Archive of Our Own

‘Our Jaeminie will become a handsome Alpha!’ the wolves of his pack had always said.

Jaemin always sat by the lake’s side with his two best friends, for up to hours, to make deep conditioning masks, skin-scrubs, or give each other elaborate haircuts.

It definitely helped with the handsome.

‘Our Jaeminie will grow up to be tall and strong and take over the pack-lead!’ the wolves of his pack had always said.

Jaemin always dedicated himself to handiwork, cloth-making, and collecting because running around for hours was just way too exhausting and blood was sort of gross.

Also, height was genetic and it wasn’t his fault he was just about average?

‘Our Jaeminie’s already got his ways with the girls, he’ll make a great mate and have lots of puppies!’ the wolves of his pack had always said.

Jaemin, indeed, always spent a lot of his day raising the puppies of the pack, explaining the world to their little minds. Oh, yeah, there were also more girls there but he didn’t discriminate.

He sure as fuck wanted puppies, the more the better.

He knew people expected him to be an Alpha because his dad was one and male puppies had a higher chance of being. His dad was also pack-leader. It wasn’t like the pack-leader could only have Alpha kids, but people kind of expected it. Apparently. Alphas had the highest standing in a pack, normally. Most wanted to be ones, for that reason.

His older brother was an Alpha. He had a mate, that he had found in spring during the meeting of the packs. Jaemin looked a lot like his brother. But he didn’t really care about pack standing, he only cared about what he imagined for himself.

Nevermind an Alpha, especially a leader, would have to know when danger was close, would be the one the pack looked to when food grew scarce in winter, or would be in charge in any other situation that potentially risked their lives.

They did that with his father and his father always ended up solving any issue hurled his direction, be it finding a lost puppy in the woods or the most well-hidden deer in winter.

Jaemin would never be able to do that. He never had been able to, so he didn’t miss it, but where other wolves could follow a path like it was drawn onto the floor just using a scent trail, Jaemin…

Couldn’t.

He could smell a hint if he tried really hard. He could differentiate between sweet, sour, and savoury meals, but other than that, the world was just…

Scent-less.

‘I don’t think I’ll be an Alpha,’ Jaemin had always said, the only puppy who didn’t wish to be.

Other than responsibility, that he felt wholly unfit for, there were certain traits an Alpha carried, physically speaking, and certain instincts that would be stronger in them, naturally, that he had not even a sliver of.

‘Don’t be silly, why wouldn’t you want to be? You’ll see, Jaeminnie, we were right, all along,’ the wolves of his pack had always replied.

Sometimes, you could already tell before the presentation. Sometimes, it turned out all wrong and an Omega could have all the traits typically connected to an Alpha or vice versa. It was just a framework to work with, that wolves had evolved in and that helped their societies work. Jaemin didn’t really care much, but, inside, he had never felt like an Alpha and not only because the world was plain to his nose.

Sure, if they ended up being right, whatever. He would be able to figure a way out to make it work for himself, surely.

But he was pretty sure they were wrong.

Jaemin happily kept telling them he thought he probably wouldn’t be what they thought and he kept doing all the tasks the elders didn’t want him to.

They didn’t know why exactly Jaemin was completely unfit for hunting, they didn’t need to know because they’d never understand that it didn’t make his life miserable or unlivable, so, his parents had never told anyone and neither had Jaemin or his brother. Everyone was entitled to do whatever they wanted and a puppy only had to listen to their parents, after all.

‘I don’t think I’ll be an Alpha, mum,’ Jaemin had said one time.

‘Okay, sweetie. It doesn’t matter what you will turn out to be, I love you whatever you are as long as you remember to be kind and fair to everyone around you,’ him mum had said.

With that, it was settled.

Jaemin got to do his beauty rituals by the lake with his friends while their peers ran through the forest, he got to perfect his leather-making skills on the prey of those who weren’t interested, and he kept playing with the puppies.

He never once was able to pick up a track, or understand when someone swooned about anyone smelling ‘so amazing’, but he didn’t need any of that to be happy with his life.

People kept saying he was going to be an Alpha.

Jaemin didn’t care.

“Nana, why don’t you want to be an Alpha?”

“I don’t not want to be. I don’t really care. I just don’t feel like an Alpha,” Jaemin smiled and tapped the girl’s nose.

“But my appa said Alphas were the best because they lead! And protect! And are strong!” the boy next to her raised the stick in his hand euphorically.

“Well, I’m sure your appa is an Alpha and very much likes being one, right? That’s great and he can be very happy with that. But for me, Omegas and Betas are just as good and I could still do all that if I wanted, right?”

“Nana, but if you’ll be an Omega, you’d leave us in spring! To find your mate!”

“No! You can’t leave!”

“You’re ours!”

Jaemin laughed when four puppies attacked him, but he couldn’t deny his heart was breaking a little, seeing their eyes full of tears.

“If I was an Omega, then there would be my mate somewhere out there and I’d belong with them to become happy. It’s fate. Do you want me to not become happy?” Jaemin knew the story. Everyone knew the story. Every pack told its own, slightly altered version over the campfire to their little ones, many times.

“No, but we don’t want you to leave!”

“Can’t you get mated to someone here?”

Jaemin smiled and shook his head, stroking over hair and drying a few tears off chubby baby cheeks.

“Do you want to hear a story?” He knew they had heard it before but puppies could hear one and the same story countless times and still get excited over it.

They were precious like that.

“Yes!”

“Let’s sit down!” Jaemin settled on the soft grass. Summer was in her last stages and now was the most wonderful time to be outside, in his opinion. It was quiet before the autumn harvest, still warm but not scorching. He loved this time of year the most.

“A very long time ago, so long ago, no one remembers and only the biggest trees are old enough to have witnessed it, the old gods lived on this land.”

“Yes!”

“My mummy told me!”

“I wanna be an old god.”

“Shh, I didn’t even tell anything yet,” Jaemin put his fingers against his lips and looked around the small crowd. Apologies were muttered and big eyes back to attentive.

“The gods were created by the wind getting trapped between the trees of the forest. They were born from nature. There were four of them, one from every direction of the wind: North, South, West, East.

“Where will every wind that blows from east go?”

Jaemin looked around the four faces and didn’t have to wait for his answer. It was easy, but he knew puppies loved to put their knowledge to use.

“West!”

“That’s right! Where will every wind that blows from south go?”

“North!”

“Exactly. Just how the wind is destined to go over the land into the direction it’s sent, the old gods were destined to end up with each other. Two individuals, that, as a couple, completed each other like two puzzle pieces. Like sun and rain making a rainbow. A perfect fit. A fate, unbreakable by anyone, destined to last forever.

“The god from the North was destined to be with the god from the South, the god from the West was destined to be with the god from the East.

“As four, they formed a pack, stronger than any mortal enemy, stronger than any natural disaster even. Because love between the two couples was stronger than even the elements, Fire, Water, Air, and Earth.

