Sehun had been in Yixing’s tent for about three days, knowing full well he was overstaying. He was hesitant to return to his tent because he knew that he would have to face Chanyeol again. Chanyeol had tried to stop by a couple times to check on him, but Sehun usually pretended to be asleep, or would tell him he was not feeling up to chatting. He felt guilty turning him away like this, but he knew it was for the best. Sehun knew that he got moody, he got tired, his head was almost always hurting, he was either sleeping too much or not enough, and he always got sore after barely exerting himself. He felt like a sad excuse for a wolf, let alone a mate.

            “You know I don’t mind you in here, but you should really get back to your tent, Sehun.” Yixing told him softly, moving some of the mats around in the tent. Sehun sighed, Yixing was really too nice to him. If Sehun were Yixing, he would have kicked himself out yesterday.

            “I just… I don’t know what to do about Chanyeol.”

            “I still think you should give him a chance. You guys are mates, so I know you’ll get along.” Yixing sounded more strained than usual. Sehun guessed it was either frustration with him, or maybe with something more personal.

            “What happens if one mate doesn’t accept the other mate, Yixing?” Sehun asked cautiously, watching Yixing closely.

            “That doesn’t really happen. A mate is a soul mate. You can put off the bonding process, and evade them, but you do love them eventually. That’s the way we evolved.” Yixing paused, a thought coming to him before continuing, “Sehun could this be about the mating process? Are you worried about the more… intimate side of things?” Yixing seemed legitimately concerned and serious, but Sehun began to laugh. It took a moment to realize that Yixing was indeed being serious, and then Sehun felt like laughing and crying simultaneously.

            “No! No! Oh God no! I hadn’t even thought of that… Oh God… As the Omega I’m gonna have to…” Sehun gulped, remembering the class he had taken as a pup about what the differences and processes were for each role.

            “So you are nervous then?” Yixing pushed further.

            “Well now I am! Oh God, can Alphas force themselves on their Omegas? What if I don't want to do… mating stuff? Could he make me?” Sehun’s eyes were wide and his voice shook, showing how terrified the thought was.

            “I’m not going to tell you that never happens, some Alphas are capable of that, yes. Chanyeol though, really does not seem like the type to be that way. Plus, you know that our Alpha here has protections on the Omegas. If something like that were to happen, you come straight to me or the Alpha and we will take care of that issue.” Yixing informed him. Sehun nodded, taking in the information.

            There was silence for a little while as Sehun thought about Chanyeol. Chanyeol so far had come off as polite and gentlemanly, but Sehun wasn’t about to trust him completely. He needed to keep his distance from Chanyeol. Yixing told him he would eventually love Chanyeol, but Sehun was scared. Sehun was fine with his quasi-isolation, and didn’t want to shake things up.

            “Puppy~~!” Baekhyun shouted, breaking Sehun’s thoughts, “I’m here to retrieve you! As your guardian, I am forcing you to go back to your tent. You cannot mope in here any longer.” Baekhyun enveloped Sehun in a big tight hug. Sehun barely reciprocated, and rolled his eyes at Baekhyun’s emotional nature.

            “You’re more energetic than usual.” Sehun remarked. Baekhyun broke apart from him, his smile reaching both his ears.

            “I just have a lot to be happy about, you being my pup, Jongdae being a great potential mate, and all these new members of our pack!” Baekhyun grabbed Sehun to lead him out of the tent.

            “Is he allowed to do this?” Sehun asked, looking back at Yixing as he was being dragged away. Yixing simply shrugged, and then waved a happy goodbye to Sehun. Baekhyun stopped abruptly in front of the door before they exited.

            “Oh right, Jongdae’s outside the door. I told him he should stay out there while I came to get you, I figured you didn’t really want any strangers. He won’t be a stranger to you for long though, so he’s going to come to your tent with us.” Baekhyun explained.

            “I guess I don’t have much choice.” Sehun sighed. Baekhyun pouted.

            “Don’t feel that way! I’m sure you’ll like him a lot! He’s quite funny, and he’s understanding, and caring. You’ll see.” Baekhyun opened the tent and pulled Sehun out with him. Jongdae gave an awkward nod to Sehun as they began to trek toward Sehun’s tent.

            “You’re looking much better. How are you feeling?” Jongdae asked Sehun, looking frantically from Baekhyun to Sehun, as though verifying he was doing the right thing.

            “I’ve kinda got a headache, but I think if I rest once I get to the tent I’ll be fine.”

