[AGUST]
There were five stages of grief.
The stages of getting through the worst of the worst experiences that made life harder than it all should have been. It was always a technique that many assumed would help, but denial and acceptance were far too much apart for the Lycan king of Helia.
He was stuck in rage, something that seemed to be driving him crazy as he breathed the breath of life into the only wolf who had ever meant shit to him. The one wolf that he had loved for longer than he had raged against his father.
And now he was standing over his Erasthai's body, struggling to awaken him when it seemed like Jiminie didn't even want to come back to him.
This was not fair, and the skies had started getting darker thanks to the king's rage. The people of Kiyoto were not sure if this was something that had ever happened, and were scared of asking Agust about it.
They could tell that the years and the anger had somehow managed to manipulate the way that the realm functioned, and right now, if Jiminie didn't wake up, no one would ever be able to save Helia from their king.
That much was obvious.
But Agust didn't want that.
"Please… wake up for me, Jiminie. I swear I will give you everything you want. Even your freedom. If you don't want me here, I will leave forever and unbind myself from you.
"Please Jiminie," Agust begged as he compressed Jiminie's chest.
The alpha on the ground was slowly turning blue, and even then, Agust refused to let go. Anyone would easily advise them to let go, but that was the one thing Agust never did; not to Jiminie.
"Please," Agust cried out, and when the tenth minute passed without any response from Jiminie, Agust did the one thing that he had promised himself he would never try to do to Jiminie again.
He had sworn that Hee would only ever do that if Jiminie wanted.
But Jiminie was dying.
He was slowly losing his life, and Agust had been the trigger for it. He had assumed that Jiminie would have tried to fight back against him, to try and put Agust in his place, something that Agust had always loved.
Jiminie however, hadn't tried shit.
Instead, he had gone into the horrors of what waited for him.
The worst possible thing that could ever have crossed Agust's mind even as the king was leaning towards Jiminie's neck, where his mark lay proud but had started to fade – something that reminded Agust that this was where they were bonded.
But Agust was selfish.
So, he bit down on the mark he had left in Jiminie years ago. He bit hard as his hands connected to Jiminie's neck, not letting go. Agust didn't mind the blood that flowed because he was never going to let Jiminie go.
So, his fangs sauteed, as Jiminie's body rejected him at first. And Agust, didn't blame the wolf. He had hurt Jiminie one too many times, he had broken the wolf enough times, and now he was doing it again.
But this time was different. Surely Jiminie had to have known that, too. This time was about the love they shared, the one thing that he was about to let go of.
'I will never let you go,' Agust said as he lifted Jiminie's head softly on his lap, while his fangs were still connected to the man's neck. The rejection was painful, but Agust didn't let go, not even as the skin closed around his fangs.
If he were to remain like this for the rest of his life, then he would. He didn't care that there were so many variables right now. All that he cared about was Jiminie coming back to life.
'Please,' Agust begged again, and he felt the skin around his teeth loosen, a reminder that Jiminie was slowly coming back to life. He knew that it was not something he could celebrate just yet.
And when he saw the light return to Jiminie's body, he let out a sigh of relief, gently pulling out his fangs from Alpha's neck. Jiminie was alive, and data was all that mattered. Just didn't care that this was probably the worst possible state to ever be in.
All he unwanted was for Jiminie to be alright.
"I love you. I love you so much, Jiminie. Please don't leave. If not for me, then for Kiyoto. Wake up. Fight me. Take your rightful place as the consort of Helia. Fight back, Jiminie. Anything you want, I will give it, please," Agust pleaded.
The entire Kiyoto watched as the skies got even darker.
They were not sure what was happening, but their focus right now was on the men who were before them. No one had ever heard Agust yearn for anyone, much less a wolf, and yet as they watched, they saw a man who wasn't a king.
They saw a man who was desperate to get his mate back; a man who would do whatever the hell was needed just to get his mate happier. He was willing to sacrifice everything for Jiminie, and it hurt.
It hurt to watch.
To be there.
To witness such a raw moment for the devil himself.
Of course, they still hated him, but they could see that he loved Jiminie.
That they needed each other.
"Kiyoto will never be a colony of Helia," Jiminie whispered roughly.
Agust let out a sigh of relief. However, that was short-lived as he felt Jiminie's fangs in his neck, staking his claim. It was something that happened so fast that people were certain that the king would reject Jiminie.
They had seen the king wake up Jiminie, but this was madness.
This was not what they had anticipated.
This was dangerous, and it was turned right at them.
This was the one thing that could fuck them over in an instant and there wouldn't be much for them to do, and yet as Jiminie's hold on the king's neck tightened, Agust just brushed Jiminie's long hair gently with his fingers.
"Whatever you need, kitten. Anything. I'm so sorry for causing you so much pain," Agust whispered, kissing Jiminie's hair like his neck wasn't hurting from how harshly Jiminie was biting him, but Agust didn't mind.
His Jiminie was alive. That was all that mattered and anyone who tried to fuck that up would meet their end in the worst of ways. Agust wouldn't play when it came to his Jiminie.
"I could kill you right now," Jiminie growled as he pulled back from the mad king's shoulder, his bark blading at anyone who watched it. It was a beautiful sight, and it was obviously painful for the way it looked angry red.
However, Jiminie didn't mind. If anything, this right here was his declaration to Agust. He had claimed the king before his people, as a reminder that this mad barbarian was Jiminie's always.
"And I would let you, kitten. I would let you kill me with a second thought," Agust resurrected as he held onto Jiminie gently, not letting go. He wasn't ever going to let him go.
"I hate you," Jiminie growled.
"I love you. More than I love myself. More than I love anything ever," Agust said proudly.
"You're annoying."
"I will avenge your fallen, my beautiful. All two thousand of them. I will avenge them," Agust promised.
This time, Jiminie believed him.
Maybe it was because they had just marked each other again, maybe it is because, despite everything Jiminie had known, that Agust had to come here on the offensive. That Agust had come to make amends and check on him.
He had known that regardless of what happened, Agust would never intentionally hurt him. And Jiminie had wanted to prove it to his people as well. He wanted the people of Kiyoto to see that the mad king was never going to let him go.
'They see you now, Xiao Xiao. As my protector. As my mate. They see you as someone who would fight for me. I'm sorry I had to prove it to them like this,' Jiminie apologized in the mind link.
The king stared at his Erasthai with an open mouth, only for Jiminie to capture his lips in a fervent kiss.
'I love you too, Xiao Xiao. Always,' Jiminie said in the links, and Agust couldn't help but wonder what the future held for them.
Perhaps they would figure it out along the way, right?
"My beautiful kitten. My precious petal," Agust cooed.