winter of orphic love | ot7 poly |

Chapter 11 The Blue Hour

"Is there a certain way we should dress for the meeting?" Hobi continues to search through his section of the dresser with quick hands and frantic eyes. He glances over his shoulder with a look of anxiety. "Have we ever done a meeting at the neutral zone before?"

"We have two days before the meeting," I reassured him from the bed. My legs are stretched out over the neatly-made covers with my head propped up on my hand. Jimin is sitting beside me and plays with my hair in distracting motions.

"You can ask Namjoon too," Jimin suggests. "When he and Yoongi come home, you can ask him."

Hobi turns back to the dresser and pulls out another folded pile of clothes. He looks over the fabric with concern. "I don't want to make a bad impression," he adds, deaf to our reassurances.

Jimin smiles at him, "Hyungie I doubt they'll start a war over our outfits."

I look up at Jimin in amusement. "I don't think Nik's pack has a fashion police."

Hobi sighs loudly. " And I'm not sure what the Beta is supposed to do. I've never been in a pack large enough for one."

I sit up from my laying position and scoot back against the wall to sit beside Jimin. Jimin opens up his arm and I lean into him. His arm rests over my shoulders and keeps me close to his warm body. The scent of orange blossoms is sweet and light; Jimin feels content.

But the scent of sour succulents and wilting desert flowers overpowers Jimin's lighthearted mood. Hoseok is obviously stressed about the meeting and it's being projected on which outfit he will wear.

After we finished our chores, Jimin, Hobi, and I came inside to rest while we waited for Namjoon and Yoongi to return from the radio station. Evey and Tanner are with Taehyung and Jungkook. They are trying to figure out how to fix the garden fence while they wait for the older boys to return. Seokjin is currently napping on the couch in the living room; he collapsed when we came back inside. His post-heats are often made up of long naps and eating larger portions during mealtime.

For once, I feel satisfied with the work I did. I had felt anxious about being behind in chores but we are finally catching up. The garden has been completely harvested. Our next priority is canning and storing the harvest but we will do that after the meeting with the Nightwalkers. We spend two whole days canning and preserving our food and ironically, I find those days easier than others. We stay inside all day and work together as a team; it's peaceful now that we've done it a few times.

I hope Yoongi makes us mulled wine again.

In light of completing the majority of the tasks that stressed me out, I am beginning to see how foolish I was to prolong my heats. I should have been gentle with myself and made time for heats instead of shoving them aside until I can't handle it anymore.

It's as if I had never grown up at all.

Jimin hums quietly in thought and finally replies. "I was. They're the second-in-command. They helped the Alpha with whatever he needed."

Hobi's body wilts at his answer and he stares at us with a pleading look. "That's not very specific. Our pack isn't big enough for me to follow Namjoon around. I know it's an honorary title but at this meeting, aren't they going to expect something?"

My heart wrenches at the sight of his distress. "I'm sure they won't make you do anything. They are just trying to be formal by asking for the Beta and the Luna. The note said Nik wanted to discuss something so we will probably be stuck in a meeting all day if this goes well."

"If it goes well," Hobi repeats worriedly. "That's another thing. This whole thing could be some kind of trap."

I lower my gaze. "And I didn't make it any better. I'm sorry again, for shooting at them."