“Yo-you a-are real?”

A sound escapes Min Yoongi’s lips. It’s somewhere between a chuckle and a choked off sob. As though he were so happy he was on the edge of breaking down. “I’m real Namjoon-ah. “ Yoongi blinks and Seokjin watches as another tear rolls down his pale cheek, pink with the effort to stop himself from crying. “And I’m so, so sorry for not reaching out to you sooner. For letting you believe I was gone. I’m sorry, Namjoon-ah.”

From the corner of his eye, Seokjin sees Soobin walk out of the throne room with a slight nod directed at Hoseok. When the prince’s gaze flits around the room and finally settles on his best friend, the alpha is already looking at him. The expression Hoseok wears is something like a mix of relief and apprehension.

With a last look towards Yoongi, Hoseok descends the few steps of the platform on which the throne stands in all its white glory and gestures for Seokjin to follow as he heads for the doors. The prince acquiesces readily – Namjoon and Yoongi clearly have some hidden history that needs closure and he doesn’t want to intrude. Though he is curious, that is undeniable.

Seokjin soundlessly walks behind Hoseok, dragging an open-mouthed Jungkook by the ear who looked confused and transfixed on the spot. Naturally, Jiwoo followed after her mate and once the four of them were in the corridor outside, Hoseok softly closed the doors.

Down the corridor were another pair of smaller double doors and Soobin and Taehyun stood on the other side. Despite sensing the heavy atmosphere around the group, Taehyun seemed to have no idea as to what’s happened and he looked as perplexed as Seokjin felt.

“Soobin-ah, could you take Jungkook and my sister to their rooms? I would like to have a chat with Jin here.”

Soobin sends a mock salute the General’s way and motions for Jungkook to follow. Jungkook’s eyes slowly move to find his brother’s and when Seokjin nods, the younger turns around and leaves with Jiwoo and Soobin.

 “I guess that was Joonie…” Seokjin hears a voice by his ear. Hoseok sighs, gaze lingering on the now closed doors.

Seokjin recollects how Yoongi had addressed Namjoon using that endearment. It takes him a moment but he realizes that Hoseok must have heard about the dimpled alpha from Yoongi before, though without really knowing that his intended was talking about Namjoon. It does sound cheesy when he thinks it, but fate indeed has an interesting way of putting things into action.

Seokjin doesn’t know or understand why Namjoon has thought of Yoongi as being dead. Or, if he is alive and well, why hasn’t the elder omega bothered to contact Namjoon. Seeing the way the alpha’s whole persona seemed to shatter for a moment was suggestive of Yoongi’s irreplaceable position in Namjoon’s life.

In that moment, Seokjin was briefly overcome with a feeling of something like protectiveness. For an instant, he didn’t care if Yoongi and Namjoon were old acquaintances or friends or lovers. He knew that Namjoon was sad and hurting and he wanted to protect him from all the evils of this world.

Seokjin shakes his head to clear it of any such weird thoughts. The feeling is different, novel and it scares him a little. It scares him because he isn’t so sure where the feelings were coming from – his own self or his wolf that was bonded to Namjoon’s.

The prince clears his throat and shoots Hoseok a not-so-subtle stink eye. “So…would you care to finally divulge the secret life of the elusive General Jung Hoseok who shirks his imperial duties to help wayward omegas overtake kingdoms and kill rulers who are rotten to the core?”

Hoseok snorts and gestures for Seokjin to come along. They start walking down one of the corridors that lead away from the throne room, though it is in the opposite direction from where Jungkook and the others had headed.

“I didn’t even help him that much, you know.” Hoseok states a minute later. Their pace is leisurely as he and Seokjin descend the majestic staircase to the ground level of the castle. They seem to be in a different wing from the one with the main doors that Seokjin had passed through earlier in the day. “Soobin and the boys did most of the work and Yoongi really was the one who defeated the previous king and his son all on his own. I got to kill a few guards at most.”

“He is nice.” Hoseok’s head snaps to his left, now facing the prince, his brows raised in surprise.

“What is that look you are giving me?” Seokjin asks.

“Um…I just wasn’t expecting that. Such a calm reaction, I mean.” Hoseok’s head drops towards the ground as he looks away from Jin. He continues to lead the prince through the vast halls.

“What exactly were you expecting then? For me to start screaming my lungs off?”

Hoseok looks like he is considering Jin’s statement. The alpha shakes his head and laughs lightly. “To be honest, I myself don’t really know what I was expecting but certainly not for it to go this way.”

“Mhm…” Seokjin smiles at his best friend’s reply. Maybe Hoseok’s heard too many of his temper tantrums and thus his first expected reaction from Seokjin ended up being an angry outburst. Well, could you blame Seokjin? Hoseok was the only one he could vent his frustrations to even remotely. “How long have you two been together?” Seokjin prods.

Back in Mircea, Seokjin would sometimes hear gossips of romance from the castle attendants, servants and other noble omegas. Then, he’d considered it as just something to relieve his boredom because honestly, the gossips were the juiciest bits of outside information these omegas had to offer. Seokjin sighs. A shiver runs down his back at the recollection of all the boring and horrible conversations he’s had to have while entertaining those nobles. However, this is his best friend’s intended mate and someone Seokjin himself has admired and found to be interesting and charming. The prince wants to know more about the fellow omega he’s looked up to for several years now.

Seokjin’s noticed how Hoseok’s eyes smile and glitter when he thinks about Yoongi. He’s once again glad that these two amazing people ended up with each other. “Well, I first met him around the time of your presentation.” Hoseok starts. Seokjin calculates the time in his mind. It turns out the two knew each other way before Seokjin had met the Jung siblings. “I guess the two of us knew we liked each other since the very beginning but we were acting like total idiots and kept expecting the other to make the first move and take it a step further. As for courting, we finally confessed to each other just before Jungkook’s presentation ball and officially started courting around then.”

