Safe With You | Yoonmin

Chapter 27: Dangerous Games

| Namjoon |

-- Two Weeks Ago --

"BUT FATHER, HE HASN'T DONE anything wrong! You said it yourself that the mark was obviously forced!" Namjoon was practically begging his father. "Please, don't break off the agreement. Don't punish Jimin for this."

It was the morning after Jimin's mark had been discovered, less than an hour after Kim Ryun had broken the news to his two youngest sons. Namjoon was still seated in his father's study, deliberating as the morning sun rose over the Kim estate.

Kim Ryun had ended the betrothal agreement the moment he learned that Jimin was claimed. Of course he had. Betrothal agreements were sacred and, especially amongst nobility, came with the assumption that both parties, the alpha and the beta - or in this case, the omega - were pure and unclaimed. Evidence to the contrary was grounds for immediate revocation. And if the elders determined that the offending party had given themselves to another to be marked willingly, well... punishment was not uncommon. In decades previous, the guilty party would have been brought before the public, forced to kneel as their long hair was cropped short with a knife. But as long hair was no longer held sacred, the punishments had evolved. When Namjoon was a young boy, he had witnessed the punishment of an alpha female who had mated in secret to escape an arranged betrothal. He had watched wide-eyed from behind Seokjin's taller frame as the young woman was dragged into the temple square. His older brother had clamped his hands over little Joon's ears, muffling the sounds of the alpha's wails as her feet were struck again and again with a heavy cane until they bled.

Even though Jimin claimed he had been assaulted, and the gruesome scar on his neck provided clear evidence of that, Namjoon was terrified by the possibility that Jimin might be hurt. So much so that he was begging his father to let the courtship continue.

After weeks of bonding with Jimin, he had finally begun to feel at peace about the mating arrangement. Had he fallen in love with the omega? No, certainly not. But he couldn't deny a certain fondness for the younger, or that his wolf was growing protective. Jimin was an intoxicating blend of beautiful, gentle, and wounded which Namjoon's alpha instincts couldn't ignore. It was not the passionate love he had once shared with Mi Cha. No, it was... merely the desire to protect, and to see Jimin happy, in the same way that Namjoon wished for the comfort and safety of his parents or his brothers. And he had resolved to do his very best to provide Jimin with a comfortable life once they were mated. Both Namjoon and his wolf had made peace with that.

"No," his father refused. "Proceeding with this arrangement will do no good. Think of our family's reputation-"

"If we cast him aside now, the pack will assume him guilty regardless. You know they will! But if we show faith, perhaps our clan and the pack will follow."

"I will make it clear that we don't find him at fault," Kim Ryun promised grimly. "But you need to distance yourself, quickly. Showing favor to a claimed omega can only hurt your image now. So stay away from this matter, and allow me to speak on Jimin's behalf."

"What if your words aren't enough?" Namjoon challenged.

"My son," Kim Ryun shook his head, clearly growing impatient, "There is only so much I can do for him."

Namjoon ground his teeth, hands curling into fists at his side, mahogany scent turning bitter and burnt. "You taught us to fear the gods-" he protested, grasping for any argument that might sway his father. "-and to honor the Moon Goddess above all else. If male omegas are the most blessed of all her children, how greatly will she punish us for failing to protect him? Shouldn't his well-being come before all else?"