Chapter Text
(Songs I listened to a lot while writing. In no particular order.)
Kina Grannis ‘I Never Wanted Anything More Than I Wanted You’
‘I Wouldn’t Have Made It (If I Didn’t Have You Holding My Hand)’
Pt. 1: ‘Survival’
⸙
Adora clutched her stomach protectively, eyes wide open in horror at the scene before her. Snarls, growls, whimpers, and the horrendous metallic sound of knives barraged her ears. The smell of blood was thick in the air. She could see her beloved mate lying motionless on the ground as the others continued to fight. Hyun had shifted back to his true form in death, and his lovely gray fur was matted and red with blood.
The pack was outnumbered, and there was no way she could defend herself like this.
Suddenly three gunshots cut through the air, and it was only due to extreme control that Adora didn’t scream in surprise and give away her hiding place.
It didn’t take long to realize the one holding the gun was from the other pack. Her pack didn’t carry guns. Adora didn’t wait to see what happened; she immediately turned and began running, thankful she had chosen to wear trousers that day instead of the long dresses she usually wore. She only used one hand to support the weight of her belly, pushing branches and leaves out of the way with the other. She considered shifting, but shifting while pregnant took too much energy, and she needed all the strength she could manage right now.
Long after she had lost her breath and was only stumbling slowly along the hilly forest floor, Adora finally looked back and paused. She strained her ears and only heard the sounds of the wild. Nothing more than the breeze through the leaves, and the occasional flutter of a bird in the branches.
She couldn’t smell anything on the air.
Adora allowed herself to sink to the ground, leaning against the closest rock. She looked down at her belly, plenty large now. She and her mate had been so excited about the little pup inside her. They had been planning a wonderful life for their little family. Now, all she had was her pup and the clothes on her back.
She sat back and let the tears flow down her cheeks.
A week later found Adora sleeping inside a hillside cave overlooking a stream barely six paces wide but clean and deep enough for her to drink, bathe, and wash her clothing. A few fish swam through the water. She had never hunted or provided for herself before, that being the job of the alphas around her, but she learned. She learned for the sake of her little pup, and survived.
That autumn night, though, the rain came down hard and cruel, and the pains woke her. It took her a moment to realize what was happening, and panic overtook her when she did. Her pup was coming. But it was far too early for that. She had at least another month, didn’t she?
“No, not yet, pup. Please, not yet.” She begged and cried and grimaced as the pain grew, until it was too much, and she knew the pup was coming. Gathering up her nest as best as she could, she stripped off all of her clothing until she was bare.
Just as the morning dawned, pale sunlight shining through the dripping leaves and remaining dark clouds, the wail of a baby filled the cave. Exhausted, weak, and cold, Adora drew her pup to her chest and cooed at him to encourage him to feed.
“There you go,” she murmured, pulling the leaves and her clothes around them for more warmth as she began to purr comfortingly. “Drink up and get strong, my little one.”
⸙
Seven Years Later
⸙
“Jimin-ah, you need to wash all your nooks and crannies!”
Jimin scowled and shivered as he crouched in the stream.
“Mama, it’s cold!”
“I know, pup, but you need to stay clean. If you stay clean, you stay healthy, and if you stay healthy, you stay strong.”
Jimin rolled his eyes. He’d heard this a kajillion-billion times. But he did as his mother said, and dunked deeper, scrubbing behind his ears and screeching as the icy water got all over him. Up on the embankment, his mother sat to carefully supervise him, wrapped in multiple pelts and furs.
Her face was thin these days, and her grip not as strong as before, but Jimin was a strong little pup and happily carried things she struggled with. He wondered why she didn’t ever shift anymore the way she used to when he was very little, when they played and ran in their wolf forms. It was easier to live in the woods as wolves.
Jimin shifted and bounded through the water with his little wolf body, his gray fur quickly becoming drenched. Once Jimin was out, he gave one good, long shake to get the water off of him, and then shifted back into his human body, all pink and covered in goosebumps.
As the days wore on, Jimin’s mother rarely left the cave. She stayed curled up in the furs, and only ate a few bites of food here and there. Her face was pale and thin, and she spent a lot of time coughing.
When Jimin came down with a fever one night after cuddling with her and sharing her food, she seemed to grow frantic. She built up a fire, brought in more water from the stream, and tended to Jimin until his fever broke.
It took him a few more days to gain the strength to move from the nest, but when he finally did one early, foggy morning, the cave was empty. It wasn’t unusual for his mother to go out early to get them breakfast, but Jimin could sense something strange in the air. Too weak to shift, he wrapped some furs around himself and padded out into the weak sunlight.
He gasped when he saw his mother lying motionless on the ground only a few feet from the cave.
“Mama?” he ran over to her and knelt down beside her, pulling her dark hair from where it hid her face.
Her eyelids twitched, but didn’t open.
“Mama?” he tried again, feeling his anxiety increase. “Mama, wake up!” He pushed at her shoulder, and then growled. First quietly, then louder, more forceful. She grimaced, and a small tremor ran through her body, but there was no other reaction.
Jimin looked up at the cave. It was cold outside, and warm inside. He should bring her inside. Grabbing hold of one of her arms, he pulled and pulled with all his might, but his heels skidded on the ground until he fell on his behind. He wasn’t strong enough.
Letting go of her arm, he jumped to his feet and ran back into the cave. He scooped up one of her furs, and dragged it outside to dump on top of her. He tucked her in the way she tucked him in at night, and then he went inside and got another. He brought it outside and put it on top of the first one. His stomach grumbled and whined just then, though, so he went back into the cave and found some leftover meat.
It was lonely and dark in the cave, so he brought his food out and sat next to his mother, petting her hair between bites of his meat. Once he finished and had licked up all of the juices from his fingers, he tugged the second fur over himself and then curled up next to his mother.
They stayed like that all day.
And then the next. Not knowing what to do, Jimin could only snuggle and continue to growl at her, trying to wake her. But even though she was covered in furs, she was so cold.
It was in the middle of the night when Jimin startled awake, not sure what had woken him. The night was eerily quiet, barely even the rustle of leaves audible.
“Mama,” he whispered, snuggling in closer. She was stiffer than usual, and her scent was different. Dulled. Jimin lifted his head, blinking at her, realizing she had shifted back into a wolf. Maybe that was what had woken him. “Mama?” he raised his voice more. A cloud of air rose from his lips. He couldn’t feel her heart beating in her chest where he was pressed up against her.
