It was customary for their pack to spend Saturday nights together; kind of like family dinners, just with more roughhousing and laughter and junk food. This time it was Kyungsoo’s turn to pick a movie so Junmyeon was already mentally prepared for all the gore and jump scares that lay ahead.

What he wasn’t prepared for, however, was to receive a call from Lu Han. Junmyeon had just been settling into the couch, bowl of popcorn on his lap when his phone started vibrating in his back pocket. The ID read unknown caller, so Junmyeon was prepared to tell whoever it was they had the wrong number.

“Hello?”

“Junmyeon ssi?” the voice seemed familiar.

“Yeah, that’s me. Who’s this?”

“Ah! It’s Lu Han, from Yifan’s pack,” he clarified, “I’m sorry; I didn’t have your number so I stole it from Yifan.”

“That’s… alright,” Junmyeon muttered, not sure of what to say. Why would Lu Han want to talk to him?

“You’re probably wondering why I called,” Lu Han laughed, “You see, Yifan has been away for a few days now on pack business and everyone here is bored and then Sehun mentioned that you guys usually spend Friday nights together and suggested we did the same but we don’t know how to do that, so… would it be ok for us to come by for a little while?”

The first thing Junmyeon thought of was how did Sehun know about that? He didn’t even realize he had given his consent until Lu Han was shouting in glee and telling him to meet them at the border in a while.

Junmyeon hung up in confusion.

“Hyung,” Kyungsoo called, “Are you alright?”

“I think… Yifan’s pack is coming over to watch movies with us.”

-

Thirty minutes later Junmyeon found himself waiting for Lu Han and the others by the bridge. He could smell they were close, but with the amount of people loitering around at that hour their scents got diluted; had they been pack, Junmyeon could have smelled them on the other side of the world (metaphorically, of course.)

Junmyeon sat in his car and listened to the radio until he spotted Zitao’s motorcycle and an SUV behind him. A blond head peeked out of the driver’s seat and Junmyeon saw Lu Han’s grinning face while the beta waved wildly with one arm. Junmyeon waved back, albeit not so enthusiastically and shifted gears to drive back to the house.

Yifan’s pack seemed nervous walking into Junmyeon’s pack house; all except for Lu Han. The beta walked with so much confidence, as if he owned the world or something. It was impressive, in a way. Junmyeon’s pack was waiting for them, the TV screen showing the menu section of the movie Kyungsoo had chosen. Sehun seemed skittish, holding onto Jongin’s arm tightly. Junmyeon knew omegas particularly got very nervous around other packs, and on top of that he was still recovering from a trauma.

Yixing noticed Junmyeon staring and sidled up to him to say quietly, “We thought maybe it would be a good idea to bring him somewhere with more omegas, make him more comfortable.”

So that was the real reason why they were there. Junmyeon figured it might be good for Baekhyun, too, so he simply nodded and settled back down on his spot on the couch. Jongdae was next to him in an instant, flashing Junmyeon a smile he knew all too well; it meant trouble.

Junmyeon worried that the presence of so many alphas would do more harm than good, but he didn’t have to because Baekhyun and Kyungsoo immediately took their seats on either side of him on the other couch, and Jongin took residence by his feet, so Sehun was surrounded by comforting scents and someone he trusted. Junmyeon hadn’t missed the looks they shared at school.

With Chanyeol leaning his head on his shoulder on one side and Jongdae playing with his fingers on the other, Junmyeon was lulled to a half-conscious state. He could vaguely register Yixing and Lu Han giggling to each other on the floor, and Minseok chatting quietly with Zitao, explaining to him what was going on in the movie. What he did register, however, was the strange scent in his territory. It came from the woods.

Chanyeol smelled it too, so did Yixing, the other alpha. Junmyeon shook Jongdae’s hand off his, but soothed the hurt look on the beta’s face with a finger pressed to his lips. The omegas were all asleep and even Lu Han was slumped over, snoring softly into his chest.

“You don’t think…” Chanyeol trailed off. His voice was merely a whisper. Junmyeon shrugged helplessly. He could smell multiple humans, getting closer to the house.

Minseok stood up from his seat and began making his way towards the sliding doors that led to the woods, Jongdae and Zitao behind him. In the meantime, Yixing and a now-awake Lu Han were waking the omegas and shushing them so they wouldn’t make any noise. Junmyeon didn’t miss the panicked whimper Sehun let out.

“Jongdae,” Junmyeon murmured. The beta looked at him with caution, bottom lip caught between his lips, “Go take the omegas down to the basement and stay with them; Yixing, you too.”

