The two doctors turned to face the hybrid patient as soon as he'd dropped the proverbial 'mate' bomb on the room. Jin and Jisoo could tell the declaration was meant for one of them because of the way the hybrid was looking at them. But shockingly, the female hybrid doctor hadn't made any outward acknowledgements to his claim.

"Sweet peppermint...hannndsommme mannnn..." the hybrid whispered as he slipped unconscious.

It can't be possible. He must be mistaken.

I looked at the doctors with wide eyes, silently conversing with my brother. Jin already has another mate. I could see questions running through his mind, all of which kept coming back to his husband, especially since we both knew that JK loved Jin's peppermint scent.

"I- I need to talk to Kook," he whispered in shock. I told him to get his husband and to use my office to talk. Jin nodded slowly before leaving the room in a hurry.

"This stays in this room," I told all the staff, my voice low but firm and leaving no room for misunderstanding. "No one is to utter a single word about what this patient said, am I clear?"

In no uncertain words, I made sure that everyone here knew the consequences they would face if I found out they were gossiping about Jin being the mate to this patient: instant termination of their employment contracts because since he spoke under doctor's care, it was covered by doctor/patient confidentiality and anyone breaking that would be fired from Sanctuary.

"Go, Jin needs you," Taemin murmured, coming to my side. "I'll handle this. And if you can spare Bang Chan, he and I can meet with the detective."

I thanked the gorilla and beagle hybrids, promising to try my best to get to the meeting with the police as soon as I could... if I could.

As I rushed upstairs, I called Yoongi and asked him to meet me in my office. I had a feeling that I might need the help calming the two men down. Relief washed through me when he told me he was heading upstairs.

I walked into my office, finding only my brother in there. Apparently, Jungkook was finishing up with a client, but the receptionist in the physio rooms assured Jin that she would send his husband up the moment he was done.

"Are you okay, Jinnie?" I asked softly, moving slowly as to not spook the man. I had never seen my brother like this – hair all mussed up like he'd run his hands through it multiple times, his bottom lip a bright red from the way he was chewing on it, and his normally steady hands shaking so much like they were leaves trying to hang on whilst in the middle of a hurricane.

"N-no," he whispered, turning and nearly collapsing into me. All I could do was hold him as he cried. "I-I can't lose him, Sis."

"Hey, how do you know you're gonna lose him?" I asked, rubbing his back softly. "We don't even know yet if this patient is just your mate, or the mate to both of you. Let's talk to JK first, then we can figure the rest out afterwards, yeah?"

He nodded into my shoulder. Just as he took a deep, stabilising breath, my door opened to reveal two men I loved for different reasons. The Boxer and cat hybrids halted as soon as they entered the room, equal worry on their faces.

"Sweet cheeks? What's wrong?" Every time I heard Jungkook's nickname for his mate, I had to smile. The Boxer, upon meeting Jin for the first time, had cooed at his chubby cheeks that flushed pink. From that day on, 'sweet cheeks' had stuck between the two.

"Jinnie, do you want Yoongi and I here as support?" I asked gently, nodding when he said he would like some privacy. "Okay, we'll be at Bang Chan's desk if you need us."

As soon as Yoongi and I made it outside, I ran into his arms, holding on as tight as I could. "What's going on, Baby?" he asked in hushed tones, his head resting on mine. "Why did your office smell like the worst mint ice cream that had been left in the sun for too long?"

I led Yoongi over to Bang Chan's desk and offered him the seat. I was about to hop onto the corner of the desk, but Yoongi pulled me onto his lap instead.

"I'm too heavy for you," I said without thinking. Over the past six months, Yoongi had been actively working on improving my self-esteem. Gone were the thoughts that I was too fat and the insecurity of not being good enough for him; instead, he helped me see the beauty in my body and to love myself for who I was, inside and out.

"Do I have to spank you again, Kitten?" he growled in warning. "You know what happened last time you called yourself fat. You had a beautifully pink ass for the rest of the day."

I shook my head; as much as I would have loved Yoongi's undivided attention as he punished my naked body for that comment, now was not the time... nor the place. Instead, I leaned into his chest, soaking up the warmth that radiated from him.

"Jinnie found out today he has another mate," I admitted quietly. Yoongi's arms tightened around me, and looking up at his face, I had to fight back a giggle at how cute he looked with his eyes scanning the room in confusion and his mouth open in shock.

"Wait, what?" Yoongi listened as I recounted everything that happened in the ED bays. A look of sadness on his face when he heard about another death, a quiet prayer for the hybrid undergoing surgery, and utter shock when I told him about the hybrid who was Jin's mate.

