Stigma

Chapter 15 - Healing

"Intimacy is healing" Dean Ornish

He awoke slowly. He was in his nest, that much he could tell, but there was something different about it. It smelt better, safer, like...Taehyung's eyes shot open. It smelt like Jungkook. He lifted his head, ignoring the quick burst of pain that spread throughout his body at the action. He searched the bed sleepily, yet found no alpha, only his lingering warmth and scent. His whole body and mind were desperate, to taste and touch, smell and see, only he felt as if his limbs were made from lead. He looked down at himself then.

He was in better shape than he remembered himself being in before he blacked out. He had obviously been washed, his body free from the slick and sweat his heat had produced before. His hair conditioned and soft, body clad in only a pair of boxes.

He did a mental check on his omega, to find it still relatively suppressed, but there none the less. He reached deeper and found it, to his shock, almost blissful and completely settled. He frowned at that. His omega only acted that way when Jungkook had...

He stopped short of himself, taking a whiff of his skin to test his theory and then again for good measure, Jungkook's pheromones jumping out at him, mixed with his own omega's. He was right. His wolf was settled because Jungkook's scent was all over him. He shivered softly, body relaxing instantly, with the knowledge Jungkook felt close enough to Taehyung's omega to do so, consciously or unconsciously.

He lay back down then. Body too weak to search for the alpha, as desperate as it may be, and snuggled into the blissful warmth he had left behind that he knew could never replace Jungkook himself.

He had almost fallen back to sleep when he heard the door open gently and a body slip inside the room. He knew instantly from the strong spike of lemongrass and pine that it was Jungkook. Only this time, it was tinged with something hot, something he had never smelled so strongly before. Taehyung realised Jungkook's possessiveness was slinking through the usually calm scent, making it heated and dangerous at a first whiff. He had smelled glimpses of it before, like when Jungkook had scented him that one night, but it was never like now. Taehyung felt his body shudder as the scent mulled and blended within his nest. Jungkook was in full protective mode, and Taehyung's omega was loving it.

The youngster took assessment of the omega then, Tae's back to him. He could tell he wasn't sleeping as deeply as before if his twitching nose and shaking body was anything to go by. He hoped he would wake up soon. He had been asleep for almost two full days and it was worrying him to an anxious degree. He slid back onto the mattress softly, as not to wake the sleeping boy, pulling the omega's body as close to his as possible, making sure their bare skin touched everywhere it could.

Jin had told Jungkook that he needed to stay with Taehyung one on one until Taehyung's omega was not at risk of being suppressed again. He had instructed the alpha to be completely naked with the omega, to expose their bodies to as much of each other as possible, but Kookie didn't feel comfortable without Tae's permission. So this was the next best thing.

Inhaling deeply, he nuzzled his nose along Taehyung's skin again, rubbing in as much of his scent as he could, to make the omega feel as safe as possible. Since he had set his eyes on Taehyung standing on that ledge, his alpha had been insufferable. Always blaming him for not protecting his mate, making sure that he was there for Taehyung at any moment.

He placed a protective hand over his abdomen, feeling the stomach muscled jump under the pressure, he looked up in relief to see the omega's eyes fluttering open slowly, meeting his through his sleep-fogged gaze.

"Gukkie" He croaked out, voice clogged with confusion and emotion.

The alpha couldn't respond, too overcome with relief, as he pinned Taehyung to the bed and continued to nuzzle and lick over Taehyung's skin wherever he could find it. Finally, Taehyung was in his arms and awake. He could be there for him. The physical affection wasn't exactly sexual, although it would never have happened if they weren't potential mates, it was more of a comfort for both of them and their wolves, reuniting after being stripped apart so violently from each other.