Our Mate (SKZ X Reader)

Four

"She said what?" Chan questions Jeongin as the pack stands in their room on the third floor.

"She told me that she wants us to pick our own rooms out on the second floor. She said we could either get our own, or even share." Jeongin explains, looking over everyone's expressions that mirror what his looked like earlier. "She even said that tonight we'll all sit down to make lists of things we want or need."

"I don't trust her." Minho grumbles, a low growl vibrating in his chest.

"What if she really is different than her aunt?" Changbin shrugs, arms crossed over his chest as he leans against the wall. "I didn't really get any bad feelings from her. Plus, didn't you guys smell how powerful and sweet her scent was?"

Minho scoffs, rolling his eyes. "Who cares? She's still a stranger in our home."

"She's our mate." Felix pipes in with a quiet voice. "Shouldn't that count for something?"

"Absolutely not." Minho quickly shakes his head, rejecting the fact completely.

"We know nothing about her." Seungmin points out. "Even if she is our supposed mate, she's still a stranger. We shouldn't trust her so quickly or easily."

Jeongin holds his tail as he nervously threads his fingers through the dark fur. "I don't think she's a bad person. When she saw our room, she looked genuinely upset about it. Maybe she really is different?"

"She could've been acting to get on your good side." Minho pinches the bridge of his nose as he tries to control his temper. "It's the same shit her aunt pulled when she first met us at the shelter."

Jeongin let's out a low whine, knowing he's right. They had all been fooled by Delilah's acting, thinking she was actually nice and that she just wanted to give a home to the large pack that was always looked over. That kindness disappeared almost the second they walked through the front door. From then on they were nothing more than servants to do as she asked and to entertain her guests. Luckily it was never anything inappropriate.

"Why don't we just wait to see how things turn out?" Jisung suggests, already tired of the conversation.

"I agree." Changbin nods along. "I'm too hungry to keep arguing."

"You're always hungry." Hyunjin nudges him teasingly making the bear hybrid mutter curses at him.

Chan steps forward, ready to head out of the room. "We'll give her a chance, for now. The second any of us get any negative feelings from her, let the others know and we'll figure out what to do. Okay?"

The pack agrees, moving to follow their leader out of the room. The second the door opens they're met with a mouthwatering scent drifting all the way from the kitchen. They all share confused glances, wondering what's going on.

"Did she cook?" Changbin whispers in confusion, head tilted as he breaths in the amazing smell. "Do you think she made any for us?"

"We'll just have to go and see." Chan leads the way down the two sets of stairs until they're standing right outside of the dining room. The moment they step through, they're met with an array of food spread across the table along with nine places set.

Upon noticing them, you give them a sheepish smile. "I wasn't really sure what all you guys like so I just made a bunch of different things that there were ingredients for. Hopefully there's at least one thing that you all like."

They all stare at you in shock, confused that you went through the trouble to cook so much food for them. With Delilah, it was usually Minho and Chan cooking the meals and even then it was only her eating. They would only get to eat the cheap meals such as cup ramen or sandwiches. They also were never allowed to sit at the dining room table. All those seats were for guests that came over while they sat in their room.

"You really made this for us?" Felix asks, his eyes trailing over the table absolutely covered in amazing smelling food.

"Of course." You nod, moving to sit down at the head of the table so they all can sit by each other. "I'm not sure how things worked with my aunt but I can only guess it wasn't great. With me you guys don't have to worry about cooking, cleaning or anything else unless you want to do it. I'm your caretaker now, technically, so it's my job to take care of all of you, not the other way around."

The boys exchange wary looks before slowly taking their own seats at the table. It feels a bit odd for them to be sitting there when they were never allowed to before but it does feel better than sitting on the floor in their room. It's especially nice that they're getting actual food rather than stuff out of containers.

"Go ahead and dig in." You nod towards the food, letting them know they're allowed to grab what they want. They all say their thanks, hesitating just a split second before they begin piling food onto their plates. You wait until they all have plenty of food before grabbing your own servings which are a bit smaller than theirs.

Changbin is the first to take a bit, a noise of astonishment coming from him. "This is really good!"

The others nod in agreement as they continue to stuff their faces, seeming eager to eat as much as possible. You laugh lightly, glad that they're enjoying the food you made for them. You keep a close eye on their reactions to certain things, mentally noting what they seem to like and what they don't really seem to care for. It seems Chan doesn't like anything too spicy.

The dishes of food slowly but surely diminish until there's nothing left, everyone looking full and satisfied. "You all can go ahead and sit in the living room so we can chat. I'll take care of the dishes and then join you."

"Can I help?" Jeongin stands up, already holding a few dishes.

Chuckling, you nod in agreement. "If you really want to then that's fine."

You both gather up all of the dishes while the others move over to the living room. Their soft chatter can barely be heard over the running water as you wash the dishes while Jeongin dries them and puts them away.

Once all of the dishes are done, Jeongin gently grabs your hand. "Thank you for the food. We haven't really had a meal like that before so it was really nice."

Your heart breaks at this, upset that your aunt would be so cruel to them. "Of course. Now that I'm here, I'll make sure to feed all of you very well. Now, let's go join the others to discuss some things."