TOAO | MW [✔]

Fourteen.

Mingyu woke up first, and as he looked over at his bedside clock he saw that it was almost 10:00 AM. He needed to get up, do daily training, and call Kihyun, but he didn't want to leave Wonwoo until he was certain that the omega was okay. He held him in his arms and waited another thirty minutes before Wonwoo stirred. He came awake slowly, first nuzzling down further into the covers, then slowly emerging with a stretch and a yawn. The omega seemed to realize he was there as he stretched and felt Mingyu spooned up behind him.

"Mingyu, you're still here? What time is it?" Wonwoo asked, rolling over in the alpha's embrace to face him and hear him better.

"It's almost 10:30-" There was a short pause. "How are you?"

Wonwoo seemed to think long and hard before answering, like he was probing his inner feelings deeply.

"I'm...okay. Strangely, I kind of feel...okay about everything. Last night I was really upset, but you were there for me. You protected me. I think, my fear was more from the idea of losing you...I panicked."

Mingyu ran his hands over Wonwoo's back gently as he leaned forward to press a kiss to his forehead and scent him gently over his face and neck.

"I'm here and I'm not going anywhere."

"I know."

Wonwoo's nose twitched and he smelled the metallic scent of blood, just noticing as he surfaced more from sleep.

"Mingyu...are you bleeding, alpha? I smell blood."

"Oh...yeah. The cuffs last night were cutting into my wrists."

Wonwoo gasped and pulled back, using his hands to find his way to Mingyu's wrists and tenderly pulling them up toward his face, the scent of blood getting stronger as they got nearer.

"Why didn't you tell me so I could heal you?" Wonwoo admonished, not waiting for a reply before he leaned down and nosed his way to the cuts, gently licking at them to seal the wounds.

Mingyu just watched with fascination as his omega healed his wrists, gently tending them with his tongue and lips. It left his full lips red with the alpha's blood as he healed him until his cuts were sealed and well on their way to full healing.

They got up and Mingyu followed his lover in a fashion much too similar to the wolf by his side, both of them intent only on the omega as he padded out to make coffee. They ended up settling in their usual spot on the porch swing, both with coffee in hand while the wolves played in the yard. Mingyu was having a hard time keeping himself from touching some part of Wonwoo. As they drank their coffee, he had a hand on his omega's nape, massaging gently as a small reassurance that he was there.

As they sat in the warm mid-morning breeze, the swing swaying slightly by Mingyu's foot pushing them along, he thought that this indeed was a special spot for them. It seemed like they constantly found themselves on that swing. It was his omega's favorite little perch and as he thought that, his mind turned to the big, fancy proposal he had planned the night before. Would it not be more special to have that little moment here and now, in this place that was so special to them? He thought about their relationship and realized that a quiet morning on the porch swing was much more like them than a public proposal at a fancy restaurant.

"Hey Baby, I'm gonna run inside and grab something real quick. I'll be right back."

"Okay."

Mingyu stood and walked inside, racing through the kennels into the lobby and back, toward his room. He found the ring in the pocket of his jeans from last night and pulled the little velvet box out. He considered taking his phone and playing Wonwoo the poem recording, but somehow that didn't feel right either. He didn't want this to be some planned-out thing. He wanted to tell his omega his feelings. In his own words, right from the heart. So he left the phone on the bed and walked outside, not wanting the damned thing to ring and spoil another moment.