As I finished scaling Jeong Guk's hill, I held my breath. I couldn't smell or see him yet, but I knew he was close. The jolt of energy that I felt as I grew closer to my destination slowly developed into a thrumming deep in my bones. His presence somehow resonated inside of me. I felt weak in the knees at the first hint of his scent, having forgotten that my two favorite fragrances were passion flower and bitter orange. It made all of me eager to lay eyes on the alpha who was meant for us. Even my alpha was excited about the reunion. He somewhat gave up his resistance when he realized that Jeong Guk was our fated. He still wasn't happy about being stuck with the constant reminder that he's not as perfect of an alpha as our future mate, but there was an underlying sense of understanding that he belonged to us—that he was almost an extension of us. My omega was thrilled to be in the company of his alpha. He thrashed about excitedly as we walked. All of the chaos from my wolves perfectly mirrored what I was feeling inside. There were no simple words for the combination of thoughts and feelings that surged through me as I came to the clearing and was met with a dark stare. I froze for a moment, unable to move under the weight of my own emotions. Jeong Guk stilled too, his expression unreadable.
I snapped out of my daze because my omega could no longer wait to be closer to his alpha. My movements forward seemed to wake my fated up. He called out to me, telling me to stay where I was, with a look of panic on his face.
"Fuck that!" I shouted as I kept walking. "You have a lot of explaining to do and I'm sure as hell not going to yell at you from across the hill. I'm going to yell at you to your damn face! Why the fuck do you think—"
When I got about 15 paces away from Jeong Guk, I was met with a whirlwind of sensations that felt like running into a wall. An overwhelming pain brought me to my knees and surrounded me. I curled in on myself, having never felt anything quite this intense and inexplicable. Happiness, excitement, love, fear, anger, panic, and anxiety prevented me from moving and made me cry out. I couldn't think or speak. I could only hold myself tightly and pray for it to stop. As suddenly as they came, the emotions were gone.
"Just lay there for a few minutes, Ji Min. It's going to normalize. I'm sorry about that. You didn't give me time to get myself under control before you got too close."
I decided to heed his advice and used the time to regain my composure. After I was finally able to breathe and focus again, I contemplated his words. Did he have something to do with whatever the hell that was? I sat upright after a while and looked at him. I wanted to get closer, my omega trying to pull me forward, but my logical mind told me that I needed to stay. I don't want to feel that again. I watched my fated as he studied me, looking for further signs of discomfort. He smelled upset and worried.
"What was that?" I managed to squeak out after a while. If his hearing wasn't as good as I know it is, he might not have caught it.
"When you recognize your fated, you can feel their emotions the way mates can. The only difference is that mates can feel it anywhere and we can only feel it within a certain distance. I was going to try to calm myself and warn you beforehand, but you didn't give me the chance. I'm sorry. I didn't want you to find out like that."
It took me a few moments to be able to fully process what he said. It didn't make sense but it explained so much. How else would he have instantly known what's wrong with me at any time? If it was because he could feel my emotions, does that mean he's known for longer than just a couple of months? I reminded myself that I didn't have to be curious anymore because he's finally in front of me. I am going to get my answers.
"How long have you known?" He looked away from me, worry apparent on his face. He fidgeted with a rock in his hands. I could tell he was avoiding the question. "Just tell me how long, Jeong Guk. You owe me that much, don't you?"
Even at this distance, I could see the guilt shine in his eyes as he looked up at me. It didn't seem easy for him to discuss this, but he had to. He took a deep breath and stared directly in my eyes. "I've known we were mates since the moment I first smelled you."
"How?" My brain hadn't fully comprehended the weight of his statement, so I opted to gather information until I could understand it completely.
"My alpha can detect when people should be mates. I don't fully get it, but it's something about the way their scents mix. When we smelled you for the first time, he wouldn't stop repeating the words 'mine' and 'mate'. I didn't realize that meant we were fated until your fight with Jae Seok. I could feel you slowly losing yourself, how desperate you were to be heard and to stop him. That's why I stepped in. I couldn't let my mate do something that would get him in trouble. I never even tried to calm you down after the fight. That was all my alpha. He released way too many pheromones and accidentally charmed you. Anyway, I'm getting off topic. I can tell mates by people's scents."
"Do you have to smell them together or do you know when you smell one of them?" I asked a follow-up question to allow myself time to think.
"It depends on the situation. If it's someone I know, I just have to smell the other person's scent to know that's their mate. I knew Dae was Tae's mate and that Chi was Ranie's mate when I first smelled themㅡsame thing with Yunie and Chae. That's actually why I wanted to keep Jang Mi around." I could hear the tension in his voice when he mentioned her, knowing she was a touchy subject.
"Please don't tell me she's someone you know's mate, or one of the pack's mate. Please, don't let her be stuck with us forever."
He smiled at my exasperated tone. I didn't have the same level of hatred for her that I once did, but I still didn't like her. "No. After she decided to leave us alone, she came to school smelling like blueberry and juniper. Whoever that scent belongs to is Seok's mate. I know you were so angry with me for convincing the pack to keep her around but I couldn't let her get away. How could I have faced him knowing that I didn't pursue the only clue I had about his mate? I think that person is someone that Jang Mi knows from her other school because she hasn't smelled like them since. I couldn't tell you why I needed her. I know the first question you asked would have been if we were mates and I didn't know how to answer. You wouldn't have recognized our bond if I told you."
I nodded, acknowledging that I probably would have asked him if we were mates immediately. I understood his reasoning but I was still upset that he didn't tell me. I was also relieved that Jang Mi wasn't a pack member's mate. As I thought about the pack, I wondered if they knew about Jeong Guk's ability. A spike of anger went through me at the idea. Even though it would make complete sense for them to know, I would be really upset if they kept it from me. Then again, I don't see why they would have acted the way they did if they already knew.
"What's wrong?" My fated's voice pulled me out of my mind.
"Can you feel me from there? I can't feel you."
"No. I started to associate all of your scent changes with emotions after I figured out what all of the small differences in your feelings were. I can't feel that something's wrong with you, but I can smell it. I think you're angry and a little confused. It's been a couple of months since I've been around you. I might be wrong."
"You're right. I was thinking about the pack and if they knew we were fated."
"No. I never told them I could smell mates. I didn't want to deal with them bothering me all the time about whether or not someone was their mate. I know that's terrible, but I didn't feel like getting asked 20 times a week if I had found their mate yet. You know how Tae and Seok are. They would have bugged me so much. I promised myself that I'd do anything I could to find their mates and get them together, but I wouldn't directly tell them. I also did it for the sake of their relationships. They trust my judgment too much. They would have completely committed to someone that I said was their mate, even if they didn't like that person. I wanted them falling for each other to be natural."
