♦ - ♥ - ♦

Somin didn't learn that the youngest member of the pack had Bonded to her until two days after the fact, courtesy of Yuta.

The yelling woke everyone up that wasn't already, scaring Somin into thinking there was something terribly wrong to earn such loud voices. But no. It was her mate, yelling at one of the other boys.

Confused and upset at being woken up before ten on a weekend, the female made her way out of Yuta's room in her nightdress, rubbing at her eyes with a frown. She followed the noise, ending up in the living room. A few other wolves had just come out of sleep as well, looking at the scene in front of them with puffy, bleary eyes. When Somin's own vision focused, she saw Taeyong in between Yuta and Mark. His hands were on Yuta's shoulders, a very stern look in his eyes as he spoke to the other wolf.

"You knew this was likely to happen," he was saying, "and you should have been prepared for it. We always knew that one Bond meant it was highly likely for one Bond for the whole pack. It's not his fault. He didn't ask for it, just like you didn't ask for it. Calm down. You're letting your jealousy take over."

"Jealousy?" Yuta hissed back as his eyes widened in disbelief. "You think this is just jealousy?! No. This is about him claiming my mate as his. My mate." His head suddenly turned as he realized Somin was there, his shoulders relaxing immediately at the sight of her. Then he walked over to her and wrapped his arms tightly around her, one hand on the small of her back while the other was on the back of her head.

"Yuta?" Somin asked in confusion, one of her hands slowly moving to his back. He'd hugged her before, had shown affection towards her. But this hug was something she'd never felt from him before. "What's wrong?"

No one said anything. A few of the wolves were just as confused as Somin was, others either looking down, or looking nervously at Mark, then back to Yuta.

"Tell her," Taeyong instructed Mark.

The high schooler sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, looking to Somin. "I Bonded to you," he admitted. "A couple of days ago. I didn't know how to tell you, so I didn't, but Yuta hyung figured it out."

"Of course I did. I know that look." Yuta's voice was sharp. His arms unwound from Somin's body, but he kept her hidden behind him as he turned back around to face Mark.

It was way too early in the morning for this, Somin decided. She frowned and put her hand to her head, shaking her head with a sigh. "Well. Not his fault, is it? Can I go back to bed now?"

"Why aren't you mad?" Yuta demanded of her as he turned his head. "You already had to deal with knowing I was Bonded to you, and now you have another wolf whose emotions you'll have to feel. You didn't notice him in your head?"

"No. I got so used to you being there, another person just...it didn't occur to me. Besides, like Taeyong said, we knew it could happen. It's okay. Don't be mad at him."

Taeyong looked quite proud of Somin, nodding in agreemend with her. "Exactly. Yuta, you know how the Bond is for you. Your wolf is upset, but you've said yourself the Bond isn't as deep as it can be. I'm sure it's the same for Mark. Just think of Somin. She's your mate, and you'll never let anything happen to her. Mark feels the same way. He doesn't want to hurt her. He just wants her to be happy, and safe. Take your mate into consideration before going at each other's throats. She already looks overwhelmed, and it's not even breakfast time yet." Taeyong sighed, looking at the rest of the pack. "All of you go wash up or something. This doesn't involve you."

"Oh but it does," Doyoung nearly purred in delight. He walked closer to Somin, touching her cheek. "Maybe I'll Bond to you next, princess.