“For many years, they lived in the sacred forest, a bit east from here, that we keep safe for them because it’s holy to us through our belief in their stories.

“Like every day, when the sun rises, peaks, and sets again, a wolf’s life is destined to end. The gods’ lives on earth were mortal and they’d return to become nature again. What had birthed them would take them back after they had spent a life full of love.

“However, their love was strong. Very strong! Not only stronger than a mortal life, but also stronger than mother nature herself. Though without physical bodies, the old gods stayed, their spirits kept alive by their love.

“Mother nature noticed her powers had gotten unbalanced by the forces once used to create the old gods not returning to where they had come from. Just how the forest gets unbalanced if we take from it what we don’t need for ourselves.

“But against their love, she was powerless, whatever she tried, the wind was stuck between the trees, living in the old gods.

“Instead of growing enraged by the theft, she saw how beautiful what had been born from a chance of luck was. She saw how it didn’t weaken but strengthened her because the old gods looked over the forest, their home, and protected it so their love could continue to grant them life. So, from the soil of the woods, mother nature created our ancestors: Wolves, to strengthen and spread the love all over the world and help her balance and harmonise her forces.

“Like parents, the old gods watched over the puppies. They raised them. From too tiny to even shift, they taught them every skill a wolf needs to survive, to prosper, and to love. To treat their forest how the old gods wished it to be treated. When the puppies came of age, the gods had made their choice, had seen who’d be the perfect puzzle piece for whom, to live happily until the end of times.

“The god from the North breathed their direction into one quarter of them, and the god from the South into another. The god from the West breathed their direction into one quarter of them, and the god from the East into another.

“They gifted every wolf with a fate and a purpose, in those sacred woods where we still go every year to find out mates.

“From their home, the sacred forest, the wolves spread all over the world, settling wherever the forest could sustain life.

“They never returned to the old gods’ forest because they deserve their sanctuary. To this date, we leave it to them and only go there when we try to find our fate and our purpose. When we need to be pushed the direction we’re supposed to go.

“We could already feel it before if we tried. Our direction is given to us much earlier in life, long before presenting even. Whenever a puppy gets born, the old gods will watch them grow up for a few cycles of the season and then decide which other will be their perfect match. They’ve been doing it for many centuries. They know exactly who we need in our lives before we even think about it.

“So, I have the direction of one of the old gods in me. I’m destined to go either North, South, West, or East to find the one the gods know will make me happy until the end of days.

“I know it’s hard to leave home, but I know there’s more for me out there if I end up an Omega. I don’t want to hide away from life.”

Silence stretched over the piece of grass and Jaemin smiled around the group.

“Then you have to be a Beta, Nana, so you can stay!” a girl piped up and Jaemin chuckled.

“Well, it’s not up to me to decide, is it? Now, since we just remembered how the old gods taught our ancestors all the skills they need to treat the forest how they have to in order to sustain life in it, who can tell me what tree this leaf belongs to?” Jaemin had grabbed whatever had been under his hand and held it up with a smile.

“Me!” “Me!” “Me!” “Me!”

Jaemin strongly believed in the fate of mates.

He didn’t know for sure if wind and trees made a wolf, but it was a beautiful story.

There was just one thing, that made it scary:

You didn’t feel the wind in you, your direction. That’d be a bit unpractical.

You’d have to smell it in your mate’s scent to know you belonged.

How should he do that?

What if that meant he’d never find the one waiting North, West, South, or East for him?

It was scary!

“Jaemin, I’m worried about you. Please, you know how… it would be better for you to be a Beta, you realise that, don’t you?”

Jaemin knew he had worried. He just didn’t see how it was his fault and why he was getting scolded now.

It wasn’t like he had done anything to appear a certain way, to appear more like an Omega. He had never done the extremely hard physical work, his abs had only ever been defined, never chiselled.

This summer had been his 19^th, meaning, he was meant to present any day now.

Sometimes, he felt something he hadn’t been able to before and wasn’t quite supposed to be able to yet. A new instinct that spoke of maturity.

“Dad, it’s not like I can influence it,” Jaemin pulled his legs up. It was true he had built up a bit of fat over the last weeks. He hadn’t been surprised, nor bothered. He had always known he wasn’t going to be an Alpha.

His father closed his eyes.

“I… know. Sorry. I didn’t mean to imply you did. I just…” he sunk down and took Jaemin’s hands from where he was holding his legs, “When you have a puppy, you know there’s a chance he might grow up to leave you and… there’s nothing you can do about it, but,” his father blinked and squeezed a little tighter, “That doesn’t mean it’s not still…. Scary. To give your puppy to the forest and to his fate, never to return.”

“I’m not dying,” Jaemin stared down to where his father’s hands were holding his. The hard work he did showed on him, the many disputes and won fights had left marks on his body. When he had been little, Jaemin had often cried when his father had gotten hurt in the process of something he had done to protect the pack.

“I know. I know,” his father took a deep breath, “What I mean is: please, don’t think whatever you end up presenting as means you are forced to be with someone if… they end up not being a perfect match. Especially if Omega is what you are. There are many bad people out there, who hurt their mates even though it’s not how it’s supposed to be. Their culture is different, their stories tell other pasts, their old gods followed different morals even though they’re the same as ours. It’s been so long ago, who can truly know who has the truth? Still, especially if Omega is what you are, it might hurt you to cling to an idea that’s not shared. They’ll…” his father took a deep breath, again.

Jaemin knew. The packs in the North were different. They had two Omegas who hailed from far north, their light fur speaking of the snow they had grown up in.

They’d not listen. They’d not respect. They’d take what they want. The north was known to be brutal – especially for Omegas, whom they saw as the lowest of the low.

Not only them, but even other packs in the south might expect him to submit and would have his mate dictate his life.

Jaemin knew.

Still, he believed he’d be spared.

If he found his mate, that was. If it was fate, he believed it’d not happen to him.

“If your mate, regardless of how right it feels, hurts you or makes you feel worthless, you can come back, okay, Nana? You’ll always be welcome here, I don’t care if it’s been a moon and ten cycles of the seasons. I don’t care if you bring puppies. It all doesn’t matter as long as you know you can come back if you’re not safe and happy. I want you to come back if you think that’s the right choice, regardless of what an old story tells you about the wind.”

Jaemin squeezed his father’s hands back.

“Okay. Thank you.”

His father nodded and blinked the wetness from his eyes before he pulled Jaemin closer and placed a kiss on his forehead.

“I love you, you’ll always be my puppy no matter how old you become.”

That night, Jaemin secretly cried into his pillow.

Growing up was hard. Even if he tried to not let it scare him. It still was intimidating, to have to go into the world, into a sacred forest, and see what fate had in store.

Because he knew not everyone was kind, not everyone was fair.

Because he didn’t know how he’d know who the wolf, waiting the direction he had gotten sent, would be since the world was almost scent-less to him.

