Claw's Bridge(Discontinued)

22. I Made a Promise

I held back my surprise when she called me by my name. "It's Nighter, not Jungkook," I said, maintaining a straight face.

"Are you sure about that?" she asked, a cocky smirk on her face.

"Yes," I responded. The two of us were having a staring contest. "Please keep that in mind, Queen Gina."

"Call me Gina," she said.

"I prefer the honorifics," I retorted. "You are of higher position than me."

Sensing the tense atmosphere, Yugyeom stepped up. "I think we have overstayed our welcome. We should be on our way if we don't wish to worry the princes any longer than we have to."

"I think that's for the best," Seokjin said, from the doorway of the kitchen. His face was stoic as he observed the scene. "We have some things to discuss with our mates."

I followed Seokjin to the front door, with Yugyeom on my heels. "Seokjin," Hyungsik called out. Seokjin stopped walking and turned to him. "Think about what I said."

"It's not my choice to make," he said.

"That's not the thing I was talking about," Hyungsik clarified.

"I'll do what I have to," Seokjin responded.

-

I jogged to keep up as Seokjin harshly pulled me by my forearm. The others sent confused looks our way as he pulled me down the stairs and towards the dungeon. They followed us, bombarding the King with questions.

"S-Seokjin, your grip is too tight," I pointed out carefully. I winced when the pain increased upon his grip tightening.

He opened a cell and pushed me inside. Seokjin stepped inside with me and drew his sword. My eyes widened when he pointed the sword at me.

"I want to know the truth. Why are you really here?" he asked, his voice deeper than normal.

"I was exiled from my planet," I said.

"Why?" he pushed.

"Seokjin, maybe we should try another approach-" Taehyung was cut off.

"No. This is the only way," he said. "Yoongi stay. The rest of you leave. That's an order."

I slowly backed into the wall to put a distance between Seokjin and I as Yoongi entered the cell and the others reluctantly left. "I already told you guys-" he cut me off.

"Stop lying. Why were you really exiled?" he asked. "A robbery seems to be a bit too light of a crime to have such a punishment. Either you respond, or I leave Yoongi here to tame you."

I did my best to stay calm on the outside. I couldn't show my weakness, I couldn't let my fear front. I let my guard down, and I was paying the price for it. "I am being honest," was my response.

Seokjin stared at me for a while. He lowered his sword and started walking out. "Yoongi, tame him," he said before he disappeared. I looked at Yoongi in concern as his eyes glowed orange and he sauntered over to me.

He cupped my jaw, his finger boring into my cheeks. "Finally," he said, a sadistic smirk on his expression. I backed up into the wall, staring at him in fear.

"Y-Yoongi. P-please," I tried, but he pinned me against the wall. His claws tore the flesh on my hips as he leaned in and left open mouth kisses along my neck. I squirmed, trying to get away from him, but he was far too strong.

He pushed himself up against me, tightening his hold on me. I rested my hands on his shoulders, wanting nothing more than to break the promise I made and stab him.

^Taehyung's POV^

"Seokjin, what is going on?" Jimin asked as he and I barged into Seokjin's room. Seokjin was sitting on the edge of his bed. "Why did you make Yoongi stay back?"

"Nighter has been lying this whole time. You were right, Taehyung. We shouldn't have trusted him," He responded.

"Seokjin," I said, crouching down in front of him. "He wasn't lying. He avoided telling the truth when we confronted him, yes. But he also hinted at the fact that he was not being open with his responses. He was never lying, he just beat around the bush with his responses."

"He lied about the reason for his expulsion," he said. "I left Yoongi down there to tame him, so he can stop lying."

"Seokjin!" Jimin exclaimed. "Yoongi will end up breaking Nighter! Stop him!"

"NO!" Seokjin yelled. "Irrespective of his relation to us, Nighter is still an intruder. We cannot take any risks."

I slipped out of the room and rushed to the dungeons. When I entered the long hall of cells, I could hear Nighter yelling at Yoongi.

"STAY THE FUCK AWAY FROM ME!" Nighter yelled. I rushed to his cell.

"Yoongi!" I called out. Yoongi had Nighter pinned to the wall, his claws tearing the flesh at Nighter's hips, as the Jupitarian squirmed to escape. His face was buried in the crook of the Jupitarian's neck as he inhaled his scent. Nighter had a weapon. Why was he not using it? His hands were mobile but resting on Yoongi's shoulders as inaudible whimpers of pain left his mouth. Upon hearing my voice, Yoongi looked at me. His eyes were glowing orange and his fangs were poking his lips. "Stop! You're committing a crime with this. I won't have any other option but to imprison you if you continue."

I glanced at Nighter who was shaking like a leaf even as he tried to control it. I could tell he was fighting his tears. "King's orders, little mate. You have no power over the King," Yoongi said. His words made him appear hesitant to back down, but his grip on Nighter loosened. "Moreover, we need our little Jupitarian to spill the truth. He's been a bad boy, and we need to fix that."

"Yoongi, how does this make you any different from the people who raised you? You know where they are in the castle. You know that's where you will go if you continue," I said. I was manipulating him with my words. Using my mind manipulation power was always my last resort. It drained my energy, and more importantly, it weakened the victim's mind.

"That's blackmail," Yoongi growled out, pulling away from Nighter, who fell to the ground and immediately crawled away from the fire were-dragon.

"You know that's where those kinds of people go," I pushed. Yoongi was easily triggered, his past made it as such. I knew I would have to work on rebuilding the bond between him and me, but I couldn't let him hurt Nighter.

"Kim Taehyung, I hate you! I hate you so much!" Yoongi yelled as his glowing orange eyes receded to their normal dull colour. His hands shook as tears welled in his eyes. I backed away from the door as he ran out of the cell. I felt my heart break at hurting my mate, and I'm sure the others could sense Yoongi's pain through the bond. They could comfort him. We could sense Nighter's pain only after the bond became stronger, which was after he accepted us.

'Taehyung, what's wrong? Why is Yoongi scared?' I heard Jimin in my head.

'Go comfort him. I got Nighter,' I responded. I didn't hear anything after that, so I assumed he did as I said.

I rushed to Nighter's side. "How do you feel?" I asked.

"Peachy," he said.

"How long do you think it will take to heal?" I asked.

"A few minutes," he said. "You don't have to be here, you know. I've been telling you guys to throw me in the dungeons for a reason."

"I know I don't have to, but I want to. I care about you even if you're hiding your identity," I said. He pursed his lips in response. "Why didn't you use your dagger?"

"I made a promise that I wouldn't use it to cause harm."

"To whom?"

"Yoongi."