Hoseok POV:
"From the top. Five, six, seven, eight." The music began and the kids started their latest dance. After the festival, we now had our spring recital to prepare for. I had given the kids the choice to do the same dance, but they had shut it down immediately. They wanted to learn something new, show off new skills and I couldn't help but go along with their choice. We had spent the last class going over song choices and when they had given me suggestions for the first part of the choreography, I had been excited with their suggestions, in the way they were making it their own.
We ran through the rehearsed part once and then again, the kids deciding on changes they wanted to make before we ran through it one more time. Afterwards, we sat on the floor in the studio, listening to the rest of the track while the kids thought about more moves. They made more suggestions and I had to laugh when one of the bolder students demonstrated one of his favorites, something that included twerking and a little bit more shaking than the others felt comfortable with. We had to nix that one right away and I was glad he wasn't too upset by it.
We sat there for another ten minutes going over moves before class ended and I was bidding farewell to my group. I had an hour break before the next group came in so I switched to a different track, trying to picture the choreography in my head, wanting to be prepared when the students came in next. This next group was a little shyer than the first, a little more tentative but they loved to be here anyways. When I had approached them with the idea of the recital, they were a little hesitant but ultimately agreed to do it, wanting to show off what they had been learning.
My phone ringing pulled me out of my thoughts and a smile crossed my face as I saw Y/N's name. I clicked the accept button with a grin. "Hey little mate. What's up?"
"H-Hobi?" I could hear the tears and panic in her voice and my heart slammed to a stop in my chest.
"Y/N? Are you all right? What happened?" I tried to keep my voice calm but I could feel my own panic rising in my chest. "What's going on?"
"It's... it's Yoongi. He was... he was arrested." Her words came out in a heartbreaking wail and I felt the tears start to well up in my own eyes before sliding down my cheeks. "I... can you come home? You and Jimin? P-please?"
Gripping the phone tightly in my hand, I nodded my head, momentarily forgetting that she couldn't see me. "Of course little mate. We'll leave right now." Promising her we would be quick, I disconnected the call and hurried out of the studio, in search of Jimin. He was just leaving his own studio and the bright smile on his face disappeared immediately.
"H-Hobi? Is everything okay?" Jimin rushed over to me, the worry clear on his face as he saw my tears.
"We... we need to go. Y-Yoongi was arrested." The words came out in a mess of words and Jimin's mouth dropped open in horror, his own eyes filling with tears. He nodded and we hurried to the front, quickly explaining the situation to Alex. Alex dismissed us immediately, telling us to not worry about anything here and he would figure out our classes. Jimin and I rushed back to our respective studios and grabbed our bags, our thoughts on our tiger mate.
I barely remembered the drive home, Jimin crying softly in the passenger seat, and by the time I pulled into the driveway, my heart was racing and I could feel the bile start to rise up in my throat. This was one of my mates and he had been arrested for who knows what. I had a funny feeling in my stomach that this was all because of Sehun's mate and her asshole of a father. I knew they had to be behind it all and the thought of Yoongi being alone and scared, as I am sure he must be, made me feel sick.
Gripping tightly to Jimin's hand, we hurried into the house. The rest of our mates were gathered in the kitchen when we walked in and as soon as we cleared the threshold, Y/N hurled herself at Jimin and me, hugging us both tightly, tears streaming down her cheeks. From the sigh of relief, I knew she was happy to have us home, happy to have us here with her. Noah was seated at the table, a coloring book open in front of him, and from the look on his face, I could see he knew what was going on. He was young, yes, but he was also smart and deserved to know the truth.
I sat down next to him and pulled him close. "You okay there buddy?"
Noah nodded, his eyes worried. "I think... I think so. Is Papa Yoongi going to be okay?"
Giving him a gentle squeeze, I nodded. "Don't you worry. Y/N is going to fix everything."
Noah was quiet for a moment, his eyes on the coloring book in front of him, before he turned his attention back to me. "Are they going to come take me away too?"
