Kris sat you down on his lap more for the lack of room rather than out of affection. He was barely able to fit on the small space on the end of the couch himself and he told you that there was no way you would sit on the floor when he took the comfortable seat. While there might have been enough room for just the boys in past meetings, adding in nearly the same number of mates packed the room to the point of suffocation. Where all the other girls came from, you weren’t sure, but the meeting must be serious if they were called here as well.

The one you assumed was Junmyeon slapped his knees with his palms and pushed himself up to his feet. He had a similar aura around him, the kind that drew you to him and immediately made you think that he was a leader that you could trust.

“So, I’m sure you’re all curious as to why I called a meeting.”

“If this is you trying the chore chart again, Junmyeon, I’m leaving,” a younger looking member with blond hair said in a very bored tone. He and Tao exchanged a slight chuckle.

“No,” Junmyeon scowled. “This is serious. Apparently, a witch that is training under Soomi had a vision and-” He sighed, running a hand through his hair. “Something’s coming.”

There was a hushed silence in the room. A few of the wolves exchanged confused looks.

“Well, that’s… vague,” one of the smaller boys with black hair and a sharp jaw snickered.

“I know, Jongdae,” Junmyeon nodded. “But she didn’t see much. Just that something was coming.”

“I’m assuming that it imposes a danger to us,” Kris said behind you.

Junmyeon nodded. “That’s the notion Soomi’s apprentice got.”

“But how does she know that it’s dangerous?” one of the taller ones asked. “She didn’t even see what is was, right? Besides, what could be worse than the alpha pack?”

“It’s still good to be prepared,” Junmyeon urged. You could tell that he was getting frustrated with the lack of concern from the pack. You wanted to snap at the others to pay attention and take it seriously, but you couldn’t even name the others around you, so you kept your mouth shut.

“Did she see anything else that could hint at how we prepare for whatever it is?” Kris asked. At least he was taking it seriously.

With a shake of his head, Junmyeon replied, “No, unfortunately not. Soomi said she would let me know if Nia sees anything else, but until then we just have to be extra careful. I need everyone to keep an eye open for anything suspicious and stay alert. Let me or Kris know immediately if anything catches your attention. We’ll investigate it from there.”

That seemed to be the end of the meeting since there wasn’t much else they could figure out for now. Most of the boys didn’t seem as worried about the potential threat as their leaders did judging by the looks on their faces as they stood up and dispersed. The other mates showed a little more concern, whispering questions to their wolves and sporting frowns and knitted eyebrows when they were brushed off or told not to worry about it.

“Come on,” Kris urged softly in your ear before getting you to your feet.

Instead of leading you back out the door like you expected, he headed for a short hallway that held a set of stairs. Feeling a hole burning in the back of your head, you glanced over your shoulder. Tao was glaring at you from the opposite wall, arms crossed with tension on his chest. Kris stopped and followed your gaze. A low, authoritative growl that made you jump came out of your protective wolf.

Rolling his eyes, Tao pushed off from the wall and walked out of the living room through the front parlor. The short exchange was now over.

Rather than taking you up the stairs, though, Kris turned right, opening a small door that revealed a second set of stairs that led down instead of up.  Kris gave you a little tug and the two of you headed down into the dark basement. Once your feet were on flat ground again, Kris flipped a light switch and gave you back your sight.

The underground room was mostly a large, unused space. Only a lone couch with a home theater set up sat in the far right end. The other side was dotted with doors, one which was labeled “laundry” with a cute wooden sign and cursive white lettering. It made you smile with how much it’s style clashed with the boys who lived here.

Still not explaining where he was taking you, Kris crossed the room to one of the doors, opening it before guiding you inside with a hand at the small of your back.

It was a bedroom, simply decorated with a bed and dresser. No personal touches or hints as to who this belonged to.

“Wait. Wasn’t your room upstairs before?” you asked as you turned to face Kris.

Closing the door, he smirked. “Yeah. This one used to be Jongin’s, but I made him switch me last week. Too noisy upstairs and I couldn’t take it anymore.”

You nodded, remember him as the one who interrupted the two of you in the garage. It was sweet that he switched with Kris. Then again…

“Did you bring me down here to… talk?”

A gleam flashed in Kris’ eyes before he cleared his throat. “Yeah. It’s private. The guys hardly come down here. It’s too enclosed for most of them.” Sitting down on the bed, he patted the space next to him. “I know you’re still probably bursting with questions. So, ask whatever you want. I’ll answer it.”