            “Oh then that’s good. Er, not good that you have a headache, but it’s good you aren’t feeling worse than that… haha…” Jongdae cringed at himself and then started to lag behind Sehun and Baekhyun while walking. Baekhyun simply laughed and mumbled something along the lines of “isn’t he just adorable.”

            When they reached Sehun’s tent, Sehun could smell Chanyeol’s scent around it and in it. Chanyeol must have, per the Alpha’s orders, been staying there. The thought made Sehun’s hair stand on end, and he dreaded going into the tent. He stopped outside the flap, but then was pushed by Baekhyun to go into the tent.

            “Hey Chanyeol! I brought back Sehun from Yixing’s. I trust you can take care of him from here, right?” Baekhyun said as they were walking in. Sehun huffed, annoyed that Baekhyun seemed so ready to leave him.

            “You can’t just ditch me, Baekhyun.” Sehun whined. Baekhyun smiled at Sehun, a hint of sarcasm in his face.

            “You’ll be fine. I’ll come check up on you later. Play nice, and for god’s sake talk to the poor man.” Baekhyun patted Sehun’s head before pulling a slightly confused Jongdae out of the tent just as Jongdae was about to greet Chanyeol.

            After all the commotion of Baekhyun, it felt oddly and heavily silent in the tent. Chanyeol was sitting cross-legged toward the corner of the small tent, on top of one of Sehun’s furs. He was staring at Sehun, and holding a book in his hands. He quickly shut the book and put it off to the side. Chanyeol looked as though he wished to say something, but he knew that Sehun would most likely not respond.  Seeing the already dejected look on Chanyeol’s face made Sehun speak up, despite knowing he would regret giving Chanyeol the false hope that he wanted to be closer.

            “Good book?” He asked as casually as his shaky voice would allow. Chanyeol nodded, patting the book awkwardly with his hand.

            “It’s about relationships. I figured I should learn a bit about how people interact and such. I thought it might… help.” Chanyeol looked embarrassed but still maintained eye contact with Sehun. Sehun nodded, wondering why Chanyeol seemed so unintimidating when he was supposed to be an Alpha.

            “Aren’t you supposed to go see the Alpha? He said he wanted to talk to you after you got out of the doctor’s tent.” Chanyeol reminded him. Sehun groaned, he had forgotten he was supposed to do that. After interrupting the Alpha during his instructions he was bound to get some kind of chastisement, especially concerning Chanyeol. Sehun flopped down on his usual pile of furs and groaned once again. He shot up when he heard Chanyeol’s chuckle though because he had forgotten for a second that he was there.

            “If it’s alright, could I accompany you to the Alpha’s tent? I don’t really know my way around yet so I’d like to get familiar.” Chanyeol asked quietly as though he didn’t really want the words to come out of his mouth.

            “I don’t see the harm in it. It'll probably be better if someone's there in case the Alpha skins me for insubordinance... Sure, you can come.” Sehun laughed dryly before getting up and brushing off his tunic. He looked over to see if Chanyeol was getting up but Chanyeol seemed frozen in place by shock.

            “You okay?” Sehun asked. Chanyeol shook his head, snapping out of whatever trance he had been in before.

            “Yeah, sorry, I just hadn’t heard you speak so many words directly to me before. I was taken by surprise.” Chanyeol laughed before standing up to go with Sehun.

            The walk was quiet to say the least. At one point while walking their hands brushed up against each other and Sehun practically jumped out of his skin. Chanyeol apologized, the way he had been a lot recently, and Sehun stayed quiet. The walk was far, but the walk to anywhere was far from Sehun’s tent. He wondered if Chanyeol had noticed their odd distance from the center of the pack, or his isolation from the other Omegas. If Chanyeol had noticed he was doing a wonderful job in not bringing it up. Sehun thanked him silently.

            Upon reaching the Alpha’s tent, Sehun took in a deep breath. He was planning to tell Chanyeol to wait outside, but a body slamming into his threw his plans off track. He found himself on the ground, a body scrambling to get off of his.

            “Oh my god I’m so sorry! Are you okay? I wasn’t looking when I was leaving the tent. Oh geez, are you hurt?” The stranger, who smelled strongly of Alpha, asked, trying to get himself off the ground. Sehun on the other hand was basically motionless, feeling little to no motivation to get up and have to go meet the Alpha.

            “Luhan?” Sehun heard Chanyeol’s voice. At this, Sehun moved to stand up.

