ꜱᴏᴍᴇ ʙᴜɴɴʏ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ| Jikook

8

🐰 pov

I woke from my nap,stretching out all my limbs. For the first time, I actually felt whole—or almost whole, at least. I perked up and listened to the surroundings, trying to determine if Chim was back from his trip to town yet. Since I didn’t hear anything, I decided to give shifting a go. When I hopped out of the box, a sense of amusement passed through me. He never thought it was odd that I just stayed put in that stupid box. Sure, at first, I wasn’t able to flee even if I wanted to.

But I was very obviously well enough to escape now.

Not that I wanted to go anywhere. That in itself should have struck me as crazy, but there was just something about this place. Well, something about Chim that had me longing to stay.

I took three big breaths and jumped to the floor, bracing myself for impact. Had I been on my A game, I might’ve been able to shift mid jump. Maybe. But I was lucky to wrangle up my D game at best.

I landed with a thud and Lux came in, giving me the look she always did. The one that said you ain’t no rabbit. Which, quite honestly, had been my saving grace. Too bad the fox didn’t figure that out too.

I closed my eyes and called my skin. The process was slower and more painful than even my first shift had been, but that was to be expected. I just didn’t think it’d be this bad. It will get better from here. It had to. I needed to shift more than just this once, no matter how much it hurt.

I rose from the ground on my two feet for the first time in... I’d lost count of how many days. My legs were a bit wobbly and my thighs burned, but I was upright. And human. I took a few steps with my hand on the counter and started to get my bearings. I messed with the towels enough that it looked like I was in the box, and then I shook my head at the silly task. Why would I go back in the box? Ever. And really, how could I get back in there in the first place? Shift on the counter?

Lux came up to me and tentatively licked my ankle before he walked outside, as if beckoning me to follow. So I did, the fresh air almost like a hug. “Thanks, Lux. You’re a good cat.” I reached down and gave him a pat. “Thanks for not eating me.”

And with that, he’d had enough, so he sat down on the rocking chair and proceeded to ignore me.

“Hello?” Chim’s voice slammed into me, reminding me where I was. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He was home.

I should’ve at least wrapped a towel around myself before walking outside. Not that being mostly naked except for the home owner’s towel was any better than the situation I was currently in.

“Ummm, hi?” I grabbed the pillow off the chair Lux was on. That earned me the look of death from the cat as I put it in front of my now-filling cock. The damn thing picked now to decide to wake up from my shift, and knowing the way things worked, it was going to stay like that until I took care of it.

Sadly, that wasn’t going to happen any time soon.

“Are you okay? Is that your car they found?” He spoke awkwardly from the sidewalk leading up to the porch. “I was just putting the animal feed away, but if you give me a minute, I could grab you some clothes and get you some help.”

Well, that’s not what I was expecting.

He wasn’t running, reaching for a gun or a phone, or threatening me in any manner. He was just being—Jimin. The man wasn’t only kind to animals and children—he was kind...period. My bunny perked up at that.

Stay down, little one. You’ve had plenty of time. It’s my turn now.

“Yeah...I mean I don’t know about the car, but probably. I hit my head, and I’m not really sure about most things. I saw your porch and…” I was making up random shit on the fly, but I couldn’t tell him the truth.

“Lux, move.” Jimin tried to shoo the cat away, but he stayed put. “The man needs a place to sit.” He side-eyed the feline who slowly stood up and jumped off. “You can sit here, and I’ll get you some clothes.”

The cat jumped back up and hissed at him. There was no denying he ruled the roost.

Just then, Daisy appeared and sat down at my feet.

“Really, Daisy?” He held up his hands in exacerbation as Hen started to honk from the far side of the porch. They were all gathering around, protecting me in their own unusual ways.

“Maybe I should go.” I don’t know what made me make the offer considering I wasn’t sure if I really could, but it seemed like the right thing to say. “Do you know where my car is now? I got lost and turned around.” And was brought here in a hoodie after being mauled by a fox.

“No. It is very obvious they want you to stay. Let’s get you a shower and some clothing.” He cleared his throat when his voice hitched.

Did he like what he saw? Dammit. I shouldn’t be thinking like that, but I was. I pressed the pillow closer to me.

“Um, okay.” Because what else could I really say to that?

“After we get you all cleaned up and fed, we’ll figure out what to do about your car and your head. Doc said if I saw ya, he’d hook you up for free. He’s a good guy, from what my Grams said, so he can be trusted.”

“Thanks.” I stepped out of Chim’s way so he could open the door. When he left, I went inside, my stomach lurching at the movement.

He must have noticed my pained expression. “Do you want me to call Doc now?”

“No. Sorry. I stubbed my toe.” I didn’t like lying but it just slipped out. “Maybe later.”

“Yeah. Let me know, and just so you know, I suck and there are no drugs here except the aspirin Grams used to take, and I’m pretty sure it’s way past the expiration date.”

“That’s fine. I don’t believe in drugs.” Shifters tended not to respond well to them, so we stayed away all together.

“Oh, okay.” He waved for me to follow him through the kitchen and toward the bathroom, mumbling to me, or where he thought the furry me was, something about sleeping until he takes care of things.

That was going to present a problem, but for now, I needed to regroup, get my human side fully back on track, and figure out a plan. What a freakin’ mess I’d gotten myself into.

It would be far less messy if my bunny hadn’t pushed himself back to the forefront and whispered one single word to me: Mate.