Parfait

Chapter Thirteen

Hoseok turned up late at night, and Hana stirred just enough to welcome him into the bed and settle him in with soft, sleepy kisses. He carefully arranged the blankets around them and held her tightly as she drifted back to sleep. As excited as he had been to be invited to her nest he was surprisingly quiet. Perhaps that should have been her first clue, but she was too tired to notice anything besides how nice it felt to cuddle in the haven of her nest, wrapped in soft strawberry perfume.

The alpha let her remain in peace until his alarm went off the next morning. "Wake up baby," he urged her, peppering her face with kisses. "We gotta have a pack meeting this morning."

"Okay, have a good one," she yawned, trying to roll over and burrow back into her pillows.

"That means you too," Hobi chuckled. "You're part of the pack, silly girl."

That had Hana shaking off her sleep and waking up. If they wanted her to meet with them, too, it had to be something important. She still made time to kiss Hoseok good morning. That didn't take long to turn into a hurried make out session, his weight pressing her back down into the pillows. "If only we had a little more time," he purred, running a hand over her curves until he found skin where her nightgown had hiked up on one leg.

"There's never enough time," Hana replied, carding her fingers through his hair. "But you have been especially unlucky with our timing, haven't you Hobi-oppa? I should fix that. Want to come back tonight?"

"We need to have this meeting before making any kind of promises," he murmured, breath hot on her neck. Suddenly he latched on, the familiar sweet pain blossoming on her skin as he marked her. This time he had chosen a spot higher on her neck where she could not hide it again. She had an inkling that he was not telling her something, but tried to enjoy their short time together instead of worrying, savoring the way he soothed her fresh bruise with strawberry scented kisses.

The pack gathered in the kitchen, a mug of coffee in the hands of everyone who drank it. Hana grasped hers tightly. Hoseok was not the only member who seemed rather anxious. Namjoon glanced around nervously and assessed all seven faces who had eyes on him. "We got some news last night," he began. "Some of you already heard it on the way home. Do you remember when we discussed a trip overseas?"

"We declined because of my rut... oh." Yoongi's eyes widened ever so slightly. "But that's not a problem anymore. Can they do that on such short notice?"

"Apparently they can, because they did," Hoseok replied. "They only told us last night."

"And we don't have much time to prepare, either," Jimin sighed. "We have to leave tomorrow."

"How long will we be gone?" Taehyung asked with a frown.

"We'll be there a week, so with travel time, nine days," Namjoon answered.

Seokjin had seated himself beside Hana, and now he reached out, softly stroking her back. "Will you be okay by yourself, pretty girl?"

"Of course, Jinnie-oppa," she said, taking a sip of her coffee now that her grip on the mug could relax. "I was worried it was going to be bad news, but an overseas trip is really exciting for you all, isn't it?"

"But wait, Hana-noona isn't coming with us?" Jungkook asked, brows tightly furrowed. "We've had house omegas travel with us before. The pack stays together."

"That's for long trips like tours. We can't justify her traveling with us this time. Sorry, Hana." Namjoon really did seem apologetic, but she was still confused about why everyone was making a big deal about it.

"I don't like it," Jungkook grumbled.

"Me neither," Taehyung echoed. "Nine days is pushing it. They're not supposed to keep us apart more than ten without consent. What happens if weather delays us? That would be a breach of contract."