You didn’t hesitate to jump on the bed, sitting cross legged as you faced him. “When you called yourself Tao’s ‘alpha’, what does that mean exactly?”

With a sigh, Kris ruffled his hair, making the ends stand up. You oh so badly wanted to fix it, but you kept your hands folded in your lap. You didn’t want to distract him from giving in to your curiosity.

“There’s two kinds of alphas, really,” he explained. “There’s the kind like Junmyeon, who is just a natural leader and can wrangle the younger wolves. He’s more appointed as the alpha through a consensus from the pack. Then there’s the kind like me.”

Now your curiosity was piqued. “Like you?”

“Yeah,” Kris chuckled. “It’s like- like a special breed of werewolf, I guess? I’m genetically different than the others. Any other wolf could take one whiff of my scent and know that I’m the one in charge. Wolves in my pack naturally are drawn to me and submissive. I hate it actually.”

“You hate it?” Scooting a little closer to him, you tilted your head. “Why do you hate it? From what I remember, you sure liked telling me what to do.”

Kris threw you a look that was probably supposed to convey annoyance, but the upturned corner of his mouth kept you from taking it seriously. “That’s different. That was just me being a kid. And older than you.” Taking your hand, he ran a thumb across your knuckles. “Being an alpha is more than just ordering them around. You have to protect the pack with your life. You have to make decisions that can’t be selfish or self-serving. That can mean anything from running with the younger wolves to make sure they don’t cause trouble or picking up the whole pack and moving to new territory.”

“Is that why you left?” you whispered.

“Yes,” he answered back just as quietly. Looking you in the eye, he insisted, “I didn’t want to leave. It was the first time I got into a screaming match with my dad. As a kid, I didn’t understand why he was making the whole pack move. But… now I understand. Hunters were closing in and it was the best thing for the pack, even though everyone loved that little town. That’s what being an alpha is.”

“So,” you frowned, too focused on that one little word, “you had to leave because of… hunters? Like, the kind that kill werewolves? Those actually exist?”

Kris nodded. “There’s not many left. They’re a dying faction, but they’re still around. Still believe that we shouldn’t exist and don’t care whether we live in peace or not. But I haven’t run into any for a long time. A very long time.”

“And what happened to your old pack?” you asked, hoping that would be a bit more of a cheerful subject. You had a bad feeling that those hunters would be making appearances in your dreams.

“They moved on,” Kris shrugged nonchalantly. “Technically, they were never my pack. At least, I never officially joined them, even after shifting the first time. There were some expectations that I would take over for my father, but I wasn’t old enough or ready for that responsibility at the time. Besides, I found my own pack right here.”

“So, you and Junmyeon are, like, co-alphas?” you guessed.

“Pretty much. I let him mostly run the show since this is his house and he was here first with the guys. But we make the big decisions together. Well,” he rolled his eyes, “we try. Sometimes my instincts kick in and I make a decision without consulting him first. It drives him up the walls even though I don’t mean to do it.”

Leaning your elbow on your knee, you rested your chin on your first. “What exactly makes you different from Junmyeon? I mean, you said you were genetically different. How did that happen? Like, was it evolutionary or….”

You were so full of questions. You wanted to know about everything. Where this curiosity came from, you weren’t entirely sure, but you wanted it satisfied.

“No one’s really sure,” Kris admitted. “Wolves weren’t really good at writing down their own history. I mean, my family has been alphas going back generations, but no one knows if they’ve always been like that or if it just happened. Junmyeon thinks that it just naturally develops over time with so many alpha descendants. I don’t know, though. I don’t really care to know either.”

“You don’t want to understand why?” you scoffed. “Why not?”

He shrugged. “Knowing won’t change the fact that I am. And I doubt the answer will be really that simple, so I guess I just don’t see the point. I have much better ways to spend my time.” That mischievous look was back in his stare, making you gulp. “You know, as my mate, that basically makes you the queen.”

You snorted. “The queen?” What an obnoxious phrase. 

“Mhm,” Kris smirked. Then he pounced.

Before you could blink, you were on your back, staring up at Kris who hovered over you, an arm on either side of you holding you hostage.

“Queen of the pack,” he murmured. “They basically have to listen to you, too. That’s quite attractive, you know.”

You laughed nervously. “A-attractive?”

