Chapter Text
It was the first week of summer but the temperatures were already scorching. Taehyung bursts into a convenience store, panting as sweat ran down his neck and back, making his button down shirt stick up to him like a second skin under his suffocating business suit. He had been in an important meeting earlier, actually interested in this new concept their team was introducing before his father, who was seated beside him had shattered the little peace he had found.
“We will be meeting the family next week, Taehyung. Please clear you schedule so that…” Whatever else his father had later spoken was completely lost on Taehyung as his blood thrummed with anger through his body, annoyance sizzling under his skin so intense, he was sure that he might burst a vessel. Well, that would be better than this bloody nonsense anyway. A sick, twisted feeling rose in his stomach as he abruptly stood up before he could throw up all over their important business documents placed over their squeaky clean glass table and promptly sprinted out of the room.
And now after wandering the busy streets of the Gangnam-gu district for only half an hour, he felt like he was going to die from dehydration and maybe Taehyung should just sit on the concrete and let the sun suck the soul out of him so that someone else's soul could survive.
He had once wanted to be able to choose, to be able to give his heart the freedom to love whoever it wanted. In a world like theirs, it is impossible. So it’s safe to say that Taehyung never read fairy tales, and having stumbled upon them only a few years back, he couldn’t believe that a long time ago - probably - people could choose who they love.
If only he could fall in love just once..
He further stalks into the shop, irritation itching at his skin regarding his unjust life while he unbuttons his blazer and pulls out a black headband from him pants’ pocket to push his sweaty hair out of his eyes. He takes in a deep breath, hand running through his hair as he turns his face towards the air conditioning unit above him.
The cool rush of air is a comfort to his heated skin and he’s about to untuck his shirt, formality be damned because it’s too fucking hot—when he stills, fingers involuntarily loosening their hold on the fabric as he’s hit with a strong scent. He breathes in thorough his mouth and that maddening scent just sticks to the roof of his mouth, drips down the back of his throat and seeps onto his tongue. In his twenty two years, Taehyung had never smelled anything this heavenly. He snaps his neck towards the source and he swallows hard, taking a silent step back as his eyes land on black bunny ears softly bobbing behind a mountain of food held by thin, pale arms, their feet hurryingly stepping forward, but wobbly due to their obscured vision.
A tired huff is heard and Taehyung freezes completely, he doesn't know why he did what he did but he keeps his feet nailed to the floor as he watches the bunny step forward moving right in his direction, and only a few more steps, some more, just one more and before he knows, they collide with a burst of colorful food packets and a clash of scents and classes.
Predator and prey. Wolf and bunny. Sin and Innocence.
Taehyung gets into action in the last second after hearing the boy’s soft, surprised cry but manages to catch the bunny boy before he falls backwards and onto the floor. He grips the boy’s waist tightly, pulling his body towards himself to resist gravity’s stubborn pull. Taehyung’s breath is punched out of his lungs when the boy uncrosses his arms that earlier covered his face, slowly bringing them down to curl near his chest.
And he's shocked dumb, world suddenly tilting away from its axis because his heart is just thudding so fast, almost scared, shying away from the pure innocence in his arms as his ribs fill with the scent that his lungs seem to have fallen in love with.
Whatever Taehyung’s feeling right now, he has never, ever felt that way. He takes in the boy’s quivering bunny ears, fluffy raven hair that falls as soft bangs, covering his eyes that Taehyung so desperately wants to see, then at his soft cheeks still chubby with baby fat, a cute twitching nose, pink parted lips, unmarked neck and his small, lithe body, soft but too bony at the same time. Taehyung stares, he stares like a hungry wolf staring at the juicy meat he had just found after starving for months, years, maybe all his life.
He waits for the bunny to look at him but he doesn’t, eyes not rising past Taehyung’s shoulders. The boy swallows, and Taehyung sees his Adam’s apple bob roughly, fear slowly seeping through his scent but instead of the sour tang Taehyung expects, the bunny only ends up smelling sweeter even when quaking with fear.
The boy wrenches himself out of the wolf’s gasp, stumbling backwards as he repeatedly bows, apologizing while quickly picking up the items that he dropped earlier. Taehyung is brought back to earth when they separate and all he can think is-- I want him. I want him. I want him. He’ll take good care of him, give him whatever his wants and feed him well until he’s soft and healthy not so skinny. He’ll give him a home, a heart to keep and--
“I-I’m—I’m s-so s-s-sorry—I was-wasn’t l-looking. I-I couldn’t s-see..” As the boy trips over his words and increases the distance between them, he sees a tear slide down his cheek, shining like a crystal in the store lighting and Taehyung’s cruelly reminded of what he is.
A predator and prey. Again.
