Stigma

Chapter 12

"What do you want to know?" Taehyung asked, finally taking a deep breathe now that Jungkook didn't seem like he was on the verge of running away.

Jungkook shrugged. "Anything, everything." He smiled slightly. "Let's start with why your eyes change color."

"Oh, that." Taehyung said bashfully, looking away from Jungkook's scrutinizing gaze.

"It can happen when I'm around blood obviously. But more frequently when I feel a particularly strong emotion. My hair color can change too, just from
blonde to black sometimes."

Jungkook nodded, remembering his second meeting with Taehyung when he had been surprised to see the man with dark hair.

"You said mates can pick up on each other's scent. What does that mean exactly?"

Taehyung shifted a little. "Well you know how when you walk into someone's house and it smells a certain way, like it just smells like them?"

Jungkook nodded.

"It's like that, but much stronger."

Jungkook was silent for a moment, fidgeting with one of the silver rings on his finger.

"You smell like flowers." he mumbled softly. "What do I smell like?" Jungkook finally looked up again, seeing a soft smile on Taehyung's face.

The blonde moved closer to him, brushing a strand of hair behind his ear and leaning in close to his neck. Jungkook tried not to shiver as he felt Taehyung's eyelashes brush his skin.

"You smell like vanilla. And cinnamon." Taehyung breathed against his ear before moving back a respectable distance again. He knew he needed to tread carefully, as much as he wished he could just embrace Jungkook he didn't want to risk scaring him away.

Jungkook didn't say anything more after that, seeming lost in thought but not quite ready to leave.

"Is there anything else you want to know?" Taehyung asked gently.

"D-do you... you know..." Jungkook faltered in his words and Taehyung could sense some of his fear returning.

"You want to know if I feed on people." Taehyung said, not needing Jungkook to finish to know what he was going to ask.

Jungkook hesitantly gave a nod, almost like he didn't want to know the answer.

"I wish I could tell you no. But I have to, we all do. It's how we survive. But we don't always feed on live people a lot of the time it's blood bags."

Jungkook shuddered at the thought, not all that comforted by the idea.

"What happened to that woman from earlier?" He started to curl up on himself more.

"She was one of Mingyu's." Taehyung said darkly.

"Mingyu? Like the man from a couple of weeks ago?" Jungkook remembered with a start the odd encounter he'd had near the edge of town.

Taehyung smiled grimly. "Yes. He's the leader of a rival vampire clan. Their territory starts just beyond that graveyard which you almost walked right into. They do things a little, differently. Marking prey like that is an old tradition. They keep the same humans for feeding until they eventually give out because of the blood loss. The x on her arm is a symbol of ownership."

"That's- awful." Jungkook said, fearing for himself even more now because he'd interacted with such a dangerous person and didn't even know it.

"You don't do that here?"

"No. When we feed on someone we either wipe their memory and send them on their way or..." Taehyung trailed off. "Either way, we don't keep them prisoner. I don't allow that."