Jun's family had arranged a meeting. Officially, the meeting was to "induct Damon into the pack," but Damon could read between the lines, and he knew that actually meant "so we can evaluate and possibly emotionally scar our son's boyfriend."

Don't get him wrong, Damon was sure Jun's family was perfectly nice. No family that raised a sweetheart like Jun could be evil. But Damon was acutely aware that he was not who Jun's family wanted Jun to end up with. A lot was riding on Damon making a good impression on these people – not just his future with Jun, but Elizabeth's future as well. Damon knew most of what happened would depend on whether or not Jun's family believed Jun loved Damon too much to marry anyone else, but meeting your significant other's family was often hell no matter the circumstances, so Damon was uncharacteristically quiet the whole way over to the pack house – which was only a five-minute walk from Jun's apartment.

Jun kept their hands intertwined the whole way though, which was nice. Damon squeezed Jun's hand intermittently – whenever his gut seized with nerves. Jun would squeeze back twice, reassuring him.

The Hart's house was of medium size, but elegant. It was painted a warm brown, with large windows to let in plenty of light and a well-tended garden in the front. According to Jun, his father was the gardener of the family – he had carefully cultivated the garden for as long as Jun could remember. Flowers were strategically planted so that the colors of the petals on each type gently transitioned in tone – pink roses grew next to azaleas and tiger lilies and so on. Some of the flowers Damon saw as he passed by, he was sure weren't meant to bloom at this time of year.

But Damon had more important things to worry about than flowers.

According to Jun, his father – though called the Alpha – was a beta. The previous generation of Hart children had all been betas and omegas. Jun's mother was a male omega. And of course, there was Jay, and their younger sister Jess, who was apparently also a beta. They would all be there for this meeting. As for the Beta and Omega advisors that helped Jun's father run the pack, Damon didn't know if they would be here for this or not. Damon wasn't sure if it really necessitated their presence. Then again, he wasn't sure what was in their purview and what wasn't.

As Jun was giving Damon this debriefing about his various family members, Damon's frazzled mind remembered something odd. When Mark first told him about who Jun really was, hadn't Mark said Jun was the only son of the Hart family?

Most likely, because Mark had heard gotten all his information from a rumor, something had just gotten lost in translation. Because Jun was the oldest, and the only alpha, whoever had started the rumor most likely said 'only alpha son' which was then later pared down to 'only son.'

Still, Damon was curious, and he needed to take his mind off his impending doom, so he mentioned it to Jun. Jun, in the middle of putting away their freshly cleaned laundry (like a cute little househusband, Damon thought), frowned in consideration.

"Not many people know about Jay and Jess," he said finally. "The pack knows about me because I'm the firstborn, alpha son. There's no need for them to know anything about my siblings."

This was a little odd, in Damon's opinion. "Aren't Jay and Jess diplomats for the pack, at least? As children of the Hart family?"

Jun shook his head. "It's been a Hart family rule for generations that the siblings of a pack leader are trained for jobs outside of the pack hierarchy. It prevents our family from putting too many of our own people in positions of power and prevents siblings from fighting amongst themselves for the position of pack leader. Jay and Jess are also not the type to broadcast their family connections, so I'm not surprised that no one knows about them."

That made a lot of sense. It also meant that whoever started the rumors in the first place wasn't someone in the Hart family inner circle.

Thinking about that took Damon's mind off meeting said Hart family for a blissful two minutes, and then they were on their way, and now they're here. At the house. Jun led him inside, completely unruffled, practically dragging Damon in like he was leading him to execution.

Jun even seemed to find Damon's fear a little funny – which just goes to show how completely irrational it was. If Damon actually had something to fear about meeting Jun's family, Jun wouldn't be as amused by the whole situation. Damon would be fine. Jun was clearly sure of it, so this was all in Damon's head.

Really, Damon just had to trust Jun, is what it boiled down to. So, taking slow, deep breaths, Damon allowed himself to relax little by little.

Jun led them through a small but clean foyer, through the kitchen, and then down a long hallway. He came to a wooden door on the left side and walked in without knocking, which was very Jun of him. Inside, four pairs of eyes turned to look at them simultaneously. Damon's fear came back immediately, full force. He considered peeing his pants and running away, but Jun was still holding his hand firmly, so he swallowed hard and pushed through it.

Jay, as the only familiar face in the room, smiled encouragingly at them, which made Damon feel a little bit better. Next to Jay was a teen girl, staring at Damon curiously. No malice or dislike, thankfully – just honest curiosity. She resembled her eldest brother in that her disposition seemed a bit spacey – she was probably also a sweetheart like Jun. Or at least, that was Damon's first impression. She, like Jun and Jay, had black hair and dark eyes, but her face was a bit softer – a structure she obviously got from her mother, who Damon noticed next.

Jun's mom was a slender omega, someone who seemed like they could be pushed over by a burst of wind. Despite that, he had an open, confident posture, and based on the little bits and pieces Jun had shared about him, he could probably throw Damon over the Eiffel Tower without breaking a sweat. So that was a little terrifying. Jay was clearly the only child in the family that took after their mother in personality, because apparently, he was a rather shrewd, mischievous person – in a good way. The kind of person who would tease you mercilessly, but only out of affection.

Jun and Jess, however, took after their father. Jun's father was also the one of Jun's family members that Damon was a little unsure about. Not only had he come to yell at Jun the second he arrived back at the pack, but Jun's description of his dad being 'just like him' was vague in a scary way, because Jun had several sides to him. There was of course, the sweet, silly side of him that made up most of his personality. But Jun could be intense when he wanted to be – not ever to Damon – but to others, especially those who may pose a threat to the people he cared about?

Yeah – fucking scary. Damon hoped Jun meant that his dad was also a little bit airheaded and overwhelmingly gentle like Jun was.

Just as Damon had that thought, however, Jun's dad rose from his seat and strode towards Damon and Jun with purpose, eyes narrowed on them like a lynx about to pounce.

So maybe not.