RTY | MW [✔]

07.

Mingyu hadn't meant to get so caught up in the moment. That wasn't to say he didn't enjoy the kiss. It was just that he'd surprised himself, and Wonwoo too if the wide-eyed look the omega had sent his way was any indication. They'd eaten the rest of their breakfast in silence and neither of them had spoken about the kiss. They went their separate ways afterward— Wonwoo to help out in the kitchen for the morning and Mingyu to keep up with his pack responsibilities.

When he returned to his room before lunch, he was surprised to find Joshua waiting for him. People only sought him out on the top floor when they wanted to talk in private.

"Something wrong?"

"You tell me."

There weren't too many people in the pack that Mingyu let speak to him like that. But Joshua was one of them.

"I'm no mind reader, Shua. You'll have to spell it out."

"You and Wonwoo."

"Me and Wonwoo what?"

Joshua put a hand on his hip.

"What's between you?"

Mingyu tried to stop his mind from straying to the kiss they'd shared.

"There's nothing between us. I'm doing what Hyeri says is needed to get Wonwoo healthy enough to leave here."

"That's all it is?"

"That's all."

Joshua turned toward the door, and Mingyu thought he'd gotten away with it.

The omega spun back around to face him. "The problem is, I don't believe you. And if I don't, then you're going to have trouble convincing some of the others, too."

"Joshua—"

"You like him, and I can understand why. He's like a scared turtle waiting to be coaxed out of his shell. Plus, he's an omega and he's expecting, so you've got all those scents and hormones in the mix. Then there's you, lonely bachelor alpha who just wants someone to love and protect."

"There's nothing between us," Mingyu repeated sharply. "There can't be. We are what we are."

Joshua scoffed. "We both know there's nothing stopping two different types of shifters from mating, except prejudice. You're an alpha and he's an omega— that's what matters."

"To biology, sure. But to this pack? It matters a hell of a lot that he's a fox."

"Maybe it's time we started to look past that."

Mingyu couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Have you lost your mind? Have you forgotten what we went through, who we lost?"

Joshua refused to back down. "That's my point. The majority of wolf packs lost more omegas than they did betas or alphas in the war. There's no way to fix that."

Mingyu turned his back on Joshua and walked to the window, staring out. The omega kept talking, laying out the facts that Mingyu had been doing his best to ignore.

"Before the war, we'd have had half a dozen packs' omegas at our door every year, searching for their mate. We've had one in the past three years, and they barely stayed long enough to even look at any of our alphas."

"I can't choose a fox as my mate."

"Then introduce him to Seokmin or Hyunwoo, see if they..."

His anger flared at the idea of the other alphas nosing around Wonwoo, but he couldn't let Joshua know that was what he had a problem with— it would only confirm the omega's suspicions.