Beast, Blood, & Soul

* 47 *

I gasp as Jimin transforms in front of me and my mom. He's looking devilishly handsome in distressed jeans, a v-neck t-shirt, and sandals. His red eyes glow with nervous amusement and there is just a hint of his fangs peeking through. His hair is still cotton candy pink and he gives my mom a deep 45-degree bow.

"That's unexpected," My mom utters.

"Park Jimin, ma'am, at your service. One of the members of the Bangtan group and a man deeply in love with your daughter," he says. My mouth drops open at his words. Well, so much for keeping the mystery.

My heart also warms at his words. I love hearing how much he loves me.

Then to my shock, the rabbit jumps off my lap and transforms into Jungkook. He also bows deeply and introduces himself.

"Jeon Jungkook, ma'am. Another member of Bangtan Group and also deeply in love with your daughter." I think my eyes are going to pop out of my head.

My mom looks between both men. Jungkook is also dressed simply in jeans and a light button-up shirt, although the two top buttons are open. Both of their jeweled red eyes shine with amusement and expectation towards my mother.

My mom smiles, "It's very nice to meet the two of you. Would you care to sit down? This explains a lot." She says simply. I look at my mom, what does she know?

"You aren't shocked or surprised, mom. Why?" I ask her. She looks at me seriously. Jimin and Jungkook take seats around the table.

"As I said before, you've been talking about magic animals since you were 8 years old. You only stopped when you were horribly teased by your classmates. By middle school, you acted like you couldn't remember and your dad and I felt that it was best to leave it alone. Life became normal around here and we didn't really think about it much after that. We'd hear the normal gossip around town about Bangtan Group but didn't pursue it beyond idle gossip. It wasn't until you asked me about your school trip that I started putting more pieces together. I knew something was unusual about the owners of the forestry center but didn't connect them to the animals until I started going through your drawings and papers.

So there really is magic involved here?" my mother looks at both men seriously.

"Yes, we aren't the monsters of mythology, despite what we look like. We are not a danger to your daughter." Jimin reassures her. It's a little funny to hear him say he's no danger when he's poisonous, has fangs and I have coordinating mate marks on my skin. Not that I'm letting mom see those.

"I gathered you took my daughter's safety seriously when she came here and cried her heart out because you wanted to keep her safe. It took a while to help her see sense." She grins at my expense.

"She is really lucky to have such an amazing mom," Jungkook comments.

My mom smiles, "Thank you, Jungkook. Will I be able to meet the others?"

"Do you want to?" Jimin asks. "Will it be okay with your husband?"

"What I know, so does he," she says simply.

Jungkook gets up and moves to the backdoor and slides it open. Immediately, in flies an eagle and owl who land on the back of the kitchen chairs. I'm surprised they don't fall over. A knock sounds on the front door to which Jimin gets up and answers.

Through the front door walk in Jin, Taehyung, and Yoongi. My mother stands up as they come into her home, but before she can say anything, the eagle and owl transform, and there standing are Namjoon and Hobi. All are dressed simply but still looking good and ready to impress my mother, it seems.