As the enemy surrounds them, blocking any and all paths of escape, Seokjin thinks that maybe it was after all a bad idea to taunt the Fey King - even if done in a moment of anger.
The fey knights close in on them in a circular formation. So many of them advance and it doesn't seem to matter how many they cut down.
He hears Hoseok call out to Yoongi and follows his best friend's voice. Namjoon is with him and it makes a tiny bit of Seokjin's fear ebb – but only momentarily.
Yoongi swears on his other side and he turns back just in time to see Taehyung collapse onto his knees, the blue-haired boy's nails digging into the dirt underneath them. Tae looks pale. So weak and drained, exhausted from over-using so much magic.
The pits Taehyung had made buy them some time, hampering the knights' movements. But still, it's not enough.
And then it happens.
One moment he and Yoongi were doing okay with keeping the fey from getting too close to Taehyung but Seokjin blinks and in that single, brief moment a grey-skinned fey manages to teleport himself to right in front of the hybrid.
"Tae, look out!" Yoongi screams, voice shrill, eyes wide as he tries to push back against the fey he was preoccupied with.
"Taehyung!" Seokjin calls, praying that the youngest is aware enough to at least hear him and get out of the way. But the hybrid remains unresponsive, head lowered and breathing heavy.
Seokjin's instincts kick in. Just as it had been that morning in the cave when he had the vision about the dungeons, he doesn't remember moving his feet. One second he is beside Yoongi, yelling Taehyung's name. And in the next instant he is somehow in front of the slumped hybrid, sword at the ready.
He tries to push back, to keep the knights away, to kill as many as possible.
His efforts are hampered when one of the faerie warriors drives their sword deep into Seokjin's shoulder, making him cry out as pain shoots down every nerve of his body, the sword in his hand faltering, it's weight too heavy now due to blood loss from the gaping wound in his shoulder. He clenches his teeth, willing his mind to numb the searing sensations and then he lifts his head in time to see another fae coming at him with a metal spear swinging in an arch, aiming at his chest. Seokjin makes a split second decision and takes a step back, turning slightly sideways and wrapping his arms around Taehyung, angling his own body in such a way that makes the hybrid less vulnerable to any attacks, Seokjin's torso acting as a protective blanket of sorts.
Time seems to slow down as he trains his eyes on the sharp tip of the spear and then he can't see.
Or rather, his sight tints blue, the wolf fighting to be on the surface as another vision makes itself known.
It's blurry and fragmented, the most confusing one he's had yet. He just sees, not being able to make neither head nor tail of what is actually happening in his premonition.
He sees the throne hall back home, Mircea castle sparkling clean and refurbished, not one thing out of place that might point to the fact that the fey had attacked it not long ago, causing a massacre, making unsuspecting shifters bleed out onto the cold tiles.
It shifts and he sees himself walking down one of the castle's corridors, heavy royal robes sweeping behind him, a genuine and relaxed smile on his face. A hint of a mating mark peeps out from the embroidered and sequined collar of his robes.
The vision changes again and this time it's Namjoon, dimples showing as he gazes warmly at two small pups, a girl and a boy, running around the garden.
Seokjin feels happiness fill his chest at this but it doesn't last long.
There are screams again now, the sound much too familiar by now than he might've preferred. He hears a loud booming noise and then sees himself again, skin startlingly pale in contrast to the dark blood that has splashed all over – staining his clothes, marring his face, streaming down his cheeks along with unmistakable tears as his lips tremble.
In the next fragment Seokjin is running through the forest, trees flitting by. There is a sort of heaviness to his body that he can't make sense of right now. The last thing he sees before the vision ends is Taehyung kneeling before him on the ground, pulling him into a hug.
When the blue fades from his eyes it is replaced by something that he realizes is fur. He flails and stumbles, falling backwards and almost crushing Taehyung under him as he slowly comes to his senses.
And then he feels the same sensation of warm liquid staining his skin, seeping into his clothes as he tries to shift his weight and slowly comprehends that something or someone – has landed atop him.
That someone being Jimin.
"Oh Luna! Jimin!"
Seokjin's heart races as panic blooms in his chest. Jimin's blonde wolf is heavy on top of him.
"No, no no – no." he whispers to himself urgently as he strains his neck and spots the spear that had been aimed at him just moments prior now embedded in Jimin's torso, blood seeping out from the wound, further tainting the already dirt-and-fey-blood stained fur.
Jimin's chest rises and falls in rapid stutters, whimpers of pain pulling at Seokjin's thumping heart, squeezed tight with worry.
Somehow, he manages to slide out from underneath the injured wolf and then helps Taehyung too. The boy's face grows even paler - if that is even possible. Taehyung scrambles forward on his knees, the cloth of his pants tearing from the coarse grains of dirt and debris and cutting tiny lines against smooth skin.
Out of the corner of his eye, Seokjin notices when Namjoon and Hoseok finally reach their small group, helping Yoongi to keep the faeries at bay. Distantly, Seokjin thinks he should be fighting too. But at this moment his complete focus is on Taehyung and Jimin, the wolf's head protectively cradled in the hybrids lap while the blue-haired boy runs frantic but careful hands over the fur.
"Stay with me, love." Taehyung whispers, eyes flitting all over the wolf's body in a frenzy. "We will get you to the healers...No, don't!"
The wolf shrinks, fur replaced by bloodied skin as Jimin transforms into his human form, gurgling out broken words that Seokjin isn't close enough to make out properly but he thinks he hears Jimin say something about the mind-link.
Taehyung pleads him to shift back but Jimin shakes his head weakly. When Jimin starts to half-deliriously mumble about not keeping promises and Taehyung shushes him, rambling on about getting better and kids and whatnot Seokjin's mind briefly flashes back to the pups in his vision.
Seokjin watches Taehyung rock Jimin's body lightly, mumbling soothing words. He watches as Jimin slowly closes his eyes and smiles softly, blood at the corners of his lips that are curled upwards just barely.
"Jimin? Jiminie?" Taehyung calls out, hand on Jimin's cheek.
The alpha's eyes stay closed, breathing becoming slower and slower with each passing second.
