Jin POV
"Food again?!" you wouldn't even be able to tell that this boy had been through a horrific assault just a week ago by the way he was acting.
He bounced up to me and grabbed the bag from my hands, bringing it back to the bed so that he could eat comfortably.
"Money again?" he questioned once more, as he pulled the $50 dollar note out of the bag.
"Fucking hell" I stormed over and looked at the money in his hand. Of course she would.
The door opening and closing behind us snapped me out of my thoughts. Our Alpha was back, and his calming scent was already settling my nerves.
I was so tense, tense from the threat of being exposed, tense from the whole situation we were in, tense from having to say goodbye to the person that my animal saw as my owner.
"She bought you food again?" Namjoon walked over and peered at the boxes that were now unpacked and spread out over the bed.
A sigh came out of me, all I could think about was that this was the last time. The last time.
"This lady sounds really nice, do you think she would adopt us?" the youngest blurted out with a mouth full of food, eyes hopeful and twinkling.
I choked at his words, coughing and spluttering for a few seconds. Of course I had thought about it before, but I'd never heard the words being said out loud.
Much to my surprise, Namjoon didn't even oppose the idea, he almost looked like he was considering it.
"I- I.. no, she..." I didn't know what to say. Of course I wanted her to adopt us, but she couldn't. "She already has a pack" I said solemnly.
Everyone was quiet for a moment, before Namjoon slowly sat on the bed and picked at the food.
The gravity of our situation was finally becoming apparent. We were being hunted down. People in this area of the city knew about us now and we had to leave before it was too late. We had no other options, nowhere to hide, we just had to leave.
They knew my packmates faces, they knew their species and the area they lived. It wouldn't be long before they found us. Those sadistic bastards that hurt our poor bunny, they were the type that wouldn't stop until they found us.
Suddenly everything became too much for me, and I dropped myself onto the ground and rested against the wall. My packmates looked up from the food, startled at my sudden action.
"I wish she could" I brought my hands to cover my eyes, as if it would stop the tears threatening to spill. "I really wish she could."
We've been running around on our own now for who knows how long, scavenging and scrabbling to find any kind of food. We were lucky enough to find a room cheap enough for us to afford with what little busking money I made. We had no one looking out for us, no one to love us, we only had each other.
The risk of doing underground jobs for more money was too high, and we paid the price for even trying. The threat of Hybrid Services finding us and taking us away, splitting us apart, that was also there. A constant, and exhausting threat that never left us alone.
Then Y/N comes into my life and makes it a little bit easier. Makes each day a little bit better. Maybe her generosity saved my packmate from an infection, potentially even death as well. It felt like the world was against us, but we had her. Even though she didn't know what I was, she didn't know I had 2 packmates, she helped all of us so much.
And now? Now we were losing her too. We were going to move and never see her again. I wanted nothing more than to follow her home and implant myself in her house. I wanted to tuck my packmates into a real bed, maybe even hers. I wanted to be surrounded by her smell constantly.
But I couldn't have the things I wanted.
I took a few deep breaths before sitting up straight. Not bothering to stand up, I remained sitting on the floor, and observed the other 2 eating away. Namjoon was looking at me with a frown, obviously a little concerned at my mini breakdown.
"When are we leaving?" I asked, taking another deep breath.
He just sighed after swallowing his bite of food.
"We should try and leave tonight. I know it's not safest at night, but at least this way we can cover ourselves easier" he explained.
I nodded, trying to accept the fact that this was happening. The hybrid part of me was crying, begging, screaming for this not to happen. I couldn't believe how hard it was hitting me all of a sudden, how much it was affecting me.
"We're very lucky you made that friend, you know" Namjoon looked at me. "This money will help a lot"
Words wouldn't come out of my mouth, so I just nodded again, and rested my head on the wall.
Everything will be ok. We will be ok.
Y/N POV
"Heyyyyyyyy guyyyyys" I snuck in through the front door.
"Y/N!" Jimin bounded over to me, hugging me immediately.
I noticed his nose crinkle in disgust, probably from Jin's hybrid, but he didn't say anything. It was a good thing I warned them.
Hobi quickly came over as well rubbing his face into my neck, as if trying to replace any outside scents with his own.
"Where's Yoongi?" I asked when I couldn't spot him.
"Outside" Jimin mumbled as kept holding me tight.
"Okay, okay, can you guys pick a movie and put this on the coffee table?" I tried to gently pry them off me and hand them the bag of sushi.
They reluctantly did so, and I could finally breathe again. I walked to the back door to find Yoongi, wondering why he was outside today. As I got to the glass sliding door I could see why.
It was still sunny outside, and Yoongi's panther form was spread out across the deck, soaking up the rays. I giggled at the sight, and of course, took a picture. It wasn't really much of a view behind him though, my backyard just consisted of some grass and a small shed that I never used.
