Chapter Text
Whatever Jimin was expecting, it definitely wasn’t this. Perhaps he should have listened to his wolf when it felt unsettled this morning. Maybe he should have canceled the event and called in sick. Come up with some believable reasons.
How could my manager do this to me?
He specifically remembered instructing him to not book anything that was connected to the shady underground criminals. But here he was right at the heart of the crime syndicate gala. And as for Taehyung, he was booked for another event conveniently far away from this fucking hotel.
How convenient.
They were always booked together. Taehyung always accompanied him to the performances. At least this should have served as a warning, but both models hadn’t given much thought. Having different schedules outside Korea was normal. But when they were here, Taehyung never let their manager book different schedules. He should have thought about it.
An involuntary shudder ran through his body for the umpteenth time. He was still dressed in his dance clothes. His teeth sunk into his bottom lip as he clutched his phone in his tight grip. He couldn’t stay inside the bathroom forever. He had to go outside as he had two more performances before the night ended.
With shaky hands, he texted Taehyung who wasn’t answering his calls. He prayed he checked his phone during his break.
He felt foolish, trapped in a wolf’s den. Jimin might be a wolf, but he was an omega. And he was in a hungry alpha’s den. An alpha he tried hard to stay away from. An alpha, who had his eyes on him ever since his eyes fell on him on that fashion show two years ago.
Kang Minhyuk tried everything in his power to have the omega model in his bed. He’d sent flowers and courting gifts almost every day since that show.
However, as luck would have it, Jimin had landed a deal with a leading agency in Paris and grabbed the opportunity with both his hands. He hadn’t thought twice before signing the contract that would keep him in Paris for two years.
Park Jimin and Kim Taehyung were the ‘IT’ models who had garnered fame and success wherever they went. The brands competed to sign them to represent their products. The famous soulmates who have never been apart.
But aside from the modeling gig, Jimin was also a well-known dancer known for his contemporary and traditional Korean dance forms. When he wasn’t busy traveling the world for his shows or walking the ramps, Jimin danced in high-profile events that paid him well.
This was supposed to be one such gig, except the moment he stepped onto that stage he realized he walked into a trap. The event wasn’t a charity gala as his manager informed him. His skin crawled and the wolf within him wanted to tuck its tail and run as far as from them.
He could feel his filthy eyes on him throughout the performance and just the thought had him dry heave as soon as he was back in his room. They had booked him a luxurious suite and nothing had looked amiss. He’d locked himself up in the bathroom and called Taehyung. The model answered after a few tries and told him he was on his way.
Jimin wasn’t someone who shrugged off his wolf’s instincts. He and his wolf were in tune with each other. They always listened to each other. If his wolf said there was something wrong then there was something wrong.
And Jimin was panicking because it felt like he was back in high school once again. It was the same feeling he had back that unfortunate day and goosebumps broke out of his skin at the memory. His wolf was restless inside him.
“Jimin-ssi,” his assistant called. “You have to be on stage in five minutes. Are you done?”
Jimin let out a startled gasp and sweat broke out of his skin. “Y-Yeah. I’ll be out now.” He quickly cleaned his face and hurried out of the room, praying Taehyung reached sooner.
***
He shouldn’t have gone back to his room. He shouldn’t have taken that damned drink. But Jimin wasn’t expecting this. He was too focused on getting out of that place he didn’t pause to heed his wolf’s warning as he chugged half the bottle of water. It was when his vision began to blur and his body swayed he realized something had gone terribly wrong.
His anxious gaze flicked to his assistant who looked apologetic before excused himself out of the room. His mouth tasted like sandpaper and the scents surrounding him were throwing his senses into haywire.
Too much pheromone in the air. Too filthy.
Jimin staggered to his feet, hands patting to grab his phone.
Taehyung.
He needed Taehyung. His soulmate. The alpha of his two-member pack. His protector.
How long has it been? He prolonged the performances to give Taehyung enough time to reach here. He put up some freestyle and kept the crowd entertained. Since he was the last performer of the day, it hadn’t been an issue. But then the damned alphas had stepped on the stage and told him to stop.
Jimin had conceded and hurried to his room, hoping to get the hell out of there under the fall pretense of security. He ignored the calls and texts from his manager as he called Taehyung again when his assistant opened the door to let the alphas inside.
Tears trickled down his cheek as his hip hit the dresser of the room. He looked up to see the five alphas crowding his space.
Who would have thought the assistant who was with you through five years would stab you in the back? He’d treated that beta as a friend. This was the last thing he expected. A few minutes ago, he’d thought he could at least count on the guy to keep him safe until Taehyung arrived.
