ASTER
The pack room had become my favorite place in the house. It wasn't the biggest room, or the fanciest, or even the most comfortable by traditional standards. But it had something the other rooms didn't — the lingering scent of all four of my Alphas, layered and intertwined until it created something entirely new. Something that smelled like home in a way I'd never experienced before.
Tonight, for the first time since the rut, all four of them were here.
Reid was in the corner of the massive sectional, his legs stretched out, a book open in his lap that he'd stopped pretending to read about twenty minutes ago. His dark eyes kept drifting to me, warm and possessive, tracking my movements around the room with quiet satisfaction, his scent steady and content — cedar and woodsmoke without the sharp edge of rut.
Kol was sprawled on the floor in front of the couch, his head tipped back against the cushions, his golden hair catching thelamplight, his sunshine scent filling the room with warmth as he regaled us with some ridiculous story.
"—and I swear to God, this goat looked me dead in the eye and just... walked away. Like I was beneath its notice. Like I was the one trespassing." He threw his hands up in mock outrage, his golden eyes sparkling with humor, his whole body animated with the telling, his scent brightening with amusement.
"That goat was smarter than you." Sawyer's voice came from the armchair by the window, low and dry as autumn leaves, his lips twitching in what might have been a smile on anyone else, his large hands surprisingly delicate as they worked a small knife over a piece of wood, shavings curling onto his lap.
"Rude." Kol clutched his chest in mock offense, his expression crumpling into wounded devastation, his lower lip jutting out in an exaggerated pout. "I'll have you know I eventually caught that goat."
"After it walked into a fence." Nolan added from his spot on the couch, not looking up from the medical journal balanced on his knee, his voice mild but threaded with amusement, the corner of his mouth quirking up, his pine scent carrying notes of quiet contentment.
"The fence was part of my strategy." Kol insisted, twisting to look at me with pleading eyes, his hand pressed dramatically over his heart, his expression imploring. "Aster, back me up here. Tell them my goat-catching skills are legendary."
"I've never seen you catch a goat." I pointed out, settling onto the couch next to Reid, feeling his arm come around my shoulders automatically, his warmth seeping into my side, his cedar scent wrapping around me like a blanket.
"Betrayal." Kol pressed his hand harder to his heart, his expression crumpling into exaggerated devastation, his voice rising with theatrical despair, his scent dimming playfully. "Betrayal from my own Omega. I'll never recover."
"You'll live." Reid's voice was dry as dust, his fingers beginning to stroke absently through my hair, his chest vibrating with a quiet purr that seemed to start without his permission whenever I was close, his dark eyes warm with amusement.
I leaned into him, breathing in his cedar and woodsmoke scent, feeling the tension I hadn't even realized I was carrying start to melt away. This was what I'd been missing during the rut — the others. The completeness of having all four of them close.
"Come here." The words were out before I could stop them, directed at Kol, something in my chest aching to have him closer, my hand reaching toward him without conscious thought. He looked up, surprise flickering across his features before it softened into something warm and tender, his golden eyes going soft. He rose from the floor in one fluid motion and settled on my other side, his thigh pressing against mine, his sunshine scent mixing with Reid's cedar until I was surrounded by warmth.
"Better?" His voice was soft, intimate, his hand finding mine and intertwining our fingers, his thumb stroking across my knuckles in slow, soothing circles.
"Better." I agreed, my eyes drifting to Nolan, still on the other end of the couch, his journal forgotten in his lap as he watched us with something unreadable in his hazel eyes, his scent carrying notes of longing he probably didn't realize he was broadcasting.
"You too." I held out my free hand toward him, my voice coming out softer than I intended, my fingers beckoning. "Please."
He set the journal aside without hesitation, his movements careful and deliberate, and shifted closer until his shoulder pressed against mine, his pine scent joining the mix. His hand came up to rest on my knee, warm and grounding, his thumb tracing absent patterns against my skin. That left Sawyer, stillin his armchair, still whittling, his expression carefully blank as he watched us pile together on the couch, his earth and leather scent carrying something that smelled almost like uncertainty.
"Sawyer." His name came out like a question, like a request, my eyes meeting his across the room, holding steady even when he tried to look away. He went still, his hands pausing on the wood, something flickering in his dark eyes that I couldn't quite read — vulnerability, maybe, or fear. For a long moment, I thought he might refuse. Might retreat into that protective shell he wore like armor.
Then he set down his knife and the half-carved figure with careful precision, rose from the chair, and crossed the room with slow, measured steps. He didn't join us on the couch — there wasn't really room — but he settled on the floor at my feet, his back against my legs, his head tipping back to rest against my knee, his eyes closing as some of the tension bled from his shoulders.
The touch was small, almost tentative, but it sent warmth flooding through my chest. Four Alphas. All of them touching me in some way. All of their scents mingling together until I couldn't tell where one ended and another began.
"This is nice." The words came out dreamy, my eyes half-closed, my body going boneless with contentment, my scent shifting to something sweet and settled that made all four of them purr a little louder. "This is really nice."
"It's pack." Reid's voice was rough with emotion, his arm tightening around me, his lips pressing against my hair, his breath warm against my scalp. "This is what pack is supposed to feel like."
"Warm." Kol agreed, his thumb still stroking across my knuckles, his head dropping to rest on my shoulder, his sunshine scent deepening with contentment, his body relaxing into mine. "Safe. Like nothing can touch you."
"Complete." Nolan added quietly, his hand squeezing my knee, his pine scent rich and satisfied, his hazel eyes soft when I glanced at him.
Sawyer didn't say anything, but his hand came up to rest on my ankle, his thumb tracing small circles against my skin, his touch gentle despite the calluses on his fingers. The touch said everything his words didn't.
We stayed like that as the evening deepened, talking about nothing and everything. Kol's stories gave way to Nolan explaining something he'd read about new veterinary techniques, his voice animated in a way it rarely was, his hands gesturing as he described the procedure. Reid shared updates about the ranch — a new foal expected any day, a fence line that needed repair, his voice low and steady. Even Sawyer contributed occasionally, his rare words adding dry observations that made the others laugh.
I floated in a haze of contentment, surrounded by warmth and scent and the steady pulse of four heartbeats. My eyes grew heavy, my body sinking deeper into the cushions, into Reid's side, into the safety of pack.
"She's falling asleep." Kol's voice was soft, amused, his breath warm against my hair, his hand squeezing mine gently.
