Crown

16. Shocking Revelations

San snarled at Seonghwa the minute he stepped through the main entrance door.

At hearing the hostile sound coming from his friend, Seonghwa froze right in his spot, nearly dropping his bag in shock.

His pack members had not once snarled at him in all the time he had known them, never. Snarling at the pack alpha was something akin to a death sentence in some other packs Seonghwa knew. Often it was a sign of challenge, too, if it came from another alpha. Having San growl at him was a very bad signal.

"San?" Seonghwa spoke quietly and made sure his gentle voice carried none of the defensive malice his own alpha felt right now. He was not here to fight and he would like to keep San from it, too.

"You reek of alpha. What the hell did you do?!"

Seonghwa blinked slowly, not getting what the man was implying. He was an alpha; of course, he would smell like one.

"What?"

Icy flames of jealousy and possessiveness were burning in San's eyes as he pressed his hand over his nose and mouth and tried to come closer. In the end, he couldn't. The foreign smell that clung to Seonghwa was too powerful for the alpha to near without wanting to rip Seonghwa's throat out. This Seonghwa didn't smell like the usual Seonghwa. He smelled of somebody entirely different. Somebody who was not part of their pack yet had claimed Seonghwa as theirs.

Above them, more steps got loud, and then Yeosang was curiously coming down the stairs to Seonghwa's left. His blond hair was overgrowing in the back, but he still looked adorable with his big eyes.

"Something smells good."

Seonghwa looked between the two of them confusedly. Despite them waiting for an explanation from him, he rather needed one himself. Did his scent shift? Did he miss something? If it was alpha scents, he had more troubles detecting those as long as they posed no threat. It was easier for him to smell omegas and betas. Maybe the pilot on the plane had been in rut and rubbed off somehow?

"God, smell him, Yeosang, this is like- three layers of another person. What did you do, bathe in somebody's guts? How is that it's only one scent and so strong, too? How did you get so close to these men?" San tensely leaned against one of the columns carrying the corridor above them while Seonghwa slowly sat his bag down. He was moving deliberately as to not trigger San again. He also tried to swallow down the pain in his chest at the man's sudden rejection.

It felt horrible to have his own pack move back from him.

Yeosang, however, had fewer qualms. While for him, too, the smell was foreign, he didn't immediately see another alpha as a threat (especially since they had two in their pack.) He stepped in Seonghwa's personal space easily and his nose scrunched the slightest bit, but he didn't complain quite yet as he carefully snuffled around him.

Seonghwa waited patiently but without leaving San's aggressive eyes out of his sight. He rather wouldn't have Yeosang between the two of them, should his fellow alpha choose to attack him.

"It's only one person... Who is it? Did some woman try to lure you in again? Damn, they are getting bold."

"No, I-" Seonghwa had taken multiple showers on his way home. He should have been able to wash it all off, except-

There had been only one person whom he had been close enough that his scent could have rubbed off all over him.

But that was utter nonsense. Hongjoong was no alpha.

"Uhh, are you guys sure it smells like an alpha?" Anybody could make a mistake, right? Hongjoong's natural scent might seem not very welcoming and dangerous, but that didn't necessarily make him an alpha.