Dedicated to: xx-cherryblossom-xx, Litoxcutie & HeXm1_Park for your slamming upvotes~

As well as to iamvipbabe who I hope is doing well in college!

And as always, to my lovely reader who have brought my fiction up to 4k view~ I seriously love you guys to the moon and back~ It isn't just about numbers, you guys have seriously stayed with me and my weird uploading patterns and I seriously wouldn't be anywhere without you!

So please enjoy! This is for you guys

E I G H T E E N

B A B Y S T E P S: the shortest step permitted a player, executed by placing the heel of one foot against the toe of the other and drawing the back foot up to the front foot (see: Aaemi & Jungkook's relationship)

The term 'drop it like it's hot' very accurately describes what Jungkook decides would be the best course of action from him to take. The confession spills out of my mouth tasting like bile and toxic waste and Jungkook pulls away from underneath me so fast that I tumble off the side of the bed and land gracefully on my side. A dull pain blossoms from the places I hit the hard wood floor, my elbow, my hip; but it's nothing compared to the sudden overwhelming feeling of rejection and hurt.

“Jungkook! What the hell!” I yell, pushing myself up with my elbows and flinging hair out of my face. I glare up at Jungkook, hoping that the hurt I was feeling would quickly change to anger. I was expecting this sort of reaction. Panic laces though my heart. Was he rejecting me?

You , don't chase away our mate. My wolf scolded me.

“. Are you okay?” He leans over me, his face a picture of amusement and I almost get nailed in the eye by the pendant that swings from his neck. Upon closer inspection, I notice that the necklace isn't much, just a thin creamy white jade column with thick Chinese characters carved on its polished surface hanging from a silver chain.

Do something, alpha. He's going to reject you. Do something. My wolf starts up again.

Feeling dull and blank, my fingers wrap around the pendent as a read the traditional character out loud, “Authority.” I translate loosely, the stone seems to hum with a weird warmth in my palm.

Alpha, he's going to leave you. My wolf almost wailed. Fear and panic broke free of the mental cage I kept around it, bubbling up to the surface and sending my heart into overdrive.

My poor, emotion driven, wolf. Being pushed away like that, especially after telling him something as personal and shameful as the misplacement of our V-card, hurt. But my survival driven alpha female instincts refused to let me cry, in fact I wasn't even very emotional at all. Rejection from your mate, it was something serious between shifters. When mate bonds are formed at the first touch between shifters, the shifters wolf's throw themselves headfirst into the relationship regardless of who the person was and this helped us humans fall in love. Mates met but simple physical drive from their wolf, but they chose to stay together because of their human.

On the flip side, the human part of a shifter could handle the rejection of a mate, the wolf inside them would take it ten times harder. Our wolves were pure, primal emotions, it takes a strong human consciousness to handle not just their feelings when rejection occurred, but their wolf's.

And I had just begun to develop something of a fondness of Jungkook.

“I got it from my mother. My birth mother. She left it for me and I really never take it off,” he shrugs. I nod casually then fist my fingers around it, tugging harshly. Jungkook loses his balance and comes crashing down on top of me, “Holy -” He mutters, reaching his arms out so he doesn't crush me.

Suddenly his handsome face is centimeters from mine, his nose brushing mine and his lips painfully close. My throat dries at the delicious feeling of him above me, but I hitch one my legs around his bare torso and drag him closer to me, eliciting a low noise from the back of his throat. Something inside me unhinges, the need for dominance and acceptance pushes at my movements and quirks my mouth up into a smirk.

I needed him to tell me what I wanted to hear. I didn't care how I choked the words out of him

“Aaemi,” he growls a slow warning. The light, bemused look from before is gone, replaced but a cautious, questioning one, “What are you doing?” Confidence flows off me in waves, his submissive reactions are too much for my wolf.

“I'm not a ,” I repeat, collaring one side of his neck with my hand, leaving my nails to trace through his mess of hair, “I had with someone that wasn't you.” I glare at him, fury lighting my eyes. There's a harshness in my voice that I used to protect the vulnerability in my words. Jungkook dark eyes start glowing with a concentrated amber light, his wolf was getting agitated with my confession. His Alpha Current blazed up, curling around us and shooting a pleasure through me that was almost punishing. I tasted jealous. Anger.

“Aaemi, let go of me,” Jungkook says, his voice sounding strained, “Love, let's talk about this in a situation where I'm not tempted to-” My other hand slithers down his body, slipping over his bare arms to splay over his shoulder blade. Jungkook's eyes widen and he swears. I have no idea where my actions are coming from, but it's keeps the painfull