Lips trembling, Jimin reached forward and gently poked one finger against her snout. There was no reaction. Fear clutched his chest, and he yanked the furs off of them.
“Mama! Wake up!” he exclaimed, not understanding why his instincts were telling him this was bad, very bad. He growled, low in his throat, snarling, and shoved at her body. It only slightly moved, but her legs were so stiff that his shove didn’t do much of anything.
Jimin stopped growling, suddenly feeling like the night was closing in on him. He knew. He didn’t understand, but he knew. None of the animals his mother hunted for them to eat had heartbeats like they did when they were alive. His mother always told him their souls had gone to the stars, and left their bodies behind.
“Mama, why did you leave me?” He whimpered, sniffling and heaving several times as the effort to cry took his breath.
The night was too scary all at once. Jimin pulled the furs back and pressed into his mother’s cold, motionless side. Then, clutching at her fur, he curled up into a tiny ball against her and cried himself to sleep.
Nothing had changed by the time the sun woke Jimin up in the morning. Eyes swollen and sore, and feeling very thirsty, Jimin sat up and stared down at the lifeless wolf form of his mother.
He was all alone.
The following days passed in a slow blur. Jimin didn’t know what to do with the body of his mother, but soon she began to smell awful, and he couldn’t stand to look at the flies buzzing around her fur. Shifting into a wolf, he dug and dug all day until there was a big enough hole for him to push and shove her into. Then he covered her with leaves and the dirt again, and spent all day crying into his muddy fists.
Jimin ate through all of the stores in the cave. He knew how to catch small ground animals, and sometimes fish, but he wasn’t very good at it. He didn’t know how to make a fire. He could only bundle himself with all of the furs, curled up in his wolf form, to sleep at night.
He knew nothing else but their little home in the woods. But he had always been needy for affection and care, and being completely alone became too much. He decided to follow the stream, and see if he could find a new home, where he wouldn’t have to see the mound of dirt where his mother lay.
Carrying only one of the furs around his shoulders and a pouch his mother had made to carry food in tied around his waist, Jimin set out on a bright blue day. He walked and walked and stumbled and tripped, and didn’t come across any other sign of life.
Jimin continued to follow the stream as the days passed, and he grew hungrier and weaker, even as it thinned out and broke into smaller brooks…but eventually it petered out into the tiniest of ponds. When he came in sight of the pond, the little wolf stopped suddenly and stared in shock for so long that he almost didn’t notice the new noises nearby.
Almost.
When he heard the choking rumble and then loud roar just past the trees, all of the hairs on his neck stood up. A monster?! He dropped to all fours and crept toward the sound, keeping low among the brush. Peeking through the leaves, he could see a great, vast open clearing, where there were many tree stumps and fallen trees, and very little vegetation. That wasn’t what made his eyes widen and mouth drop open, though.
Huge, enormous…creatures larger than he had ever seen before in his entire life moved around the clearing, roaring and screeching and buzzing so loudly that he had to cover his ears. Some of the creatures were digging, some were carrying dirt. Some were eating tree branches in wide-open mouths with rows and rows of the scariest teeth Jimin had ever seen.
Terror overtook Jimin, and he completely forgot his furs and dropped the empty pouch as he turned and fled. He didn’t know where he was running. That didn’t matter, now. He remembered his mother’s warning from when he was very, very little:
“If you see a scary animal, don’t try to fight it, Jiminie. Run as fast as you can and hide. You’re too little to fight. I want you to run. Understand?”
Jimin kept running even when he slipped on some uneven ground and his ankle began to hurt. He ran even when his fingers bled from pricker bushes he pushed past. He shifted into his wolf form and ran and ran, heart pounding painfully in his chest.
But then…the forest ended, and suddenly the softest of grass met his paws.
⸙
The evening was a little chilly, the autumn leaves starting to turn. Taehyung tugged his sweater sleeves down over his hands as he ran around the backyard, kicking his soft kickball and pretending he was the star of a game even if he was all by himself. Inside the house, his mother was washing dishes—he could hear her through the open kitchen window. Taehyung had come out to play while he waited for his father to return from work. The little pup had already eaten dinner, unable to wait until eight or nine when his father usually returned home, but his mother had only eaten a portion of her meal, preferring to eat together with Taehyung’s father.
The sun had just gone down, but the porch light was enough to see by, and their neighborhood was safe, so Taehyung was allowed to be outside even though he was only six. Almost seven.
He kicked the ball particularly hard at one point and it went flying into the bushes at the outer edge of their lawn. Groaning, he jogged toward the bushes—but then, his ball rolled out of the bushes, back toward him.
Taehyung froze, and instinctively sniffed. He wrinkled his nose when he smelled something awful. He crept forward, though, because he could also smell fear.
The leaves on the bush the ball had rolled out of rustled, and then the face of a boy revealed itself. Taehyung gasped and fell backward onto his behind, mouth wide open. The boy slowly and cautiously crawled out of the bush, staring at Taehyung as if he couldn’t believe his eyes.
“Hello,” Taehyung said, still uneasy but not feeling nearly as afraid as he’d been a moment ago.
The little boy startled and growled at him softly, clearly unsure. When Taehyung stood up, the boy backed up, hunching down further.
Taehyung held out his hand to the little boy. He was a small, scrawny thing, but despite that, he had soft, rounded cheeks which made him look particularly young. He had to be a few years younger than Taehyung. He had small hands which were dark with dirt, nails nearly black underneath.
“It’s okay; I won’t hurt you,” Taehyung whispered. “I just want to help you.”
The boy shivered, backing away even as he was crouched on all fours. He shook his head with large, wide eyes.
Taehyung thought the little boy was probably really pretty under all of that dirt and dried blood.
He realized the boy was sniffing the air, like an animal. He frowned at Taehyung, but his eyes darted around as if looking for an escape. Just then, though, he took a step and let out a sharp whimper. His entire balance faltered, before he regained it and pursed his lips as he grimaced and tried to scramble back even faster.
“You’re hurt,” Taehyung realized. “Please, let me help you.” But the boy only let out a small cry and scrambled away across the lawn, darting under the low deck and out of sight.
