I open my mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.
Nothing.
“May we enter?” Laurant’s voice is gentle, calm.
Nyx’s lips purse. “You’ll need to ask Zeph, but it’s okay with me.” She sidesteps then opens the door a bit further, revealing Zephyr lying in the middle of one of the two mattresses they’ve pushed together. He rests on his stomach, knees bent, feet in the air, face resting in his hands. He looks so innocent, my heart stutters in my chest.
“Zephyr,” Laurant hums, “I’d like to properly introduce myself to you. May I enter your nest?”
The waves of thought that wash over Zephyr’s face are obvious and readable. He’s unsure, he reconsiders, he wants to say no, he resigns himself. It’s an open battle in his mind.
“Okay,” he says at last, pushing himself up to kneel on the mattress.
“Thank you.” Laurant passes Nyx and enters the room, disappearing behind the still mostly closed door, leaving me in the hall looking at Nyx as Zephyr’s lilac eyes settle on me from inside.
“I…” my voice is all air, and I swallow. Why is this so difficult? If he denies me, he denies me. It’s his right.
I almost jump out of my skin when Nyx’s hand slides over mine and grips it. Once I’m in her grasp, I can breathe easier. Once my eyes fix on hers, I feel strength return to my body. Herozone and autumn leaf scent soothes my soul as I take it into my lungs and let it stay there a moment before exhaling.
I give her hand a small squeeze of appreciation before clearing my throat, looking over her head into the room.
“Zephyr.” My voice is much more calm than I feel, and I’ve never been so happy for such a small feat. “I would like to enter your nest, if you’d let me. I have…” I almost choke, swallowing instead. “There’s a lot I’d like to tell you. Share with you.”
Those light purple eyes bore into me, his face impassive, unlike when Laurant requested entry, and my whole body stiffens, readying for rejection.
That is, until he says in a small voice, “You can come in, too.”
Zephyr
When Laurant enters the nest, his ocean breeze scent is calming, that bluebell floral calls to my own scent, and they mingle in the air pleasantly, but unfamiliar.
When Erich enters, cinnamon and clove are almost overwhelming. The less I sense Nyx’s presence, the more I panic until I hum a near whine and reach for her. She rushes over, takes my hand and gently kisses my knuckles before sitting beside me, but not between me and these Alphas.
They make me uncomfortable. My brain isn’t telling me why. All instinct.
But they’re mine as much as they are Nyx’s. Right?
“He’s been like this for a couple of days,” Nyx says, voice soft as she combs her fingers through my hair. I snuggle into herneck, suck her scent into my lungs, and relax. I barely register the conversation happening around me.
“I think…” Laurant’s voice is pleasant, soothing and smooth. I don’t even mind his British accent. It’s pretty nice, truthfully. “...and could be the beginning of this ‘feral’ stage.”
I yawn, ending in a hum, and wrap Nyx’s torso in my arms.
“We’d like to help,” Erich says. His voice doesn’t have that usual rough edge that makes my jaw clench. He actually sounds kind of nice.
Nyx says something, and I hear her voice inside her chest where my ear rests, but everything is muffled and incoherent. Her tone sounds urgent, and my brow furrows. I make out the word “consent.”
I’m really… tired.
When Nyx didn’t come back to our nest the other night, staying with Laurant instead, I was lonely and stressed. I hated that I felt so weak and powerless without her here, and forced myself to try and sleep without her.
It didn’t work out too well.
I don’t remember her returning the next morning. The fog in my brain only lifted once we were naked in each other’s arms.
Laurant’s scent reminds me of this as it grows in the air around us.
“Zephyr.” His voice is soft and coaxes me to look at him from Nyx’s neck where his bite gleams on her skin.
