JIMIN POV
They have every right to claim
Dalsu.
I sat up in bed, the fear of
those seven words racing through me.
I didn't understand who they were or what claim meant
but it was bad.
Very very bad.
I tried to justify it in my mind that it was a wolf thing and it was the pack welcoming him
but there was both fear and
rage in Jungkook's voice.
This was not good.
Not. At. All.
I jumped out of bed and
sprinted to the room where
Dalsu still lay sound asleep.
He was safe. For now.
I left his door ajar, needing
to be able to hear him
breathing, his quiet snores.
"Jungkook." I whispered as I entered the main room.
He wasn't there.
I tried the kitchen, the
bathroom, every room I
could find.
No Jungkook.
Where had he snuck off to?
Had they found him?
Was he safe?
Were we?
My heart pounded in my chest
as I tried to come up with a
plan.
I was no match for a wolf or wolves.
If they came, I had what?
A bum leg to kick them with?
Steps echoed.
Someone was coming up the porch steps and I scanned the room for something hard and heavy.
If I caught them by surprise, maybe I could knock them out.
A lamp near the door became
my best option and I hobbled
as quickly as my boot would allow, grabbing it just as the doorknob rotated.
I could do this.
I had to do this.
Dalsu needed me.
I grabbed it, holding onto it
with all I had and bringing
it up and over my head.
I had exactly one chance to make this right...one.
"Whoa." Jungkook's voice
echoed as I started to swing
my arm and the error of my actions barreled at me.
I overcorrected and started to fall only instead of hitting the floor, I hit a wall of muscle...I
fell into Jungkook.
No, I didn't fall into him.
He caught me.
I tried to knock him out with
a lamp not realizing it was
him and he protected me.
"I've got you." He promised,
for it felt like a promise and
my heart slowed, no longer beating so hard against my chest.
"I've got you."
"Who were you talking to?"
There was so much I needed
to know but not until I knew
the other person was
someone I could trust.
Shit, I hadn't even heard them
or any of the conversation
really, just that one line.
If I was going to keep Dalsu
safe, I needed to be more diligent and not allow myself
to sleep so soundly.
I can't lose him too.
I just can't.
"Trenton."
He scooped me into his arms
and instead of objecting, I
found myself nestling in close
to him and then self-corrected and just lay there like a
normal person.
A normal person being held
by the man whom he'd tried
to assault.
Yeah, there was no normal
here.
"But I'm back now."
"I should've left a note."
"Is he gone?"
"Who?"
"Trenton."
"He's still at his place."
He started to walk, as if he
were carrying only a couple of pounds instead of a full-grown man with a medical boot on.
"Let's get you on the couch."
He set me down so gently, making sure there was a
pillow under my foot.
"There."
"I'm going to get you a glass
of water and then I'm going
to cook what survived from
the food I brought back."
I looked to the door and there lay a bunch of groceries, including what had once
been a dozen eggs.
"Sorry about that."
"I thought—I overreacted."
I couldn't tell him what I thought.
He didn't want me to know
what he and Trenton were
saying enough that he was pretending the man was
never here.
This time my fuckup only
almost hurt the person who
had done nothing but save
my son from the wilderness.
Next time it could easily be worse.
I needed to be smart about things.
I also needed to figure out
how.
"You were protecting your
cub."
"Speaking of which."
"I was hoping to talk to
Trenton today."
"Your head is still a mess?"
"Yes." It wasn't a lie but also
not the whole truth.
"I'll call him."
"Why don't you shower and
I'll work on breakfast." He reached for the paper towels.
Yeah, the eggs were toast.
"I'll ask him for some
eggs, too."
"I'll be in the room."
"I don't want to shower until
I see him." I pointed to my
head by means of an excuse.
"I can help you."
"Let me call first."
He called Trenton who
appeared at the door only a minute after Jungkook
carried me to my room.
It wasn't necessary that he carried me.
I could walk—ish.
But for some reason, it felt important and I allowed it.
"Knock knock." Trenton
pushed the door open.
"Jungkook said you needed
to see me?"
He carried with him an old-
school medical bag and for
the first time he looked like
a doctor.
"Can you shut the door?" He
did and sat on the bench at
the end of the bed.
"So tell me what's going on?"
I swore he was sniffing me
as he said so.
Was that how wolves
diagnosed things?
Creepy but also fascinating.
"I need to know about Dal."
"How is he like or not like
other wolves?"
"Like will a wolf see him and know he is a wolf?"
How off-grid did I need to go with him to keep him safe?
"Wolves will be able to sense him, yes? Especially now that
he shifted." He squinted,
looking at my head.
I scooched closer.
If he thought I was information seeking in general, maybe I could find out everything I needed to without putting up
red flags about what I might
or might not be planning.
"So they can't just like see
him in a passing car and
go—look wolf."
"Exactly." He scrunched his
nose.
"This looks pretty good."
"I think I can switch your treatment to something less powerful."
"Good."
"The voices were bugging me."
I snapped my mouth shut, not meaning to say them out loud.
"I mean, it's fine."
"I'm not crazy or anything."
"I never thought you
were." He fiddled in his bag.
"Is that all you needed to know about Dal? Because I would really like to look at your leg
if you don't mind."
"Sure." I lay down so he
could remove the boot.
It would feel nice to get some
air on it.
"I do have a question though."
"How wolf is he?"
"Like is he a full wolf or only half?"
"Like Jungkook being blue
and he not last night, that
was because he's half, right?"
Trenton stopped undoing the boot, looked at me then went back to work removing the monstrosity.
"He is a full wolf."
"You can't be half a wolf."
"Even Jin who was latent
was always full wolf, He just didn't know it."
"You are or you aren't." He twisted my leg slightly and
I flinched.
He then asked me question
after question about my injury, not bringing up the blue again.
I wanted to ask him if it was a pack thing or a maturity thing
or a thousand other thoughts that went through my mind
but if he was sealing his lips
after what I overheard, I
didn't want to push too hard.
I had exactly one time to do
this right and there was too much on the line.