Cassidy
The first thing I become aware of is warmth.
Not just beneath me, or above me from the frankly ridiculous number of blankets I’d insisted on sleeping under.
It’s everywhere.
Wrapped around me. Holding me. Keeping me exactly where I am.
For one blissful second, I simply sink into it, listening to the steady chorus of breathing surrounding me.
Waking up on a Saturday feels so different to the rest of the week. There’s no need for alarms, no voices drifting through the walls, no rush to get dressed.
The curtains glow softly with pale November sunlight, bright enough to tell me morning has arrived but gentle enough that nobody has stirred because of it.
The room is comfortably warm despite the cold outside, smelling faintly of cedar wood, fresh linen, and the lingering blend of all five of our scents.
A warm breath brushes the side of my neck, and I freeze, not wanting to move and risk waking him.
The smile creeps across my face as I carefully peek at Silas through the corner of my eyes. Unlike the others, I don’t think he’s moved throughout the night.
His arm is still firmly around my waist, exactly where it’d been when we’d fallen asleep. Somewhere during the night, he’d somehow managed to wrap himself even more securely around me, one leg hooked over mine as though the only way he could sleep was by making sure escape simply wasn’t an option.
I experimentally try to shuffle forward the tiniest bit so I don’t wake him. The arm around my middle tightens.
“No,” he mumbles, his voice rough with sleep.
A tiny laugh escapes me, mostly air.
“I wasn’t leaving,” I whisper, not wanting to disturb the others.
“You were thinking about it,” he mutters, nestling his head into my neck, his breath warm against my scent gland.
“I’m pretty sure you can’t blame me for thinking.”
He grumbles, the vibration echoing through his chest. “I can. Shh. Sleep.”
His words slur together before he promptly falls asleep again.
I bite my lip to stop myself laughing louder and carefully lift my head instead, taking in the rest of the nest.
Immediately, I have to press my mouth into the blankets, my entire body shaking with the weight of holding back the mirth.
Harlan and Evander have somehow abandoned all dignity overnight, and I’m already prepared for their explosive reactions when they wake up.
Harlan is flat on his back, one arm securely around Evander’s shoulders. Evander’s face is buried against Harlan’s chest, one leg tangled over both Harlan’s and mine, as though even asleep, his instincts have decided the entire pack should remain physically connected.
I don’t think either of them has any idea they’re cuddling with each other.
It makes the sight somehow even better. If either of them wakes up first, the other is never going to hear the end of this.
My gaze drifts over Silas’s shoulder, to see if I can spot my beta mate. Isaac is sprawled on his stomach, one arm hanging off the edge of the nest entirely.
The blankets, however…
I blink as I quickly check the others again. What the fuck?
None of the men have any.
Not one.
There were loads for us to use, and they’re not using a single one.
Every single blanket in the room has somehow migrated towards me. I hope I’m not a blanket hog.
But, hey, at least I’m warm.
My lips twitch.
I really hadn’t meant to steal all of them. Almost as though he can feel me looking, Isaac groans quietly, reaches blindly towards the pile cocooning me and gives one corner an experimental tug.
It doesn’t move.
He frowns without opening his eyes and tugs harder.
“You’ve become one with the blankets, strawberry shortcake,” he mutters sleepily.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lie, grateful his eyes are closed so he misses my blush.
Or maybe the redness is from overheating. That’s a possibility after all.
“You absolutely have.”
Before I can defend myself, Evander cracks one eye open, looks directly at the blanket mountain surrounding me, then back at Isaac.
“Bro, I think we just need to resign ourselves to it now,” Evander says.
Isaac hums. “Yeah?”
“I think we’ve accidentally adopted a duvet dragon.”
This time, I can’t stop laughing. The sound seems to ripple through the room, waking everyone a little more with each sleepy smile that appears, and as I look around at all of them—hair a mess, voices rough with sleep, tangled together without anyone thinking twice about it—something warm settles quietly beneath my ribs.
I love waking up to my pack. Surrounded by their scents. At ease with all of them.
