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When the hunters quietly infiltrate their town, Yoongi doesn’t hear about it from Jin for an entire three days - not until the hunters have already approached him themselves, at his clinic. His receptionist Minji quietly letting him know there’s someone at the desk with a question isn’t unusual, nor is the huddled group of two men and a woman not having an animal with them. Yoongi encourages the pet owners that frequent his clinic to ask questions even without bringing in pets, to inquire with him about symptoms and concerns, to run situations by him for recommendations on coming into the clinic or appropriate treatment from home.
When the taller man quietly asks if they can speak somewhere private, Yoongi scans them, considering. Their expressions are dark, and something about their aura is rough and slightly cold, enough to make him hesitate and only offer to move to the corner of the waiting room with them, not into a private consult room within the clinic. The shorter man and the woman immediately flank the taller man who sinks into the waiting room chair across from where Yoongi settles, and when he clears his throat, they shoot each other significant looks as Yoongi watches, narrowing his eyes.
“Well, Dr. Min, we’re here with some questions, but you should know that we’re actually something of… well, animal experts ourselves."
Yoongi forces himself not to sigh, but he glances at the wall clock and silently vows to himself to cut them off at three minutes if they start rambling about their Web MD veterinarian expertise and try to have him prescribe special steroids to their pets. He lets his mind wander to his schedule for the day, to the dinner he’s planning to cook later that night, to the movie night with Jimin last week and the snacks he needs to pick up at the grocery store. The result is that he’s woefully unprepared for any subtlety at all when the short man leans forward, and in a hushed, hard voice, asks seriously. “Has your community been having issues with wolves?”
Yoongi will berate himself later for the severity of his reaction, but he’s so blindsided by the unexpected question that he jolts, eyes wide, and when they all instantly exchange a meaningful glance and a heavy exhale, Yoongi sets his jaw tensely, tries to cover.
“We’ve never had issues with wolves locally.”
The woman has a pitying sneer when she leans forward, voice sickly sweet. “Listen, Dr. Min, we know you care about animals, and we do too. But the people who live in this town deserve to be safe. We’re here to protect them, to protect you.”
Yoongi’s chest feels thick, anger brewing and billowing through him, and he clenches his fists as the taller man nods.
“Dr. Min, with your help, we’re trying to eliminate a very dangerous threat.”
“The wolves aren’t a threat to anyone.” Yoongi snarls, and doesn’t regret it even when their eyes harden and the man’s face turns cold, harsh.
“The wolves are violent beasts. You may care about animals more than people, but we protect our own, your own. We just want to keep your town safe.”
“I’ll keep my own town safe.” Yoongi glares, tension keeping his shoulders stiff and his fists tight. The woman crosses her arms and scoffs.
“So that’s the side you’re choosing. You're going to stand in our way when we try to save this town from its monsters?” She leans towards him when he jerks to stand, and he doesn’t back down, seething at the carelessness in her features and the cruelness as she hisses, “You’re going to be a coward?”
Yoongi leans forward and bares his teeth. “I’m going to be a vet.”
When he whirls on his heel, he forces his hand not to shake with fury when he raises it dismissively, Minji staring wide-eyed when Yoongi rounds the reception desk briskly, calling over his shoulder coldly.
“Stay the hell away from my clinic, and get the hell out of my town.”
Every appointment seems to drag that afternoon, and he has to apologize to Mrs. Choi when she’s offended by the way he tries to rush through her gerbil’s checkup. He ends up stuffing some of his paperwork into his bag to finish at home later that night, because he needs to get to Jin’s now, now. His drive home to walk Holly and have a rushed dinner is harried and impatient, and he considers texting Jin, or calling him, but he stops himself each time, because at the core of it, Yoongi is frustratingly, maddeningly aware that Jin knew about the hunters. Jin and his pack and their patrols and their superhuman senses, Jin catches and assesses every scent that even nears their town, and that means that either the hunters somehow got past Jin and his pack, or... Or Jin knew and chose not to tell Yoongi, and he isn’t sure which option is more agitating.
When he quietly lets himself into Jin’s apartment with the key he’s been carrying contently for weeks, Jin and Jungkook call him happily into the living room, and he tries to quell his pulsing nerves and shivering anxiety. A smile rises unbidden when he slips through the doorway to find Jin balanced on a chair leaning far over the bookshelf with unnatural grace, looming over Jungkook whose figure is dwarfed by the sixty or so books he has precariously stacked and balanced in his arms. Even as Yoongi watches, two books stumble from the stack with the force of Jungkook’s suppressed laughter, and when Jin wails about the damage to his precious poetry, Jungkook cackles, causing another book to crash to the ground, to Jin’s dramatic despair. Yoongi huffs a laugh involuntarily, because he’s seen too much of the wolves’ ethereal balance and gracefulness to not suspect Jungkook of intentionally winding up Jin by dropping books he could probably somehow balance a hundred of without any danger of dropping a single one - without any danger - danger -
“Hunters?”
His sudden snap is accusatory and sharp, and when Jin freezes guiltily, Yoongi sweeps right by Jungkook’s wide-eyed form, glaring up at his boyfriend. “You knew. You knew and you didn’t warn me? How could you not warn me about hunters, isn’t - isn’t this dangerous to you, or -”
“Hey, hey,” Jin soothes quickly, dropping the dusting cloths and turning to embrace him before grimacing at the grime clinging to his sweater and coating his palms and wrists, winking apologetically at Yoongi. “I didn’t want to worry you, but really, it’s fine, it’ll be fine.”
