After hanging around at the waterfall for a few more hours, Kourtney and the others headed back to the Clearing. Kai had offered to teleport everyone back, but they all refused, not wanting to tire him out. As they were walking, Kai was talking animatedly with Taemin, clearly excited to see his best friend. Kourtney moved over to walk beside Hana, who was smiling as she watched her mate.

"They really are close." Kourtney said.

Hana nodded. "They met each other when, I think, Kai was five. Taemin's a year younger so he would have been four. Kai said they immediately hit it off and have been inseperable since."

"They became best friends when they were that young?" Kourtney grinned. "Wow, that's amazing. And for them to stay friends this long."

"They had originally wanted to be in the same pack, but Taemin's parents wouldn't allow it."

"How come?" 

"Becuase of how the Council favored Kai and his family. While they were treated with care, Taemin's family was treated the complete opposite. Bet you can guess why."

Kourtney scowled. "Family blood."

"Yup." Hana sighed, shaking her head. "Taemin's parents wanted him to be part of a pack where the members were more like him. Werewolves who were ostracized and treated poorly by the Council."

"And they found the perfect pack for him." Kourtney glanced over at Minho, who was conversing with Tao and Chanyeol.

Hana nodded. "That's right. And don't get me wrong, Onew's pack is amazing. Everyone thinks so. And wait till you meet the other pack members. They're...interesting."

........

When Kourtney and the others arrived at the Clearing, they Kris and the rest of the pack gathered around the fire pit, which was lit. With them were four others that Kourtney assumed were Onew and the others in his pack. Kris and Sara were talking with a boy with golden blonde hair and a girl with short brown hair and a few facial piercings. A boy with platinum blonde hair was standing and talking with Xiumin, Luhan, and Luli. The last member was a boy with jet black hair, which had a thick gold and black headband in it, and thick eyeliner. He was over with D.O, helping him to peel potatoes.

As they approached the group, Kris waved them over.

"How was the waterfall, guys?" Sara asked.

"It was awesome!" Tao answered. "As usual."

Baekhyun went over to greet the two standing with Kris and Sara. "Are you guys gonna stay for dinner?" He asked.

The boy nodded. "We aren't going to pass up a chance to eat some of D.O's cooking."

"And mine." The black haired boy stated.

"But we have your cooking all the time, Key." The boy with the patinum blonde hair said. "It'll be nice to have someone else cook for us."

Key threw the blonde boy a glare. "'You better not be implying that my cooking is bad! Last I checked, you were begging for me to cook breakfast this morning!"

The boy held up his hands. "I wasn't implying that. It's just that..."

Key threw him a look that said 'Go ahead. Say it. I dare you.'

"D.O's a better griller than you."

"Uh oh." Taemin whispered.

The look on Key's face screamed murder and the blonde boy gave a smug smirk. 

"What did you say?" Key's voice was soft but vile.

The boy laughed. "I said that D.O's better at grilling than you are."

"JONGHYUN!" Key roared as he got up and moved to attack the boy. Minho quickly moved over and held him back as Jonghyun laughed. "MINHO! LET ME GO SO I CAN KILL HIM!"

Minho shook his head. "Can't do that."

Jonghyun gave a cocky smirk. "Like you could kill me, Key. I'd kick your-"

"Jonghyun, that's enough!" The boy, who Kourtney guessed by now was Onew, ordered. "And Key, settle down. Quit overreacting."

Key quit squirming in Minho's grasp and gave an annoyed sigh.

The brown haired girl chuckled. "Jonghyun would have kicked his , though."

Jonghyun nodded. "With one hand behind my back."

Key was trying very hard not to look irritated as he went back to peeling potatoes. 

The girl laughed. "One hand? You could beat him with both hands tied!"

Onew gave her a stern stare. "Mineso-."

"Both hands tied and my eyes closed!" Jonghyun added, giving Key a cocky grin, which Key tried to ignore. Kourtney noticed that his hands were shaking.

