You Need an Alpha

Chapter 13

Author Note: Just a quick chapter to move us along.

-Book

"I can't believe you put 10 alphas in the hospital at 16!" San exclaims for the 5th time as they ride the elevator back up to their den.

Avery groans, hiding her face into Yunho's side who just chuckles. "I didn't mean to." She whines.

"And to think we have an alpha with an arrest record in our pack." Yeosang adds, all too willing to add to the chaos of the WooSan duo.

Avery groans even louder as they make their way into the apartment when Wooyoung happily yells, "Oh my god! You're right Sangie. That's got to add some street cred to our reputation."

Hoongjoong looks like he's going to have an aneurysm, pinching the bridge of his nose as Seonghwa chuckles and says, "I'm not sure that's how that works Woo."

Wooyoung shakes his head, "Of course it is. Our pack alpha can just beat up anyone who says otherwise."

Avery grumbles again and Yunho wraps his arms tighter around her, chest shaking slightly as he tries to muffle his laughter. She turns to glare at the younger alpha who is now pouting at her, "I'm not beating anyone up unless I have to, Wooyoung. I don't particularly enjoy it."

She feels another person pressing against her back and has to suppress a growl after taking a quick sniff at their scent. "You don't?" Mingi asks, "I thought all alphas enjoyed that?"

"Stereotype much?" Avery asks, looking up at the two taller betas. She averts her gaze, muttering softly, "And you were assuming that I wanted to be an alpha in the first place."

The room goes silent, laughter stopping and Avery realizes they've all heard her. She glances up at the group, grimacing at the stunned faces. "You... you didn't?" Jongho asks her softly.

Avery smiles sadly, "Not at first. How do you think I knew how to handle a dropping soft alpha? I went through it myself plenty of times."

"I didn't know." Wooyoung whispers, already looking on the verge of tears as he clings on to San.

Avery sighs, feeling the two betas tighten their arms around her, "There's a lot you guys don't know about me. We'll get there, I'm sure, but it's not all sunshine and roses. For example, the funny story they were telling you about. It's only funny now in hindsight. At the time, I was a newly presented alpha, disowned by my own family. They dropped me off at the steps of the convention center and told me to get lost."

"They didn't like you being an alpha?" Yeosang asks, head tilted in confusion.

Avery laughs harshly, "Oh no, they were thrilled about that. That excitement just couldn't overcome the fact that I was queer. Coming out to my family and their reaction is what caused an early presentation for me."

The members of the pack stare at her horrified. Seonghwa whispers, "Oh Avery."

"So yeah. I put 10 alphas into a hospital after being dropped off and going feral from the overwhelming pain of my familiar bonds breaking. I beat the shit out of them because they thought a random girl on a sidewalk would be easy pickings. I probably would have kept going on a rampage if Minhyuk hadn't showed up." She chuckles wetly now, clinging even tighter onto Yunho, "Hyunwoo and the rest of MonstaX are probably the only reason I survived my teens. Didn't you ever wonder about their long break between tours? They got stuck taking care of me because I involuntarily started a familiar bond with them."

Seonghwa walks forward and wraps his arms around her, pushing the two betas away so he can rock back and forth with her. The eldest omega rubs his cheek against Avery's head, "I'm so glad you did. You're an amazing Alpha."

She stares at him, eyes watering, "You don't think less of me?"

"For being queer? For defending yourself? How could I ever think less of you?" He says, bringing his hands up to cup either side of her face, "You were born perfect, just how you are. You're my lovely Pack Alpha."

"Ours" she hears Hongjoong murmur as he also approached them, wrapping up against her side.

"Absolutely." Wooyoung exclaims, jumping up onto her pack, causing Avery to laugh again through a sob. "I'm just sorry we don't have another member of our pack of the opposite sex. I hope Hongjoong in a skirt is close enough for you."

Hongjoong hisses, "Wooyoung." His face flushes bright red and Avery starts giggling. Her hands coming up quickly to cover her face as her body shakes with laughter.

Yeosang rolls his eyes and San starts laughing. Jongho asks softly, "It doesn't bother you that we're a pack of all men, does it?"

Avery looks over at him wide eyes, reaching out towards the beta and pulling his hand up to her cheek, "Of course not. I knew what I was signing up for. I'm very happy with the pack we have."

"Good." Yunho declares, "We're not very good at sharing, so you're stuck with us."

She smiles, "No where I'd rather be stuck."

There're playful shoves as they move into the living room. Surprisingly, it's Yeosang who sits himself in her lap with Jongho curled into one of her sides and Seonghwa on the other. The others are across the room hooking a laptop up to the tv. Something about wanting to google her name and play a game of fact or cap for every new article headline.

"I do have one question." Yeosang says while perched in her lap. Avery hums in answer, her nose pressed into his neck, "How did Minhyuk stop a rampage? They said today that you'd send any of us to a hospital in your current state. You were feral then."

"The part he never tells anyone is that he walked right up to me and scruffed me." She huffs, leaning back as the others all pause to listen to her story, "He cooed at me, called me a "viscous little pup" and brought me back to the table where the rest of MonstaX was sitting. Deposited me right into Hyunwoo's lap while announcing, "Congrats, you're a father now. Handle our pup." And I remember the entire pack just staring at him like he was crazy as he waved down a waiter to order another drink." Avery's giggling by the end of it, "They walked me through temp bites, Hyunwoo signed me up to have my aura tested, and by the end of the convention I was so attached to them that they got stuck raising a 16-year-old who they could barely communicate with. It's how I learned Korean, actually."

"I knew there was something I meant to ask about..." Hongjoong trails off across the room.

"I'm sure they weren't too upset about ending up with you." Jongho adds.

Avery smiles, "Yeah. I still feel bad about it, but they've always told me that it was one of their most defining moments as a pack. So, I guess it wasn't too bad."