“What if they go after you?” Yoongi demands, recalling the coldness of their eyes and the hard, callous way they’d spoken about wolves being dangerous, being beasts. Yoongi raises an arm to gesture widely behind him. “What if they go after Jungkook?”
Jin winces and drops his gaze as quickly as Yoongi’s heart drops in his chest, and he whirls around, panic sparking through him. Jungkook’s enormous eyes are darting from Jin to the books piled ridiculously high in his strong arms - the books that are unwavering, absolutely still and perfectly balanced, showing he was most certainly dropping them on purpose earlier to mess with Jin. But Yoongi’s eyes are caught on the guilty shine of those eyes that peek up at him then skitter away, and Yoongi’s heart is hammering when he hisses lethally.
“Did the hunters go after Jungkook?”
“Umm…” Jin inhales deeply, bracing. “So... so they…”
“I’m okay.” Jungkook smiles softly at him, gentle. “They can’t hurt me. You don’t have to worry about me.”
Yoongi’s lungs are heaving suddenly, and he hardly manages breathlessly. “The - the hunters went after you?” He’s staggering forward before he can think about it, snatching books from Jungkook to messily drop on the couch in handfuls of four or five until he can grab at the boy’s arms, his shoulders, scan him assessingly, fear simmering in his chest. “Did you get hurt? You didn’t - you didn’t come to me and you were hurt? You -”
Jungkook shakes his head firmly, smiling contently and allowing Yoongi to turn him, to inspect and scrutinize him and yank him closer. “No, no, I’m not hurt.” Jungkook has the audacity to pout at him. “I don’t get hurt, Yoongi, I didn’t get hurt.”
“They couldn’t hurt him.” Jin tries, then quails and falls silent at the lethal glare Yoongi shoots him. Jin shuffles in place, then mumbles, “Well, it’s true. He’s way too strong for 3 human hunters.”
Jungkook beams when Yoongi tugs him into his arms and lets them both flop heavily onto the couch, eyes narrowed at Jin when he tries to step closer.
“They called you beasts. Monsters.” Yoongi hisses angrily, and Jin has the gall to shrug it off. Yoongi can feel the restraint in the way Jin wants to roll his eyes but doesn’t, and he clutches Jungkook even more tightly against him, to which Jungkook sighs happily and snuggles into his chest.
“They’re hunters. They’re misguided, and they’re not a threat to our pack. They’re here for the shifters that have already passed through town, and I’m sure when they realize that they’ll leave.” Jin gently drops to sit on the ground beside the couch, resting his chin on Yoongi’s knee, reassuring and unhesitant. “They’ve already seen what our pack can do and know we aren’t anything they can take on, or anything they need to be threatened by. They’re bigots, and they’ll be gone in a few days and we’ll be fine.”
Yoongi scowls at the deep, reasonable comforting tone in the face of his panicked worry, the cold harshness of those three unsettling something at his core.
“Don’t worry, Yoongi.” Jungkook announces proudly from where he’s nuzzling into Yoongi’s throat. “I’ll keep Jin safe for you.”
Jin splutters indignantly and Yoongi can’t help his grin, which grows when Jungkook beams delightedly at the sight of it.
“I know you will.” Yoongi smacks a kiss to Jungkook’s forehead, smiling at the resulting laugh and Jin’s resulting put-upon sigh. “I don’t know what he’d do without you.”
“Hey!” Jin pouts, and Jungkook laughs and crawls from Yoongi’s lap to wrap himself around Jin, burrowing against him, still giggling.
“Don’t worry Jin, I’ll protect you.”
“Hush, you.” Jin sighs, swatting at Jungkook’s dark hair half-heartedly and fighting a smile. And Yoongi laughs, lets his pulse steady and lets the discomfort ease slightly from his chest, bit by bit as he and Jin contently make dinner side by side, stealing into the living room to lazily make out for a while when Jungkook gets a video call from Jimin that he ducks into his room blushing for. When Yoongi and Jin roll into bed that night and Yoongi lets himself tug Jin closer, his boyfriend can read him too well, and holds him tightly as they’re drifting into sleep, his tired voice soothing and low.
“We’re going to be fine, Yoongs. They’re going to leave, and we’re going to be fine. Three human hunters aren’t a threat to a pack like ours and they know it.”
And the hunters do know it, of course. The pack is established and protective and strong as a whole, but their youngest... The youngest werewolf in the pack is incredibly, unnaturally, unbeatably powerful, untouchable, unchallengable - everything they’ve been searching relentlessly for these past months. He’s perfect, too fast for them and too strong for them and nothing they could take down, nothing any hunter could take down - or any monster. And that makes him worth the extra money they spend on scent eliminators, worth the extra time they spend shuffling through the woods and town and trailing him persistently to discover anything that could give them an edge, any vulnerability to exploit, any weakness that could win them a victory to take down a beast of his strength. In the end, it’s almost too easy to find what - who - has the wolf under his heel already, to get him under theirs.
Yoongi has been on edge eight entire days when everything comes to a head. Jin and Jimin and several members of their small pack have been out of town for nearly two days, supporting a neighbouring pack through the first full moon of several newly turned wolves that had sought refuge with that pack. Yoongi had proudly listened as Jimin attentively and meticulously walked him through the medicines and first aid Yoongi had been training the young wolf in, and sent him off with the confidence that they’d have the situation well handled to support the fellow pack. But he can’t help his nerves, already tense from Jin being away and missing his steady presence through a stressful week with several difficult appointments and procedures - the reason for Yoongi not accompanying the pack on this trip in the first place.
