trigger warning: mentions of torture and brutality, as well as a slight cultural bashing but once I get round to writing said thing you'll understand why no one likes them

Kris was chewing his lip when Hyunjin got back to the reception desk, Xiumin was half passed out on one of the chairs nearby and looked as though he was worried half to death. Smiling in the hopes to elevate their worries, Hyunjin was quick to wrap a hug around the pair of them, “They’re real. All of them. They’re a pack and back together and doing what they should be doing.”

Xiumin let out a long sigh at that, his eyes closed as tears began flowing once again, “For real?”

“Really real,” Hyunjin replied, nuzzling against Xiumin before turning to look up at his Ba with a teasing smile, “Though you do have a bit of a tail kick to do, Ba.”

“Oh?” Kris asked, sounding half distracted but intrigued.

Hyunjin grinned, “One of them is Squirtle and apparently they’ve been dating for a long time.”

For a second the pack alpha looked very confused but then he remembered that Chan referred to one of his ‘tutorees’ as Squirtle because he looked like the Pokémon and was happier in water than actually doing any of the homework than he was supposed to be doing. “In other words, he is mated to Jackson, am I right?”

Looking slightly disappointed that Kris was not about to have a full-blown meltdown, Hyunjin pouted, “How did…”

“Jackson told me,” Kris cut in, “From the first time that I met him properly and just after his presentation. Wanted to do things proper and prove that he was the best for Chan.”

Hyunjin blinked, “Damn, so you knew who he was referring to all along?”

“Pretty easy to work out once you know,” Kris smiled fondly, “and I had a talk with Chan before he moved out with you guys as I was concerned but apparently, they were on a break to see if they really were mates or not. Guess they found out.”

Nodding, Hyunjin pouted a little before brightening, “Well, if you’re not going to kick Jackson’s tail, then I’m sure Minho will. He threatened him enough times about it.”

“Minho threatened anyone who came near Chan,” Xiumin said fondly as he stared at the pictures which had been received in the chat now. “It was the biggest thing they used to fight over.”

Hyunjin nodded, “I remember. Still surprised that he’s not here but there again the omega at the café was extremely cute so I can sort of understand why he didn’t want to leave him as the poor thing did look half dead…”

“Which omega?” Kris asked, turning around to look at his son with a quirked eyebrow.

“The one who works in the Moomin café and has a dimple on his cheek,” Hyunjin continued on quite innocently. “He looked closed to dropping truthfully speaking and Minho was fussing over him till their other mate turned up and Minho started shouting about things before….” Suddenly realising what he was saying aloud, Hyunjin stopped and grimaced just a little bit. “, I’m going to get a tail kicking for that.”

Xiumin chuckled, “Oh sweetie, always one to put your foot in your mouth. Though Kris, do remember to have a talk with this one as well.”

“As well?” Hyunjin asked, suddenly feeling rather anxious.

“Yes,” Kris fixed a level glare towards Hyunjin, “Chaeryeong turned up with cookies…”

Letting out a sound which was a mixture of a groan of pain and a groan of missed Yeong-Cookies, Hyunjin peered up at his father and meekly shrugged, “Didn’t think it was quite the time to introduce them when all this was going down.”

Zhoumi laughed as he appeared, “Now I kinda know how my parents felt when I did the big announcement.”

“At least you didn’t keep things too secret, Zhoumi,” Kris replied, rubbing at his face.

“Hmm,” Zhoumi nodded and then grinned, “But try having twelve alpha Dad’s who are all fussy sods at the best of times. Henry is in for a ride if he ever bothers to find anyone.”

Xiumin giggled as he stood up, “Does Chan want us?”

Nodding his head in response, Zhoumi smiled, “he says you can come down now if you want. They all want to meet you to, even though one already half knows his fate.”

“Jackson told Ba about them years ago, the sneaky Squirtle,” Hyunjin grumbled playfully, “So no tail kicking incoming.”

Laughing, Zhoumi shook his head, “We wouldn’t have allowed it anyway. They’re all still in recovery and under our protection so behave, otherwise I’ll have to kick you out.”

~*~

Raising up a little as he instinctively felt the protective bound that was his father and mother coming down the hall, Chan smiled a little and went to step off the bed but was tugged back towards it gently but with urgency. Frowning, the omega turned to see Jaebeom sitting up, looking down at his hands which were clasped around Chan’s wrist, shaking with a worried expression on his face. “Jae?” Chan asked quietly, setting himself down on the alpha’s knees.

The alpha shuddered, still not looking up towards his mate and let out a shaky breath, “Will he…will your Ba…”

Chan gently placed his hands on either side of the alpha’s head and a kiss on his crown, “Ba isn’t like those…. things.”