***
Seokjin jumps and stumbles into Namjoon's chest when the ground starts to shake, tremors spreading out from the place where they stand and out across the rest of the battlefield.
Namjoon's arms come around him, fingers digging into the material of Seokjin's robe sleeves to ground him as the dark-haired omega starts trembling at the sight of Taehyung's eyes slowly loosing focus and changing from blue to that eerie green he fears. The green he prayed he would never have to witness again.
The ground cracks, thick roots winding and spasming onto the surface, striking down everything and everyone they come in contact with pure force alone. They are mindless, controlled only by the unconscious will of Taehyung's growing rage.
"Tae...?" he calls quietly when the hybrid slowly lays Jimin down on the ground and stands. Tears tinged with blood and dirt stream down the boy's cheeks, his eyes remain green and unseeing – or maybe he is only seeing what he wants to see.
The enemy.
The enemy who had hurt his love, who let Jimin's breathing stutter to an ominous stop.
The gnarled tree roots catch fire, sparks flying every which way as Taehyung starts mindlessly walking. However, a single green sprout digs its way out of the dirt by Jimin's side, growing and growing. Getting taller, trunk thicker.
Seokjin gasps, struggling to break Namjoon's hold on him when the sapling – now a still growing tree – gets too close to Jimin. Namjoon pulls him back, using all of his strength to keep Seokjin from breaking free.
But soon the Kim Clan's prince stops struggling and gapes wide-eyed as the trunk of the tree turns hollow, engulfing Jimin's body within it and safeguarding the blonde alpha from the chaos all around, trunk and roots twisting and swirling to form weird patterns and waves.
Their small group has no choice but to move back when the roots start growing upwards at an angle, in a circle around the tree and pointing outward, razor sharp like stalactites. It's like they are warding off anyone who dares to come closer.
"Shouldn't we stop him!?" Yoongi whisper-shouts to their group. The first of them to be able to form coherent words.
Hoseok takes one look at Taehyung and shakes his head. "He is not himself now. If we go near there's no telling what might happen." Yoongi's jaw clenches.
"He's going to kill Rian." Seokjin announces, watching as the hybrid slowly makes his way to the obsidian throne, the Fey King now on his feet, unstable and a group of elite fey knights stationed around him, eyes and weapons trained on the approaching figure.
"Holy Luna..." Jiwon gasps, fingers white around the hilt of her sword.
They don't have to fight anymore. The fey are more interested in stopping Taehyung and avoiding the blazing tendrils and roots still swaying and swishing through the air.
They pose no threat to the hybrid whatsoever.
Taehyung doesn't even bat an eye, his subconsciousness ruling over his powers – burning, drowning, strangling, burying the fey alive beneath the dirt, the air itself cutting into flesh like sharpened knives.
When Seokjin imagined the Fey King's death it had always been dramatic. A duel following the laws of the fey or just Seokjin and his friends cornering Rian and subjugating him until he would surrender – and then one of them would run a sword through his heart or cut his head off. Then they would rejoice and celebrate to their hearts' content before returning home to start their lives anew.
Rian's death doesn't happen like that.
It is swift – the death. Anticlimactic even, for all their struggles and arduous journeys and suffering and loss.
Taehyung is half way towards the throne, then he is engulfed in a whirlpool of a shimmering portal. The next instant he is standing in front of Rian, past the fey guards.
Seokjin doesn't know where he got it from but Tae holds a spear in one of his hands. Rian has time to only blink once before the spear lodges into his torso, mimicking the way it had stuck out of Jimin's chest.
Rian coughs up blood, falling to his knees as he clutches at the place where the spear enters his body. He was already too weak, too much time since his last feeding on hybrid blood. It takes mere minutes for the life to fade from Rian's eyes and his limp body falls forward with a thump. Taehyung doesn't stop and proceeds to burn it in a blazing bonfire.
Namjoon's grip on him loosens just a fraction and Seokjin breaks free, sprinting across the field, jumping and ducking to avoid the burning tendrils. Miraculously though, they seem to have a mind of their own, steering free of any shifters including the prince.
When he reaches Taehyung, Seokjin gasps in shock. He grips one of the hybrid's shoulders and turns Taehyung to face him, startling at the other omega's eyes – now one blue and one green.
"Tae...?"
The blue-haired boy's jaw is clenched tight, gaze hard and furious. Thankfully, it doesn't seem to be directed at the prince.
"Leave, Seokjin." He says harshly, "Take the others and leave here. The fey lands are no home for good people. There are only monsters here."
"We will leave only if you come with us!" Yoongi exclaims, panting and out of breath as he skids to a stop just behind Seokjin.
Taehyung shakes his hand, eyes boring into every fey knight around them – some still trying to kill the shifters, some running for their lives to escape Taehyung's destructive magic which seeks vengeance, others just looking confused with no leader or king to take orders from.
"I'm staying. I am a monster too." He says self-depreciatively.
A stray fey warrior runs towards them, sword drawn and screaming. Taehyung raises his hand palm up and makes a gesture and Seokjin watches as every faerie on the battlefield gets imprisoned in a cage of thorny vines, sharp points digging into their flesh and making them cry out.
"Taehyung, what- stop that!" Seokjin pleads, pulling at the boy's sleeves. "Let us go, please. Rian is dead. We have no more quarrels with the fey folk."
"Oh but I do!" Taehyung screams into his face, breathing heavy, his left blue eye misty with tears, the green one burning with fury. "They killed Jimin. They killed our people just because of a single command from a whimsical ruler who didn't even follow their own laws. The fey might feel that they are superior because of their immortality and powers but now they are going to pay – they will stay this way for the rest of their years and repent, experiencing this pain each and every day."
"Tae, this isn't you!" Yoongi tries. Seokjin notices that he is crying. The prince recalls that, despite not meeting each other in person until a few weeks ago, Yoongi has known Taehyung for a long time, almost as long as he's known Jimin and Hoseok. Seokjin himself already feels incredibly close to the blue-haired omega, Taehyung having burrowed into a soft spot in the prince's heart. "You know Jimin the best, Tae. Would he want you to do this? No. He would want you to be happy, to make a good life for your-"
"Yoongi! Don't bother." Taehyung says sharply, cutting Yoongi off. "I have decided already. Now leave!" his voice resounds through the battlefield, everyone's ears ringing.
