Hello everyone! ^^/ I hope you all have been patient with me (and my lack of updates). This story has reached 65 upvotes and 500 subscribers! Thank you all for the support, and I'm really, really glad you all like this story so much! :D 

I hope you all enjoy this chapter as well! ♡

The morning wasn’t off to a good start for the pack. Stressful wasn’t even the right word for the amount of tension in the air, and the pained screams of the female Alpha in his wolf form weren’t helping to calm their nerves. They were all seated and ready to spring up at one slight signal; all of them jumpy and nervous as their eyes darted back and forth across the living room.

Currently, only Luhan had left to go to the bathroom, and Lay was in the room with Suho to help with his birth (thank god for the medic who read up on these kind of matters despite not having a female Alpha in their pack before).

Kris still hadn’t taken a break from pacing around the room, and his finger was stuck permanently to his chin in deep thought. Anybody could see how vexed the Alpha was, but Kris didn’t want to risk throwing up while his mate was giving birth, and he was sure that he would do so should he see the pain his mate was going through.

“Kris, Suho needs you in there,” Xiumin decides to speak up after a while. It had been around forty-five minutes since Suho had last shifted and gone into labour, and the Alpha hadn’t tried to sneak a peek ever since.

They understood how bad Kris felt for making Suho undergo such agony, but the female Alpha still needed him regardless--- and if the Alpha wasn’t going to be by his side voluntarily, the pack was more than ready to shove the male into the room.

“Go on, your mate needs you,” Xiumin tells him again as he pushes Kris up the stairs with the help of Chen and Tao. “Get up, big guy.”

Chanyeol holds the door open whilst Kyungsoo and Baekhyun stand off to the side, wielding spatulas as weapons should the Alpha back out. Without a word of protest, the trio pushing Kris towards the room shoves him in right after the door opens, and the Alpha stumbles into the room.

He crawls over without a word to where his mate lay in his gorgeous wolf form, and he the white fur lovingly.

“I’m here now, mate,” He whispers as Lay bustles about with the clothes and water, ready to receive the first baby.

“He hasn’t delivered yet, but they’re coming soon- his contractions are getting worse with time now, so they should be coming out soon-!” Lay’s words are cut off by the yowl that passes Suho’s muzzle.

Kris jolts and wraps his arms around Suho’s wolf neck tightly, caressing the soft fur and whispering words of encouragement to the currently trembling male.

In the midst of all the yowling, a few of Suho’s words could be heard:

“You’re… so… dead after this, Kris Wu!”

Luhan had been in the bathroom for way too long, Sehun thinks to himself. He knows that he should be worrying about Suho like the rest of the pack, but he couldn’t help it – somehow he felt that Luhan had regretted mating with him, and his stomach churned at the thought.

Xiumin could sense his uneasiness, and he reaches out to pat the omega on his back. The eldest wolf shifts himself so that they sit beside each other, and Sehun spares him a short glance.

“What’re you worrying about?” Xiumin whispers into Sehun’s ear, and the omega leans onto the elder wolf for comfort.

“Luhan seems to regret mating me,” The omega whispers back after a few moments of silence. “He’s been in the bathroom for so long.”

“What makes you think so?” Xiumin glances around, spies Chen tilting his head towards one of the bedrooms, asking them to continue their conversation in private so the others could keep their heads on.

The elder wolf stands and brings Sehun into his bedroom, shutting the door before seating the omega on the bed. He then leaves and comes back with a cup of honey-lemon, handing it to Sehun, who accepts it with a soft thank-you.

“Alright, tell me what made you think so,” Xiumin says at last after he settles himself on the bed next to Sehun.

“Well, he’s not talking to me, for one,” Sehun points out as he rests his head on the elder’s shoulder. “And there’s this look of regret on his face after what happened last night, like he regrets it…”

“I guess he’s just not ready to accept this kind of responsibility yet—Even though his wolf is matured enough, he has been alone for far too long to adapt to having someone to care for. Give him some more time; he needs to let it sink in.”

“You think so?” The omega glances up at the elder before giving him a small smile. “I’m just worried, after what he did…”

“You have plenty enough reason to be, really,” Xiumin smiles and gives him an encouraging pat on the head. “Do you want me to talk to him?”

“It’s… okay,” Sehun pauses, but smiles after that, sighing softly. “I’m sure he’ll get over it soon.”

“If I’m not wrong, I think I saw Chen headed to the bathroom just now,” Xiumin smiles again and cups the omega’s cheeks in his hands. “Don’t worry.”

Sehun manages to offer him yet another weak smile before nodding. “Mm.”

“You think I’m weak, don’t you?” Luhan asks after a while, knees to his chest and arms crossed on them. “I’ve been waiting and waiting, but now that he’s finally here and I’ve claimed him, I’m running away and regretting everything I’ve done.”

“I don’t think you’re weak at all, Luhan-hyung,” Chen offers a smile before leaning against the sink. “You’re not a coward, either. What I think is that you’re afraid of hurting Sehun again, especially after that escapade with Jongin. You saw how you broke Sehun, and you don’t want to risk breaking him again.”

“That shouldn’t make me feel regretful that we did it!” Luhan bites his lip hard and casts his eyes down to the floor. “I shouldn’t be regretting having claimed my mate…”

“Then let me ask you this, hyung—why do you think you regret it?”

