"Yeah." I stepped back from the half-moved dresser, embarrassment flooding through me, heat climbing my cheeks. "Come in."
The door opened and Kol slipped inside, his honey-blond hair sleep-mussed and sticking up in three different directions, his amber eyes soft with drowsiness. He was wearing pajama pants covered in cartoon planets and a t-shirt that had seen better days, the collar stretched and the hem fraying. His scent filled the room the moment he entered—orange blossoms and warmth, wrapping around me like a blanket, making something in my chest loosen even as my embarrassment intensified.
He took in the scene—the dresser at an angle, the bed shoved into the corner, the pillows stacked and restacked in various configurations—and something flickered in his expression. Not confusion. Recognition. His amber eyes went soft with understanding, his lips parting slightly.
"Couldn't sleep?" His voice was gentle, soft as a whisper, his amber eyes taking in every detail of what I'd done to the room, cataloging the changes without judgment.
"No." My voice came out rough, frustrated, and I ran a hand through my sweat-damp hair. I gestured at the chaos around me, at the furniture askew and the bedding in disarray. "I don't understand what's happening. I know about the scent thing—Nolan explained that. But this is different. I keep needing to move things, to make the space feel..." I trailed off, not having the words, my hands falling helplessly to my sides.
"Safer?" Kol offered, crossing the room slowly, his bare feet silent on the hardwood floor, each step deliberate and unhurried like he was approaching something fragile. His amber eyes held mine, warm and patient. "More enclosed? Like you need walls around you?"
I stared at him, my heart pounding against my ribs, my breath catching in my throat.
"Yes." The word came out barely a whisper, cracked with relief at being understood. "Exactly like that. How did you know?"
Kol sat down on the edge of my half-made bed, the mattress dipping under his weight, close enough that his warmth reached me, close enough that his scent surrounded me more fully. His amber eyes were soft, understanding, the color of honey in the dim light from my bedside lamp.
"The scent-seeking was just the beginning." His voice was gentle, patient, his hands resting loosely on his knees. "What you're doing now—the rearranging, the need to create an enclosed space—that's nesting."
"Nesting?" I repeated the word slowly, testing it on my tongue, my brow furrowing with confusion.
"It's the next step." Kol reached out and touched my hand where it rested on the dresser, his fingers warm against mine, his touch feather-light and grounding. "Scent-seeking is about comfort, about calming your nervous system. Nesting is about..." He paused, searching for the right words, his amber eyes going thoughtful. "It's about building a home. A den. A place that's entirely yours, that feels safe enough to let your guard down completely."
I looked around at the chaos I'd created—the furniture pushed into corners, the pillows piled high, the blankets layered and arranged just so—and something clicked into place.
"I've never done this before." My voice came out small, bewildered, barely more than a whisper. "The scent thing, okay, I understood that once Nolan explained it. But this? I've never felt the need to—to build something."
"Because scent-seeking can happen anywhere." Kol's voice was soft, his thumb tracing gentle circles on the back of my hand, soothing and steady. "You can carry a piece of someone's clothing with you, breathe in their scent when you need comfort. But nesting—" His amber eyes met mine, bright with emotion, glowing in the lamplight. "Nesting means you've found a place you want to stay. A place you're not planning to leave."
The words hit me like a physical blow, stealing the air from my lungs.
"Oh." It came out breathless, cracked, my eyes burning with sudden tears.
"Your Omega is building a home, Aster." Kol's voice was rough with something that sounded almost like awe, his amber eyes bright and fierce. "She's not just seeking comfort anymore. She's putting down roots."
I sank down onto the bed beside him, my legs suddenly weak, trembling beneath me. My eyes burned with tears I didn't fully understand, hot and stinging at the corners.
"I don't know how to do this." My voice cracked, breaking on the words, my hands twisting together in my lap. "I know how to run. I know how to survive. I don't know how to... stay."
"You don't have to know how." Kol's arm came around my shoulders, pulling me against his side, warm and solid and steady. His scent enveloped me completely, orange blossoms and warmth and safety. "Your instincts know. That's what the nesting is—your body showing you what your mind hasn't figured out yet." He pressed a kiss to my temple, soft and brief, his lips warm against my skin. "You just have to let it happen."
I leaned into him, exhaustion and emotion making me heavy, my head dropping to rest against his shoulder.
"The others are going to think I've lost my mind." I gestured weakly at the disaster of a room around us, at the furniture at strange angles and the bedding in disarray. "Moving furniture at two in the morning, building... whatever this is."
"They're going to be thrilled." Kol's voice was warm with certainty, a smile in his words that I could feel even without looking at his face. "Nolan's going to get that soft look he gets when he's trying not to cry. Reid's going to pretend he's not affected and then find excuses to walk past your door six times a day. And Sawyer—" He laughed softly, the sound vibratingthrough his chest against my cheek. "Sawyer's going to start leaving things outside your room without saying a word about it."
"Why?" The question came out plaintive, confused, my brow furrowing against his shoulder. "Why would any of that make them happy?"
"Because nesting means you've chosen us." Kol pulled back enough to look at me, his amber eyes burning with fierce tenderness, his hands coming up to cup my face gently. "Not just for comfort. For home. There's no higher compliment you can give an Alpha than building a nest surrounded by their scent."
Fresh tears spilled down my cheeks, hot and fast, and Kol brushed them away with his thumbs.
"Stay?" The word slipped out before I could stop it, desperate and small, embarrassing in its neediness. "Just for a little while?"
"Yeah." His voice was rough with emotion, cracking on the single word, his amber eyes bright with something that made my chest ache. He settled back against the pillows, pulling me with him, his arm wrapped securely around my shoulders. "Yeah, I can stay."
I fell asleep surrounded by his warmth, his scent mixing with the others I'd gathered, and for the first time in days, the room felt almost right. Morning came with sunlight streaming through the window and the smell of coffee drifting up from downstairs.
