When Sehun woke up his head was killing him, and his body felt like lead.  He felt heavy, clammy, and nauseous. He wanted nothing more than to be unconscious once again. He sat up, holding his hands tight to his throbbing head.

            “Oh thank God you’re up.”

            Sehun froze. It was not Baekhyun’s voice, but the deep voice of the man he vividly remembered. Sehun said nothing and could not decide to continue moving either. He had frozen and was not going back into motion.

            “Do I really scare you so much?” The man asked, his voice full of concern. Sehun could not bear to open his eyes. He begged his lips to move to speak but nothing came out.

            “Buh-“ His voice came out cracked and dusty as though it had not been used in years, and dust had collected in his mouth. He cleared his throat and tried again, bringing his hands down from his head as he spoke with a questioning tone.

            “Baekhyun?” He asked aloud. The man surely knew that Sehun was not mistaking his presence for Baekhyun’s, but was rather asking the whereabouts of Baekhyun.

            “He went out for a moment to get the Alpha, and barely trusted me to stay with you. He’s definitely your guardian.” He said and Sehun could hear the smile in his voice but had yet to open his eyes to see for himself. Sehun nodded before moving to lie back down. He suddenly felt a hand on his back that felt so hot that it burned. Sehun yelped and jerked away from the feeling.

            “Sorry! Sorry! I just didn’t think you should lie down! It’s not safe for someone who has fainted to go back to sleep so soon.” His hand retreated and Sehun dared to open his eyes. The man was still slightly dirty and covered in a thin layer of dirt, but was sitting next to the Sehun’s mat in the doctor’s tent, his eyes focused on Sehun completely, his posture taught and ready to spring into action. Classic Alpha, Sehun thought to himself, always wanting to protect. Sehun stared at him for a moment and could feel the anxiety simply flowing from the man. It was obvious he was worried about several things: Sehun’s health, Sehun’s view of him, Baekhyun’s whereabouts, and what the Alpha was going to do when he came.

            “Name?” Sehun asked, keeping his words short and to the point, not risking unnecessary interaction with the man. Despite the cold delivery of Sehun’s question, the man smiled brightly and almost glowed.

            “I’m Chanyeol! Baekhyun told me your name is Sehun. I personally think those names sound nice together. Sehun, Chanyeol.” Chanyeol looked absolutely giddy. It made Sehun want to vomit, but that also might have been the nausea.

            “Water.”

            “Yes! Of course! I should have offered it earlier, my bad. Here, I’ll hold it for you, you look shaky still. I’ve got you.” Chanyeol held the cup to Sehun’s lips, a look of focus so intense that it made Sehun want to laugh. Sehun almost smiled before remembering he was trying not to like Chanyeol. He drank the cup of water quickly, and did not feel much relief after drinking it.

            “You do know why I’m here, right?” Chanyeol asked nervously. Sehun figured he was worried Sehun did not remember what happened before he passed out. Sehun did not move to show any signs of remembrance though, still shell-shocked from his predicament and begging Baekhyun through telepathy to be back soon.

            “Do you remember the dance? It happened only a few hours ago. You were out for about an hour, Baekhyun figured you were okay and sleeping but I was worried. He said you probably had recovered from your faint and were just gathering energy but you looked distressed to me. I probably worried too much because you… well… since you’re… y’know…” Chanyeol trailed off, somehow too shy to say the word he had growled at Sehun before: my Mate.

            Sehun wondered if Chanyeol ever stopped talking. So far Sehun had literally said three words to the guy. He had to admit it was endearing that he was a nervous talker, but Sehun was going to deny that since he, again, was trying not to like Chanyeol.

            “I’m back, is he- SEHUN!!” Baekhyun tumbled into the tent, running straight for Sehun on the mat before restraining himself from tackling the poor sick pup.

            “I brought the Alpha to check on you, and the doctor came with him, the party is still going so I had to find them. I didn’t want to leave you with Chanyeol but I really thought you would stay asleep for a bit. How are you feeling? Is everything okay? Do you need anything?” Baekhyun was almost in tears, both for relief and worry. He had never felt so much like a parent before. Sehun noticed the Alpha and doctor come in, but also another figure he did not recognize.

            “I’m doing alright, Baek. I just took on too much at once. I could use another cup of water.” Sehun answered. He saw Chanyeol twitch at the sound of so many words coming out of his mouth for Baekhyun and he felt a twinge of guilt. It wasn’t Chanyeol’s fault that Sehun was basically un-mateable.  For some reason God had made Sehun less than others. Chanyeol would get over him soon enough.

