I loved living with Cara. Not only was the house much, much nicer than the room I had been renting, but I was surrounded by my mate's scent all day. After spending the week together as I settled in, it sadly had come time for her to return to work.

"I didn't wear you out too much last night, did I?" I teased, watching my girl hobble out of bed. Ever since we had sex for the first time a couple of days ago, we had been making up for her lack of experience. We worshipped each other's bodies, lost ourselves in our lust-driven hormones, and moaned in ecstasy from our orgasms more times than I could count.

It was glorious.

"Now I get what Jin meant," she groaned. "I think you've made me into a sex-crazed whore for your dick, Kitty."

I chuckled, enjoying the view before me of her hastily drying off after her second shower of the morning; I hadn't been able to stop myself from taking her when I watched Cara applying lotion to her naked body.

"You're no whore, Kitten. I do, however, love how sex-crazed you are for me though." I bit my lip at the sight of my mate standing in a set of sexy, lacy lingerie as she pulled out clothes for the day.

Shit. Control yourself, Yoongi. You can't fuck her a third time this morning... well you could, but I don't think she'd be happy if you made her late.

"Honey, what are you up to today?" she asked, pulling a thick woollen sweater over her head. As much as I wanted my temporary marks to be on display for all to see, winter had well and truly set in now; the thick layer of snow covering everything was testament to that. I'd hate for her to get sick from not being warm enough.

I had giggled the first time she had called me 'honey' since she thought I tasted sweet on her tongue. She was partially correct that my scent was sweet, but not the way her nickname described.

I was really excited to mark Cara for more reasons than to tell other hybrids that she's mine. You see, one particularly strange thing happens when a human who is a hybrid's destined mate completes their marking bond, the human will be able to smell and taste their mate's scent. So, when I get to mate with her properly and sink my teeth into her skin to apply my mark, she will see that I don't taste like the sweet viscous syrup but rather like the sweetest strawberries that ever existed.

"I've been feeling really inspired lately, so I want to lay down some songs," I replied, tucking my arms behind my head to be more comfortable and to enjoy just looking at my mate. Since Cara came into my life, song lyrics had started flowing freely; it was like she unlocked a part of my heart and brain when our souls were reunited. These past few days, I had a lot of potential ideas written into my song writing book, but now that I had an idea of a beat and melody that came to me as I held her in my arms after we'd made love, I wanted to get them down before they flitted off into the abyss of my mind.

After we'd gotten my equipment from my old place, Cara and I had turned her home office into my makeshift studio. At first I didn't want to take over a room that she used since I'd already imposed myself onto her by claiming her bedroom as ours, but my mate insisted that she no longer actually used her office at home and it was simply a wasted space. It touched my heart when she said she'd rather I used the space and be able to do what I loved; of course my perverted brain pictured something a bit different when she uttered those words because as much as I loved making music, I loved indulging in her body more.

Especially her warm, hot and wet... stop Yoongi. Focus on what your mate is saying!

"I can't wait to hear them," she whispered, coming to the bed and hovering over my prone body. I enjoyed the kisses she gave me after I'd scented her so well yet again as my scent had been washed off her. I loved how her fingers scratched my ears so perfectly and I couldn't help the pitiful whine that left me as she pulled away. "I'll miss you, my handsome Kitty. Call me if you need anything. My number is programmed into the phone we got you."

"Okay, Baby. I'll miss you too," I leaned up stealing one last kiss. "Drive safe in the snow and have a good day saving the world."

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ⋆͛♡⋆͛ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

If I thought I was good at making music before Cara, that was nothing compared to how well my songs were flowing after I'd met her. Beats practically wrote themselves and melodies came together in a way that were harmonious and pleasing to the ear. I was in the zone, completely focussed and inspired by my muse.

Having my mate's scent around helps too.

I'd messaged Cara a few times during the day, letting her know I was okay; I knew she would worry that I was bored or lonely. But I was so busy that I didn't realise the day had gone by until I heard her keys rattling in the door. I quickly saved what I was working on and rushed out to find my gorgeous girl.

My heart plummeted as the scent of sour milk hit me like a wave, making me rush to her to see what was wrong. "Kitten," I whispered into her brunette hair as I wrapped myself around her trembling body, my tail pulling her tight into my chest. "Shhh, it's okay, Baby."

I had no idea what had caused her mood to change this drastically throughout the course of a day, but it was clear my mate needed me. I silently led her into our bedroom and began undressing her from the clothes that were infused with the smell of hospital, death, and sadness. I pulled one of her fluffy nighties out of the drawer and slipped it over her head before I guided Cara to lay down on the bed.