“P-Please, don’t h-hurt me— I’m-I’m M-Matched.“
Taehyung watches the boy who has shaken him up fear him and the wolf’s heart sinks, sudden grief swallowing him whole at the rejection like he has just lost the most important thing in this world and he’s shocked at having such a stupid, weak reaction towards a bunny boy, his prey, someone who’s already Matched and he’s ashamed, face heating up.
But it’s the boy’s quivering frame that he follows with his eyes as the smaller boy briskly walks up to the counter and Taehyung keeps watching as the boy hurries to the glass doors but skids to a stop, slowly turning around and Taehyung spins on his heel before their eyes even meet, walking deeper into the aisles, before he’s hurt even more. And just like that Taehyung learns his lesson again - he can never have what he wants.
Taehyung wonders why the boy didn’t have a collar if he was marked.
~
Taehyung’s heart is being haunted.
Since yesterday, he can’t seem to get the boy out of his mind and Taehyung had tried everything and anything to get his mind off him but he’s unable to forget his scent and his parents give him concerned looks when they see him moping around the house, sniffing his sweat stained shirt from yesterday like some kind of addict. Hell, Taehyung can’t even smell himself anymore, only that sweet scent remains and he’s ready to rush to the nearest psychologist when he gets the idea of licking his shirt.
He’s going to lose his fucking mind at this rate. He’s down to hunt the boy, he was definitely able to pick up the scent yesterday right after he got out of the store and he had to control himself because the boy was Matched and so was Taehyung. As an Alpha, he has a strong sense of smell and he wanted to hunt the boy down, capture him and ravish him—Taehyung lets out a whimper at his train of thought, sick of himself and his animalistic desires. They’re hybrids – half animal but half human too.
Human. Human, human, human.
Yes.. human. Definitely not the wolf he’s suppressing, not the animal that wants to claim that bunny and possess him, mark him up and have the boy pinned under him- No.
Taehyung doesn’t want to accept that he is a monster.
“Taehyung-ah. Come, sit.” He’s dragging his feet towards the stairs to reach his bedroom when his mother speaks, voice soft in request. Taehyung knows what’s coming but he still sits before him parents because he was raised like this, to listen to his parents, to give their words more importance than his feelings, to believe that their decision was the best for him.
Fucking bullshit.
“Son, you can’t behave like this when we have a meeting in five days. It’s better that you start preparing.” His father starts. Don’t get Taehyung wrong, he loves his parents but they do a wonderful job at destroying his feelings. “I’m aware that you are not pleased with this arrangement but we have no other choice, last week’s test results have come and this is the best potential Match so far.”
There’s that feeling again, the bitter bile rising his throat as his eyes grow dim with every passing second. He hates this. Hates that the only purpose of his life is to extend their family further, pass on their surname and mate just for the sake of having pups.
It’s not fair.
It wasn’t Taehyung fault - or anyone’s for that matter - that their wolf population was declining this quickly. And not only wolves, almost all predators’ population was suffering due to a numerous causes, the most concerning one being the rise in the infertility rates of the females. It started a few decades back and his parents always tell him that they were lucky enough to have him, an only child. Their government has taken drastic measures to help the predators since it was very necessary to maintain a balance.
Taehyung doesn’t want to understand his role in this.. in this fucked up situation.
It’s not like Taehyung doesn’t want a mate. He does, he wants a mate too, wants someone to love and care for all his life. But given the current circumstance, things have turned more practical and methodical.
Right before the mating, the carrier is given suitable supplements and hormones to push them into a mating cycle, the couple are then given two to three weeks’ worth of time for the impregnation. If the results are not positive by the given time, the couple are separated and the process begins again.
And what terrifies Taehyung the most is the interbreeding itself, the whole concept actually.
When he was first registered in the mating program, Taehyung was seventeen and he had cried in relief when no possible match for interbreeding was found for him. He had heard hundreds of horror stories about the matings gone wrong and a hundred more about miscarriages and death of the carries. And don’t get him started on changing Matches over and over again.
He couldn't take it, the knowledge that he could possibly kill some innocent carrier because predators were decreasing in count just didn't sit well with him. There's a deep sadness in his heart and he prays that the meet next week doesn't go well. It's his first time getting a Match and he wants to reject them. But no matter how much he protests, he knows that things won't work his way. Damn the government.
"There's nothing to worry about. Their base animal is capable of having many offsprings at once. If this works, them we're set for, Taehyung-ah. The officials will be impressed and you'll never have to work a day in your life for the compensation they will give you--" Taehyung's mother is kind. She's kind, she has to be because she probably saw the agony on his face and stopped but as Taehyung bolts from the couch and into the nearest bathroom to puke his guts out, eyes watering from the burn in his esophagus as well as from the terror, he thinks that kindness died the moment their biology started fucking up.
