Birds of a Feather

Chapter 11

Waking up without anyone else in the nest sends Cas into a panic. Her inner omega screaming at the idea that her pack abandoned them. She can't get her eyes to focus as she jumps out of the bed, wanting to run towards the common area. Tears start forming in her eyes, partly from fear and partly from slamming into the nest door face first. She yanks the door open so that it slams against the wall before sprinting down the hallway. She skids to a stop in the entrance to the common area as her eyes finally focus enough to scan the gathered group, all of which are half standing out of their chairs.

The others are all sporting matching expressions of mixed horror and confusion. Looking at their omega they can't help the protective instinct washing over them. She's standing there in the same hoodie and shorts as last night. Her hair however is a mess in all directions and her eyes have a wild look to them as if she isn't fully seeing them.

She hesitates in the doorway looking back and forth between Jin and the empty chair as everyone sits back down. Her hands come up to wrap around her stomach and she bites into her lip while her eyes flicker as if having an internal war with herself. She closes them and takes a deep breath before taking a step towards the empty chair.

An elbow to the ribs from Namjoon has Jin finally acting and opening his arms towards Cas. She whimpers and quickly dives into him, almost knocking them both over. She wraps her body around him so they're chest to chest and shoves her nose straight into the crook of his neck, breathing deeply.

Jin's hands hanging in the air for a minute before settling on her back. He begins to rub up and down her back as he feels a couple tears against his shoulder. The sniffling from their omega almost breaks his heart and he knows he needs to fix this issue if they want to avoid another argument heat.

"Hey. It's okay what's wrong? It can't be my face, I'm too handsome to cause sad tears."

Cas's hands fist into his shirt and Jin knows it's bad when she doesn't even huff at his joke. He goes to ask again but stops when Cas answers him in a small voice, "No one was in the nest when I woke up. Thought you left me. Got so scared I ran into the door."

"Oh, oh sweetheart. I'm so sorry." He glances up to see the others staring with varying looks of shame. He places a quick kiss to the top of Cas's head before saying, "We'll make sure that doesn't happen again. We thought you wouldn't want us around you because you normally don't."

Cas continues to nose at Jin's neck muttering, "Want cuddles. Alone. Scary. Don't like." Her brow furrows as she forces the words out."

Jin nods again and tries to turn her around, "How about some breakfast then?"

She violently shakes her head and clings to him tighter, "No. Gotta scent. Pack alpha leaving. Need scent."

It's then that the group realizes the early morning scare has reverted Cas into the Omega brain Jinyoung had discussed. They decide to just let her be. Jin winds one arm around her waist as he continues eating breakfast. Conversation flowing between them in a strained atmosphere as everyone keeps glancing towards their Omega.

The finish breakfast and Jin decides to broach the subject they had planned for breakfast, "Okay Cas, we have to explain the planned schedule to you for this week. You don't have to talk if you don't want to. Just nod or shake your head. Okay?"

She nods slowly against Jin's chest. He manages to hold in a sigh realizing that this is probably as good as they're going to get right now.

"Okay. So, today you're going to have Namjoon and Yoongi stay home with you. Tomorrow is Tae. Then Jimin. Then Hobi. That leaves me home the full day before your heat starts. This way we can make sure you get all you cuddling needs met."

Cas turns around with a pout, "What about Kook? Why isn't he home with me?"

No one looks eager to answer so Jungkook finally answers, "My day would've been yesterday Cas. With me being your bonded beta I could've supported you through your first day of pre heat."

"But... but... why aren't you staying home another day of the week? Like the day before my heat? Or today?" Jin, Namjoon and Yoongi all flinch at this question, but Cas doesn't seem to notice. "Or why didn't you say something yesterday when you noticed my pre heat?"

His face turns sour like he's sucking on a lemon, "I wasn't told that I would have the first day until this morning. It was then decided that I needed some repercussions for not telling the others about your potential pre heat."

Cas crosses her arms and her voice takes on a slight growl, "Decided by who? Cause I certainly wasn't part of that fucking conversation."

She glares at the others around the table who are all deliberately not making eye contact before turning back to glare at the pack alpha who meets here stare for stare. "And why is he being punished? I asked him not to tell you because I knew you would all overreact and you have super busy schedules right now."

Jin just continues to stare, "We talked before you woke up this morning. We are supposed to be handling things as a pack, not hiding things from each other. Consider this part of your punishment too. Maybe next heat you'll be able to have Jungkook home with you if you actually tell us it's happening."

Cas shoves herself out of his arms. Her glare gets even harsher as she hisses, "You're a fucking hypocrite and you know it. "Handling things as a pack"? So why wasn't I invited to this exclusive conversation. Or is this your way of telling me I'm not really pack. And this right her is why I didn't fucking tell you I was in pre heat." She says the last part while poking him in the chest.

The others begin to stand and try to move towards the two, wanting to diffuse the situation, but when Cas turns her glare on them they all freeze in place. She looks around the room before throwing her hands in the air and screaming her frustration, "You're all a bunch of motherfucking assholes. Why the hell did I even join this pack in the first place? It's obvious I'm not wanted."

"Cas..." Namjoon starts in a low whisper, but she just shakes her head, bursts into tears and runs off to the pack nest, slamming the door behind her to cut off the sound of her sobs.

Namjoon looks like his world has just shattered as Hobi moves to give him a side hug, not looking much better himself.

Jimin is the first to break the silence, "We fucked up again."

Yoongi nods before ushering everyone but Namjoon out the door. "We did, but the two of us will work to see if we can fix this. You guys go get some work done today. You know Cas will feel worse if she finds out this impacted our work."

Some lack luster shuffling follows as the dorm is vacated. The two older betas look at each other, sharing a head nod before heading off towards the nest, hoping their omega didn't think to lock it.