Mix and Match ~ TK

96

Taehyung never thought about it before. He was so taken aback by Yugyeom's words that for a whole minute, he was frozen in place, unsure of what to do.

He's always thought that being Jungkook's mate was a mistake. And even when he finally accepted him, it was out of pure selfishness, he thought. He knew Jungkook helped his wolf who in turn, helped Taehyung get his memories back, and that was the main reason why Taehyung wanted Jungkook back. But at the back of his mind, their mate bond has always been a mystery.

Fated mates were picked out perfectly for each other, it always made sense when you see the wolves who were fated, why they were so. But Taehyung and Jungkook never made sense to anyone, not even to themselves. Surely, there was a reason. Maybe it wasn't the physical strength that matched but something else? The curiosity burned enough for him to finally admit defeat and fall into the alpha's trap. He sighed and Jackson yelped. Yugyeom met his eyes, a weird understanding glinting in them that put Taehyung at ease. He nodded and turned away, mostly to strip his outer layers and change. The two wolves followed his example.

It's been quite some time since Taehyung turned into his wolf, the change was oddly strengthening and had a surge of adrenaline slowly pumping through his veins. The silver gray wolf with red eyes stuck out like a sore thumb. Maybe it was because of ascendance, or simply because his wolf was weird like him, but his fur was perfectly silver, not a streak out of line, or any other color marring the beautiful monochromatic coat.
Once they moved inside the ring, Taehyung was amazed to see that he was left upfront, the four other wolves patiently waiting in formation behind him. His wolf wasn't particularly big or strong, he wasn't even close to Jackson's dark brown wolf's height; but the sight of him gave off a different kind of energy. Not imposing, not scary, but mysterious. An aura that was very different from the rest of the alphas around him. That's when Taehyung decided to do something he's never consciously done before, he completely gave the reigns to his wolf and retreated.
Taehyung never really had a great relationship with his wolf, he's always pushed him back and stifled his powers. He knew his wolf faced all the traumas in his place and suffered for him, and Taehyung would probably never forgive himself for it all. But right now, it felt right to trust him completely, to let him decide, to let him fight.

When his wolf looked at its mate again, his eyes shone a brighter red and then the fight began.

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"That was absolutely reckless of you!" Jiyong shouted in the clinic's room that hosted two incredibly beaten up boys. "This training was supposed to get you ready for the upcoming fights, not incapacitate you!" The Head Alpha stopped pacing, a hand massaging his temples even if it was doing nothing for his ever growing headache. "What a shame... your two packs are in war! Who is going to fight for them in your place?" He then turned to his son before the latter could speak up, "Speaking of which, don't even get me started on that bullshit you spewed last time in my office about reclaiming your place, there will be no such thing with the way you're behaving right now." Both wolves now had their heads held down in shame, not chancing to look at the Alpha's face and anger him even more. "I am so very disappointed."

With those last words, he turned and left the clinic, leaving burdening silence behind him.

There wasn't much to be said, as everything between the two humans was settled down with their wolves. And settling they did. It went so out of hand that the fellow alphas who were supposed to fight alongside Taehyung had retreated just a few minutes after the fight began. It was a bloody, vengeful massacre. Everyone had halted their training to watch the ferocious fight that served to make one huge point across. Weren't if for the mate bond, one or both of them would've ended up dead today.

Taehyung barely remembered what went down exactly as he had completely given control to his wolf, but the few flashes he does remember were terrible. Before the start was even properly announced, they had pounced on each other, biting and growling like they were out for blood. And they were. They spilled a lot of it today on that fight ring. No one had dared interrupt or get in between a true blood and an alpha, especially not an alpha who was said true blood's fated mate. It was evident in their fight that they harbored a lot of emotions towards each other, and not positive ones either. When Taehyung nearly bit Jungkook's wolf's calf off, the latter howled in pain but had shook him off just in time to turn back and bite Taehyung's ear off.
Six broken ribs, two broken wrists, fifteen open wounds and a missing ear between the two of them.

Taehyung was sure that if it weren't for the bond, Jungkook could've easily killed him. He felt the hesitation in his wolf every time he could've given a fatal blow but hesitated and went for a less lethal one. He also knew that if his and Jungkook's wolves had reacted that way towards each other, that meant there was a lot of hatred rooted deeply within their bond. Only something like this would allow them to fight this way, as fated mates would never truly hurt each other. All of it suddenly seemed so very ironic to the alpha that it made him laugh. It started with a small chuckle and then it blew out into a full on manic laughter. Taehyung was sitting painfully in his clinical bed and his stomach hurt from laughing so hard.

"Are you mental? What the fuck is wrong with you?" Jungkook, who was sitting on the bed directly next to him barked out angrily. He didn't seem to find anything that happened between them remotely funny. Actually, he was sporting a very mean snarl and his eyes threw daggers at the alpha still wheezing on his side. "Stop it!"

"I- I can't, this is so funny." Taehyung uttered between two breaths, the expression on Jungkook's face just added to his merriment. He was truly laughing his fucking ass off. Unfortunately, Baekhyun and his mother chose that exact moment to come in. They probably knocked but weren't heard due to all the noise and chose to get in anyways. Byun Bora looked warily at the two wolves before she shook her head, probably in disappointment every adult seemed to express towards them today.

"That was very uncalled for boys." She then turned to Taehyung, who had wiped the last tears of hysterical laughter from his eyes and was looking very uncomfortable once again. Turned out, laughing with broken ribs really hurts. "Taehyung, what went wrong in your head that you decided to take on a true blood in a one on one fight? You could've died!" If it weren't for the pain, Taehyung would've looked surprised at the tone Bora used. It was so motherly and genuinely concerned, it's almost as if their earlier conversation had unleashed her maternal instinct towards him or something. Taehyung hadn't had a mother for more than ten years now that he almost forgot the feeling of having one, until this precise moment. His eyes caught sight of Baekhyun at her side and saw that the omega also looked very worried. And wasn't that a sight to see?

"Don't worry Bora, brother, I'm doing fine." He suddenly smiled very brightly and Taehyung was sure he looked positively deranged in that specific moment. "Jungkook and I only had some unfinished business that we needed to take care of." He looked to his right and smiled even more at the expression the true blood showed.

"Brother?" Jungkook looked from him to Baekhyun and then to Bora, before turning to him once more. "What do you mean "brother"?"

It was Baekhyun who answered him " oh yeah, we didn't really have time to digest the news either, but Taehyung is actually my step brother."

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