Chapter thirty
Jungkook spotted Jimin amongst the crowd of people that had gathered up around the training set. He trudged closer to the alpha and waved his hand at him to get his attention, eyes alert and senses straightened to his very own core.
Jimin was half-way through his story when suddenly a hand was placed on his shoulder and he was met with the sight of his distressed best friend. His happy expression quickly morphed into a confused one, the two wolves who were actually very bored of the story he had been telling them took the chance to sneak behind his back and leave before he got in another long explanation of how in love, he was with the notorious heartbreaker Min Yoongi.
"Jungkook, I'm in the middle of something!" The short alpha whispered-shouted, grinding his teeth together in an attempt to keep back any bratty remarks.
Jungkook rolled his eyes and let his hand fall to his side. He, just like any other wolf in their pack, knew how taken away Jimin could get when he went in details about his little crush.
"You have to open your eyes and understand that no one cares about your love affairs." He said in response. Right before Jimin could retort to his insolent comment, the alpha opened his mouth to speak again. "Have you seen Taehyung?"
Jimin's innards shook with anger, the urge to vocalize his irritation was making him lose control over his scent, some of the warriors even glanced at them to see what was happening. However, when the next question was sent, the alpha's fury faltered, and he stopped gritting his teeth.
"No, I haven't." He said, careful with his choise of words. Wasn't Taehyung supposed to look over the newbies? Just now the realization that he hadn't seen the omega on their lunch break hit him up. A sense of worry cradled through his bones, making his stomach churn unpleasantly. "Did something happen?"
Jungkook didn't try to hide his disappointment. He released a long sigh and brought his hand up to his temple to massage his aching skull, calming down the unforgiving headache. Ever since he woke up, this indefinite feeling of concern and constant need to check on Taehyung had been eating him up. His eagerness to see the omega was bordering on the worrisome. The omega hadn't showed up today on any of their breaks, which was weird, considering the fact how strict he was on training the wolves and shaping them into perfection.
"I don't know." Jungkook rubbed horrifically at his eyes, to the point it looked like he was trying to scrape his eyeballs out, and when he finally stopped, he gazed at the shorter alpha. "Should I see how he's doing? I don't think he has left his tent since yesterday."
"What are you waiting for? Go!" The look Jimin gave him was almost frantic, with so much exigency in his tone that it left Jungkook stunned. Perhaps his friend had really started to develop some frissons of fondness for the omega. Over the past few weeks, they had grown exceedingly close, so attached to each other that it was hard not to see them walking down the hills hand in hand while laughing joyfully at the most unamusing things.
Distressed, Jungkook nodded his head and made his way to the tents, thankfully not catching anyone's eye. This unsettling feeling of distress made him sick in the stomach, as if the entirety of his guts could just leap from his body at any given moment.
However, this feeling was somehow replaced by a sense of relief as he reached the omega's tent, and he identified a presence within. Call it an instinct, or perhaps something else, but Jungkook knew there was someone in there. The moment he stomped his foot inside, the alpha stilled.
It was such an unaccustomed sight he had walked into, that it set something ablaze within. The first thing he noticed was how strong the scent of strawberries and vanilla was. The alpha's body went rigid, and his teeth pulled back in a snarl.
His eyes instantly laid on Taehyung who was surrounded by blankets, garments, and pillows. Jungkook's clever mind raced to catch up as he tried to process the omega's current situation.
Taehyung was nesting.
And omegas were only nesting when they were either close to their heat cycle or when they were going through an emotional turmoil. Taehyung lied beneath one of the woolen blankets despite the hot summer weather, his back was turned to the entrance of the tent and Jungkook could see him clutching a shirt closely to his chest. The omega was nuzzling his nose into the fabric and the alpha thought he heard muffled sobs.
"Tae..." He mumbled and carefully – not to accidentally destroy Taehyung's nest – climbed into the small bunk to press his chest against the omega's back.
Taehyung melted; his wolf's instincts soothed. It should be embarrassing, how easily he molded himself to Jungkook's broader form - tucking his head in the crook of his neck to inhale, slow and deep, and nose at the faintly swollen scent gland. How he mouthed almost desperately at the bare skin there, tasting salt, fighting against the desire to bare his teeth and bite down.
"I don't..." The omega swallowed down the thick lump that had lodged in his throat, grabbing a fistful of Jungkook's shirt in his small palms, literally trembling in the alpha's warm hold. His heartbeat was fastened, and every inhale of breath was extremely painful to gulp. "I don't feel very good." He finished, gasping for air as he squeezed his eyes shut and buried his face more into the conjunction of Jungkook's neck and shoulder, hoping the heavy smell of wet roses and musk would help him deal with the agonizing pain.
Taehyung woke up to the unpleasant feeling of hotness and urge to build up a nest. At first, he thought it was just the summer heat that was messing with his mind, but when he found himself unable to get out of his bed, the omega sensed that there had to be something going on.
Making a nest upon moving into a new place was a coping mechanism Taehyung had developed over a childhood of constant traveling. His pack often used to switch territories and every month he had to put up with the unfamiliar environment and learn how to survive if he didn't want to be left behind.
To be frank, the heap of cushions, pillows, and blankets, was a mess. It took forever to build up the cozy jumble of garments, Taehyung muttering to himself about something being "off" every other minute before changing the tiniest thing.
