Jeno waits patiently at the front counter and beams when he heard the wind chime jingle as the door opened.

He grabs his bag and waves at his other coworkers who were still cleaning up, "bye guys, goodnight!" He said as the others waved back.

He circled his arms around Jaemin's bicep as he blushed when the alpha pecked his head, "how was work?" The alpha asked opening the passenger door for him.

The hybrid got in and put on his seatbelt as he waited for Jaemin to get in, the alpha starts the engine and drives them back home.

Jeno hums and shrugs, "as usual, kids were amazing and learning, some got injured but it's the norm," he answered.

Jaemin tapped his fingers on the steering wheel and glancing at Jeno with a smile before parking the car at their garage.

They walk in the house together and locked the door as Jeno went to the kitchen and prepared their food while Jaemin went to his office.

ꕥ

After the hybrid finished preparing their food, he untied his apron and hung it up on the little hanger before calling Jaemin to come.

After three calls, Jaemin still didn't come and Jeno got worried. He walks towards the alpha's office and knocked gently.

"Come in!" Jaemin yells from the inside. Jeno opens the door and closes it behind him as he walked towards the werewolf.

He looks to see Jaemin glaring at his laptop screen as he had his fingers on his temples. He was stressed, Jeno could tell by his scent.

Jaemin's scent gave off a vibe that he was stressing out about something, and being a caring omega that Jeno is, he frowned.

The hybrid walks behind Jaemin's chair and placed his hands on the brunet's shoulders massaging them. "Is everything okay? Tell me alpha," he said.

Jaemin sighed and covered his face in his hands, "not really," he said.

Jeno hummed, "then care to tell me? I'm all ears, love," he giggled as his ears twitched and his tail curled up brushing Jaemin's hands.

The alpha chuckled and leaned back to his seat, "it's just, I have two projects to work on and we've been invited to a dinner with some of my coworkers."

The hybrid hummed in acknowledgement, "so? You can do your best with your projects and I'll be there in every step of the way. And we can go to the dinner," he said.

The alpha pursed his lips, "but we have a date at the same day," he frowned and smiled a little when Jeno's tail brushed his chin.

The blond sighed and bent down to wrap his arms around Jaemin's neck lovingly and kissed his cheek, "it'll be fine, okay? We can have more other dates in the future, just don't stress too much, babe."

Jaemin smiled and looked up as Jeno moved to his side, "come here you," the alpha grinned as he pulled the hybrid by the waist and placed him on his lap.

Jeno giggled and nosed on Jaemin's cheek caressing his nape leaving a soft kiss. "Mmm~ I love you," he said.

The werewolf sighed rocking them side to side as he hugged the blond tight, "I love you too, kitten," he smiled.

ꕥ

Jaemin clenched onto Jeno's hand as they walked in the restaurant for the dinner the two were invited.

They asked the receptionist of where Jaemin's coworkers' table at and thanked her when she led them there.

Jaemin's coworkers looked up and greeted them as they stared down the hybrid beside him scanning his frame.

The alpha instantly placed his arm around the blond's waist protectively and leads him to the two empty chairs.

Jeno barely remembered their names and their faces as the dinner went on while they were talking about topic after topic.

He only knew Taeil, Yuta and Jeonghan, Minghao was on a business trip to Spain for the week and was obviously unavailable for this occasion.

Jeno was atleast glad that he knew a few faces and names instead of literally sticking out. He'd probably be childish and went through his phone in a business dinner.

The three sneaked in some conversations with him when they weren't occupied by the others. Jeonghan did the most since he jokingly dodged their topics and replied shortly.

"So Jeno," one of them called. The said boy looked up and Jaemin shuffled closer placing his hand on his thigh. "Are you and Jaemin mates?"

Jaemin bit the inside of his cheek, "no, not yet. But he's mine," he shrugged as Jeno was blushing hard beside him.

The guy raised a brow, "you know that doesn't mean anything right?" He said as Jeno's ears perked up and his tail swayed hearing Taeil cooing at him.

"In the wolf world, claiming someone as yours but not actually mated doesn't matter, it doesn't mean anything. It only does when you're mated and marked." The guy said.

"So if someone says that person is theirs but not mates yet, they're not safe. Anyone could easily steal that person and marked them instead since no one else did." He continued.

Another guy butts in, "basically, marking someone as yours is important and a green card. No one can steal them since they're already marked and obviously has a mate."

Yuta nodded in agreement before speaking, "claiming your mate isn't all safe, no one really cares. But marking your mate means a lot in the wolf world."

"Territorial," Taeil said as he sipped on his drink. "Marking your mate means they're officially yours, no one else's. They're your territory, no one else's, just you and them."

Jeno pursed his lips as Jaemin squeezed his thigh really tight unconsciously. He placed his hand on the alpha's own and intertwined them giving a squeeze reassuringly.

He glances at the alpha and sees the brunet spacing out no longer engaging in the conversations. He looked like that time he was back in the office again, stressed.

Jeno just kept squeezing his hand and kissing his cheek as his tail wrapped itself around the wolf's bicep the whole time until they went home.

ꕥ

"Hubby?" Jeno called with a pout looking at the alpha who was spacing off at the front as they were already parked in the garage.

They've sat there for 5 minutes since they arrived and neither of them went out of the car and left the other. Jeno was waiting for Jaemin since he has the keys too.

The hybrid placed his hand on Jaemin's knee patting it, "bubby? Hey, didn't I tell you to tell me anything that's bothering you?" He said.

Jaemin pursed his lips before looking back at him and sighed, "I was just thinking about what they said," he shares.

Jeno hummed, "the mate thing?" He asked for confirmation with his ears perked up and tail shyly hiding behind himself.

The alpha clicked his tongue, "yeah," he ran his fingers through his hair.

"What about it?" The hybrid pushed.

The brunet licked his lips, "I wanna mate you," he said. Jeno's eyes went wide as he blushed in red again.

"Y-you don't have to rush things alpha, just because they tell you to doesn't mean you should. I want both of us to want and ready for this," Jeno said.

Jaemin smiled a little and cupped his cheek rubbing his thumb along his lashes, "I am ready, I really want to mark and mate you. I need to."

"I just can't deal with the fact that they were right, in our world, claiming is nothing but marking is everything." He sighed.

He continued, "I want to mark you Jeno, I want people to back off when they see the marks that I gave you, so they'll back off on who's mine."

The hybrid blushed and leaned in looking at his chapped lips, "if you're so ready and sure about this, no pressure. I'll be happy to be your mate," he smiled.

Jaemin smiled and pecks him on the lips, "damn right I'm sure and ready," he chuckled as they both got out and went in the house.

The alpha picks Jeno up by surprise as the boy yelped and clings on to him for dear life. "Let's get to marking, sweetheart," Jaemin said while Jeno smiled kissing his cheek and leads them to his room.