JUNGKOOK POV
Things had been going pretty smoothly the past few days and nights with my mate and his son.
I hadn't suggested we complete the mating process but that would be coming soon.
While I did know that some of our pack wasn't thrilled about one of us mating a human, for the most part people were tolerant of my mate.
As I waited for him to get home from work, I ran a conversation I'd had earlier with Joon over
and over in my mind.
Ari's pack were purists, essentially shape-shifter
racists.
"That's awful." I'd told him.
How could people behave
that way?
Joon's grin didn't hold a whole
lot of humor.
"I remember a time when you shared that thought."
He didn't have to spell it out.
"I'm not proud of the way I treated you and your omega."
"I'd been so selfish, not
wanting to get stuck with
your position in the pack."
"It was unfair to you and
unfair to Jin."
"I can't apologize enough to
you and Jin for my closed
mind and the added stress I caused you both."
"I was such an ass and don't think a day doesn't go by
that it doesn't pain me still."
What a jerk I'd been.
"I'm not asking for apologies
and you treat my family
well." He said.
"I'm just pointing out that it's easy to be that way when it seems strange to you."
"Some of our elders fear that
if we bring humans into the
fold, they will thin out our abilities."
"But that isn't true, is it?"
He shrugged.
"I don't think so."
"But people always look for
a reason to judge others,
to think they're better than them."
"There have always been
those who will do that and
our pack, as you remember, wasn't much better."
"But Jin is a shifter, so Jimin
and I are going to be the only mixed couple in the pack."
I didn't mention Grams
being human.
Somehow she was an exception to all things and even if she wasn't, she was an elder and single making her being here
a different story altogether.
Besides, the pack adored her more than pretty much anyone.
"So far."
I'd gone from there to Trenton because I was still having a
hard time wrapping my head around Jimin being mine.
Already deeply in love with
him, what if it turned out he wasn't?
Nobody knew what if felt like
to find their mate until they
did, so it wasn't an experience
a shifter had multiple times in their life.
Trenton was the science guy
and he understood more about what made us shifters than anyone else I knew.
And the blue thing...could I
have been wrong?
Deluded?
Mistaken?
Desperate?
Trenton seemed ready for me,
as always with a kettle boiling
and we sat down over mugs
of tea.
He told me he'd been thinking about the issues.
"You can't settle down, can
you?"
"How can he be mine if he
isn't one of us?"
"It's driving me crazy."
Trenton sipped his tea and
took his time answering.
"Well Ari loved him apparently
for all his humanity."
"I believe she did."
"Everything he says about
their relationship would
indicate it was so."
"Then why can't you love him
for the same reasons she did?"
"Or others."
"He's a good-looking
human, a great dad."
I nodded.
"And the best kisser ever."
"But is that enough?"
"Will we be together forever
as mates if one of us isn't a shifter?"
"Could he just walk away?"
Trenton squirted some honey
in his tea and stirred.
"I could do a more thorough
test on him to see if he was a shifter."
"Find out once and for all if he
is a shifter or not, see if we
have missed something."
"I hadn't been looking
specifically for shifter blood
when he'd come in that day."
"I could've overlooked it or maybe he has such a small amount in him that he needs
the more invasive test."
"It can be hard on him but if
you both need that, I can
see if he's up for it."
"No." I didn't want that to happen.
The idea of him having to be poked and prodded to sate my insecurities had me nauseous.
"I think we can do without
that."
"If his being human means
he has a way out, I'll have to accept that possibility."
And I would have to stop
asking everyone else to
help me deal with my life.
What was between Jimin
and me should remain that.
I just didn't think my heart
could survive if he left me.
My thoughts were interrupted
by the arrival of my mate who parked his car and hurried up
the steps.
He was grinning so widely, I knew he had good news for
me.
Just seeing him sent my heart into a rapid beat, as happened every time he came home
from anywhere.
Or left my sight for a minute
or two.
I was anxious to hear his good news but just looking at his handsome face I recognized something I hadn't let
myself believe before.
He was my mate and human
or shifter or alien from outer space, that heart of mine
would beat for no other.
"Looks like you had a good
day at work, Let's have a
beer and you can tell me all about it."
But he flung himself into my arms. "Sure but first I have
to tell you my good news."
I had an idea what it might
be but I wanted to give him
the joy of telling me.
"What happened?"
"Good tips?"
He shook his head hard.
"Nope."
I waited watching his face,
his smile, eyes sparkling.
"Come on, Talk."
"What is making you so
happy?"
"Allen took our offer."
"We're in the bar business
as soon as escrow closes."
I whooped and spun him
around.
"That's awesome."
"You're going to be the best
bar owner ever."
"We are." He laughed and dropped kisses all over my
face.
"We're partners."
"I guess we are although it's your show, I'm just here to provide support and we're already partners, aren't we?"
His arms looped my neck.
"Mates."
"That kind, you mean?"
"Yes and that's a stronger
bond than any other." I tried to
think of a great comparison.
"It's for life and rumor has it longer."
"So, forever."
We were nose to nose now.
"But how do they know what happens after death?"
"They don't."
His face clouded.
"What about Ari?"
"She marked me..." He
paused then went on.
"But she did it without my consent, Without my
knowing what it meant."
"And I loved her, I did."
"Somehow though, this is different, you and I."
"I think she was my wife."
"And you are my mate."
"I think you're right."