Seokjin pouts. “You are making me jealous with your starry eyes, Hobi. Do tone it down in the presence of single, lonely omegas such as myself.”

Hoseok rolls his eyes at him but the prince sees the unvoiced question in them. It’s as though Hoseok is contemplating whether to ask him about it or not. Judging from their current topic, Seokjin easily deciphers what it is that Hoseok wants to ask about and makes the alpha’s decision for him by bringing it up first – he would have to do it eventually anyway.

“Namjoon and I – our wolves are bonded.” He says and stumbles into Hoseok who’d stopped walking abruptly and was busy staring owl-eyed at him. “Apparently it happened years ago, but he’d never said anything to me about it. Also, it’s only one sided bonding. Either that or it was unconscious on my part because I don’t remember such a thing happening to me.”

By that point in their conversation, they had reached a set of large, open double doors that led into the gardens outside. There was a path from the doors and leading away from the palace, it was pale, rough cobblestone inlaid with polished opal stones. Ivory vases about Seokjin’s height lined both sides of the pathway; they held bouquets of freshly picked white and yellow roses and ropes of black pearls wound decoratively around the vases’ necks. The gardens were clean but also mostly barren of vegetation since it was already well into winter, however, Seokjin still spied some white crabapple trees blooming not far from where he was. In the spring and summer months the gardens must look like they had in the prince’s dream.

“Have…have the two of you spoken of it? About what you are going to do in that regard. “

“Not yet, no. It’s only been a few days since I got to know of it.”

“What would you do? I know you’ll probably reach some sort of conclusion after you eventually have a talk with Namjoon, but if the decision was solely up to you, what would you do?”

Seokjin racks his brain. He hadn’t had enough time to actually delve deeper and think of a possible outcome for his predicament with Namjoon. But he also knows it would be painful and difficult for them for a long time if they decide to be with someone else instead of each other. Breaking a wolf bond certainly wasn’t as painful or as taboo as breaking a mating bond, but it still took a huge toll on both the bonded wolves.

“I’m utterly clueless, Hobi.” Seokjin confesses, strolling through the groves of leafless trees. “I spent years hating him, spent years thinking he despised me as much I did him. But now that I’ve spent real time with Namjoon and gotten to know certain things and pieces of his past, I find myself thinking back on all our brief past meetings.

“He’s never actually said it, you know; never ever implied that he might hate me. Gods, he was always rude as heck! But I was no better, was I? The only real problem I had with him was how he treated and spoke about omegas.

“But even that was never directed at me. Well, probably it was, but only this one time,” Seokjin smirks to himself on remembering the tall alpha’s face at the Moon village, just after the prince had pinned him to the wall and given him a piece of his mind. “and I already taught him a good lesson for it. All the other times, he would at most just grumble about me stuffing my mouth with too much food.” Hoseok’s brow is quirked up in question, clearly expecting an elaboration of said incident in the Moon village that Seokjin was referring to. The prince shrugs him off, promising to tell him some other time.

“So, are you trying to imply that Kim Namjoon isn’t actually as bad of a person as you’ve always preached him to be?” Hoseok chuckles.

“I guess…” In fact, Seokjin actually thinks Namjoon is a really good man. Now that he knows him better, knows some of the reasons behind the alpha’s irrational behavior, he feels a little guilty. With Jungkook and his father, Seokjin had seen them over the course of many years – seen his father grow old and his brother grow up. He knows that they are good alphas. With Hoseok, Seokjin had given him time, had watched him like a hawk for several months before coming to terms with the type of person the alpha was.

But with Namjoon? He’d judged him based off that one single statement he’d heard the alpha utter the day they first met. That one sentence got imprinted onto his mind so strongly that he’d never given Namjoon a chance after that. He remembers now, clear as glass; he remembers how he was the one to give Namjoon the cold shoulder when the alpha had approached him first on their next meeting. He remembers how Namjoon’s five days of stay at the Lupa Kim Palace started off with polite attempts at conversation; turning into curt replies and rude remarks about Jin’s eating habits and pretentious attitude and ending with barely a glance his way as Namjoon and his father had left for Aelia.

He realizes now - that had he not judged Namjoon without knowing the whole story then perhaps he would’ve had another great friend, if nothing else.     

“Mhm…he’s been vouched for by three of my friends now; leaves me no choice but to trust him too, then.” Hoseok says, but he does it as though he finds it rather funny. However, this brings another little detail to the forefront of Seokjin’s mind.

“The day of the attack – you left me in Namjoon’s care since Jimin said you could trust him.” The prince asks and Hoseok is already nodding. The alpha can tell just which way this conversation was going. “So, I think it’s safe to assume that Jimin’s been in cahoots with you two since the beginning.”

“He was just being a good friend to Yoongi and I.”

“As opposed to us being good friends to each other. We’ve lied so much over the years that it’s become a sort of habit by now.” Seokjin sighs. There’s a bench nearby and he saunters towards it, suddenly feeling tired to his bones.

“Glad you said we instead of you.”

He scowls, shooting Hoseok a mild glare which disappears quite quickly upon seeing the other’s playful smile.

They talk then, a lot. Hoseok shares what he knows of his father’s treasonous plot – which, honestly, doesn’t surprise Seokjin that much. He’s always known that Hoseok’s father was an irreparably greedy and dishonest man. He’s just glad that Hoseok and Jiwoo weren’t blind to the fact. The alpha then tells him how he found Yoongi, injured and dying in the forest, and how Jimin had followed him like an angel and helped patch Yoongi up. Hoseok briefly describes the circumstances as to how Soobin and the boys ended up with them and how Yoongi left to kill Yule’s old king by himself, almost leaving Hoseok behind. He also says that it was his observations of Seokjin himself that made him realize Yoongi’s plans.