The blue-haired omega turns away from them, walking towards the obsidian throne of the fallen fey king, he turns in front of the throne, eyes finding the tree inside which Jimin's body lies.
The tears don't stop and sadness seems to seep through the boy's pores. The ground starts shaking more and more violently by the second until Hoseok and Namjoon are there, frantically trying to pull the omegas away, towards the river.
"Everyone - to the other side!" Hoseok shouts in a commanding tone, infusing his voice with just a bit of alpha.
The straggling shifters who had been stuck in place with the shock of things finally rouse into motion on hearing the General's voice. Namjoon pulls the prince into his chest as people and wolves run past them, stumbling and falling and pushing to get to the other side. The bridge Taehyung had built across the river gets so over-crowded that those in wolf form dive into the river and swim their way through the waters.
Seokjin and Namjoon are the last to get across, just a few steps behind Yoongi and Hoseok, and then the bridge cracks in half.
However, it's not only the bridge that breaks – the land itself seems to splinter apart. The crack starts somewhere far away and runs down the centre of the river, the whole chunk of land that lies on the other side of the river rises, half of the river water flowing horizontally along the boundary and the other half flows down over the raised cliff like a waterfall.
"I am your King! Now kneel before me – or die!" Taehyung's words echo and the blue-haired boy seats himself on the black throne, claiming his rightful place as the next Fey King.
The Fey Lands rise up so high above the normal ground level that it's not even possible to climb and Seokjin clutches at Namjoon's hand, tears flowing freely.
Those are the last words he ever hears from Taehyung.
The memory of the blue-haired boy with a silly boxy smile stays buried deep in Seokjin's mind, stored away in the farthest crevices of his aching heart.
***
1 Year Later
"Have some of this too, Your Majesty." Byul, one of the kitchen staffs says. She brings over another plate of freshly made cakes and places it on the table in front of him.
Seokjin smiles. The cakes look pretty. He picks one up and before taking a bite says, "You should know I'm not the King, Byul. At least not yet. Not until the coronation tomorrow morning."
Byul rolls her eyes. All the kitchen staff and cooks are too used to Seokjin's presence there to observe formalities, despite remaining respectable, and honestly Seokjin doesn't mind one bit. On the contrary, he is rather happy that the people who work at the castle are comfortable enough around him to be able to share their worries and happiness with him, to be themselves. "In the peoples' hearts, you've been our King since the moment of your father's passing, Your Majesty."
It feels good to be trusted by his people.
It's been a whole year since that day. The day when Jimin died with none of them being able to bid him a final goodbye, the day when Kim Taehyung, the hybrid with two-colored eyes ascended the throne and alienated the Fey from the entirety of the Ancestral Lands. The cliffs are so high, the Fey Lands seemingly almost floating in the air, that no one even knows what has happened there in the past year.
Seokjin misses them. So much.
Taking back the kingdom of the Kim Clan had been a bit strenuous. First, they had the problem of subjugating the rogues and freeing the slaves that had been sold off. Then, there had been a bit of a skirmish with the Yellow Kingdom who saw the absence of a king as a weakness and tried to attack. Luckily, they had still been on guard and Hoseok's troops managed to drive them back. Honestly though, Seokjin still doesn't understand how senseless the King of the Yellow Kingdom must be – to attack their own kind only weeks after the battle at the Fey Lands, only weeks after suffering such tremendous losses, so many shifters dead.
The castle's reconstruction came next. This period was even more difficult because Yoongi had to leave for Yule, to his own kingdom and people, and unsurprisingly Hoseok had left with his intended, taking Yeonjun and the other boys with them.
Yoongi leaving, however, meant that Jungkook and Jiwoo were finally able to return home from Yule. Lady Jiwon and her people had stayed by Seokjin's side as promised too, helping him along the way.
It was a lot easier after the Mircea castle was back in full glory again.
Seokjin is too focused on sampling the little cakes so he startles a little when a familiar voice reaches his ears. "Ah! I knew you would be here!" the alpha announces appearing in the doorway. "Jiwoo has been searching for you all over the castle, Your Highness. She wants to do a final rundown for tomorrows coronation procession."
The kitchen maids and errand boys giggle behind their hands as the head cook ushers them out the other door. Though Seokjin had still remained as an unmated omega, much to the displeasure of some of the Lords in the kingdom, everyone in the castle, however, were aware of the special relationship Seokjin had with Kim Namjoon.
"Ugh...I better go hide then." Seokjin replies cheekily, licking cake crumbs off his fingertips, a small smirk forming when he sees Namjoon's eyes follow the movement. "She made me do it like twelve times already!"
Namjoon moves closer and leans his hip against the dark oak table Seokjin's sitting at. "Well, it's your big day tomorrow." The alpha says proudly.
And it is. They've been planning the coronation for a whole year but Seokjin wanted to wait until everything was settled, until the repairs at the castle were done with. Then there was also the matter of setting a date that didn't conflict with the Pale King's schedule so Yoongi could come down to Mircea for the coronation, along with Seokjin's best friend, of course. They are here now, in another wing of the castle where the guest rooms were.
Yoongi and Hoseok had mated last year, almost immediately after returning to Yule. Neither of them wanted to experience the heartbreak of losing the other, like Taehyung had lost Jimin, so although Namjoon and Seokjin didn't mate due to the then still fresh nature of their courting, Yoongi and Hoseok had wasted no time in marking each as mates.
And despite everything all of them had gone through, Yoongi and Hoseok had managed to find happiness in each other and their people. So Seokjin too had dared to hope for such contentment.
"You won't change your mind then?" Seokjin asks the alpha after a few moments. Namjoon shakes his head, he knows what Jin is talking about.
Throughout the centuries, all the rulers in the Lands of the Lupus had been alphas – sans the Pale King, of course. And when it came down to choose the next king of the Kim Clan, Seokjin had asked if Namjoon, as his future mate – there was no doubt of it at this point - was willing to take on that role. The alpha had refused adamantly. They are your people, Seokjin. They want you as their king. Your father wanted to pass down his crown to you despite you being an omega. He knew you would do well. And I...I am your person too, Your Majesty, and I think you would make an exceptional King.