Taehyung immediately jumped back up and ran for the door. “Mama! Mama! Come, hurry! Mama!”
His mother was there in a second. “What’s wrong, pup?”
“There’s a boy. There’s a boy under the deck!” He pointed at their feet, and her eyes widened.
“What?”
“He’s hurt. Mama, he needs help, but he’s too scared. I tried to help him, but he won’t let me.”
“Under the deck? A little boy?” She put a hand on his shoulder, squeezing slightly.
“Yeah, he’s…he’s really little!”
He followed her down the steps and pointed to where the little boy had crawled under the deck.
“Oh. Oh, you poor little pup.”
Taehyung crouched down like she was doing, but he couldn’t see anything.
“Mama, where’d he go?”
“He’s back against the house,” she murmured. Her voice was soft and comforting when she raised it for the little boy to hear. “Hey there, little one. Why don’t you come out from under there? It’s cold and uncomfortable there. Are you hungry? We have some yummy, warm food inside.” She kept talking, giving off soothing pheromones which made Taehyung’s own worry begin to dissipate. “Come here, darling. You look so cold. That’s it,” her voice suddenly changed, becoming even more encouraging. “Come on, baby. It’ll be okay. Come on. Just a little more.”
Taehyung couldn’t see what was happening, until suddenly the little boy’s head reappeared from under the deck. He had tear streaks down his face now, and he was trembling. But when he crawled cautiously closer to Taehyung’s mother, he was staring up at her in frightened wonder and hope.
“There you are,” she smiled softly, holding out her hand to him. He moved forward to sniff at her fingers and then palm, then wrist. When she curled her fingers into his dirty, matted hair, he startled, but then cautiously let her touch him. His lip trembled, his eyes watered, and then he whimpered.
“Mama,” he choked out in a raspy voice, and then before Taehyung knew what was happening, the little boy was buried in his mother’s arms.
She held him close, rubbing his back and soothing him with her motherly scent. After a few minutes, though, she picked up the little boy like he weighed nothing, and Taehyung scrambled to his feet to follow her back into the house.
“Let’s get you warm, okay?” She whispered.
Taehyung trailed closely after her, trying to get a look at the boy’s face, but it was now buried in his mother’s chest, so he couldn’t see much other than the boy’s trembling shoulders.
“Taehyungie,” his mother spoke without looking at him as they walked through the house, “will you go get a pair of your clean jammies and bring them to the bathroom? Maybe your dinosaur ones?”
“Okay, Mama,” he piped, and ran to his bedroom to go searching through his drawers. The dinosaur pajamas were his favorite because they were so soft and cozy. He grabbed them from the drawer and then hurried back out of his room.
“Here you are!” He held out the pajamas.
“Put them down on the counter, please. Not where it’s wet.”
“Mama?” he said softly, watching as his mother carefully undressed the boy out of his strange clothes. Taehyung hadn’t noticed it before, but the boy was wearing some kind of animal skin. It looked very soft, but it was strange and smelled funny. Taehyung had never seen anything like it before.
“Yes, pup?” his mother was being very gentle with the boy where he sat on the other side of the counter, feet hanging down over the cabinet. He was very thin.
“Why’s his foot look like that?” The foot in question—ankle, really—was swollen and red. The boy had no shoes, and the soles of his feet were nearly black with dirt.
“Because he’s hurt. It looks like he twisted it. We’ll put a cold compress on it when he’s clean.”
“What’s his name?” Taehyung wondered aloud, and his mother startled, glancing at him. Then she smiled.
“That’s a very good question, Taehyungie.” She lowered her face until it was level with the little boy’s. “Can you tell us your name, little one? This is my son, Taehyung, and my name is Mikyung.”
The boy’s lips moved, but Taehyung couldn’t hear what he said, if anything.
“What? I couldn’t hear.” Taehyung’s mother’s voice was soft, and she turned her ear toward Jimin’s face.
“Jimin.”
“Well, hello, Jimin-ah, it’s very nice to meet you. I’m going to give you a nice, warm bath, give you some cozy jammies, and then you can eat a hot dinner. How does that sound?”
Jimin was staring down at his lap where his hands were fidgeting, glancing up only once in a while at her. His eyebrows furrowed like he didn’t understand.
Taehyung’s mother tried again. “Is that okay?”
“What’s jammies?” Jimin whispered.
The dinosaur pajamas were held up. “These are Taehyung’s pajamas. We call them jammies. Maybe your family doesn’t call them that.”
Jimin stared at the pajamas for a long time before replying softly, “Okay.”
“Do you want Taehyungie to leave while you wash up, or is it okay for him to stay in here with us?”
Jimin’s eyes shifted toward Taehyung, and he mouthed his name.
“Do you want some of my toys?” Taehyung asked, wanting to be helpful. He gathered up the basket of bath toys, and brought them over. Jimin’s eyes went round, but he didn’t react otherwise.
“Maybe let’s just have him get washed up,” his mother suggested. “You can show him all of your toys later, okay, pup?”
Taehyung pouted, and pulled out his favorite plastic boat shaped like a pirate ship, but then put everything else away. He watched silently as Jimin was helped into the tub and then his mother began to clean him with Taehyung’s shampoo and bath soap. The shampoo smelled like honeysuckle, and the bath soap smelled like chamomile and sweet lemon. Jimin’s nose wrinkled up at the fragrance, and he kept pushing the bubbles away from his body as Taehyung’s mother lathered him up more and more.
The water in the tub was turning brown.
“Tae baby, can you unplug the drain?” his mother asked, and Taehyung leaned over the edge of the tub to switch the lever on the faucet.
Jimin startled at the sudden glug glug of the water rushing down into the drain, but soon enough he had another worry; Taehyung’s mother brought the shower head down and turned on the water again, and used it to wash away the remaining grains of dirt coating the tub. After it was clean, she tested the temperature and then pressed her hand to Jimin’s forehead to protect his eyes from the stream of water as she rinsed all of the bubbles away.
“Here, Jimin-ah,” she said, holding the shower head to him while keeping the spray facing down away from his head, “you can hold this. You’ll stay nice and warm if you hold it like this, right?” She put his hands around the handle and aimed it toward his chest.
Taehyung handed her a washcloth when she reached blindly for it, and she soaked it with the warm water. She rang it out a little before wiping at Jimin’s face. He tried to squirm away from her, but she used her other hand to hold his head still.