As I watched him peacefully napping, it reminded me of when I first saw him at the shelter. I realised I haven't seen him in his animal form since that day. The other two I saw all the time, since it was easiest to sleep that way, but Yoongi has been human the whole time.
One of the information booklets mentioned that hybrids tend to stay in one form if they are stressed, or anxious, or not fully comfortable in a new home. Seeing all 3 of them go between both animal and human form made me so happy, it assured me that they felt safe here.
I couldn't help myself any longer so I slowly opened the sliding door, slightly disappointed when I saw Yoongi's ears twitch at the noise. He was lying on his side, so I got in front of him and lay down on the deck as well, cuddling into his stomach.
I can see why Hobi likes this so much.
A quiet grumble came from his chest, and I felt the soft vibrations through the wooden decking. The sun felt so nice on my skin, and with Yoongi's extra warmth, there was very little that was stopping me from falling asleep.
My peace was short lived, however, as the sliding was opened and Jimin's voice broke the silence.
"Guuuuuys I'm hungry" he sounded so sad.
I chuckled into Yoongi's chest and pushed myself up off the floor.
"Come on, I brought sushi, remember?" I scratched his ears and his eyes closed in contentment.
Jimin went back inside and I followed him, leaving Yoongi to shift back in private. Hobi was sitting on the floor in front of the coffee table, ready as ever to dig in. I noticed the movie they picked was Pirates of The Caribbean, interesting choice.
Settling myself into the couch, Jimin joined Hobi on the floor, they had a prime eating position. After a little while, Yoongi made an appearance and sat next to me on the couch. We played the movie and dug in.
As messed up as it sounded, it kind of felt like me and Yoongi were mum and dad, and Jimin and Hobi were the kids, and we were this happy little family having dinner together. I laughed at myself and my stupid brain.
Although I felt so happy sitting here with my pack, my mind couldn't stop wandering to Jin. I wondered if he was ok, if he was moving right now. What kind of hybrid did he have? I didn't even ask - is that rude? Did they finish the sushi?
"How was your lunch?" Yoongi asked quietly.
"It was alright, turns out Jin's actually moving away" I said, poking at my food.
"So I guess you don't need to worry about his hybrid anymore" I chuckled dryly.
Yoongi frowned at this, pushing his piece of sushi around on the plate with his chopsticks. The other two were still watching the movie, but I could tell they were listening in by the way their ears kept twitching towards us.
"Did he say why?" He finally asked.
"Just said he ran into some issues" I sighed. "I hope he's ok. He said he didn't even have a phone"
Yoongi lifted his arm up and wrapped it around my shoulders, rubbing soothingly. I leaned my head against him and soaked up his warmth.
"I'm sure he's ok. If he really wasn't ok, you probably wouldn't have even seen him today, right?"
I nodded and hummed. That was probably right. If things were really bad, he probably would have already left without saying goodbye. His clothes still looked clean and intact, his hair was washed, he had meat on his bones, things couldn't have gotten too bad for him.
Yet.
I just wanted to stop thinking about everything and cuddle my hybrids to sleep. I just wanted to be surrounded by their warmth and hold them close. I put my plate on the coffee table and brought my legs up to cuddle myself into Yoongi's side, not caring about the movie anymore.
He seemed a little surprised, but quickly wrapped both his arms around me and held me. Maybe he could smell my sadness.
I closed my eyes and let my mind wander. I vaguely felt a blanket being placed over me, before I was drifting off to sleep.
Yoongi POV
I couldn't help but wonder about Jin. Although I definitely wasn't happy that he came anywhere near my person, I also knew that he didn't and wouldn't try anything. I also sympathised with him, I knew how hard it was to survive on the streets. He was doing everything he could to help his pack.
When Y/N cuddled into my side on the couch, I was surprised to say the least. The shock wore off after a second and was replaced with happiness. She was finally getting comfortable enough with us that she initiated intimacy.
I wasted no time in wrapping my arms around her to hold her close. The smells of anxiety, stress, fear, and worry were wafting into my nostrils and it made my heart twist a little. I didn't want my person to feel sad.
Sure, hybrids were made to depend on humans, craving their touch, their approval, needing to rely on them all the time. However the human side of us was still there. I still felt the intense need to protect, to keep safe, and to take care of Y/N.
I wanted to protect her from all of the scary things that she had to deal with when she walked out the front door. Protect her from the harshness of the outside world, the way that I wanted to protect my pack.
She is my pack now. Y/N is part of my pack, and I will keep her safe.
A/N: I have employed a new method: write a chapter, post a chaper.
I'm a few chapters ahead, so when I complete a new one, I post one. Ta DA.