Namjoon closes the space between them, cupping Seokjin's cheeks, thumbs smoothing down his cheekbones as he bends at the waist to be on the same level as the seated omega. "It does not matter how many times you might pose this question – my answer is always going to be the same. Omega Kim Seokjin of the Kim Clan will make the best king the Ancestral lands would ever have."
Seokjin snorts. "Aren't you being incredibly biased, Joonie?"
Namjoon leans in closer, breath fanning against Seokjin's face. "Of course not – just stating the purest of all truths." The alpha grins against Seokjin's lips, pressing a soft kiss and then another, and another.
"Mhmm~" Seokjin wraps his arms around Namjoon's neck, fingers tangling in the alpha's soft locks, the brown of it even lighter now than it used to be due to spending so much time outdoors, under the scorching hot sun.
Seokjin is almost used to it now, but the sensations flowing in through the bond between them always make him dizzy, especially in moments like these, when they are so close to each other, touching each other.
He can hear Namjoon's heartbeat, given their close proximity, but through the bond he can also feel it, the beats pounding through his nerves, mixing with the ones of his own heart.
He can feel how deeply the alpha loves him, how much he cherishes the omega, how much he wants him.
He can't stop the small breathless gasps that fall from his lips as Namjoon kisses him, slow loving kisses eventually giving way to ones that speak of lust and hunger.
Seokjin moans embarrassingly loud when Namjoon's tongue finally slips into his mouth, tasting him, the wet pink muscle exploring the space that the alpha already knows like the back of his own hands.
"The cakes taste good. Strawberry, right?" Namjoon mumbles into the kiss, tongue flicking to taste the omega's lips that are stained with the jam of the cake filling, making Seokjin chuckle lightly, gasping when Namjoon deepens the kiss.
The alpha's warm hands leave his face. Seokjin lets out a little squeak when Namjoon picks him up by the waist and seats him atop the dark oak, mouth once again finding Seokjin's without missing a beat.
The alpha is leaning over him, one knee on top of the table, between Seokjin's slightly spread legs. His robes have slid down from his shoulders and Namjoon's hands smooth upwards against the soft material of the prince's silky shirt. They are in the kitchen, both the front and back doors open and anyone passing by would have a clear view of the gasping prince spread over the table, the alpha hovering over him. It should make him anxious, knowing that if any of the Lords who are against an omega being king see him right now they would once again start undermining him, undermining his abilities to rule – just for being an omega. But somehow, he feels his body heat up even more, moaning low into Namjoon's mouth as a little bit of slick gushes from his opening down below.
Namjoon smells it immediately, of course; the sweet and sour scent of roses and citrus thick in the air. The alpha growls, eyes dark as one of his hands moves lower, siding over the prince's shirt-covered stomach, down his navel and to his crotch. When Namjoon grips his cock lightly, Seokjin realizes he is half-hard already and that the slick must have started to seep through the cloth of his trousers.
"W-we should go." Seokjin stutters as the alpha continues to languidly stroke him over his trousers. "Our chambers~"
"Mhm." Namjoon finally lets up and scrambles off of the prince, pulling the omega up and onto his feet. He adjusts Seokjin's robes, making him look as proper as possible with how flushed Jin currently is. "Lets go, then." The alpha smirks, eyeing the blushing omega.
They are out of the kitchen within a minute and heading down the corridor leading in the direction of Seokjin's chambers.
Namjoon keeps him close, arm wound tight around the prince's slim waist, the slight pressure of the pads of Namjoon's fingers sending tiny, delicious pinpricks of heat across his skin. As they make their way towards their destination, Seokjin prays that no slick ends up dripping onto the floor. They run into a couple of guards and maids on the way and Seokjin flushes even harder because all of them can surely tell from his state alone what it is that is going to happen behind closed doors of their future king's bedchambers.
Namjoon doesn't waste any time, pushing him onto the bed the moment the door swings shut behind them. He climbs over the omega, mouth finding Seokjin's smooth neck, littered with a few already fading bite marks from that morning.
The prince squirms as more slick leaks out, his hands travel along the alpha's hard, lean torso and he tugs at the ties of Namjoon's robes, feeling the alpha's arousal as the hard shaft presses against Jin's thigh.
"Joonie~" he whines, heat building rapidly in his gut.
The alpha kisses him hard before sitting back to discard his robes and shirt before helping the prince get rid of his own clothes too, placing soft kisses on every bit of exposed skin.
Their scents mix together dizzyingly, the salty tang of the sea on the tip of Seokjin's tongue, Namjoon's scent more musky than fresh, dripping with the alpha's arousal.
Wanting to let lose the knot in his gut, Seokjin clutches at Namjoon's hand, guiding it to his ass.
Namjoon chuckles against his skin, complying with the prince's desires as two of the alpha's long fingers circle his hole and plunge in, wrenching a groan out of the omega. "So needy. So eager." Namjoon teases.
The alpha pleasures him unhurriedly, fingers familiar with each and every sensitive spot inside Seokjin's warm heat.
They don't do this often – have sex outside their cycles, he means. Seokjin's heat comes every month and Namjoon's rut every three – all the action they get during their respective cycles is more than enough to satisfy their cravings for each other's bodies, tiring them out by the end. And besides, with looking over the various affairs of the kingdom it's not like they have a lot of free time to indulge in such intimacies, collapsing onto the bed and falling asleep in each other's embrace at night, a few heated kisses and touches at most.
But sometimes, Seokjin just wishes he had enough time to spend with Namjoon, without any of their primal omega and alpha instincts getting in the way. Seokjin's omega had mostly calmed down and receded ever since the first time Namjoon had helped him with his heat but the need to get fucked senseless and bred was still mostly there during heats where as all Seokjin wanted was to have slow, intimate sex with the alpha. It didn't help that Namjoon's ruts were terribly hard on the alpha, leaving no room for sweet love making.
All these things combined are the reason why Seokjin loves rare days like this when he knows they have all the time they need and no one would come to disturb them until the next morning.