How could his parents think about the money when he was forcing someone to mate with him and carry his children? He muffles a scream by pressing his face into his knees, sitting on the cold tiles of the too large and spacious bathroom and he has never felt this alone, this weak. He can't do this, he's just not strong enough to do something like that, to mate with someone and watch them die when their biology rejects his. No amount of injections could support life when it wasn't mean to be.
And the worst thing that could ever happen would be the forced mating that so many prey go through and no one fucking listens, not a single soul. Taehyung would never stoop so low as to force himself on someone. But then again, consent is a words that almost doesn’t exist anymore.
The wolf is so tired, so done with keeping his feelings all bottled up and if his alpha father saw that breakdown of his, he would have slapped some sense into Taehyung.
When Taehyung gets out of the bathroom, everything is dark and only the small motion sensing lights flicker as he slowly pulls himself up the stairs. He wants to plan something and get out of this mess but his mind stays blank, and he knows that their department would hunt him down if he tried something funny. Wolves don't like it when they don't get what they want, after all.
He stares at his ceiling all night, lying motionless on the bed. There's only one thing that still has a home in him head. That bunny boy.. Though he would probably be mated with someone else, he hopes that his predator won't be harsh on him. He wishes that he will have a painless mating and be happy with his mate and children.
Taehyung turns to his side, curling into a ball as he lets a few bitter tears fall, when he’s reminded that his life ahead would be full of horrors. But a part of him is happy that he won't kill the boy since he would never be his. With the given mortality rate of carriers involved in werewolf interbreeding, the bunny’s soft, frail body won't be able to carry the wolf's pups at all.
Taehyung's happy that at least, boy will live.
.
.
.
Apparently, Taehyung's parents want to show off in front of his Match because they are dressed to the nines, an extravagant display of jewelry adorning his mother's frame while his father dons on a crisp suit and a watch that costs a fortune. Taehyung adds this to the list of fucked up things he has encountered so far. In this world, you belong to any one status - Predators, the rich and Prey, the less fortunate.
"What's the need to rub our wealth in their faces? They're going to feel more inferior than they already do." Taehyung's deep voice cuts through the silence of their car and his father gives him a warning look.
"Darling, don't put it that way. We're just assuring your Match that we are capable of taking care of them." There she goes again and Taehyung's caught between loving his mother and hating her. She has a way of speaking that calms others but that doesn't affect Taehyung anymore.
He turns his head away, looking out of the tinted window with a grimace. He tries to understand where they are and from the looks of the amount of vegetation surrounding them, Taehyung tries to guess who his Match could be.
Taehyung is reminded of a time just a decade ago when predators tried breeding with different families, a stupid thing called pride making them try such thing. It failed, the off springs were born weak or not born at all since the clash of dominant genes from two different classes and species was impossible to balance.
Maybe they were all meant to die, Taehyung thinks, grinding his teeth. But no, these sadists turned back to the prey because their traits are recessive, successfully enabling the predators to dominate the off spring’s genes and the world had been ecstatic, breathing a huge sigh of relief as they stole the preys' basic right to choose who they mate with, taking away the chances of them giving birth to their own kind. So maybe the bunny boy would never hold his own kit and it saddens Taehyung to the point that he has to take in a shuddering breath to not lose his cool.
What was happening to him?
Being brought up as an Alpha, he was strictly forbidden from showing any weak emotions. The elders didn’t seem to understand that emotions couldn’t be controlled and with the amount of emotional whiplash Taehyung was receiving the past week, he’s bound to lose it. Taehyung never believed in love, so love at first sight? He wants to scoff rudely but then again, why was he so into that boy from last week. Taehyung refuses to name the strong emotion suddenly rooted into his being.
While he's lost in his head, he doesn't notice that they have arrived, jerking when his father lays a hand on his shoulder. He tries to give Taehyung an assuring smile but Taehyung is still angry, so he breaks out of the car, slamming the door shut with a loud boom.
His mother doesn't even bat an eye, linking her arm with her husband and starts leading the way. Taehyung looks around and sees... lumps. He cocks his head to the side, narrowing his eyes at the clearing in which he's standing in. If he was passing by on any normal day, he would have thought that this was a beautiful meadow with lush green grass and tiny flowers growing in strategically placed bushes.
He glances around and spots a wooden sigh that says, The Burrow. Taehyung blinks at the sigh then sweeps his gaze in amazement, having never seen a rabbit's burrow.
Then.. Then, could it be possible that his bunny boy could live here somewhere? Taehyung's gaze jumps around, only catching family name plates stumped into the ground. If only he knew his name.. But what would he do anyway? The boy was safe and Matched, not in the wolf’s league. Taehyung's heart bounces in his chest as he takes long strides to where his parents were standing, gingerly looking down at the stairs of the burrow entrance.
