A/N: Surprise extra update!
Y/N POV:
I had just left Annie's room and made my way back to the nurse's station when a sight in front of me stopped me dead in my tracks, my heart instantly dropping to my stomach, my lunch from a few hours ago threatening to make a comeback. Standing in front of Sehun, her eyes on his face, was Evie. Evie. The fucking bitch that broke my Sehunnie six years ago, the one who had rejected him and left him devastated. He was frozen in his place and I hurried over to him, wrapping a protective arm around his waist. "What the fuck are you doing here?"
Evie's eyes widened at my words. "I... I came to see Sehun."
"What? Rejecting him six years ago wasn't enough? Do you have any idea what we have been through because of you? Now I'm going to ask you again... what the fuck are you doing here?" I could tell from the tension in Sehun's slender frame that he had no idea why she was here, but from the way his hand gripped the one on his side, he knew I would protect him with everything I had, knew that I would keep him safe from whatever was about to happen, knew that I would always be there for him, no matter what.
Evie's eyes were filled with something I couldn't identify, something I didn't trust. Holding up her hands in a gesture of peace, she gave me a hesitant smile, one that was filled with promises, but promises that didn't seem completely sincere. "I just... just wanted to talk to him." Turning to Sehun, she reached out a hand, one I wanted to tear off. "Can we talk?" She eyed me carefully. "Alone please?"
Sehun turned to me and I could see the questions in his eyes, the uncertainty, the need to know what I was thinking about the whole situation. I gave him a subtle head shake and he nodded at me, trusting my judgment, something I felt instant relief at. "I don't... I don't think that's a good idea. If there is something you need to say to me, you can say it right here."
Evie sighed and dropped her hand. "I wanted to apologize for what happened six years ago. When I found out I was your mate, it scared me and I didn't know what to do about it all. I didn't know what it meant to be mated to a hybrid." Evie's eyes dropped to the ground but then she looked back up at Sehun, with what looked like a hopeful smile on her face. "I know nothing I can say will ever make things right, completely right, but... but I am hoping you will give me the change to make it up to you, make things right between us."
Stunned by her words and unsettled by her unanticipated appearance, I wanted to pull Sehun away from her, but I could see by the light that suddenly appeared in his eyes that all the things he had been hoping for were unexpectedly coming to true, were unexpectedly being given to him. "What... what about your father? What about what he wanted you to do?"
Evie shook her head, a sliver of regret and guilt in her eyes. "I haven't talked to my father in two years. You don't have to worry about him. It's... it's just me now."
"Sehunnie? Can we... can we please talk about this?" I didn't trust the woman in front of me at all, but I knew this was what Sehun had wanted all along, the only thing he ever wanted.
Shaking himself from the stupor he was in, Sehun looked over at me and nodded his head. "Y/N... Y/N is right. I need... I need time to think about this."
The small smile on Evie's face disappeared, but she nodded her head in return. "Of... of course. I understand." Taking a step closer to him, she pulled a pen out of her pocket and reached for Sehun's hand. I wanted to snatch her away from his grip, but he let her so there was nothing I could do. "This is my number. Please... please call me when you're ready to talk." Leaning up on her toes, she kissed his cheek before taking a step back. "Please call me Sehun. I've... I've missed you."
Sehun's hand came up and cupped the spot she kissed and I wanted to shake him for falling so quickly under her spell, one that was only bound to hurt him, to destroy him again, one that I wasn't sure he would ever recover from. "Um... okay."
Evie turned to me and I didn't miss the way her eyes narrowed a fraction. "It... it was good to see you Y/N."
Not falling for her tricks, I released Sehun and crossed my arms over my chest, the hatred for the woman clear on my face and in my voice. "Yeah. I wish I could say the same. Now if you don't mind, we still have patients to take care of. This is a hybrid sanctuary, if you've forgotten."
Saying nothing, Evie gave Sehun a last smile then nodded and turned, leaving the sanctuary, her long brown hair swinging behind her. I turned to Sehun who was staring after her with a look I didn't like all over his face, one that said he was ready to run after her and pull her into his arms. Reaching out, I tugged his hand and led him down the hall to his office. As I passed Jin, I caught the look on his face. The same what the fuck was that? Look that I was currently feeling myself. Shrugging my shoulders, I said nothing. He gave me an encouraging smile and I knew it was his way of telling me to take care of Sehun, in any way I saw necessary.
