A/N:  I'm going to be posting a lengthy note at the end of the chapter regarding updates and what not. 

Posted 1/7/22 

2782 words 

"I got changed. I'm down here. But you aren't about to convince me to get into the water!" I probably should have kept that outburst strictly within our telepathic conversation rather than showcasing my irritable mood out loud, but my alter's aversion to water tipped the scales of my normally very sensible nature.

"I've never completely understood your alter's dislike of water." Jungkook's telepathic voice is full of mirth; basically, he's more or less laughing at a phobia that I can't quite control.

"I'm guessing you don't understand it since my lion half is perfectly okay with water. My lion is from a warmer climate than his alter. Lions use pools of water often in an effort to keep cool. Felines from colder climates avoid it because it would impede their thick coats' purpose to keep them warm." Namjoon attempts to explain for me.

His words do nothing to tame my alter's agitation though. Typically I'm fine with the youngest, sometimes protective of him even, but I find myself unable to control the anger building up inside of me when he is intrinsically laughing at my expense. A low growl builds in my chest, and before I can logically make sense of the reason it cuts off abruptly as I catch a waft of Everleigh's alluring natural scent growing stronger. I turn toward her and look up into her green eyes and my alter practically screams at his yearning to be closer to the object of his desire. "MATE!"

She wades her way into my personal bubble. Hesitantly, as if she is afraid of us. I found myself frowning at that. I know I have been unintentionally distant, but I don't want her to be afraid of me. In the next moment though I realize it's not exactly fear emanating from her. It's something more akin to caution. She is simply trying to test the waters to make sure it's okay for her to come in closer.

"She's wanting to comfort you." Jimin's soft telepathic voice confirms in my head.

"Yoongi, are you afraid of water?" She cautiously asks me.

Honestly, she is being far more bold than I would be in her position. It's odd that I don't completely know how to answer that question without sharing to her what I am. So, I just end up saying screw it and let loose a long drawn out sigh before sharing what my Fae side is with her. I know it could out the fact that I was shadowing her the night we all first met, but it's far easier than keeping it quiet. Besides we all are pretty much at the point where we are going to start admitting it to her anyway. "I'm sure from the battle the other night that you already worked out I am some sort of shifter."

She nods at me, and I catch the corners of her mouth slightly lifting upward. Is she laughing at me?

"No, Yoongi. She's halfway figured it out for herself, and is partially laughing at the thoughts running through her head. The other half of her is rejoicing that you are opening up to her." Jimin confidently shares with me in our telepathic link.

"My alter is a snow leopard, or well he is supposed to be." Her mouth turns downward again, and while I would rather see her smile I know that I need to explain myself first to help her understand what I meant. "My coat is black instead of white; like it should be."

My body unintentionally stiffens when her wet hand touches my arm. "Sorry." She pauses. I nod my head to indicate that it's alright before she continues with whatever she was going to say. "Melanistic snow leopards do exist. They are just exceptionally rare."

Yeah. Well, good luck convincing a man like my father that as well as the others who shunned me in our Leap. Our Leap made its home in the Winter Court, for understandable reasons due to the constant seasonal weather associated with it.

My father was surprised when he met a human woman the first time traveling to the Earth realm and discovered she was his mate; it's exceptionally uncommon for the mate bond to happen with humans. He brought her back to the Winter Court of Mesmere and up until I turned five when I had my very first shift I remember that they were happy. His shock turned to immediate anger and outrage at my shadowy coat. He turned that anger on my mother. He rejected her as his mate and threw away the tethers of their bond, throwing her out like garbage. He tried to throw me out as well, but I guess his conscience caved simply because he knew that I would have to learn how to handle my shifts. That didn't stop the emotional and physical abuse I received from both him and also the elders of our Leap.

She touches my arm again to regain my attention. I apparently got lost in my bitter thoughts. "Why don't I get in the water with you. We will just stay in the shallow part and sit together for a while. You don't even have to talk. We can just be silent and still while enjoying the water and each other's company.

I have to fight to keep the glare off of my face, and I am not quite sure I succeeded in the attempt. "Water and enjoyment are not words I would pair together."

She laughs, and I find something within my chest warming up at the sound. "How exactly do you cope with taking a shower then?"

I squint my eyes at her as she gets my reluctant feet to move by placing her soft hand and weaving her delicate fingers with my own while coaxing me toward the water. Or attempting to coax me, my feet are still trying to root themselves to the ground. "I manage."

Once again she laughs, and because I found both her presence and the sound so enjoyable I persuade my alter to cooperate. If we go in the water with her we can spend quality time getting to know her. Isn't that what you wanted?

We sit there silently watching the others' shenanigans further off in the deeper water for I don't know how long before Jungkook turns in our direction and gives her a look that clearly says that he would like to spend time with her in the pool too. I definitely can't fault him for that, and it would be wrong to hog all of her attention. Since she is all of ours then we each will have to grow accustomed to sharing her time.

She turns to look at me. I'm nearly positive she is about to ask if it's okay for her to join them, but what comes out of her mouth is something entirely different and unexpected. "Will you stay?"

