Tae's P.O.V
At first I thought I was imagining it. I thought maybe I was overthinking, something I do more than I care to admit. They say once is an accident, twice is a coincidence, but three times... "Why do you look so freaked out?" Hobi asked, and Yoongi crossed his arms. Would they even believe me? I looked behind me, and made sure that I couldn't see Jae or Jimin.
"Look I think...I think Jae can hear us. Like, how we can talk to each other when we're in our animal forms? It's like she can hear our thoughts or something. I...I don't know." I immediately regretted saying it to them, as they were looking at me like I had grown a second head. "That's impossible." Yoongi stated. He wasn't wrong, but...
"I mean we've proven the impossible is possible with Jae already." I said, and both of them couldn't argue against that. The fact that she was here with us now was nothing short of a miracle, at least in my eyes. "I still have to test it out...if you can try it out with her too at some point, we'll know for sure." I told the two of them. They both looked at each other and shrugged. "Eh, why not. Gives us something to do. Even if it is just in your head." Yoongi said.
I started to pout, and Hobi laughed at me. Yoongi ruffled my hair, causing my ears to flatten out. He walked away with a small smile. "I'm going to be outside for a bit. See if I can hear or smell anything." he called out without looking back, and just like that, he opened the front door. "It's not just in my head." I muttered, as I watched him shift and walk down the stairs into the snow.
As soon as he left, there was a banging sound coming from Jin's room. Hobi and I looked at one another, as if silently asking each other what to do. "Should we go get Namjoon?" I asked.
This has happened only once before, and I remember Namjoon was with Jin last time and that seemed to help, although back then I wouldn't have even known he was in heat. He just seemed a little out of it but the guy was calm compared to Jimin or Yoongi. I shuddered thinking about their past behaviors.
I was a little worried, considering I had no idea what mine was going to be like. I had never experienced it before, and so far everyone has said it is different for everyone, which doesn't give me peace of mind. I would never forgive myself if I hurt anyone.
I heard Jin make a noise that sounded like he was in pain, and Hobi looked at me with worried eyes. It was Jin who told me how painful it was after his had passed, and I wondered if it was worse this time, considering we had a soulmate now. I thought back to what Jimin had said, when he was talking about her developing instincts. I was skeptical that would actually happen.
There was another noise and this time, we heard him call out for Jae. I honestly didn't know what to do. Whatever he was feeling, this had to be the worst of it. He sounded almost sick, and it hurt me to think he was in any kind of pain. "Let's go get Namjoon." Hobi suggested, probably feeling just as helpless and worried as me. I nodded and we headed up the dark wooden spiral staircase. I realized I hadn't even been up there yet, so I was curious to see what there was to see.
As they had previously said, Namjoon and Jungkook could be seen in the gym through the glass wall. They looked like they were just talking, and it looked like a serious conversation. Both their brows were furrowed and Namjoon's arms were crossed. Hobi and I waited to see if the conversation would ease up a little, but it didn't. I looked back at Hobi, who was now slightly behind me.
He gave me a look that said "I'm not going in there" and it almost made me chuckle. Both Hobi and Jungkook were preys, but even I was intimidated by the bunny's incredibly fit figure. And Namjoon, not only was he the leader of this pack, but the guy had a sturdy build, making him and, ironically Jungkook, the most intimidating at first glance.
I didn't want to interrupt their conversation either, but I also didn't want Jin to be in pain, or do something he would regret later. I pictured Jae cheering me on and that gave me the courage to open the glass door with a strong push.
They both looked at me as I walked in, expressions still hard. "Sorry, but Jin is...I think he needs you.." I said, mostly to Namjoon. He sighed, and he rubbed the back of his neck and looked at Jungkook, "We'll continue this later." And just like that, he was out the door and lightly hurried down the stairs, Hobi following closely behind.
Jungkook looked conflicted about something. "You okay, Kooks?" I asked him as I lightly ruffled his hair. I was worried he would swat my hand away, but he didn't. Instead, he rested his hand on top of the one I had on his head. "Yeah."
He didn't say a word for a while, and I didn't know what to ask. Jungkook had gotten better about opening up as he grew older, but still, I knew there was no use prodding him with questions. If he wanted to talk about it, he would. Besides, I didn't want to pry in a conversation that wasn't meant for my ears anyway. "Don't worry about it. We weren't fighting or anything." He muttered, and gave me a weak smile.
He went to walk down the stairs and I followed. When we reached the bottom I looked over just in time to see Namjoon walking in Jin's room and close the door. After that, it was pretty quiet. I figured Namjoon was doing whatever he did last time to calm him down.
It had been a while now, but Yoongi still hadn't come back. Though, I wasn't too worried. He was a lone wolf, despite being a panther. He liked his alone time, and now that there were eight of us, it might be harder to come by.
Jungkook, Hobi, and I were lounging on the couch, playing around with the flat screen when Jae and Jimin came back up the stairs. Strangely, my heart started beating faster when I saw they were holding hands. I also noticed that despite looking extremely happy, his eyes were a little puffy. Had he been crying?
"Oh, you found the remote?" Jimin asked Hobi, who pointed to Jungkook, "Nope, he did. I'm...what do you call it? Channel surfing? I'm counting how many channels this thing has and we're in the five hundreds now!" Jae laughed, and all of us smiled.
"Oh my gosh Hobi you're so cute." she said giggling, and Hobi's face almost turned as red as his hair. Jungkook patted the empty spot between me and him, and looked at her with almost pleading eyes. "Join us in the channel surfing." he said with a grin.