Seokjin speaks about the day his father had given him access to the Lupa Kim Castle’s secret passageways. Confides about using suppressants to which Hoseok tells him he’s already assumed as much. He tells Hoseok everything starting with his mother’s death and up until the current moment – excluding only what Seulgi had told him of Namjoon’s guilt over Baekhyun’s death. With that, he feels he should keep it to himself.

In the end, the only revelation about Seokjin’s adventures and skills that seems to evoke any surprise within Hoseok is that Seokjin does not submit to the Alpha Voice. The alpha barrages him with at least a dozen questions in that regard and even politely asks if he may try and confirm it himself.

“Place a hand over your heart, swear and say ‘Kim Seokjin is not the most handsome omega in the Ancestral Lands’” Hoseok says using his commanding Alpha Voice that would put most alphas to shame.

“Yah!” Seokjin twists sideways on the bench to punch him on the arm. Of all the things he could’ve asked! “I am the most handsome ma- wait…let’s just say I’m tied with the fabled Pale King of Yule.” He can’t really deny it – Yoongi is a beautiful creature. Hoseok, meanwhile, has already forgotten that all this was supposed to be in order to confirm whether Seokjin really was unaffected by the alpha voice or not. Instead, his best friend is beaming with pride at Seokjin’s compliment towards the alpha’s future mate. Seokjin rolls his eyes.

It’s not until the conversation steers towards the topic of war that the mood grows somber again.

“We do not know the full story either.” Hoseok tells him after revealing the elder Jung’s involvement with the Royals and the attack on the palace. “Yoongi and I, we met an elf several years back, you see. She might have been a seer of some sort – I don’t know, we have been searching for her everywhere with no luck. That day the elf looked at Yoongi and started talking some nonsense about the warrior, the king and the seer and about how Yoongi might be one of them.

“It’s not until a few months back though, that we heard something that made us look deeper into the elf’s words. Apparently, twenty years back there was an old seer who served the current Fey King. This seer delivered a prophecy that spoke of three omegas who would kill the Fey King and bring a huge change to the Ancestral Lands. In the prophecy, these omegas were referred to as the warrior, the king and the seer.”

Seokjin’s brows furrow in thought. “But isn’t the ability of seeing the future something only the Fey are capable of? How could a shifter do that? Don’t tell me…”

Hoseok smiles, nods at Seokjin’s slowly dawning realization. “The seer would have to be a hybrid – half wolf, half fae.”

“Precisely.” Hoseok confirms.

The idea of a hybrid seems a little unreal to Seokjin, a little far-fetched. Shifter-Fae hybrids were incredibly rare; romantic relations between the two species were generally frowned upon and most of all, the survival rate of a hybrid baby was terribly low.

“That still doesn’t warrant a full-on attack on our species.” Seokjin states. “Even if, let us assume, the Fey King is afraid of being killed, then shouldn’t finding the three wolves in question and killing them be enough? Why go as far as to eradicate the whole species?”

The disapproving look on Hoseok’s face shuts him up. He knows his words weren’t exactly ideal, but Seokjin was just stating an alternate solution unlike the one the Fey King had resolved to. The anger and frustration in Hoseok’s expression is too strong to ignore.

“Hobi, what is it? I know it was wrong of me to say he should just kill-“

“Jin, what did I say the three omegas in the prophecy were referred to as?” Hoseok’s question catches him of guard. He tilts his head as he tries to recollect the alpha’s exact words.

“The warrior, the king and the seer…?” he returns, a little unsure. There is a horrible feeling in his gut, as though he isn’t going to like what he hears next. And he doesn’t.

“How many omegas do you know that bear the title of King? The alpha prods, words sharp, sharper than Seokjin’s ever heard. The prince realizes that he’s never really seen the full extent of what an angry Hoseok would be like, never seen the Imperial General side of him who won them many victories against the Yellow Kingdom’s armies.

It dawns on him then. “One…” Seokjin  says, voice trailing off. Min Yoongi was the only omega king in history. Hoseok looks away from him, the alpha’s shoulders slumping and the anger slowly dissipating - being replaced by worry for his intended.

The Pale King is one of the Royals’ main targets.

Seokjin scoots over on the bench and winds his arms around his best friend in silent comfort. Hoseok sighs and leans into the familiar embrace.

“It’s going to be okay, Hobi.” Jin tries to reassure him. “We will do everything in our power to protect Yoongi. He is a good shifter, a good man. I’m sure Lupa and the Fates will be kind to him and keep him safe, hm?”

Hoseok sighs again. He turns to look at the prince as he speaks. “There’s more, though. You actually made a reasonable point earlier - when you suggested the Royals should just take care of the three omegas in the prophecy instead of killing every shifter they cross paths with. However, for that to be possible, they need to be aware of the omegas’ identities. The king was easy, Yoongi’s position doesn’t exactly make him inconspicuous.

“But the other two omegas? That is where The Fey King faced a dilemma. Without the original Seer who foretold the prophecy and the seer’s lost apprentice who’s apparently gone into hiding, it was impossible to know if the remaining two omegas of the prophecy were already alive or are yet to be born into this world.”

Seokjin thinks back to his time at the Moon village. The convoy had come to collect the wolves and Jin, along with everyone else, had assumed they were going to be forced into slavery under the Fey. But now that he thinks about it again, he finds it odd. Faeries had no need for pleasure slaves since they didn’t dally with shifters so the reasonable thing would be for them to take alphas or betas instead. However, all but a few shifters taken that day had been omegas.

“They are going to kill all the omegas.” The truth is now clear to the prince. No omegas means no shifter-fae hybrids since all the recorded hybrids had an omega parent – something about omega genes making it easier for the hybrid babies to be born. Dread fills him as he thinks about the countless omegas taken by the Fey, not only those from the Moon village but from other places across the Ancestral Lands too. He thinks about Junsu and Junhee who bravely put their lives on the line so they could gather information for Lady Jiwon and the prince, he thinks about Eva who had been brave and not run away in the face of danger. He thinks how he’d promised to save them but now…now Seokjin comes to a horrible realization that they may not be alive by the time Seokjin finds them.

