The first thing Jae heard when she woke up was the sound of a small birds tweeting outside. She stretched and she groaned as she felt her muscles tense and then relax again. She remembered where they were. Looking around, she felt strangely alone as her room was very spacious and nice, but a little barren for her taste.
Dark wood furniture and a shiny marble floor that she could almost see her reflection in. How was it like new if it's supposedly never used? Putting aside any other thoughts, she saw two doors and she opened one which she assumed to get out, and she had guessed correctly.
As she crept out in the hallway, her heart jumped in her chest as she heard familiar voices echoing in her ears. And then the familiar, sweet smells hit her all at once. Then she smelled something else. Food. She wasn't sure what it was but her stomach growled and the light chatter stopped and Jae froze.
There was a beat and then she heard a chair slide across the floor, and she saw Namjoon first, and there was a small pause as they just stared at each other. He looked as beautiful and sculpted as ever.
Then the next thing she knew, he was slowly working up to a run towards her and she couldn't help but squeal as he lifted her up and spun her around with a huge smile on his face. His dimples were showing and his soft brown eyes were twinkling up at her.
"Did you sleep well?" he asked so only she could hear. She nodded and wrapped his arms around him, enjoying the feeling of his strong arms around her in return. She glanced behind them and saw Jimin, Jungkook, Hobi and Tae peek around the wall, and they were smiling too. Namjoon put her down and she grabbed his hand and pulled him along with her to go see the others.
Seeing their smiles again made her insides feel like jelly, and they each hugged her in their own special ways, and they never failed to make her feel warm and fuzzy. When it was Jungkook's turn, he gave her his signature bunny grin and the way his nose crinkled when he did it is by far the most adorable thing she'd ever seen.
She didn't miss the way his hands reluctantly lingered on her waist, like he never wanted to let go, as she parted to hug Hobi. The sweet citrus scent filled her nose like she had just dived into a pool of orange juice. Her stomach did flips when she heard, "Good morning, sunshine."
Then she heard movement from the other side of the room, where the opening to the spacious kitchen was, and she saw Yoongi, eyes focused down on whatever he was chopping. His sleeves were rolled up, and she thought no one should ever be able to look that good while doing such a simple task. "Hey Yoongi, she's awake." Jimin called to him.
He didn't stop, he didn't look up, but Jae saw the corner of his lips turn up in a flash of a second. If she had blinked, she would have missed it. "It's almost ready." he said softly. "Aish, that guy..." Jimin waved him off and turned back to Jae, while Tae and Hobi smirked at each other like they knew a joke no one else would understand. It was then she noticed something was off. Someone was missing.
She looked around, and the others looked at her curiously. Her brows furrowed slightly, and she heard Namjoon ask, "Is something wrong?" She turned back around to face him, "Where's Jin?" They all froze, much like a deer in headlights. Even Yoongi had stopped chopping in the kitchen. The only sound was the light sizzle of whatever he had just put in a pan.
Namjoon looked at the others, and when it was clear they weren't going to speak first, he did. "He's here. He's fine, he's just...he needs to be alone for a while. That's all." Jae crossed her arms. "I want to see him."
"You can't." Tae blurted, and Namjoon gave him a warning look. "What Tae is trying to say," Hobi said, stepping forward a little, "it's just...um...difficult for him to be around you right now and not...well..." he rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly, not being able to say the words. Jimin scoffed and rolled his eyes, "He wants to fuck you and we aren't letting him. It's that simple."
Jae almost choked on her own spit at his candidness, and if looks could kill Namjoon would have murdered Jimin on the spot. "As inappropriately said as that was, that's essentially it, I guess." he sighed. "We'll answer any questions you have."
Coincidentally, the dark grey couch next to her seemed like a good spot to take in this information. She ogled at the size of it. All eight of them could sit on it easily, but for now only two sat down to the left of her with careful eyes. She could tell Jungkook and Hobi wanted to get closer to her but hesitated.
Namjoon was still standing with his arms crossed, looking worried, and Jimin was sitting on the arm of the couch next to him. Tae had gone to set the table since Yoongi had asked him prior to her appearance, but she could tell both were listening as well. She spoke first.
"Where is he, exactly?" Namjoon's eyes drifted towards the opposite hallway she had emerged from. "He's confined in one of the rooms. It's obvious which one given that there's a chair in front of it." Jae thought of her next question. There was no way to get around the initial awkwardness, so she figured she might as well be like Jimin, and be just as straightforward. In the end, if this was her new life, she needed to know everything she could.