He just wished he could still somehow immediately tell if they were the one.

He just wished they were good to him.

He just wished the story of the wind was true.

He was too old to still blindly believe it. Doubt was stronger. Knowledge destroyed faith.

Letting pessimism win over wasn’t who he wanted to be, though. No. It wasn’t who he was.

So, he dried his tears and curled up in his blankets to let sleep heal his fears and insecurities.

The next morning, he ran his fingers over his thighs, his hips, his chest, to just feel and accept.

Being an Omega wasn’t a bad fate. At all.

Omegas could be very strong. Omegas were some of the people bringing puppies into the world. Whoever could do that had to be tough as nails.

Jaemin loved puppies. He wanted to have many of them. If he was the one watching his mate carry them or do it himself, he didn’t care.

He wasn’t the only one, who should be able to tell who the right one was. His mate would be able to smell him, hopefully. Jaemin was supposed to be able to rely on them. He should be able to trust them.

If they ended up hurting that, his father had said what to do. He’d always be welcome here. Going to the forest wasn’t going to be a one-way ticket.

He didn’t need to be scared.

The night after, he woke up to a dark hut, his body sweaty and aching in need.

Heat.

Of course.

Jaemin took a deep and shaky breath.

It wasn’t a surprise, it really wasn’t.

Still, as he reached down to feel the slick, confirming what had already been clear for a few days, weeks, maybe even months, depending on how bravely he was to interpret signs, his fingers were trembling.

So, his fate was set, then.

Spring was most wolves’ favourite time of the year. Jaemin still preferred late summer, but he could admit there was plenty to love. Spring was beautiful, it brought warmth, flowers, and any worry over food becoming scarce over winter was dispelled and let the stress and anxiousness fall off the pack.

Spring was usually Jaemin’s second favourite time of the year.

Spring was just a little sad and scary, this year.

Still, he trusted in fate, maybe in the old gods, though he still wasn’t sure they existed, and he trusted in his father’s words as he packed up his belongings to head east.

To the sacred forest.

To find his mate, the one he was meant to be with, forever, hopefully.

For their departure, the pack held a feast. They had deer and honey and aged grape juice and Jaemin all forgot to be worried as he drank and laughed and fear turned to excitement.

Excitement for what was to come.

Of course, he knew there was a chance he’d come back unsuccessfully. It happened all the time that mates weren’t born during the same cycle of seasons and one had to wait for a bit.

He couldn’t be sure, though, so he made his goodbyes as if he already knew with certainty where he was headed. He kissed the puppies’ cheeks and ruffled their hair, telling them not to cry over him when it was a happy occasion.

He hugged his brother and let him tug on his ear playfully before letting go.

He let his mother kiss him and he tried to hold his tears as hers rolled down her cheeks.

His father kissed his forehead and whispered into his ear that he loved him, always.

And then, he left.

Together with two other wolves, of age but unmated, their second in command, and her mate, to accompany them how the tradition called for it.

Jaemin had never left their lands. Of course not. There was no reason to unless he wanted to move to one of the human cities, which he didn’t. Getting into another pack’s territory could mean anything from a mild offence to a declaration of war. Their pack had enough to suffice for them to eat well and have everything they needed to lead pleasant lives. Challenging anyone else for land would be selfish and unnecessarily risky. Going anywhere alone was dangerous. Outside their pack, a wolf was vulnerable and unlikely to survive for long.

So, why should he have ever left?

Now, it was different. Now, there was a reason to leave.

As they went, the vegetation changed little by little, less familiar flowers and trees grew from the soil that felt different under his paws than that at home, and paths that were hardly used guided their way.

It was all so new, Jaemin forgot all about being nervous and looked around how much he could at their travelling speed. He couldn’t smell any of this, just a faint note of the forests’ usually aroma lingered in his awareness, but that didn’t mean he had no way to experience it. Scent was just one of his senses. He still had eyes and ears to take in all the novelties and grow excited over them.

From their territory, it wasn’t far to the forest of the old gods’. Jaemin had never been, but the stories of the recent years were told at the campfire all the time as people tried to provoke envy in other wolves through how they had met their fated mate, becoming more dramatic with each repeat.

He had a rough image of what it might be like.

The trip there was short enough to do it in a day. They had left early, before sunrise, and the actual mating run wouldn’t start until the sun had set again. Jaemin knew exactly how it was supposed to go, it was important to know what would expect him and which rules he was to follow.

The Omegas went into the forest first, scattering and maybe even hiding if they wanted to test their mates’ tracking skills.

That would have posed an immense issue had Jaemin become the one having to find his mate.

But that wouldn’t happen. The old gods wouldn’t make it so it was doomed to fail, would they? That must have been why Jaemin had always known he wasn’t going to be an Alpha. Or a Beta, deep down. The old gods looked out for him, he hoped.

Despite the trip being short, they’d not make it back today, after it would all be over. It was too far to do that.

And it was too far when Jaemin felt it.

They were just miles before their goal and on their last slow leg to recharge their muscles for one final effort.

Jaemin’s body was aching, way too much even with regard to him never pushing himself to his physical limits like this.

It was aching, it felt hot, uncomfortable, and in desperate need of closeness and touch.

He must have missed the earlier signs because of his stress and nervousness before leaving his pack. They were always subtle and silent, easy to overlook, sneaking into his life once every other month before he was struck down with the force of his cycle.

Heat!

The word made a shiver run down Jaemin’s spine as realisation set in.

He halted in his tracks and tried to reason it away. Tell himself he was just tired.

No, not now!

He wasn’t due! He knew for sure that it had been supposed to hit shortly after the meeting because his healer had reminded him.

A young wolf’s cycle wasn’t stable, by all means. Especially before but also after getting mated, anything could trigger a heat or rut because their bodies were eager to reproduce.

Should he have been more careful with anything?

Too late now.

As he became aware of what had been happening, he realised how far into heat he already was, unnoticed because the physical activity had masked the signs by showing the same ones. Well. Not exactly the same. The exercise’s heat made him want to turn forms and jump into a river to cool off, the heat’s heat made him want to seek touch and warmth from someone else. I was instinct-driven and wouldn’t go away by calming down.

Jaemin knew.

Oh, why now? He had already been a bit worried over this, but with heat, on top?

He wanted to both go home and also run the rest of the way to search for his mate, all at the same time.

Heat left you idiotic like that.

The familiar feeling of warmth and lust ran over his skin, need making him whine and curl up while the other wolves of his pack had stopped and come back to see what was wrong.

They were in no man's land, on the strip between territories that would be left to allow other wolves passage without breaking pack rules.

Close to the sacred forest.

On the night of the mating run.

There was no possible worse timing. None. This was the worst place and the worst time to go into heat.

“Oh, Jaemin, that’s just bad luck,” it truly was.

Jaemin looked up at his second in command, who had her hand on his head and looked like she also didn’t really know what to do with him now.

