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Hoseok The bright light peeking through the window stings my swollen eyes and I let out a soft groan. I do not want to wake up, not after the lousy night of nightmares I had. In need of some comfort, I stretch out my hand in search of min-jun. My eyes bulge open, however, when I find the bed empty, his side of the bed cold . "Min-jun?" I whisper, looking around the room frantically, feeling my heart sink to the pit of my stomach. "Min-jun!" I scream, tears springing to my eyes as last night's nightmares flash through my mind. Taehyung's head pops up from my side of the room and I look over to see min-jun snuggled up beside him, his stuffed wolf in his arms. Taehyung looks equally bewildered to find the pup curled up on his side, his body growing tense with my silence. How did he get down there? I wonder as I scramble out of bed to pick him up. It's doesn't matter, I scold myself. just glad he's okay. I gently pick up the sleepy pup, holding him close to my chest as several tears spill onto my cheeks. Min-jun mumbles a hello to me, his sleepy voice soothing my heart. I squeeze him tightly, a slight sob escaping my throat . "He won't take you , " I hiccup to myself as I comb my fingers I ignore Taehyung's pained look, not caring that I probably looked like a lunatic to him. "gwaenchanh-a eomma? ( Are you okay , eomma?)" Min-jun asks when I finally loosen up my grip. He pulls back from my arms and pokes at my eyes and cheeks, staring at me with cute furrowed brows. "You don't look so good ." I feign hurt at his words and hold back my laughter . "Am I ugly?" I ask. He shakes his head definitively. "yeppeun yeppeun(pretty, pretty)" he sings . "I have the prettiest eomma in the whole world!" He shouts , my ears ringing from the sudden sound of his loud voice. l shower his chubby cheeks with kisses, feeling relieved to not be alone in this wolf's den. "Where did you go?" I ask . "Why did you go sleep on the floor with taehyung?" Min-jun fidgets with his stuffed wolf before whispering close to my ear. "I had a nightmare," he says , hugging his wolf tightly. "A big bad wolf came to take me away." My heart nearly stops as the blood drains from my face. I want to scream but my words never spill out of my mouth. All through the night, I dreamt of hak-yeon finding us and taking min-jun from me, disposing of me as he did all those years ago training to take over the Alpha title, turning my sweet little boy into a hardened Alpha. Min-jun's large eyes widen and he smiles at taehyung who blushes under his gaze. "But then taehyung saved me, eomma. He didn't let the bad wolf take me!" He climbs out of my lap and runs into taehyung's arms . "And then - And then taehyung's wolf carried me home!" Taehyung's face freezes, his body tensing at the mention of his wolf. " Aoh aoh aaooooh!" Min-jun suddenly howls like a wolf. " taehyung is a wolf, romma. Did you know that?" He howls happily again. "Can I be a wolf, eomma? Can I be a wolf like taehyung?" Several questions pop into my head. How did he know taehyung is a wolf and how could he possibly know a wolf was after us? I lick my dry lips, unsure how to respond to his question. I always knew the day would come when he would earn his wolf but his first shift was so many years away; I thought I would have more time to come up with an explanation as to why he'd feel another presence within him or hear a little voice in his head ... Taehyung's eyes seem to bore into my soul as I stare at my hopeful pup still in his arms. While I despised wolves , my son was the exception. I would teach him to be a good wolf loyal to his family and should he ever find his mate, he would never hurt them. "O - of course you can," I finally manage to say. "You can be a wolf if you want to" min-jun howls again, crawling on all fours and barking at me. You will be a beautiful wolf , I want to tell him but I swallow my words and smile at him as he rolls around the covers with his tongue hanging out of his mouth . "Come on min-jun" I say, ignoring taehyung's questioning eyes as I climb out of bed. "We have to get dressed." The sweet aroma of crepes fills the house as min-jun and I make our way into the kitchen, both of us practically drooling. We had skipped dinner last night and gone straight to bed after our shower. We find ji-won hard at work pouring crepe batter onto a hot pan, swirling it around in circles to make a perfect crepe. Despite laboring over the food, ji-won looks as beautiful as ever in a pretty blouse and matching skirt. She kindly signs a good morning to min-jun and I but then frowns at me when I try to steal a crepe, slapping my hand to not touch her food. My pouts are useless against her and I instead help her pack the cut - up fruits and fillings to take to the main pack house . When we are all ready to go, taehyung and ji-won carry the food while I lead min-jun up to the mansion, squeezing his hand tightly as my wandering eyes scan the area uneasily. He can't find us here, I remind myself as we enter the mansion. We're safe. An omega meets us at the door and leads us to a large dining Alpha Minhyuk sits at the head of the table, his fem-male king to his left. Sitting beside hyungwon is changkyun along with a male we had yet to meet. To minhyuk's right is another couple whom we also did not meet yesterday. The rest of the table is empty . Part of Gamma changkyun's job seems to be annoying his Alpha who scowls violently at him as he recounts a story . "Anyways , minhyuk ran through the entire school butt - naked looking for his clothes," changkyun wheezes, hyungwon on the verge of tears beside him . "He was so mad- " His voice comes to a halt when he finally notices us, hyungwon rising to his feet to greet us ." Please make yourselves at home," he instructs , gesturing to the empty seats. He points to the male beside changkyun. "This is kihyun, changkyun's mate." He then gestures to the couple to minhyuk's right . "And this is Beta shownu and his husband jooheon" jooheon jumps to his feet and rushes over to us with a kind smile on his lips. His eyes widen in shock when he sees the food in ji-won and taehyung's hands. Are those crepes?" he squeals. "How did you