            “Chanyeol! It’s good to run into you. I just got my assignment from their, er, our Alpha. Is that what you’re here for?” Luhan asked, greeting Chanyeol with a casual hug. Sehun dusted himself off, annoyed that he had been so easily forgotten. Sehun didn’t recognize Luhan’s face so he guessed Luhan was a part of Chanyeol’s old pack. Chanyeol started to look shy.

            “Actually no, I was just walking with Sehun. He has to meet with the Alpha. I mentioned Sehun last we talked I think.” Chanyeol scratched the back of his head nervously. Luhan grinned with a knowing expression.

            “Please don’t embarrass me.” Chanyeol muttered, hoping Sehun wasn’t paying much attention, but Sehun was staring directly at their interaction.

            “Nice to meet you, Sehun~” Luhan shook hands with Sehun and then winked at Chanyeol. Chanyeol just buried his face in his hands.

            “It wasn’t so nice to meet you. You knocked me down and then forgot about me.” Sehun countered, his face giving no hint as to his emotions. Luhan seemed thrown off by his personality and his expression faltered.Chanyeol on the other hand was beaming and let out a good laugh.

            “Ah, right. I’m really sorry about that. Um, if you are hurting I could take you to the doctor’s tent? That’s actually my new workplace. I was a doctor in the human world for awhile, so it makes sense.” Luhan was talking partially to Sehun and partially to Chanyeol. Sehun cringed at the thought of Luhan as a doctor. He hated human doctors; they all smelled sterile and like bleach, not to mention their cold hands and intrusive questions.

            “Woah hey, no need to growl at me.” Luhan put his hands up innocently, “I see someone’s not a big fan of doctors. Well, I should be going. Despite the rough introduction, it was actually nice to meet you Sehun. Also, good to catch up Chanyeol. Stop by the doctor’s tent sometime!” Luhan patted Chanyeol on the shoulder and then waved at Sehun before walking off.

            “Sorry about him, he’s got a big personality. Are you really okay though? I mean you just got out of the doctor’s tent and now you’ve been trampled…” Chanyeol reached out as if to touch one of the new scratches on Sehun’s arm, but his hand retreated at the last second, remembering how Sehun had reacted when their hands had touched earlier.

            “It’s fine. He’s right, I’ve never been a fan of doctors. I’ve been through worse. Just wait here I’ll be back after talking to the Alpha.” Sehun didn’t wait for Chanyeol’s response and entered the Alpha’s tent.

            “Sehun, I’ve been expecting you. I heard your loud encounter with Luhan outside the tent, so I see you've met.” The Alpha greeted, motioning for Sehun to sit across from him. The Alpha was sitting on a large bear fur, a symbol of his power since it had been his first kill as Alpha of the pack. Sehun sat across from him, on less regal furs, and kept his head down submissively.

            “Luhan is going to be a very important addition to our pack. He has human medical experience and access to many important human medicines and treatments. The person I think will benefit most from this, of course, is you.” The Alpha said, twirling one of his dull hunting sticks in his hand. Sehun hadn’t noticed before but there was a knife next to the Alpha, most likely to be used in sharpening the hunting sticks. Sehun gulped in nervousness.

            “You may respond.” The Alpha said, knowing Sehun would be nervous to speak up after his embarrassment in Yixing’s tent before.

            “I do not wish to tell Luhan about my ailment.” Sehun stated simply, still avoiding eye contact with the Alpha.

            “Well then I’ll make it a direct command. You must tell Luhan.” The Alpha sighed, “Look, Sehun, I’m not trying to make your life worse, I’m trying to make it better. Luhan could actually help you with his knowledge. Also, you need to tell Chanyeol before you mate. You don’t have to tell the whole pack, but you must tell those people. You know as well as I do that I have been more than merciful with your position, and now I’m going to require more of you. I want you to start contributing more, not a lot, just a little more. I have a job assignment for you. You’re going to help with the child keepers.” Sehun opened his mouth to argue he would be terrible in helping with children, but the Alpha held up a hand to stop him.

            “You will not be helping with the children themselves, but in making the supplies the child keepers needs. It won’t require you to move much, and almost all of the supplies can be made while sitting down. This will give you more purpose. You will start next week. Now as far as your ailment, you must tell Luhan before you start your job, and you must tell Chanyeol before you mate. Now you are free to either speak or leave.” The Alpha gave him an inquisitive look, curious as to Sehun’s reaction.

            “I suppose I agree that I should help contribute more to the pack, to be less of a burden on everyone. I acknowledge your commands. Also, I apologize for the rude interruption when I was in the tent.” Sehun stood up and bowed before he exited. He let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding once the flap closed behind him, his mind running wild with all of his new commands from the Alpha. He heard a scrambling noise and saw Chanyeol scramble to stand up from where he had been resting on the ground.