Taehyung had been right; Jimin was very pretty under the dirt. His surprisingly tan skin was rosy from the warmth of the water and the scrubbing, and the pink made him seem full of life.
“There!” his mother announced cheerfully. “All done! Now, let’s get you all dried up, Jimin-ah.” Taehyung moved out of the way as she stood to grab a big, fluffy towel and put it around the little boy’s shoulders as she lifted him out of the tub onto the bathmat. Once Jimin was dry, she helped him into the dinosaur pajamas, and then she plugged in the hair dryer.
“Up you go,” she said gently, lifting Jimin up onto the counter, and then she turned on the hair dryer.
Jimin’s eyes shot wide-open at the sound, and he immediately began struggling. He stared at the hair dryer in pure terror as he kicked and yelled unintelligibly. Taehyung’s mother quickly turned it off and tried to calm the shaking boy.
“Jimin—Jiminie, it’s okay, pup, it’s okay—”
He abruptly stopped struggling, but he was panting and whimpering and didn’t take his eyes off of the hair dryer.
“You don’t like this?” she asked softly, holding it up to him.
He shook his head furiously.
She carded her fingers through his damp hair. “I don’t want you getting cold, pup. This will dry your hair faster.”
“Scary,” he muttered, barely a whisper.
“It’s not scary!” Taehyung exclaimed at last, unable to help himself. “See?” He grabbed the dryer and turned it on—Jimin gasped loudly and lifted his arms to cover his ears—and then turned it on himself, giggling as it made his already dry hair fly all over the place and fluff up. “It feels nice! Doesn’t hurt!”
Jimin’s curiosity seemed to get the better of him. He uneasily lowered his hands, peeking at Taehyung and his crazy hair. Without warning him, Taehyung turned it around and aimed the warm air at Jimin. The boy yelped and threw his arms up, curling into a ball—but when nothing happened, his eyes opened and he brought his hands down again.
He squinted through the blast of air on his face, and held his hand out to pass it through the stream of air, as if he could touch it.
Taehyung’s mother took it from his hand and held it up higher to aim at Jimin’s hair.
“Can I use this to dry your hair? I promise it won’t hurt you.” Even as she spoke, she began running her fingers through his hair, ruffling it and waving the dryer back and forth so it wasn’t so strong. Jimin was still tense, but he didn’t protest again. Soon enough, his hair was dry.
Taehyung wanted to touch it; watching the way the strands slipped through his mother’s fingers made it look so soft. He resisted the urge, though. Maybe later.
Once the dryer was unplugged again and cooling on the counter, Taehyung’s mother examined Jimin’s foot.
“It looks like a minor sprain, nothing a bit of rest can’t heal.” She pulled out one of the cold patches from the medicine cabinet that she sometimes used when Taehyung had a fever, and she gently pressed it against the swollen area of Jimin’s ankle and foot. “There you go. Now, let’s get something yummy to eat!”
She lifted Jimin up onto her hip and carried him out of the bathroom.
“Taehyungie, can you do Mama a favor and press the ‘up’ button on the thermostat two times? Only two times.”
“Okay, Mama.”
“Thank you, baby.”
As soon as Taehyung had done so, he went into the dining room and sat down next to Jimin where he was sitting in his mother’s seat with an extra pillow under him so he could sit high enough.
“Jiminie,” she called from the kitchen, “are you allergic to anything?”
Jimin didn’t respond, too busy staring around at everything. His eyes were so round, and frightened. Taehyung could feel the fear radiating off of him. He scooted his chair closer and put his hand on Jimin’s head. The other boy flinched and pulled his head down toward his shoulders, but Taehyung just patted him gently like he would a dog or a cat.
“Jiminie, is there anything you can’t eat?”
Jimin’s eyes returned to the kitchen. “B-bad berries. Mama said don’t eat bad berries. Or smelly meat.”
Taehyung’s mother looked a little startled, but just nodded. “That’s all? Okay.” A moment later, she carried out a tray of dishes, all steaming, and set them on the table in front of Jimin.
“There’s some chicken, with corn soup, and some rice with peas. Just eat what you can, okay?”
Jimin stared at the food for a moment before leaning forward and sniffing it. Then, ignoring the fork and spoon beside him, he hesitantly reached forward and picked up the piece of chicken. He dropped it almost immediately, shaking his hand and sucking on his fingers, but then a second later he picked it up again, more gingerly, and took a cautious bite.
“Mama, he’s not using his fork,” Taehyung pointed out, knowing how he was always scolded for eating with his hands when he wasn’t supposed to.
“Yes, I see that, Taehyungie.”
When Jimin finished the chicken, eating everything but the bones, he dragged the bowl of soup closer and sniffed it, frowning. He dipped a finger in and grimaced at the heat before licking the tip of his finger. He put both hands around the bowl’s edge and brought it up to his face to drink from the rim.
“Mamaaa,” Taehyung complained. “He’s not using a spoon!”
Finally, his mother stepped over to Jimin’s side and picked up his spoon. “Jiminie,” she murmured, tapping him on the shoulder, “do you know how to use this?”
He put the bowl down and shook his head. After wiping his greasy hand off with a paper towel, Taehyung’s mother put the spoon into his hand and helped him hold it.
“This way you don’t burn yourself, okay?”
She held his hand around the spoon as she dipped it into the soup, lifting up a spoonful filled with corn and the yummy, thick broth.
“Open up, pup,” she urged, and Jimin obediently opened his mouth to receive the spoon. “See? Isn’t that yummy?” She used the spoon to catch a little dribble of soup that had spilled over his bottom lip, and popped it back into his mouth. He nodded. “Do you want to try by yourself, now?”
Jimin took the spoon, holding it awkwardly, but he managed to scoop up the soup just fine. He pulled the bowl all the way close to his chest so he didn’t drop any, though.
“Jiminie,” Taehyung’s mother sat down on his father’s chair, facing Jimin, “how old are you?”
Jimin used the spoon to try scooping up the rice and peas, using one hand to pile the food onto it. He pointed to the peas, as if counting them. “Seven,” he announced after he picked up one last pea and carefully placed it on the spoon and then put the whole thing into his mouth.
“Seven? Are you sure?” She was surprised. “Jimin, you’re seven years old?”
