♦ - ♥ - ♦

"Why haven't you told her?" Taeil asked in a soft voice as he looked at Yuta. "She might be mad when she finds out."

Yuta shrugged. He was laying down on the couch, his long frame stretched out while he kept one arm over his eyes. "I was going to. I was going to tell her, and then I was going to give her a choice. They forced my hand. I wasn't about to let her stay there. They threw her into a cellar, hyung. I couldn't let her stay there. It hurt just hearing the awful things they said about her."

"Her pack is known for their cruelty," Taeil pointed out.

"That's not her pack," Yuta nearly growled. "We're her pack now."

Taeil let out a soft laugh, and Yuta looked at him in confusion. Seeing the look, Taeil grinned wider. "You Bonded to her. Can you imagine? What if the rest of us Bond to her? It's rare for a Bond to happen, but when they do, a whole pack usually ends up Bonded."

Yuta frowned. "I know, but we're not a family pack. I don't think it works the same way."

"It does," Taeil refuted."It's the pack mentality that does it, not any blood relation. When we become a pack, we make a connection to one another. Even as we add, the connection stays. It webs us together. It's that web that causes the whole pack to Bond. Because our wolf instincts know it's hard to find a true mate. And if one in the pack has found someone , then the rest of the pack would benefit by Bonding to her, too."

There was a long silence from Yuta as he processed everything. And then he groaned loudly, pulling at his hair. ". ."

"Exactly." Taeil laughed again, looking up as a confused Jaehyun came in. "Hey, Jaehyun. Who do you think will be next to Bond to Somin?"

Jaehyun blinked, taken aback. But then he grinned, sitting down on Yuta's legs and ignoring his protests. "I hope it's me." He wasn't able to ignore the sharp smack to the back of his head that Yuta provided, though. Jaehyun regretted nothing.

♦ - ♥ - ♦

"I didn't know you could create a pack," Somin said as she watched Taeyong and Doyoung start cooking dinner.

"Of course you can. How do you think current family packs started out? They weren't like that forever--someone, at some point, started them," Taeyong said calmly. He was very soft-spoken, Somin had learned. He was alpha, but his role was benevolent, and kind, as opposed to her father's more dominant and violent way of handling things.

"How did you guys start out, then?" Somin's hair fell in front of her eyes, but Doyoung, who was closer to her, was quick to sweep it behind her ear with a wink. Somin's eyes nearly rolled to the back of her head.

"It was Taeil hyung and me, first. Not quite a pack, but friends. Our families were in the same pack, so I've known him my whole life. In our family pack, it's normal for our dads to only pick one son to join the pack, and the other sons...well.  I was unlucky enough to be second born. My brother and I have such a large there was no hope for me ever being able to make it into the pack. Taeil, though...well, he was sick a lot when he was younger, and so his younger brother was chosen in the end. So we left. It was just us for a while, until we met Doyoung."

At the mention of his name, the purple-haired wolf raised a hand. "Yup. My dad passed away when I was about thirteen, so I was kicked out of the family pack for all intents and purposes. Once I was legal, I moved in with Taeyong hyung, and Taeil hyung."

"So one by one, you just started making a pack?" Somin asked as she played with the end of the baggy T-shirt she had on.

The alpha nodded, taking vegetables from Doyoung and adding them into a bubbling pot, placing the lid on top afterwards. "Exactly. Nine members strong. Ten, now that we have you."

"But I'm not a wolf."

"So? In family packs, mothers, wives, sisters, daughters...they're considered part of the pack, too. Usually. Sadly you were the exception, but you have us now, so you're part of the pack if we say you are," Doyoung said firmly. Taeyong nodded, leaning against the counter. "Right. You're part of our pack now, Im Somin. Nothing you can do about it."

Dinner was served about half an hour later. Once more, all the wolves sat down at the table. This time around Somin was seated between Ten and Mark, who she was talking about scho