I hopped in beside her and pulled my mate into my arms. I rubbed my cheeks across her head, replacing the foul odours with my own scent. The act of scenting would relax a hybrid and I hoped that because she was my destined mate, it would also help Cara to calm down and feel some peace.

"Why are people so cruel?" she mused quietly, running her fingers through my tail.

My actions stilled as I gave my mate my full attention. "I don't know, Baby. People suck."

"We lost two tiny, innocent pups today that should've been happy and healthy. But because they were born into a puppy farm, they were runts and inbred."

I closed my eyes in disgust at the actions of others. I understood how those pups felt because I had been born into a kitten farm. I was just lucky enough to have been adopted into a good family for the first 15 years of my life.

"Oh, Kitten, I'm so sorry," I cooed, placing kisses onto her forehead. I didn't know what to say that would comfort her, so instead, I held Cara in my arms as if I could protect her from all the bad shit in the world.

"You know what went through my mind when they came in?" I shook my head, my cheek brushing against her head and the smell of our scents mingling filled my nose. "I wondered if their mothers knew what happened to their pups, or if they just gave them up. I put all the blame on those poor hybrids and not the disgusting animals who run the horrific breeding farms."

It hurt to see my kind and considerate mate in tears. Cara had one of the biggest hearts of anyone I'd ever met. To hear her blame herself was heart-breaking.

"You don't know this about me, but I was a kitten from a breeding farm," I admitted quietly, my heart thumping as I began to speak the words about my early life that very few people knew. "My mother was born there too and because she was of 'good breeding stock', she was never adopted out. I was about 10 months old when I was adopted into my first house. I don't remember anything about my birthplace, but my adopted mother used to tell me how much my birth mother cried as they took me away."

As I was telling my mate about that part of my life, I felt somewhat detached to it, like I was talking about someone so completely different. "I was in that house until I was nearly 16 when my adopted family hit financial problems and they couldn't look after me anymore."

"Oh Honey," Cara whispered as she placed loving kisses over my face.

"You know, in a twisted way those pups were lucky," I ruefully huffed. "Before they passed, they got to see your beautiful face. They would have also felt, probably for the first time in their lives, what it meant to be cared for and loved unconditionally. That's all most of us hybrids want – to be loved for who we are and taken care of."

"Is that what you want?" I could still hear her sniffles, but for the most part Cara had calmed down enough that her scent returned to its usual delicious aroma.

"That, and to take care of you too, Baby. I want to live a long, happy life with my stunning mate," I punctuated with a quick kiss to her plump lips. "And watch as my kittens fill your belly."

"Sounds like a beautiful plan," she murmured, laying her head on my chest. I could feel her breath tickling my skin through my sweater. "While we're talking about kittens, with your rut coming up soon, what's the best way to prevent me from getting pregnant?"

I chuckled, amused how she has two top hybrid doctors that she sees most days at her disposal, but she prefers to get rut information from me.

"Uh, I'm not exactly sure, Baby. I've never had to worry about that since suppressants worked on me because I wasn't with my destined mate. Maybe we should ask Jin to come over and he can tell us. Or Lisa if you'd prefer talking to a woman."

☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆.。.:*・°☆

The following evening, we had Jin and Jungkook over for dinner, and apparently when Bang Chan learned about this at work, he invited himself and Felix along too. I didn't mind, seeing as I'd come to really like Cara's friends and family.

A knock on the door signalled our guests had arrived and I went to open it, only to find...

"Namjoon? Hobi? I didn't know you guys were coming," I said, shocked to see the pair standing on our doorstep, rugged up with snowflakes on their coats and hats. "Please come in." I opened the door wider, allowing the unexpected guests into the warmth of our home.

"Joonie! Hobi! What a pleasant surprise," Cara exclaimed happily, her smile radiant and welcoming as she hugged the two men. Normally, seeing my mate hugging two males would make me very territorial, especially when one was a hybrid; however, since I knew they were both destined mates themselves, my instincts didn't kick into full gear.

"JK let slip at work how he and Jin were coming round tonight," Hobi explained as he removed his outer winter clothes. "He said Joon and I should come too if we were free."

"We can always come back another night if you're busy," Namjoon said halting his own removal of the thick winter layers, obviously not wanting to intrude.

"Nonsense, you are family too," Cara smiled as she grabbed the coats and hats, hanging them on the coat rack so they could dry. "Plus, you know me, I always cook way too much."

The four of us made our way into the kitchen, where my beautiful mate was putting the last layers of the lasagne together. I was so excited to try her favourite dish; Cara had been shocked – and mildly horrified – that not once had I tasted 'the closest thing to heaven on a plate' as she put it.