He nodded around his mouthful of food before swallowing. “We always celebrate Jiminie Day when the leaves start to turn pretty colors. This time Mama said it was my seventh Jiminie Day.”
“Taehyungie is almost the same as you, then. He will be seven in a couple months—when it’s snowy.”
Taehyung couldn’t understand why his mother and Jimin were talking so strangely. Didn’t Jimin know the word ‘birthday’?
“Where’s your Mama? Why’re you all alone?” he asked Jimin, frowning.
Jimin looked up at him, and suddenly his scent turned rancid. Almost immediately his mother jumped to her feet and gave off soothing pheromones. Jimin clutched onto her shirt with a few grains of rice still stuck to his fingers when she wrapped her arms around him.
“Mama…Mama went to sleep. She went to sleep and never woke up.”
“And…your papa? Where is your papa, Jiminie?” Taehyung’s mother’s voice was soft and sad, one hand rubbing the little boy’s back.
“What’s a papa?”
“Your father. Or daddy. Or maybe you have two mama’s? Your mama’s mate.”
Jimin looked very confused. “It was only Mama and me. I…I never seen anybody else.”
“Oh…oh, dear.”
Just then, there was a jangle of keys, the front door opened, and Taehyung’s father came through. While Taehyung perked up, excited to see his papa after such a long, long day apart, Jimin took one look at the tall alpha man standing in the door and nearly kicked the chair over as he scrambled off of it, first grabbing onto Taehyung’s mother to hide behind her, but when Taehyung’s father approached them, he shoved himself away and threw himself under the table.
“Who’s this?” Taehyung’s father asked, looking very surprised. “One of Taehyung-ah’s friends?”
He kissed the top of Taehyung’s head, raising his eyebrows at his mother.
“Ah, no…he’s actually—Taehyung found him outside, hiding under the deck.”
“The…deck?” he crouched down to peer under the table. “Hey there, little guy,” he said cheerfully. “I see you’re wearing Taehyung’s jammies.”
Taehyung heard a growl and ducked his head under the table to see Jimin’s lips rolled back as he snarled and growled warningly at his father.
“He said his name is Jimin. Jiminie, come here, pup,” his mother coaxed, dropping down to kneel on the floor where she could see him. “This is my mate, Donghae. Taehyungie’s papa. He won’t hurt you.”
Jimin growled again when his father held out a hand too close, and with no warning he scrambled on all fours out from under the table and grabbed Taehyung’s mother’s arm, trying to hide underneath it.
“Oh…come here, I’ve got you, little one.” She scooped him up again and then stood up, carrying him toward Taehyung’s father. As soon as Jimin realized what she was doing, though, he whined high in his throat and buried his face as far as he could into her neck. “He’s our family. He won’t hurt you.”
⸙
It was nearly ten-thirty, and Mikyung was tired. She hadn’t had a chance to speak with Donghae in private since he had returned home. The pup, Jimin, had refused to leave her side, including following her into the kitchen to show Donghae what to reheat for his dinner, along with the rest of her own meal. Once that was done, she managed to bring him back to the table and pulled up an extra chair close to hers to sit in as he cautiously continued to eat.
The little pup’s eyes were drooping by the end of dinner, though, and in order to get him to sleep, Mikyung was now lying on her and Donghae’s bed with Jimin on one side, Taehyung on the other. Both boys had snuggled up to her, Jimin curled up in the tightest ball next to her belly. Taehyung had stretched himself along her side, face pressed into her neck against her scent gland with an arm and leg thrown over her.
Mikyung fought to stay awake. As soon as Jimin was asleep enough to not wake up when she moved, she wanted go out and talk with Donghae. Unfortunately, every time she attempted to sit up or move, the little pup jolted and tightened his tiny fist into her shirt.
She sighed and carded her fingers through both Taehyung and Jimin’s hair.
The bedroom door swung open a little, and she looked up to see her husband. Donghae held up a finger to his lips and smiled at her as he quietly stepped closer to the bed.
“I’m going to sleep in Taehyungie’s room tonight,” he whispered. “We can talk in the morning about the pup.”
Mikyung nodded. She watched as Donghae collected a pair of pajamas, and then he returned to the bed, leaning over her to kiss her lightly on the lips. She shifted her arm from Taehyung just enough so that she could reach up to catch her mate’s neck and pull him down more. She pressed her face against his scent gland, breathing in deeply. A layer of stress that had been tingling in her veins dissipated.
She shuddered slightly when she felt his nose against her neck, as well, nudging Taehyung’s head aside but also nuzzling his neck as well. She caught another soft kiss on Donghae’s way up, murmuring, “Goodnight,” against his mouth.
He left the door ajar as he went to go sleep.
Mikyung realized that Jimin’s breathing had finally evened out, deep and slow. Closing her eyes, she sighed a little and pulled Taehyung’s face closer to her neck again as she settled further into the mattress.
She suspected where Jimin had come from. She’d heard of the ‘packs’ that lived out in the wild and followed the Old Ways. She didn’t know much about them, but when she was a child it was a common threat to tell pups if they didn’t behave, they would be sent out to live with the wild packs. It would explain why the boy was so skittish and didn’t seem to know how to use everyday items, though. In the morning, she and Donghae would have to figure out what they were going to do about Jimin. It didn’t sound as if he had anyone left to care for him, but what would that mean for him, now?
The morning dawned gray. In the middle of the night, Taehyung had climbed up onto Mikyung and sprawled across her. One of his hands was resting limply upon Jimin’s shoulder. Careful to not wake either of the pups, Mikyung slid out from under Taehyung, nudging him until he was lying beside Jimin. As she stood up, straightening her shirt, she watched as Taehyung shifted to snuggle closer to Jimin.
It was a truly sweet sight. Taehyung was a cuddle monster most of the time, but seeing the way the lost pup gave a shuddering sigh and then moved his body closer as well was a relief. Mikyung smiled as she pulled the blanket up over both of the boys and then tiptoed out of the room, leaving the door ajar.
The house was still dark and quiet, only the hum of the refrigerator cutting through the silence. Mikyung glanced at the clock on the wall as she walked through the hall: just after five-thirty. Donghae usually didn’t wake up until six-thirty.
