, desperately praying that he didn't know what I'm fearing he does.

"Why would you take me to Jungkook's-"

"You mean why did I take you to your mate's side when you were clearly dying in that dorm room you so obviously share with Jimin?"

I clasped my mouth shut at the anger simmering in his voice. Fuck, of course he knew.
Shame and guilt started creeping up in the form of blood rushing to my neck as I eyed Jin who was looking away, avoiding facing me. I didn't get the chance to ask the omega, interrupted again by my brother.

"Don't you dare for a second blame this on Seokjin. He did what he knows is the best for you."

I snapped.

"Oh really? So separating me from my soulmate and forcing me into a stranger's bed is what's best for me, huh?"

Namjoon was now stepping between Jin and I, making me mentally get ready for the scolding of a lifetime that I knew as coming my way for a while now.

"Jimin is not your soulmate, Taehyung! Grow the fuck up!"
Namjoon shouted equally angered by my retort, his words hitting me like a slap on the face. Okay, maybe I wasn't prepared enough for this confrontation as I thought I was.

"You.. you have no right!" I stumble back a few steps towards the exit unconsciously. I knew Namjoon would never hit me, more like Jin would never allow such thing. But something in the way my brother formed his words, veins showing in his neck while he looked at me with a mixture of exasperation and anger made something spark inside of me that I haven't felt in a very long time: fear.

Jin was taken aback by how the way things were going, clearly not what he expected when unveiling the truths. I could sense his slight panic that he's battling to keep at bay while reaching for his mate.
Namjoon was stepping forward, not noticing my wolf struggling not to cower in front of his Alpha.

"Listen here and listen good." A few centimeters apart, the stark red eyes of my brother were pinning me in place, forcing me to submit to him. "I don't want to have this conversation with you ever again, Taehyung. You're a grown wolf and I know for damn sure you don't need any of us babysitting your ass. But as a matter of fact I remain your Alpha, and if I need to make you obey my every order until I deem you worthy of making your own choices without fucking yourself up in the process, I will.
I may have overlooked your sleeping arrangements with your supposed best friend or whatever, I ignored your unhealthy consumption of weed telling myself that you needed to eventually learn from your mistakes. But I will NOT stand by and watch you kill yourself because of some sick and twisted non existent love story.
Whatever you and Jimin have, it's over. You heard me? Over.
You will get your shit together and you will face your goddamn mate before it's too late.
I don't care what happens to the both of you but you will not ignore this any further.
If by then you really don't want anything to do with each other, then by all means go ahead and reject it. But for the love of our dear Goddess do it properly and spare us the unnecessary drama. I absolutely refuse to have another dead brother on my hands."

I felt my eyes prickle once the last words registered in my head, erasing all his previous words.
Namjoon and I have never talked about our family before. I was really young, about eight or nine when the tragedy happened. Our whole family was taken apart, half of it slaughtered, the other half disappeared or so we want to believe. Namjoon being seventeen at that time was forced to make a decision to save our pack, or what remained of the northern packs at least.
Long story short, he became head Alpha; joined forces with the remaining leaders and built a new version of what a traditional pack would be like. A modern, urbanized pack.
There are may reasons  Namjoon was picked as head Alpha amongst everyone else; beside his blood and heritage, he was and still is for all of us the symbol of a new beginning : young, fearless and every bit the sensible leader.
As years passed by, and Jin officially gained his place as our Luna, both he and my brother raised me as their child. Forcing me to have a good education, keeping up with every aspect of my childhood and teenage hood but mostly giving me so much love to compensate for what we had to endure in the past, so much that I came to slowly forget all about it. For me, Namjoon, Jin and Jimin were my family.

Bringing the past back seem to open wounds none of us were ready to face nor acknowledge. Oh but it opened my eyes clearly on where he was coming from. Suddenly, my situation with Jimin and Jungkook looked so.. small, so insignificant, as much as Namjoon's statement- command seemed logical and even dare I say desperate.
I may have been eight or nine when I lost the majority of our family, but he was well aware of everything that had been going on that I can't even fathom the pain and grief he's been feeling all along.

I lifted my teary eyes for the first time since he began talking, being met with the sight of an equally tearful Namjoon back hugged by a sniffling Seokjin.

"Hyung..." Both my brothers looked at me with silver lined eyes. Jin shook his head, black strands falling on his pale face. Somehow I manage to remember their age compared to mine and how hard this must have been for the both of them.

"It's okay, Taehyungie. We can only imagine what you're going through in these times. All we want is your happiness and well being and we both believe that giving Jungkook a chance can help the situation immensely." Jin said, voice never faltering, hand reaching towards me.

Taking this as a sign of acceptance and agreement, I hesitantly reach to grab his hand under the hopeful stare of my brother. Grasping tightly, we find ourselves in warm emotional group hug.
Knowing that I understand them and they understand me is all I needed to accept writing a new chapter of my life, perhaps, just perhaps, one where a ravenette can play the principal character as well.

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