"Oh fuck." Seokjin groans, not out of pleasure but disappointment. "The coronation ceremony."
Namjoon chuckles. "You should've worried about that before tempting me to bring you here."
Seokjin snorts, then gasps as the alpha's fingers find a particularly sensitive spot inside him. "J-just-ah! Just don't go too hard. I have a lot of sitting down to do tomorrow and I don't think the council will take kindly to me using your lap as a pillow because I'm sore."
Namjoon bites him in reply, light teeth indents appearing on Seokjin's broad shoulders. Another kind of want surges within him. "Joon?"
"Mhm?"
"Namjoonie..."
The alpha leans back, forearms supporting his sculpted body over the omega's. His fingers still inside Seokjin too, as the alpha searches the prince's face for any sign of discomfort.
"What is it, love?" he asks worriedly, "Do you want to stop here after all? You know we can do that right - stop here and just cuddle?"
Seokjin heart goes soft for the alpha. If Namjoon were any more perfect than he already is then Seokjin's heart would surely turn into some sort of gooey, sugary syrup from how often it melts upon witnessing all the alpha's concerns, loving gestures, soothing words and praises.
"W-will...will you mate me, Joonie?" he asks tentatively, biting his lip.
Above him the alpha blinks.
Namjoon lifts himself up to sit back on his haunches, settling between Seokjin's legs. He stares at the already ravaged and incredibly aroused mess of a prince spread out on the mattress before him.
The alpha's scent changes minutely, a bit of anxiousness bleeding in. "Of course I will! We've been courting for a year, did...did I perhaps do something that made you think I changed my mind?"
Seokjin's eyes go wide and he sits up, hands finding purchase on the alpha's shoulders. "What? Joonie, no!" He exclaims. Somewhere deep in Namjoon's heart a small fear still existed and Seokjin knew it – the alpha had always been a little afraid of meeting someone like Namjoon's mother, or worse, turning out to be like his mother. "You are the perfect alpha, Namjoon – my alpha. I...what I was trying to ask was...if you would mate me today, now."
"Oh..."
"Yeah..." Seokjin pulls him in for a hug, a relieved breath whooshing past his parted lips when he sniffs the air subtly and finds that Namjoon's scent had gone back to normal. The prince gasps then, as a burst of something warm surges through their bond – Namjoon is happy, he realizes, elated.
"I would." Namjoon says, and the alpha's joy is evident in his tone. "I'm ready whenever you are, love."
Seokjin smiles and leans forward to capture the alpha's lips in a searing kiss.
Namjoon pushes him back onto the soft silken sheets and their hands and mouths start to wander again, gasps and moans and low growls filling the room. It's still languid and unhurried but Namjoon's whole body seems to be bristling with a newfound energy, a new goal in mind.
"My gorgeous omega..."Namjoon growls, voice deep and husky. It makes the prince's toes curl. "Beautiful and intelligent. So good in looking after your people. So good for your alpha." He says the last part using his Alpha Voice and though it's not any kind of command but the tone is the last straw. Seokjin needs him, needs him inside, now. It doesn't help that he is incredibly weak to the alpha's compliments, more slick gushing out, soaking the sheets underneath.
He slips his hand into Namjoon's trousers, fingers finding the alpha's erect cock which is wet and dripping pre-cum, the beginnings of a knot already swelling at the base of the hard length. The alpha's hips buck into the pressure as Seokjin grips the length and gives it a few lazy pumps. "Joonie, please~"
The only times Namjoon has been faster than that particular moment were the times he was trying to save Seokjin's life.
And just as the head of the alpha's cock brushes against Seokjin's wet hole the alpha stops and cups his cheeks, pressing a sweet kiss to his forehead. "I love you, Kim Seokjin, so so much. Will you give me the honour of being your mate?"
Seokjin grins, his eyes crinkling in happiness. "Cheesy and old fashioned as always, hm? I love you too, Joonie and yes, you can have the honor of being my mate." The prince laughs lightly. "My perfect alpha- Ah, ah!" He kisses the corner of Namjoon's mouth, moaning as Namjoon finally pushes in, slowly, until all of him is sheathed by Seokjin's wet heat.
The alpha showers his face with loving kisses as Namjoon builds a perfect rhythm, thrusts languid but deep, reaching all the right places inside him. He also seems to keep in mind Seokjin's earlier remark regarding the ceremony tomorrow, careful of not being too rough. He rains down compliments on him, commending him even on the most random things like looking cute when he's too engrossed in eating his favorite foods and every little bit of praise arouses Seokjin to the point where he feels like bursting, his own cock leaking all over his stomach, the muscles of his hole pulsating around the alpha's length as copious amounts of slick drip onto the sheets, squelching wet noises echoing in the chambers.
He wraps his legs and arms around the alpha when he feels the other's thrusts pick up in speed, nose tucked into the crook of the alpha's shoulder as Namjoon bites and laps his tongue over his scent gland, making his senses go haywire.
Seokjin comes with Namjoon's name on his lips, the muscles of his legs spasming, breath hitching, the alpha slows his thrusts for a bit, kissing him through his orgasm, hands comfortingly smoothing down the prince's sides before he picks up the pace again, chasing his own release.
"Ah~fuck! Alpha..." Seokjin clutches at the sheets, hole sensitive as Namjoon's knot pushes past the outer muscles of the opening, locking them together as sticky cum spurts inside the omega after only a couple more hard thrusts.
And as Namjoon continues to come inside him, the alpha nips at his scent gland, asking for permission. "Ready?"
Seokjin nods wildly, moaning at the feeling of Namjoon filling him up, at the alpha's pleasure that comes through the bond. "Yes, yes I am."
He noses at Namjoon's neck, seeking his scent gland, the spray of seawater and salt assaulting his senses. With a final acknowledging hum they bite down into each other's scent glands at the same time, the mix of pain from the bite and the pleasure that comes with a mating mark almost too much when combined with their already existing bond.
Namjoon pants above him, arms straining a bit form how spent the alpha is and from all the new sensations that come with mating. The alpha's tongue flicks over the new bite, licking up the tiny rivulets of blood, soothing the wound. "I love you." He whispers into the new mark in the crook of Seokjin's shoulder.