She came forward a little and then stopped, noticing her hand was still attached to Jimin's. He looked like he didn't want to let her go, and she looked back at him, as if asking for permission. Yeah, something definitely happened between the two of them.
Their hands separated and he sat next to Hobi on the other side, and Jae plopped down between me and Jungkook. I didn't miss how the two of us simultaneously scooted closer to her. I would have laughed, if I didn't feel another twinge of jealousy.
"Hobi, can I see the remote?" she asked him. He tossed it over but it was more towards me, so I caught it in mid air. When I handed it to her, our fingers brushed against each other and my stomach did a flip on itself. "Let's see.." she pressed a bunch of buttons and the tv screen changed to another screen. "Oh sweet, it is on here." she smiled. "What is Netflix?" Jimin asked, both him and Hobi squinting at the screen. I had never heard of the word either.
"I guess it makes sense you haven't heard of it. I didn't see a tv at the other place. It's basically a huge library of movies and tv shows that you can watch whenever you want." she explained, "I had too much time on my hands, so I'm certain I've watched almost everything on here." She sighed, and I saw her shoulders deflate a little.
I remembered what little she told us about her father. If I ever saw that man I'd rip him to pieces, no questions asked. Not only for what he did to her, but for who he was. It was horribly ironic that our soulmate was the daughter of the man responsible for all of our species' suffering. I shook my head, I didn't want to think about that anymore. Without thinking, I gently grabbed her hand and I interlocked my fingers with hers. She gasped in surprise but to my relief, I felt her fingers relax in mine.
"So...that being said, what should we watch?" Personally, I didn't care. I was content being close to her like this, and holding her hand. When no one said anything, Jae let out a little chuckle. "We'll be looking for hours if we don't at least decide on a genre."
Another bout of silence and then Jimin said, "Maybe...something funny? Something easy to watch." Hobi nodded, "That would be good. No horror." he said, making an X with his arms. "No horror, got it." she said, smiling. "Do you mind if I pick something? I think I have a pretty good idea what's worth watching on here." We all agreed and she picked something, but I didn't catch the title. All I gathered was that there was a redheaded girl going to some kind of school and she was from this place called Africa.
The movie continued to play, but I didn't really catch most of it. I was too busy staring at the woman next to me. I loved the way that she tried to hold in her laughter when she knew something funny was about to happen. I noticed she glanced at the others, anticipating a laugh or a smile, and smiling hard herself when she saw them laugh. At one point, we all laughed together when Jimin and Hobi almost fell off the couch at the same time, since they like to laugh with their whole bodies.
Somehow, my arm ended up around her and she leaned against me, while her legs were in Jungkook's lap and his arms were draped over them. She was so soft and warm against me. All that was missing were the other three, and then it would really feel like home.
"Where did Yoongi and Namjoon go?" she whispered, her big beautiful eyes looked up at me in question. "Yoongi went to scout a little outside, and Namjoon is with Jin right now." I whispered back. "He should be back soon." I kissed her head, and she settled back into me, seemingly content with the answer.
I loved how she wished they were all here too. It made me confident that she felt something for all of us, and it was equal. That still didn't stop me from wanting to keep her all to myself. I found myself playing with her hair, and I saw her close her eyes like she was enjoying the feeling.
"You're not paying attention at all are you?" I heard her whisper. I leaned down and whispered in her ear, "You're much more interesting." I chuckled as I saw goosebumps appear on her arms. I looked up at the others. Their eyes were glued to the movie. "I wonder...how long can you pay attention?" I asked her.
Before she could turn around completely, I barely placed my lips on the spot just below her ear, and she gasped only loud enough for me to hear. I felt a smirk start to form on my lips, as I slowly traced them further and further down her neck, leaving a trail of gentle kisses.
She granted me me more access as she tilted her head to the side, and I had to fight the urge to mark her smooth skin. I noticed her fingers gripping the side of the couch, and she was biting her lip. I wanted to scoop her up and devour her right there, but of course that would be more noticeable.
I didn't know what had gotten into me, but could feel the growing heat in between us, and with the other hybrids so engrossed on the screen, it's like we were in our own little bubble. I kept brushing up against her neck gently, barely touching it, and my lips reached a certain spot and I swore I heard the smallest moan.
My eyes darted up, checking if anyone else had heard it. Luckily, the movie had been loud at the same time, so it went unnoticed. I hummed in her ear, "That was a close one." Her eyes were closed and she put her hand on my leg, "T-Tae...please.."
She was asking me, no, begging me to stop. That did something to me. Before I could control it, I let out a low growl. I knew it was loud enough for the others to hear, and I quickly straitened myself out. They all looked at me for a second, eyes moving back and forth from me to the movie.
I cleared my throat, "I, uh, I just didn't....agree with her...choices." gesturing to the redhead girl on the screen. I struggled with the lie but apparently it was believable, because Hobi just said, "I know! She's totally a plastic now." I had no idea what that meant, but I didn't care. My heart was beating a mile a minute, and Jae was taking deep breaths herself.
A surge of panic suddenly went through me. What if she didn't like that, what if I took it too far? She looked up at me with devious eyes that I swear will be the death of me. "You're going to pay for that." as she nudged my stomach. I smirked, and continued to play with her hair, just like I was doing before.
I couldn't wait.
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I'm back from vacation! :) Thank you for reading, the comments and votes. Please stay healthy and safe! More to come soon :D A new book preview too perhaps🤔