The nest wasn't pretty. It wasn't Instagram-worthy or carefully designed. It was a chaotic pile of blankets and pillows and borrowed clothing, built on instinct rather than intention. But as I crawled into the center of it, pulling the walls closearound me, I felt something I hadn't felt since Trinity's words had torn through my defenses.
Safe.
The scents of all four alphas surrounded me, mingling together into something that felt like home. The pillows blocked out the world. The blankets cocooned me in warmth. And somewhere deep inside, something finally settled, curling up with a contented sigh.
Safe, it murmured.Protected. Pack.
I'd never built a nest before. Not really. That night at my cabin after the pottery date had been unconscious, a rearranging that I hadn't recognized for what it was until Viola explained it. But this... this was deliberate. This was my omega taking the reins and demanding comfort in the most primal way it knew how…it worked.
Trinity's words still lurked at the edges of my mind, but they felt distant now, muffled by the layers of softness and scent surrounding me. The fear was still there, but it was manageable. Contained. Like the nest had created a barrier not just against the physical world, but against the emotional one too.
I pulled Levi's hoodie closer, inhaling the bright, warm scent. Reached out to touch Garrett's flannel, grounding myself in the rough texture. Let Micah's sweater brush against my feet, cool and soft. Through it all, Oliver's scent wrapped around me like an embrace.
Four alphas. My alphas.
The thought should have scared me. Would have scared me, even a week ago. But here, in the nest I'd built with pieces of them, it just felt right. Like this was exactly where I was supposed to be.
My eyes grew heavy. The tension I'd been carrying all day finally began to drain away, leaving behind nothing but exhaustion and the bone-deep need for sleep. Tomorrow, Iwould probably be embarrassed. Tomorrow, I would have to explain why their clothing had ended up in my room. Tomorrow, I would deal with the aftermath of the market and Trinity and everything else.
But tonight...
Tonight, I let myself sink into the safety of the nest, surrounded by the scents of the pack that was choosing me.
And for the first time in as long as I could remember, sleep came easy.
It was a soft knock that woke me. I blinked awake slowly, disoriented by the unfamiliar surroundings. Morning light filtered through the curtains, casting everything in shades of gold and cream. For a moment, I couldn't remember where I was or why I was surrounded by pillows and blankets and?—
Oh.
Oh no.
The nest. The stolen clothing. The middle-of-the-night raid on their bedrooms.
"Daphne?" Oliver's voice came through the door, soft and questioning. "Are you awake? I brought coffee."
Panic surged through me. The room looked like a tornado had hit it. Blankets everywhere, pillows stacked in walls, their clothing woven throughout like I was some kind of dragon hoarding treasure. There was no way to hide this. No way to explain it that didn't sound completely unhinged.
"Just a minute!" My voice came out strangled. I looked around frantically, trying to figure out how to dismantle the nest before he came in.There was too much of it, and part of me was growling in protest at the very thought of destroying what I'd built.
"Take your time," Oliver called. "I'll just leave the coffee by the door?—"
"No!" I didn't know why I said it. Didn't know why the thought of him walking away felt wrong. "I mean... you can come in. Just... don't laugh."
A pause. Then the door opened slowly, and Oliver stepped inside. He stopped dead, coffee cup frozen halfway to offering it to me. His eyes swept over the room, the chaotic pile of blankets and pillows, the nest I'd built in the center of the bed, the very obvious presence of Levi's hoodie and Garrett's flannel and Micah's sweater woven throughout. Something shifted in his expression, cycling through surprise and understanding and finally landing on something soft and awed.
"Oh," he breathed. "Daphne..."
"I can explain," I said quickly, heat flooding my face. "I couldn't sleep, and my omega was... I just needed... I'm sorry, I shouldn't have taken your things without asking, I'll put everything back?—"
"Don't." His voice was rough, and when I looked up, his eyes were bright with an emotion I couldn't name. "Don't apologize. Don't put anything back. This is..." He swallowed hard. "Do you know what this means?"
I shook my head, still braced for rejection.
Oliver set the coffee down on the nightstand and moved closer, crouching beside the bed so he was at eye level with me. "You nested, Daphne. Not just rearranging like before—actually nested. And you used our scents to do it." His voice dropped, reverent. "You’ve included all of us."
"I needed..." I struggled to find the words. "After yesterday, I felt so exposed. So unsafe. And my omega just... it wouldn't settle until I did this. Until I surrounded myself with..." I gestured helplessly at the nest. "With you. All of you."
"With pack," Oliver finished softly.