Stay by your side? Forever. Stay in the pool? I think about it for a second before I answer. "Only if they keep the shenanigans and splashes a good distance away. I think I can handle sitting here for a while."

She smiles. "Good."

I don't ever remember desiring someone's attention as much as I do with Everleigh. I get my mind off of the fact that she is currently sitting with Yoongi for a while by suggesting a race to the others. I know not to expect them all to join me, but I am sure that at least a couple will be interested.

"Seems like a good idea to me. It will be great conditioning for our muscles." Namjoon offers as his agreement.

"Anything to get my mind off of her in that swimsuit! Er, I mean yeah great conditioning." Hoseok adds.

I can't deny it either. Seeing her in that swimsuit definitely gets my blood rushing south, and it would be a good idea to focus my attention elsewhere. However, I've come to realize that most of the time I don't find that my mind is fixated on my physical attraction to her, and it's not in an attempt to get her out of my mind that way. No, most of the time I am just excited by simply having her close.

After I win the third race the other two decide it's time to bow out. I'm unsurprised and quite satisfied that per normal I was able to win against them.

Namjoon clears his throat. "Be careful, Jungkook. Your Pride is showing again."

Crap. I know it's prone to happen, but I do try my best to keep my number one Sin at bay. "Sorry." I glance back at Everleigh and smile at her hoping she will take my expression as an invitation to join me. She glances at Yoongi for a second and asks him a question. I'm too far away to be able to hear her, but it makes me happy to see the almost smile appear on Yoongi's face.

She isn't really paying attention when she wades deeper into the water as she heads in my direction. I go under and project myself forward like a torpedo. Once I am near her legs I latch onto them and as she stumbles I situate her so as I surface she will be on my shoulders.

She grips my hair roughly between her fingers in an effort to keep herself from falling. "I don't know if I am comfortable being up this high." The whine in her voice has me concerned, but I am distracted by the sensations of her fingers carding through my hair. No matter how rough she is doing it I happen to know very well that the action is one of my biggest weaknesses.

Before I can warn the others regarding Everleigh's trepidation I hear Seokjin shouting out. "Jimin, get on my shoulders. We'll play a game of chicken!"

"No. No, Everleigh--"

Her fingers loosen their grip. "No, Jungkook. It's okay. I'm good now." She lets me know that she has gotten used to her precarious position on my shoulders now, and my Pride swells up again.

"Then let's get ready to win this!"

I found myself completely shocked when I called out to the empath. "Jimin, get on my shoulders. We'll play a game of chicken!"

I grew worried when Jungkook went to refute my challenge, something to do with Everleigh. As she reassured him, and Jungkook let his competitive nature roll over him, Jimin got on my shoulders and shared with me. "She was only momentarily alarmed by the idea of sitting on his shoulders. She adapted quickly and is okay with her position now." He chuckles lightly. "In fact, I think she is looking forward to the potential win as much as he is."

"Then let's make this a difficult battle for them to succeed in."

As they come forward she reaches her hands out to grapple with Jimin's. They struggle for quite a few minutes, and I realize how we both had forgotten how strong she was. The dancing gave her a core strength that neither of us anticipated. My focus for a moment slips from Jungkook's fierce determined filled gaze up to Everleigh. She must feel my eyes on her because she distractedly glances down at me. Then she is toppling from Jungkook's shoulders. In that brief moment of time I essentially throw Jimin backward off my own and reach to catch her. Unfortunately we both end up falling into a tangled mess of limbs into the water. I wrap my arms around her and pull us back up to the surface, even though the waters here only reached my waistline.

We both chuckle for a moment until I realize I still have my arms wrapped around her, and her silky skin is essentially plastered against mine. I feel my face grow warm and clear my throat. "So, I was thinking perhaps tomorrow night you could help me with supper."

"What were you planning on making?" She shifts within my arms but doesn't make an effort to push me away.

"I actually haven't worked that out yet." No, I just now decided to ask you to help me tomorrow. It won't be hard to figure out something though. Well, as long as I don't over think it that is. "I guarantee I won't attempt something too complex though."

She nods her head. "Okay. Yes, I should be able to help with that."

Suddenly Hoseok shouts. "How about we all play Marco Polo?" Then he looks directly at the woman in my arms. "And I think Everleigh should be it."

Before the seven of us can telepathically communicate how bad of an idea this is, Everleigh is pulling out of my arms and arching an eyebrow at the Trickster. "Sure. Why not."

"You're just going to put yourself in her path to get caught first." I accuse him.

"You bet your ass I am!" I mentally reply.

The sweet telepathic voice of our mate infiltrates our minds. "I know exactly what he is doing. He just wants to get caught."

Yoongi quietly drags himself out of the water. Normally he wouldn't turn back in our direction to offer us any kind of explanation, but this time he does. I'm guessing he doesn't want to disappoint our mate, or at least something along those lines. "I'm going to bed. I wouldn't be able to play the game properly anyway."

