Bound by Blood

Chapter 78- surprise!

TAE POV:

I'm with Joon hyung on the rooftop garden when it happens. When I feel an emotional shift through the bond, a mixture of confusion and hurt that seeps rapidly through it, weighing it down. Joon hyung stops his process of tenderly planting some seeds, gloved hands no longer gently tapping at the soil and flattening it and looks up with a creased frown, eyes first landing on me. I shake my head.

And when I focus on the feeling that transmits across the bond I realise that it's coming from the newest link in our bond, from the still delicate and fragile tether. It's coming from  (Y/N).

I stand up from where I'm kneeling, brush the dirt absently from my knees.

"Taehyungie let me come with you." Joonie hyung offers, standing up too from his spot a few metres away, pulling off his gloves, face showing his intent to come with me and track our baby mate. See what it is that has caused such a sudden emotional response.

"Hyung it's okay, I'll go look for her. You finish planting first and then come." I say, gently nudging him back to the flower bed, where he looks at me with uncertain eyes.

"Go ahead hyung, it won't take you too long. Just finish up and come in." I reassure him.

"Tae-ah, it was meant to help take the edge off for you. Because you said you needed to expel some of the energy that was building inside." He says, face worried and eyes reddening as he looks at me.

I wave off his concern.

"It'll be fine. You've made me take care of all the weeds...and I'm pretty sure you made sure some of them were too firmly rooted in anyways." I say, voicing my suspicions.

That the past hour or so the stubborn weeds I'd come across that wouldn't give way to my fierce strong tugging had Namjoonie hyung's hand behind it- that he'd planted some deeply into the soil so I could get rid of some of the buzzing under my skin, the buzzing that urged me to shift instead.

The itch to shift had lessened, it was a manageable tingling sensation- one that was pushed aside when suddenly (Y/N)'s emotions came through, silently triggering a protective worried instinct.

And so I leave hyung behind as I hurry down the steps, reaching the floor which has all the bedrooms. I go into each and every one, starting off with her room and when I don't find her there, go hurrying to the others- hoping to find her already being comforted by the others, or cuddling with one of them but room after room reveals emptiness and no mate. The panic grows slightly when I reach Yoongi hyung's room at the end of the hallway and I find only him there. He turns to greet me, but the smile is wiped off when he senses the clear distress and moves towards me.

My eyes blindly rove the room, desperately seeking her but she's not there.

"Hey Tae-ah...what's wrong?" hyung asks, voice soft and alert. Clearly sensing the emotions rolling off me.

But I'm too distracted and when it's clear she's not there, clearly not hiding in the wardrobe or cupboards or under the desk, I rush out, distantly hearing him follow me with an urgency, calling out for me. I rush down the stairs to have the same lack of success in finding her and when I finally reach the lowest level, I can only see the others dotted around, Jin hyung reclined in a sofa with Jiminie on his lap and the kitchen where I hurry into to find Kookie and Hobi hyung cooking together, laughing and chasing each other to feed each other morsels first.

The sight is warming but it doesn't make the knot around my chest lessen and I still can't find her.

A tight grip on my arm makes me pause and I'm turned towards Yoongi hyung who's looking at me with red panicked eyes and a worried expression.