            “It’s good to see you up again Sehun, you had the pack worried.” The Alpha spoke, and Sehun immediately felt himself look down in guilt. If he had been in wolf form his ears would have laid back against his head. He hadn’t meant to make such a scene, to ruin a perfectly good ceremony. The Alpha looked to Chanyeol who was still only looking at Sehun, and followed his line of vision to Sehun, picking up quickly on the energy in the room.

            “I see you’ve found one of the members of that new pack I mentioned to everyone. It seems two of them have found mates among our pack so per the agreement, they will join us.” The Alpha motioned to the man who had followed in the doctor and Alpha, and the man stepped forward and looked to Baekhyun. Baekhyun gasped.

            “I saw you earlier!” Baekhyun almost shouted, the man smiled at the apparent positive response.

            “And I couldn’t help but see you earlier as well. Would it be okay if I stole you away for a moment so we could chat a bit? My name is Jongdae by the way, call me Chen if you like.” His voice was friendly and happy sounding. Baekhyun’s face lit up simply listening to him. Sehun could tell he immediately wanted to agree to go with him, but then his face fell as he turned back to Sehun, his sick pup.

            “I have to stay with-“

            “No you don’t, go talk with him. The doctor will need to check on me anyway.” Sehun interrupted, pushing on Baekhyun’s arm to go chat with this Jongdae fellow. Sehun would not be held as the reason Baekhyun lost one of his chances at love. Baekhyun looked nervously at Sehun, but then turned to hold onto Jongdae’s arm as they walked back out of the tent.

            “I’ve never seen him try to look so suave.” Chanyeol laughed. To Sehun’s ears this laugh was the sound of comfort personified. If Sehun could live inside of a sound, it would be Chanyeol’s laugh. Nothing had ever brought such immediate relaxation to him. To interrupt this thought, he heard the doctor come up to him.

            “Sehun I haven’t seen you in awhile. You don’t come for check ups much anymore, so I’m glad I’ll have the chance to check up on you.” Yixing said with one of his classic dimply smiles. Sehun noticed the way the Alpha’s gaze lingered on Yixing a moment longer than necessary and smirked to himself. Sehun had a keen eye, and he never knew when information like that could be useful.

            “These new members will be getting tents, but I’m sure those with mates will just live together. As far as-“

            “No!” Sehun called out, cursing himself the moment it came out of his mouth. It was not anyone’s place to refuse the Alpha, especially an Omega. Not to mention the crumbling of Chanyeol’s expressive face at the outburst. The Alpha raised an eyebrow at the shout.

            “I will let that be an outburst of hysteria from your fainting spell. As I was saying, I will also be giving them job positions just as everyone has, and they WILL be moving in with their mates. Sehun I will speak to you about this after the doctor releases you from his care, so report to me whenever that is. Chanyeol, you are free to move about the pack grounds as you wish. I must warn you though that Alphas are not given the same reckless freedoms here as they are in some packs, so behave.” The Alpha whispered some things to the doctor and then turned to leave. Sehun sighed, relieved at not being punished for his interruption.

            “I’m sorry that I have to live with you. As a new member I really should not offend the Alpha of this pack, and he gave me a direct order to stay in your tent. I see that this gives you stress… I wish to relieve your stress only.” Chanyeol looked defeated, and Sehun felt the guilt wash over him again.

            “More of this later, I need to get you washed up before I do any healing or testing.” Yixing said, walking over to the large aluminum tub in the corner of the tent to fill it with water, “You also… what was it… was it Chanyeol? You also should get washed, it might make a better impression on those you are trying to woo.” Yixing winked. Chanyeol shot up in slight embarrassment, and then nodded quickly.

            “Are there public showers here as well?” Chanyeol asked, knowing that Sehun was not about to bathe with him.

            “Down about 3 tents to the right, all the public facilities are located centrally so if you need anything go to the center.” Yixing guided. Chanyeol nodded in understanding and then with one last longing look at Sehun left the tent to find the showers.

            “You shouldn’t be so hard on him. You know your own struggle but you have no idea what his struggles are.” Yixing chided, guiding the wobbly Sehun over to the tub to wash off his ceremonial paint.

            “It is nothing personal toward Chanyeol. I simply would not be a suitable mate for him… for anyone really.” Sehun sighed sadly before allowed himself to be disrobed by Yixing and cleaned thoroughly. He felt simultaneously relieved and longing at the loss of Chanyeol’s presence. Just the little while that Sehun had been interacting with Chanyeol had been difficult and exhausting and now the Alpha was making them live together. Sehun wondered if any of Yixing’s medicines would be able to make him numb all over, inside and out.