And he and Jin haven’t moved in together yet, for a multitude of reasons, one being Jin’s need to host pack members constantly and it getting a bit loud for Yoongi’s quiet, mellow lifestyle - but he and Jin stay over at each other’s often enough that even now he misses the warm embrace of Jin in his bed, the exuberant singing from the shower, the bright laughter at breakfast and the quiet bustle of dishes together in the evening. He misses his boyfriend, which feels almost pathetic to admit after just two days, and with Jin returning the very next day. Jungkook, too, has been pouting about Jin and Jimin being gone, but it certainly has helped to have Jungkook sleeping over, originally on his couch for the first thirty minutes before Jungkook was inevitably wriggling under his blankets to curl against him with a contented sleepy smile.
But Jin will be back tomorrow along with the rest of their pack, and he’d texted him very early this morning that the full moon had gone so smoothly and that everyone was recovering nicely. He had also showered Yoongi in praise and admiration that had made Yoongi shove the phone away blushing furiously, but he was fiercely proud of the full moon’s added ease for all those wolves - he had made that happen, Yoongi had, and he was going to diligently keep working to make it even better. It’s a balmy Saturday morning, and Yoongi happily messages Jin about the ingredients he and Jungkook went out shopping for yesterday to make Jin’s favourite comfort soup, as he gets dressed and ready for his day. Jungkook has an art class, and Yoongi plans to spend some time at the clinic getting through some paperwork he’d been putting off during the week, insurance authorizations and some intake paperwork for a procedure.
There’s an inexplicable anxiety simmering under his skin when they part, and even as Jungkook happily skips to his scooter to head to the community center, Yoongi is caught with the illogical urge to tug him back, to sequester them indoors, to lock themselves away until his chest feels less restless. It’s unreasonable, and he can’t identify anything that’s causing the prickling discomfort, so he does his best to brush it aside as he waves cheerfully to Jungkook as he heads to class. Yoongi does let himself switch on every single hallway light when he lets himself into the empty clinic, allows himself to lock the door behind him and rattle the handle twice to ensure it’s actually, properly locked.
He’s distracted throughout the paperwork, having to put it down several times and wondering if he might be more productive packing it up to take home with him and complete there. But the clinic is a calm, productive, safe environment for him too, so he can’t understand why he feels this way now. He shuffles the papers on the desk, rising to his feet and stretching with a groan. Jungkook should be finished with class soon, and sometimes he stays behind to help with other projects but Yoongi could text him now, could ask him if he’s feeling unsettled too, if he also has the creeping feeling that something terrible is about to -
There’s a quiet clatter from the hallway, and Yoongi stiffens, heart pounding. The doors to each entrance of the corridor are locked, and he’s the only one with keys who would be here unannounced on a weekend, and he definitely locked the door. It takes him a moment to stand, pulse racing, but when he edges his way to the doorway and peers down the hall, it’s dark, silent, and that only makes him jolt harder when something sharp suddenly presses into his back, when a low, harsh voice snaps from right behind him.
“Don’t move.”
His heart in his throat, fear lancing through his chest, and his voice wavers when he tries to murmur reasonably. “I don’t have anything worth stealing. I’m just a veterinarian. The pharmacy isn’t -”
He breaks off in shock when he’s yanked around and shoved roughly into a chair to face none other than the hunters that had left town nearly two weeks ago now, the shorter man grinning darkly when he holds up a roll of duct tape. And Yoongi had felt danger all day, anxiety and tension and inexplicable worry, but - but the pack is out of town, and Yoongi had never expected the hunters to come after him?
“What - why -” Yoongi is bewildered when the man begins to tape his wrists unyieldingly against the arm rests, while the woman sneers at him over the barrel of her pistol, daring him to move. “Do - do you think I’m a wolf, or why -”
The taller man scoffs, derisive. “You don’t have anything we need yourself.” When he suddenly leans towards Yoongi, he can barely contain his flinch at the predatory darkness in the man’s cold eyes. “But the power we need is a wolf, and what you do have is that wolf’s heart.”
The fury that jolts through him is mixed with blazing fear, and his snarl is fierce. “Leave Jin out of this, you -”
“Jin?” The woman frowns, turning to the men, and the taller of them scoffs.
“You think this is about Kim Seokjin?”
The shorter man kicks at the base of Yoongi’s chair, and his laugh is cold and dark. “This is about the strong one.”
Yoongi’s racing heart thuds to a halt in his chest, blood running cold, and he must pale because they laugh, sneering.
“We want the strong one, and with you…” The man’s hard gaze is merciless. “We have his weakness.”
“No.” Yoongi breathes, shaking his head, fear spiking in his veins. “No, listen to me, he - he wouldn’t hurt anyone. He never has, and he - he isn’t a danger to anyone. I swear to you -”
“We know that.” The woman shakes her head, leaning against the doorframe, dismissive. “He’s a waste of that power. We’d actually use power like that, and if all it takes is taming the stupid thing -”
Yoongi throws himself forward in his chair, and the shorter man shouts in alarm when the chair almost topples to the ground as Yoongi thrashes and snarls as they right his chair and force it back against the wall.
“I’ll kill you.” Yoongi promises darkly, yanking hard against his immovable bindings. “I’ll kill you if you hurt him.”
Their laughter is callous and arrogant, and Yoongi’s blazing fury is splintering around the decimating terror - not Jungkook, not Jungkook -
“Please.” Yoongi whispers, then raises his head, desperation coursing through his veins. “Please leave him alone. He isn’t dangerous, don’t… don’t hurt him. Please.”
The shorter man scoffs, tugging out a knife to twirl between his fingers. “You should be more worried about yourself.”