“My, my, my, look at him, will you?” The tallest one in the crowd said. “No wonder the boss is smitten with him. Where did you learn to move your body like that, sweetheart?”
“I wonder what he smells like,” another wondered. This one looked buff, full of muscles like a bouncer.
Jimin gripped the edge of the dresser, his fingers curling around the wood as he tried to keep himself steady. “W-What do you want?”
The alphas laughed. “You, of course. We are here to take you to our boss, but he wouldn’t know if we had a little fun at first,” the first one said.
“Choi, are you sure it won’t get us into trouble?” the third one who looked a little hesitant asked.
“Nah, he’s too busy fucking the omega he found at the party. He wouldn’t know we have gone for long. We just have to be careful enough to not mark his body.”
“Sounds like a plan.” The others laughed.
Jimin’s grip on the dresser slipped. “D-Don’t. Please…I beg you.”
“Ah, so the birdie knows how to beg. It would have been so much fun to see you beg. We would have loved to hear your screams but we can’t let out boss find out you see.” The first one approached him.
Jimin wanted to snarl, but all that came out was a whine in his weakened state. His wolf thrashed in his chest, wanting to get out and claw at their eyes. But he had no energy to manage a shift.
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. It’ll be over before you know it.” He caressed the side of his face. “You’re gonna take whatever we give you as the good omega you are.”
He tried to move but his knees gave out. He panted as his limbs felt like jelly. He wanted to run, claw his way out but his body won’t cooperate.
“You know the beauty of this drug, you’ll feel everything but you won’t be able to do a thing. You’ll want to shout but you can’t,” the alpha continued.
“H-He will kill you,” Jimin hissed. “Touch me and he will kill you.”
“Who? Your little beta assistant?” Laughter broke out into the room again. “Didn’t you see how he let us inside?”
“Alpha,” he blurted out. Taehyung would kill them all. He knew he would. “M-My alpha.”
The guy knelt beside him, grabbing his chin in a painful hold. “Ah, he’s that alpha who’s always with you, isn’t he? Your alpha isn’t here though.”
Jimin clawed at his hand, pulling his face away. “Let go.”
“Come on, Choi, let’s not waste any time. We need to have him there before sunrise.” Another one he didn’t recognize spoke from the back.
The alpha hauled Jimin to his feet, throwing him unceremoniously on the bed. Jimin bounced on it and tried to scramble away but the alpha gripped his feet pulling him to the middle of it. Suddenly hands were holding him down. They trapped his hands and feet.
Hands were on his body, tugging at his clothes. The sound of his clothes being ripped apart echoed in the otherwise silent room. His distressed sounds were ignored as cold air brushed his skin. They had his upper torso bare.
“Look at him,” one of them growled. “Makes me want to sink my teeth into every inch of his skin and mark him.”
The filthy hands traced his skin and felt like thousand worms creeping on his skin. Jimin keened, letting out a cry.
Taehyungie…
The hands stopped at his hip. They flipped him onto his back and then were unbuttoning his pants when the loud knock disrupted them. They stilled and tension filled the room.
“Who the fuck is that?” one asked.
“How the fuck am I supposed to know that?” the other countered.
The hands left his body and Jimin curled into himself on the bed.
“Go, look who it is. We will be in trouble if it’s Song or his lackey.”
Jimin didn’t know who Song or that lackey was. Whoever it was he thanked them mentally and waited for the unknown, glad to get a little more time so Taehyung could make it here.
A loud growl and a burst of peppermint reached him as soon as the door was opened. The alpha that went to open the door crashed onto the floor with a grunt. Jimin whipped his head to see Taehyung standing there, red seeping into his eyes as the wolf took over.
“Taehyungie…” he cried out. The scent of peppermints with a hint of something spicy flared with anger, but it was such an assurance to the omega. His alpha was here. He would protect him no matter what.
The alpha’s eyes flicked to him once and then he was charging inside like a bull, ramming into the alphas. His eyes were to keep up with the fight growls stumbled out of their chests and for a few minutes, all he could see was a tangle of limbs and bodies.
With a roar, Taehyung pushed them off his body and they all went crashing to the floor. He attached the wolf nearest to him, biting on his neck and ripping the flesh open. The sight was gory but all the more satisfying as the wolf slid to the floor, bleeding out.
Another wolf pounced at him also met with the same fate. Taehyung broke his arm before snapping his neck. The remaining three wolves attacked at the same time. One held him from the back while the other pulled something from their pocket.
Jimin tensed when he saw what it was. A syringe.
“Tae, watch out!”