“Chan…” Jaebeom started and then paused, seeming to think through his entire life in a matter of seconds before shaking his head, “He’s going to know. Immediately. And he’ll take me away from you…”

Shaking his head, Chan wrapped his arms around Jaebeom tightly and pressed more kisses to his head and neck. He understood the alpha’s words, understood them with such a harsh clarity that it was just as terrifying as the very moment he had realised what was going on between them. For a moment he found himself back in that terrible cell, terrified for his life because some fate had decided that he would fall unconditionally in love with a Beannaithe who had been brought up to do terrible things to omegas and anyone who was not part of them. Jaebeom had been wild, untamed, and dangerous with no ounce of compassion or understanding of empathy because it had been beaten out of him years ago. But even when they were thrown together in that terrible place, even when the alpha had been given something that would trigger his rut and make him want to do all the most terrible things in the world to the omega that was in front of him, Jaebeom had not. He had kept himself away from Chan, confused, unsure and completely out of everything that he had ever been told or brought up knowing. He had wanted Chan, wanted every last piece of him if he could but something deep within his heart refused to allow him to give into base instincts. He never wanted to hurt Chan or allow him to be hurt by what the other Beannaithes had planned for him.

Even when they had decided to try and physically punish Chan, just to get some sort of sick satisfaction out of their base needs, Jaebeom had stormed in and covered the omega completely. Not letting go of Chan in the slightest even as they reigned down blow after blow with whips, chains, and their fists. Until the alpha was black and blue and so badly broken that he could not even move an inch to let go of the terrified omega in his grasp. His first words whispered so lovingly in that moment, “I am a Beannaithe…but for you, I’d tear this all down, spill their blood and carry you safely back to the mainland, even if it meant my death. My Leannan”

A larger hand rested softly on the back of Chan’s neck, breaking him out of his thoughts and resulting in the omega smiling as he automatically knew that the spare hand would be going to do the matching movements on the back of the head alpha’s neck. Opening an eye to look at his second alpha, Chan could not help but smile at Jackson who seemed to know exactly where he was needed at this moment in time. Many would question how come Jackson was not his first or the head of the pack as they had been literally together since they were kids – as well as already having several bite marks from Minho on his hand and arm from trying to get too close to the elder brother – but the truth was, Jackson never wanted to be in the most commanding position. He was a soft alpha, no where near as harsh or brutal as many of his kin and far happier to take the secondary role to provide support for the pack.

That did not mean to say that he was weak, far from it in fact that even the Beannaithes had underestimated him and lost several of their supposedly best fighters to Jackson which they had not been happy about in the slightest. Especially since when they tried to corrupt him by placing one of the Ollpheist’s inside of him. The leach like creature was supposed to be able to burrow deep into the heart and mind, enslaving the victim to the will of the great Burnoz, a monster that came from the Other Side of all known realities and would bring about a dark and brutal new world where only the strong survived. Jackson somehow managed to expel the creature from his system and destroy it, though he never spoke of what he saw, even to Jaebeom.

But for this moment, his soft nature reached out and a familiar low hum began of a tune which always lifted Chan’s spirits. Gently the omega nuzzled against the soft alpha in thanks, knowing that the hum was not for himself this time but for Jaebeom who was slowly letting go of the death grip that he had on Chan. His tears still had not stopped however and neither had the shaking but the pair next to him knew that they just had to be a little more patient. Some things were still very scary to Jaebeom, and Chan had no doubt that he would have one of the hardest times adjusting to this new world that they were in. Jaebeom had been brought up differently from them all, had his whole life dictated to and had been punished and tormented more times than anyone could honestly count. He had always been told that the mainland was not a place for him, that if he ever got caught there, he would be dragged away to a specialist hospital to be dissected and tested upon and that he would be left all alone to die with no one by his side.

When he had come to find his ‘prize’ that thought had not bothered him, because he would have done whatever it was that he had been told to do. But now, Jaebeom was terrified. He did not want to be without his pack, he did not want to be forced to separate from those he had actually chosen to be with because he felt a beautiful connection that was like anything else that he had before in his life. But especially he did not want to be taken away from Chan, his Leannan, his everything, and he was irrationally convinced that Kris would do so the second he figured out that there was a monstrous thing lurking inside his body that could easily control his thoughts, body, and actions, even if the last few months had proved that theory to be increasingly wrong.

Finally, he nuzzled softly back at Jackson, letting out a sigh as the soft alpha embraced him fully and placed a kiss on the same part of his neck as Chan had done. “Jae, buddy, listen to me,” Jackson spoke softly, nudging Chan to see to the others who were also creeping closer to offer their comfort towards their alpha for their own person reasons. The omega sometimes wondered quite how they had all managed to make it together, because they were a total odd mix of kidnapped, forced and slaves that just happened to be in the right place at the right time, but he was grateful for them in every last respect.