And Yoongi feels rising trepidation at the flash of the knife beneath the bright clinic lights, but the fear is less of pain and more the absolute certainty shuddering through him, that no power can or will prevent Jungkook from coming to Yoongi’s aid if he smells his blood. When the man slashes at Yoongi’s arm, he’s shaking so hard with fear that he almost doesn’t feel the sting of the wound, but the blood that trickles down his arm is hot against his cold skin and his ears are roaring with panic.
Please, Yoongi begs uselessly, futilely in his head as he yanks and thrashes in his bindings, please, please don’t come, Jungkook, please, please.
But his chest is plummeting because the reality is that there’s nothing, nothing that could keep Jungkook away from Yoongi if he smells his blood, and Jungkook is too attuned to his scent for him to stay away even long enough to -
The clinic doors clatter open, and Jungkook is crying out Yoongi’s name in alarmed concern as the hunters straighten with cruel grins. The woman strides to stand beside where Yoongi is bound, and the men shift into ready stances near the doorway, both holding up their guns. Yoongi thrashes wildly in his bindings.
“Jungkook, run! Run, don’t -”
The woman slams her elbow roughly into his chest, knocking the air from his lungs and he gasps and heaves, but it’s futile because in a moment, in less, Jungkook flies into the doorway. And Yoongi has never seen the werewolves in action, has never actually witnessed the extent of their speed or strength - but Jungkook is a force of nature. In the time Yoongi’s eyes widen in horror, Jungkook has already surged forward, and both of the hunters are crashing heavily against opposite walls as he whirls around with a growl, eyes gleaming and glowing unnaturally, and when the shorter man struggles to stand, Jungkook lunges for him -
The hunter beside Yoongi flicks her knife into his sluggishly bleeding wound, and he can’t bite back a cry of pain. Jungkook freezes. He goes absolutely still, glowing eyes wide in shock and horror and chest heaving, fingers in claws at his sides.
“Touch any of us again, and we kill the vet.” The woman spits, and Jungkook gasps in horror.
“Why are you doing this?” Jungkook whispers, eyes wide with terror. “He didn’t do anything wrong.”
The woman tightens the knife against Yoongi’s throat, clipped and furious. “He tried to protect a monster.”
Jungkook flinches, and his eyes fill with tears. “You… you hurt him because of me?”
There’s a frustrated scoff behind him, and Yoongi’s head is yanked back suddenly, his neck craned, and the cold metal of the knife whispers along his throat. Jungkook whimpers, and in an instant he’s on his knees, pleading.
“No, please! Please don’t hurt him, please!”
The taller man is struggling to his feet from where Jungkook had so easily hurled him across the room, and he’s seething when he stalks over, spitting blood onto the ground before he raises his gun and slams the barrel of it against Jungkook’s head, sending him crashing to the ground with a cry of pain. Yoongi cries out, but it’s drowned out by the furious kick the hunter slams into Jungkook’s chest. Jungkook raises his head, eyes flashing an unnatural gold, and the hunter behind Yoongi immediately tightens her painful grip in Yoongi's hair, forcing his neck back, and his breath hitches involuntarily - it’s enough.
Jungkook’s eyes fly to Yoongi, terror flooding through them, and he holds his hands up in surrender, letting himself fall back to the ground limply. The other hunter is pushing up from where Jungkook had thrown him over the desk so effortlessly, and when he storms up, he fists a hand in Jungkook’s dark hair to drag him up, then strikes him brutally hard across the face. Jungkook just gasps and whimpers when the other man kicks him hard, ignoring the way Yoongi cries out, pleads with them, shakes violently in his bindings.
“This easy to tame?” The man spits derisively, and with a rough kick, Jungkook crashes into the side of the desk with a terrible thud and whimper.
“Stop! Stop, you -” Yoongi shouts, but the hunters ignore him.
“On your knees.” The taller man snarls. “Hands behind your back, or the vet gets it.”
Jungkook’s terror for Yoongi is painful to witness as he scrambles to obey, but Yoongi growls in fury when the hunter grins darkly and yanks out a collar, fastening it brutally tightly around Jungkook’s throat and wrapping an endlessly long chain around Jungkook’s wrists, over and over as Jungkook’s face crumples in pain. Then Jungkook is crying out at the length of chain that’s snapped onto the collar, gasping raggedly when the other hunter yanks the leash viciously to send him to collapse roughly at their feet. Yoongi thrashes in place, and the hunter behind him yanks his head jarringly back again, just to slam a fist into his jaw, a burst of pain Yoongi can’t help but cry out.
“No, please!” Jungkook’s voice is terrified, shaking. “Please don’t hurt him, please!”
“Worry about yourself, beast.” The hunter sneers, seizing Jungkook’s collar roughly to yank him to his knees before he’s raising a pronged metal device with a dark scowl, and Yoongi hardly has time to shout before the cattle prod is being slammed into Jungkook’s ribs, and Jungkook collapses with an agonized scream.
“No!” Yoongi screams, nauseous at the terror and fury hurling his heart into his throat as Jungkook trembles and sobs on the ground at his feet even as Yoongi yanks viciously at his arms where they’re tied too tightly to the chair. “Don’t hurt him, stop, stop!”
The woman behind him drops his head suddenly to round his chair and face him, and Yoongi snarls when she blocks his view of Jungkook’s shuddering body on the ground.
“You’d really choose these beasts over your own kind.” She sneers disdainfully, and the other hunter smirks behind her.
