Chapter Text
Prompt XXVIII: Bond
Yami looked up when he entered the room, eyes wide and burning into his. "Is he okay? He pulled through, right?" he demanded. His voice cracked slightly. "I didn't kill him?"
Yugi shook his head. "He's fine. He was good under anesthesia and there was no internal bleeding. You gave him a good, clean fight, and he's okay because of it." He took a seat on the mattress and narrowed his eyes. "We need to chat."
Yami blinked. "Then let's do it."
"You apologized for making me announce my intentions with you."
His cheeks drained of color for a moment before he closed his eyes and sighed softly. "Yes."
"You knew I was going to do that eventually, right?"
"Yes."
"So, then why apologize?"
Yami was quiet for a long minute. Then he looked up, voice coming out ragged with pain. "I just… You could have done so much better than me! I shouldn't have… I never should've asked you to have sex with me. The bond solidified and… I never should have let it. You're a million times better than me. You could do so much more without me weighing you down and—"
"Atem told you how much he believed in you before he passed. He even reminded you of how much I believe in you." Yugi raised a brow. "Did you think he was wasting his breath telling you he thought you were amazing all for nothing?"
Yami flinched. "I… Yugi, I don't…"
He sighed and shook his head. "I'm sorry, for what I said when my grandpa died. I…I just wanted someone to blame. And you were there and it was so easy to blame you. I never meant it when I said it was your fault and I shouldn't have brought you here. Fuck, Yami, I've had feelings for you since we first met. I love you."
He shifted his weight and looked away. "But you weren't wrong. It was my fault. I'm the reason the pack got killed. I got my parents and Atem killed. I caused all of it. And that led to Sugoroku being killed and—"
Yugi held a hand up. "Aibou, I'm not following. Explain, okay? I don't understand."
Yami was trembling when he whispered, "The dog. Atem killed the dog to save me."
The dog? Yugi blinked. Oh. He remembered. The pack had been initially noticed because of a dog being killed in the city. He'd almost forgotten.
"What happened?"
"I was walking home from school and I wasn't paying attention because I had gotten an A in math after Atem tutored me for a few hours that night. So I was super excited and I should have known the dog was loose. The gate was always closed when the dog was loose. It was open when he was inside or chained in the backyard. I noticed but I didn't care. So I went walking by and it smelled me. It jumped the fence and gave chase and I couldn't outrun it without giving us away. So I was trying to climb a tree and it got my leg. I was trying not to hurt it but it wouldn't let go and someone was screaming when they saw what they assumed was some poor random kid getting mauled by a super aggressive dog." Yami blinked again, eyes dimming. "Atem heard the commotion and attacked it. The fight got really out of hand. He was so mad and the dog had given up at one point. But Atem ripped it to pieces. He tore its throat out and tossed the corpse around because he was just…so mad. The witnesses turned it into a wild dog attacking a house pet because I was covered in blood but I'd healed so I couldn't say I'd been attacked. I had to say I was trying to separate them and got covered in blood from that. I tried to say Atem was my dog but no one was willing to believe that. We were hunted the next night. Atem got me out of the house when he heard one of the hunters nearby and got me to the badger set. From there he ran off to try to help my parents. I guess he got rid of one of the hunters but not the second."
Yugi nodded and watched his face. He wasn't questioning it. Atem had likely told him the story of what had happened in his absence when they were alone that day. He had hoped Atem wouldn't tell, but he should have known better.
"I…I knew it wasn't the other pack like I mentioned that day in the woods. I knew it wasn't. But I wanted to blame someone else. I…I felt so guilty and stupid for all of it. And when Atem left me again, I was convinced it was because I had messed everything up so much that he hated me."
He shook his head but didn't interrupt. If he spoke, Yami would likely lose courage entirely and flinch away from further explanation. And Yugi didn't want that. He didn't want that at all. Yami was finally getting it off his chest. He was finally working past it. He was processing it, where he'd formerly suppressed it because of all the guilt.
Yugi had always suspected Atem had been the one to kill the dog. He'd also always thought it had to have been Yami Atem had killed it over. Yami had been too afraid to tell him before then. He'd been scared and terrified of repercussions and thought the pack would turn on him. It had been the reason his grandpa had been so suspicious of Yami as well.
Wolves that suppressed usually ran for what they felt was familiar. It was usually enough to cost them their lives in the end. A wolf that was perfectly safe elsewhere might follow a sibling or former pack mate for the sense of understanding what the nature of their relationship truly was. And that would make things easier for them. Like Yugi had said to Atem, he knew those stories. He knew of siblings following each other to their deaths. He hadn't known Sugoroku suspected that of Yami until he'd gone to the game shop and tried to help him plug the wound while his grandpa told him. He'd understood after, hating himself for never having just asked why he'd shown Yami such distrust.
It had all come full circle after that.
But Yugi had needed someone to blame then as well. And he'd vowed to kill Atem for the sake of being able to control something in such a terrible state. But he'd known he couldn't do it. Atem wasn't at fault for it, either. He'd done what he'd felt was necessary to save his brother. He'd tried his hardest to be a good sibling. He'd loved Yami more than anything. He'd wanted to protect and guide him.
In the end he'd done just enough to get him to Yugi.