Leading Sehun into his office, I shut the door behind me, keeping the conversation we were going to have away from other nosy hybrids. "Sehunnie? Talk to me."
Turning to me, I flinched at the ecstatic smile that was on his face, the way the happiness lit him up like I hadn't seen in years. "She's... she's back! My mate is back! She wants me!"
Holding up a hand, I tried to calm him down a bit, tried to reel him back in. Something wasn't right about this and I didn't want him to fall so quickly, just to get hurt again. "Hold on Sehunnie. We... we need to talk about this."
The smile disappeared from his face and Sehun's eyes narrowed. "What exactly do we need to talk about? You heard her. My mate is back and she wants me, wants to work things out with me. Why do we need to talk about it?"
Realizing this was going to be a trickier conversation than I thought, I tried to think about how to proceed without pushing him away, without making him feel as though I didn't want him to be happy. "It's been six years. Why did she finally decide to come back? It doesn't make any sense."
"Sure it doesn't make sense to you because you have seven mates who love you completely, who have always wanted you." Sehun's voice was cold, colder than I ever heard, a tone that was never directed at me. "You don't get it Y/N. You've never been rejected by a mate before so you don't understand what it's like."
Stunned by his words, I raised an eyebrow at him. "No? Then what do you call what happened with Jimin? With Taehyung? With Jungkook?"
Sehun let out a harsh laugh, one that sent uncomfortable shivers down my spine. "Oh come off of it. You're not a hybrid. You don't understand it. Even if Jimin did reject you, you wouldn't feel the pain like I did. You would never be able to understand. You're a human and would never be able to understand what we go through."
"I've been working with hybrids for seven years!" I knew he was happy that Evie was back, but from the way he spoke, I knew he wasn't thinking clearly, wasn't thinking about it rationally.
"Working with hybrids and being a hybrid are two completely different things. Something you should know by now. And if you don't know that? Maybe you are in the wrong place after all." Sehun's words were hard, no sign of the friend I had remaining, filled with nothing but contempt.
Not wanting to back down, but worried that he was going to take it too far, I tried one last time to reason with him. "All I'm saying is I want you to think about it. Please Sehunnie." I went to reach for his hand, but he pulled it from my reach.
"I think, Nurse Y/N, that you have gotten entirely too comfortable with me over the years. I am still your superior and I don't appreciate my decisions being questioned, especially when it comes to my personal life." Sehun crossed his arms over his chest, leveling me with a look, one that made me feel smaller than I ever have in my life.
Hurt by his words, but not knowing what else to say, I nodded. "Yes Dr. Sehun. I believe you may be right. I sincerely apologize for overstepping any boundaries. I assure you that it will not happen again."
Seeming to realize what he said, Sehun's eyes softened at my words and he went to take a step forward, but I moved back from him. "Look Y/N. I'm sor..."
Not wanting to hear it, I pulled the door to his office open. "If you'll excuse me, doctor, it is past my normal assigned working hours and I would like to go home." Ignoring his words of protests, I left his office, needing to get away from the man who had hurt me in the only way he knew how to do, by suggesting that I had been too close to him over the years.
As I hurried down the hall, I almost ran into Jin. He grabbed me, pulling me into his arms. "Y/N? What... what happened little mate?"
Unable to stop the tears that were streaming down my face, I gripped onto Jin's shirt. "Can... can we just please get out of here?"
Lifting my chin up, Jin studied my face, his eyes filled with worry. "Of course. Let's go home."
Jin followed me down the hall to my office and when I passed Sehun, I refused to meet his eyes, refused to acknowledge the man who had thrown everything I had done for him back in my face. "Jin please?" Sehun's voice was filled with pleas, but when Jin felt me stiffen in his arms, he shook his head.
"I'm sorry Sehun, but I need to get my mate home." From the frostiness in Jin's voice, it was clear that he had figured out what had happened. And based on Sehun's sharp inhale, I could tell he was stunned by Jin's claim over me, something he never did, especially when it came to the cat who I had been so close to. Tugging me closer, Jin led me to my office where I grabbed my stuff, eager to get out of the sanctuary, eager to get away from the place that had been like home to me, the place that currently felt like a prison, one I needed to escape from.