"Mm...l-love you, Joonie." Jin mumbles, eyelids fluttering, threatening to close, small gasps unconsciously escaping his lips each time Namjoon's knot empties a new spurt of cum inside him.
The alpha shifts them onto their side, rubbing circles into the small of Seokjin's back, pressing kisses to his face.
"Go to sleep, my gorgeous mate." The alpha whispers, the two of them still locked together for the next several minutes.
Seokjin presses his nose into the alpha's neck, relishing in their scents, now mixed together perfectly, forever.
He falls asleep to Namjoon's soothing touches and the alpha's steady heartbeat.
***
"Being king suits you, brother." Jungkook congratulates him, wrapping his strong arms around Seokjin – now officially King of the Kim Clan. "The crown looks right at home on your head. Gods I hated it when you used to avoid coming anywhere near the throne room or the council room. More than half the things I know, I learned from you. The old advisors were fools not to see your potential."
Seokjin bats at his brother's shoulder, pulling away, slightly embarrassed at the compliments. "I didn't avoid them, Jungkookie." He says, "I just found a more creative way to be involved." The newly crowned king adds, reminiscing of all the times he'd hid in the secret passageway behind the throne to eavesdrop on the meetings.
He'd made sure that all the tunnels had remained intact during the castle's reconstruction.
"Congratulations on your ascension, Your Majesty." Jungkook's mate hugs him next, smile wide.
"It's still Seokjin to you, though, sister Jiwoo." He reminds her.
"And now she will keep on addressing you as Your Majesty just to annoy you!" Hoseok claps him on his back and sticks his tongue out at his sister. Jiwoo makes a face.
"Also, I see you finally decided to mate." Yoongi points out, Namjoon and Seokjin's mixing scents giving them away despite their fresh mating marks being hidden away beneath elaborately designed festive clothing.
Seokjin smiles sheepishly and Namjoon kisses the top of his head. "Y-yeah, we did."
"I also see that Namjoon refused to be king, as the omega heir's official mate." Yoongi adds. "Good for him – would've kicked his ass otherwise. I need a fellow omega on the throne, can't stand handling all these alphas and their raging hormones at the summits - not you, Hobi. I love you."
"I know you do." Hoseok rolls his eyes as their group burst out in lighthearted laughter.
Seokjin looks around the throne room. There are people milling around, talking and laughing and drinking. Tall, elegant chairs are set up in two straight lines facing each other, starting at the bottom of the steps that lead to Seokjin's throne. Important delegates and generals from the other kingdoms occupy the seats, making small talk.
Two chairs just at the start of the left row are empty.
They will remain empty forever.
"I wish Jimin and Taehyung were here." Seokjin says softly, only for their group's ears.
Sad smiles paint everyone's faces.
"They are." Namjoon says, placing a warm palm over Seokjin's heart. "They are right here."
***
5 Years Later
The next time Seokjin sees Taehyung is on the day of Moonbyul's birth – his baby girl, his first pup.
Namjoon is ecstatic, dimples never disappearing from his cheeks as he coos at the little pup. He'd stolen her from Seokjin more than two hours ago.
"Guess I'm not his favorite anymore." Seokjin chuckles. He's sitting in bed, sheets pooling at his waist, still resting after giving birth to the little charmer.
"Someone's jealous." Yoongi teases from his place at the foot of the mattress, Yeji – Yoongi and Hoseok's three year old daughter - crawling on the silk sheets as she curiously watches Namjoon make his tenth round around the room, singing praises for his newborn to all their friends who'd gathered in Seokjin and Namjoon's room.
Yeji is Hoseok and Yoongi's only child. It was a difficult pregnancy and neither wanted to take risks by trying for another. They could just adopt if they ever wanted more kids, they'd decided.
"He's been fawning over her for two hours!" he exclaims. "Moonie needs to feed and rest too."
Yoongi rolls his eyes at him, picking up a toy that Yeji had dropped to the floor.
It might be because of dormant faerie blood but Seokjin suddenly senses a kind of shift in the air, rippling like the surface of a lake. Yoongi is the only one whose attention is on Jin and the red-haired male follows his gaze, gasping when he recognizes the shimmering start of a portal.
"Could it be?"
"Taehyung?" Seokjin whispers in awe, drawing everyone's attention. The room falls quiet, only the sound of Yeji's occasional babbling and Moonbyul's gurgling reaching their ears as they take in the sight of Kim Taehyung in the flesh, the barest of fond smiles on the hybrid's lips.
It's been six years since the last time they saw him and Taehyung had grown, matured, had become a terribly handsome man though still retaining some of the softness that all omegas possessed.
His cotton-candy blue hair was several shades darker now; his jaw sharp and sculpted, chest and arms thicker, shoulders broader. He's gotten taller too, probably around Seokjin's height now. A black wreathed crown with tiny silver blossoms sits atop his head. Seokjin's eyes flit to Taehyung's – just as he'd last seen them, one blue and one green.
The Fey King stands before them, a dear old friend who'd been torn apart with grief.
Seokjin scrambles off the bed, wincing in pain slightly. However, in one swift movement Taehyung is in front of him, pushing him back under the blankets. "Stay," he instructs, his voice deep and smooth, "I am not going anywhere, Jin."
There's only a moment of quiet tension before both Yoongi and Seokjin pull Taehyung onto the bed, falling on top of the hybrid and wrapping their arms and legs around the boy – no, not a boy any more. A man. A King.
"T-Tae, it's really you!" Seokjin sobs, blinking the tears away, realizing that Yoongi was also crying with him.
Taehyung lets the two omegas do whatever they want, eyes flitting to meet the gazes of all the other occupants of the room: Jiwoo and Jungkook, Lady Ha, Hoseok, Yeonjun, Taehyun, Beomgyu, Huening Kai. He smiles at the two pups too, the only face missing that of Soobin's who'd stayed behind to watch over Yule.
"Yes, it is me."
"I...how?" Yoongi mumbles through sniffles.
