Intimidating

Alec parted the bushes, only to find that there were weapons aimed at him from Katherine, Le Xuan, Katherine's two suitors, and a rather buff man wearing tight female clothing.

The first four instantly relaxed when they saw who it was, but the buff man wearing female clothing continued to eye him warily.

Alec's lip twitched seeing this unfamiliar person. 

"Picked up a few strays when we were gone?" he said in a gentle tone.

Katherine wanted to scoff but held it back seeing that Alec was her teacher. If it were anyone else, she wouldn't have been so polite. She sheathed her dagger. "More like they attached themselves to me without letting up."

Jae and Brian didn't even refute and didn't even have the shame to look sheepish. Instead, they looked rather happy because it meant that they really had been 'picked up'.