"We should celebrate." Hwan declared, lifting his head from my lap, his exhaustion momentarily forgotten, his grin bright and excited, his golden eyes sparkling with renewed energy.
"Tomorrow." I pushed his head back down gently, my fingers resuming their path through his hair, soothing and steady. "Tonight, we rest."
"Bossy." Tae-min murmured, but he was smiling against my shoulder, his body relaxing further into mine, his voice already thick with approaching sleep.
"Necessary." I countered, and felt Jae-won's quiet laugh rumble through the nest, the sound warm and content, vibrating through the blankets. The lights dimmed. The nest settled. Five alphas curled around me, accepting care instead of givingit for once, their breathing evening out into the rhythm of approaching sleep.
In the darkness, surrounded by their warmth and their scents and the steady sound of their breathing, I let myself believe it.
This was real. This was mine. This was home.
Chapter Thirty-One
JAE-WON
She was laughing.
I stood in the kitchen doorway, coffee forgotten in my hand, watching Keira throw her head back at something Tae-min had said. The sound filled the room — bright and unguarded. Not the polite chuckle she'd given us those first days, carefully measured and controlled. This was laughter that came from somewhere deep, shaking her shoulders and crinkling her eyes.
Our omega,my alpha rumbled with satisfaction.Happy. We made her happy.
Five days. It had only been five days since she'd stumbled into our lives, pale and trembling and fighting bonds she hadn't asked for. Days since I'd found her on that park bench, barely conscious, four bonds already burning through her while the fifth — mine — snapped into place the moment our eyes met. I'd been the last one to find her. The last piece of a puzzle she hadn't asked to complete.
She looked like a different person now.
The hollows under her eyes had filled in, the shadows chased away by actual sleep. Color had returned to her cheeks — not just the flush of embarrassment or arousal, but genuine health. She'd gained weight, subtle but noticeable, her frame no longer quite so fragile. Her movements had lost that careful, guarded quality, replaced by something looser, more comfortable.
She was healing. Right in front of us, day by day, she was healing.
"Jae-won-hyung, your coffee's getting cold." Hwan called from the couch, where he was sprawled with his head in Keira's lap, looking obscenely content as her fingers moved absently through his hair, his golden eyes bright with amusement.
"Let him stare." Tae-min said with a grin, not bothering to lower his voice, his eyes dancing with mischief as he lounged against the couch cushions. "He's been doing it all morning."
"I'm not staring." I said, finally moving into the room, settling into the armchair across from them with forced casualness, my fingers tightening around the cooling mug. "I'm observing."
"Same thing." Jin-ho said from the corner, not looking up from his laptop, his voice carrying that dry humor that meant he was paying more attention than he let on, his fingers still moving across the keys. Keira's eyes met mine across the room, and something warm flickered in her expression. Not wariness. Not that careful calculation I'd seen in the beginning, measuring every interaction for threat. Just... warmth.
Ours, my alpha insisted.She's ours. She knows it now.
"What are you observing?" Keira asked, tilting her head slightly, her fingers still moving through Hwan's hair in slow, soothing strokes, her honey-brown eyes curious and unguarded.
"You." I said simply, because there was no point in lying, holding her gaze with deliberate steadiness. Her cheeks flushed, but she didn't look away. That was new too. A week ago, shewould have dropped her gaze, retreated behind those walls she'd built so carefully. Now she held my stare, a small smile playing at her lips.
"What do you see?" Keira's voice was soft, curious rather than defensive, her eyes holding mine with quiet confidence, her chin lifting slightly.
"Someone who's getting stronger." I said, watching her expression shift — surprise, then something like wonder, her breath catching visibly. "Someone who's letting herself be happy." The moment stretched between us, heavy with unspoken things. Then Hwan ruined it by making an exaggerated gagging noise.
"You two are disgusting." Hwan declared, though he was grinning, his golden eyes bright with amusement as he looked up at Keira from her lap, his nose wrinkling with theatrical disgust. "Get a room."
"We're in a room." Keira pointed out, and the easy humor in her voice made something in my chest ache, her lips quirking with amusement. "Several of them, actually."
"You know what I mean." Hwan reached up to poke her cheek, his finger gentle despite the teasing gesture, and she caught his hand, threading their fingers together with casual ease that made my heart clench. She was touching them. All of them, constantly, without thinking about it. Fingers in Hwan's hair. Shoulder pressed against Tae-min's. Feet tucked under Min-jun's thigh when they sat together. Small, unconscious points of contact that spoke louder than words.
She was seeking them out. Reaching for connection instead of flinching from it.
Good,my alpha approved. Pack. Bonding.Ours.
My phone buzzed, shattering the moment. I glanced at the screen and felt my jaw tighten. Management.
