Chapter 13 - Convincing the alpha

“What’s your name?” Ara asked, sitting down next to the now fully healed boy. Chanyeol had given him a pair of his own jeans and a hoodie, allowing the boy to no longer look like he had escaped hell. He smiled and ran a hand through his unruly hair.

“Luhan, you?”

“Ara.” Luhan nodded, leaning back in the couch, heaving a sigh.

“Your alpha is kind.”

“He’s not my alpha,” Ara explained, frowning at Luhan. Chanyeol was sipping his soda from across them, eyeing Luhan suspiciously.

Luhan arched an eyebrow. Ara waited for an explanation, but before Luhan could talk, Chanyeol was at the door, helping Kyungsoo carry a boy inside.

Sehun came stumbling in after him, supporting another boy, followed by Suho and Baekhyun helping a rather tall one limp inside. Two more boys walked in, both wearing tired frowns on their faces, and then Kai entered, anger and power practically radiating off him.

“You can stay for the night, figure out what you want to do and leave first thing in the morning,” Kai proclaimed, a hard expression on his face. The boys all looked battered, and Luhan was now next to them, helping them sit down on the couches.

Kai’s offer wasn’t that generous, Ara noted, and she bit her lip, looking at Kyungsoo for a reaction. But there was none, the boys knew their alpha was being more than generous, and Ara wondered exactly how cold Kai was.

“I’ll bring some towels,” Kyungsoo announced, offering the bruised boys a small nod before disappearing down the hallway, Baekhyun following him. Sehun sighed and slumped down on the one-seater, looking over at the boys sprawled on either the floor or the other couches.

 He felt a pang of pity, and Chanyeol sat down on the armrest next to him, sharing the emotion. Suho started whispering something to Kai, earning a stern look and a fierce shake of the head in return, and he sighed in defeat when Kai left.

“Is anyone thirsty? Hungry?” Suho decided to help them feel better, and so when one of the boys weakly shot his hand up, asking for some water, he immediately left for the kitchen.

Ara knew that this wasn’t her business to deal with, but she couldn’t shake the feeling of guilt off, and she dragged in a determined breath before walking down the hallway.

She had been to the pack house twice now, but she had never gone further than to the toilet down the hall, and she felt her heart pounding loudly in her chest when she started up the staircase.

There were four rooms on the second floor, and Ara gulped as she stopped in front of the only room with its door closed. She was intimidated by Kai, there was no doubt about that, and the only time she felt safe was when the rest of the boys were with her.

But for some odd reason, she knew Kai wouldn’t hurt her; he wasn’t a monster. Shaking her head at the paradoxical thought, Ara dragged in a deep breath and turned the handle, pushing the door open.

Kai was lying on his bed, his jaw clenched and eyes trained on the ceiling. Ara took in the interior of the room, a relatively big bed, a small closet in the corner next to a door that presumably led to the bathroom, and a big window next to the bed.

The colours were dark, black and grey, just like Kai’s personality. The boy slowly turned his head in Ara’s direction, arching an eyebrow as if daring her to talk.

“Can they stay for longer than just tonight?” Kai immediately shook his head, as if he knew she was going to ask that question, and Ara frowned. “Why not?”

“Because I say so.” That was his reason? Ara released a scoff, the sound earning a surprised look from Kai.

“They have literally escaped the claws of a beast, their alpha and entire pack is dead, and you don’t want to help them just because you say so?” Kai stood up from the bed, and Ara stiffened.

She blinked, raising her head in hopes of not showing any fear when Kai stopped directly in front of