Hoseok nods at him solemnly, but Seokjin takes one look at the alpha’s face and knows that that isn’t everything either. He didn’t think things could be worse than this but apparently he was wrong.

“How do you reckon I knew of the attack on the castle in Mircea in time?”

“You knew of your father’s involvement with the Royals and somehow got wind of the plans, is that not it?” Seokjin’s answer ends up being incorrect since Hoseok shakes his head vehemently.

“I knew of the attack because we found the Seer.” The alpha states.

The prince gasps in surprise. “No way!” If Yoongi and Hoseok already found the hybrid omega with the abilities of a true seer then that meant the prophecy, which Seokjin was still apprehensive of until that moment, was really legit. Hoseok continues unperturbed.

“It’s a boy named Kim Taehyung. He’s seventeen winters old and a…friend of Jimin’s.” The slight pause makes Seokjin think that Jimin and this boy were perhaps a little more than friends but he makes no comment regarding that, instead fixing his attention on Hoseok’s next words. “He had a dream of the attack and told Jimin who in turn informed Yoongi and I. But Jinnie-”

Since they’d started this discussion of the war between shifters and fey Seokjin had not liked a single thing that had come out of Hoseok’s mouth. Everything was becoming too complicated and he’s quite sure he won’t like the alpha’s next words either.

And it feels a little weird too – how all of them are interlinked. Yoongi, Namjoon and Jimin knew each other since the time they were pups. Yoongi was Hoseok’s intended and even if it was assumed from Hoseok’s words alone, Jimin and Taehyung clearly seemed like they had something between them too. Seokjin and Jungkook, on the other hand, seemed to be completely unrelated to all this and the prince wondered how they fit in with the puzzle.

Hoseok gave him his answer.

“Jinnie, everything in Taehyung’s dream?” the alpha started, looking him dead-on in the eyes, “It all pointed to you being the last omega in the prophecy. Yoongi is the king, Taehyung is the seer. And you, Jinnie…are the warrior.”

 

 

 

***

 

 

 

Unlike what he’d been expecting, Seokjin doesn’t get a chance to speak to either Yoongi or Namjoon that first day.

Seokjin and Hoseok had spent most of the day in the gardens and surroundings of the castle with the alpha explaining the reasons behind choosing every color, flower and painting that adorned the castle’s walls and grounds. Unsurprisingly, everything seemed to have some association with Hoseok and Yoongi’s memories.

Amidst the tour, however, Seokjin couldn’t stop his mind from wandering. And judging from Hoseok’s occasional reassuring smiles Seokjin was sure the alpha perfectly understood his dilemma and the tour was thus just an attempt at a distraction.

Apart from needing time to process the revelation of his life being tied to a prophecy, the two of them were also trying to give space to Namjoon and Yoongi.

Seokjin had been of an opinion that after the two would finish their talk either Yoongi or Namjoon would come up to them and clear the air. However, that wasn’t what ended up happening.

Taehyun and Huening Kai had come to fetch them around an hour after sunset, which was really bad timing since Seokjin had finally succeeded in diverting his mind from thoughts of prophecies by looking at the mesmerizingly beautiful sky. Seokjin was first led to one of the many rooms in the castle so he could freshen up, while Hoseok clearly knew his way around so, unlike Seokjin, didn’t require an . Yoongi was absent from the dinner table – he had to reschedule a meeting with his advisors, a meeting he had pushed back upon knowing of Hoseok’s arrival and his reunion with Namjoon.

Yeonjun and Taehyun were present at the table, the other three doing their job of guarding the absent Pale King. The two boys sat on one side of the table, on Hoseok’s left. On the other side, Namjoon was seated directly opposite from Hoseok, with Seokjin just beside him, followed by Jungkook and Jiwoo. The she-wolf seemed to be religiously ignoring her brother, probably for not telling her of Yoongi despite letting her know of their father’s plans.

Jungkook ate quietly beside his mate, but he too seemed to be ignoring both of the Jung siblings. Seokjin disregarded everyone in the room sans Jungkook, who made no attempt at conversation anyway, and just focused on his food. However, he could still sense Namjoon’s occasional eyes on him. He also caught the unsure look Namjoon had whenever his eyes would raise to glance at Hoseok, and the pointed glare Jiwoo sent her brother’s way. He was really stressed, which manifested itself in the form of hunger, but the tense atmosphere over the table wasn’t letting any food slide down his throat without making it feel like he was about to either choke or throw up.

The prince finally decided to break the tension - for the sake of his own appetite if nothing else - and looked around the room for anything that would make a credible conversation starter. He noticed the two gilded seats at each head of the table – one was clearly for Yoongi, the King.

“Is that seat yours then, Hobi?” he voiced, staring towards the settee in question. Hoseok was in the process of bringing a spoonful of food towards his mouth but stopped mid-way to follow Seokjin’s gaze.

“Um, no.” the alpha cleared his throat. “That’s the Regent’s seat. It’s Jimin’s.” Hoseok states, making Jin gape. Beside him, Namjoon just sighs, perhaps already been made aware of this fact during his conversation with Yoongi. Jungkook looks just as surprised as his brother, while Jiwoo, who had known Jimin only in passing simply quirked a questioning brow. Seokjin briefly wonders why Jimin was appointed as the Regent instead of Hoseok but doesn’t ask. Everything would be made clear with time, he thinks.

Nobody tries asking anymore questions but at least the room feels a bit lighter for the rest of the dinner.

But with no more distractions, the prince’s mind wanders again. He mulls over the prophecy, over his bond with Namjoon. He thinks back to Jungkook’s ruined marriage and how the younger still seemed so shy around his mate after everything. With thoughts of the marriage ceremony, however, come thoughts of something else - something that had occurred just a few days before it.