As she wades over his way I glance in each of the others' directions. Apparently I'm not the only one surprised by her actions judging by the looks of amazement on each of their faces. I watch as she has a brief quiet conversation with him. I find my emotions at witnessing the moment are a mixed bag of jealousy, curiosity, and happiness. To see that even though she doesn't know how deep our relationships or feelings go for her, she is already making an effort to show each of us her affections. Even if they are only friendly in nature for right now.

She moves back to the center of the pool after she says goodbye to him. "Okay, so I don't know if you play by the same rules as I did growing up. But, I am going to go underwater for ten seconds. During that time scatter around. I'll come back up with my eyes shut and the game will begin with my first Marco."

All the others scatter, but I choose to move in closer instead. When she hops up I don't directly put myself in her path. That would be too obvious. I use one of my abilities to swap out my voice for each of the other's voices randomly. I find the way her eyebrows dip and wrinkle in confusion the most fucking adorable thing in the world. My cock twinges in response, and I honestly find myself surprised that her adorableness apparently turns me on. Well...everything about her technically turns me on, and only the fact that I haven't even sampled her lips yet has me annoyed by that.

I'm honestly worried because in about a month we will have our annual biyearly Hell week. We will most definitely have to tell her before that point. Because if we don't...well I really don't want to think about what could happen.

I concentrate back on the game and smirk after she comes into my personal bubble, says 'Marco' one more time, and I use my own voice to answer her. The tips of each of her delicate fingers reach out and graze against my chest. If I were shifter I would be growling out my growing desire right about now. "Hoseok?" She asks questioningly before opening her eyes. "I'm confused. That's the first time I heard your voice, so I had no clue where you were until the last moment."

I grab one of her hands that is still against my chest with my own, laying it more securely against my skin. "Your fingertips are awfully wrinkled. Why don't we get out of the pool now? Afterward you can grab a shower to wash the chlorine out of your hair and get ready for bed. I'll come up in about thirty minutes, and we can talk then."

She shivers, and I'd like to think it's due to my closeness. I definitely hope that she doesn't suddenly feel cold. "Talk about what?"

"I'll tell you about my history. I'll share with you what kind of Fae I am, including my magic."

Her eyes fill with curiosity and she nods her head before smiling softly. "Okay."

A/N:  First of all regarding chapter, there is actually no name for a group of snow leopards.  I just chose to use 'leap' because that is what a regular group of leopards is called.  I'll link the website I found this research on in the comments of this paragraph.

Now onto the update schedule.  For those of you that only want the details regarding story I'll simply say that it is still up in the air as of right now.  I'm hoping Mid February I will be able to get back on a weekly, or biweekly update schedule, but honestly February is a busy month for me schedule wise.  It will probably be March because of this.  I currently have only up to Chapter 24 written, and I want to at least be 5 chapters ahead before I get back on a proper update schedule.

Now for those of you that might want a bigger explanation.  This involves all of the medical stuff going on with me personally.

The first thing I was sort of diagnosed with was a potential blood clot on my lung.  This meant I was put on blood thinners, and I had to be exceptionally careful because of them.  Now, I say potential because it was small and I guess they aren't certain.  I have an appointment today with my hemotologist  (or whatever her exact title is).  She told me during my first meeting that I would be on the blood thinners for 3 months, and I remember asking her so take what I am sent and be done with them.  Well, I guess I am done with them because I ran out December 24th, and I was never sent more.  Hopefully, she doesn't put me on blood thinners again. I'm still having chest pain, but I think it is regarding another big thing going on with me.

The next thing I was told was I probably had a pinched nerve in my neck because my whole right arm was essentially in pain.  I couldn't sit at the PC for more than a few minutes, and everything regarding typing hurt.  Turned out I have degenerative disc disease in my neck, as well as mild scoliosis in two or three of the vertebrae there as well.  

My doctor assumed that was causing the whole issues with my arm, and I've been in Physical Therapy for it since my diagnosis.

Around the third PT appointment I had my therapist said she didn't believe the neck and arm issues were interconnected.  She is pretty sure I have carpal tunnel, but I will get seen by my doctor this morning and perhaps she will confirm this for me today.  

I've been at my PC since 5:50 AM today, and it's now 7:27 AM.  I am not even wearing a brace, but I am getting sore so that does tell you that I am improving thanks to the therapy.

However, I have another issue that I discovered just before Christmas.  I have a gap between my shoulder and my collarbone.  This is causing my chest and arm muscles to work harder, and I'm nearly positive it was the result of a majority of my chest pains because I remember one doctor saying my chest pain was muscle strain.  (This was confusing because this was well before October, and I don't really do anything that should cause that.)  Anyway, I'm seeing my doctor for the shoulder stuff this morning.  Hopefully, I can get some answers, and actually be put on anti-inflammatories since I couldn't use them while I was on blood thinners.

I'm so sorry this author's note was so terribly long, but I felt you needed an explanation on why I fell so far behind on the story.  I plan on re-reading it for myself, before diving back in to start writing again.  So, I feel I can regain any connection to the story I might have lost during my medical sabbatical.