Namjoon POV:
"And the... the customer asked if Tae could help her put the straw in her cup!" My other mates let out sounds of amusement as I told the story of a woman who came into the coffee shop that had been shamelessly flirting with Taehyung. She had been a pretty golden retriever hybrid with long golden blond hair and as soon as her eyes landed on my handsome eagle mate, I could see the interest in her eyes.
Taehyung rolled his eyes as I spoke. "You should have heard the snarl that came from Joonie here. If I ever doubted he was a wolf, it was clear today. She grabbed her coffee and ran out of there like her tail was on fire. And I thought poor Owen was going to pass out from laughing too hard." Taehyung started laughing and I shook my head, not wanting him to continue. "O-Owen came out of the back with a rolled up newspaper and bopped Joon on the head with it, calling him a bad dog for scaring away customers!"
As Taehyung and the rest of my mates dissolved in fits of laughter, I couldn't help the smile that crossed my face as I thought of Owen's reaction. He had been so amused by the whole situation and I knew he wasn't really angry with me. He had seen enough women flirt with Taehyung and probably realized that I had had enough of it all. The laughter continued, the six of us enjoying the moment, but it was quickly interrupted when the front door opened and Jin came in with Y/N. From the way he had his arm around her, holding her close to his side and from the sobs leaving her, I instantly knew something was wrong, that something had happened at the sanctuary.
Hurrying over to them, I pulled Y/N into my arms. "Little mate? Are... are you okay? What happened?"
Y/N buried her head in my shoulder and continued to cry, while Jin rubbed her back. My initial thought was that she lost a hybrid, but from the angry look on Jin's face, I could tell it was something more than that. Giving me a subtle head shake that said he would explain in a moment, he ran a hand over Y/N's hair. "Come on little mate. Go take a shower. You'll feel better afterwards then after dinner, we can all snuggle on the sofa."
Nodding her head, Y/N released me then headed up the stairs to her room. I could hear her sniffles and as soon as the door shut, I turned to Jin. "What the fuck happened?"
Gesturing for me to follow him into the living room, Jin flopped onto the sofa, his eyes tired and his features tight with frustration. "Remember the human girl I told you about? Sehun's mate? Well the fucking bitch showed up today with some bullshit about how she was so sorry and how she wanted to work things out with Sehun."
Not sure why this was a bad thing, I raised an eyebrow. "Why is it bad that his mate is back? Shouldn't that be a good thing?"
Shaking his head, the irritation in Jin's face increased. "No. There... there was something off about it all, something that Y/N noticed. When she tried to talk to Sehun about it, he lost his cool with her. From what I got from Y/N, he said she had gotten too comfortable with him and that if she didn't notice the difference between humans and hybrids by now then maybe she shouldn't be working at the sanctuary."
"Are you fucking kidding me?" Jungkook leapt to his feet. "The fucking guy that has to hug my mate and snuggle her has the fucking balls to say that she's too comfortable? What the fuck is wrong with him?"
Standing up, Hoseok moved to our otter mate's side and wrapped an arm around him, leading him back to the sofa. "Calm down Kook. Getting mad about it isn't going to help Y/N and that's whom we have to worry about. She's the one we need to be thinking about right now."
Although I could see Jungkook wanted to protest, he probably also knew Hoseok was right and he flopped down onto the sofa, his breath leaving him in an agitated huff, muttering to himself as he ran his hands through his hair. Hoseok pulled him in close and I could see our sweet otter was doing everything he could to calm down.
Turning to Jimin and Taehyung, I could see the rage on both of their faces. After the way he had hurt her and the lengths he had gone to make it up to her, I could see Jimin was furious with the way Y/N had been treated by Sehun, the way his mate had been hurt. Even though Jimin had done the same to her, he was now in protective mode over his female mate, a mode that would not let anyone hurt her again.
Next to me on the sofa, Yoongi's hands were clenched into fists, a silent sign that he was just as angry, just as pissed off as the rest of us, but he would hold that anger in, keep that away from the woman who had given him everything and asked for nothing in return.
"What do we do?" Taehyung's question came out quietly, almost hesitantly as if he wasn't sure what to say.
