My body is opening with quiet certainty. If there was any doubt before about my designation, the slick between my thighs confirms it: I am one hundred percent omega.
Kai closes his eyes briefly. “Okay,” he exhales. “Fuck.”
“Easy,” Finn murmurs.
I bite my lip and tug at my shorts next. The fabric clings briefly before sliding down, and I feel the cool brush of air against skin that’s already sensitised.
I cross my arms instinctively over my chest.
Kai looks like he might speak, then thinks better of it.
Instead, Finn steps closer and says, very gently, “Lie down.”
“Like this?”
“Face down,” he says softly. “Let us help you settle.”
There’s no command in it.
Just care.
I lower myself into the nest slowly, pressing my cheek against Sol’s shirt, inhaling smoke and driftwood and warmth. The blankets shift beneath me, pillows forming soft walls around my body. It helps me relax, helps me feel a little less self conscious.
Finn’s hands settle on my shoulders. His touch is slow and deliberate, thumbs pressing into the tension at the base of my neck. I hadn’t realised how tight I was until the pressure eases it.
“Breathe,” he murmurs near my ear.
I exhale, long and trembling.
Kai’s fingers trace lightly down my spine, not touching anywhere intimate, just mapping warmth into my skin. It makes my breath hitch anyway.
Koa moves behind me, gathering my hair gently.
“It’ll tangle,” he says quietly. “And you’ll hate that later. So I’m just going to help keep it out of the way.”
His fingers separate the strands with patient care, dividing and weaving them into a loose braid. The intimacy of it makes something inside me ache in a way the heat alone never could.
“You’re doing my hair,” I say faintly.
“Mm,” he hums. “You’re nesting. We adapt. I like this actually. It’s nice to be able to help.”
Finn’s hands move lower now, kneading slowly at my hips. The heat that had been tightening inside me begins to melt instead, flowing outward in warm currents. My slick gathers more fully, perfuming the air in gentle waves.
Kai shifts closer.
“You smell like summer,” he says softly. “Like…sunlight on water.”
The words wrap around me like a blanket.
Sol moves closer too, careful of his side, and then?—
A sound vibrates through the mattress.
Low.
Steady.
Not a growl.