𝐀𝐧𝐜𝐡𝐨𝐫 || 𝐌𝐢𝐧𝐖𝐨𝐧

Chapter 13

Over the next week, Wonwoo convinced himself that he’d made the right decision putting a stop to things between him and Mingyu before they’d even gotten started. The alpha accepted his decision readily, though Wonwoo suspected he didn’t fully agree with it.

Wonwoo wasn’t sure he was ready for a relationship. Not yet. His feelings about alphas in general were complicated.

His feelings about Mingyu in particular weren’t. He loved everything about the alpha, even the parts that infuriated him. It was hard knowing Mingyu was within reach but not allowing himself to take that last tiny step toward him.

Would he regret it when the chance passed him by? Or would he be relieved he hadn’t jumped at the first opportunity to form a real bond with someone?

Bonding wasn’t high on his lists of priorities. His family had never seen it as all that important. There was some expectation there, that he and his brothers would all bond eventually. But the pressure had always been about making something of themselves. That meant enlisting, meant climbing the ranks, meant dedicating one hundred and ten percent to the job and reaping the respect that followed.

Problem was, Wonwoo had done that. Given it his all. And he’d barely gotten an ounce of the respect and praise heaped onto his brothers for their choices. It wasn’t like things would have been different if he’d followed a more traditional omega path. As a child, every time he’d ever expressed an interest in something his omega friends and classmates liked, he’d been derided and mocked. Was it any wonder he’d eschewed all things omega in favor of following in his alpha father’s footsteps?

His complicated feelings followed him around as he ran, trained, and worked. In some ways, it was better than the anger that coursed through his veins. But in others, it was just another discomfort to live with. Was he denying his feelings for Mingyu because he truly thought it wasn’t right to pursue them? Or because he believed he didn’t deserve them?

Things with Mingyu were… awkward. They still trained together and ran every day. Other alphas might have gotten mean or cold after being rejected, but not Mingyu. He was still his lovely, balanced self. But now there was a distance between them that couldn’t be closed. Those little jokes and intimate moments were gone, and he felt their absence like a toothache, needling at him constantly. He’d done that, messed things up between them when he could have chosen differently.

“Earth to Wonwoo, anybody home?”

He jolted back to awareness when a hand waved in front of his face.

“Huh?”

Minghao stared back at him, his head tilted to the side. “You were miles away. What’s up?”

“Nothing, just… thinking.”

“Well, can you think and carry at the same time? We need to get the cars loaded up.”

Seungcheol, Jeonghan, and Minghao were taking the babies to visit their sister pack. Wonwoo had been invited, but he didn’t think being around lots of strangers in a busy, crowded pack was a good idea for him just yet. It was something to work up to. Mingyu had opted to stay behind too, and it might have been awkward if Junhui hadn’t also decided to remain at the orchard. Junhui had visited Soonyoung’s pack right before Wonwoo had arrived at the orchard, and he didn’t seem interested in going again too soon.

Grabbing a bag, Wonwoo followed Minghao out to the car, loading it into the trunk. The others were already outside, trying to work out how best to fit all five babies into the vehicle. Wonwoo left them to it, moving the rest of the bags stacked in the hall into the trunk. By the time that was done, there were three babies in car seats and two in shifter form, tucked into a specially made cradle in the back seat of the second car.

“You know, we’d be safer with four adults instead of three,” Minghao commented, looking between him, Mingyu, and Junhui. “Are you guys sure we can’t convince you to come with us?”

Wonwoo shook his head immediately. Nine hours trapped in a car with tiny infants wasn’t for him. Mingyu gave him a sideways glance, then firmly refused the invite.

Junhui groaned but capitulated. “Fine. I’ll go pack. Give me ten minutes.”

He was back in five, packed so quickly that Wonwoo wondered if he’d had half an idea he was going to be roped in so had prepared just in case. There was no time left to do anything but wave them off, and it was only as the cars disappeared out of sight that Wonwoo realized the predicament he’d been left in. Just him and Mingyu, alone in the orchard, for a whole week. Oh yeah, this was going to be great. The only person left for him to talk to was the one person he was trying to avoid when he could.

“Thanks, Minghao,” he murmured to himself.

“What?” Mingyu asked, glancing back from where he was watching the departing cars.

“Nothing. I should, um… go check on the cats.” He turned to head back into the house, but Mingyu’s voice stopped him.

“Hold on a second, Wonwoo. Now that it’s just the two of us, we should make some plans.”

He pivoted back around slowly.

“Plans?”

“Yeah. The kind where you spend some time away from the orchard.”

“You know I can’t do that. If someone sees me…”

“You aren’t a fugitive, not like that. You’re hundreds of miles from your base or your home or anywhere that people know you. Besides, a baseball cap and some shades, and no one will look at you twice. Especially not with me by your side, glaring at them.”

Wonwoo wanted to grin at the image but swallowed down the instinct. “I don’t know…”

“Trust me, you’ll feel better if you stretch your legs a little. We’ll be careful, we won’t stop anywhere too close by or do anything that’ll attract attention.”

Wonwoo fidgeted as he considered the alpha’s words.

“Where were you thinking about going?”

“Well, there’s a drive-in movie theater about forty minutes’ drive from here. Quiet, by all accounts, so we can stay in the car and keep to ourselves while still being entertained. There’s a new action film out. Looks like a nice way to spend a few hours.”

It did sound like fun, and it had been a long time since Wonwoo had had any fun.

“What else?”

“There’s a nightclub about the same distance in the opposite direction. Think dark dance hall, loud music…”

Wonwoo’s horror must have shown on his face because Mingyu laughed. “I’m kidding you. There is an outdoor maze out that way…”

Wonwoo’s eyes widened.

“No, no. Hear me out,” the alpha insisted. “It’s open during the day but also at night. We could go just before sundown, on the night of the full moon—that’s the day after tomorrow—and best of all, we can do the maze in our shifter forms if we want. There’s also a place that supposedly does the best fried chicken in the county nearby. We could run the maze, get takeout, make an evening of it.”

Wonwoo mulled that over, and then voiced his only real concern.

“They sort of sound like dates.”

Mingyu winced. “I was afraid of that. I had fully intended to rope Jun into coming with us so that it wouldn’t feel like that. Maybe we could bring one of the cats instead, like a feline chaperone?”

Wonwoo could see how earnest Mingyu was and didn’t want to dampen the alpha’s enthusiasm.

“We’re both adults, I think we can forgo the chaperone.”

Mingyu grinned. “Great. Let’s make some plans.”

Somehow, Wonwoo knew that this wouldn’t be as simple as them just deciding they were friends and nothing more. There was too much potential there for something to spark between them. If they didn’t wind up as lovers, they’d end up enemies. And just that thought made him shiver.