"It's actually good you guys came," she remarked, laying the thin sheets of pasta onto the rich meat-laden sauce. "You're the only couple apart from us who are destined mates, so having your input on ruts will be handy."

"My rut is coming up in five days," I explained as I made drinks for our guests, sharing how we were both a bit nervous about how it will differ from my other ruts, also our worries about an unplanned pregnancy occurring.

"While I can't really talk about the pregnancy side, I can definitely share my experience with you," Hobi smiled softly, becoming horrified once he realised his statement could be interpreted differently. "I'm not going to sleep with you, or give you a blow-by-blow... Ah shit, I'm not going to blow you either- "

Cara, Namjoon and I were trying hard to stifle our laughter as the monkey hybrid spiralled, digging himself deeper into the hole. "Hey, my little Hunky Monkey, no more talk about blowing Yoongi," Namjoon teased, pecking his mate on the lips to silence his rambling before whispering, "the only dick you're allowed to think about having in your mouth is mine."

I wrapped my arms around Cara's waist and buried my head into her neck to hide my giggles. She didn't hear the mated pair's dirty talk, but with my sensitive hearing, I caught each and every word.

"Honey, let me put this in the oven and then we can snuggle on the couch until the others come, okay?"

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ⋆͛♡⋆͛ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

"...So, you're saying that there is a contraceptive that will work?" Cara asked, eyes sparkling with hope.

After the most delicious meal I'd ever had the pleasure of eating, we found ourselves back in the lounge in front of a roaring fire. It had been helpful hearing the other hybrids' experiences of their first rut after finding their mate. Granted, none of them had to worry about the reproduction side of things.

JK and Bang Chan had both experienced a stronger, more intense rut than they'd ever had. The Boxer hybrid was also like me in a way – he'd not completed the mating ritual with Jin prior to his rut and said that out of all the ruts he'd had, the one before the two were mated was the hardest.

The purpose of the mating ritual for hybrids wasn't only for sex and reproduction. For mates, it was the time where a hybrid gave his/her mate their mark – a bite that claimed the mate as their own and signalled unavailability to other hybrids. Once bonded through mating, hybrids would be fiercely loyal to their chosen or destined mate, forsaking anyone else who was not another mate. So, if a hybrid had a mate who was unmarked, their instincts were heightened dramatically, especially around the time of heats and ruts – and even more so if it happened to be a female mate.

"Yes, there's a contraceptive pill that prevents pregnancies for destined mates," Jin explained, handing Cara a small box. "It basically works like a standard Plan B morning after pill, but instead of the morning after pill only preventing conception after the fact, with this one you need to start taking it each morning, beginning two days before Yoongi's rut. You must also continue taking it for the five days afterwards since that's how long sperm can live."

"And it won't cause her any adverse reactions?" I asked, concerned about the well-being of my mate.

"No, it's the safest one on the market, and since Cara is healthy and doesn't have any pre-existing conditions, she should be fine on it."

I looked at my mate, silently conversing with my eyes that it was her decision. "OK, I'll start taking them in a couple of days." The smile Cara gave me filled my heart with joy. She was so beautiful and I felt like I'd saved an entire country in my past life in order to be destined to someone like her.

"I can't wait to be an uncle and see little kittens running around, but I'm glad you're waiting," Joon said softly. "Get to know each other and have fun practicing." The wink he shot our way made both Cara and I flush a bright red.

"I love you Sis, but hearing details about your sex life isn't something I want to know," Jin whined, standing and placing his mug on the bench. "We'd better make a move, Jungkookie, otherwise I'll fall asleep here and hearing my sister and her mate fucking would give me nightmares."

"Like I haven't heard you two going at it like rabbits," Cara shot back, her giggles erupting and making the rest of us join in. "Or walked in on you more times than I can count on my fingers!"

"Anyways," Hobi said, coming to hug both Cara and I goodbye and put an end to the current discussion. "Let me know when Yoongi starts going through his pre-rut and I'll start bringing food over for you both."

"Make sure you knock before entering, you never know what depraved things they'll be doing," Jin joked with a sparkle in his eyes. I'd missed having people close like this, where we felt comfortable enough to tease each other. I felt like I'd finally belonged. "I love you Sis. Make sure you start getting lots of rest. Also, might pay to head to the supermarket soon and stock up on snacks. We'll look after preparing meals for you both, but you'll need light things as sustenance too." The way Jin went from joking to caring was like watching a tennis match. The different sides in his duality were amazing.

"I love all you guys too," Cara proclaimed to the group after hugging each of the men. "But you'd better leave if you don't want to watch me do unspeakable things to my mate."

Fuck. I hope my sweats don't expose how hard I am right now.