He heard one of the unmated Alphas growl, likely reacting to his scent. He must have already been leaving pheromones for a bit now, but as the tail-end of their group, it had gone unnoticed.

Not only his pack-mates would be able to smell and follow it. It could attract attackers, someone to exploit an Omega in heat.

Jaemin knew, but he never had actually experienced it firsthand because they were hidden in a wolf’s scent. It was scary, one of the few things he felt were a true disadvantage because it made him vulnerable without him even really understanding how and why. He didn’t know how to tell Alphas, Betas, and Omegas apart other than by eye-colour in their wolves, but that didn’t mean others couldn’t smell him.

Not being able to smell himself, he easily forgot about that. The growl was a cruel reminder of why exactly this was just short of catastrophic timing.

It was absolutely forbidden to claim an Omega not your mate in the sacred forest.

Outside, those rules didn’t apply.

Of course, that wasn’t only a risk, it also was a good thing. You could sleep with people if you wanted to. Jaemin had for his past two heats because they were unbearable alone. Too bad that also wasn’t a good solution now because the others definitely shouldn’t miss the meeting.

Jaemin, most of all, shouldn’t miss the meeting.

He whined and rolled over.

If he’d, somehow, make it there, at least the first days with his mate were going to be dope because they’d both be instinct-driven, mainly. No time to realise the other might be not that nice a person.

If they were there.

“I’ll stay here with Jaemin, you’ll take his shirt with you,” he heard his second order.

Yes, please, they had to let them know, lure them to Jaemin.

Only…

If they were younger and not yet presented, he’d be waiting in vain.

If they, too, didn’t know how to scent him, he’d be waiting in vain.

This was miserable.

In this form, at the very least, he was unable to sweat and produce as much slick, but he also felt like he was melting in his own pelt and he couldn’t touch anywhere properly.

Sure, having sex or masturbating was pretty natural, but you didn’t do it right in front of your second in command, did you?

“Jaemin? Did you hear me?”

No.

Jaemin looked up and whined, hoping to look regretful.

“I said the others took your shirt. If your mate is there, it should be quite impossible for them to miss it. If not… well, we’d have to get you home.”

Jaemin whined louder. This was just awful.

Yes, it was possible for them to miss him – if they didn’t have a sense of smell. Of course, she wouldn’t think of that, but Jaemin did and he couldn’t even be upset because he’d understand. It didn’t make them incomplete, not at all.

Oh, please, his mate had to be there, find him, and save him from the fate of making a day’s march in heat! Save him from his heat, in general. The gods had to send them his direction. The stories always said how mates would complete each other, his mate had to make up for this one thing Jaemin was short of!

Especially right now.

He needed someone close, he needed someone to touch him.

His second in command was an Alpha and she smelt good, soothing, but she was also taken and older and thus not an option, not even to Jaemin’s heat-confused body. And, again, some sort of decency.

He rolled onto his side and pushed his legs from himself, hoping to relieve the warmth at least a little. It hardly helped.

The only thing that would help, was rolling to his stomach and humping the ground or, much better, shifting forms and touching himself, properly.

Why now, why him?

“Jaemin, I spread the blanket, come move here,” he was ripped from wallowing in self-pity.

He obediently changed from the grass to onto the blanket. His legs were already aching. The fabric was soft when he flopped onto it. If he’d shift, he’d not have to worry about anything breaking his skin while pushing his fingers into himself…

Oh, why? He hated this. He hoped the old gods, if they were real and watching, were having a good laugh.

But what if his mate was still some dickhead, after all?

Or what if his mate was the same as him, which would be okay, but how should they find each other when he was here, struck down by heat?

He just wanted them to find him!

Maybe it’d still work out? Maybe the gods had made sure to remember Jaemin couldn’t smell and had found a mate for him that did?

As he tried to hold still and let the heat burn itself out, his thoughts wandered.

He wanted someone cute, as his mate. He didn’t care male, female, Alpha, or Beta. Or Omega. Someone cute would be great. Jaemin had always liked cute things. At the same time, it should be someone, who’d take care of him. Especially his heat-ridden brain put much emphasis on that.

He stopped himself. He didn’t want to wish for too much and be disappointed or give someone, who didn’t fit, no chance.

As long as they were kind and fair, he was sure they’d figure it out, right?

Still, his thoughts kept wandering back.

He hoped for someone who’d not mind if Jaemin whined a bit and someone who’d be weak to him acting cute to get his way? His older brother had always been, especially recently. Jaemin liked that.

Definitely someone who liked puppies.

The more he imagined some cute, sweet, nice, kind, and fair person, that would hopefully break from the treeline any moment now, the hotter his body burnt, the harder it was to stay in this form and try to accommodate himself by just rolling over and stretching his legs away to allow for some air circulation.

If they weren’t here?

If they also couldn’t scent him?

Jaemin wanted to cry.

He wanted his mate!

Please!

This was just awful, alone. He knew his mate was meant for him, really, it couldn’t be too bad, he was sure of it! The gods must have remembered to give them a way to direct one to the other! They had made Jaemin an Omega, surely for that reason, right?

He needed someone with him, helping him through this.

His mate.

Maybe, he should go looking, after all?

He rose to his legs, but, immediately, he had a hand on his neck.

“Don’t even think about going anywhere, young man. Not like that,” his second in command growled and Jaemin let her push him back down. His legs hurt, especially his hind legs. They always did during heat because his body was very much capable of taking a knot without even much preparation, but that took a toll.

He hated this.

What a miserable fate. 

He had never hated his lack of smell, but now it suddenly seemed scary and impossible to overcome.

He had never hated being an Omega, but he hated it right now and having a heat that left him here, far away but longing.

Jaemin started gnawing on the cloth, that he had wrapped around his clothes to carry them.

It didn’t help.

He still felt miserable and lonely and so incredibly turned on and over-heated.

He went back to thinking about this mate of his, that he was waiting for.

His brain thought this was the best thing to think about, right now.

Maybe, to complete the cute part, he’d like someone pretty over someone handsome? Yeah. He liked pretty people. Someone cute and pretty but someone who’d not hesitate to touch him how he needed it right now.

Jaemin was going to lose his mind.

He glanced at his second in command. It wasn’t proper, but the longer he was waiting, the less he cared. He needed release, so badly!

No, he’d wait until the moon was high in the sky. If no one had come by then, he’d give in. 

Jaemin bit down on the cloth harder, trying to take his mind off this body burning and aching.

What if his mate was some huge bully? Someone who’d not take care of him well?

No.

No, it’d be fine, it was just his fear speaking. He didn’t need her in his life now. 

However, if he ignored fear, lust got to burn hotter.

It was the choice between two evils, wasn’t it?

Suddenly, he heard someone from the forest, interrupting his endless thinking in circles.

Immediately, his head snapped up and he looked around, hoping to find the source.

Was it, by any chance, them?

It felt like it would be.