Her mate didn’t stir when Mikyung opened the door to Taehyung’s bedroom. He was sprawled across the twin-size bed, his body far too large for the bed meant for a child. Mikyung knew it was strong enough, though; when Taehyung had just started sleeping alone, both she and Donghae had had to lie in the tiny bed with him until he drifted off to sleep most nights.
Donghae mumbled as she nudged him slightly and then climbed onto the bed, slipping underneath the covers with him.
“Mmh.” He turned his head, seeking out her neck. Mikyung sighed as her body melted against his. She didn’t like sleeping apart from him.
“Donghae,” she whispered, threading her fingers through his slightly wavy hair. Mikyung’s hair was straight and flat; Taehyung’s hair seemed to be taking after his father. “Donghae-yah,” she murmured again.
“Mikyungie,” he finally responded, teasingly. He pressed his lips to her neck to kiss her scent gland, and then pulled back just enough to look at her. He was sleepy, but aware.
“We need to talk about the pup.”
“Jimin.”
“Yes. Jimin. Donghae, I think he’s from one of the wild packs. The clothes he was wearing when we found him…they looked like they had been hand-fashioned by leather…he was so, so dirty, and he just felt…wild.”
“Did you ask him about his family?”
“He said he only had his ‘mama.’ He didn’t even know what the word ‘papa’ meant.”
“He didn’t know what it meant?”
“Mhm.”
“Well…” Donghae spoke slowly, as if thinking aloud. “Today, we can call the town child services and get some advice.”
Mikyung pursed her lips, pressing closer against him, and breathed in the pheromones Donghae gave off to calm her anxiety.
“They wouldn’t…they wouldn’t just throw him in a children’s home, would they?” she worried. “He has no one. He said…he said his mother went to sleep and never woke up. I think…she died somehow, and left him all alone.” A small sob shook her suddenly, startling her. “He’s so small, Donghae! I don’t want to think about how long he may have been completely alone—if, if Taehyungie—”
“Shh, shh,” her mate soothed her, drawing her close and nudging her face toward his neck. “We’ll figure it out. You know the mate of one of my colleagues works in the child services office. If you’d prefer, I can ask her, first.”
“Oh, could you?”
“Of course. You want me to do that?”
“Yes. Please. I just…I know it’s silly, but I feel so protective over him already.”
“And he seems to trust you, as well,” Donghae pointed out. “It’s best that he stays with someone he feels safe with, after all.” He tilted her chin up so they could gently kiss.
“We’ll figure it out,” he added after they separated.
Mikyung nodded and settled back onto the bed, nestled against him. It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep again, safe in the arms of her mate.
By the time both adults were up and getting ready for the day, the gray clouds had thickened, and a steady rain was coming down outside. Mikyung and Donghae traded quick kisses in the kitchen as they each sipped their coffees and Mikyung set about preparing breakfast for the pups.
She nearly dropped the spatula when there was a sudden terrified scream from the bedroom—Taehyung. Quickly turning off the stove and moving the pan to a cold burner, Mikyung followed her husband toward the bedroom, where they could hear Taehyung calling for them.
Mikyung gasped when she saw, standing on all fours on the bed and growling in warning, a fluffy gray wolf pup. He was about the size of a three-month-old German Shepherd, with gangly legs and floppy ears.
“Oh my god,” she breathed. It only took her a second to connect the dots; Jimin was a shifter. He truly was one of the wild wolf packs who lived like days old, when everyone could transform into a wolf. “Jimin!” she exclaimed aloud, rushing forward, and following her instincts, grabbed him by the scruff of his neck with both hands, lifting him off of the bed and away from Taehyung.
The pup’s growling turned to a pitiful whine, and when she set him down on the floor, his tail was in between his legs, ears flattened back against his head as he lowered it in submission to her.
“Mama, Papa, he’s a wolf! A real wolf!” Taehyung shrieked as he scrambled off of the now very messy bed and hid behind Donghae. He didn’t sound scared anymore; just cautiously fascinated.
“Yes, we see that,” Donghae responded, sounding both amused and concerned. “Mikyung-ah, do you think he’ll listen to you if you ask him to turn back?”
“I can try…”
Crouching down, Mikyung held out her hand. She didn’t know much about how to behave around wolves, but if Jimin’s mind was in there…
“Jiminie, come on, pup, can you turn back so we can talk?”
The shift wasn’t instant, but it was still one of the most bizarre things Mikyung could claim to have seen. The wolf’s body seemed to shiver and flicker as if passing through uneven light, like sunshine through leaves in the forest—and then sudden Jimin was back in his human body, complete with Taehyung’s dinosaur pajamas. He was kneeling on his hands and knees, looking up at them in renewed fear.
Mikyung held her hands out to him. “I bet you’re hungry, aren’t you, Jiminie. How about some breakfast? Taehyungie, too? Are you ready for breakfast?”
“But Mama, he’s a wolf!! He’s—Jiminie’s magic!”
Donghae laughed and grabbed their son, holding him easily under one arm and then walked out of the bedroom. Jimin’s eyes followed them out of the room before snapping back to Mikyung. Then, cautiously, he got up to his feet and shuffled toward her.
“Good morning,” she said warmly.
“G-good morning,” he sniffled. “I’m…sorry. M-Mama said I should, should ‘pologize if I do something…wrong. I did wrong.”
“Ohh, Jiminie.” She pulled him into her arms, wrapping him in her motherly pheromones. He buried his face against her. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You were only scared. But you might have scared Taehyungie a little. I know it was an accident, but do you want to apologize to him, too? It would be nice to be friends, right?”
Jimin nodded hesitantly against her.
“Do you have any friends back home?” Mikyung tried asking, wondering if it could give her a clue as to where exactly he had lived before.
“Mmm…Mama said the chipmunks and squirrels were my friends,” Jimin mumbled. “They’re cute, and we don’t eat them unless there’s nothing else to eat. Too small.”
It really sounded like Jimin had been living out in the wild for a long time. Out of the corner of Mikyung’s eye, she caught sight of the cold patch on Jimin’s ankle, suddenly reminding her of his hurt foot.
“Jiminie, how is your foot? Does it still hurt?”
She helped him sit back up on the bed so she could examine it. The swelling seemed to have gone done considerably, and the patch was no longer cool, so she peeled it off of him. She rotated his ankle a little, carefully, checking for any reaction of pain. He only grimaced a little at one point.