With a shaky smile, his parents start descending, Taehyung's father holding up his mother's long gown for her and the wolf just follows behind the pair, eyes quickly adjusting to the dark. As they get deeper, it gets cooler and Taehyung is so grateful for that. There's a door a few feet away from the bottom of the stairs and he throws a look back, squinting at the sunlight that falls inside, illuminating the passage. The entrance is covered with stone tiles, giving it a neat, open look and Taehyung had actually though that they were literally going underground, wrestling through mud and dirt.
The door suddenly opens while Taehyung wonders what it must feel like to live here away from the people, away from the sun, the rain and the cold. He quickly focuses on the couple who open the door and the wolves bow in return after a deep bow from the rabbit family. The wolf first notices the couple’s snow-white ears, a part of him relieved that it’s not the boy’s family – they would have black ears like him, wouldn’t they?
Taehyung's mother starts her magic, letting the soft caress of her voice put the rabbits— Taehyung glances at the family name, not wanting to refer them according to their base animal, the Jeons - under her spell and they get wide smiles, eyes crinkling at the corners. Taehyung wonders if his Match shares this feature as well.
They are ushered inside and for a second Taehyung can pretend that they are old family friends with how quickly both the couple fall into conversation and he's surprised when both the woman hug but then Mrs. Jeon speaks and Taehyung feels as if he’s hit brick wall.
"Taehyung-shi, it's nice to finally meet you. We were very eager to see you and you never came all the time your parents visited earlier." The woman has a kind smile, meaning no harm so Taehyung directs his glare to his parents who happened to go behind his back and meet the family before him.
His alpha father brushes the look off with a chuckle. "Don't give us that look, son. We had to start preparation early because apparently it's Jungkook's first Match too." Taehyung sees red, his buried down wolf instincts coming up to the surface faster than he could control after knowing that his father, although a mated alpha knew his Match's name before Taehyung did.
Taehyung's mother, noticing the change, rubs a hand down the wolf's back before hell breaks loose, trying to soothe him. "Calm down, Taehyung-ah." She pleads with her eyes, whispering. "You'll scare them."
Oh, Taehyung wants to scare them, all right.
He knew something wasn't right when there was not a flicker of fright in the Jeons' eyes and guess he was right all along. But he sucks it up because if his life has been even a little bit easier, then it was because of those few times when Taehyung blindly followed his parents' - mostly his mother's - instructions.
So he plasters on a smile, bowing again in apology. Mr. Jeon claps his back, with a smile on his face as pulls Taehyung inside for a tour, into a few tunnels and Taehyung's head hurts from the number of rooms - nests, as Mr. Jeon had called them - they passed. They were mostly empty except one – his mate’s! Taehyung panics – as the other Jeon kits were supposedly already mated, healthy and alive with children. Taehyung doesn't miss the special emphasis and smiles stiffly. Did this man not care about his children at all?
"You would be the first wolf in our family, Taehyung-shi." When Taehyung hears this, he loses all hope. No wonder all his children survived. They never mated with a wolf. Taehyung's feet hurt from the tour of the too big burrow and he doesn't know if this is a rabbit thing, meaning all the burrows being of similar size or maybe this family was doing better than the rest. From the looks of the expensive furniture and interiors, they were well off.
While they walk back the way they had come, Taehyung catches a whiff of something sweet, something—
“What's wrong, Taehyung-shi?" Mr. Jeon asks, curious as to why the wolf stopped walking although he might have an idea why. Taehyung just shakes in head, mumbling a flustered 'nothing!' and walking ahead. He’s getting fucking delusional.
Taehyung doesn't even conceal his sigh of relief when he finally plops his ass onto the soft cushions of the couch, leaning back against the backrest, knee bouncing as he slowly turns anxious when both the couple start whispering from the doorway of the living room, completely ignoring him. The women's laughter rings in the silence and Taehyung's parents walk over to sit beside him.
His father grips his wrist suddenly and Taehyung's eyes shoot up to meet the older Alpha.
When he speaks, Taehyung is shocked at hearing the authority in his voice. His father never uses that voice in their home and had only used once on Taehyung to reduce his hysteria when he had hurt himself when young, having fallen off while climbing a tree in their backyard. Back then it was to assure him, comfort him and now to dictate and control him.
"You're not going to ruin this, alright? This is the most perfect Match you could ever have. You don't even know how much we invested in this. Rabbits are expensive, Taehyung and you will mate with your Match. No matter what." Of all the things said, in Taehyung's forced submissive state, the last three words ring in his head the loudest.
No matter what.
No matter what his Match says, no matter how they didn't want this, no matter how much they screamed and no matter how much they cried.
So Taehyung had to sin.
Fine, then.
