Birds of a Feather

Chapter 47

Seungcheol refused to let go of Cas while they were at the cafe. Jeonghan had just sighed and rolled his eyes, glad to see the overprotective instincts focused on someone else for once. He'd been the one to collect the profile created by the restaurant and had taken Seungcheol's phone to text her id number to the other pack alphas just in case. Cas's head of security had gotten her company to send a large car for them, something all of the members were thankful for. None of them had been too keen on trying to walk back to the apartment with Cas barely able to stand on her own.

Once in the dorms, Seungcheol relaxed enough to allow Cas out of his arms, watching as Hoshi was quick to pull her into his lap. Both of them started happily purring as Cas slowly rubbed some of her scent onto him. The others had sprawled out throughout the apartment, starting to get their nest ready for tonight. Minghao had been tasked with making her tea as he was the only one known for actually being able to do it properly.

He walks into the main area where Cas is still curled up in Hoshi's lap. The Alpha gives a warning growl to his packmate and Cas responds by giving him a quick nip to the underside of his jaw before turning to smile at Minghao, "Thank you."

He smiles, "I'm not scared of the hamster." Hoshi grumbles again, but they both ignore it, "I am a little upset that this is the first tea I'm brewing for you. I would rather have given you something that had even the smallest possibility of tasting good. That one..." he wrinkles his nose, "that one leaves a lot to be desired."

She grimaces, "Yeah... it actually smells better than it tastes."

Minghao raises an incredulous brow at that, glancing between the cup in her hand and back at her, "My condolences."

She shrugs, choking it down and trying her best not to gag. Both men are quick to start rubbing up and down her back, watching as she seems to force her body into submission. Shaking off the taste before popping the piece of candy provided into her mouth, "Ugh... you think I'd be getting used to it by now, but I feel like it's just getting worse each time."

Vernon chimes in from the chair next to them, "It might be the drug fighting back."

Cas turns towards him, "What?" she furrows her brow.

he shrugs his shoulders, "I never had to do that treatment because my mom got me out of the US before they started, but it was discussed during my first physical here. They flagged me because of my listed country of birth. My mom mentioned something about the drug latching on and fighting the medication she was taking at the time." He tilts his head, "I'm surprised your physician hasn't said anything. Apparently, it can react really badly when mixed with certain medications."

She doesn't answer the unasked question she can feel in multiple sets of eyes, deciding to just shrug her shoulders and change the subject, hoping they will let her. "So, what is the plan for tonight? I'm assuming you've been briefed on the effects of this."

Seungcheol nods, "Yeah. We're gonna put you in between Mingyu and me. We think that'll be the best chance of fighting this off. Hopefully it's enough to make tonight the last night you're medically required to be cuddled between us."

Hoshi huffs behind her, "Yeah, cause I want my turn." The nervousness that had been crawling into her skin dissipates. She had thought that they were roundabout saying that this was a burden to them or that they were only doing this because they had to. She sags into Hoshi letting his arms wrap even tighter around her and giving her a quick squeeze.

Minghao watches her expressions, his eyes widening at the relief Hoshi's comment causes. He thinks it over before realizing what she must have been thinking and turning to glare at their pack alpha. Seungcheol only raises a brow in return, before nodding once that they would talk later, so Minghao drops it for now. Turning back to Cas, he's thankful to see she hadn't followed the exchange occurring. Instead, he watches as Jeonghan walks out of one of the hallways, giving Seungcheol a quick side hug before smiling at Cas.