𝔙𝔞𝔪𝔭𝔦𝔯𝔢'𝔰 𝔅𝔯𝔦𝔡𝔢

𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝟓

Italic - is thoughts
Underline - is the narrator
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

It took a while to explain the whole situation to the five brothers who were still in shock by the news

-3rd pov-

"That's how it happened," Niki said as he looked at his brothers who were still trying to take in the information he just told them

Jay picked up his pan and spoke up, breaking the silence "So you were being a hero but couldn't help yourself and tasted her blood, marking her on accident?"

Jay summarized, wanting to make sure that he got everything right

Niki nodded, confirming what Jay had said

"Yeah, pretty much. I was being a hero, saved her from the bad guys, and I guess something in me just... took over. I couldn't help it, I had to taste her blood. And in the heat of the moment, I accidentally marked her."

He explained, still feeling a bit guilty about marking her on accident. But he also couldn't help but feel a sense of possession and protectiveness over her now that she was his mate

"I still can't believe that Jake let you sneak out when we all agreed that you weren't allowed to go out yet" Jungwon spoke up as he looked at Jake who was avoiding eye contact

Jake let out a scoff, clearly not happy about being called out

"Hey, I was just trying to be a good big brother and let him experience a little freedom. He's been cooped up in the house for far too long."

He defended himself, trying to justify his decision to let Niki go out

"But he wasn't ready to go out, he still can't control himself" Sunoo added while looking at the two

Heeseung, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, spoke up, siding with Sunoo and Jungwon.

"Sunoo's right. We all agreed that Niki wasn't ready to go out yet. And look what happened. He can't control himself and now has a mate."

He said with a disapproving tone, glancing at Jake and then Niki

Jake let out another scoff and looked at his brothers "Can we stop treating him like a child? Niki is 20 and about to be 21 in a few months"

Heeseung rolled his eyes at Jake's statement

"Sure, he's about to be 21, but that doesn't change the fact that he's still not ready to go out on his own. Just look at what happened last night. He accidentally marked his mate because he couldn't control himself."

He said, still sounding disapproving

"At least he didn't kill the girl, doesn't that show you that he was able to control himself?" Jake said to them

Sunghoon, who had been quietly listening to the conversation, spoke up, weighing in on the conversation

"I guess that's true. At least he didn't kill her. But still, he wasn't supposed to go out in the first place. We agreed to keep him in the house for a reason."

Jake rolled his eyes and looked at Sunghoon "So keeping a 20-year-old locked up in a house is okay?"

Sunghoon crossed his arms and returned Jake's look with a glare

"We're not locking him up, we're being careful. Niki hasn't fully mastered control over himself yet. And until he does, it's safer for everyone if he stays in the house."

"So we're going to treat our little brother as a monster now, huh?" Jake was not agreeing with this "rule"

Sunoo, sensing the tension in the room, spoke up, trying to calm things down