Something inside Taehyung changes in that moment and a part of his brain switches off, shutting down his emotions, the innocent part of his heart tears itself away from the rest of his blackening heart and gets lost somewhere in his ribs.
His father seems satisfied by his change in the demeanor but his mother clutches the fabric of her gown in white knuckled fists, not meeting his eyes. She's scared, Taehyung realizes. For a second, her mother was scared of her alpha and Taehyung knows that his Match would probably fear him from the moment they see him.
Taehyung's looking at his feet and his father must not be pleased with the lack of dominant display but the Jeons bring in his Match at that moment and Taehyung is not ready, was never ready and never will be. It was a long way to hell and every moment would stain him some more, make him unholy, only worth of—
Nobody told Taehyung that sometimes, we need not die to go to hell. Hell will come to us because maybe we were not even supposed to have some meager amount of peace in our lives, cursed from the start.
His resolve goes flying out of the window.
Taehyung's hell is personified with a scent that drives Taehyung crazy, that he absolutely cannot refuse. So with his emotions going haywire, heart suffocating his throat and eyes red, he lifts his head up slowly unable to even pray for a miracle because he knows that it's too late. The bunny is already in the trap, struggling but it will still get devoured because hunger empowers morality and humanity.
No. no. no. no. no. no. no.. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Everything was going so, so wrong. It was never supposed to turn out this way..
The wolf doesn’t know how he held back his sob but through the blurry vision, he sees the boy being pulled until he’s seated right in front of Taehyung, almost disappearing into the plush loveseat. “Taehyung-shi, our youngest kit and your Match, Jeon Jungkook.”
Fate works in a funny, stupid way - cruel most of the time.
Taehyung doesn’t understand. Everything was just fine five minute ago – no, it actually never was – and now his world is crashing all around him, leaving him bare and vulnerable, the walls of his heart are seizing painfully and Taehyung wishes his lungs were too, until his veins stop pumping blood.
Their parents leave, claiming – ‘Why don’t you two get to know each other while we plan a few more things, hmm?’ and they’re left alone, a melancholy wolf and a terrified bunny.
The bunny ears that had Taehyung mesmerized right from their first meeting are limp over the boy’s small shoulders, twitching in fright. They sit like that for minutes, silent while Taehyung stares at the boy with blank eyes and the boy – Jungkook, continues to ignore looking at the wolf.
The boy is clearly not dressed up for the occasion, wearing a grey checkerd shirt over a red t-shirt and black shorts, fisting the black fabric tightly, unintentionally exposing more of his pale skin. And Jungkook is so very pale probably because of his home being a burrow, unlike Taehyung whose skin has taken a golden hue from the sun’s constant love.
Such a lovely boy..
Looking at Jungkook, the wolf thinks that he wouldn’t have to wait till hell for punishment, hell would be living with him in a few days and he will be existing in constant fear that any day could be their last one together. He would have to mate with the only one he could ever possibly love, making the boy hate him for taking away his freedom from his at such a young age—
Taehyung gasps, gripping the fabric of the couch to ground himself. “How- How old are you?” The boy jolts, ears stiffening once, clawing at his thighs and biting his lip, head cast down, bangs hiding his eyes from Taehyung again and the wolf wants to hug the boy and tell him that everything was alright and nothing would hurt him.
But Taehyung doesn’t want to be a liar too.
“Jungkook-shi, please look at me.” The boy stills, sniffs once and quickly lifts his head, meeting Taehyung’s eyes and oh, he’s so lost. The wolf doesn’t know how much time passes, minutes, hours or eternity as he’s sucked in a void, a black hole that are Jungkook’s wide doe eyes, so dark and deep, adorned with thick, slanted lashes.
For the first time, Taehyung looks, absorbs every little detail that he can see from his enchanting eyes to his nose, to the flushed cheeks and to his bitten red lips and finally taking him in whole because Taehyung’s memory didn’t do even a little justice to the beautiful, otherworldly creature sitting before Taehyung.
“Seventeen.” The bunny might as well as hop over and drive a sword into his heart and it would hurt less. Taehyung stands abruptly, shocked out of his wits and shaken out of his morals when he hears that single word and his nightmares come out to dance around him, screeching gleefully into his ear.
“No, no, no.. No, I reject you, I can’t do this—You’re just a kid—“ Jungkook eyes widen in alarm, expression morphing into something akin to fear and in a second the young boy is on his knees, before Taehyung’s boots, bowing until his head touches the ground.
Then, he looks up.
Taehyung sees terror.
“Please—Please, I’m s-sorry. I can- I can—I’m not a child. Please, accept me. I’m r-ready. I can- can g-give you.. please d-d-don’t l-leave me h-here. I know what you want--I’ll do any-anything...” The boy heaves, begging like his life depended on it.