Jaebeom still shook in Jackson’s hold but gripped his arm to show that he was listening. Jackson smiled, “Kris…Channie’s Ba, isn’t like those you grew up with. Yes, he’s protective, yes, he’s an alpha, but he’s gone through so much with some of his mates that he’ll understand. He won’t try to take Chan away from you, or me or any of us because he knows what that feels like, and he’ll want his son to feel nothing but happiness and contentment which he does here, and nothing will ever change that.”

Jaebeom pulled back, “But what if…this thing inside me…”

“We’ll all be there to stop you,” Jackson said, tilting Jaebeom’s head up to look him directly in the eyes. “Just like every other time. Believe me, I’m not letting you go back to that darkness, and you won’t let yourself do it either because you can’t.”

Jaebeom blinked, “How do you know that?”

“Because you’re still here, with us, right now,” Jackson replied, “And you chose to send Channie away from us in order to protect him the most even though it nearly killed you. Don’t deny it either, I know you hid it and tried to play it off as something else, but I felt the night you tried to break the bound rather than give them bastards any information on where Channie was.” There was silence for a few long seconds, before the soft alpha took a deep breath, “They tortured you, they nearly killed you and you never spoke a damn word to them ing bastards about how we even got him out of there. You wanted to protect Channie, which is all we wanted to do after he came back from that…”

Mark was quick to pull Chan away from the rest of the conversation at that point, pulling him almost to the opposite side of the room with his hands over his ears and Jinyoung joined in the hug after a little guidance. Chan let out a shuddering breath, forcing the images away as he snuggled into Mark’s scent glands and allowed himself the familiar comfort. The rest were still hyper focused on their two alphas but that was fine by Chan. He did not need to add more worry by having a breakdown and quite frankly, out of all of them, Mark was probably the one who could understand the most. He still had to take a few shuddering breaths before the omega whispered quietly to the beta, “I got rid of it.”

Tightening his grip more around Chan, Mark nodded imperceptibly, “Why?”

“Because I didn’t know,” Chan murmured back, feeling his heart constrict.

Mark was quiet for a few seconds, “Do you regret it?”

“Sometimes,” Chan admitted after a long pause, “But then I think, I’d rather know for certain that the cub is ours and won’t be taken to be…”

Kissing Chan soundly on the lips, Mark cut off that thought and smiled wetly at the omega, “That’s what I love you, my dearest Channie.”

“Love you too, Mark,” Chan whispered back, settling his head on the others shoulder. “Our secret?”

“Our secret,” Mark whispered back before turning his head towards the others and seeing that Jaebeom was sitting up and looking a little red in the face, had to smirk a little. “Though I think we need to add our own marks to the stumbling idiot over there right now.”

Glancing across, a tiny giggle escaped from Chan’s lips as he moved back to his previous position and soundly kissed Jaebeom on the lips. It did not take long for it to turn passionate as Jaebeom needed the reassurance and Chan was more than willing to give it to him. Mark helped by adding a love bite to the alpha’s throat along with the other five that were already present. Chan pulled back, lightly panting for air before pushing the alpha down onto his back on the nest and undoing the top couple of buttons on the shirt that Jaebeom was wearing. Without warning or prompting he placed his own love bite, right on top of Jae’s sternum bone which was also the same place as his mating mark. It was the closet to Jae’s actual heart and was protected by the bone there so that the alpha would never forget that the omega would protect his heart as long as the alpha protected him in every way possible.

Jaebeom seemed pretty much out of it when Chan came back up to card his fingers through the soft dark locks and he smiled, “Come on, wakey wakey, you have to at least be coherent to impress my Ba.”

“Don’t worry, he will,” Jackson smirked, nudging the omega with his head, “I think anyone would as long as they did something to protect you.”

Bambam smiled a little nervously, “Plus we’re all here, right?”

“Of course,” Chan said, holding his hand out to Bambam and tugging him closer before sniffing the air slightly. There was a mixture of salted caramel and fresh snow both of which were tainted with worry and Chan figured that they had maybe left his parents in the lurch for just a little bit too long. Though he was thankful to smell Zhoumi’s calming green tea and Hyunjin’s coffee being present as well because he was sure that they would help.

Stepping back, he hauled Jaebeom up and smiled towards the Alpha, “Ready?”

Jaebeom nodded but did not respond, which was just his way of showing how nervous he was, and Chan cast his eyes over the rest of his pack with a smile as he echoed the question. They were all nervous, for their own reasons and there were many things that could go wrong with this whole scenario, Chan was aware of that, but Chan also knew his parents and how much they loved him. Especially Kris, who had taken him in without even having to be asked and accepted him as his first, despite the horrible situation that had resulted in Chan’s existence in the first place. Sometimes he questioned if his real father was out there still and if he ever thought of him or the actions that he had done but had ultimately come to the conclusion that there was nothing to be done about that creature. They had never bothered to look for him or had even cared for his mother, so why even worry about them coming back. Chan would never know them or recognise them, Kris was his Ba, the wolf who had taken him in, grown with him, played with him, scolded him, when necessary, helped him during the dark times and had been overjoyed to see him returned after the ordeal.

