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There’s a furious knocking on the front door that reverberated through the little cottage like a shot. It shattered the quiet silence of the night, rousing Yoongi from his sleep with a jolt. He laid still for five seconds, hands tucked between his folded legs, warm and cozy under the layers of goose-feathers and woven alpaca wool blankets. It was the middle of the night- even the moon had disappeared and left his room pitch black. For a small moment, Yoongi felt his heart slow, his sticky eyelids start to slide shut, but the knock returned, five raps on the door in quick succession.
Yoongi heaved a sigh and threw the blankets off, shivering immediately at the December air that was responsible for the ice crystals on his windows. He shoved his feet into the slippers at the end of his bed, thanking his ancestors for having a tradition of enchanting footwear with temperature regulation. The chill of the wood floor disappeared in an instant and pleasant fire-side warmth engulfed his toes like each one was wrapped in a little hand warmer.
Swaddled in a navy blue robe, Yoongi shuffled into the hallway and flicked the light on with a quick gesture just as the panicked knocking returned.
Yoongi slid the deadbolt out of place and pressed his palm against the thick oak to disarm the enchantments.
An elder vampire holding a toddler stood on his porch. The two were disheveled, the elder in a coat not nearly warm enough for the winter night, regardless of vampiric body temperature. A hat too big for the child was pulled down so his eyes were under the brim. But wailing, shrill cries pierced Yoongi’s ears, loud enough to wake a bear out of hibernation. Yoongi’s heart clutched, now taking the pair in.
“Yoongi-yah, please, I don’t know what’s wrong.”
Yoongi bit his lip, fingers curling on the brass handle. Seokjin bounced the child in his arms. The bundle, a young werewolf cub Seokjin had taken in about a half a year ago, wouldn’t respond to the soothing movements. It didn’t take Yoongi’s Kitchen Witch Certification to figure out, “You’d better come in.”
Yoongi took the distressed cub into his arms once they reached the living room. The oversized beanie, tugged off, revealed fluffy dark brown ears pressed down so far into the cub’s hair they almost disappeared. Jungkook, now reduced to sniffles, rubbed his eyes restlessly. “Kookie, what’s wrong?” Yoongi asked, flicking his wrist at the fireplace, bringing it to life. Jin hovered restlessly over the witch’s shoulder.
“I don’t know, he had a runny nose yesterday and I gave him tea before bed to help and he went down so easily. The little fur-ball was so tired,” Jin made a distressed noise, “but he woke me up an hour ago crying so hard I thought something had gotten him. I-,” the vampire’s voice caught in his throat.
Gently pressing Jungkook’s head against his shoulder, Yoongi looked Jin in the eyes, “Hyung, he’s gonna be alright. I promise.” Jungkook whined pitifully like he was trying to discredit the potion master. Jin rested a hand on Jungkook’s back, feeling the restless rise and fall. The uncertainty and fear swimming in his eyes redoubled Yoongi’s resolve.
“Walk with me.” They walked to the kitchen, a ball of fire jumped from the living room to the hearth in the kitchen through candles and lanterns on the way. Yoongi flicked the overhead light on as well. Jungkook’s tail hung low under his puffy winter jacket, a stark contrast to the playful, curious wag it was constantly going at when he and Jin usually dropped by for a visit. “Let’s see,” Yoongi murmured. He scanned his ingredient shelves and pulled bottles here and there, handing them to Jin’s waiting hands.
He handed Jungkook to his father and set to work, sprinkling and pinching amounts of ingredients into the simmering cauldron hung over the fire. He stirred with his finger, practiced clockwise circles to begin with and precise counter-clockwise circles the other way. Soon, steam rose from the potion. Jungkook huffed from behind him, watching with his head tucked under Jin’s chin.
Yoongi smiled and booped the toddler on the nose, earning him the cutest scrunched nose and littlest sneeze. “Cute little werebunny,” Yoongi cooed. Jungkook’s tail thumped against Jin’s side once, a good sign his distress was leaving.
Jin adjusted Jungkook while Yoongi laddled the potion into a ceramic mug shaped like Iron Man’s helmet.
“Blow on it,” Yoongi said when Jungkook wrapped his paws around it. Jungkook did, watching the liquid settle when his breath created ripples over the surface. His red-rimmed eyes grew wide in amazement. He took a huge gulp and spluttered.
“Not so much, cub,” Jin chastised. The toddler tried again, sipping this time, and finished his drink without any more upsets.
When it was gone, Jungkook wrapped his arms around Jin’s neck and snuggled close. His tail anchored around Jin’s forearm where it supported him before he sighed through his mouth, big and gusty, and most importantly, full of relief.
“He should sleep for the rest of the night,” Yoongi said, placing the now empty mug in the sink.
Jin pressed a kiss to the mop of curly brown hair. “Good.”
“Let’s move to the couch.”