Seokjin pales a little as he realizes that the constant jittering of his limbs and his lack of appetite might not be connected to stress after all. He counts the days in his head and his suspicions are confirmed.

His heat is due the day after and that meant he would go into pre-heat by tomorrow afternoon at the latest.

Well, what ty timing.

 

 

***

 

 

Their rooms were in a different wing of the castle from the Pale Kings – who undoubtedly shared it with his intended.

The four of them were given rooms next to each other, with Jungkook and Jiwoo’s shared room being in the middle. The younger prince shyly followed his mate after a quick goodbye to his brother. Namjoon had lingered a bit but then bid him goodnight and headed for his own room. He must have sensed Seokjin looking because he turned at the door and sent the prince a small smile before disappearing inside.

Something about Namjoon felt different, the look in his eyes lighter than it had been. As he settled into bed, Seokjin once again mused about the change in the alpha’s aura and wondered if Namjoon’s reunion with Yoongi had somehow lifted a bit of weight from the alpha’s shoulders.

A few hours into the sleepless night, Seokjin was convinced his pre-heat wouldn’t wait until afternoon to kick in. He could already feel the slight raise in his body’s temperature; could feel it as the sensitivity of his skin increased and even the bare brush of the soft blankets as he tossed in bed made his skin erupt in goose bumps.

The prince was his side, gazing towards the open doors of the balcony that was visible on that side of the bed when a soft knock on the door alerted him of a presence outside. For a brief moment, Seokjin panicked but then the scent of the sea wafted in through the closed doors.

It was definitely unexpected – for Namjoon to come looking for him so late into the night. Seokjin sat up in bed and called out quietly, not wanting to wake the rest of the castle up. “You can come in.”

Namjoon hesitated for a while – the prince could tell because it took a considerably long moment of waiting in the silent room before the door creaks halfway open. Seokjin could make out a shadowed silhouette, illuminated only by the glow of a single lit candle in his bedroom and the few burning torches in the corridor outside. Namjoon didn’t enter the room and instead just stood at the threshold, looking so obviously nervous. Jin tilts his head as he studies the alpha, wondering as to the reason behind this unexpected visit. It was as though Namjoon knew what he was thinking then because his eyes finally lifted away from the floor to look at Seokjin.

“You were feeling restless.” Namjoon states in an almost neutral tone. Maybe Jin was a little restless – his mind was loud with all kinds of thoughts and his heat was not helping either. Jin wondered if Namjoon knew, if he could tell from his scent that the prince’s heat was due soon. And again, in the same manner as earlier, Namjoon speaks out Seokjin’s thoughts. “It’s the bond. I could feel you being awake a-and…ugh, I shouldn’t even be here when you’re about to-“

“Stop rambling, Namjoon.” Seokjin sighs out. He says it more for himself rather than to save the alpha from the need to talk about Jin starting his heat. Their wolves are greatly reacting to each other’s presence and Seokjin gets almost overwhelmed with how strong the alpha’s scent seemed to be right then. He imagines Namjoon must be feeling the same as him, seeing how tightly the alpha’s fists were clenched. Seokjin scoots over to the other side of the bed and pats the mattress; The only other settee available in the chamber was out on the balcony. “Take a seat first – before you combust from all that nervous energy.”

As expected, Namjoon hesitates again and only proceeds to join Jin on the bed when the prince gives the mattress another encouraging pat.

“This is really awkward.” The alpha says after a few minutes of silence pass between them.

“Well, I’m waiting for you to start talking so ultimately, you are the reason behind this awkwardness.”

“Talk about what?” Namjoon asks, looking at his lap. “I just came by to check on you.”

“Bull,” The prince scoffs. “You don’t look like you were sleeping in the least bit either, Namjoon. Is it related to Yoongi being alive?” For an instant, Namjoon looks like he is going to protest, to bluff his way out of the impending conversation. Seokjin almost wants to glare at him until the alpha would open his mouth, but on the other hand, he doesn’t want to force Namjoon to do something the alpha doesn’t want to. Seokjin grew up doing lots of things he didn’t want to do and saying things he didn’t mean. He wasn’t about to force the same on someone else.

Fortunately, apparently he doesn’t need to because Namjoon speaks first.

“My father used to tell me stories about you - when we were younger, before I presented even.”

It’s out of the blue and completely irrelevant to anything that’s been happening in the last several weeks. But Namjoon is talking and the alpha’s father was one of the few court advisors Seokjin actually did like, so the prince listens. He is especially intrigued to know that Namjoon’s father had talked about him – he hopes it was only the good stuff though and not how he used to get into trouble all the time up until his mother’s passing.

Seokjin legs are drawn up, tucked into his chest. His chin is supported by his hands which are folded over his knees as he looks at Namjoon with interest, wanting to know more. Namjoon seems to relax marginally and he shuffles a bit until he is sitting cross-legged with his back against the headboard. The alpha’s eyes stare into the shadows of the barely lit chambers as he speaks.

Even since before the Queens’s death, Seokjin had always made sure to converse with Namjoon’s father whenever their paths in the castle would cross - the elder had been one of the drastically few people who would approach the prince with genuine kindness - but he would have never imagined that those brief greetings and conversations would leave such a deep impression on Namjoon’s father.

By the end of Namjoon’s narration, Seokjin realized that apart from his secret endeavors in learning arts that were not meant for omegas and his adventures outside the castle Namjoon knew of almost every event in Seokjin’s life starting from around when he was ten and all the way until Jungkook’s presentation.

“He used to talk about you even later - but I had stopped listening.” Namjoon confesses.

Seokjin is smart enough to put together a timeframe and realize that if Namjoon had not been paying heed to 0his father’s tales since Jungkook’s presentation ball then it also meant he’d stopped listening to the stories after he’d finally met Seokjin in the flesh.

