Safe With You | Yoonmin

Chapter 34: Nest

| Jimin |

JIMIN WOKE SLOWLY, like a sunrise. He was warm, pleasantly so, and surrounded by the scent that he craved the most. The only scent that could coax soft purrs from his wolf, as it did even now. Summer fields and tangerines.

He was tucked against Yoongi's side, a quilt wrapped snuggly around him and one of the alpha's arms wrapped around his shoulders to keep him close.

At first he thought that they must have fallen asleep in the nest, in Hyun-Joo's cellar. It must be Yoongi's day to stay with him. They must have talked late into the afternoon and accidentally fallen asleep.

But as Jimin blearily opened his eyes and blinked, it was the dark interior of Yoongi's home that greeted him, not the familiar walls of the cellar.

Wait. How...?

Then his most recent memories came rushing back. The night sky filled with flaming arrows. Taehyung half-carrying him from Hyun-Joo's cottage just as the flames brought the roof down. Yoongi. Yoongi, injured, bleeding. Fleeing with them to the safety of the Great Hall. Waiting in breathless, suffocating silence as they listened to the distant battle. And then suddenly there had been cheering, shouting, screaming, the scent of too much blood and too many alphas crowding into the Great Hall. His wolf's whimpers had morphed into something louder, more tortured and threatening. He could still feel the darkness, reaching up for him again, heavy, unrelenting.

Jimin let out a shuddering breath. Unbearable shame washed over him as he recalled the way he had nearly fallen apart in the Great Hall, choking on the scent of a pack his wolf no longer trusted. He had nearly turned feral amongst so many wounded. What if Yoongi hadn't found him in time? What if Jimin had hurt someone? An omega was supposed to be an aid to the pack, a calming presence, but that night Jimin had been nothing but a danger to everyone.

And now, here in the silence where his thoughts felt so loud, he couldn't help but wonder... what if he never got better? What if the bond with his wolf -- the bond with the Black Mountain Pack -- what if they were beyond healing? What would become of him then? Would he be forced to live like a captive, hidden from the pack? Or would the pack finally cast him out, toss him out the village gate to fend for himself until fear and loneliness caused him to turn feral once and for all. The darkness closing over him, dragging him down, down, down into the void until even the roars of his wolf were drowned out and nothing of Jimin was left.

These past few weeks, Jimin had tried so hard to be brave, and not to fall into despair. He had diligently followed Hyun-Joo's instructions to practice his shifting, to listen intently for his wolf's ques and most of all, to lean on his packmates. Hobi, Taehyung and Yoongi spoke nothing but encouragement to him, praising his efforts, assuring him that his wolf-bond would mend soon, that he should not loose hope.

But Jimin could still hear the echo of his wolf's almost deranged snarls as it fought to push him back down in the Great Hall. Could still see the darkness creeping into his vision and feel the abject, helpless terror, the telltale ache in his bones and sting in his fingertips warning that the wolf within was about to break loose and claw and bite. If Yoongi had arrived only a minute later, it would have been a minute too late.

This realization should have terrified Jimin but instead, all he felt was pure, bone-deep exhaustion. This constant, daily struggle against his wolf -- and the gnawing guilt that accompanied it -- bit by bit, it was wearing him down. Despite all his efforts, the cave in his mind remained cold and empty. He yearned to feel something, anything from his wolf. He wished for it so badly that it hurt.

But just as his wolf's heart and mind remained hidden from him, Jimin remained hidden from his wolf. Thanks to the fractured bond, the omega remained oblivious to Jimin's tortured thoughts.