know we love crepes! " "Ji-won is mute and deaf" I explain when ji-won stares blankly at jooheon. "So, she won't understand you." "H - how do you say 'thank you'?" he asks. I show him the sign and jooheon mimics me, ji-won's eyes brightening from the gratitude. Jooheon and hyungwon help distribute the crepes around while several omegas bring in dishes of eggs and potatoes for everyone to enjoy. "You can sit right next to me" jooheon smiles when everyone's plates are all full, patting the chair beside him. "Is he your pup?" he asks, pointing at min-jun who climbs onto my lap. "He is beautiful and my goddess, his eyes are gorgeous!" he squeals , waving over to min-jun who gives him the heart shaped smile that he inherited from me. Taehyung and ji-won make themselves comfortable on the opposite side of the table and dig into their food, taehyung translating for ji-won as more praise comes her way. I prepare a small crepe for min-jun and he readily licks the Nutella off, smothering his cheeks in the chocolate spread. The wolves try to make small talk, asking me questions about how I met jimin or what I do for a living but the last thing I want to do is talk about my life to a bunch of strangers. Regardless, I am as polite as possible, providing as few details as I can to give them a hint that I was not comfortable with disclosing information about my life. My patience starts to wane , however , when they ask about taehyung. "So how long have you two been together?" Jooheon asks , wiggling his eyebrows at me. "You make a cute couple." I steal a quick glance at taehyung who looks petrified by his question anger get the best of me. "Oh , I just assumed ... with the way he looks at you ... " his voice trails off when he sees the uncomfortable look on taehyung's face . "No , he's just a wolf I met and can't seem to get rid of ," I mutter, an awkward silence enveloping us as I eat the last of my crepe. I feel taehyung's eyes on me as I set my silverware down and begrudgingly look up to tell him to quit it. When our eyes meet, his brown eyes flicker to a bright gold color l, his wolf seeming to fight for control. Taehyung shuts his eyes tightly, looking away to hide his other half but I had already seen the wolf within ... and he was angry with me. My last memories of ji-yong replay in my head. Hak-yeon and Ji-yong, my wolf mate who claimed would never hurt me, the one who told me he loved me every day ... hit me ... rejected me ... humiliated me ... and betrayed me. Taehyung and his wolf would be no different. They would hurt me too. Suddenly very aware that I am in a pack full of wolves and the only human for miles, I begin gathering my dishes to leave when hyungwon's voice stops me in my tracks. "I'd like to take a walk with you" he says through a small smile. "If that's okay with you." I'm about to politely decline when he rises to his feet, I look down at my pup clinging to my leg , his large eyes twinkling with mischief. Hyungwon whistles and the pitter patter of paws announces the entrance of the rambunctious pit bull named Rio . "Eomma, look! Doggie!" Min-jun squeals excitedly, jumping in place as the dog comes over to sniff him. Rio coats min-jun in a thick layer of slobber as he licks his face, min-jun screaming with joy . "There's a daycare just down the road ... " hyungwon explains . "I'm sure min-jun would enjoy some time with other pups . "I don't like the idea of leaving min-jun alone in such a strange place with wolves no less . "Or min-jun could stay here with taehyung and ji-won. He will be perfectly safe here , I give you my word" hyungwon offers. More empty promises I mutter to myself. "Promises are sacred to me," hyungwon says, a slight frown on his lips. "They are not empty and I don't make them lightly." I stare at him in shock, wondering how in the world he knew I was thinking of promises. "I understand your concerns, Hoseok. l do" hyungwon adds with calm demeanor . "But you don't know me. Don't be so quick to dismiss my words. I deserve to be treated with the same respect I have bestowed upon you, don't you think?" "How did you know my name?" I snap , knowing jimin wouldnt tell it to anyone . "I'll tell you if you go on this walk with me, just the two of us" he says , his mate and gamma looking uneasily at him. "I'm not going to be in any danger" he chuckles at their response. "I'm just going on a walk. Beside, I can handle myself for a couple hours ." "I can handle myself " changkyun mocks him, hyungwon bursting into laughter at his high - pitched voice. "Please, I know kindergarteners tougher than you." Before he can say anything else, changkyun suddenly levitates several feet off the ground until his head almost touching the ceiling. "Hyungwon, put me down." Changkyun screams, swinging his arms and legs around . "Come on , you know I don't like heights!" "Say you're sorry" hyungwon smirks . "Fine , you little gremlin from hell . I'm sorry! Put me down!" he snaps, hyungwon finally having mercy and putting him on the floor. Changkyun curls his fingers in a choking motion, grumbling under his breath how much he wants to just strangle him before he storms out of the room, his mate wheezing in laughter as he races after him. I pull min-jun close to me on instinct, completely speechless at having seen what I just witnessed, and amazed no one else was shocked by his display of power. "I gotta go , babe" minhyuk says as he leans over and kisses hyungwon on the cheek. "I got a meeting in thirty minutes. Let's go shownu" he calls to his Beta who also bids goodbye to his mate and races after him as they leave.Jooheon turns to me and smiles . "Don't worry. Min-jun can stay here with taehyung, ji-won and I. This is the safest place in the River Moon." Min-jun wiggles eagerly in my arms , wanting to play with the oversized puppy sniffing and licking him . "Min-jun is safe , Hoseok, " hyungwon reassures, his face softening. "He won't find him here." I know exactly who she is referring to but it frightens me no less that he knows about hak-yeon. Jimin hyung would never disclose that information. NEVER . "Follow me " The king says, turning on his heel and leaving me no choice but to follow him out of the safety of the pack house.