Taehyung feels the words burn as they slap against his skin, seeping through his clothes to scorch his flesh raw, leaving him a bloody, burning mess.
“Anything, any-anything, anything. Pups, you w-want p-pups, I'll take them— I can, I s-swear I’ll give y-you—“ Jungkook chokes over his sobs, probably from spitting the forcefully rehearsed words, shuffling closer to rest his forehead against Taehyung’s thigh for two breaths and Taehyung stumbles back, gracelessly falling back on the couch. “I’m good, really- I k-know how to cook, how to- I'll k-keep your house clean, I.. I.. I can, I’ll—I’ll be good..”
“S-Stop, stop it!” The wolf will be forever haunted by those words as he belatedly realizes that the younger boy is brain washed, completely gone from having his mind stuffed up with all kinds of fucked up things, probably taught these things since his parents found out that he would be a carrier.
He has to get out of here before his wolf takes over, the kind of wolf that can’t resist the boy offering himself to Taehyung.
Jungkook looks up from his spot, standing shakily and throws a look at the still empty doorway, hurriedly wiping his tears away and turns towards Taehyung again. And the wolf knows that something is very wrong as the bunny hugs himself desperately.
“Please.. T-They’ll- They’ll.. please—I d-don’t want to s-stay here. Please, I can’t, can’t, can’t, just can’t—Don’t w-w-wanna.. Please, Alpha.” Taehyung ignores his body's reactions, concentrating on the important matter at hand. Jungkook's parents..?
“What will they do?” The boy tugs at his t-shirt, trying to maintain eye contact with Taehyung.
“I’m-I’m the last kit... smaller and weaker than all my hyungs... They don’t exactly... like me. And,” The boy whispers, unconsciously reaching up to pinch his black ears then quickly withdraws his fingers, as if just realising his actions and Taehyung’s wolf is slowly beginning to take over, him human side withdrawing, unable to cope up with the disturbing scenarios. “No one w-wants me so—“
“I do...” Taehyung whispers. It’s not him anymore, he's sure because he almost doesn’t feel his tongue move. The bunny’s ears jolt upright again, wide eyes staring at him unblinkingly, tears brimming.
“Really? Because I-I’m of no use to t-them...”
“You’ll have to be mine, then.” And that’s how the bunny boy sighs in relief, the heavy words falling on deaf ears as a million watt smile crinkles his eyes. “Yes, yes, yes! Anything.” Taehyung bets that Jungkook doesn’t really know that he literally consented the wolf to breed him and it breaks his heart.
“I’ll take you.” Taehyung almost purrs. He'll take him. Again and again and again and again. He doesn’t know how long he can pretend to be human when he’s far from that. His nails tingle, and he needs just a little more of the right kind of the ‘wrong’ stimulation and his claws would come out to play. He presses his tail against his back, ears almost pulling back as if he were hunting.
“Thank you.” There’s devotion bleeding into those two words and Taehyung doesn’t deserve it when he’s a minute away from leaping on to his Match. Jungkook steps forward, maybe trying to initiate some kind of skinship. The wolf’s teeth ache, desperate to bite into such a potential, willing mate who’s a mere foot away from him.
“Don’t come any closer.” Taehyung grits out, closing his eyes so that he doesn’t scare the bunny away from his red irises and shar canines that are pressing into his lower gums, body tense. He opens his eyes when he hears a sniffle and he feels like shit as he watches the bunny’s ears droop, smile falling away as he steps back, bowing hastily before backing away to sit back in his seat again, with a small, ‘I’m sorry.’
The wolf groans softly, running a hand through his hair and tugging at his ear sharply to get some sense back.
“Listen, don’t apologize.” Taehyung doesn’t have to explain because Jungkook is clearly affected by the changes in the wolf, sinking back into his cushions further. “It’s just... a little hard to control my wolf sometimes. I won’t hurt you if you don’t catch me off guard, that is, no sudden movements please. That will make me want to—want to h-hunt.” Taehyung whispers the last part, letting his chin drop to his chest in shame.
“Please don’t run.” Jungkook just nods with wide eyes, fidgeting with those damn shorts of his again and this time Taehyung shamelessly ogles his thick thighs, licking his lips subconsciously as he imagines biting into the obscenely thick, soft looking muscle and his mouth waters.
Jungkook squirms, then crosses his legs but that only makes his shorts ride higher and Taehyung forces his gaze away. The last thing he wants is to pop a boner and scare the bunny away for good.
Their parents choose this moment to come back, Taehyung’s mother holding a red velvet box proudly.
Oh... The collar.
They seat themselves and this time the wolf notices his Match’s body language. The boy is looking down, refusing to meet anyone’s eyes, hands folded in his lap and shoulders curled inward, making him look smaller than he already is. Whatever is happening, Taehyung wants to take the boy away, keep him safe with him, locked away in their home.
