Love Me || Taekook

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Jungkook tried his best to keep his feet light, but his muscles were already stiff from being jostled around in the car crash. Running with such desperation only made them ache more. Still, he didn't stop.

The alpha's pace eventually slowed just a bit. He was hoping to store a bit more energy since the town he was aiming for was still several miles away and the terrain would only get worse up ahead.

A thick tree line stood tall and daunting up ahead. It was several layers thick and Jungkook knew that navigating it in the snow would prove difficult. Old stumps, rocks, and logs would be hidden beneath the growing white blanket even under the protection of branches. Nonetheless, he had to go through it. Trying to go around would take far too long, and he really didn't have the extra time.

Jungkook dashed from the tall grass and into the trees. If he moved fast enough, he could make it to the other side in a minute. The true test of strength would be avoiding obstacles, something that seemed impossible in the dark of night.

His pace slowed significantly, though he still ran. There really wasn't much choice. It was inevitable that something would catch his feet, so he needed to plan for the damage that would ensue.

"Are we getting close?" Taehyung's head popped up to look around.

"Not quite. I can't keep running at full pace through this. It's too dangerous."

Taehyung pushed his body up into a more upright position so that he could get a better look. "Right... be careful."

The omega continued to survey the area. His eyes travelled up into the barren trees, noticing how the collected snow looked like icy leaves on the branches. If the situation had been different, he would have called it beautiful, but it seemed that nothing could warm his heart after everything that had happened.

"Wait, Jungkook. Stop." Taehyung's eyes locked onto one of the trees further ahead. Something was peculiar about it.

"What? Why?" Jungkook slowed until his legs met a complete stop.

"That tree up there...It doesn't have any snow on it. Isn't that weird? All the other ones do..." The omega's line of sight raked over the entire plant, searching for a clue as to why this was the case, until a glint of something shined in his eye. "Oh shit! Get down!"

Jungkook immediately dropped his body to the floor just as a whistle ran past his ear. He felt Taehyung slide down his side and turned to yell at him. "Don't get down right now! We might get separated- Tae?"

Taehyung stood next to the large wolf with a horrified expression. His right hand covered his opposite arm, but blood still slipped through. "Kook...I couldn't get out of the way...I-" His figure began to fall, but Jungkook was able to shift and catch him before he could hit the ground.

"Shhh...It's okay." The alpha carried his mate behind a large tree that was close and gently set him up against it. "Let me see it."

Taehyung looked down to his wounded arm and slowly lifted his hand away. A medium sized bullet had torn through his clothing and lodged itself in his flesh. "Oh god...Why does it look like that?"

Jungkook took a closer look and noticed that small spikes completely surrounded the bullet and clung to Taehyung's muscle tissue. "Fuck...Tae, look at me. Look me in the eyes."

The younger looked up, tears falling for the nth time that night. He searched his boyfriend's eyes for reassurance. "Do you know what this is? Why does it hurt so much?"

"I do, which means I know you'll be okay. It's going to hurt for a while, but we are going to get out of here and get both you and your parents help. Alright?" Jungkook tried his best to hide his fear. Any second now that pain his mate was talking about would get worse. He needed his words to be believable in order to keep Taehyung together. "We'll get through this together."

Taehyung nodded and took a sigh of somewhat relief. "Okay... we'll get out of this. It'll be okay-" Eyes suddenly wide with shock and body tense, Taehyung gasped for air. "Fuck! What's going on?" He looked back to his arm to see a clear liquid drip from his new wound. His skin boiled everywhere it touched, sending unmeasurable amounts of pain and shock through his body. "Jungkook! What is this!?"

"Look at me, Tae. Keep your eyes on me, not that bullet." Jungkook turned his boyfriend's face towards his own, looking into his eyes with sincerity. "It's a chemical compound the hunters created as a weapon against us. It's basically holy water for werewolves. That bullet was filled with it before that bastard hit you with it and it's releasing that compound through those little spikes you see."

"Oh my god..." Taehyung turned his head to look at the source of his pain once again, but a hand stopped him and turned him back.

"No. Don't look at it. Keep your focus on me." Jungkook held both of his hands firmly on both sides of Taehyung's head. "The toxins are going to spread throughout your body, and it's going to hurt like hell at first, but it'll eventually get too diluted and will only feel like an ache."

"Holy shit. I'm going to die-"

"No. You aren't. You are stronger than anyone I know, even fucking Hoseok who threw me across a room with no effort at all. You are going to get through this and we'll get out of these goddamn trees. It's going to hurt, but you'll be okay." Jungkook placed his forehead against Taehyung's, flinching when he heard another bullet thump into the ground not too far away. That bullet was meant for him and he knew it for fact. It was meant to act as an inhibitor. The odd solution inside of it could keep any werewolf and some vampires from transforming even during full moons where they gained the most power. If he hadn't have dropped to the ground, Taehyung wouldn't be suffering.

"Okay...Okay...I've got this." Taehyung's eyes shut tightly and his face contorted in pain. He threw out a flurry of curse words, each one worse than the last, to somehow release at least the verbal form of what he was feeling. As the pain increased, he became more and more delirious, spouting off random words and sentences as if it would help. He begged more times than one could count for it all to stop, even asking Jungkook to just cut off his arm.

More bullets flew past them, getting closer and closer each time until they hit the tree they hid behind. However, Jungkook kept his focus on his mate, holding him securely regardless of the stresses around him. "Listen Tae, we need to get out of here. They're not trying to kill us, so they have some other goal. We need to move before more of them get here. Do you think you could hold onto me like you did before?"

Taehyung's head shook almost as rapidly as the rest of his body. "It hurts. Jungkook, it hurts so bad."

"I know...I know it does, but we can't stay here." Jungkook peered deep into his mate's eyes. "It might be hard to bring him out right now, but can I talk with Eden?"

Taehyung cried out again, struggling to process anything Jungkook was saying over the over the big red pain flairs in his brain, but he still nodded. 

"I can try."

A/N

It shouldn't take me as long to get the next chapter up. My brain suddenly activated at 1 am this morning and it looks like the momentum is still going, so I'll have it up tomorrow. Also apologies for any typos or errors. I did say 1 am....