Accepted | Jikook

2

The night before the big day, Jungkook couldn't sleep.

He was so excited to find his mate. He knew he shouldn't get his hopes up--if he wasn't the younger of the pair, he would have to wait for who knows how long for his other half to present.

But Jungkook was really impatient. He didn't want to wait.

He began thinking of all the members in the pack that he could be mated to. The only ones older than him that had yet to complete the bond were Jimin and one of the beta females, Hacelle. Everyone else was already mated or too young.

Hacelle was pretty, he won't deny it, but the few times he had spoken to her, they could never hold a conversation. Her interests were far different than his. So although she was nice, he couldn't imagine being mated to her when they could hardly maintain a friendship.

Jimin has been his friend for as long as he could remember. Their parents were friends, and so it was only natural for the boys to grow up together, playing together. Jungkook knew him like the back of his hand and despite their bickering, he really did care for the older.

He had been sixteen when Jimin went through his first heat. He remembered how the older had stayed locked up in his house for nine whole days, not breathing a word to anyone, seemingly going off the grid. Jungkook didn't know half the pain the boy was going through but recalled how worn out Jimin looked once the heat had ended and the boy went back to talking.

"Why didn't you tell me you were going to be gone, hyung? I was so worried! I could have brought you medicine or helped you had I known you were sick," Jungkook had stated.

"Trust me," Jimin breathed. "You can't help with this one."

Now that Jungkook was a bit older and the situation had been explained to him by his mom who once experienced a similar pain, he understood what his dear friend had gone through in the past and was continuing to experience now. He really hoped Jimin would find his mate soon.

But Jungkook always treated the boy like a brother. He had imagined being there for Jimin when he found his mate, being at the ceremonies and helping him prepare in any way he could.

He had never imagined the possibility of his mate being Jimin, which is why he groaned in frustration realizing that neither of the two available options were seemingly going to be likely.

Looked like he would have to wait.

Rolling onto his side, he forced himself to clear his head, finally falling asleep not long after.

-==-

Jimin was not one to consider himself religious, but that night, he found himself praying to the Moon Goddess.

"Please," he murmured, standing on the balcony outside his window. "Please don't keep me waiting much longer."

Jimin's heats always seemed to come right around his birthday in mid-October. He was coming up on his third heat in just a few weeks, and the pain he felt not being able to do anything about it was enough to bring him to a state of begging.

The symptoms were always the same. He would wake up one morning in a sweat, regardless of how cold the room may be. His skin would feel like it was melting off, tinted pink all over with blush from how hot he felt. His muscles would be contracted tight, especially those near his lower abdomen, incapacitating him and preventing him from even getting out of bed.

That was just how it started.

The longer that it went on without relief, the more he would ache and the more his wolf would consume him and take over, prohibiting him from thinking rationally. The first heat he went through, he almost clawed at his own mother, he and his wolf desperate for the pain to stop in any way possible.

Nothing he did quenched the pain. Nothing he did could satisfy him.

He needed his mate.

With the help of a mate, his heat could go from nine days to two or three, and he would have someone there to help him and satisfy him throughout. Someone to take care of him and finally relieve him of the burning hell.

With every pack member's birthday that passed, he grew more and more hopeful that he was one step closer to happiness.

But the birthdays would pass and he would continue to be alone.

He knew that Jungkook's birthday was tomorrow. He had often wondered if the younger was destined to be his, but he quickly shook the thoughts away whenever they came.

Jimin had always seen Jungkook as his annoying little brother. It would change everything if he went to tomorrow's birthday celebration and Jungkook was presented as his mate.

He just couldn't see himself kissing the younger. Let alone the boy helping him with his heat...

Or Jimin helping him with his rut.

Jimin admired the bond that they had. Sure, they hugged each other and cuddled against the couch for movies and such. But it was never more than that, and Jimin was happy to keep it that way. It was weird for him to imagine the boy he had grown up with taking on such a romantic role in his life. He couldn't see Jungkook as anyone besides the little toddler that had thrown a screaming tantrum when he realized someone older than him could be shorter.

In all honesty, he was worried. Jimin was extremely worried that the Moon Goddess would be twisted enough to make Jungkook his mate.

The problem was, if that truly were to be the case, he couldn't do anything about it. He wouldn't be able to ignore Jungkook forever.

Once the wolves know who their mates are, it's like all rationality goes out the window until the two are bonded. Being away from their mate for long periods of time can be physically painful for both parties.

Jimin had heard of people that lose contact with their wolves completely if they avoid their mates for too long.

He didn't want that.

He looked up to the moon once again before crawling back inside his window and climbing into the sheets, desperate to have relief for his heat when it came, but unaware of the price that would come with it.