A gunshot echoed through the forest, the birds flying away with their loud caws. Ruby and Jimin stared up at the sky. "I can smell the shells," Ruby whispered, wrapping her hand around Jimin's wrist. "We have to go. Now!"
#2 in the Dominant series
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They made it to the cave by the time dawn came. Jimin ate more than Ruby thought he would. He ate a lot of his bars and Ruby gave him some of hers.
Ruby chose not to eat at all. She would drink water, but she gave her bars to Jimin. Ruby knew he ate more because he was a male werewolf. Pureblood or not, male werewolves always ate a lot.
"What do we do now, Ruby?" he asked, sliding his hand into her hand.
"We run as far as we can. We blend in with the humans, Jimin."
"What about everybody else? What about our ears? We can only go so long without them." Jimin touched his own ears worriedly. His ears fidgeted as his fingertips brushed against them.
"We can hide them in public and let them free when we're alone. I can smell some of the others close behind, but I can smell the humans behind their trail. There's a werewolf beyond the tunnel, but I can't make out who it is," Ruby answered. "It could be Yoongi. I don't smell Yoongi back there, so he's either beyond the tunnel or..."
Jimin nodded, getting her hint. The image of Yoongi's dead body sprawled out made his spine tingle. Yoongi's eyes rolling to the back of his head as a hunter slices his throat or the expression of shock on his face when a hunter shoots him.
"I need you to stop, Jimin," Ruby ordered, grabbing his shoulders. "I can smell the fear and worry on you. I need you to calm down. We will get through this. I don't care who I have to go through, but at least you will live, okay?"
"Me? What about you? You'll live too, right?" Jimin asked, grabbing her wrists.
Ruby smiled. "I can try, but I can't make promises that I'll break."
He whimpered at the thought of his best friend dying. "Ruby, you shouldn't even be thinking about that. We're going to get through it together. You're my best friend and I love you. I'm never going to leave you, because if you go down, then I'll go down with you."
Ruby brought out her pinky. "Then I guess it's a promise. You've got a friend in me, Jimin, even if we've gone through things that most friends don't go through. I love you too."
The two hugged each other, breathing in each other's scent. Jimin was nervous, paranoid, and nostalgic. Ruby was scared but prepared to take on any hunters. The two withdrew from the hug and held hands, staring into the tunnel that would lead to the other side of the mountain. The cold morning air brushed their hair behind and made them squint their eyes as they walked forward.
"Once we pass this tunnel, there should be another barrier that prevents the humans from entering. Hopefully, the barrier isn't gone," Ruby told Jimin.
Jimin nodded. "What if—"
"Enough of the 'what if,' Jimin," she scolded. "Get rid of it. We are going to run through this tunnel and pass the barrier. No human will ever pass that damn barrier."
"Yeah, yeah, okay. Okay, I'm sorry."
Ruby's emotions were all over the place now. It was as if Jimin passed down his worries and anxiety onto her. What if Jimin was right? What if the barrier was weak, or what if the barrier wasn't even there anymore? What if there was a wasteland at the end of the tunnel? Ruby couldn't focus on anything anymore. She desperately nibbled on her lower lip as a chew toy. She brushed her messy, tangled, and dirty hair with her hands.
"Hey, hey," Jimin softly said, "it's going to be okay. We're going to get to the end of this tunnel and then live together in our new house. We'll meet up with Yoongi and then we can all have fun together."
Ruby chuckled, her chest constricting. "I love you, you know that? I don't know what I'd do without you. You helped me through my parents' death, and I probably would have done something regrettable back then if I didn't have you."
Jimin pulled her in by cupping the back of her head. He buried his face in the crook of her neck and planted a kiss on her neck. "Thank you for not kicking me out of the house when Taehyung and Nyree died. Thank you for helping me when I was in heat. Thank you for protecting me from those hunters. Thank you...for everything and for loving me."
He planted the next kiss on her lips. It was slow and soft. There was no rush or haste, and it was as if they had all the time in the world. But if they had each other, then they would die together. If they died together, then they really would have all the time in the universe.