“I’m guessing I didn’t make much of an impression then.” Seokjin mumbles out. “Or made a really bad one…I must have seemed a lot different than what your father’s descriptions made me out to be.”

Namjoon hadn’t looked at him ever since starting to narrate his father’s stories, but at that moment he finally turns to face the prince. “Quite the opposite, actually. You were everything father made you out to be and even more.”

Jin thinks he stopped breathing for a while there. He doesn’t know how to react to that statement. Especially because his first impression of Namjoon wasn’t the best and since he’d though…

“Don’t tell me…”Jin starts. It appears that recently he’s realizing a lot of things but far too late – too late to change the past. “Your eyes – they turned red that day…” Jin doesn’t need to continue because the alpha clearly understands what the prince is implying.

“Yes, that was the exact moment my wolf bonded with yours.” Namjoon finishes for him, confirms the prince’s budding suspicion and the dread bubbling inside him triples in an instant. Dread at the comprehension that his hatred for Namjoon had started out of a misunderstanding on Seokjin’s part.

“Oh.” His lips are parted slightly, but no other words seem to want to come out of his mouth. What does he do at this point? Apologize? Regret?

In the end he does neither, and just sits quietly as he lets Namjoon speak, only belatedly realizing that the alpha had diverted the conversation from the original topic of him and Yoongi.

 

 

 

***

 

@

 

It’s just as he’d predicted.

It wasn’t even that late into the morning but his insides are already scorching hot. The instinctual need to be filled and bred is clawing at all the limits of Seokjin’s self control.

There had been only very few heats since his presentation where he’d actually been coherent enough to think and make proper decisions. And the loss of control had always terrified him – especially during those rare difficult heats when he had resorted to partners.    

Seokjin’s robe and shirt were long discarded, thrown somewhere on the floor. The air in the room feels both too cold and too hot at the same time and he spends too much time just wrapping and un-wrapping the cocoon of blankets around himself. The sheet covering the mattress was already damp from the sweat on his back and the excessive slick that had started to pool between his legs.

The need to seek some sort of relief is strong but he doesn’t dare to reach his hand lower on his body just yet, he wants to wait for as long as possible before succumbing to the uncontrollable carnal desires.

Namjoon’s scent that still lingers on his sheets and pillow just makes it so much harder to resist. Seokjin’s omega is so wound-up because of the alpha’s pheromones in his room that Seokjin’s eyes don’t stop glowing blue even if his heat was still in the starting stages.

In a moment of weakness, Seokjin remembers that morning. He and Namjoon had fallen asleep sometime mid conversation, neither being able to recollect the exact particular moment it had happened.  Though, the thing that has him blushing furiously and inadvertently, has more slick pouring down his thighs, is the memory of the two of them waking up in each other’s arms.

One of Namjoon’s arms was wound protectively around him and Seokjin’s nose was terribly close to the alpha’s scent gland. Their bodies were pressed together, leaving very little space for air.

Seokjin had been the first to wake up as the heat pooling in his gut was starting to become unbearable. Namjoon had followed only a moment later, Jin’s shuffling pulling him from unknown dreams. Needless to say, the two of them were very embarrassed to find themselves in such an intimate position and could barely say a word to each other. But even with the scorching heat eating up his insides, Seokjin would honestly say that it was the best sleep he’d had in several months.

Namjoon had adjusted his robes and ran a hand through his messy hair before shyly bowing to the prince and leaving the room, promising to inform the others of Seokjin’s situation.

Seokjin clenches his teeth, his hands in tight fists as he tries his best to retain control. In the end, he is able to only control his body but not his mind because random wandering thoughts start flitting through, images of things he both does and does not remember ever happening.

Despite all his tries, Seokjin succumbs to his heat quite swiftly.

The prince is thankful when he gains a moment of lucidity amidst his heat. He doesn’t know how much time has passed since the haze had overtaken him and he’d turned into a writhing, whining mess on the bed but his question is answered when a few minutes later someone knocks on his door.

They don’t bother to wait for a reply, most probably already aware that he wouldn’t have been able to answer in his state. The one who walks in is a middle-aged omega. The woman is carrying a tray filled with plates of food and a jug of water and she startles a bit when Seokjin sits up in bed and pulls the blankets around him, trying to maintain at least a semblance of modesty. It was rather useless though – what with the room smelling like sweat, slick and .

There is nothing to be really embarrassed about however, since heats were only natural and especially since the woman was an omega herself and had her own experiences of heats.

The woman places the tray on the table and smiles at him.

“Would you like for me to draw you a bath, Your Highness?”

Seokjin feels sticky all over so the answer is really obvious. The woman - who seems to be one of the workers at Yoongi’s castle - heads towards the side door leading to the bathroom when the prince gives her a slight nod and starts a fire to boil the bath water. Seokjin pulls the blanket around himself tighter and saunters over, leaning against the doorframe as he watches the process absentmindedly.

“Are you perhaps aware of the King’s schedule for today?” He enquires, curious what everybody else is up to in his absence. Ugh…he was just reunited with his brother and best friend and he just had to go into heat today of all times; Very inconvenient.

The woman doesn’t look at him, doesn’t waver in her task as she speaks. “There was a small welcoming banquet arranged and I assume all your companions must be currently having lunch in the ballroom.”

Seokjin hums, thanks her as she leaves his room after filling the bath tub. He discards his blanket and pants on the bathroom floor and settles into the bath tub to soak. The water feels nice against his sensitive skin – just the right temperature, even if he already feels his heat starting up again. He is glad that he has this small reprieve though.

Later, he changes the sheets on the bed, not eager to get on the soiled ones right after having cleaned up, and sits cross-legged on the fresh sheets as he eats. His usual appetite is lacking during his heats and he finds it difficult to actually swallow the food, though he still eats because he has to since Seokjin doesn’t know when his chance to eat may come during the constant haze.

