Got my claws in you

Chapter 15- the heart aches and the mind pains

TAE POV:

My ears perk up and stiffen. The sound of knees colliding with the carpet in the apartment over unable to be muffled or lost in the silence that had fallen as (Y/N) had backtracked out of the room, looking so crestfallen and scared as she'd left- a flash of inexplicable relief crossing her features as she'd nodded, eagerly seizing the opportunity that Namjoon hyung had perhaps unknowingly offered up. And yet there had also been grief on her face, clinging to her body, making it sink and curve in with a deep exhaustion and her legs trembling. It made my instincts ache to want to hold her, help her even if I didn't truly know her- her vulnerability tugging at my heartstrings, imploring for help and guidance and comfort. Something I instinctively wanted to give but couldn't. 

"Hyung she..." I begin, feeling my tail sag against the cushion, limp and ears wilting, even as the sound of the slightly distant thud echoes in my head.

The others look physically pained and torn. All of them sporting different levels and expressions of distress and need. But none able to act on them.

And Hobi hyung is already jerking towards the sound, standing to move past Jiminie who stops him with a firm grip on his hand, face looking equally torn but giving a shake of his head.

"She needs a bit of space hyung. Let her settle." He says as though it pains him.

And the small, discontented growling rumble that seeps into the air comes accompanied with the sharp tinge of pheromones, a deep bitter nuttiness that makes my nose wrinkle. Hobi hyung has rarely ever gotten riled up to this extent, that it affects his scent.

To see him so visibly distressed and instincts raring to the surface wasn't only rare but it was enough to have the need to soothe my distressed Hobi hyung all safe and content and bundled up between me and Yoongi hyung. It seemed like his instincts were pushed to the surface a lot these days, more frequently too.

And now suddenly it all formed a complete picture. All those jigsaw pieces sliding into place. All the dots being connected.

His worry for (Y/N) had been causing his scent to sharpen and turn bitter and sad these days, the times he'd become more territorial and needy and clingy were all results from working at the centre; from what we believed was just because he was working in a sensitive environment, and because Hobi hyung was sensitive of heart. But it was because of her, because he saw her as someone to protect, someone he was close to.

And seeing those people hurt was never easy.

"Hobi hyung." I mumble, rising from the couch to get to him but Yoongi hyung's weight leans into me, wanting to keep me there and I can't disentangle myself from his sprawled position, eyes narrowed and flashing with protectiveness but he too looks at Hobi hyung, silently urging him to come close. I stretch a hand out, tilting my head in a show of submissive need and his resolve crumbles, he stops struggling to move past Jiminie without hurting him and slumps, making his way over. And allows himself to be tugged between the two of us, arms folding and curving around him and bodies tilting close- desperate to have the bitter dark tinge to his scent to leave.

Hobi hyung noses along the offered skin of my throat when I bare it for him, nuzzling against it as he scent marks, mouthing across the skin and tongue flicking against my neck. There's something urgent in the way he scents, quicker flicks of tongue and mouth spreading across more skin than he usually briefly nuzzles into, leaving a scent claim behind. Triggered by seeing (Y/N) in such a vulnerable position.

And still her name floats in my head, why does it ring a bell? Why does it sound familiar?

I feel a burst of Hobi hyung's pheromones fill the air, the slow intentional drag of his mouth coaxing out my own scent to merge with his as he layers his claim over my scent glands, nuzzling slowly and I go pliant and loose in his hold, relaxing- that buzz of anxiousness fading away with the comforting weight of Hobi hyung leaning into me.