Kris nodded. Lowering his head, he pressed his lips against your neck as your heart raced, slamming against your chest at an alarming rate. You brought your hands up to his waist, grabbing fists full of his shirt and giggling as his kisses tickled your skin. All the nerves were gone and you were enjoying the attention, but wishing he’d hurry up and really kiss you.

Knock, knock, knock.

Kris growled, but ignored the interruption as he moved his lips up your jaw before connecting with your lips.

Knock, knock, knock. “Uh, Kris?”

Sighing irritably, Kris pushed himself up off of you and marched over to the door. Throwing it open, he growled, “Yeah?”

The other tall wolf shifted from foot to foot, scratching the back of his head nervously. “Sorry, to bother you, but no one can find Tao. Junmyeon and Luhan thought he might have gone into town so they went to look there, but we just found his car in the backyard, so we think he went for a run. The others haven’t been able to sniff him out yet.”

Kris rubbed his left temple. “You guys didn’t think to look for his car before going into town?”

“They needed to go into town anyway,” the wolf mumbled. “And Tao just runs there sometimes, anyway.”

Kris let out a long exhale before letting his head hang. “Fine. I’ll go find him. I think I know where he went.” Turning away from the door, Kris gave you a small peck on the lips before whispering, “We’ll finish this later. At your place.”

Heat blew up on your cheeks as you watched Kris leave the room. Bringing your knees up, you buried your face in them, giggling like a little school girl. This trip turned out much better than you could have ever hoped for. How did you get to be so lucky?

**

Kris shed his clothes once he was in the backyard. After shifting, he picked his jeans up in his mouth and ran into the trees. There was a place that both Kris and Tao liked to go when they wanted to be alone because they were angry or upset. That’s exactly where Kris found the blond wolf after a short run, sitting on the beach of the lake that held so many different memories, both good and bad.

Shifting back into a human, Kris slid into his now slightly drooled on jeans and sat beside Tao who kept his focus on throwing rocks into the otherwise calm water.

“You know,” Kris grumbled as he stared out into the water, “I should throw you into the water after what you said to (y/n).”

Tao threw the next rock with force, creating a splash big enough to hit a few drops of water on Kris’ bare feet. “She deserved it.” Turning to face his alpha, Tao yelled, “You could have died, ge-ge! All because of her! That isn’t fair! This whole mate crap isn’t fair!”

“She never would have let me die, Tao!” Kris yelled back. “Mates always come around! Look at Chanyeol! Kyungsoo! It just takes a little time occasionally. It’s not a bad thing! A little pain is worth getting to spend the rest of my life with her.”

“Yeah,” Tao scoffed turning away once more. “It’ll be all about her now. You won’t care about the pack at all.”

Kris couldn’t help it. He smack Tao on the back of the head. “Excuse me? I’m your alpha. I’ll never forget about the pack, mate or no mate. And honestly, you should be thanking (y/n). I was ready to rip you to shreds after what you said to her, but she stopped me.”

Tao just rolled his eyes like the brat he could be at times. “Whatever.”

“Once you find your mate, Tao, you’ll understand.”

“I don’t want to,” he snarled. “And you used to not want to, either. Now look at you. We have no control over who it is or how we act once they come along. Where’s the fairness in that? As soon as we see them, we automatically get lovestruck and disgusting.”

Kris narrowed his eyes. “Now, I think we both know that’s not true after hearing what happened to Jongdae.”

“He still gave in to it,” Tao mumbled.

“Because he fell in love with Jiyoung.” Kris sighed, clapping a hand on Tao’s shoulder. “What’s this really about? Huh? Is this about Lyn?”

Tao shoved the hand away. “No, it’s not. I just like the idea of having free will. I like choosing who I like and want to be with.”

“Fine,” Kris held his hands up, “I’m obviously not going to change your mind, but remember this: you’re not allowed to take your anger out on (y/n) and me having a mate doesn’t mean I won’t have time for you. Got it?”

Opening his mouth to argue, Tao quickly snapped it shut again. “Yeah, I got it.”

“Good.” Kris jumped to his feet, pulling Tao up with him. “Now, come on. You have an apology to deliver.”

Tao whined, but stopped after one stern look from Kris. “Okay, okay. I’ll do it.”

Kris sighed. Balancing having a mate and being an alpha was going to be harder than he thought. But he was sure he could make it all work.

He hoped.