My heart broke for the little koala and I shook my head. "No. Of course not. Y/N and the rest of us adopted you. No one is going to take you from us. I promise."
"Okay." I could see my words had soothed him, helped to alleviate some of his fears.
"Jin and I are going to head to the police station. Since Yoongi is under my protective custody, they have to tell me something." Y/N's voice was stiff and I could tell right away that she wasn't going to put up with anyone's shit. This was our mate and she was going to make things right.
We all gave nods of agreement and, after a flurry of hugs and kisses to all of us, Noah included, Jin and Y/N left the house. When the house was silent once again, we all moved as if by unspoken agreement to the living room and settled in on the sofas. Noah clung to my side and Namjoon sat on the other. Jimin, Jungkook, and Taehyung piled onto the other sofa and I could tell my youngest mates needed each other's comfort, needed someone to hold on to, someone to help convince them that everything was going to be okay.
"What the hell happened?" I finally couldn't keep the question in and it escaped through my lips, the anger clear. Jin and Y/N had been in such a rush to leave that we didn't get much information.
Namjoon sighed and ran a hand over his face. "From what I could figure out, it sounded like Yoongi was at the music school. Two police officers came in and arrested him, telling him he was being charged for the assault of Esteban Sandoval. The police wouldn't even let Yoongi call Y/N. Michael called Y/N and explained what had gone on."
Trying to keep my temper down to prevent scaring the little koala next to me, I clenched my fists on my thighs, wishing I could have been there to protect my mate, to help keep him safe. However, I wasn't surprised who was behind it all.
Fucking Evie and her father! I knew it had to be them!
"What's going to happen to Yoongi?" I looked up to see Jungkook's eyes on me, the worry clear.
Leaning my head on Namjoon's arm, I shrugged my shoulders. "I don't... I don't know. With him being under Y/N's protective custody, they can't do much to him. The laws are a little different because Yoongi is a hybrid, but there are still laws in place that will help protect him."
Jungkook nodded and I could see that my answer didn't really help. Unfortunately there wasn't much I could do. Until we heard from Jin and Y/N, we could only sit here and speculate about what was happening. I just hoped that everything would turn out all right.
Jimin POV:
As I sat on the sofa with Jungkook and Taehyung, I tried to keep myself calm, but the worry for our tiger mate was too much. It felt like Yoongi and I had just gotten the chance to work things out between us and he was already snatched away, pulled away from all of us for something we absolutely knew he didn't do, something he would never do. Looking over at Namjoon, I felt the worry fill me up. Yoongi was a tiger, a predatory breed, so would the same thing happen with Namjoon? "Joon? Are... are they going to come after you too?"
Our wolf shook his head. "No. Evie's father wanted Yoongi because he's a rare breed. A white Bengal tiger hybrid? There are only a few of them in the world. He would bring more money in if he were sold than a regular Bengal."
Feeling only a little bit better, I nodded my head, worry for Namjoon fading away. "But he's a free hybrid, isn't he? They can't sell him."
Hoseok looked down at Noah, who had dozed off against him. "Umm... if the charges stick then... then they can retract his freedom. He could potentially be put up for adoption. The only thing... the only that would protect him from that is him being under Y/N's protective custody. That would overrule any adoption, unless she decides to remove him."
Taehyung shook his head. "Y/N would never do that! She loves Yoongi and she loves all of us." I could hear the aggravation in his voice, the belief that Hoseok doubted our human mate, something we had all been guilty of at one point or another.
"Oh trust me. I know." Hoseok held up his hands in surrender. "I wasn't suggesting that she would. I'm only letting you know that he is safe. They can take away his freedom, but without Y/N's consent, they can't take him away from her."
The collective sigh of relief was almost comical and I wished I could laugh, but I knew there was nothing to laugh about. At least for right now.
We sat on the sofa for over an hour, our quiet conversations filling the room, trying to distract ourselves from the nightmare we were experiencing. Hoseok had just come back from putting Noah in his bed when his phone rang, grabbing all of our attention. Hoseok quickly clicked the accept button and set it on the table, speakerphone on. "Jin? What's going on?"
