Chapter Text
Vernon sat on the edge of the hospital bed, his knees drawn close, his whole body trembling.
In his arms lay a tiny pup, so small that it barely filled the length of his forearms. Its soft, rhythmic breaths tickled the fabric of his shirt. The pup’s eyelids fluttered, lashes impossibly fine, its little face a mirror of his own. The same almond eyes. The same rounded ears. Even the shape of its mouth was his.
It was asleep now, warm and trusting against his chest. Vernon could already feel something dangerous threading itself through his heart, an attachment so fierce it frightened him.
Beyond the thin wall, voices murmured. The rest of the team was speaking to the nurses.
They knew.
The realization cut through him like ice.
All the years of careful hiding, all the precautions, the rehearsed lies and Beta paperwork, gone. Shattered in a single night. He had never let himself imagine this moment, because it meant imagining the end of everything he had built.
With shaking hands, he lowered the pup into the clear plastic bassinet beside the bed. The absence of its weight felt like losing air in his lungs.
“Don’t cry,” he whispered, as if begging the universe.
The pup stayed quiet, curled into the hospital blanket. Vernon forced himself to lean back, his hands gripping the mattress instead of reaching forward again.
The door creaked open.
One by one, they filed in, Seungcheol first, his Alpha scent hitting the room like a silent command for order. Jun and Mingyu flanked him, tense and watchful. The Betas slipped in quieter, Jeonghan’s sharp eyes taking in every detail, Joshua lingering near the door as though unsure whether to come closer. All twelve of them stood around, watching as the only sound was the soft rhythmic breathing of the new pup.
Vernon didn’t look up. His gaze stayed locked on the white blanket draped over the tiny body in the bassinet.
“Vernon.” Seungcheol’s voice was calm, but there was steel beneath it. “Why didn’t you tell us?”
The question hung heavy in the sterile air.
Vernon’s mouth went dry. He could feel every heartbeat thudding against his ribs. His years of practiced neutrality, his carefully constructed Beta mask, none of it mattered now. They’d all smelled backstage, they all saw his water break.
He swallowed hard, finally meeting Seungcheol’s gaze. The Alpha leader’s expression was unreadable, but the weight of his authority pressed down on the room.
“It started…” Vernon’s voice cracked, the words catching before he forced them out again. “It started the day of my presentation… when I decided to hide what I am. For good.”
The silence that followed was suffocating.
And just like that, the lie he’d lived in for years was gone.