“Every monster we’ve taken down, we saved actual human beings like you. And we didn’t always get out of it without getting hurt.” The hunter yanks his sleeve up to show a terrible, twisted scar that was clearly a deep wound, and the man beside him tugs down the neck of his shirt with a scowl to show a gruesome burn, long healed but still vicious and dark.
“Jungkook would never hurt anyone.” Yoongi spits, and the hunter shrugs lazily.
“Say he won’t. He’s still more powerful than anything we could leave around humans.”
“Besides." The other man drawls, yanking Jungkook’s leash again so he’s dragged towards him across the floor with a choking gasp. “We can only take down so many monsters before we get hurt, but this wolf? He could take down an entire pack of wolves on his own. Tame something like this, and we could keep nine towns safe from any monsters without getting hurt.”
Yoongi’s throat is dry and constricting with the horror shining from Jungkook’s eyes at the thought of harming any other wolf, any other creature, anyone, and Yoongi’s voice breaks as he pleads quietly.
“Listen, listen to me, please, please. Jungkook would never harm anyone, he never will, and -”
“The morning staff will let the vet out.” The man cuts him off dismissively, nodding to the other hunters. “Drag the wolf, I’ll pull the car around. With any luck we can make it down the coast by tomorrow and this one can take down that vampire coven for us.”
“No!” Yoongi snarls, thrashing in his bindings again, panic blazing painfully through his lungs, hollowing all oxygen from his heaving chest. There’s nothing that he can do, there’s nothing that anyone can do and they’re going to take Jungkook, these vicious, cruel men who see Jungkook as nothing more than a beast, an animal are going to take Jungkook away and hurt him and the room is spinning, blurring. “No, you can’t, you can’t -”
“Please.” Jungkook sobs suddenly from the ground at their feet, where he’s crumpled limp at the end of that disgusting leash, collar locked around his throat and arms chained brutally behind his back. There’s vicious bruising along his jaw and forehead, and his lip is split and bleeding, and his voice breaks as his breath hitches. “Please just - just let me say goodbye to him, p-please.”
Yoongi’s bleeding heart is twisting raw and stinging in his chest, seeping and wailing because - because the hunters could kill Jungkook. They’re going to drag him away from Yoongi, they’re going to hurt Jungkook and they could kill him, they could kill him, not him, not him -
“Please.” Yoongi rasps weakly, vision blurring and hearing wavering and hands shaking violently. “Please let him say goodbye, please.”
The taller hunter snorts, but when he nods, he drops a length of the leash from where it’s wrapped tightly around his fist, allowing enough slack for Jungkook to launch himself forward in a clatter of chains. His hands are tightly locked behind him, and he throws himself to his knees between Yoongi’s legs where they’re taped tightly to the legs of his chair, Jungkook’s face crashing into Yoongi’s chest and his entire frame wracking with heart-wrenching sobs.
“We’ll find you.” Yoongi whispers fiercely, dizzy with panic and terror and the hot weight of Jungkook’s tears seeping into his chest, the jagged sound of his sobs. “Jin and I, we’ll f-find you, Jungkook, we - we’ll find you and we’ll bring you b-back to us, we will.”
Jungkook presses his face into Yoongi’s bare throat and sobs, and when he raises his head, his enormous eyes are bright and stark with terror, with heartbreak, and Yoongi’s heart is a crushing weight in his collapsing chest.
“Please tell Jin it’s n-not his fault.” Jungkook leans forward enough to nuzzle their cheeks together as tears pour down both their cheeks, and Jungkook presses his nose into Yoongi’s cheek, his entire shaking frame stilling for the space of a deep, deep inhale. Then Jungkook is leaning back just a breath, and Yoongi’s heaving chest is cavernously cracking apart, heart charred and splintering into ash, because Jungkook’s young, sweet face is twisted in agony, in absolute terror, and Yoongi knows inescapably that Jungkook thinks he’s going to die. That Jungkook thinks that he’s going to be brutally hurt, that he will never see any of those he loves again, that he’s going to die, and Yoongi’s heart wails.
“Tell J-Jin that - that I - th-thank him for everything, for e-everything,” Jungkook sobs, and Yoongi thrashes at his relentless bindings to try to reach him. He has to hold him, has to comfort him as Jungkook’s anguished whisper breaks over and over. “Tell Jimin he made me so h-happy, I w-wish we had more time, I - I -”
“I’m so s-sorry, Jungkook.” Yoongi can’t force a gasping inhale beyond the bloody anguish of his heart crushing his lungs, tears pouring hot down his cheeks. “I love you so m-much, I -”
“I love you.” Jungkook pushes their foreheads together, frantic and desperate in the face of his death, his death, they're going to kill him, they - “I l-love you, Yoongi, I love you, I -”
“Time’s up.” The hunter snaps, and with one jerk of the chain wrapped around his fist, Jungkook is choking and coughing as he’s yanked back on his leash, gasping for breath when he crashes to the man’s feet. Yoongi is crying out mindless pleas and threats, his thoughts a roiling torrent slicing apart with razor-sharp despair, sharp terror and hooked anguish, but the hunters ignore him when they turn in the doorway and begin to drag Jungkook’s chained form across the shiny linoleum floor.
They’ve hardly cleared the entry when with a deafening clatter of his chains, Jungkook flies to his feet, hurtling forward to slam into the shorter hunter, who crashes into the wall, and Yoongi’s heart is electric with terror and hope as Jungkook whirls around, yanking the other hunter forward when the leash drags him by the forearm, and Jungkook’s eyes are flashing dangerously and Jungkook lunges -
Yoongi cries out involuntarily when a sudden hand fists in his hair and drags his head back, and suddenly, he’s gasping and choking with the weight of a blade pressing into his throat.