"Tell me why I can't see him. I know, he wants to...." she shook her head. This was harder than she thought. "I mean, if I'm your soulmate and all...wouldn't it be best if I...did something...?" she trailed off. Being blunt was harder for her than she thought. All those years of being under her father's watchful eye and being practically trained to be the polite, good little girl didn't help her cause.
She saw Jimin shaking her head. "I know what you're trying to say. You would think that, and normally you would be right. In our case, right now it might do more harm than good. There's a lot of elements that make things unpredictable for all of us." He ran his fingers through his light dirty blonde hair, making it more fluffier than it was before if that was even possible. How was he so effortlessly beautiful?
He continued to speak, and she had to snap herself out staring into his awe inducing features. "I guess we should go over the basics, before we even begin to discuss the possibilities." he pondered, looking at Namjoon for confirmation.
He nodded, and Jae could see a slight blush that was forming on his cheeks. It was interesting to see Jimin take charge in this instance. How did he seem to know more about this than Namjoon? Or was Namjoon just too shy to say any of this stuff?
Jungkook had now wandered in the kitchen with Tae to bother Yoongi about the food, or to avoid the conversation that was going to be discussed in the living room. Hobi still sat where he was, looking a little pale, eyes darting back and forth between everyone.
Namjoon gestured for Jimin to go ahead and speak and he took in a deep breath. "Okay. So...when a hybrid goes into a rut or heat, there's really only one thing they want. Their mate. More specifically, when a hybrid goes into this state, it means that they have the strong need to reproduce." Jae fought the warm sensation she felt grow inside her body and nodded. "Obviously, we will all go through it and it can be anytime. It's not really a planned thing." He got up and started slowly pacing back and forth as he talked.
"Predators and prey go through it differently though. For example, Jinnie's heat started yesterday, right? So, his will only last a few more days, give or take. Prey's heat spans are shorter than predators, like me and Joon." he said, gesturing to himself and Namjoon. "Ours can last up to a week, especially if we're left to our own devices." Jae's mind flashed sinful images and he visibly shook her head trying to knock them out.
"And I know speaking from experience, this includes Namjoon, Tae, Yoongi, and myself: When we get ours, because it will happen at some point, the four of us will need to be securely locked up. We would go through any lengths to get to you if we lost ourselves in our...need." He emphasized the word with an edge, almost in disgust.
"Hybrids get extra protective and sensitive towards their mate during this time, it's only natural. Of course, you're a member of our pack now, which might make a difference, or it might not. This goes for the others as well, but us four especially are somewhat dangerous to everyone here if we aren't either secure or...satisfied. We're lucky Jin was the first one, he's the one with the most self control." he sighed. "Jungkook and Tae have never gotten theirs before, and neither has Hobi, so we don't know what they are like. Everyone else has though, at least once."
Jimin pondered on where to go from there, his bare feet shuffling against the dark, polished wooden floors. Jae cleared her throat, "So...why would my involvement be a bad thing if it's...something I need to do eventually anyway?" she squeaked out. Namjoon and Jimin glanced at each other before Jimin answered, "The fact of the matter is, our situation is unique, and while I know a lot about this kind of thing, I can only use what I know to guess what might happen." he said slowly. How did Jimin know all about this?
He looked at her with his deep green eyes and it seemed like he was contemplating on how to say what he needed to. She swallowed hard and waited in anticipation. "I don't even know where to start but..." he looked like he was having some sort of inner struggle and whatever it was was bothering him.
"For one, you could get seriously hurt. Hybrids don't really...they aren't known to be gentle...a lot of the time their instincts take over and they just..." he sighed, now struggling with his words. It wasn't out of embarrassment. It was something else.
"I think what he's trying to say," Namjoon cautiously interjected, "Is that we don't want to hurt you in any way, or force you to do something you don't want." Jae thought about what Yoongi and Tae had said to her on the train.
"It would be a little different if you were another hybrid too but... Well anyway, the point is we've talked it over and we thought it would be best if we avoided...that...for now if we can. Until we know how we all act during that time and so you know what to expect." Namjoon didn't look at her the whole time he said that and his whole face was red.