Jonghyun stretched his arms. "There's a reason why Minho and I are Beta and you're Omega. Aside from Onew, we're the strongest in the pack. Even if you wanted to fight me, you'd have no chance of winning." At this point, Key had stopped peeling and stood up, glaring down at the ground. "And even though Minseo, Taemin, and Seohyeon are Omegas as well, they can all kick your ! If you can't beat them, then you have no chance in hell of-"

"SHUT UP, YOU JERK!" Key screeched as he tackled Jonghyun to the ground. 

Sara sighed. "Oh dear."

"No use in stopping them." Onew said. "It'll be over soon."

Like the pack leader predicted, Jonghyun had quickly flipped Key over and pinned him down to the ground.

"See?" Jonghyun chuckled. "Not a chance."

"Let me go or I won't make your favorite stew ever again!" Key threatened.

"I can just ask D.O to make it."

Key smirked. "He doesn't have the recipe." Jonghyun paused, a look of shock on his face. "And i'm not going to give it to him."

Jonghyun sighed in defeat as he let Key go and jumped up. Key grinned in satisfaction as he got up, brushing dirt off his clothes, which Kourtney noticed were very fashionable. 

"Can you make the stew for dinner tonight?" Jonghyun asked, giving Key big puppy dog eyes. 

Key nodded. "Sure, I'll make it." Jonghyun smiled. "But I don't have all the ingredients here. Go buy them." The smile disappeared as Key handed Jonghyun a slip of paper. 

"But I don't wanna!" He whined.

"Fine, then I guess I won't be making-"

"Never mind! I'll go!" In a flash Jonghyun had raced out of the clearing.

Everyone laughed, minus Kourtney who just looked around in confusement.

"What just happened?" She asked.

"This happens with them on a daily basis." Taemin explained. "Jonghyun likes to push Key's buttons and Key likes to boss him around. Pretty easy for him to when food's involved."

Minseo nodded. "They had a smiliar quarrel this morning when Jonghyun wouldn't clean up the mess he made in the living room."

Key scowled as he moved over the camping grill with D.O. "That boy is twenty years old. He should be more that capable of cleaning up after himself. He doesn't have a maid."

Minseo chuckled. "Anyways, changing the subject." She glanced over at Kourtney. "You're Kourtney right? The human girl Kris told Onew about?"

Kourtney nodded. "Yeah, that's me."

"Well, let me formally introduce myself. My name's Minseo. I'm Onew's mate." Minseo said as she shook Kourtney's hand. 

Onew moved to shake her hand as well but tripped on the way over. He quickly got back up, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "Hi, I'm Onew. I'm the Alpha of the pack."

Kourtney shook his hand. "Nice to meet you."

 Minseo nodded to the side. "You've already met Minho, Taemin, and Seohyun." The three waved at her, who she waved back to. 

Onew gestured over to Key, who was cutting meat while D.O grilled it. "The quick-tempered one over there is Key."

"Hey!" Key snapped.

"Like I said." Onew chuckled. "The one who left is Jonghyun."

Minseo gave Kourtney a wink. "If he tries to hit on you just tell him you'll have Key stop making his favorirte stew."

Kourtney smirked. "Like what just happened?"

Minseo nodded. "Works every time. Key's the only one who knows how to make it."

"And it'll stay that way." Key added. 

.......

After dinner, Onew's pack headed back to their territory, promising to visit again sometime. After they left, everyone gathered around the fire pit to roast marshmellows.

"So, Kourtney," Kris said. "How'd you like them?"

"You mean Onew's pack? I really like them." Kourtney smiled. "They seem like nice people."

Sara nodded. "They are. Definitely different than most packs."

"Different? How?"

Chen shrugged. "Well, the Alpha's not cruel or intimidating. His mate, Minseo, is more like that."

Hana nodded. "Plus, she and Seohyeon don't do any housework. Minseo just flat out refuses to do it and Sephyeon spends her time hunting with Taemin."

"So then who does the housework?"

"The same one who does the cooking." Kai replied.

Kourtney laughed. "Key?"

"Yup!" Baekhyun grinned. "He's more the mother of the pack than Minseo."

Sara nodded. "If you spent a day at their place, you'd understand."

"Which brings me to the next topic." Kris said, standing up.

"What topic?" Tao asked. 

Kris looked around before settling his gaze on Kourtney. 

"I think that while we're here we should have Kourtney meet our other neighbors."