"I heard the news." The hybrid replies. "No matter how far apart we may be, you all are still my dear friends - my family. And besides, Jimin would've wanted to see the pup. I'm sorry I didn't visit you and Yeji before, Yoongi." He apologizes, with the Pale King shaking his head, mumbling you are here now, that's all that matters, Taehyungie.
Taehyung stays with them for a day.
He tells them how he finally let the imprisoned fey go but with strict instructions to never leave the borders of the Fey Lands. Seokjin cooks for the first time in a long while, a whole feast to mark the happy occasion.
Taehyung falls in love with the pups and the two girls take to the hybrid like moths to a flame, even the newborn Moonbyul never crying while in Taehyung's arms, not even once.
They talk about Jimin too, briefly but fondly. And although Taehyung says it's okay and smiles throughout every mention of Jimin's name, Seokjin still catches him looking with a longing sadness at the interactions between the various mated couples in the room.
That night Taehyung leaves the same way he'd come and the Fey Lands stay isolated from the rest of the continent. The next time they see the hybrid king of the fey is on the day Jaehyun is born – Seokjin and Namjoon's darling son.
Yoongi and Hoseok stay in Yule along with Soobin and the quartet, each of the boys slowly finding their own special person as years pass. Lady Ha marries and mates, retiring to a peaceful county life. Rowon becomes a stunningly handsome and skilled General, taking Hoseok's place on the council. Junsu and Junhee become part of Seokjin's elite guard and Jin's friend Chae, from the Moon village, comes to work at the castle.
Moonbyul grows up to be a strong-headed beta and Jaehyun presents as an alpha, eventually falling for Yeji.
Chanyeol and his pack wander from place to place, eventually settling down in the Pale King's Realm.
Jungkook and Jiwoo wait several years to have kids – three boys who all present as alphas in the future – and when the pups are old enough to talk and walk properly, the family of five leave Mircea to journey all over the Ancestral Lands. At one point, Jungkook even gets shot in the leg by a gun while trying to defend Namjoon's hometown from human pirates.
Every night, Seokjin falls asleep happy and warm in his mate and husband's arms, cuddled close to Namjoon's chest, their two children getting up to their own mischief – naively thinking their parents weren't aware.
Seokjin could've never imagined a more perfect life than this one.
"I love you." Seokjin would whisper to his mate just as they are on the brink of falling into dreamland.
"I love you, Jinnie." Namjoon always answers him back.
***
If one hears Seokjin's story they would surely sympathize and grieve for all the loss that had happened in the past.
And Seokjin might've found happiness in his family and friends and loyal people but there are always too many external forces at work.
One of such forces was the Humans.
They crept up on them slowly, entering by the sea. The shifters of the Ancestral Lands knew that some of the humans had also been involved in the slave trades, buying wolves for cruel and inhumane research, but they had given the race the benefit of the doubt, not willing to judge the whole for the mistakes of a few.
Only this time, it had backfired on them.
The hard earned peace had begun slowly falling apart as more and more wolves got shot and shipped away across the sea, never to be seen again. They tried to fight back, even the haughty King of the Yellow Kingdom joining Yoongi and Seokjin's armies in battle against the humans. But the shifters didn't stand a chance against long range guns and cannons.
When the last of the forces of the Kim Clan's army had to barricade themselves within the walls of Mircea castle's throne room, Seokjin had found himself being afraid for the first time in more than thirty years.
"We have to leave!" Namjoon says to him over the panicked conversations in the hall. "Save as many as we can."
"Where will we go, appa?" Moonbyul, armed and clad in armor, asks while Jaehyun and Rowon try to calm the people and warriors down.
Namjoon looks haggard, graying hair plastered to his forehead with sweat, armor painted in blood. He's sixty already, not as nimble as he used to be but still as handsome as ever in Seokjin's eyes, and a natural leader.
The alpha ponders for a few moments before announcing his decision. "Taehyung." He says.
And only briefly hesitating, Seokjin nods.
It's where Yoongi's body is, preserved in a sacred tree much like Jimin's had been. The Pale King had passed in battle at the beginning of the year, leaving a distraught Hoseok and Yeji behind.
Seokjin gasps and watches as the doors to the throne room are wrenched open by enemy for the second time during his life.
The humans pour in, guns firing, bullets flying, the smell of burning gunpowder burning Seokjin's nose. There is blood on the floor tiles again – blood of Seokjin's friends, family, his people.
His throat burns with the effort of not crying.
Moonbyul and Jaehyun rally as many of their people as possible, trying to push through enemy lines so they could make it outside while Seokjin and Namjoon start tearing every human in their sight to shreds.
"Joon!" he screams, realizing that his mate is surrounded, bleeding from several gunshot wounds already. Seokjin is at the doors with Moonbyul and the others already, getting swept up in the throng of shifters running for safety as directed by Jaehyun at the front.
Namjoon hears him just as another male shoots him in the arm. The alpha searches him out and exhales when he sees that Seokjin is almost out, shakes his head when his mate tries to push his way back into the hall.
"Don't!" he calls, voice commanding. Seokjin tries to fight the Alpha's command, eyes pleading as Junhee tries to make him move. "I love you, Seokjin. Help our people!" he calls and then Seokjin watches in horror as one of the humans shoots the love of his life in the head and Namjoon's body falls, eyes wide and unseeing.
"N-Namjoon..." he cries weakly, the strength bleeding out of him, making it possible for Junhee and Moonbyul to drag him away, his daughter's eyes misty with tears as she clutches at Seokjin.
They shift and run with Jaehyun, Moonbyul and Seokjin leading the shifters towards a place Seokjin hadn't visited in over thirty years.
All the while his heart hurts, clenches so tightly that he can't even breathe well. Sharp pain stabs him all over, the bond he'd had with Namjoon for most of his life breaking, shattering into pieces and slowly fading.
It leaves a huge space inside Seokjin – hollow, empty and incredibly lonely.
Seokjin's inner omega grieves with him.
He's lost him. He's lost his mate, the love of his love.
Namjoon is dead.
They run until the sun starts setting and then as the first of stars appear in the dimming light of the sky Seokjin stops. The white wolf sits back on its haunches, panting hard from exhaustion, the fur on its face wet from exertion and tears. Moonbyul and Jaehyun join him, one wolf black like Namjoon and the other white like Seokjin.
