Chapter 10

Baekhyun woke slowly and his first thought was about how something felt wrong. It took a moment to realise that it was because he couldn't feel Chanyeol near him. His forced his eyes open and saw that Chen was between them, Chanyeol's arms wrapped around him. He was about to shift closer and join in when he noticed his boyfriend reach up and gently push a stray hair off Chen's face.

Letting his eyelids fall almost completely shut again Baekhyun watched as Chanyeol smiled lovingly at their friend. His eyes roamed over his peaceful, sleeping face in a way that left Baekhyun feeling like he was intruding on something. He knew that Chanyeol cared about Chen but lately he had noticed him being more and more intimate with him. Anyone would think that they were the couple in this bed.

Pretending that he had just woken up, Baekhyun made a little groaning sound and stretched. When he next looked over at Chanyeol they didn't look nearly so intimate; Chanyeol's arms were no longer around Chen and he was giving Baekhyun a somewhat forced smile.

“Morning. How did you sleep?”

“Fine,” Baekhyun said in a rough voice. Chen shifted between them and rolled over with a little grumble.

“I'm going to shower,” said Baekhyun. He didn't look back, his mind buzzing with thoughts, as he left the room.

After he had slept on things, Chen had decided that the best thing to do would be to talk about it with Kris. He knew that his lover was over-protective of him and he loved him for it but not when it came to this.

As soon as he was ready he went back to his room to talk to Kris who had yet to emerge. Even if his heat hadn't worn off yet they could talk from a distance. He was feeling quite optimistic as he pushed open the door.

“Kris, can we...”

He stopped abruptly as Luhan shot upright, pulling the covers up to hide his bare chest. His eyes were wide and worried like he had been caught doing something very wrong.

“Chen...”

Kris's throat bobbed as he swallowed hard. “Jongdae,” he said in a soft voice, “can we just talk about this?”

A million thoughts rushed through Chen's mind, about how Kris had been in heat and how Luhan was his friend and wouldn't hurt him on purpose, about how he had suspected this might have happened before but just ignored it, how packmates were supposed to do things like this, especially in heat. But none of it meant anything because all he could see was Kris in bed with someone else, red marks all over Luhan's neck and shoulders and bruises on his wrists where he had been pinned down.

Chen's throat tightened so that he couldn't speak and his eyes blurred with hot tears. He turned and ran, choking on a sob as he raced past the others in the kitchen and out the front door.

“What the 's going on?” Chanyeol said. He stalked to Kris's room with Baekhyun hot on his heels and his eyes widened at the sight of Luhan with his head in his hands and Kris hurrying to pull his pants on.

Baekhyun gasped softly behind him and whispered a quiet, “Oh, .”

Chanyeol shook his head at Kris, barely able to contain his anger. “You're a ing idiot,” he growled dismissively. Before Kris could even realise what he had said Chanyeol was gone.

Baekhyun trailed him to the front door. “We need to find Chen. Where would he go?”

“I don't know.” Chanyeol pulled on his shoes, realising that Chen hadn't even stopped to grab his. “We should split up.”

Baekhyun nodded and followed him out the door.

“Minseokkie!”

Xiumin jumped as he felt arms wrap tightly around him and hug him so ahrd he could hardly breathe. “Jaejoong,” he gasped, recognising the scent of Changmin's packmate too well.

“Where have you been? Why haven't you come to visit us?”

Finally Jaejoong released him and allowed him to turn around.

“Sorry,” said Xiumin automatically. He gave Yunho a little smile as he came to stand with his arm around Jaejoong's shoulders. The expression immediately dropped and he lowered his head when he realised Changmin was with them.

“He has a pack now,” said Changmin. His voice was hard to read but Xiumin felt almost like he was being made to feel like he had betrayed them.

Jaejoong looked over at him in surprise. “But… he can't. He belongs to us, right?”

Xiumin's head hung lower but he could still feel Yunho's even gaze focussed on him. “Is that true?”

His nod was barely perceptible.

“That's why you've been avoiding us.”

“Not avoiding, just...”

“Can I talk to him for a second?” asked Changmin, saving him from having to explain anything else.

Yunho paused for a second but then shrugged. He turned Jaejoong away and made him start walking. “We'll see you back at the dorm.”

“I won't be long,” Changmin called after them. He watched as they turned a corner and then raised a hand to place on the wall behind Xiumin's head. He leant in close, effectively trapping him where he was. With his free hand he hooked his fingers under Xiumin's chin and made him gently look up.

“What's going on?” he asked quietly, concern in his eyes.

Xiumin sniffed. “I can't do this anymore,” he whispered. “I'm with Luhan.”

“You know you shouldn't be.”

Xiumin blinked as he felt tears begin to form. “You left me,” he whispered. “You promised that you wouldn't leave me.”

“I'm so sorry.” Releasing his grip on his chin, Changmin pulled the other boy towards him and cradled him against his chest. Xiumin sniffed and didn't try to pull back. “You know why I had to. They only gave us five places to Japan, even when I tried to explain. They said you weren't part of the pack.”

“Because I wasn't, but I am in the Exo pack. Please don't make me leave them.”

He felt a soft growl rumble up through Changmin's chest. “You belong to me.” His voice was low and dangerous. “You know that.”

Xiumin swallowed and said nothing. He knew it was true.

“Do you still have your collar?” He caressed a finger softly against the sensitive skin on Xiumin's neck. The younger boy nodded unhappily.

“Wear it tomorrow night and come to our dorm, seven o'clock.”

Xiumin leant back to look up at him desperately. “Please don't make me.”

“When have I ever made you do something you didn't want to.” His expression softened a little and he leant in so close that Xiumin thought he might kiss him. “Trust me.”

He nodded, because he did trust Changmin. He always had. He just didn't necessarily trust himself when he was with him.

“Good boy.” Changmin kissed his forehead tenderly and let his hands slip from his body. Xiumin felt suddenly cold.

Changmin gave him the sweetest, gentlest little smile as he walked away and Xiumin couldn't help but return it, at least a little.

“I'll see you tomorrow, baby.”

Wooo I'm back! I had lots of thoughts about this story while I was away and I've got some exciting stuff coming up.

Lots of angst and drama for Chenris and Baekyeol. Place your guesses in the comments for what's going to happen with Xiuhan/Changxiu