"Get some sleep." I said finally, standing, exhaustion hitting me all at once, my body suddenly heavy with the weight of the day. "Tomorrow's going to be a big day."
The others dispersed slowly, each finding their way to their own rooms or, in Hwan's case, slipping quietly into the nest to curl up near Keira. I lingered in the hallway, watching through the cracked door as he settled beside her, as her body instinctively shifted toward his warmth even in sleep.
She fit. With all of us, in all the ways that mattered, she fit.
Five alphas. One omega. A bond that defied everything conventional wisdom said was possible. Watching her sleep, surrounded by our scents, our care, our love — it didn't feel impossible anymore.
Chapter Thirty-Two
KEIRA
I woke with an itch under my skin that wouldn't go away. It wasn't physical — not exactly. More like a restlessness, a nagging sensation that something was wrong, something was incomplete, something needed to be fixed immediately. I lay in the nest for a long moment, staring at the ceiling, trying to identify the source of my discomfort.
The nest. Something was wrong with the nest.
I sat up slowly, looking around at the blankets and pillows arranged around me. It looked fine. Comfortable. Soft. Filled with the mingled scents of five alphas that had become as familiar as my own heartbeat.
It wasn't right.
The thought came from somewhere deep, somewhere instinctive, and suddenly I was moving before I could think about it. Pulling blankets out of their careful arrangement. Repositioning pillows. Tugging at the sheets until they lay differently, then tugging again because that wasn't right either.
Yes,my omega urged.Fix it. Make it better. Make it perfect.
I didn't know what perfect looked like. I just knew this wasn't it. By the time Hwan wandered in an hour later, I'd deconstructed the entire nest and was sitting in the middle of a fabric explosion, frustrated tears pricking at my eyes.
"Whoa." Hwan stopped in the doorway, his golden eyes going wide as he took in the chaos, his freshly styled hair still damp from a shower, one hand braced against the doorframe in surprise. "What happened in here?"
"I don't know." My voice came out thick, embarrassed, and I scrubbed at my face with the back of my hand, feeling the heat of shame creeping up my neck. "It wasn't right. I had to fix it. But I can't figure out how to make it right."
Hwan's expression softened from surprise into something understanding, the concern in his eyes shifting to gentle recognition. He crossed the room and crouched beside me, his hand finding my shoulder with gentle pressure, his warmth seeping through my shirt.
"Nesting instinct." Hwan said simply, his voice warm and without judgment, his thumb rubbing soothing circles through the fabric as he studied the mess around us. "It happens before heat. The urge to make everything perfect."
"It's not perfect." I gestured helplessly at the mess around us, my voice cracking slightly, my hands trembling with frustration as I looked at the chaos I'd created. "Nothing's in the right place. And I don't even know what the right place is."
"Maybe I can help." Hwan said, his golden eyes brightening with purpose, and before I could respond, he was pulling his hoodie over his head, the worn fabric carrying his sunshine-and-vanilla scent in concentrated form. He pressed it into my hands, his fingers lingering on mine with gentle reassurance. "Start with this. Put it wherever feels right."
I stared at the hoodie for a moment, then pressed it to my face and inhaled. His scent flooded my senses, warm and bright and comforting, and something in my chest unclenched slightly.
Yes,my omega sighed. His scent. Need his scent.
I tucked the hoodie into a corner of the nest, arranging it just so, and felt the rightness of it settle into my bones.
"Better?" Hwan asked, watching me with soft eyes, a small smile playing at his lips, his head tilted slightly as he observed my careful movements.
"A little." I admitted, looking at the small island of order I'd created in the sea of chaos, my fingers still smoothing the fabric into place with obsessive attention. "But I need... more."
"I'll get the others." Hwan stood, pressing a quick kiss to the top of my head before disappearing into the hallway, his footsteps quick and purposeful on the hardwood floor.
Within twenty minutes, I had offerings.
Tae-min brought three t-shirts and a pillow from his bed, all saturated with his ocean-spray-and-mint scent. Jin-ho appeared with a worn cardigan that smelled of rain and old books, quiet as he placed it in my hands without a word. Jae-won contributed a sleep shirt, the thunderstorm-and-petrichor scent so strong it made my head swim. Min-jun arrived last with a soft blanket that carried forest-and-cedar, wrapping it around my shoulders before stepping back.
I arranged them all obsessively, moving items from spot to spot, layering scents in patterns that made sense only to some deep, primal part of my brain. The others watched from the doorway, not entering the nest space without invitation, somehow understanding that this was my domain, my project, my instinct to satisfy.
Their scents everywhere, my omega purred. Yes. Good. Ours. Safe.
It took hours. I lost track of time entirely, consumed by the need to get everything exactly right. Tae-min's shirt needed to be near the head of the nest, but overlapping with Jin-ho's cardigan. Jae-won's pillow went in the center, a grounding anchor. Hwan's hoodie stayed in its corner, bright and warm. Min-jun's blanket wrapped around everything, holding it all together.
