Dedicated to: xiucoffee

And to all my readers that left a comment along the lines of: NOOOOOOOOOOOOO

T H I R T Y - O N E

D E P A R T U R E: the action of leaving (see: Nicole Storm)

My heartbeat was the only thing I could hear for what seemed to be an eternity; cautious, anxious and extremely irritating. My blood was barely moving in my veins but as the seconds rose and fell, my body continued to heal. Soon my lungs joined the epic battle for my survival, air rattled in and out painfully, but I took comfort from the fact that breathing was a necessary thing for the living, and I was doing just that.

Time didn’t seem to exist. Neither did space. It was just my heartbeat, the constant inhale and exhale of my lungs, and my consciousness swimming around in the darkness.

And then suddenly, I could hear. Nothing too crystal clear at first, but I ,could pick apart voices. Lee, Nicole, Mark even Blake.

“Aaemi!” The first coherent thing I could hear was my name. That was my name, wasn’t it. It was Lee, her voice rang out against all the other jumbled noises. “Holy - No way.” Emotion caught in her words. I wanted to open my mouth, to respond.

I did one better. I opened my eyes.

They didn’t focus on anything for a few moments, so I shut them again.

“Aaemi, love,”

Jungkook? My wolf yelped and my eyes snapped open again, this time, my vision sharpened. I couldn’t sense any other presences, but I could feel Jungkook’s familiar body above mine and, of course, his delicious cinnamon scent.

Jungkook’s gray eyes watched me, worried to the point that they were tearing up. The second our gazes locked his face handsome face relaxed, his lips slipped into a small relieved smile and he muttered something so low and so fast I couldn't register it.

He buried his head into my neck, propping himself up with his arms and murmuring things against my skin in a different language. I stared up at the sky, where the treetops brushed against the white clouds. I didn’t get it. Did we survive? Brilliant. Love it when I do that.

Jungkook pulled away from me, only to lean down again, his mouth angled towards mine.

“I’m sorry, who are you?” I asked, forcing my face to stay blank when in reality I wanted to reach up and pull Jungkook to me.

He froze, disbelief coloring his newly pale eyes.

I smiled tiredly, “I’m playing.” Jungkook didn’t move. My eyebrows furrowed as I reached up and collared a palm against the side of his neck, my thumb running against the edge of his jaw. “I’m glad you’re alive.”

Jungkook let out a ragged breath, “I ing swear to god, if you ever pull like this, I-I-” He broke off, stuttering for the first time since I’d met him. He pressed against my hand, unable to speak.

“Are you crying?” I asked seriously, reaching up to catch a tear with fingers. I smooth the liquid over his cheekbone, “Don’t cry. I’m sorry.”

Jungkook exhaled a sharp laugh, his hand covered mine as he began dropping kisses on my fingers. “So. You imprinted.” His usual wicked smile is back on his face.

I sighed, “To save your life.” I detached my hand from his and reached up to touch the corner of Jungkook’s eye, “How are your eyes. Your sight returned?”

Jungkook glances away, “Only in my right eye.”

“What!” I said, struggling to push myself up, “Seriously?” Jungkook helps me, pulling me into his lap so I can rest against his chest.

He nods, “There’s only so much the pendant can do. It’s okay, one eye is enough for me to see you. Thank you for saving my life.”

“You can only see in one eye?” I say, genuinely heartbroken for him, “I’m sorry.”

Jungkook pressed his lips against my hairline, “It isn’t your fault. It was Cade.”

“In the grand scheme of things, I dragged you into this so it’s technically all my fault,” I said. I could feel Jungkook opening his mouth to respond with some ridiculous notion like ‘no-love-it-is-not-your-fault-I-wanted-a-girl-with-baggage’ so I cut him off, “How did Cade get to you anyways?” Thankfully, Jungkook leaves it at that and retells his entire story. I stay cradled in his arms, enjoying his heat. Cade caught him just as he was crossing the border onto my property, completely off guard. He didn’t go too into detail about how he’d gotten all those bruises and cuts, that were all healed now, but he did tell me that Cade used a special strain of wolfsbane to blind him.

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