“No!” Jungkook cries, and Yoongi tilts his head desperately to the side to just glimpse Jungkook throwing himself to the ground at their feet. “No, please, please, don’t, please! I’m sorry, please, I’m sorry!”
Yoongi screams when the shorter hunter shoves himself to standing with an enraged snarl, and in a whirl of motion, he has the cattle prod slamming into Jungkook’s side, and Jungkook screams. Jungkook spasms and twists on the ground, screaming in agony and Yoongi is shouting and the hunter is yelling over them, expression cold and furious and merciless.
“Stop, stop, p-please, please, stop!” Yoongi screams, and his chest is heaving and his mind is splintering with horror and despair and blazing with helplessness, his ribs charred to twisted rubble. “Please, please!”
It’s an endless, dragging moment until the cruel metal instrument is lifted into the air, and Jungkook is gasping raggedly and sobbing in terrible, choked spasms on the ground below them even before the hunter behind Yoongi steps out swiftly and slams a kick into his shoulder, sending him crashing into the doorframe with a horrible thud.
“Please, please, please -” Yoongi gasps mindlessly, desperation a shuddering force sending his entire body trembling violently in his bindings. But the hunters just stalk from the room without a backwards look at him, and the hunter yanking Jungkook’s leash drags him around the corner roughly, Yoongi’s last glimpse of Jungkook’s eyes squeezed tightly shut, expression crumpled and tight with agony and terror, temple bleeding and face bruising darkly and that disgusting collar chained around his neck - and then they’re gone.
The sound of their truck peeling out of the clinic’s parking lot behind him is muted behind the sound of his own roaring anguish, as Yoongi throws his head back and thrashes in his bindings and screams, screams. Terror and anguish and heartbreak - they could be hurting Jungkook now, they could be killing him, they could kill him, they might kill him - the slam of the cattle prod and the bloodcurdling agony of Jungkook’s scream -
Yoongi slams his chair sideways until he crashes to the ground, panic nearly hysterical. Jin won’t be back soon enough, he won’t be back in time and the pack is out and Yoongi needs them, needs Jin and needs the wolves and needs - Jungkook needs -
His arms are bound tightly but when he drags himself painfully across the ground, he can reach the hooked edge of the desk where he’d taped over it after it had scratched one of his shoes once, and his mind is spinning and his hands are shaking hard as he yanks at the tape with his bound hand, fingers uncoordinated in his frantic desperation but he picks at it relentlessly, gasping and panting, until he has the sharp side uncovered enough to drag against the tape, over and over and over, slicing through the delicate surface of his skin over and over until -
With a muted snap, Yoongi’s wrist is free, and in an instant he’s snatching for his bag, for his keys, slashing through the tape so carelessly he cuts his other arm, hissing impatiently and then yanking his phone from his bag, everything in him counting every bare second that passes - they could be hurting him again, he could be hurt, he could be dying, he could be -
“Hello, love.” Jin’s warm voice is so soft, so comforting, that Yoongi can’t hold back the anguished sob that bursts from his aching chest, even when it makes Jin’s breath hitch, floods his voice with urgency and concern.
“Yoongi? What is it, what’s wrong?”
Yoongi is crying so hard he can hardly speak, can hardly breathe. “Jungkook, the - the h-hunters, they took him, they - they h-hurt him, they -” He’s hysterical, frantic and clutching the phone so tightly his wrist throbs and Jin’s swearing lowly, his no, no, no is higher pitched and Yoongi sobs, heart wrenching.
“I’m s-sorry, I’m so sorry it - it was me, they used m-me against him, he - he couldn’t fight back, he was p-protecting me, they - they chained him up and h-hurt him and it was my f-fault he -”
“None of this,” Jin bites, low voice hard, “is your fault. None of it. Listen to me, love, listen. You did everything you could. I’m - I’m so s-sorry this happened, and we - we’re going to find him. We’ll track him and bring him back, we -”
“Jin,” Yoongi sobs, anguish bleeding into his broken words, “Jin, they h-hurt him.”
Jin’s breathing is heavy, uneven, and his deep voice is dark. “They hurt Jungkookie.”
“They had a c-cattle prod.” Yoongi gasps. “He - he -”
Jin’s vicious growl over the line is savage in a way that isn’t human at all, Yoongi’s heart stuttering as Jin snarls and forces control.
“Yoongi. I’m going to be there soon, okay, love? We’re going to be there soon, I’ll - I’m bringing the pack back, and we’re - we’ll get Jungkook back, we’re going to get him back safe, and - and you and I will take care of him, and -” Jin’s hoarse rasp breaks. “We’ll leave right away, okay?”
Yoongi’s heart sears and weeps and his breath hitches, tears burning trails down his cheeks. “They h-hurt him.”
“I know, love,” Jin manages, “I know. We’re going to find him, okay? We’re going to save him. He’s… he’s going to be okay. He will.”
“Please.” Yoongi whispers brokenly, and Jin inhales shakily.
“I’m… I’m going to hang up now, okay? We’ll be there so soon, Yoongi. We’re coming right now, and we’re going to find him.”
“I love you.” Yoongi cries quietly, and Jin’s voice hitches.
“I love you, too. I’ll see you soon, love.”
Yoongi is hardly aware of the time that passes, the staggering seconds that drag into the shivering minutes that yank into the shuddering hours until the clinic door is rattling open, and before Yoongi can even jerk up in alarm, Jin is hurtling into the office, eyes flashing a gleaming gold, every muscle tensed, shoulders broad and stature strong, a growl ripping through the air, vicious and dark.