Together they look up into the starry sky and howl, mourning a mate, a father, a great man who was always kind and perfect and gave up his life to protect those he loved.
Their people howl with them, filling the night with the cries of mourning and loss.
***
The Fey Lands are far away from most of the shifter settlements, separated from the rest of the Ancestral Lands by a thick forest, a flowing river and a deadly waterfalls that starts high up on the cliffs. There is no way to get up there besides teleportation – Taehyung had made sure of it.
It's been years since the Fey King had distanced their race from that of the children of the Moon and it is usually quiet there, except for an occasional faerie revel.
Thus, it comes as an unexpected surprise when the night suddenly fills with the sounds of whining and howling, thousands of shifters crying up at the moon. Taehyung had been unaware of the situation outside the Fey Lands – the last time he'd left his current home was on the day Jungkook's youngest son was born - until a year ago, that is, when a weeping Hoseok had shown up, screaming and shouting at the waterfalls from below, armor stained with blood and dirt, a lifeless Min Yoongi in his arms, skin paler than ever.
Taehyung had brought him into the Fey Lands and now there was another magic tree standing by Taehyung's obsidian throne – one belonging to Jimin, one to the Pale King.
Hoseok, however, hadn't stayed behind. He'd left with Yeji to fight the humans and protect his people, to do what Yoongi gave up his life for.
And maybe Taehyung hadn't known of the war before then, but after Yoongi's death he did know. But he still didn't leave the Fey Lands, didn't go after Hoseok and the only friends he'd had in his life.
It stays with him for the rest of his long, miserable life – the regret. The fact that he could've done something to help the Moon children if only he'd tried.
But anyways, he'd been made aware of the war between shifters and humans since the day of the Pale King's passing, so when he hears the numerous howls, sadness permeating through the night air, he immediately knows that something has gone terribly wrong.
He teleports himself to the other side, to the place where the ruins of the beautiful and intricate bridge he'd once built lay.
There are thousands of wolves camped out, panting and exhausted. Some of them turn their heads to look at him when he steps out of the shimmering portal – the younger ones had never seen a living, breathing faerie in their lives and hence, stared at him in amazement while the older ones, who had an inkling of who Taehyung was, watched him with a bit of fear.
It was easy to spot Seokjin and Moonbyul – the only wolves with pure fur as white as snow, accompanied by Jaehyun, fur an inky black, the color of the sky in the deepest of nights.
Seokjin looks at him with sad eyes when Taehyung approaches, scenting a wolf for the first time in years so he could open up a mind link between himself and the elder omega.
"T-Tae..." Jin's voice comes weakly through the bond, trembling with emotion. When Taehyung takes in their surroundings and the identical expressions of grief on the faces of the two younger wolves by Seokjin's side he finally understands.
"Namjoon...is he...?"
The white wolf trembles slightly, buries its head in Taehyung's lap while Moonbyul lays her own head on top of Seokjin's back, trying to provide some comfort to her father.
"Shh...it's okay. It's going to be okay." Taehyung says soothingly, trying to recollect the last time he'd had a conversation with Namjoon. The alpha had been older then, in his early forties. Taehyung, on the other hand, would always look twenty-five, never aging after reaching the period of maturity for faeries.
For the first time in almost four decades Taehyung lets shifters into the Fey Lands – if you exclude Hoseok and Yeji of course.
The next morning Taehyung teleports himself to Mircea castle and retrieves Namjoon's body. Seokjin cries his heart out.
Another magical tree joins the other two.
***
It takes years, but under Seokjin and Hoseok's guidance and with Jungkook, Moonbyul and Jaehyun leading the armies, they retake the Ancestral Lands. The Fey and the Moon children actually become comrades and friends, fighting against the humans together.
Jungkook passes in the last battle and when there is finally true peace across the lands Hoseok and Seokjin leave too, quietly passing in their sleep.
At first, there are only six gigantic magical trees surrounding Taehyung's throne, but with time, as his friends' children and their children grow old and die, more and more trees join the cluster.
And all the while, Taehyung loses a piece of himself as he watches the people he's come to love die.
Maybe it was Taehyung's fate to spend most of his life alone.
But fortunately for him, his time comes too.
It happens a thousand years after Seokjin's and Yoongi's grandchildren die. Taehyung was walking in the groove of trees that morning, hand running along the trunk of each one, reminiscing about his long lost friends, their names carved into the wood.
He feels another presence nearby and makes his way there, catching a young boy playing by the river.
Surprisingly enough, the boy seems to be human and for a moment Taehyung doesn't know what to do with that information. They've never had humans in the Ancestral Lands ever since the last war.
There's something warm and familiar about the boy though, and it unconsciously draws Taehyung in, making him move closer until the boy finally notices him and turns around.
Taehyung draws in a sharp breath for the boy looks so much like Jimin that it's uncanny.
"Hello..." the boy tries, blinking up at Taehyung. He looks no older than fifteen.
"H-Hello there," Taehyung manages, still mildly in shock. "How did you get here? My name is Taehyung, and yours?"
"...Sungwon." The boy says in a quiet, but eager voice. He seems happy to meet a new friend.
"Hm...would you like to take a walk with me, Sungwon dear?" Taehyung asks.
"Sure!"
And so they walk, and talk, and Taehyung finds himself smiling for the first time in a millennia.
Sungwon seems so good, so innocent and Taehyung feels like the boy does really have a piece of Jimin's soul. But also, they are definitely not the same person – Jimin and Sungwon, that is.
The human race needed someone with a heart as good and pure as Jimin's Sungwon's. Maybe they will learn and be better. He hopes so, atleast.
When it is evening and the sun begins to set Sungwon bids him goodbye.
And when the sun touches the horizon, Taehyung finds himself at peace, smiling at the sky, alight with a plethora of beautiful colors.
Slowly, his body starts to crumble, painless and freeing.
Taehyung's skin and bones turn into shimmering pollen and scatter with the evening wind, a final magic tree with blue blossoms growing just behind the black throne.
-------------------------------------------------THE END------------------------------------------------------------