He thinks about how he was missing the banquet and his official first meeting with Yoongi as the Pale King and not Governor Min. The attendant had said that the banquet was taking place in the castle’s ballroom so his mind wanders as he imagines what it would look like. Everything here in Yule was in white or other pale shades so the ballroom must also be decorated using a similar palette of colors.

The scene from his dream flashes in his mind – the pale curtains, stucco ceilings and a view of the pretty garden outside. It provides him a better idea of how the ballroom’s layout must be. But then comes the memory of two pairs of blue eyes, the echoing sound of a stranger’s laugh and Yoongi’s bleeding face.

Seokjin wants to ignore it, to dismiss the bad feeling curling in his gut along with the pooling heat. It’s almost too sudden when he feels a sudden tug somewhere near his heart. At first Seokjin is scared and confused by it but then he feels several emotions at once – emotions that are definitely not his own.

The prince’s eyes widen when it dawns on him that what he is feeling was his wolf’s bond to Namjoon. He is startled and curious for a brief moment since unlike the alpha, it was only his first time actually physically feeling the bond between them but the curiosity dwindles rapidly because the emotions that come through the bond are not happy ones – Seokjin feels panic and distress come through the bond. He feels the alpha’s agitation so strongly that Jin is convinced that something must have gone wrong.

The wine.

“It can’t be…” Seokjin gasps, already scrambling off the bed and putting on his robes. He knows it’s a bad idea to go outside, knows his heat is about to hit him full force in a matter of moments but the image of Yoongi’s bloodied face and the distressing feelings coming in through the bond have Jin running down the corridor and in the general direction of the ballroom. “Please, no…please let them be safe.”

Seokjin’s disheveled form startles and alarms everyone along his way. Some look confused while a few are hurriedly running in the same direction as the prince is – and he knows for sure then, that indeed something was terribly wrong.

In his mad dash towards his destination, Seokjin doesn’t really bother to sniff the air in order to tell apart the dynamics of the different shifters that he comes across but still, it was clear who the alphas were since their eyes glowed red upon getting a whiff of Seokjin’s scent and they would jump back as far away from him as possible. His heat was clearly affecting them and he briefly considered going back to his room – because honestly, what help would he be of in his current state?

When the doors of the ballroom at the end of another long corridor finally come into view his heart is already beating at a thousand miles per hour with all the apprehension he feels upon seeing the doors ajar and guards rushing in. Seokjin hears the sound of crashing – things falling and breaking; he hears cries and growls and shouts. But he hears a sadistic laugh too, which scares him much more than all the other dreadful noises combined

At the doors, the crowd parts as he arrives; the omegas gasp and seem astonished to see him out and about during his heat, the betas just step away with confused frowns as they are not sensitive to smells and heats, the alphas, on the other hand, give the prince a wide berth to pass through as they crowd inside after him.

The sight that greets him is horrifying. Hoseok is slumped on the floor by the table’s head, an unconscious Yoongi with blood running down his chin in his lap. By the couple’s side is Jimin, seemingly trying to examine Yoongi while staunching the flow of his own blood – the usually smiling, blond alpha has blood pulsating from the clearly deep gash that started from below his collar bone and ended at his waist. Jiwoo is by their side, doing her best to help Jimin and Hoseok. All of them had blood and tears on their faces.

The table was overturned, some of the chairs were broken and glass shards and food remains littered the floor.

On the other side of the ballroom, Seokjin saw Namjoon and Jungkook fighting off a fae knight with the help of some guards.

The fight was clearly not on their side. The fey was a fire elemental and the scorching flames he summoned not only hurt the shifters badly but also prevented them from landing any successful attacks of their own. Jungkook was fairly nimble and so had mostly remained unscathed, however, a terrible frown graced his features at the young alpha’s inability to counter his opponent. Namjoon, on the other hand, had half of his shirt burned and hanging haphazardly from his shoulder. The alpha turned around and his eyes met Seokjin’s – both sensing the omega’s presence and smelling the scent of his heat. In his momentary distraction, Namjoon was almost singed by the flames.

Seokjin rushes towards the four figures slumped on the floor. His steps are weighed down and dragging as the heat almost overtakes his mind again. It is only through sheer willpower that he is able to make it all the way towards them. Hoseok is better at controlling his instincts even though his eyes do glow red; Jimin seems to have less control over his wolf because a small growl bubbles up inside the blond alpha’s throat even as he covers his nose ad struggles with both Yoongi’s and his own injuries. Seokjin puts the fear he feels at being exposed to so many alphas in the room during his heat to the back of his mind as he leans over Yoongi.

“What happened, Hobi? What is wrong with Yoongi? Why isn’t he opening his eyes?” a barrage of questions directed towards both Hoseok and Jimin follow.

“An illusion.” Jimin manages through coughs, “The fae dis-disguised himself as one of the at-attendants. I realized because Tae taught me how to look for the signs, but I was too late. He…He’d mixed s-something in Yoongi’s wine.”

Seokjin curses under his breath. This couldn’t be happening…if only he’d told someone of his dream…but then what? It’s not like anyone – including himself - would have ever thought that it would actually come true.

“C-can you heal him, Jimin?” he asks, tearing a long piece of his robe and pressing the bunched up piece of cloth into Jimin’s wound to hold back the blood.

“I-I don’t k-know what herbs were in the wine.” The short blonde shakes his head frantically. “It’s something that I can’t seem to identify. Perhaps a herb that only the fey grow and have knowledge of – Tae would know. He would be able to help…”

Jimin slumps forward, falling onto Yoongi’s limp legs as his eyes fall shut and this time it’s Hoseok who curses. Jiwoo scrambles up towards the other side from where she’d been and helps Seokjin move Jimin’s now inanimate body off Yoongi’s and her hands replace Seokjin’s over the cloth that was halting the blood flow.