Jin shook his head, his eyes sad. "I don't... I don't even know. She's hurt. She's been so close to Sehun for all of these years, helped him through the worst time of his life and now all of a sudden, he is shoving her aside as though it meant nothing to him."
Hoseok leaned forward, his elbows on his knees. "Do you really think there is something suspicious about it all? Do you really think this mate is not being sincere?"
Shrugging his shoulders, Jin leaned back against the sofa, rubbing his hands over his face. "I don't trust her in the slightest. She left him six years ago, just flat out rejected him. Said she wanted nothing to do with a hybrid as a mate. And to make things worse, her father was trying to convince the city to revoke Sehun's free hybrid status. He wanted Sehun as a pet."
Disgusted by the information, I shook my head in disbelief. Even though I had seen the hell that hybrids had gone through over the years, the very idea that someone was willing to go so far as to try and revoke a freedom was one of the worst. It was taking away a basic right that everyone should have, that everyone should be able to experience. I went to ask another question, but my sweet human mate entering the room cut me off.
Standing up, I hurried over to her. Her tears had stopped but I could see by the look on her face that she was still hurting, still feeling the pain of Sehun's words, words that she didn't deserve. "Hey little mate. Want to come snuggle with me and Yoongi?"
Y/N brushed the damp hair back from her face and gave me a small smile. "Yeah. I would like that." I wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her over to the sofa, grinning when Yoongi made grabby hands for her and pulled her down next to him. Jungkook came over and sat by her feet, resting his head in her lap and I couldn't stop the feeling of tenderness that flowed over me when she looked down at him with eyes filled with love and adoration. I didn't know how, but I knew I was going to help make things better.
***
The next morning, I was in the coffee shop with Taehyung when a familiar cat came through the door. He had a pretty woman by his side, one with long brown hair and I could tell from the way he gazed at her exactly who she was. Sehun approached the counter, with the woman clinging to his arm, and gave Taehyung a grin. The happiness on his face dimmed when he noticed the polite, but cold smile on Taehyung's face. "Good morning. How may I help you today?"
From the way Sehun's eyes widened, I could tell he wasn't expecting the extreme politeness coming from the eagle hybrid who was usually so friendly and open, the one who always greeted customers by name, usually remembering their orders. "Um... can I get a black coffee?" Turning to the woman by his side, Sehun's gave her a look of adoration. "What about for you Evie?"
I didn't miss the way Evie's eyes narrowed as she looked at Taehyung, her eyes scanning over his golden wings. "Just bottled water for me."
"Are you sure? The coffee here is really good and Taehyung makes the best. And the pastries that Carlos makes are excellent." Sehun rubbed her arm gently, but she shook her head.
"No. Just the water." From the way she looked at me, a hint of disgust in her eyes, I could see why Y/N was so hesitant about her, why she refused to believe that the woman was sincere. Unfortunately, Sehun was so blinded by love and his desire for a mate that he didn't see it.
Sehun nodded then pointed to a table. "Want to go wait there for me?" Evie nodded and moved towards the table, her eyes darting around the coffee shop. Turning back to me, Sehun's eyes grew worried and he gave me a hesitant smile. "Is... is Y/N okay? They told me she called off sick this morning."
"She's fine." I refused to say anything else, to give this doctor who had mistreated my mate so badly any more information, information he didn't deserve to have.
Taehyung set the coffee and water down on the counter. "Here are your drinks sir."
Sehun's smile dropped at Taehyung's words, but he picked up his drinks. "Can... can you have Y/N...?" Whatever he had been about to say was cut off by Taehyung's too polite voice.
"My apologies sir, but we have customers. We do not wish to discuss our mate with you. Now if you'll excuse us." Taehyung gripped my hand and tugged me towards the cash register where a frequent customer was standing. "Hey Daniel! Large coffee with two creams and a cherry Danish, right?" I was surprised by the quick switch in personality as Taehyung spoke to the dachshund hybrid, but I couldn't exactly blame him.
Sehun watched Taehyung interact with Daniel for a moment and I didn't miss the disappointment in his eyes, the wounded look, but like my eagle mate, I ignored it and turned back to my job, not wanting to feel any sense of pity for the hybrid who had hurt my mate. Was I being a bit childish? Perhaps, but my sense of protectiveness towards Y/N took over any bit of common sense I had.