"There's something else I thought of." Jimin spoke up once more. "One thing you should consider is that...now that you have hybrid blood in you...you might develop instincts of your own." he muttered, so quietly she was surprised she could hear it. "I'm sorry?"
"I don't know if it's even possible, but since we've clearly proven the impossible is possible before, I can't completely rule it out. I would need Jin's input as well." Jae was shocked; no, that didn't describe the feeling she felt accurately. Her head was spinning in circles. "Wh-what would...like what?" she asked, trying to form a coherent sentence. Even though he didn't stutter, it wasn't hard to miss the faint pink that was starting to form on his cheeks.
"Well...say you do decide to "help" one of us out. And then another. And another and so on. As our soulmate, you would be, in lack of better words, fulfilling one of your purposes, right? If you do it every time, you might feel like you need to do it more and more. In simple terms, you could become addicted to it."
"Are you saying I'm going to become some sort of sex addict?" Jae blurted out. Namjoon started coughing loudly and other than that it was so quiet you could hear the whitenoise from the heater. "No! Well yes...kind of? Not really-" Yoongi huffed from the kitchen, "Jimin, you're scaring her."
Jimin groaned in frustration and raked his finger through his hair. Look, I'm saying you might start to feel a certain way that only someone in your position could feel." Jae just stared at him, not quite understanding. He hesitated, before tumbling out, "You could start to feel more... "motherly" more or less. Do you get what I'm saying?"
Her heart was dancing in her chest but her blood felt frozen. She looked at Hobi and Namjoon for help, but they wouldn't look at her. "Are you saying...I might start to...want kids? Instinctively?" her eyes felt like they were going to pop out of her head. She felt like she couldn't breathe. They could sense it too, as she noticed everyone seemed to stop and stare at her with concerned eyes.
"I-I need some air." she stuttered, and practically ran outside on one of the decks. The sliding glass door opened with ease and she took multiple deep breaths. It was cold outside, and she could see her breath float up each time she exhaled.
Looking out from the balcony all she could see was the white blanket of snow that lay as far as the eye could see. The sky was perfectly blue and clear, and it helped relax her heart that was beating a million miles a few minutes ago.
It was a lot to take in, and he hadn't even finished. She sighed and crossed her arms, knowing that she was way in over her head. She was also regretting she didn't grab a jacket before coming out there. It could have been minutes, it could have been an hour. She wasn't sure as she zoned out and lost track of time. The sound of the sliding door opening behind her snapped her out of it, and she turned to see Jimin, sheepishly offering her a jacket. Jae watched him as he walked forward and draped it around her. It smelled like honey with the faintest amount of cinnamon and that told her it was his own, and it instantly made her warmer.
He joined her in leaning his arms across the railing, overlooking all the snow. "It seems peaceful out here." he said. There was a gentleness in his voice that made her feel at ease. It wasn't that she felt awkward around him, but she was sure she didn't make the situation great by leaving like that.
"I know it's a lot." he whispered. The wind blew in her ears so she almost missed it. "I didn't mean to overwhelm you. Of course, I would be if I were in your shoes for sure. I wish I didn't know all the things I do but..."
His eyes were looking right into hers, almost in a pleading manner. She looked down to her arm that had her new pack mark on it. It had healed unnaturally quickly, and now it just looked like a part of her skin, like it had always been there. She traced over it as she replied, "I knew what I signed up for." she paused, "Well...not really but...you're right. It is a lot."
He put his hand on top of hers so gently she felt a pang in her heart. They were so warm and soft, and as he gently squeezed her own, she couldn't help but lean up and kiss his cheek. "It's just going to take some getting used to. It'll probably be rough at first but, I'm sure we'll all figure it out. We'll take it s it comes. I'm not worried, I know none of you would ever hurt me." She giggled, and Jimin tilted his head with confusion, but a grin was slowly spreading across his face. "It's just, it's like I have seven boyfriends now. How would that not be a little overwhelming for anybody."
That actually made him laugh, and it was one of her favorite sounds. There was a light tap on the glass and on the other side was Tae, motioning them to come back inside. "Well, shall we eat? I'm starved." she said, dragging him back inside along with her. "Let's go before they eat it all." she said, giving him the best genuine smile she could.
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I meant to get this out sooner but I ended up rewriting like 4 times😭😭BUT I hope you enjoyed it anyway! Almost 3000 words oof. Thank you for reading, and for the votes and comments as always I love reading all of them.💕Stay safe and healthy.