“Yoongi.” Jin breathes, eyes widening in horror at the sight of Yoongi huddled against his desk, bloody streaks against his raw, bruised wrists, bruising on his pale face, and beside him, the denting in the walls, the overturned, splintered chair, the blood -
“Jin, he - he -”
Then Jin is yanking Yoongi into his arms, and Yoongi is burying his face in Jin’s chest with a sob, clutching at him frantically even as Jin holds him impossibly tight, chest heaving and tears pouring down his face.
“Can - can you smell him? Can you t-track him?”
Jin buries his face in Yoongi’s hair, inhaling raggedly. “We - we’re going to try, we -”
“Jin?” Jimin’s cry echoes down the hallway and Yoongi is stumbling away from Jin, frantic and panicked and afraid. Jimin is collapsed in a huddle in the darkened hall, four or five members of the pack surrounding him, all of them with crumpled expressions and several with hands clamped over their noses. Jimin’s expression is broken when he looks up, tears streaking down his cheeks. “Jin, he - he was so s-scared, why - why does he smell so -” Jimin covers his mouth with a sob, and Yoongi stumbles towards him, crashing to his knees in front of him and crushing him into an embrace, heart thundering in his chest.
“His - fear is too strong, the smell of his hurt.” Jeonghan whispers quietly, expression twisted with grief. “We can’t track him like this, how will we -”
“All I can smell is his p-pain.” Jimin whispers through tears, and Yoongi has to swallow a sob, clutching him even more tightly. Then Jin is tugging them both upright, running a hand through his hair when they turn to face him, eyes wild.
“We’re going to split up, and take both sides of the town.” Jin’s voice shakes even as he tries for authority, for steadiness. “We just - we just have to…” Jin trails off as his eyes widen slowly, and Yoongi’s shoulders stiffen and his pulse trips into unsteadiness again when the wolves around him freeze all at once, and in one motion, all their heads jerk up and towards the doors, several of them gasping and Jimin crying out.
“What?” Yoongi demands, breathless with terror.
“Jungkook.” Jin breathes, eyes enormous and wet, locked on the doors, and Yoongi’s breath freezes in his lungs when he whirls around just in time for the doors to slam open so forcefully they crash against the wall with resonant thuds. The doorway is gleaming with moonlight and hurling shadows across the room at them and Yoongi’s ears are roaring, his heart hammering in his throat and he can’t hear the cries that fill the room because Jungkook.
He’s covered in blood, horrifying crimson soaking his arms and chest and dripping from his dark hair, splashed across his cheeks but for the stark tear tracks staining wobby lines through the bleeding scarlet. There are broken chains trailing from his arms, his legs, the mangled collar still locked around his throat that’s scraped and bruised and raw, bleeding, and above it, his eyes are so feverishly bright.
“Baby.” Jin chokes brokenly, and Jungkook’s enormous eyes fly to him, lock on Jin, on Yoongi. There’s a fleetingly faint smile that flits across his bloody lips before Jungkook’s violently trembling form gives a shudder and goes limp, his eyes roll back, and he crumples to the ground.
Yoongi gently pats Jimin’s shoulder as Jimin impatiently rubs a hand against his cheeks, wiping away the tears that well up and spill over as his other hand smooths over Jungkook’s limp shoulders where he lays beneath them on the bed, wounds bandaged and face drawn and pale.
“Of course we couldn’t save him.” Jimin whispers ruefully. “He would always have saved himself before we ever could.”
Yoongi forces himself to glance down again at Jungkook’s unconscious, battered, heavily bandaged form looking so small and fragile on the bed, and feels his throat constrict again, his eyes burn despite the alarming amount of tears he’s shed in the last few hours.
“Jimin.” Jin calls quietly from the doorway, a lilac pillow in his hands. “The sheets are all set up on the couch. Will you please get some rest now?”
Jimin’s head shoots up, and his anguished protest is defensive, eyes shining with tears. “Jin, I can’t. Not when Jungkook’s… he’s…”
“He’s fine.” Jin crosses the room to sink onto the bed beside Jimin, wrapping an arm comfortingly around his shoulders, but his reassuring gaze is locked on Yoongi’s. “Jungkook is alright. He’s going to be okay.”
Yoongi nods through tears, clearing his throat. “You should really get some rest, Jimin.”
“I…” Jimin rubs at his face. “I just…”
“You were incredible with the other pack. There’s no way we could’ve gotten as many of them settled for the new moon without you." Jin cups Jimin's cheek tenderly. "You were great with the kids, and you remembered everything Yoongi had taught you to help with the first aid. You were amazing, Jimin.” Yoongi smiles encouragingly at Jimin, who blushes and shrugs. Jin tugs Jimin's hand into his own, stroking a gentle thumb against his palm with a soft smile. “Now please, get some rest? He’ll be here when you wake up.”
Jimin sighs, brushing away his tears impatiently, and swallows hard before he nods. Leaning down, he presses a kiss to Jungkook’s cheek tenderly. Then he’s trudging off to the couch Jin has set up for him with Jin quietly comforting him in the dark living room. Yoongi blinks quickly, backing away from the bed and crossing his arms across his chest as his gaze is yanked unerringly to the fragile figure laying in the bed. In his head, the hunter slams the barrel of the gun brutally against Jungkook’s temple, strikes him hard across the face, kicks him into the wall, slams the cruel metal rod of the cattle prod viciously into his chest to blaze through him and Jungkook thrashes and cries and screams -
“He’s going to be alright.” Jin murmurs, slipping an arm around Yoongi to tug them together and leaning down to rest his head against Yoongi’s. “Jungkook’s going to be okay, love. He made it back to us.”
