My heart was pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat, could hear it rushing in my ears.
"What is it?" My voice came out barely a whisper, cracked with confusion and something that felt dangerously like hope. Reid didn't answer. Instead, he reached past me and pushed the door open, the hinges silent like they'd been recently oiled, then gently guided me inside with a hand on the small of my back.
I stopped breathing.
The room was... I didn't have words for what the room was.
It was large—larger than my bedroom, larger than the guest room I'd stayed in at first. The walls were painted a soft, warm cream, and the lighting was gentle, golden, coming from lamps scattered around the space rather than harsh overhead fixtures. The floor was covered in plush carpet so thick it looked like clouds, and the air was warm, perfectly warm, scented with?—
With all of them. All four of them, their scents layered and woven together until they created something new, something that smelled like pack and home and safety. Whiskey and woodsmoke from Reid. Eucalyptus and honey from Nolan. Sun-baked grass and wind from Sawyer. Orange blossoms and warmth from Kol. All of it, blended into something I wanted to wrap around myself and never let go.
It was what filled the room that made my knees go weak.
In the center was a massive platform bed—no, not a bed, a nest platform. It was lower to the ground than a normal bed, built into a corner with two walls creating natural barriers, and it was huge. Big enough for five people, maybe more. The platform itself was covered in the softest-looking blankets I'd ever seen, piled high with pillows of every size and shape, layered with fabrics in shades of cream and sage and soft blue.
Along one wall were shelves—beautiful wooden shelves, clearly handmade, sanded smooth and stained a warm honey color. They were filled with nesting materials: more blankets, more pillows, soft fabrics in every texture imaginable. Velvet, flannel, fleece, cotton so soft it looked like it would dissolve at a touch. In the corner was a small seating area—a loveseat piled with cushions, a reading lamp, a small table. And beside the nest platform was a nightstand with a lock built into the drawer, a carafe of water, a small speaker for music.
Everything was soft. Everything was warm. Everything was designed for comfort, for safety, for an Omega to build a nest that would satisfy every instinct she had.
"Reid." My voice came out broken, cracked, barely recognizable as my own. My eyes were burning, my throat tight. "What?—"
"Every Omega deserves a proper nest." Reid's voice was rough behind me, thick with emotion that made it crack slightly. His hand found my shoulder, warm and grounding, his fingers squeezing gently. "This is yours."
The tears came before I could stop them—hot and fast and overwhelming, spilling down my cheeks in rivers I couldn't control. My legs gave out beneath me, trembling and weak, and I would have collapsed if Reid hadn't caught me, his arms wrapping around me from behind, his chest solid against my back.
"I don't—" I tried to speak, tried to form words, but everything was sobs and gasping breaths and tears I couldn't stop. My hands clutched at his forearms where they wrapped around my middle. "I don't understand. Why would you?—"
"Because you're ours." Reid's voice was fierce against my ear, his arms tightening around me, his scent surrounding me completely. "And we take care of what's ours."
I turned in his arms and buried my face against his chest, sobbing so hard my whole body shook, my fingers fisting in the fabric of his shirt. He held me through it, one hand stroking my hair with gentle, rhythmic motions, the other pressed flat against my back, his heartbeat steady under my ear—whiskey and woodsmoke and safety.
"I've never—" I tried to speak between sobs, the words coming out broken and wet, muffled against his chest. "No one has ever?—"
"We know." Nolan's voice came from somewhere nearby, soft and gentle, rough with his own emotion. I felt his hand on my shoulder, his scent joining Reid's—eucalyptus and honey layering over whiskey and woodsmoke. "We know, Aster. That's why we wanted to give you this."
I pulled back from Reid's chest just enough to look around at all of them—Nolan with tears in his green eyes, his freckled face soft with emotion; Kol practically vibrating with feeling, his amber eyes bright and wet, tears streaming freely down his cheeks; Sawyer standing slightly apart with his jaw tight and his pale eyes blazing with fierce tenderness, his scarred hands clenched at his sides.
"You all did this?" My voice was wrecked, barely audible, scraped raw from crying. "Together?"
"Together." Reid's hand came up to cup my face, his thumb brushing away tears that were immediately replaced by more, his calloused palm warm against my cheek. "Each of us contributed something."
"The room itself was Reid's idea." Nolan stepped closer, his hand squeezing my shoulder gently, his green eyes bright with unshed tears. "He's been planning it since the week you arrived. The structure, the design, the concept—that's all him."
"The blankets are from me." Nolan's voice was soft, thick with emotion, his freckled face flushed. "Medical-grade softness,hypoallergenic, designed for comfort. I researched what would be best for an Omega's sensitive skin, what textures would be most soothing."
"The shelves." Sawyer's voice was rough, barely more than a rasp, his pale eyes bright with emotion he was fighting to contain. He gestured at the beautiful wooden structures lining the wall, the honey-colored wood gleaming in the soft light. "And the frame. Built them myself." His pale eyes met mine, fierce and vulnerable all at once. "Wanted you to have something that would last. Something solid."
“Everything pretty is from me." Kol's voice was thick with tears he wasn't bothering to hide, streaming down his cheeks freely, his amber eyes shining. "The fabrics, the colors, the little touches that make it feel like home instead of just a room." He laughed wetly, the sound cracking in the middle. "I may have gone a little overboard at the fabric store."
"A little?" Nolan's voice was fond despite the tears in his eyes, a watery smile crossing his freckled face. "You bought out their entire inventory of velvet."
"She deserved velvet." Kol's voice cracked on the words, fierce and tender all at once. "She deserves everything soft and beautiful in the whole world."
Fresh sobs tore through me, my whole body shaking with the force of them, and I reached for Kol blindly, my hands finding his shirt and fisting in the fabric. He was there in an instant, his arms wrapping around me, pulling me against his chest, his scent mixing with Reid's where it still clung to my skin—orange blossoms and warmth layering over whiskey and woodsmoke.
"I don't know what to say." My voice was muffled against Kol's shoulder, broken and wet, barely intelligible. "I don't know how to?—"
"You don't have to say anything." Reid's hand found my back again, warm and steady, his touch grounding even throughthe layers of emotion threatening to drown me. "You don't have to do anything. This is yours, Aster. No expectations, no obligations. Just yours."