The prince harshly digs his nails into his thighs; the pain is grounding and helps him focus on his surrounding rather than the slick that was now once more dampening his pants. For the thousandth time that day, Seokjin curses the bad timing of his heat.    

He looks back to the fight and sees that the fae now has a cut on his shoulder which prevents him from using both hands. Namjoon and the others must have finally managed to injure him.

Suddenly Seokjin feels angry. It’s like everything is falling apart before his eyes once again. Yoongi is dying, Jimin is possibly dying. If Namjoon and Jungkook don’t end up getting burned to a crisp by the flames they will be devastated at the potential loss of Yoongi and Jimin. Hoseok would be devastated more than anyone, even Namjoon. He doesn’t want anyone to cry, to be sad again. They had all been happy and safe just yesterday evening, even that morning…

It’s only a semi-conscious action when he takes Hoseok’s discarded sword and stands up. Seokjin wobbles on his feet, the weapon in his hand feeling even heavier than usual. Though, the cold metal against his skin thankfully grounds the heat in his gut, if only just a little.

He takes advantage of the commotion of the fight. The Faeries’ inability to smell wolf scents gives him an edge as the prince skirts around all the wolves who are too busy trying not to get burned to pay the omega in heat too much attention. Everyone but Namjoon and Jungkook, that is.

Both of them see him, clearly alarmed. But they see the sword in his hand too and realize that the fey knight is unaware of Seokjin’s encroaching presence behind him. They are definitely worried, but the two exchange a brief look and Namjoon sends Seokjin an almost unnoticeable nod.

It’s not as if Seokjin would have stopped what he was about to do even if he did not receive their go ahead but it was nice to know that they trusted him and his abilities.

It takes less than a minute for Seokjin to find his chance and when he does, he puts all of Namjoon’s lessons and all of the times spent watching Jungkook’s practices into his strike.

The sword plunges into the fey’s torso, right through his chest and Seokjin hears the other’s scream of agony followed by a gurgling noise as the fey knight coughs up golden blood. The flames die down and the knight falls onto his front, onto the tip of Hoseok’s sword inside him which is pushed back through his body upon the tip striking the floor.

The fey doesn’t move and the prince finally drops to his knees and curls up, a painful and needy whine that is so unneeded in their current predicament escapes his lips.

Seokjin hears a loud, warning growl and lifts his eyes to see all the guards scramble out of the room. Jungkook also turns around and jogs towards Jiwoo’s side.

Namjoon’s face appears above him and a robe is laid over his body as he looks into the alpha’s red eyes. The alpha is biting his lip so hard that it’s bleeding, Seokjin’s heat scent is too much even for an alpha like Namjoon who had utmost control over his wolf.

“Lady Jiwoo!” Namjoon turns his head to call out to the she-wolf. “Could you help me get Seokjin to his room?”

No.

Seokjin doesn’t want that. He would rather die himself than spend the next four days in bed for an alpha’s knot while his friends are on their death bed. It is not for the first time that he wishes there were a concoction that would stop unwanted heats but unfortunately, such a thing doesn’t exist – at least not to his knowledge.

Namjoon is so close and Seokjin’s omega is clawing at his insides, calling for the alpha, whining for him to take care of Seokjin. But no, the prince won’t let this happen. He remembers Jimin saying that Tae – Taehyung, he supposes – would probably know how to help Yoongi. It’s not a perfect solution, or even one that was guaranteed to succeed – but it was the best solution they had at the moment.

Hoseok would never leave Yoongi behind to travel in search of Taehyung and if he took the omega with him it would only slow down their search. They would also need someone to run things in the Pale King’s stead and take care of Jimin. Jungkook was trained for this, for the position of the next alpha king of the Lupa Kim Clan and Seokjin knows he would be able to take care of matters here in Yule.

This left Namjoon as the one who would go looking for Kim Taehyung but with everything he’d just seen happen before his eyes, Seokjin is scared of sending away the alpha all by himself.

A ridiculous idea pops up and he almost ignores it, but Seokjin is desperate.

Namjoon is still looking towards Jiwoo and their group of friends when Seokjin reaches out a trembling hand. The alpha’s attention shifts to him immediately, Namjoon’s brows furrowed.

“C-command for it to - to go away…” the prince mumbles.

Namjoon looks confused, perhaps thinking it’s the heat talking nonsense. But Namjoon must see something in the prince’s face because when he asks his question it’s in a serious tone.

“What do you mean?”

“The Alpha Voice. Use it to make the heat go away.” Seokjin manages, holding in his whines.

Namjoon shakes his head. “You know it doesn’t work that way, Jin. Besides, the Voice doesn’t affect you in the first place.”

“Try, please…” Seokjin begs, clutching at the alpha with more force. “I’m s-sure I’ve read somewhere t-that the alpha mate’s Voice would be effective. And we’re bonded are-aren’t we? It might work, just try please, Namjoon.”

Namjoon nods, probably just to prevent Seokjin’s cries and pleads, and clears his throat. The alpha’s Voice is low and rumbling, b with power and control so much that Jin hears even Jiwoo squeak though the command wasn’t meant for her.

“Kim Seokjin,” The alpha says in his deep, smooth tone that makes Seokjin’s already heated insides burn some more. “You will not go into heat, omega. You will behave as you always do and not go into heat unless I specifically say otherwise.”

A scream tears its way out of Seokjin’s throat as he feels pain all over. The air leaves his lungs as the heat spreads, spreads and then, miraculously, starts to ebb. Seokjin feels something snap within him, something else slam shut. He feels his whole body lock up in its desire to follow the alpha’s command without fail.

When at last Seokjin is able to breathe again, the only evidence of his heat that remains is the slick on his legs.

The Alpha Voice worked. And the owner of the Voice had put so much power into the command that it made something previously thought of as impossible into possible.

 

***

 

GRAMMYSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!