Jin let out a frustrated sigh and I could clearly hear the anger in his voice. "This is fucking ridiculous. They're holding Yoongi because of the supposed attack."
"They can't do that, can they?" Jungkook's voice was stunned, clearly mirroring the shock we were all feeling. "Right Jin?"
"Unfortunately they can. Apparently there was a witness and it's reasonable enough suspicion to hold him, but they can only hold him for 24 hours. I don't know... I don't know what Y/N is going to do, but she's pissed. I've never seen her like this before." Jin let out another sigh and I could tell he was angry by it all, like we all were.
"What's going to happen tonight?" Leaning forward as though it would bring me closer to the man on the other end of the line.
"I'll be coming home in a little bit, but Y/N refuses to leave. She wants to stay here with Yoongi."
"What?" Even though I was worried about Yoongi, my instinct to protect my female mate took over and the word came out more surprised than I had planned. "She can't stay at the police station all night."
Jin let out a dry laugh. "Trust me. I tried to tell her that, but she didn't listen. She's determined to not leave him alone there. I wanted her to come home with me, but not even a tsunami could get her away from him."
I couldn't help but smile at Jin's words. It sounded exactly like something my female mate would do. She had the natural inclination to take care of other people so knowing she wouldn't leave one our mates alone didn't surprise me.
We spoke to Jin for a few more minutes before ending the call. I knew he didn't like the idea of Y/N staying there anymore than we did, but he wouldn't try and convince her otherwise, knowing she wouldn't leave him behind.
After the phone call ended, we sat there, lost in thoughts about our mates. I hated knowing that Y/N would be there all night, but I felt a rush of pride for her knowing that she loved Yoongi enough to put his comfort ahead of her own, put his safety at the forefront of her mind. I had been worried that something might happen to Yoongi while he was there, but knowing Y/N was there with him helped to alleviate some of that worry.
"Is Papa Yoongi coming home yet?" A quiet voice from the doorway had us turning to see Noah standing there, blanket in hand, rubbing his eyes.
Taehyung held out his arms and Noah hurried over, climbing into the eagle's lap. "Not tonight buddy, but Y/N is going to stay there with him, make sure he's okay."
Noah's lips turned down into a pout, my heart breaking at the tears that filled his eyes. "Momma's not coming home either?"
Shaking his head, Taehyung tried to soothe the little boy. "She just... she knows that we are all here to take care of you. She wants to make sure that someone is there to take care of him."
Noah nodded and I could see he understood. "That's why I love Momma. She's so caring about everyone. She even loves me."
Ruffling Noah's hair, I gently tugged his fuzzy ear, giggling when he swatted at my hand. "That's why we all love Momma. She takes such good care of all of us. She definitely does love you and all of us."
The door opening caught our attention and we turned to see Jin coming in. His eyes were sad and I could see the frustration on his face. "You alright?" Namjoon's voice was gentle as he stood and approached Jin, pulling our sweet marten into his arms.
Jin shrugged and laid his head on Namjoon's chest. "Not really, but knowing that Y/N is there with him helps a little. At first they told her she couldn't stay, but she yanked out her phone and pulled up the laws on protective custody. Says right there that if someone under protective custody is being held on suspicion then the human is allowed to be there. The only exception is cases of suspected murder."
I couldn't help but shudder at his words, knowing if Esteban tried something else, Yoongi would be alone. Jungkook's arm tightened around me, his voice gentle in my ear. "It's going to be okay Jiminie."
Nodding my head, I tried to let Jungkook's word soothe my fears, take away some of the worry I had about it all. The last thing I wanted to do was to let my fears project onto Noah, make our sweet little koala even more worried than he already was. "You're right." And deep down I knew he was. No matter what, I knew that we would get through all of this together, that there was nothing that was too challenging, that there was nothing we couldn't make it through. We would be all right. I was sure of it.