Jaemin got to his legs. He needed to know, he hoped so much to be right.

He needed them. Right now. He needed them close, touching, finally relieving him of his aching heat!

He couldn't smell anything but his instincts still told him it was the one.

“What do you think you’re…” Jaemin wanted to growl at his second in command for touching and holding him back, but his eyes got stuck on the wolf that appeared between the trees, slowing down as they reached the small clearing and they raised their head, sniffing audibly before locating them.

Their coat was a deep brown, full of leaves stuck in it from going off well-used tracks, and even at the distance, Jaemin could tell they were of smaller built – female or small male, then?

He wished he could smell them. To know for sure.

But he didn't. He just… thought and… hoped and… wished.

Jaemin tried to take a step forward, but his second in command pulled him back and was suddenly in front of him, having switched forms.

Why?

Jaemin whined loudly, trying to convey his overall disagreement with the situation. He needed to get closer because he couldn't smell anything! He needed to find out some other way!

However, as he was still uncoordinated-ly trying to make it happen, the other wolf shifted form and rose up to stand on two legs.

Jaemin completely forgot about his second in command and stared.

It was a guy, then, not very tall, definitely, with slim shoulders and hips, but strong muscle lining his body, making him look bigger. His hair was cut quite short, just to his brows, ruffled and sticking up from having been in wolf-form, a stray leaf still inside.

He looked their direction, but not really. Was he shy?

Unlike him, Jaemin could not tear his eyes away for a second.

So.

Pretty.

He forgot about everything around himself for a few moments of just staring, taking him in, trying to observe everything and each last detail there was to be found out about.

He was everything Jaemin could wish of. And he was here.

So?

Was it him?

Jaemin still didn't know for sure because he couldn't smell him…

If only he said something, why he was here?

Once more, Jaemin found himself whining and the guy's eyes seemed to focus on him before flitting away.

“Hello. Sorry, this seems like a bad place and bad manners, but I picked up your scent,” the Alpha broke the silence.

His voice…

It was like a pull. Jaemin couldn't describe it any other way. He might not be able to smell him, but he just knew.

And he had picked up his scent, right?

"His scent?" His second asked.

Jaemin wanted to ask some things, too, but his body was overwhelmed and shifting seemed as hard as if he was a puppy. He wanted to stare, listen, and feel, it was more important than shifting, right now.

"The Omega's," the Alpha wasn't loud but it was assertive. He was confident.

His voice felt like home, sounded like safety and everything Jaemin wished for, like someone who’d know how to take care of him.

He seemed perfect, from head to toe.

"They're my mate, I'm sure of it,” the stranger confirmed what Jaemin had thought, too.

Jaemin's form finally melted away.

He immediately felt a sheen of sweat build on his skin, but the relief of air right on it was immense and he tried to get a second to calm down, but he couldn’t. He felt wetness between his legs, where he was sitting, and his dick was achingly hard and sticking up, wanting attention.

"Jaemin? Does he smell the same to you?" 

No, he didn't. No one smelt of much to him. Jaemin wouldn't have found him, but the other had found him. The gods had remembered there was something he needed his mate to help him with and sent him his direction.

He didn’t need to smell him to know.

"I know he must!" Jaemin wanted to get past her and closer and he saw the Alpha take a step forward, too, but he was held back once more, a growl making both of them pull back from just finally getting each other.

Jaemin hated it.

"He must? Describe his scent!" 

He froze.

He… didn't know.

How did people always say it did…

"I just know, please!"

Her worried and doubtful expression slowly melted.

She sighed, “I’ll give you until the moon touches the treetops and I’ll be back to check.”

Jaemin nodded. He didn’t care what she did, he only cared about him, his mate.

He turned to where he still stood, waiting, but clearly losing patience. He had his hands in fists and his dick was just as much hard as Jaemin’s was. Mates triggered each other, meaning, he must be in rut or about to go into it.

Jaemin didn’t want him to hold back anymore.

“Hi!” he heard himself sounding a little out of breath but he didn’t think anyone would blame him, in this situation.

The second leaving his side, paws on the soil disappearing into the woods, and his greeting were the sign they could give in.

Almost immediately, he fell into motion.

Thank the moon.

With three fast steps, he was on the blanket. He hesitated for a second and felt it with his fingers as if he was surprised to find something so soft there.

Jaemin sniffed, hoping to get something, but it was too weak for him to pick it up. He might be able if his mate allowed him to lick right over the crook of his neck. Maybe he would. He’d ask once it felt right.

The Alpha sat down a bit away and Jaemin hated he did, so, he scooted over.

"Hi. Again," Jaemin giggled. His hand found the other's and the Alpha squeezed his fingers back. 

Jaemin tried to hold eye contact, but the other didn't even try to find his face. Why not? Did he not find him pretty?

"Hey," but his voice was so reassuring… but didn’t you have to think your mate was pretty? Well… maybe not? "I'm Renjun. What's your name?" He wanted Renjun to find him pretty, though!

Jaemin swallowed his worries.

"I'm Jaemin,” Jaemin didn’t think himself introverted, but he felt giddy and nervous now. His heat was making it all worse. He wanted his mate to like him, he wanted for this to go well.

"Can I touch you?" He had worried over nothing, right? Renjun wanted to touch him.

He’d take care of him, right?

"Yes! Yes, please! Please!" Jaemin heard himself start to whine but he had been in heat for hours now.

He needed it! 

And Renjung didn't wait, dispelling more of his fears. Jaemin felt his hands on his arms, going up until he graced them over his neck. His touch was gentle but confident. Just right. Just what Jaemin wanted in his mate.

He couldn’t be too bad, right? He was being perfect so far, how a mate was supposed to be! Jaemin felt himself burning up hotter and his body aching for more, for sexual touch, as Renjun’s fingers slid over the sensitive skin on his neck, where his scent glands were sitting, where a mating bite was supposed to be…

"You smell so good. Do I smell good to you, too?" Renjun asked and leaned a bit closer.

Jaemin swallowed.

He never told people.

But his mate…?

"Are you okay? Your heartbeat picked up suddenly?" Renjun's brows furrowed in worry. He still wasn’t really looking at Jaemin but his eyes kept flitting around.

Jaemin swallowed. He’d ask him why he didn’t hold eye contact later.

"I…” it was suddenly hard to say it. Would Renjun not like him because of it? It had never been much of a worry of his but, suddenly, it was and Jaemin felt tears rise in fear of being rejected, his heat intensifying his emotions tenfold. He reached up to hold onto Renjun’s arms, hoping to keep him here and Renjun cocked his head and gently stroked his thumbs over Jaemin’s jaw as if to encourage him. “I was born without it. Um. Smell. Almost. I can taste a bit. But I swear I can make up for it because I can see extremely well and hear and feel!”

Jaemin wasn’t incomplete just with a missing sense even though wolves relied so much on it.

“Oh,” Renjun’s voice was soft and Jaemin sniffled, “Don’t be upset. I understand.”