“I think your foot is mostly better, but let’s take it easy today, okay? No running around. Why don’t you hold my hand when we walk into the dining room?”
Taehyung was sitting in his seat and nearly finished with his breakfast by the time the two entered the dining room, Mikyung supporting Jimin with her hand. It seemed that Donghae had finished cooking everything on the stove while she was with Jimin.
They went over to Taehyung, and Jimin whispered an “I’m sorry for scaring you,” to her son. Taehyung, the angel that he was, only smiled brightly and said he wasn’t scared.
“Good job. Let’s wash your hands first, Jiminie,” Mikyung coaxed, bringing him into the kitchen.
He seemed nervous of Donghae still, keeping an eye on him as he stepped onto the little footstool Taehyung usually used at the sink, but then he refocused his gaze on the soap and warm water. When they were done, he took the same seat as the night before, and only inched back in his chair as Donghae put food in front of him.
“There you go, little pup,” her husband said gently, ruffling Jimin’s hair a little when he stepped away. Jimin’s nose quivered, like he wasn’t used to the smell of an alpha. After all, alphas’ scents were often more robust than that of an omega, and betas had the faintest of scents. Mikyung hadn’t been able to pick up on any extra scent on Jimin besides his own.
“Taehyung-ah,” Mikyung turned her attention to her son, suddenly remembering the time, “do you have your bag packed already?”
Taehyung’s eyes popped open wide. “Uh oh!” he exclaimed, using the same tone of voice that she did whenever someone made a mistake.
“Yes, ‘uh oh,’ is right,” she parroted back at him, smiling. “When you finish eating, run and get your bag packed right away. Papa’s going to take you to school today.”
“Not Mama?”
“No, today I have to take care of your new friend.”
Taehyung glanced at Jimin and nodded, understanding. “Okay.”
Jimin was having trouble with the fork and knife, but Mikyung let Donghae help him cut up his pancakes and showed him how to dip them into the little bowl of strawberry jam. Pancakes with syrup were a treat for special days; just a little butter with jam were for regular mornings, and they didn’t often have them on school days. Mikyung had wanted to make something yummy for the lost pup, though.
She watched as Jimin glanced back and forth between his plate and Donghae, who was crouching down to be on level height with the small boy. He kept staring hard at her mate, as if he didn’t understand what he was seeing, and then suddenly Mikyung realized Jimin was trying to sniff at him without Donghae noticing.
Mikyung could see the exact moment when the alpha noticed, however, because Jimin’s tense shoulders suddenly relaxed, and he leaned a little closer. Donghae was using his pheromones to soothe the pup. Once he was finished slicing the pancakes into bite-sized pieces, Donghae helped Jimin to hold the fork properly, and together they stabbed the first buttery piece, dipped it into the jam, and then Donghae let go to allow Jimin to feed himself.
“Yummy?” he smiled down as he stood up. Jimin nodded as he chewed and swallowed, already reaching for another piece. “That’s good. Eat as much as you want, Jimin-ah.” He gripped the scruff of Jimin’s neck and gave him a little squeeze before turning to Taehyung and purposely making a mess of his already fluffy hair.
Once everyone was done with their breakfast, and Taehyung was putting his rainboots on, Jimin followed Mikyung to the door when she went to say goodbye for the day. When Taehyung suddenly turned to him and pulled him into an abrupt hug, clumsily scenting him, Jimin gasped and stumbled back to bump into Mikyung’s legs.
“You smell nice,” Taehyung announced. “Not dirty anymore. Jiminie has a pretty scent.”
The sound of rain became loud as they opened the door.
“Come on, pup,” Donghae handed Taehyung his tiger-themed umbrella. He glanced up at Mikyung just before they closed the door behind them. “I’ll call you a little later. Before lunch.”
She nodded. “Okay. Have a good day!”
The house was quiet when the door was shut. Mikyung glanced down at Jimin, who was staring at the door, looking confused.
“Where are they going?” he frowned.
“Do you know what school and work are, Jimin?”
The boy shook his head.
“Work is where Taehyung’s papa goes to earn money so we can have a nice, warm house like this and so I can buy us yummy food.”
“What’s money?”
“Hmm. That’s a good question. Shall I show you? We can make a game of it. But first! We need to get you dressed. No running around in pajamas, pup.”
The morning passed quickly. After finding some of Taehyung’s clothes that he had grown out of—Jimin was on the smaller side—they went into the living room with Mikyung’s purse and a few of Taehyung’s toys. There, she taught Jimin the basics of what money was. She wasn’t surprised to find that he couldn’t read, but he could count just fine, so she had him remember what the bills and coins meant.
Once his attention began to wane, Mikyung gave Jimin some different toys to play with so that she could get some chores done around the house. She returned to find him leaning against the sliding door leading to the rainy back yard, the toys forgotten several feet away. His nose was red, and his eyes were puffy.
“Jiminie?” she called, softly.
He startled, and looked up at her. He wiped at his eyes with the back of his hands.
Mikyung settled down beside him, on the floor. “What are you thinking about, pup?” She reached out to brush a few strands of hair away from his eyes.
“Mama.” His voice was very quiet, and somber.
“You miss your mama?”
Jimin nodded.
“When did you last see her?”
Jimin shook his head.
“You don’t know?”
“I don’t know. I was sick, and Mama was taking care of me. Then I got better, but she was outside all alone, and sleeping. I t-tried to cuddle her, and make her warm, too. But I couldn’t do it.”
“What did you do after she didn’t wake up?” Mikyung didn’t like how serious of an expression was on such a young face.
“I dug a big, big hole, and then I—” Jimin sniffled, and a big, fat tear rolled down his cheek. “I pushed Mama into it, and, and c-covered her up.”
Mikyung winced, and drew Jimin into her lap, to hold tight against her.
“You covered her with what? Blankets to stay warm?”
“No. I didn’t want the, the bugs getting on her, so I covered her with dirt.”
Mikyung felt sick. No child should have to do such a thing.
“Jiminie…your mama is now running free, up in the stars with her ancestors. And I promise you, I’ll make sure you will be happy and loved.”
She doubted that Jimin understood her words, but he melted against her and finally cried as she held him. He cried, loud, gut-wrenching sobs until his small body was overcome by hiccups. Mikyung helped him up and brought him over to the sofa to lie down. When he abruptly shifted into his wolf form and curled up into a small, fluffy ball, she only sighed and stroked her fingers through his fur.