"Is he also Jungkook's mate?" he asked, nodding slowly when I shrugged my shoulders. "Damn, I don't know who I feel sorry for more. Jin for being in the middle, Jungkook for finding out his husband has another mate, or this other hybrid and all he's gone through."

"I know. I just hope we don't lose him before they get to find out. What if he is Kook's mate and he dies? Jungkook will be devastated."

"There's no point in worrying about that just yet, Baby," he said as he kissed my head. "He's under the best care here, so let's leave the worrying about his condition to the people treating him and we will be here for our family."

After what felt like an eternity, Jin and Jungkook came out of my office, hands intertwined. I breathed a sigh of relief.

"We're gonna go down and see if he's okay," Jungkook said as they reached Yoongi and I.

"Do you want us there with you?" Yoongi asked on behalf of us both. They both shook their heads, but asked if they could come over tonight.

"Of course, you can," I said with a smile. "Yoongi and I were gonna fire up the BBQ, and I'll make your favourite strawberry parfaits. The spare room is yours too if you need it."

"Thanks, Sis," Jin smiled, the two of them waving goodbye.

I turned to Yoongi, pressing my lips to his cheek. "I'm gonna let Bang Chan know that I'm leaving early today. Movies and cuddles at home?"

"Sounds perfect," he whispered, brushing his lips against mine. "I'll see you at home, Baby."

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾ ⋆͛♡⋆͛ ☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

"...so, yeah. We have another mate," Jungkook concluded, looking around the table seeing shocked looks on not only mine and Yoongi's faces, but also on Hobi, Joon, Bang Chan and Felix's too.

Yoongi and I had gotten a shock when our door opened late-afternoon by Hoseok and his husband, who told us that my brother had invited them around. 'He needs to stop inviting people without telling me,' I'd whispered to myself. Not long after, my brother and his mate, along with my cousin and assistant, had entered our home.

Opting to order takeout because of the unexpectant increase in numbers, as we sat on the back deck nursing glasses of wine or beers, Jin and Jungkook had narrated their eventful afternoon. When they'd gone back down to the ED bay, the hybrid was awake again. At the same time, he and Jungkook murmured 'mate' while looking at each other.

"His name is Taehyung Kim and he's an alpaca hybrid," my brother said with a smile. "He's a victim of the organ trafficking ring, but thankfully he wasn't severely injured. His body temperature has stabilised and the prognosis looks good once the infection clears."

"Taehyung is actually well enough that he's talking to the police tomorrow," Bang Chan commented, mostly to me but also the others. "He was telling Taemin and I some of the things that he went through, and when we relayed that to the police, they wanted to speak to him immediately. Taemin was able to compromise for tomorrow, stating that the doctors were still trying to get his infection under control."

For months, shortly after we realised what was happening and that it was an organised criminal ring causing the abuse towards the victims, Namjoon had petitioned for the immediate amendment to the law on crimes against hybrids; instead of being convicted and sentenced based on the crime committed, the new bill mandated life imprisonment for anyone convicted on hybrid cruelty. Joon informed us all that it was going before the senate next month for voting, and we were all crossing our fingers that it would be passed swiftly.

"Ooooh, I forgot to tell you," Bang Chan said excitedly, a little bit drunk after two glasses of wine. "There's a new cop on the case... and he's hot."

"About damn time they put more people on it," I grumbled, taking a sip of my wine. Unlike the beagle hybrid, I wasn't drunk.

"He just finished an undercover case that resulted in the take-down of a hybrid child sex trafficking ring," the beagle hybrid gushed. I didn't know whether his red cheeks were from the alcohol in his system, or picturing the new cop.

"Hopefully with what Taehyung is able to tell them tomorrow, there might be a break in the case," Jungkook remarked, smiling at the thought of his new mate.

"When does he get discharged, Jin? And where's he gonna go?" Yoongi asked while I was refilling our glasses. After accepting his drink, my mate was pulling me to sit between his legs on the large armchair and wrapping his arms around me affectionately.

"We need to keep him for observation for a few days because of his infection, but all signs point to the fact that he will make a full recovery. Jungkook and I talked about all this on our way here," he said, pausing to look at his husband with a bright smile on his face. I loved the twinkle those two got in their eyes any time they looked at each other.

"We're gonna ask him if he wants to move in with us," JK finished, his smile as brilliant as his husband's. "He doesn't have anywhere else to go, and it will help the three of us get to know each other better."

"Well, I think I speak on behalf of the rest of us," Namjoon said, looking around at the rest of us, "we can't wait to meet your new mate and welcome him into the family."