            “You waited here?” Sehun asked.

            “You told me to.” Chanyeol shrugged. Sehun knew that he told him to, but he had not expected him to listen to him, he was an Omega. Omegas don’t give commands.

            “Let’s go back to my tent. I’m quite tired from all this walking.” As Sehun said it, he could feel the fatigue running through his body. It started with his legs and seemed to flood directly to his brain, making it feel as though the cogs in his mind were running slow. Chanyeol followed behind obediently. Chanyeol wasn’t submissive; Sehun thought to himself, he was obedient. Sehun did not feel as though he was in charge, but felt like his words were respected, listened to seriously by Chanyeol.

            Chanyeol, ever the gentleman, held the flap of the tent open for Sehun to enter, and then followed behind.

            “Oh, there you are!” Baekhyun’s loud voice greeted them once they entered. Baekhyun had made himself at home during their absence, lying comfortably in Sehun’s furs. Sehun just chuckled as he saw an awkward and slightly tense Jongdae sitting next to Baekhyun.

            “Had to talk to the Alpha, you know how that goes.” Sehun chuckled, sitting down on Baekhyun’s other side. He wanted to snuggle with him, but figured with Jongdae and Chanyeol around that would be awkward.

            “Well you can tell me all about it later, I just wanted to make sure Chanyeol hadn’t eaten you.” Baekhyun laughed. Sehun frowned as Baekhyun stood up as if to leave. Baekhyun hadn’t been around as much lately, and Sehun missed him. Sure he had visited while Sehun was in the doctor’s tent, and had even seen him twice today but the moments were always fleeting. Not only were their times together short, but they were always in the presence of all these other people that Sehun didn’t like. He knew it was childish, but Baekhyun had just become his guardian and he wanted time with him.

            “Leaving already?” Sehun said sourly, making no effort to seem happy. Baekhyun hit him on the head softly.

            “Yes I am, and no pouting. Don’t be rude.” Baekhyun leaned closely to Sehun’s ear so the other two wolves couldn’t hear, “Also, how would you like to meet in our secret spot tomorrow in the woods for lunch? Somewhere without all these clingy mates around, huh?” Baekhyun whispered closely. This made Sehun smile and nod happily.

            “Let’s get going Jongdae. I think we have lots to discuss back at our tent.” Baekhyun winked back at Sehun and Chanyeol. The action made Jongdae blush, and made Sehun want to gag.

            “As if you don’t ‘discuss’ enough already.” Jongdae fired back, cheeks still red. Baekhyun simply laughed.

            “Not this kind of discussing, let’s go!” They left in a whirlwind, as was becoming the usual, and left a large uncomfortable silence in their wake.

            “They seem really good together. No one has ever made Jongdae so… quiet.” Chanyeol commented, sitting back down on his single fur he had set up earlier. Sehun opened his mouth to comment about how Baekhyun’s been rambunctious but never so careless and free before closing his mouth again abruptly. He remembered his goal of avoiding speaking to Chanyeol, and had almost forgotten because of all the excitement.

            However, Sehun thought, now that he is being forced to tell Chanyeol about his sickness it might make Chanyeol run away from him on his own. That thought meant two things: 1. Sehun would not have to try so hard to keep Chanyeol at bay because Chanyeol would be doing the same, and 2. Chanyeol and Sehun would have to regretfully become mates anyway because of what Yixing had said about being unable to escape it. The thought made Sehun want to cry. He could only imagine how awful such a companionship must be, Chanyeol always wishing for someone more and Sehun always wishing he could be more for him. Sehun looked down at the floor, and pulled one of the furs over his knees messing with it in his hands.

            “I can tell you’ve got a lot going on in there. I wish you would let me in on some of it. It looks like it stresses you out and Luhan always says the best way to relieve stress is to talk about it.” Chanyeol offers, looking concernedly at Sehun.

            “I’ll tell you some of it soon, but today it’s too much.” Sehun said lying back on the furs.

            “Also, would you mind waking me up when everyone gathers for dinner?” Sehun asked, closing his eyes to rest. Chanyeol’s voice came through clear and calm, and felt like a warm wave settling over him.

            “Anything.”

Author's Note: Sorry for such a long update >//< I just had a lot to say in this chapter hahahaha also, Merry Christmas! I like to think of this long update as my gift to all of you lovely followers. Happy Holidays~