But it was too late. He watched in horror as the needle sunk into Taehyung’s neck, the contents emptying as the alphas let out grueling laughter. Taehyung was a strong alpha, who trained every day. But how much would be able to fight with a drug in his system?
“That’s all you got, huh? Now you’ll watch us taking that omega in front of your eyes. And then we will kill you.”
But before the bastard could move, Taehyung lunged forward, sinking his fangs into his neck, ripping the column of his throat. The bite wasn’t enough to kill a wolf, but it was enough to disable him. He head-butted the one holding him and kicked at the other.
“Taehyungie…” Jimin stumbled out of the bed.
One of the alphas clawed at Taehyung, getting him square on his chest. Taehyung let out a loud roar but he wasn’t slowing down. He took down the alpha he was fighting in a blink of an eye before he lunged for the remaining one who tried to run away.
He was fast, but Taehyung was faster. He tripped the alpha, raining punches and not allowing a chance to get up before he was snapping his neck. Jimin forced his body to scramble out of the bed and breathed in relief when Taehyung staggered to his feet and went to lock the door. But he didn’t make it back. His knees gave out and he slid to the floor with a hand on his chest.
“Oh my God, Tae! What have you done?”
Jimin’s hand shook as he stumbled toward his friend. He tripped over the bloody body of an alpha, falling face-first on the floor. Taehyung eyes were unfocused as he turned his face toward Jimin. The overpowering stench of blood and death churned his stomach as he crawled toward his best friend.
“Taehyungie!” The omega whimpered.
It was then he noticed the damage. His friend was breathing, but for how long he didn’t know. It was all because of him.
“Taehyungie!” He pulled the alpha on his lap, shaking him with trembling hands. “Baby Bear, please…look at me.”
“J-Jiminie…” Taehyung wheezed, coughing more blood and Jimin unsuccessfully put his small palms over the gashes on his chest, hoping to stop the blood loss somehow.
One against five alphas wasn’t a fair fight, especially while being drugged. His own body was weakening as the drugs kicked in, but he fought it tooth and claw. The omega whimpered inside him. The peppermints that enveloped him were weakening with every passing second.
“Taehyungie, what do I do? Please tell me. What do I do?”
He needed to take him to the ambulance. Call the cops. Do something. But at what cost? They will arrest Taehyung. He had killed five alphas in a fight and was now dying. Jimin knew he had no time to waste, but Taehyung had been his pillar of support. They have been stuck together since middle school and he’d always looked up to him even though he was the youngest among the both.
“M-My phone.”
Jimin nodded frantically, patting Taehyung’s pant pockets in search of his phone. He swiftly wiped the blood on his pants and unlocked the phone.
“S-Speed dial. C-Call JK.”
“JK?” Jimin’s eyes widened. How could he forget? Taehyung always told him to call the second number on his speed dial only in case of an emergency. “Okay.” His hands shook as he pulled up the second contact in his speed dial.
“O-Okay. I-I’m calling.” His hand shook badly.
Taehyung offered a weak yet relieved smile. “Now, y-you’ll be safe, Minnie.”
The phone rang on the other end.
“I-I’m sorry, baby. I have no choice. F-Forgive me.”
“What? D-Don’t say that.” Jimin shook his head, one hand applied pressure on the wound as the other hand, held the mobile in a death grip. He didn’t know the extent of his injuries because he wore all black. But considering the blood pouring out the gashes must have been deep.
Why aren’t they answering?
He rocked in his haunches, clutching the phone in his desperate hold.
Pick up.
Pick up.
Pick up.
The call ended and Jimin dialed again. “Stay with me. Baby bear, stay with me, please.”
“J-JK,” Taehyung whispered. His eyes fluttered weakly. “F-Favor. T-Tell h-him.”
“What favor?” Jimin was frantic as once again the call connected to voicemail. He cursed internally as he dialed again.
Taehyung’s breathing grew shallow and he took a deep breath as if gathering the last of his energy. “T-Tell him my name.” He put a hand over his palm that was on his chest. “JK owes me. I-I’m c-cashing it now.”
“I don’t understand a thing,” Jimin cried. “I-I’ll tell him. Just stay with me please. D-Don’t leave me.”
“JK. Need JK.”
Taehyung’s eyes rolled to the back and his head lolled to the side.
“T-TaeTae!” He shook him, the phone slipping from his hand and unaware that the line connected. “P-Please…”
Dark spots clouded his vision, his breathing grew ragged as he remembered the phone. He blindly reached for it.
“H-Help.” His body grew numb. “Taehyungie…”
Jimin thought he heard a loud growl before darkness enveloped him again.
***
Some Visuals:
