With the pack leaders working on the kidnapping situation, there wasn't much for Damon and Jun to do but sit around and wait for news. Damon was in constant contact with Ava, texting back and forth with updates, but until they had the necessary power in place to go search for Elizabeth, both of them were helpless.

Jun, for his part, went about his househusband tasks as usual, puttering around in the kitchen to make a properly nutritious meal for his pregnant boyfriend and starting a load of laundry while he was at it. Damon watched him work from the couch and sighed, wondering if he could talk Jun into wearing one of those cute aprons with the animal faces on them. Or maybe the classic 'Kiss the Cook' design.

Knowing Jun, though, he would take advantage of that by making Damon kiss him every time he put it on. Not that Damon minded. But still, it would give him way too much power.

After dinner, Damon went to shower and was only mildly surprised when Jun jumped in with him, finally used to it. It was as Damon was scrubbing shampoo into Jun's hair (and subsequently causing Jun to purr madly) that Damon decided to bring up the issue that they had been skirting for some time now.

That being the mate issue.

"Do you think your parents would freak out if we mated?" he blurted, unable to figure out how to broach the topic delicately.

Jun's eyes slid open, but his purring kept going strong. Damon hurried to tilt his head back in the spray to keep soap out of his eyes. Jun's lips tilted slightly at the corners, mischievous.

"We already have. Many times."

Making a 'tch' noise, Damon pinched Jun's easily accessible ear. "You know that's not what I mean."

Jun 'hmm-ed' lowly, the sound reverberating around them in the shower. He seemed to think something over, gaze drifting away. He reached out to grab Damon's waist, sliding his palms down Damon's sides in an uncommon gesture of hesitation.

He opened his mouth, and then closed it, which made Damon immediately anxious. Jun usually didn't hesitate to speak his mind around Damon, unless there was something he didn't think he could tell Damon. This didn't seem to be one of those times, though.

"It doesn't matter," he said finally, tilting his head down to meet Damon's gaze. Water trickled down his face, drops hanging off his eyelashes.

Damon could admire Jun's willingness to disregard his parents' wishes, but this was still important. Damon didn't think it would be a problem for Jun's parents, really, but mate bonds were for life, and traditionally, the parents of both parties of a pair intending to be mates had to approve the match.

Damon's parents were already out on that front. Maybe it was silly, but Damon wanted at least one set of parents to accept it before they went for it.

Maybe it wasn't the right time to even be thinking about this, given everything else that was going on. But Damon didn't know if there ever would be a right time.

Before Damon could try to prod a more substantial answer out of Jun, Jun spoke up, a small furrow between his brows.

"What difference is there, between a mated pair and us?" He said. "I already feel lost when you aren't by my side. I already feel happy when you're happy, sad when you're sad. If you were to die – " he paused, "I would follow."

Damon blinked up at him, bewildered and flustered in equal measure. Jun had never been this talkative.

"Is that not what it is to be mates?"

Jun's hand slid up, up from Damon's waist to rest lightly at the back of this neck.

"If it is, we've already long since been mated. The only thing missing is your mark on me, and my mark on you."

Finally, Jun leaned forward to rest his forehead against Damon's, bit of playfulness in the shadow of his smile.

"And if you want that, all you need to do is ask," he rumbled.

With that, he pulled back and casually started rubbing shampoo into Damon's hair, as if he hadn't just caused Damon's heart to parkour in his chest.

Damon was silent for the rest of the shower and throughout the entire process of drying off and getting ready for bed. Jun kept giving him slightly concerned looks, as if he didn't know he was responsible for Damon's silence.

When they were curled up in bed, lights off, Damon lay awake in the dark, thinking.

Jun gave Damon his space to work through his thoughts, lightly petting Damon's hip and drifting off to sleep.

Blushing, and glad to have the darkness to cover it, Damon slowly rolled closer to Jun, whose breaths were starting to even out.

He pressed his mouth to Jun's ear, and whispered.

The speed at which Jun tackled him was a little comical, and in fact, Damon couldn't help giggling as Jun frantically tore off their clothes. He pressed kisses all over Damon's face and neck, like an overexcited puppy.

Damon quickly couldn't laugh anymore as Jun's hand slid between his legs, working him open expertly. Not that he had to do much. Damon had been steadily leaking since the shower.

Damon had decided. Consequences be damned, parental approval be damned. He loved Jun, Jun loved him – and Jun was right. They were mates in all but name. Damon wasn't sure exactly when that had happened, but it did, and he didn't regret it.

And despite whatever problems may arise because of it, Damon wasn't going to regret whispering those three little words to Jun.

'I want it.'