The night marched on at a sluggish pace, periodically interrupted by Jungkook’s whines in his sleep. Jin laid him down on the middle cushion, bracketed by both he and Yoongi. The toddler curled up much like he would if he were in wolf form, arms and legs curled inward, tail swept in front to reach all the way to his nose. The werewolf’s cinnamon roll pose, Taehyung called it once. Jin disagreed, if only because he despised the human food.
“Do you know what it is?” Jin asked, watching Jungkook’s back foot twitch from a dream.
Yoongi used a metal poker to stoke the fire, “I treated for a fever, congestion, and restlessness. But it’s hard to say with kids when they stick their hands in everything.”
Jin rolled his eyes, as Yoongi added, “And their hands in their mouth.”
“Children are filthy,” Jin groussed.
“And somehow you ended up with a wolf pup.”
Usually Jin would scoff, make a comment about fleas while he brushed his immortally beautiful hair back. But now, he looked down at the sleeping pup and all Yoongi saw was love. Love and a fierce protectiveness. But under that something else also shined.
“You’re a great dad, hyung.”
Jin scoffed this time, just the slightest bit watery. He remained quiet, watching his son. He wasn’t one to speak frankly about his emotions. After hundreds of years of life, he had learned to keep his emotions guarded and close to his heart, locked in a box and stowed away. Yoongi didn’t press. Neither of them spoke as the pleasant crackling of wood filled the space between them.
Around eight in the morning, a scream filled the room. Yoongi nearly fell off the couch. Jungkook little body was wracked with tremors. Big, fat tears rolled down his cheeks. Jin slid off the couch on his knees and frantically waved his hands around his son’s body, unsure if he should touch the boy.
“Help him!!” he hissed. His fangs were out, startled by the sudden scream. All over Jungkook’s body, things were moving under his skin, a few of his nails had grown unnaturally long, patches of hair grew on his arms and neck. In the boy’s mouth, his canine’s elongated and his gums bled and Jungkook keened.
“He’s trying to transform,” Yoongi realized and flew to the kitchen, rummaging through his cupboards for a pain suppressant and a Shifter’s elixir.
“Hold him still.” Jin looked uneasy. “I need to get the potions down his throat. He needs to be still.”
“I don’t want to hurt him.”
“Hyung-” Jungkook’s wail pierced through his sentence, “he’s already hurting. We need to stop it before he hurts himself more!”
Steeling himself, Jin pressed a kiss to Jungkook’s forehead before taking him into his arms. Vampiric strength had its advantages, but Jin never thought he would have to use it on his little cub. He held Jungkook’s head still, but the rest of his body fought against the hold. Bones rearranged under the werewolf’s skin, pressing up against Jin’s body in bumps and ridges.
Yoongi was quick to slide spoonfuls of each potion into Jungkook’s mouth, holding it shut until he swallowed the medicine. It only took about ten seconds after he swallowed it. The bones reversed and settled back into place, the fur receded. Jungkook’s teeth sunk back into his gums, but blood ran from the corner of his mouth and dripped onto the floor. Jin was quick to wipe the stream off, while Yoongi ran to fetch a cloth to clean the rest.
Jin caught his breath and dropped onto the couch, “I thought his first transformation came in adolescence.”
Yoongi returned with a white cloth and gauze pads, “For hybrid wolves, it’s later. Hoseok changed late because his dad was human. Jungkookie is a pure wolf.”
Anger flashed in the vampire’s eyes, “How can it be right for a child to go through something like that?” He had yet to retract his fangs and some of his words came lisped.
Yoongi finished wiping the blood form Jungkook’s gums and bundled up cotton, “In a pack, he would have probably been coached through it or prepared or something. I haven’t studied werewolf culture closely, but I think they also have a specific medicinal draught for first transformations.”
“And it’s not public knowledge?” Jin bit.
“Well, no, it’s a sacred tradition I think.”
Jin frowned. He rocked the now sleeping toddler in his arms. The cotton stuffed in Jungkook’s cheeks made him look like a chipmunk. “What did you use, then?”
“Witches have something close, called a Shifter’s elixir. It reverses transformations for all species of Shifters. It was developed to help Shifters blend into human society, but,” Yoongi frowns, “stricter regulations have been placed on it recently.”
Jin smirked, “Human’s too uncomfortable living with Supernaturals?”
“Maybe. It was found in a couple of cases a few years back, connected to tortured Supernaturals.”
“But you have it?”
“I’m the head apothecary in a 100 mile radius, I have a license to brew any potion I want.”
Jin hummed, pleased. “Will this happen again?”
Yoongi tapped his finger against his thigh, “Every month, of course. But until he learns how to control the shift, it will hurt... and since he has no one to teach him...”
Jin pressed his nose against Jungkook’s forehead, “Hoseokie could.” He looked up, “Is he in the area?”
“Umm, I believe he and Namjoon are in the mountains this time of year.” Yoongi watched Jin’s hand on Jungkook’s back as it squeezed protectively. It was so large in comparison that it nearly spanned the width.
“Call him. I refuse to let Jungkook go through this much pain again.”
Yoongi nodded. He stood and ruffled the werewolf’s ear. “In the meantime, I’ll brew next month’s batch, just in case.”