You Need an Alpha

Chapter 3: Pack Markings Part 1

Avery leans back in the chair as Hongjoong moves to sit on the cushion next to her. He keeps their thighs touching which she takes to be progress considering Yeonsang almost cried at the thought of her helping sooth him. Her instincts start flaring up at the reminder of her failure, but settle when Hongjoong reaches out and places a hand on her thigh. She turns to him and gives a tight smile, before taking a deep breath and saying to the everyone in the room, "We still have one item to discuss before we can call staff back in?"

Seongwha reclines between Jongho and Yunho ,hands behind his head as e stretches out and asks, "And what's that?"

She purposely keeps her eyes on his face, refusing to look at the rest of him, though she very much wants to. He smirks at her, as if reading her mind before motioning for her to continue. She blinks once, "It's about pack markings."

Jongho explodes. Jumping upwards and shouting, "No way! You are not marking any of us! We don't even know you! How dare you suggest that! What kind of person thinks that they can mark an entire pack after only meeting them an hour before?"

The others stare at Jongho in shock, but all heads turn to Avery as she growls at the youngest. He starts to growl in return, but it quickly peters out as Avery deepens her's while also increasing the volume. She stares him down, "Did we or did we not just have a conversation about not jumping to fucking conclusions Jongho?"

He swallows quickly glancing around at the rest of the pack, but sees that none of them are offering any sympathy or support his way. His shoulders hunch over and his eyes drop to the ground, "We... uh... we did."

Avery braces both arms onto her knees, leaning forward, "And do you see how jumping to the conclusion that I am an abusive alpha who would force you and the rest of the entire pack into bonding with me could be construed as hurtful?" She asks, head tilting slightly to the left.

He swallows and looks around at the other members again, who all refuse to make eye contact. He turns back to Avery, "Um... maybe?"

Avery continues to brace herself against her knees before saying slowly, "I'm going to give a quick cultural lesson, then, since you don't seem so sure in your answer. I mainly grew up in the US. There, culturally, bonding with someone when they are not fully consenting has the same charges as attempted murder since people can DIE from bites gone wrong. This pack has been chosen as the best possible I have for living a happy life. Do you think that I am so self-loathing or hate you so much that I would purposely risk all of your lives by trying to form a premature bond while also getting rid of my best shot at happiness?"

Jongho just stares at her and the other members continue to shift uncomfortably around the room.

Avery gets frustrated by his lack of answer and another low growl echoes through the room. She digs her fingers into her knees to stop herself from launching across the room to pin the youngest to the floor and make him submit fully as an apology. Taking a deep breath through her nose she asks in a calm voice, hoping that it will somehow help her control the fury taking over her mind, "Would you like me to explain the reasons I wanted to bring this up so we can actually have a conversation about things, or are we going to continue to allow jumped up conclusions to run our lives?"

Jongho again remains silent. Hongjoong slowly reaches over and grabs Avery's hand. She turns to face the group leader, fury still painted across her face, which quickly turns to hurt when Hongjoong pulls her back next to him. He quickly moves to drape his legs over her, before pulling her down to scent his neck, doing his best to help recenter her, "My turn to calm you down."

Avery grips his hand to hold herself from dropping too quickly, belatedly realizing that all of today's emotions have caused a drop for her. She cuddles into Hongjoong, taking deep breathes of his scent to force herself to calm down.