“I don’t know, maybe because I won’t be enough for him- I’m not a good mate at all! I hurt him so much, and it’s not just once, it’s twice! I’m the lowest of the low, and you all should hate me for what I’ve done!”

“See? It’s the same thing,” Chen points out, crossing his arms. “You hurt him, so you felt sorry at first. You hurt him, so now that you’re tied to him, you think that you’re going to hurt him again! But that’s not true, hyung! It’s not true at all!”

Luhan lifts his head to stare at Chen, who stares right back, determination in his eyes.

“Luhan-hyung, you can try to run from this, but you know that you two are meant to be- like how the sun dies every night to let the moon breathe. Sehun loves you, hyung. Please don’t run away from him this time. He’s new to this, and if you don’t want to hurt him again, go and stay by his side. Don’t be like this when you know you love him.”

“It’s more difficult than it looks, Chen-!”

“What’s more difficult than it looks?! I’m not asking you to claim him again, or make him pregnant with your pups! I’m just asking you to stay by his side- he’s probably confused right now, after mating, and he’s the omega, for crying out loud! As his mate, you have to stay by his side!”

Chen inhales deeply and lets his words sink into the elder wolf’s head, biting his lip so that he wouldn’t explode again. He wasn’t one to be swayed by his emotions, but any matter involving Sehun was different. When Sehun had first joined their pack, he had been so broken about Suho, who they had thought dead. Then, as time passed, they managed to make Sehun smile again--- They didn’t want Sehun to break once more. Not after they witnessed how his eyes would light up when he saw Luhan.

“Think about it, Luhan-hyung,” Chen tells him at last, breaking the silence between them. He grabs hold of Luhan’s shoulders so they look each other in the eye. “You can do this. You can be there for him.”

With that said, he leaves the bathroom and a fretting Luhan behind.

When Tao notices Chen stroll into the living room, he leans his forehead against Lay’s arm, sighing in what seemed to be relief, his shoulders sagging. The rest seemed to notice, and they stare when Lay the male’s hair soothingly.

Chen raises his eyebrows at that, “Anything you two want to tell us?”

“… We’re mated,” Lay utters after a while, shocking Xiumin and Sehun, who had just emerged from the room.

“You mean the one that was so loud last night was…” Xiumin trails off, gaping at the both of them while they blushed furiously.

“M-Me, yeah,” Tao flushes even more after admitting that, burying his face in Lay’s shoulder.

“Well, at least we don’t have to hide anything now…” Lay comforts him with a few pats on his head. “Anyway, how’s Luhan holding up?”

Sehun stiffens at the mention of the elder wolf’s name, and the others notice, giving him sad looks.

“Sorry he’s like that, Sehun,” Lay apologizes, and Sehun waves his hands to say it didn’t matter.

“I’m here.” Luhan whispers as he joins them, flinching when Sehun jolts at the sound of his voice, lowering his head and biting on his lip. “Can I talk to you, Sehun?”

The boy his lips and contemplates his choices; almost tempted to say no and deny Luhan of any interaction just for revenge- but a nudge in the ribs from Xiumin makes him nod his head. He couldn’t run away from his mate forever, and running would do nothing to solve their problem.

Luhan leads him into his bedroom, and gestures for Sehun to sit down on the bed. The omega does so without complain, barely gathering enough courage to look Luhan in the eye.

When their gazes meet, they both see the pain and caution reflected in each other’s eyes. Luhan moves forward and he starts first, taking Sehun’s hand into his.

“I know I’ve been a horrible mate, and you deserve better than me,” He whispers hoarsely as if he’s been crying, and Sehun’s heart breaks a little for his mate. “To regret our joining after we mated is horrendous of me- I never should’ve forced you into it in the first place. We both clearly weren’t ready, yet I pushed myself onto you, and I don’t think I would ever forgive myself for hurting you.”

Slowly, he moves his hands to cup Sehun’s face, and he brushes away the stray tear that escapes from the corner of the boy’s eye.

“Sehun, I know you probably haven’t forgiven me for what I’ve done to you, but I sincerely want to make it up to you now. I know that it will take time, but I’m willing to try for you- I’m ready now, and I want us to be mates. I want to make you happy.”

Sehun tears again as Luhan slowly slides down so that he’s kneeling in front of the omega, and he chokes back his sobs as he places his hands over Luhan’s warm ones. He his dry lips, searching Luhan’s eyes for any sign of bluffs- and when he finds nothing but sincerity, he breaks down into Luhan’s waiting arms.

He hugs the younger wolf closer, and as his own eyes clouded with tears, Luhan smiles, burying his face into Sehun’s shoulder. For the first time in his life, he felt complete.

“Will you be my mate, Sehun?” He whispers into the omega’s ears, and when he feels Sehun nod against him, his smile becomes as bright as the dazzling sun. “Thank you for giving me so many chances.”

“You know what they say,” Sehun chokes out at last, face stained with tears and eyes lit with happiness. “Third time’s the charm.”

Outside the open door, Xiumin and Chen peek around the corner, and the elder wolf nudges the boy in his ribs.

“D’you think we should leave them for a few more minutes before inviting them to join our wait for Suho’s babies?” Xiumin whispers into Chen’s ear, tugging on the boy’s cheek.

A kitten-like smile spreads on Chen’s lips, “Nah, let’s leave ‘em be for now.”

The pair amble back to the living room where the others were, Chen humming happily as they interlaced their fingers.