Jongdae nodded, already marching to take Kyungsoo’s hand in one and Baekhyun’s in the other. Yixing grabbed Sehun around the waist and steered him away from Jongin, whom seemed reluctant to part from him. Chanyeol, too; he and Baekhyun shared a look before Baekhyun broke free from Jongdae’s grasp and hugged the tall alpha. Chanyeol squeezed him tight before he let go and allowed Jongdae to take him away.

Junmyeon waited until he heard the click of the basement door shut and then some more for the beeping of the security system before speaking up. “Alright, I’ll go outside first. Minseok, you follow me two minutes later, and then Lu Han. Chanyeol and Jongin, you two stay here and guard the house. Don’t come out unless I howl. Got it?”

His packmates nodded. Even the boys from Yifan’s pack agreed; they were in his territory. He was the alpha. The night was silent. He couldn’t hear a single sound from the woods, but he could still smell the humans. There were at least five, man and woman alike. They weren’t too far away, maybe one hundred yards from the house. Junmyeon discarded his clothes quickly and shifted; the leaves crunched under his paws. He entered the forest and he had to rely on his instincts to guide him; it was very dark.

Ten yards away from the source, Junmyeon heard a match, the fizzing of fire and some laughter. Junmyeon broke through the bushes and found… a bonfire. The humans he smelt were actually a family of five; a mom, a dad and three kids. They saw him, of course, and immediately scrambled to their feet, running towards the car a few feet from them. Junmyeon almost laughed at the absurdity of the situation until the father got out of the car with a shotgun and fired. Junmyeon didn’t have enough time to react before the bullet was through his front paw. The man was ready to shoot again but his youngest kid started crying and begged him to spare the little doggy.

‘Yes, spare the little doggy, please.’ Junmyeon thought bitterly. It didn’t hurt that badly; his healing properties kicked in and he was almost good as new but he pretended anyway, whining low on his throat and hopping around. The dad took pity on him and left him be. Junmyeon watched the car disappear from sight just before Minseok and Lu Han showed up.  Junmyeon shifted back to human form and so did the other two.

“Jun!” Minseok gasped when he caught sight of the blood and his injured hand.

“Its fine,” he assured him, “It’s already healing.”

“What happened?” Lu Han asked breathlessly.

“Just some family camping. I scared them and the dad shot me, but he couldn’t kill me so they just left. No big deal.”

“No big deal?!” it seemed like a big deal to Minseok. “Jun, you were shot!”

“I know,” he said, “And I’m good as new now, see?”

He was; there was no sign of the injury at all. Minseok sighed dejectedly and nodded. He knew there was no point arguing with him.

-

“So there were no hunters?” Baekhyun asked softly, rubbing at his neck. They were back in the living room, the omegas nervously fussing over Junmyeon after they heard what happened. Apparently, they heard the gunshot. Baekhyun had cried with relief when Junmyeon walked through the door unharmed, and even Kyungsoo’s shoulders relaxed. Sehun was still shaken up, but no one could blame him.

“Nope,” Junmyeon said, “Just a family. Seriously Soo, I’m fine.”

The omega blushed but stopped checking over his hand. Junmyeon ruffled his hair. After all the excitement of the night, Junmyeon offered their guests to stay the night at their house; it was late already and he didn’t want them wandering around at that hour.

Sehun was told to room with Kyungsoo and Jongdae, and of course Jongin went along. Baekhyun told Lu Han and Yixing they could take his bed and he would sleep with Chanyeol. Zitao was put in Junmyeon’s room.

When Junmyeon went in to check on them, Sehun was curled into a ball on Jongdae’s bed, Jongin loosely wrapped around him as he snored into the omega’s neck. Minseok and Kyungsoo were a mess of limbs on the other bed, heads on the same pillow. Jongdae had insisted he wanted to stay with his alpha that night, and Minseok wasn’t one to say no to him.

In the other room, Lu Han and Yixing slept side by side, arms touching but otherwise maintained an adequate amount of space between them. And the complete opposite of them, Baekhyun slept straddling Chanyeol, face buried in his neck and one of Chanyeol’s large hands at the base of his waist, the other tangled in his hair.

Back in his room, Zitao was asleep on Minseok’s bed, hands the comforter as a makeshift plushies. And on Junmyeon’s bed, Jongdae was still waiting for him, lazily browsing through his phone. Junmyeon padded over to him and Jongdae immediately perked up, locking his phone and placing it on the nightstand before scooting over to the wall to let Junmyeon slide in. The alpha had barely settled in when Jongdae surged forwards, nestling his head on Junmyeon’s chest and throwing one arm over his waist; Junmyeon pulled him just that much closer and let his senses be overwhelmed by the beta as he fell asleep.