Chapter 1
Jungkook was afraid of the moonlight.
He watched it slide in through the windows of Taehyung’s bedroom and scooted closer to his mate, folding himself into Taehyung’s arms. Taehyung looked ethereal, the light highlighting everything about him that had first drawn Jungkook to him.
But the moonlight only came with the dark, and the dark was what threatened to swallow Jungkook whole.
Jungkook wanted to shake Taehyung awake and beg him to turn on the light, to hold him close and promise him his father would never come again. But Taehyung had just come off his heat, and Jungkook knew better.
Don’t push, he scolded himself, pushing himself closer to Taehyung. It’s just another night. It’s just another thing. It will pass.
But he could still hear his father laughing in his head.
Eventually he gave up and got out of bed, wandering down the stairs to the kitchen and getting himself a glass of water. He turned the light on and watched the warm orange reflections in the water as he drank it. They were soothing, a reminder of the hot white light that would come with the morning. He had survived nights like this before, and he would again.
But he wished he could survive them by being weak with Taehyung, not being strong by himself.
He took another sip of his water and considered calling Yoongi. Yoongi and Jimin came in and out of the house often, and Yoongi was always willing to talk privately, to help reassure Jungkook. Jungkook wasn’t sure whether it was Yoongi’s instincts kicking in or not, but he didn’t care. Yoongi understood how hard it was to be a weak alpha.
He wondered if Jungsoo felt this weak. Part of him hoped so. He wanted his older brother to realize dating Yuri was a bad idea. He knew Jungsoo despised feeling weak. He hoped Jungsoo would rip himself away from her soon. She was dangerous.
She had eyes like their father.
Jungkook set his glass down and leaned on the counter, staring into the shadows that lined the stairs. He needed to go back soon, or Taehyung would panic. He was always more insecure after heat. Neither of them really understood how anything worked or what it all meant.
One more reason Jungkook thanked the Moon Goddess for Jimin and Yoongi.
He sighed and shook his head. Time to go back to sleep. He couldn’t hide in the light forever. He pushed the glass back to the back corner of the counter and walked out of the room, turning off the light as he went.
At least Taehyung was waiting in the darkness.
Taehyung was better than his father.