“Yeah? Because I’m still really sure the gods directed me to you even though I don’t know your scent, it feels really like it!”

Renjun smiled.

Jaemin’s breath caught in his throat. He was so pretty…

“Okay. That’s reassuring, that you don’t feel like I’m tricking you because… that’d be awful. Since you smell so amazing and sound so… perfect. Actually, well, maybe the gods thought they’d give you someone who can smell really well to do it for you?”

“Yeah?” Jaemin was still clinging to Renjun. Why was he not looking at him, though? His words were so kind but did he still not like Jaemin? Maybe?

“Yes. My sense of smell is very good, just how you see really well, right? You could see for me because I can’t.”

Jaemin gasped.

“So you don’t think I’m ugly?”

Renjun’s eyes widened and his eyebrows rose. For a second, he focussed on a place over Jaemin’s shoulder and when Jaemin stared hard at him, he realised that his gaze was empty, unseeing.

“No!”

“Oh, no, I’m so sorry, I didn’t, I mean, I just… since you didn’t look at me I thought you might find me ugly and I thought my mate would have to think I’m pretty,” Jaemin realised he was whining, but Renjun chuckled and pulled him a bit closer until Jaemin was breathing right against his lips and stopped rambling.

“I’m sure you’re the prettiest since you’re my mate,” Renjun whispered. It did wonders, to hear this praise, and Jaemin leaned forward just a bit more until he could kiss Renjun. He must have hoped for that and kissed right back. It sent sparks down Jaemin’s spine, his body starting to tingle and burn and ache for more.

He needed his mate to touch him and treat him right!

And he did. Renjun started to grow hungrier and Jaemin was all too willing to let him take the lead and submit.

It was his mate, it was right, he was going to be good for him, he knew.

Renjun was just as confident in licking into his mouth as he had been with everything else.

Jaemin knew lacking a sense didn’t make you worth less or helpless.

Renjun certainly was not lacking anything in an Alpha and he let him know. Jaemin felt himself become wetter for him, eager to feel him more, feel him everywhere.

Excited, he let his hands drop from his arms and onto Renjun’s thighs. They were hard and the skin warm, probably from running and the rut heating him up, how Jaemin’s heat would him.

Renjun, obviously, couldn’t have missed it and a small growl built in the back of his throat.

Jaemin whimpered and let him push him back onto the blanket, Renjun hovering over him, still kissing and making his head swim because it was so good and he needed it so much.

Wow.

He found purchase on his shoulders as Renjun mapped out his mouth, his tongue pushing against Jaemin’s with purpose, making him struggle to keep up but want to even more.

It was so… good!

Still, Renjun pulled away and Jaemin whined in his throat.

“Can I touch your face? So I can feel how you look?” Renjun’s voice was deeper now, his breathing a little hurried. Jaemin had wanted different touch but he was ripped from that because…

Yes. He’d love that.

“Of course,” he whispered and Renjun smiled.

“Thank you.”

He let his hands wander up from his jaw. He travelled them over his cheeks, feeling his mouth, his nose, and Jaemin closed his eyes, but Renjun never got anywhere it would have hurt, finishing by going over his brows and forehead.

“You’re the prettiest,” Renjun rasped and Jaemin couldn’t help the moan that spilt from his lips, “the very prettiest,” Renjun repeated and kissed him once more.

“Thank you,” Jaemin loved it when people told him, but he loved it even more when it was Renjun.

It was like a warm hug.

However, he remembered something…

“Could I… uh, this might be odd, but could I lick over your scent glands?” Jaemin felt weird asking for that, but Renjun immediately nodded.

“Yes! Let me know how I can help you, Jaemin, I want to do everything for you.”

Everything.

How a mate should.

Jaemin pulled him down but kissed him instead of going for his neck right away.

“Thank you!”

The gods had known why they had decided to match them. Of course, they had.

Jaemin felt his fangs heavy in his mouth, but he had only asked to lick, not yet bite, so, he held back and just carefully lapped over the skin. Renjun shivered and Jaemin guessed it must be hard to endure from how he heard his breathing pick up.

It was faint, but scent and taste always were for Jaemin. But it was there, this… unique and absolutely incomparable note that only his mate could have.

It was enough to make him have to close his eyes because it was like his heat got intensified from knowing how Renjun smelt, even just a bit.

“Good?” Renjun was breathless and Jaemin gasped, nodding before realising he couldn’t see.

“Too good, I’m losing my mind.”

He had missed Renjun letting go with one hand and only realised he had when it brushed down his front, over a hardened nipple.

“Me, too.”

“Urgh,” Jaemin was too far into his heat. Even such a small gesture let him jerk in pleasure and his dick twitch, more wetness seeping from his ass.

“Your smell is unbelievable, moon,” Renjun whispered and Jaemin struggled to open his eyes and look at him again. Renjun’s were closed now, but Jaemin didn’t feel a hint of insecurity anymore.

Wow.

“Can I…?” his hand crept lower.

Oh, yes, Jaemin needed him.

“Please!” he pushed his legs open almost on instinct.

Renjun didn’t even hesitate for another second, another growl building in his chest.

His hand finally reached where Jaemin needed him and Renjun closed his fingers around his cock, that twitched in his touch.

Jaemin whined. Oh, heaven, yes, please!

Yes, he loved this, he loved being taken care of, so, so much.

And Renjun seemed to love taking care of him because he leaned down and kissed him once more, his hand pushing up and down his length once, twice, and Jaemin tried to deal with it but it was difficult because it was all so much, so good, so right, and he needed it so badly!

Once more, Renjun must have read his mind because his fingers dipped lower and between his thighs, where his slick was smeared over his ass and down his legs, all messy and sticky.

Jaemin whined and clung onto Renjun’s shoulders, trying to ground himself but feeling too lightheaded already. It was too good how he pushed two fingers into him, easily breaching the muscle that heat had loosened and warmed up already.

He needed it and Renjun was giving him everything.

So good.

He searched, crooking his fingers and Jaemin pushed his head back, breaking their kiss, “Up, just a bit, please, urgh, th-there,” pleasure ran over his skin, leaving him shaky and almost unable to hold onto Renjun because it was so good and so much and he needed it so badly and loved that Renjun was giving it to him.

Renjun kept sucking marks onto his neck, his breathing heavy and hot on his skin, and Jaemin felt his fangs gracing the skin, ready to mark his Omega as his own, forever.

“I need to knot you, please,” Renjun’s voice was a raspy growl, almost, while Jaemin kept whining, but he couldn’t imagine anything hotter and Renjun hadn't said he didn’t like his whimpering, so, Jaemin hoped he could just keep doing it.

He needed him to knot him, so badly, it almost hurt.

“Please, yes, please, oh, Renjun!”

His brain was empty for any thought but that. Heat left you like that.

“Can you get on all four?”

Jaemin was far past caring and with Renjun’s height, it’d be easiest after if they did it like this.

Renjun kept his hands on his hip and shoulder while Jaemin wiggled around, so he could feel where he was, and Jaemin’s thighs trembled when he propped himself up.

He felt more slick run down his thighs. It was ridiculous, but that was what heat did.

“Please, Renjun, please, please, need you,” Jaemin had never been above begging and Renjun growled so gutturally, he guessed he didn’t mind that he wasn’t.

Renjun’s hands found his ass with ease, helping him to find where to kneel behind Jaemin. He tried to look over his shoulder, tried to watch how Renjun looked, but when he felt the tip of his cock nudge against him, Jaemin couldn’t be bothered anymore.

He shamelessly pushed himself back the same moment he felt it and Renjun’s push forward let his cock slide into his ass so quickly, Jaemin cried out because it was so intense, yet, he wanted even more.

“Jaemin, careful,” Renjun groaned, “Don’t overdo it.”

“No, it’s so good!” Jaemin loved how he was stretched open, how Renjun was not lacking in any department, including this, feeling thick and long inside. He didn’t bother waiting to adjust, his body was ready, had been for a while now. He just started rocking back and forth, feeling the tug on his rim.

Renjun moaned so beautifully and didn’t leave Jaemin hanging. He picked up the pace, first matching, then faster than Jaemin, thrusting into him in long strides.

Jaemin heard how he moaned, he heard the wet noise of Renjun fucking him, but he could only focus on how it felt, which was absolutely amazing.

“Renjun,” he knew he was not going to last, his heat making it even easier to come than it would have already been.

“Jaemin, you’re so good for me.”

Jaemin felt his arms give out and he clenched down, hoping to get more on that sweet spot. He heard Renjun groan and his thrust became harder, right where he had hoped to get it.

“C-close,” Jaemin couldn’t even hold his head up anymore, his body too shaky, as Renjun picked the pace up more and more, making it so fast and so good, Jaemin could not even breathe properly anymore.

“Yeah,” Renjun groaned. Jaemin was making him feel good and he felt good, and he felt Renjun swell, caching on his rim.

It wasn’t a full knot yet, but just the feeling of being stretched open more while still pushing into his prostate so good was enough.

Jaemin hard himself sob and cry out, his body locking up and trying to keep Renjun inside as he came over the blanket.

Renjun kept going and Jaemin’s legs started to give out, but he knew it was going to be just a moment now, he could bear with it.

“Jaemin,” Renjun’s voice broke and Jaemin felt him cum inside, his knot filling out and locking him in place. Renjun ground into him and Jaemin kept twitching, his body wanting all of that. Getting opened so much stung, even in heat. The feeling of fullness was almost too much after being so sensitive, but Jaemin also loved it and heard himself moan and gasp helplessly.

So, this was his mate?

Jaemin had no complaints…

When their highs had worn off, it left them with a moment of clarity.

“Let’s lay down?” Renjun softly suggested and Jaemin hummed. He could feel the next wave building up, but, for now, he was knotted and happy.

Renjun was so gentle, yet strong enough to easily manoeuvre Jaemin onto his side, then wrap his arm around him and pull him close.

Jaemin almost purred in happiness.

“Good?”

“So good.”

There was a moment of silence, then, Jaemin looked over his shoulder and Renjun reached out to touch his face at the same moment.

“Oh.”

“Ah, I wanted to look at you.”

“Huh, so did I.”

Jaemin quite nearly went feral on his second in command when she did check on them and Renjun had just been pushing his tongue into him.

It wasn’t nice and he felt sorry when Renjun had knotted him again and let reason reclaim his brain, so he went to find where she had said his old pack’s delegation had made camp and apologised like a decent person would.

It was an odd goodbye. Obviously, the others wouldn’t just stay around for days until his heat would have broken. That his brain was already 75% back to horny for Renjun while goodbying probably saved him a lot of tears.

Jaemin got spoilt worse than he ever had before in his life. Whenever even a slight worry arose from the back of his head, he found it completely unreasonably because Renjun would do something wonderful just moments later.

He hunted, so they’d have to eat, despite being in rut.

He got water, so they’d have to drink, despite being in rut.

He bit Jaemin’s shoulder to leave two perfect crescents exactly how Jaemin had asked if he could maybe do because it looked kind of cute.

He told Jaemin about his pack, that they’d have to get quite a bit of travelling down to get there because they were further north, but not so much north they’d get to the snowy region of the scary stories.

Quite the contrary.

Renjun’s pack sounded lovely. When they were calming down, brains momentarily clear and bodies locked together, Renjun explained how many people there were, how it was led, which tasks were usually done by whom, and so on.

Jaemin loved the part where Renjun’s Alpha shared his title with his Omega mate. It truly sounded like the wind had sent those two into each other’s arms. It was so heartwarming!

Though, it seemed like his own mate was just right for him, too. Exactly how the stories had always promised. He wished he had a way to tell his father, but he didn’t. His seconds surely would let him know and Jaemin would wish for the stars to carry his’s hearts message, from time to time.

“Do you have many puppies? Do you like puppies?” Jaemin knew his heat always left him even more puppy-crazed than he already was, but he might as well bring it up now, that Renjun was telling him about home – his soon-to-be-home.

“Puppies? Well, um, one? Or two if I count Jisung, but he’ll be an adult this year.”

“That’s a puppy!” Jaemin nodded to himself.

He was already looking forward to meeting them so much!

“The other packs have a few more. But, how did Ten call it, it’s pregnancy hell, so there’ll be more.”

Jaemin hummed and snuggled against Renjun a bit tighter.

“Do you like them? You didn’t say.”

Renjun chuckled, “Well, Jisung can be a bit annoying, but he’s really sweet, most of the time. Meng ist just cute when she’s not crying. Crying is… it’s loud.”

“Aw, well, but puppies can’t speak yet.”

“I guess.”

Jaemin’s body had mercy. On day four, his heat broke and a few hours later, so did Renjun’s rut.

Travelling a long distance sounded like the last thing Jaemin wanted to do right now, but it couldn’t be helped. He also didn’t want to stay here any longer, it was boring, it was lonely, and there was only meat to eat and the hard ground.

Apparently, Renjun relying only on smell to get them home meant some… less traditional paths. Such as right through bushes.

Jaemin was absolutely useless in finding any path and all he could do was make himself fit through the holes Renjun would rip into the underbrush.

“You have… everything in your hair. Just saying,” Jaemin chuckled and tugged leaves and sticks from where they were between the strands.

“Ow!”

“I’m sorry,” Jaemin muttered and more carefully freed some raspberry thorns before he flopped down and leaned closer, giving Renjun enough time to sense him before kissing him, so he’d not startle him. It had happened once and they had knocked their heads painfully together. Renjun had explained how Jaemin could help him avoid it and Jaemin had ever since.

It wasn’t even hard, it had already become completely natural.

“Let me do it for you, too,” Renjun whispered and Jaemin pulled away, then shuffled until he could put his head into Renjun’s lap.

“Okay.”

Renjun chuckled and gently ran a hand over his cheek.

“It’s weird, right?” Jaemin felt him pull out a stay leaf. The tug on his hair was just right to be kind of nice.

“What? The paths we take? I’d say so, but I don’t have any better suggestions, so I won’t.”

Renjun flicked his fingers against Jaemin’s hair playfully.

“Hey! We’re almost home already, no complaints from the peanut gallery.”

“I wasn’t,” Jaemin whined and nuzzled against Renjun’s legs.

“Okay, okay, oh sun, Jaemin, there’s my dick, please, careful!”

Jaemin knew. He brought up a hand and let his fingers grace over the soft skin on it, making Renjun shiver and gasp.

“See, this, this is what I meant with seeing and smelling and, urgh,” Renjun had to stop playing with Jaemin’s hair, but Jaemin didn’t stop, he only grew bolder, “It feels like I’ve known you forever. My pack says it’s the other half of your soul, it really does feel like that.”

Renjun’s breath hitched and Jaemin hummed.

Two halves of a soul, he also liked that.

“My pack says all wolves have the direction of the wind in them, one north, one south, they will find together,” he sat up and blinked at Renjun, slowly leaning closer so Renjun could sense it.

“That’s beautiful,” Renjun whispered, his hand coming up to cup Jaemin’s jaw gently before he pulled him closer and kissed him.

Jaemin agreed. He hoped he wasn’t wrong about Renjun, he wasn’t missing something when he was falling so hard and so fast for him, but he didn’t think he was.

It felt like it was just… right. He simply completed him like the other half of his soul.

Jaemin scooted up until he could straddle Renjun, comfortably sitting down in his lap as their hardening cocks slid against each other.

“I was so sure I’d not want sex for the next year after that,” Renjun chuckled and Jaemin felt his hands on his ass, pulling him closer, so they could get even more friction. He had to lean down a bit because he was so much taller than Renjun like this, but he liked it so much, he liked how Renjun could effortlessly support him and just take care of him.

“Really? I wasn’t,” Jaemin rolled his hips down against where he felt Renjun’s fingers and he managed to get them to slide against his hole, where wetness was slowly collecting. It’d take a bit longer, now, that he wasn’t in heat, but Renjun got the hit and gently rubbed over it to hurry it up.

“I didn’t really mean that. I was just so tired. I’ve never spent a rut with an Omega, it was somehow a lot wilder,” Renjun’s voice was light and Jaemin leaned down enough to kiss his cheeks just because he could.

“Or it’s just because it’s your incredible, wonderful, and very hot mate!”

“Surely, that must have been it,” Renjun raised his eyebrows playfully, but Jaemin ignored that and just kissed him.

Renjun lazily fingered him, slow and just right. Jaemin couldn’t deny he was still sore, but he’d really like just slow and gentle sex, exactly what Renjun was giving him without him even asking for it.

It was so perfect.

Jaemin moaned softly when Renjun massaged that perfect spot. He didn’t need much stretching after his heat just having passed two days ago, but Renjun made sure he was still thoroughly prepared and wet.

It was just wonderful, perfect, amazing, all things good.

“I could just finger you if you want?”

Jaemin kissed him again, just because it felt right.

“You’re so perfect, really.”

Renjun chuckled and rubbed his hand over where it was low on his back, supporting Jaemin.

“Thanks.”

“Can we take it slow? I’d rather want that,” Jaemin muttered and Renjun immediately nodded.

“Let me take care of you?”

Jaemin sighed happily and let Renjun push him until he was flat against their blanket, spread out for him. He would have ridden Renjun, but this was even better.

It was already like second nature when Renjun pushed him up and slid his thighs under Jaemin’s ass and Jaemin wrapped his legs around his waist.

Yes, it had been horrible timing, but there were definitely some benefits to being in heat during the mating run, at least Jaemin felt like it had been a good start for the both of them.

He sighed deeply when Renjun pushed into him, going just as slow and gentle as he had asked.

It was perfect.

It became even more perfect when Renjun raised his legs up to angle him better and rolled his hips, slow but deep. Jaemin didn’t hold back from moaning because while he saw how Renjun’s face flushed and how stunning he looked as he fulfilled his every wish, Renjun didn’t see him and Jaemin wanted to give him something to make up for that, so he’d know exactly how perfect he was being.

They kept going slow even as Renjun started to pull out more, he kept the pace gentle and Jaemin felt his orgasm build without being overwhelmed.

It was exactly right and Jaemin enjoyed every second of it and it seemed so did Renjun, which made it even better.

When he felt his knot start to build, Jaemin reached down to help himself along a bit, pushing his hand up and down his cock because he didn’t want to take much longer than Renjun. Renjun must have felt it and his hand pushed Jaemin’s away without even asking.

Jaemin had zero complaints, he just bucked up into the grip and back down onto his dick as he got closer at the same lazy tempo they had taken from start.

It was exactly right and with the added pleasure, Jaemin’s orgasm broke just a few second’s after Renjun’s. It wasn’t a mindblowing high, it was just a nice feel-good moment and made him even more eager to cuddle and kiss Renjun right after, basking in his body-warmth and the attention he paid him.

“Here’s the border,” Jaemin had been about to ask why on earth Renjun had suddenly stopped and shifted, but that explained it.

It was already late in the day and Jaemin had been desperate to finally get there. If he really tried, he could pick it up, now, that he knew it was supposed to be here.

Jaemin shifted. So, this would be his home now?

Renjun looked as unsure about how significant exactly this would be as him.

“Welcome?”

Jaemin swallowed.

“I’m suddenly nervous,” he mumbled and stared at the thick trees ahead. The village would be far from here, deep inside the territory, but it suddenly seemed very scary.

“Don’t be. I’m here with you, okay? I’ll keep you safe and protected!” Renjun’s hand found purchase on his arm and Jaemin felt genuinely reassured.

“Okay. Okay, I’m sure it’ll be wonderful, just how you said.”

“Yeah! I told you exactly how I know my home to be, I didn’t make anything up.”

“Good.”

“Good? Then, let’s go?”

Jaemin nodded, then remembered it’d not translate.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

The moment they stepped into the land, it seemed like Renjun slipped into an entirely different version of himself.

No more fighting through underbrush and thorns. He knew where he was going and Jaemin no longer had to curl up to fit the same passages as he.

It felt like…

Home.

When huts came into sight, Jaemin’s worries had already started to get lost in the woods, dispelled as Renun had shown him just how much he loved and knew this place.

Smoke raised from a fireplace and it suddenly felt as if Jaemin had always belonged here.

Well.

He had. He just hadn’t known.

“Ready?” Renjun’s eyes didn’t find him, but he had his face turned to Jaemin to reassure him and Jaemin reached out to take his hand.

“Very ready.”