shadowsinsounds(Ao3)
Kim Taehyung loved being an omega.
Scratch that.
He loved being an omega when he wasn't surrounded by asshole alphas. And therein lay the problem.
When change strikes his life, leads him to a new pack, a new family, Jeon Jungkook is given the chance to change Taehyung's mind about alphas.
Will he?
-----
Taehyung loved being an omega.
Scratch that.
He loved being an omega when he wasn't surrounded by asshole alphas. And therein lay the problem.
Tae wasn't sure what had gone wrong with alpha wiring, but he was so done with it. Since when did being protective warrant being controlling? Since when did providing a safe space become bullying and hoarding an omega away from all others?
Since when did love become poison?
Taehyung wasn't ashamed of being an omega, like many of his friends in the pack, who latched onto the first alpha to treat them halfway decent and realized a few years later they were attached at the hip for life to an asshole.
Taehyung wasn't ashamed to admit he enjoyed being taken care of. He liked being looked after, praised. He liked the idea of having someone be there for him over anyone else. But no alpha in his pack were worthy of his attention.
Which led to Taehyung turning twenty, still unmated and suffering through his heats with just his omegan best friend Jimin helping him, while most alphas and omegas in the pack were mated by eighteen.
Taehyung sighed bitterly and kicked his feet in the cold water of the stream, perched on his favorite boulder that caught the late afternoon autumn sunlight just right, warming his cheeks and shoulders. His hair was a unique silvery grey that glinted in the sun, his skin darker than his packmates due to his penchant for wandering through the territory during long, lonely days. His leather vest and breeches, worn and comfortable, fit his leanly muscled frame well.
"Knew I'd find you out here," came a voice from over his shoulder.
Taehyung didn't bother to look around, bringing his knees to his chest and hugging them. "Go away, Jiminie."
A snort was the only reply.
A warm body settled beside his, pressed shoulder to shoulder. Despite himself, Taehyung leaned into the contact with a halfhearted sigh, resting his cheek on his knee to look at his best friend.
"What are you doing out here? Yoongi will be looking for you."
"No, he won't, because Yoongi doesn't keep me on a leash," replied Jimin dryly, stroking a soothing hand through Taehyung's hair. Tae's best friend looked as pretty as ever, his light pink hair groomed neatly back from his forehead. Endearingly chubby cheeks, short muscled frame. His mating bite was a beautiful scar on the left side of his neck. "I'm proud of you, you know."
Taehyung laughed, but there was no amusement in the sound. "For disobeying and not servicing that nasty forty-year-old alpha during his rut? The head alpha's going to kick my ass. Or exile me."
"No, he won't," shot back Jimin, raising his chin stubbornly. "Yoongi won't let that happen." As chief hunter, Yoongi held quite a bit of sway in the alpha's council. "Besides, everyone loves you. Head alpha would be facing a rebellion if he punished you."
"I just couldn't do it." Taehyung's voice was soft, so soft, and trembled at the edges. "I didn't want to do it, I didn't want to help with his rut, I don't like him—"
