"Each color is one of us." Min-jun said softly, his hazel eyes wet as he looked at the image, his fingers ghosting over the screen. "You carry all of us with you. From your ear to your heart."
"The crimson one is me." Tae-min said, his voice awed, his dark chocolate eyes fixed on the screen. "I'm first. Right by your ear."
"And I'm closest to your heart." Jin-ho said quietly, something raw in his amber eyes, his silver-grey hair falling across his forehead.
"You're all close to my heart." I said, my voice thick with emotion, my grey eyes moving from face to face. "That's the point."
"And when the bonds complete?" Hwan asked, his warm brown eyes soft, his thumb brushing across the screen.
"The fine lines appear. The details in every petal, every leaf on the branch — on yours and on ours." Jae-won explained, his voice steadying, his nearly-black eyes soft as they met mine. "Our teal flowers will be finished. Your colored flowers will be finished. That's how everyone will know the bonds are complete."
"So after tomorrow... there's no going back." I said, not afraid, just... certain. Wanting to hear it confirmed.
"No going back." Jae-won agreed, his nearly-black eyes holding mine. "The pack bond will be complete. The soulmate marks will be permanent — colored and lined, finished forever. You'll be ours, and we'll be yours."
"Good." I said, my voice fierce, my grey eyes blazing. "That's what I want."
The pre-heat symptoms intensified as the hours crept by. By late afternoon, my temperature had climbed high enough that I'd stripped down to a thin tank top and shorts, and even that felt like too much. My skin registered every brush of air, every shift of fabric, every accidental touch with heightened sensitivity that bordered on overwhelming.
And the scents.
God, the scents.
I could smell each of them now with crystal clarity — not just the general notes I'd grown familiar with, but the subtle variations beneath. Hwan's sunshine-and-citrus had undertones of warm honey. Jin-ho's woodsmoke carried hints of old books and rain. Tae-min's ocean-breeze-and-mint was sharper now, almost electric. Min-jun's vanilla-and-fresh-bread had deepened into something richer, like caramel. And Jae-won's cedar-and-thunder — that scent had always been the strongest, the one that anchored the others, and now it called to something primal in my chest.
Want,my omega whispered, stirring restlessly.Need. Soon.
"You're staring." Jin-ho's voice cut through my haze, and I blinked to find him watching me from across the room, his amber-honey eyes knowing, his silver-grey hair catching the fading light, his expression gentle.
"Sorry. I can't... everything is so intense right now." I flushed, looking away, my cheeks burning with more than just the pre-heat fever, my hands twisting in my lap.
"Don't apologize. This is natural. Your body is preparing." Jin-ho crossed to where I sat curled on the couch, lowering himself beside me with careful grace, his woodsmoke scent enveloping me, his movements slow and deliberate.
"It's a lot." I admitted, my voice smaller than I intended, my hands twisting in my lap, my grey eyes dropping.
"I know. But you're not alone in it. Whatever you need — space, closeness, silence, distraction — you just have to tell us." Jin-ho's hand found mine, stilling my nervous movements, his touch grounding despite the way it made my pulse jump, his amber eyes steady on my face.
"What if I don't know what I need?" The question came out vulnerable, stripped of the confidence I'd been trying to project, my grey eyes finally lifting to meet his.
"Then we'll figure it out together. That's what pack is for." Jin-ho's amber eyes held mine, steady and certain, his thumb brushing over my knuckles, his expression open and reassuring.
Early evening, and the nest room was finally complete. I stood in the doorway, taking it in. They'd transformed the space — the large bed pushed against one wall, the floor covered in layers of blankets and pillows, fairy lights strung along the ceiling casting everything in soft, warm glow. Water bottles lined one wall. Easy snacks — crackers, fruit, chocolate — sat in reach. Extra towels stacked neatly in the corner.
Everywhere, woven into every fabric, every surface — their scents. All five of them, layered and mingled with my own honeysuckle-and-rain until the room smelled like home.
"What do you think? We tried to think of everything, but if you want to change anything—" Tae-min appeared at my shoulder, his dark chocolate eyes bright with nervous energy, his cherry-red hair slightly disheveled from all the work, his ocean-breeze scent sharp with anxiety.
"It's perfect. It's absolutely perfect." I said, and meant it, my throat tight with emotion, my eyes stinging, my grey eyes taking in every detail.
"Yeah?" Tae-min's whole face lit up, his grin wide and relieved, his ocean-breeze scent brightening with happiness, his dark chocolate eyes crinkling.
"Yeah. Thank you. For all of this." I turned to look at him, at this youngest alpha who had worked so hard to prove himself worthy, and felt a wave of affection crash through me.
"We wanted it to be right. You deserve... you deserve everything to be right." Tae-min ducked his head, suddenly shy, pink creeping up his cheeks, his dark chocolate eyes soft and earnest, his fingers fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.
The evening brought a shift I couldn't ignore. The low ache that had been building all day sharpened into something moreurgent, a cramping heat that spread from my core outward. My skin felt too tight, too hot, too sensitive. Every breath brought their scents flooding into my lungs, and every scent made the wanting worse.
Need,my omega urged, more insistent now.Need them. Need them now.
