TWM | MW [✔]

04.

The idea that Wonwoo didn't know what it meant to be a mage, to carry a wolf mark, was a hard truth to swallow. Wonwoo's wide eyes watched as Mingyu circled him again, wanting a second look at the crescent moon painting his back. He'd been careful to keep his touch light the first time, but now he let his hand splay across it. A feeling of power surged through him, pleasure tingling across his skin. He slid his hands to Wonwoo's shoulders and pressed, urging the mage to his knees. Wonwoo resisted briefly before submitting, folding gracefully to the floor. Mingyu moved with him, settling between his legs.

He'd never seen a mark with his own eyes. Sure, he knew Hyunseob had one, but it was tucked somewhere out of sight. Wonwoo's mark was beautiful; dark ink on his pale skin, shades of gray that picked out the contours of the moon, its shadows, and craters. He had the sudden sense that he'd never grow tired of staring at it, of watching it change.

Wonwoo shivered under his touch. Mingyu eased his hand away, bent his head, and touched his lips to the arc of the moon. The mage jolted, turning around to stare at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Getting to know you."

Mingyu urged him to face forward, his hands gripping Wonwoo's shoulders to hold him in place, and kissed his mark again, tasting the power on the mage's skin.

Wonwoo's breath hitched, a soft moan bitten off as it fought to escape his lips.

"Wait," he gasped.

Mingyu pulled back, giving him some space as the mage seemed to grapple with himself. Wonwoo twisted around to peer at Mingyu over his shoulder.

"I... I don't..."

Emotions flickered across his face, almost too fast for Mingyu to register—fear, anticipation, wonder, confusion. Mingyu knew what he wanted, what instinct was calling him to do. That didn't mean Wonwoo felt the same way. He forced himself to ease right back, keep his hands to himself, and talk to the mage.

"You can say no. Nothing has to happen here if you don't want it to."

He wanted Wonwoo to want this. His wolf ego didn't thrive on force or fear.

Wonwoo shuffled around to face him, moving to sit and drawing one knee up to his chest.

"I don't know what we're doing, or what it means, or... or..."

"You were in Maken Pack a while, right? Bound to another wolf? You must have some idea..."

The lost look on Wonwoo's face became something close to shame.

"It was just a training bond."

"A bond's a bond."

Wonwoo avoided his eyes.

"I'm not sure that's true. Johnny barely looked at me. He, um... he had a girlfriend. The bite was just so I could learn the right magic. It didn't mean anything, not to him."

"He barely looked at you?" Which implied he'd never touched, never tasted...

"Babysitting trainee mages was a job the pack liked to foist on the weaker alphas."

"Lucky them. So many mages, they didn't have a place to put them all," Mingyu said dryly.

"Johnny never looked at me the way you're looking at me."

Mingyu spoke plainly. "I want you. But I don't just take what I want. I could, but I won't." Being an alpha wasn't just about having power. It was about how you used it.

"I want to understand why I feel the way I feel. To know what it means to be a mage. I don't know anything about destiny or—"

Mingyu winced. Throwing around words like fate and destiny was a bad move on his part. He had to keep things simple, to keep them real.