Yoongi’s shoulders tremble, he bites his lip, then he whirls in Jin’s arms and buries his face in his broad chest just before he shudders with a sob, another. Jin sways them lightly, hugging him tightly as Yoongi squeezes his eyes shut and shakes apart in their embrace.
“It’s okay, it’s all okay now. He’s safe, and we’re going to keep him safe, and he’s going to be okay. Everything will be okay, Yoongs.”
“J-Jin?” Jungkook’s whimper is hardly audible but they both whirl around, and Yoongi feels his knees begin to buckle but Jin is at the bedside in an instant, sinking to kneel beside Jungkook’s prone form and reaching for his hand as Jungkook’s lashes flutter. Anguish is a suffocating vice in Yoongi’s chest as Jungkook’s lax expression crumples in pain, and when Jungkook’s eyes slit open slightly, Jin is already leaning over to press their foreheads together as Jungkook gasps, reaching up for Jin frantically, weak hands scrabbling along Jin’s arms as tears begin to pour down his cheeks.
“J-Jin, Jin, Jin -” Jungkook cries, and Jin raises his head just to sink down and gather Jungkook’s body against his in a tight hug.
“My strong, beautiful boy.” Jin breathes, devastation weighing every word. “Thank you for protecting my mate, Jungkookie. Yoongi and I are - are so lucky to have your love, baby. I’m…” Jin’s rasp breaks. “I’m so s-sorry, Jungkook, I - I was supposed to keep you safe. I failed you, and -”
Jungkook sobs weakly, shakes his head. “It wasn’t your fault, Jin, you - you gave me everything, I - I was so s-scared I’d never s-see you again, I -” Jungkook’s tears pour into his dark hair when he squeezes his eyes shut. “I want to be with you forever, I -”
Jin tightens their embrace and Jungkook buries his wet face in Jin’s shoulder as Jin’s fierce voice wavers and breaks. “I love you so much, Jungkook. I’m so proud of you.”
Yoongi has to hurriedly wipe his own eyes, and when Jin sits up to gaze tenderly down at him, Jungkook glimpses Yoongi twisting his hands helplessly beside the door - and Jungkook wails. Yoongi rushes forward, crashing against the mattress and huffing at Jin’s fond head-shaking when Yoongi gently shoves him aside to bundle Jungkook into his own arms as delicately and carefully as possible - then Jungkook is shaking with impatience and yanking Yoongi in towards him. Yoongi lets himself collapse onto his back on the bed, and in an instant Jungkook is rolling onto him, burrowing into his chest, clutching at his shirt and face pressing into his neck, sobbing even harder.
“Y-Yoongi, Yoongi -”
“Hey, hey, it’s okay, it’s okay now,” Yoongi breathes, tears pouring down his cheeks as he strokes Jungkook’s hair, his trembling frame, “I’m here, I’m here now and you’re safe, you’re okay, we’re okay, I’m -” Yoongi’s throat constricts as Jin slips a hand into his, squeezes reassuringly, and Yoongi swallows a sob. “Jungkook, I’m… so s-sorry. I’m sorry, I -”
“I’m sorry!” Jungkook bursts out, anguished, clutching at him, his tears hot against Yoongi’s throat where he presses his face harder, gasps in deeper inhales. “They h-hurt you for me, they hurt you for me, I -”
Yoongi can’t prevent himself from hugging him more desperately tightly, his voice breaking. “You got hurt… trying to protect me, I - I never w-wanted that, I never want you hurt, I - I’m so g-glad you’re safe, that you’re okay.”
Jungkook’s fingers wind even more tightly into Yoongi’s sleeves, and Jungkook winces and gasps in pain, crumpling against Yoongi when his wounds are jostled. Yoongi stiffens, trying to ease himself away, but Jungkook just clutches at him more tightly with a whimper. “No, no, please, p-please stay, please.”
Jin squeezes Yoongi’s hand again from where he’s resting against the headboard, gently stroking through Jungkook’s dark hair, then straightens to rise from the bed, but Jungkook jolts, cries out in pain.
“No, no, please! Jin, p-please, stay! Stay!”
Jin softens, sliding down the bed beside them to wrap his arms around them and tug them against him, and Jungkook’s hand latches onto Jin’s in a desperate grip as he presses his forehead harder into Yoongi’s chest, trying to melt into them as they cocoon him securely between them.
“You’re safe now, you’re going to be okay, it’s okay.” Jin breathes, and Yoongi clutches at them both, warmth seeping from their bodies as he tugs the soft covers over them, stroking a hand gently down Jungkook’s side. “You’re safe, you’re here with us, you’re safe.”
Yoongi presses forward, Jungkook’s face buried in his chest, and tips his forehead against Jin’s, inhaling deeply and exhaling slow, steady. His whisper is fierce, doesn’t waver.
“We’re here, you’re safe now. We aren’t going to let anyone hurt you. We have you, you’re here. We love you.”
“I love you.” Jungkook mumbles between them, a hot tear dropping onto Yoongi’s neck, then another. “I love you.”
“We love you.” Jin whispers, pressing a kiss to Jungkook’s hair tenderly. “We love you, baby.”
The ebbing crescent of the moon slides behind a thick cloud, and the room dims around them, shadows whispering along the walls soothingly. Yoongi exhales, closes his eyes, Jin's fingers tightening around his own and Jungkook's cheek pressing into the bare skin of his throat - his heart pulses, constricts, churns, and he pulls closer the two warm, bright, softly breathing pieces of his heart.
"I love you."