stuck in a rut: the mark story context
because i decided to post a one-shot for him that has nothing to do with the book that he's from, and it's not early on in their relationship lmao
so hi! for anyone who clicked on this link from "on the edge," this is basically everything you need to know about how we got to this point in the story (without any spoilers for "stuck in a rut," the (tentative) lucas story that takes place in the same universe, as this whole thing happens before his appearance in the pack). i'm sorry if this is just as long as the one-shot itself lol
if you need context as to how this universe as a whole "works," you can find that here. it's also linked in the notes of on the edge in case you missed it! i'll be using terminology from that post in this one, so if anything is confusing, please read that :)
so basically:
all of the members of superm are in one big wolfpack. they go to virginia tech, and they keep the wolf part of their lives under wraps by masking everything under a fraternity (called sigma mu)
kai is the alpha in this pack. he's not the oldest, but he's been a wolf since he was a toddler so he's the most experienced out of everyone and thus is the leader
the reader is a graphic design major, as is ten (i swear he's important)
ten and the reader met in their first class at virginia tech as freshmen. they're basically best friends. the reader does not know he's a wolf
at this point, ten is the pup in the pack. he joined, along with taeyong, around a year before he began his studies as VT during a campus tour when he was a senior in high school, where the two met kai, taemin, and baekhyun
when ten and the reader become friends, ten is one of only five members in the pack. mark has not yet joined
over the course of their freshman year, ten and the reader work on graphic design projects together, usually at her dorm since ten is a bit uncomfortable with her coming over to the frat house in case she might learn too much
mark, an english major, is turned into a wolf right at the beginning of sophomore year (he is the same age as ten in this story). it's bad. he was essentially brutally attacked by a wolf and left for dead, and he stumbled into kai's pack pretty much on pure instinct, where he was patched up by kai's imprint, jess, and sort of initiated into the pack. so he's now the pup
very soon into sophomore year, ten finally agrees to bring the reader to his house, figuring that he's grown accustomed enough to his new lifestyle that he won't let anything slip to her
during this first visit to the house, the reader meets mark in passing as he's heading out to go to a class, and he imprints on her immediately.
he's been a wolf for, like, two or three weeks at this point? has absolutely no fucking idea what's happening or why he suddenly cannot stop smelling this smell (he can't put his finger on what it smells like but he likes it), but he disregards it and doesn't tell anyone. figures it's a normal wolf thing
mark is also just. really fucked up from it all. he's not adjusting well, has this disgusting scar on his ribcage from the attack that didn't heal very well, and being from a very christian family with a strict christian father, his faith is also being tested as someone who very vehemently did not believe in wolves before he became one. he thinks he's cursed, basically
mark has his first rut about a week into turning, which is super unfortunate for him because he's not ready for it at all. he manages to get through it with medicine, but it's not fun, especially considering he's still healing from his attack
so things go on after mark imprints on the reader, and no one in the pack has any idea that it's happened
mark has his second rut, which is his first post-imprint, and it's the absolute fucking worst. this is when he realizes what's actually going on with him, because for some reason even though he's only met the reader, like, twice, he cannot stop thinking about her while he's fucking into his fist, and the smell is unbearable
he still doesn't tell anyone once he makes it through that second one
three weeks later, ten starts his rut
the reader is over at the sigma mu house to work on a project with him, and ten is pretty confident that he can hold himself back despite the rut. he needs to hold himself back, because this project is due in two days. but despite his self-control, he's still a bit oddly flirtatious and handsy with her
the reader picks up on it, and she starts to flirt back
and one thing leads to another, and ten and the reader have sex. remember that no one in this pack knows that mark has imprinted
mark is out shopping when this happens, and all of a sudden as he's checking out, that scent that he can't get rid of turns sour. he knows something's wrong. and he sprints back to the sigma mu house to figure out what it is, and he finds ten and the reader fucking. and even worse, that ten has claimed her with a big fat mark right on her collarbone
mark goes ape shit
he rips ten off of her before he can knot, turns into a wolf, and goes in for the kill. he gets one good attack in on ten's eye before kai subdues him, and the reader is left naked and traumatized, being comforted by taemin and baekhyun while things are explained to her. despite their newfound assumptions, they still don't exactly know why mark suddenly got so angry with ten, so the imprint thing is left out
later that night, after she's made sure that ten is going to be okay, she's visited by mark, who's trying to explain and apologize. she's rightfully pissed at him, but after he explains everything about how he had no idea what was going on and never meant to hurt ten and was just acting on instinct because he physically needs her... she kind of comes around
it's slow at first, but she figures that she would be an asshole to just cut mark off because of this one incident when he's stressed to her how genuinely important she is to him, and they're practically strangers, but she tries to at least be friendly with him so that his life isn't completely ruined
once things have settled and ten's eye has mostly healed, mark and the reader become fast friends, and she starts hanging around the house more often, either for projects with ten or to try getting closer to mark. she swears that she's only doing it because he needs it, but... let's face it, who wouldn't fall for him? he's precious
but despite the strange feelings, she refuses to actually get close to him because she feels like he'll never actually like her and that his feelings for her start and end with emotional obsession
and then... mark reveals that his third rut is coming up in a few weeks, and that he'll probably be pretty hyperfixated on the reader when it happens. he suggests that she stay far away from him while it's happening, but she insists that if it'll help him through it, she'll have sex with him
after a thorough discussion with ten on how ruts work, he volunteers to take her to her appointment to get an iud (so that she can safely have sex with mark when he needs it while still avoiding pregnancy), and on the way back to the house afterward, he explains how mark turned to her and why mark is so timid in taking his shirt off around people (because he feels ashamed of the scar). ten also explains that the reader seems to be finally bringing mark out of his shell and returning some sense of normalcy to his life, and regardless of everything going on between the three of them, he thanks her for taking care of his packmate
mark reveals that night that he's actually a virgin, and the reader instantly understands that the last thing he wants is to lose it in a rut where he can't control himself. there's about two weeks until it starts, and the reader can't have penetrative sex for a week due to the iud placement, so she offers to take his virginity in a week so that he can lose it before his rut starts and get comfortable in a sexual setting while he's still in control
but because the mood has shifted and mark is a bit turned on from thinking about losing his virginity, the reader offers to at least get him off so he can sort of ease into it before actually having sex with her. she gives him a handjob, and mark basically begs to eat her out (because he can smell her), but she stops him because his instincts seem to be taking over and she doesn't want him to lose control just in case anything is still sore from the iud. she does sort of run her fingers through her labia and let him taste it finger-sucking style, though. he enjoys that very much
mark also tries to take her shirt off to touch her a little, but he chickens out because he thinks it's "unfair" that he can't take his off because of the scar and he doesn't want to do anything to her that he wouldn't let her do to him
a week later, "on the edge" begins. it's the story of mark's loss of virginity :')
thank you for reading this far and i hope everything makes sense, lol. i have a few other one-shots written for these two (ten and mark), including that handjob scene and the first time mark drops the L-bomb so if you like "on the edge" and want more wolf!mark... i'd be happy to feed you