"Is it heat?" Jungkook might have given off a carefree and untroubled air, still, he was neither insensitive nor negligent, hence Taehyung's anxious behavior hadn't gone unnoticed either. The alpha had his arms draped over the omega's lithe frame, gently tracing his finger over his back to calm him down, meanwhile doing his best to tame his inner wolf.
Humming, displeasure all too apparent, Taehyung tipped his head back to look up at Jungkook. Beneath the wavering frown was the kind of simmering, righteous anger that left the alpha breathless, the kind of anger that was passionate, that promised. "It can't be heat. I-I'm sure of it."
Another excruciating gasp ripped out of his throat. The omega wrapped his arm around his torso as he squeezed his eyes shut against the pain stabbing at his gut. Taehyung just lied there for a minute, his breathing coming out ragged as he waited for the aching to simmer down.
Jungkook ran his hand over Taehyung's sweaty back, stopping here and there to rub soothing circles into the tense muscles as he placed gentle kisses across the top of his head, the soothing motion dispelling every ounce of apprehension. "Tae, look at yourself. You barely have any strength to move and your scent..." He stopped in the middle of his sentence to swallow down any lustful needs or images. The alpha was certain it was Taehyung's heat that was kicking in, considering the odd ways it made him feel.
The omega shook his head in a massive protest, stubbornly denying the idea of him nearing his heat. "N-no, it-t must be something else –"
"Shhh, it's okay," Jungkook whispered, reigning in the roughness in his voice. He knew he had to be gentle with Taehyung at a time like this in which the omega undoubtedly felt vulnerable and uncomfortable.
Taehyung could only whimper, his blunt nails scratching at the alpha's shoulder blades as he tried to press himself closer. He took in deep, steadying breaths, Jungkook's scent once again doing wonderful things in calming down the hormones that were running rampant through his body.
"I-I haven't had my heat since Soojin's death." Taehyung choked out, tears stinging at the corners of his eyes as his instincts screamed at him to give in. "T-the connection with my wolf was gone."
True to his words, the omega hadn't gone through any heat cycles ever since his mate's death. It was one of the many side effects along with the disability to shift in his wolf form. Perhaps this explained why he couldn't go into his submissive space so regularly and alphas' commands lost their influence on him.
"Just think about it, Tae," Jungkook slowly unwrapped his arms from Taehyung so he could put some distance between them, the sight of his beautiful face scrunched up in such a painful grimace made the alpha's heart clench horribly in his chest. "Your scent is growing sweeter, and it makes my wolf lust over you. Do you think a simple cold would cause any of this?"
Taehyung blinked up at the alpha, seriously considering his words. He remembered how hazy his heats always were, just like they were for any other omega. The days blurred by in a mess of sweat and slick that had him barely able to hark back to what the hell had happened.
And for some reason, Taehyung had a feeling this heat was going to be even worse.
"I'm scared." Finally reciprocating the loose embrace, the omega nuzzled the other's jaw line, inhaling the pheromones having accumulated in the curve between Jungkook's neck and shoulder, allowing the potent scent wash over his senses, obliterate the remainder of his defenses which had been sagging beneath the pressure, stress amassed today.
"Of what?" Jungkook asked, his hand falling to rest on Taehyung's thigh that was now bracketing his torso.
"I don't know how to deal with it." The omega affirmed, feeling apologetic about his behavior. He exhaled slowly, appeased, rigid muscles going slack under Jungkook's timid caresses, eyelids fluttering shut, heartbeat calming to a gentle, chaste andante the boy could have fallen asleep to.
The alpha's response was a sheepish grin which Taehyung deciphered without difficulties. "Just ask and I'll be there to help you." he whispered, brushing a wayward lock of hair from the omega's serene face, "Besides, I don't want you to spend your heat locked in one of the spare rooms." Jungkook added, hand grazing his delicate features, the contact featherlight.
Unmated omegas were forced to spend their heats alone, locked in a room where no alpha or beta could step into. Many could swear this was the most painful experience of their lives. An omega like Taehyung who hadn't gone through his regular heats for such a long period of time was surely going to experience a very agonizing three days of high fevers and pain.
The suggestion to have someone by his side to relieve all the pain was indeed tempting, but Taehyung didn't want to barely be able to remember his first time with Jungkook, he didn't want to be so fucked out of his mind to the point everything the alpha did was a haze to him. So, he mustered his last bit of willpower, pressing his hands flat against Jungkook's broad chest, "no, not like this. N-not yet."
Jungkook hesitated in letting Taehyung go, his eyebrows furrowing and eyes darkening as he slowly relaxed his hold on the elder. He hated that Taehyung was keeping him away, keeping him from taking care of him and easing him of the discomfort he knew the other was going to be in over the next few days.
"Tae, are you aware of what you're asking me?" The alpha questioned, his thick eyebrows were furrowed together in a pensive frown.
The keening sound that erupted from the omega was short and succinct - quickly squashed and shoved aside lest he descend into actual tears. When Jungkook made a concerned noise, leaning back to catch a look at his face Taehyung erratically waved a shaking hand at him.
"I'm not sure either." He confessed quietly.
As much as Jungkook would love to argue about it, he could never force Taehyung into anything, so he gently let him go with a disgruntled sigh, suddenly feeling defeated and already missing the other's body heat. The next few days at the training camp would be hell to get through without the omega there to give him secret kisses and shy smiles.
"Please tell me if you change your mind." He pleaded, pressing his dry lips on Taehyung's sweaty forehead one last time before gathering up the strength to exit the tent.
♡♡♡i really want to publish a third book♡♡♡