Even seeing him as he and Yami spoke just the day before, Yugi hadn't been able to find even a modicum of anger against him. Yami had wished to see him again and Yugi never could have taken that from him. Even if Yugi had found him first, he would have tried to get Yami there in time. He loved him too much to take that away from him. Yami had deserved that final moment with his brother, even if it did leave him exhausted and maybe just the slightest bit still heartbroken.
"Yami, you were ten. You were excited about a test grade and you wanted to show Atem. You can't blame yourself for that mess. It happened. And maybe it wouldn't have if it wasn't for bad timing. But it did. It happened." Yugi paused and searched his face. "And, now, you're here…with me."
Yami looked as if he were queasy, closing his eyes. "Yugi…"
"I love you. I fucking adore you, Yami. I don't hate you. I never did. And Atem didn't, either. He loved you so much. He did everything he could to make sure you'd be okay. So, no, aibou, I don't want to hear you apologize and berate yourself anymore." He grinned when Yami peeked at him from beneath his lashes, trying his hardest to be subtle. "Do you really think I don't love you more than anything? You're crazy, aibou. I've had puppy love since we met and when you finally showed my a hint of reciprocation you should have heard how much my heart started pounding or felt how sweaty my palms got. You should have seen how my mouth started watering whenever you walked past me. I'm amazed you never noticed how much I started staring at your mouth when you talked."
Yami blinked and stared at him, raising his head. His eyes were full of surprise, cheeks stained with red. "What?"
"Yami, who do you think I was imagining when I would masturbate?" he snorted, grinning wider when Yami's entire face turned red and his mouth opened in a small "o" shape. He wished he was close enough to kiss the shock off his face and the thought made him feel warm. He tapped his fingers against the comforter, closing his eyes. "I wanted to be with you from the moment my balls dropped."
Yami looked as if his eyes were going to pop out of his head with surprise.
Yugi smiled and ducked his head. "Honestly, I was more worried that you'd never feel the same. I was almost scared I'd messed up and misinterpreted the mating bond because I had such strong feelings for you." He snickered. "And then, you chose me over Atem. You chose to stay with me instead of chase your brother. And it clicked in my head. You were bonded to me. But you didn't understand it like I did. I was obsessed with those stories when I was younger. I learned everything I could about it. I was always eager to meet my mate. And I knew from the moment we met and spent that night out there at the badger set."
He tilted his head, then looked away.
"I knew especially when you talked about Atem. The way your eyes lit up made my entire body warm."
Yami risked a sideways glance, then turned to stare at him more pointedly. "I'm just…scared sometimes. I keep thinking you'll find someone who's so much better for you and it scares me."
Yugi scoffed. "There's no one better for me." He got to his feet. "Yami, the world will burn before I ever feel the same way about anyone else. You know wolves mate for life."
He was quiet for a moment. Then he smiled hesitantly. "Yeah."
Yugi looked him over. "I promised you the moon and the stars before."
Yami blinked, then shifted back to lean against the desk behind him. "I don't need them. I just need you."
He grinned and pressed a kiss to his cheek, feeling as if he might melt as Yami breathed against his throat when he ducked his head. But he didn't pull him closer as he'd expected. Instead Yami sighed against the column of his neck and pressed a single kiss to his skin.
"Can I request something, um…as your future mate?"
Yugi blinked, confused for a moment. Future mate? He snorted and pressed closer to him, until he could feel his body heat almost like a second layer of clothing. "As my future alpha, of course you can request whatever you'd like."
Yami reached forward. His fingers tugged gently at his shirt and his second hand lay on his hip, palm warm and soft where it pressed his clothing into his skin. "Bakura needs to be our beta."
He lost all thoughts of kissing him senseless, blinking slowly. He pulled back to look into his eyes, studying him. "You want Bakura as our beta?"
"He's a powerful ally and a really shitty enemy. I'd rather have him watching my back than stalking it."
Yugi blinked again. He was right. Bakura would be a nightmare if he ever turned on them. But he hadn't meant to question his logic. He was just reiterating what he'd said because he'd been almost sure he'd misheard. "And you trust him to have our backs?"
"He doesn't want to be alpha. He wants to be beta. Keeping him happy makes him an ally." Yami searched his face. "And I don't want another fight like that again. He would have died just so I didn't usurp him. I don't want him to kill someone over rank."
Yugi nodded. "Then he'll be beta the moment you become alpha with me."
"That was easier than I was expecting."
"I trust you more than anyone. I trust you more than myself. I'd follow you to the ends of the earth if you thought it was necessary. I'll follow you from this life to Paradise."
Yami opened and closed his mouth, then seemed to melt against him. Yugi kissed his forehead and drew him into his arms as Yami let out a low sobbing noise. The words had finally sunken in. Yugi ran his fingers through his hair and kissed his forehead again. Yami shivered and exhaled and then clung to him.
"You understand, aibou?"
Yami mumbled an affirmation and Yugi lay his chin on his head, rubbing his back and humming.
"Then please don't ever question your worth to me, okay? I love you more than anything. Just lean on me when you need to. I'm here for you. I'm here for you. I'll do everything I can for you. I don't care what you ask of me, I'll make it happen. I love you. I. Love. You."
Yami squeezed him, shivering again. "I love you too."