“Taehyung-shi, I hope our son didn’t disappoint you.” Mrs. Jeon come up to stand behind her son, a hand on his shoulder pulling him back harshly until he’s sitting upright, daring to go further and pulling the shaky boy’s droopy ear, making Jungkook jolt before he catches up and looks at Taehyung again.
Anger claws at Taehyung like a demon, feeling threatened at how vulnerable the boy looked, his wolf growling and snarling like a rabid animal because how fucking dare these filthy prey treat his soon to be mate like that—
He can see the flash of pain in the younger’s eyes, the painful bite of his lip and the beginning of tears. Taehyung wants to rip everyone who’s turning a blind to this mistreatment into pieces. God knows how else the boy was tortured.
“Don’t touch him like that.” Taehyung growls, standing up to snatch the damn collar from his mother’s grip. He opens the box roughly, throwing the lid away when it rips off and pulls out the black metal collar.
He stalks towards the pair, eyes narrowing at the woman who still had a grip on her son. She lets go of him quickly and Jungkook looks up at Taehyung, alarmed at the aura emitting from him. Taehyung presses a knee into the cushion, just beside the boy’s thighs.
The boy jumps, round eyes making Taehyung’s heart beat faster as he tilts the bunny’s head back gently, running his thumb over the boy’s Adam’s apple, feeling it bob underneath his touch. He unclasps the choker and places it where it now belongs, the sleek, black metal contrasting sinfully against Jungkook’s pale throat. The sound of the collar - their Pack’s collar - clasping and tightening into place makes Taehyung realize that he just marked his Match in one of the many ways he had to.
Jungkook’s hand flies to his throat, fingers gliding over the cool metal that’s just tight enough to remind him who he belonged to all the time. A sick satisfaction curls sweetly in Taehyung’s stomach, making it clench pleasantly. When Taehyung sits back, his body is positively tingling, wolf howling proudly at the small marking event.
“Finally!” Their parents rejoice and despite himself, Taehyung grins at the blushing bunny who has a smile of his own, front teeth poking out in a way too cute manner for the wolf to handle. He doesn’t know what he’s getting himself into, protect him – his body and heart. Surprisingly, it’s his wolf that feels protective to point that it’s bound to turn aggressive at any trigger.
Their parents launch into discussions about the mating ceremony and Taehyung zones out, shamelessly staring at Jungkook with his chin propped up on his fist. It will be alright, Taehyung will treat him like his queen, will put the world at his feet, and worship him like a god.
“—‘s tomorrow. Jungkook has to spend a few hours in the hospital—“ Taehyung jumps, the words ‘Jungkook’ and ‘hospital’ pulling him out of his day dreaming, now worried at the possibility of something being wrong with his mate.
“What? Hospital? Why? He’s perfectly fine.” Taehyung shoots the questions and Mr. Jeon chuckles as his mate starts explaining. “Jungkook has to get his hormonal injections, Taehyung-ssi. He needs to get his first heat in a week or ten days to get the results in two weeks, after all.” It feels like someone dropped a million gallons of freezing water on his head and he feels hot and cold at the same time.
“F-First heat? You’re telling me that he didn’t get his first heat yet? That he still didn’t present and you’re already selling him off to me?” Taehyung snarls, claws ripping past his nails and his ears pull back, teeth bared.
He had assumed the boy to have been matured by now, since Taehyung himself presented when he was seventeen. But he’s livid now, burning with the need to kill, bloodlust simmering right under his skin.
“Do you even know what wolves can do, huh? He’s a bunny for fuck’s sake! Do you want him dead or something? You all are behaving like imbeciles. Just look at him – a child. A small child of seventeen and—and—you’re giving him off for mating? He won’t be able to—“
Taheyung’s father cuts him off with a warning growl but what makes his blood run cold is the bored look in their parents’ eyes as if his outburst had not mattered to any of them, as if they were expecting it and his words are falling on deaf ears for the second time that day.
“He already had his second dose yesterday. You can’t do anything now.” The glint in his pack Alpha’s eyes makes Taehyung’s stomach churn unpleasantly. His shoulders slump, his human and wolf blank with the shock. No wonder Jungkook smelled so much sweeter than last week. “Just shut up and mate him.”
“Jungkook-ah,” The lack of honorifics from his mother reminds Taehyung of their status again. And with status comes responsibility. “I’m sorry about my son. He’s like that probably due to the moon. Please do not doubt yourself as his Match. You both have a ninety seven percent of compatibility. Everything will fall into place. Don’t upset yourself, dear.”
“He has to be ready after tomorrow’s appointment, Taehyung-ssi. ‘Ready to give him off for mating’ as you put it.” From the way these nut jobs are talking, Taehyung is not so confident that they will take proper care of Jungkook.