Kris would accept his pack, would accept Jackson and Jaebeom as his lovers and protectors who would literally move heaven and earth for him, even if it took a little time for the alpha to fully trust in what he was seeing before his eyes.

Smiling brightly, Chan tugged Jaebeom forward and made his way to the door, almost laughing when Jackson nipped in front of them to open it like the chivalrous bastard that he was, but he added an all too familiar and fond eyeroll to the situation before throwing himself at his waiting Ba.

Kris smiled down at his smaller son, hugging him tightly and nuzzling his head, momentarily taken aback by the overwhelming scents covering the boy but allowed the smile to continue as he rose his head to meet the eyes of Chan’s pack.

For a few seconds there was silence, as everyone took in the moment to regard each other, and the tension was so thick that it was possible to hear a pin drop.

“Oh, come here, you precious little pile of scared puppies,” Xiumin’s voice broke the silence like a hot knife through butter and the elder omega was straight up into Jaebeom’s and Jackson’s personal spaces to pull them both into a hug. “No one is going to eat anyone or give out a tail kicking so relax will you,” Xiumin continued scenting the pair which made Jackson giggle cutely as he tried to squirm away whilst Jaebeom looked completely dumbfounded by the action.

Kris chuckled fondly into Chan’s ear, “Your mother approves of them I see.”

Chan nodded and continued hugging Kris as he watched Xiumin begin to pull each of his mates into the little puppy pile that he used to occasionally do with all the cubs if they were all down and upset. “They were all more worried about meeting you to be truthful,” he giggled back.

“Why? You been telling them that I was the Big Bad Wolf or something?” Kris teased, kissing the top of his eldest’s head.

Chan shook his head in response, “Other than Jackson, none of them are used to alphas like you Ba.”

Kris hummed and let out a little sigh, before taking one last long look down towards the boy in his arms. For a second, he remembered the first day that he met Chan, the so small, malnourished and soaked little ball of black fluff that was only holding on to life by some blessing of the great mother wolf who had come into his hands at just the right moment. Now standing firmly in his arms was a grown young omega who had gone through so much yet still clung to life and had nothing but love shining out of his eyes towards the pack that were being mollycoddled by his mother. “I love you Chan, never forget that. No matter what happens, you’re still mine.”

“I know Ba,” Chan replied, hugging Kris back just a little more tightly whilst tears fell from his eyes, “But I’m happy here and I never want to let it go.”

“Good,” Kris replied, kissing the top of Chan’s head once again before pushing him towards his pack, “Now go and save them from your mother else we’ll end up with too many people back in the house again.”

Nodding, Chan did not hesitate to hurry to his mother, placing a kiss on the side of his head before worming his way in between his two alphas with a smug little grin. Xiumin fondly sighed and nuzzled against his baby, kissing the corner of his eyes, “I’m glad you made it Channie, even if I nearly did make the worst mistake ever with you.”

Chan shook his head, “You never did, Mama, don’t ever think that.”

Jaebeom blinked as he stared at the pair before turning his head nervously towards Kris, unconsciously wrapping himself closer to Chan as if to prove that he could and would protect the omega with everything. Kris looked back, his eyes questioning but they also held something in them that made Jaebeom relax. It was acceptance, that no matter than Kris said, he could not and would not change anything about the pack that his son had chosen. Sure, there were questions and worries, but the alpha understood at that moment in time that it was a natural concern, because Kris was giving up one of his sons to a pack he did not know, but could see were perfect for him.

He smiled weakly back at the other alpha and bent his head in a low bow of greeting which was returned. Whilst there were still many unsure paths ahead of him, this was one that he could follow easily and not worry himself too much over, that was for certain.

authors babbling: Yeah, so that was a trip and oh my gosh, it has given me so many ideas for the next bit of this, cause there's going to be a lot of explaination regarding Jaebeom - and Kangin as well actually, slight spoiler but I had hinted before that he knew more - and yeah. That one will wait a little longer cause we've got some other naughty cubs to deal with first and that's sure to be fun. 

Also if you want to escape from the angst for a bit, then you can check out Rubber Ducky, You're the One which is just a series of cute, stupid fics featuring Exo's babies and EXO themselves doing dumb cute stuff that's not always related to the main plots that I'm writing there. Please go and check it out. 

Now heads up I'm probably going to be back to working heavily soon so my updating may become pretty shoddy but I will still try and keep an sort of schedule going though I honestly don't know how good I'll be at keeping up but I'm sure by now, you all know me well enough to get that I take forever. 

Anyways, hope you enjoyed and see you on the next update.