As soon as he seemed to be asleep, she quietly went into the kitchen to begin making something for their lunch.
The phone rang just as she was finishing up a batch of tuna salad.
She could see it was Donghae.
“Hey. Did you talk to them?”
“I did. Lin—my colleague’s mate—told me that it’s a little more complicated since he’s from a wild pack. They will have to go to the forest rangers, who serve as a liaison between our kind and theirs. They’ll put out a ‘found child’ notice, and then wait to see if anyone claims him.”
“And if no one claims him? His mother died—he told me he buried her himself, Donghae.”
“Gods. …If…no one claims him, then he’ll be put into the foster system, and then hopefully be adopted by a good family.”
Mikyung’s heart clenched. She looked over into the living room, where she could just barely see a tuft of fur showing over the side of the sofa’s armrest.
“What if…what if someone tries to claim him, but they are lying that they know him?”
“They have procedures to deal with that. They allow the child to see the supposed guardian first, and if the child recognizes them, or feels safe enough to meet them, then they will be accompanied by a service worker to meet the adult. If the child shows any fear or apprehension about the person, they will be turned away and their identity will be filed away.”
“Oh.”
They were both quiet for a moment. Then, “Tomorrow, we need to take him in to have his photo taken and be recorded into the system. I already made an appointment, and let my boss know I will be a little late to work. You and I can go with him right after we drop Taehyung off at school.”
⸙
It was okay spending time with Taehyung’s mother—she said Jimin could call her ‘Auntie,’ whatever that meant; he thought she had said her name was ‘Mikyung’—but they stayed inside all day and didn’t do much of anything at all. Auntie taught him a lot of new words, like house, car, kitchen, bathroom, money… Sometime in the afternoon, though, they finally went outside, where Auntie put him inside a car and strapped him down so he couldn’t move around.
It had stopped raining, but there was still a slight chill to the air. When the car began to rumble and growl like those monsters Jimin had seen the day before—those had been trucks, he found out from a picture book of Taehyung’s—Jimin held on tight to the seat, terrified. He stared outside as they moved faster than he had ever run in his entire life, trees and houses flying by so quickly he couldn’t even see them properly. When they stopped, and Taehyung suddenly climbed into the car with him, Jimin didn’t protest when he was wrapped up in a tight hug and scented enthusiastically.
“Jiminie! Jiminie’s here!” Taehyung exclaimed. He smelled like so many different scents, and over his shoulder Jimin could see so many other children just like them, running across the grass to meet their mamas or papas.
Taehyung had so much energy, and seemed unconcerned about being inside the car.
“Get buckled,” Auntie called back to him, and Taehyung pulled out the strap all by himself to attach himself to the seat. He reached across to take Jimin’s tense hand as the car began to move again.
“What did you do all day?” he asked Jimin. “Did you get to play all day? Did you watch TV? What did you eat for lunch? Did you have yummy snacks?”
Auntie laughed. “One question at a time, Taehyungie. Jimin’s had a long day. Jiminie?” she turned her attention to him. “Why don’t you tell Taehyung what you ate for lunch? That was yummy, right?”
Jimin nodded slowly. “Auntie made tuna sandwiches.” They had been a very new taste, but still good. She had told him tuna was fish, which Jimin was familiar with, but tuna tasted nothing like fish he had ever eaten.
“And what was on the sandwiches?” she prompted him, her eyes magically looking at him out of a rectangle hanging up by the big front window. “Just tuna?”
“Um…there were curcumb—”
“Cucumbers.”
“Cucumbers, and, and bread.” Taehyung seemed to think bread was silly, but he didn’t interrupt. “And there were…baby carrots, and…white stuff—”
“Dip. Do you remember the name?”
“Randressig.”
Taehyung’s giggle was contagious this time, and Jimin found himself smiling slightly despite himself.
“Ranch dressing,” the other boy helped him.
“And what did you drink?”
“Milk.”
“Me too!” Taehyung smiled. “I had milk, and rice, and chicken, and vegetables. And for dessert, we had persimmon!”
“Oh—” Jimin knew persimmon. “Mama picked lots of persimmons last year. They were yummy and sweet.”
Before Jimin knew it, they were already arriving back at the house—at Taehyung’s family’s home. After the fright of riding in the car, he found himself relaxing at the comforting scent of the house.
“Your home smells nice,” he murmured as he took off the shoes he had borrowed.
“Oh—” Auntie sounded surprised. “Thank you, Jimin-ah. That’s very kind of you to say.”
They went into the kitchen, where Taehyung seemed to know they were about to get a snack, even though Auntie hadn’t said anything of the sort. Sure enough, though, a moment later she handed both Taehyung and Jimin cups with a handful of something yellow, puffy, and crunchy inside.
“What’s this?” he asked, having grown more used to asking that question throughout the day without feeling bad about it.
“It’s puffed corn. I’ll get you two drinks, too. It might be too salty for you, Jimin. It’s okay if you don’t like it. Go on, you can go play with Taehyung.”
The puffed corn made a fun crunching sound as Jimin chewed it. It wasn’t sweet, but it made his mouth water and made him want to immediately eat another one after he finished the first.
“Jiminie, look!” Taehyung exclaimed, and he glanced up. The other boy tossed one of the puffed corns into the air and caught it in his mouth. He did it a second time, not catching it, but grabbed it before it could bounce off of his shirt onto the ground, and popped it into his mouth. The third time, he caught it again in his mouth. “Want to try?”
Jimin couldn’t deny that he was curious, but his mother had always told him to not play with his food. Taehyung was eating all of it, though. So it wasn’t being wasted.
“How?”
For the next several minutes, Taehyung showed him how to throw the snack up into the air and then open his mouth to catch it when it came back down. Jimin failed several times before he finally succeeded, and both he and Taehyung shrieked with delight, hugging tightly as they giggled.
Much later that night, as Jimin was snuggled up to his new friend in Taehyung’s bed, he thought that maybe this was a good new home. He knew he was too little to live on his own without his mother. Auntie Mikyung was so caring and kind, Taehyung was fun and friendly, and even Uncle Donghae—though a little scary—was only ever gentle with him.
Maybe this could be his new family?
⸙