“I’ll take him.” Taehyung blurts out. All eyes rest heavy on him, waiting, waiting for the words they secretly want to rip out of the wolf, having played with Taheyung’s instincts and morality. “I’ll take him to the appointment tomorrow. You don’t have to come. Any of you.” He grits out, their satisfied smiles don’t make any sense.
“Wonderful, son!” His father beams at him, moods switching in an instant and clapping him on the shoulder. “Jungkook can come with us right now. What’s the point of staying here, right? The hospital is closer to our home, anyway.” Everyone agrees with elated looks and words, wide smiles and satisfied eyes.
“Jungkook, pack up. Quick. No slacking.” Mr. Jeon barks and the boy shoots up to stand, bowing quickly before hurrying towards a tunnel. When he see Mr. Jeon following him, Taehyung is on his feet, already stopping the man.
“I’ll go.. Make sure he’s quick.” He follows the bunny and they go further deeper into the tunnels and reach the nest. The boy’s room is the last one in the hallway and Taehyung has to bite back a sad whimper when they step inside.
The room is spacious and big, painted a soft yellow but there’s barely any furniture except the metal bed, a desk by the window and a wooden wardrobe. A few drawings and pictures are taped to the wall, fairy lights hanging from the low ceiling. The boy looks painfully small, running around his room and packing his bag, throwing in whatever he can find.
“Jungkook-ssi, let me do it. Go sit on the bed.” The boy stops in his tracks, looking between the small mountain of folded clothes on his bed and the wolf. “Please.” Taehyung insists and Jungkook slowly sits on the mattress, legs dangling off the side.
Jungkook watches Taehyung get his clothes from the wardrobe and try his best to shove them in the bag neatly. Jungkook giggles at Taehyung’s pathetic attempt, moving to kneel on the bed and shuffle closer to fold his clothes properly. Taehyung watches his mate make more space by what looks like shuffling the clothes around and the bag is magically only half full.
“Do you know magic or something? That bag was literally full just a second ago.” And just like that, Taehyung makes fool of himself, face warming at his stupid choice of words but don’t blame him, he was actually impressed. Jungkook laughs, shaking his head quickly in denial.
Taehyung doesn't force the bunny to talk, considering the shy blush coloring the boy's face prettily. It's when Taehyung is rolling the bag towards the front, that Jungkook stop him, just shy out of the tunnel with a hesitant tug at the hem of Taehyung's jacket.
"Taehyung-ssi... I can't... can't thank you enough for what you're doing for me. I--I'm not the best my parents could offer b-because... I'm the only one left. But I'll try my... best to adjust. So... So please take care of me." Jungkook bows, ears falling forward, flustered by his incomplete speech and Taehyung is staring again, a sad tug pulling his lips down.
He reaches out to pat the silky strands of fluffy raven hair but stops an inch from the base of Jungkook's bunny ears. He hesitates, because he doesn't exactly have the verbal permission to touch the bunny's ears and considering that their ears were sensitive, Taehyung would only end up crossing a line that they're not supposed to... yet.
Instead, he lightly tugs at the boy's bangs, shuffling forward a little and that gets Jungkook to stand straight again. Taehyung is beginning to accept the possibility that his mate's cheeks would probably stay pink for a while and the wolf isn't complaining at all.
No, because Jungkook looks adorable like that, like he probably tastes as sweet as he smells, like a ripe fruit that Taehyung just wants to bite into.
“I'll be... human.” Taehyung nods to himself. He has to be, there's no other way to keep the younger boy safe because for the first time, Taehyung wants this boy to stay.
To stay and to love and to grow together because Jungkook is just seventeen and Taehyung can't wait to take care of him, to help him grow into a healthy, beautiful adult, without any pain and suffering. And while he still can, he wants Jungkook to enjoy his youth, his freedom that Taehyung is ready to offer him. “Human is what you deserve, Baby.”
The shy pink stays on the bunny's cheeks for a long time, only growing in intensity whenever their eyes meet and that happens a lot because Taehyung can't stop staring and he won’t.
Taehyung feels like he can finally breathe, having reached a conclusion within himself, peace made with his wolf. He hopes – prays – that as long as he doesn't touch the boy, the bunny will be safe.
He understands how difficult this is going to be when they're back on their way with Jungkook sitting beside him, though on the other side of the expanse of the leather seat, face almost pressed to the window.
When Taehyung suddenly smiles, only Jungkook notices the red irises and the sharp teeth peeking through his lips. So Taehyung can't be blamed when thinks that everything was under control, with no clue as to how feral he looked when the bunny smiles in return, so sweetly. Taehyung's wolf had always been a sneaky bastard, coming out to play when least expected.