The nest has descended into a sleepy sort of chaos, our mingled scents somehow making it even harder to convince myself to leave it.
I’m cuddling with Silas now, less trapped and more by choice, as I eagerly watch Evander and Harlan, waiting for the reaction.
I don’t know if my alpha mate is able to sense my excitement through our bond, but he’s not showing any recognition of it, unlike Isaac.
My beta is watching them with just as much amusement as I have.
“What the actual fuck?” Evander shrieks, his voice going higher than I knew was possible.
He yanks himself away from Harlan’s body, practically scurrying towards the bottom of the nest.
His horrified expression is absolutely priceless.
I burst into giggles, using Silas’s bare chest to try and hide them, but I’m the only one who tries. Isaac and Silas are guffawing, as Harlan just scoots closer to me, nuzzling into my back as if he’s chasing the warmth he lost when Evander moved.
“I’d like everyone to know,” Evander announces, “that this wasn’t my fault.”
He pretends to gag, his eyes watering for real when he nearly chokes.
Harlan snorts, pressing a soft kiss to my back. “Of course, it wasn’t.”
“It wasn’t!” Evander shouts, and I groan, my laughter subsiding as I look down at him. “I would never. You yanked me from my mate’s side, and then… fornicated with me.”
Isaac’s no longer just laughing, he’s full on roaring the amusement.
“Fornicating means sex,” Silas stage-whispers.
“You better not have done that to me, too,” Evander hisses. “I’ve been… violated.”
“Ev, bro, you literally climbed on top of me. You were the one on top,” Harlan says, waggling his brows, as he rolls onto his back, sprawling out with all his newfound space.
“I absolutely did not.”
“You’ve still got your leg over me, dickhead.”
Evander glances down, immediately removes it, and mutters something beneath his breath that makes me laugh into Silas again.
Silas merely shakes his head, entirely unsurprised. “And here I thought we’d have a nice, lazy morning. Should’ve realised you immature children couldn’t give me that.”
“I heard that,” Evander grumbles.
“I intended for you to.”
I grin to myself as I carefully untangle my own legs from the rest of the pack and climb out of the nest, stretching like the cat I feel I am.
“I’ll be back in a bit,” I say, and as more than one protest is levied my way, I grin. “I’m going to steal use of one of Silas’s very lovely showers before one of you decides you need it to wash the… shame away.”
Isaac’s laughing too hard and doesn’t even stop when Evander kicks him.
“Take your time, little light,” Silas says, crawling out of the nest.
Oops. One thing I didn’t really account for was their height when building my perfect nest.
Oh, well.
He stretches, and I cringe when his back clicks multiple times. He shakes his head at Harlan’s snoozing and kicks his brother’s leg.
“Don’t go back to sleep, you lump,” Silas says. “We’ve got dinner plans with Mum.”
Harlan groans, rolling over to where I was, inhaling deeply.
“Do you see what he’s doing?” Evander hisses. “He’s smelling where I was lying. He’s obsessed with me.”
My giggles are light and airy, and Silas offers to show me to the shower. He leads me into the spare room I stayed in the other night and gestures to the bathroom.
“Plenty of towels,” he says. “Use whatever you’d like—it’s all yours. I’ll grab you some clothes out and will see you downstairs.”
“I can do that,” I protest, and he gives me a look that silences me.
Instead, I reach up on the tips of my toes and brush a soft kiss to his neck, the highest I can reach.
Tall giant.
“Love you,” I murmur, moving through to the bathroom.
“I love you, too, little moonlight,” he says softly.
I slip into the tiled bathroom, already missing the warmth—and familiar scent—of my nest room, as I close the door behind me.
The floor is freezing, and my lack of socks is going to lead to me losing a toe or two to frostbite.
Dramatic much, Cassidy?
I flick the heated towel rack on and place two towels over it, grateful for Silas’s home.
I open the cupboard beside the sink, reaching automatically for the shampoo Silas keeps there, and—what?
I blink in surprise as I see the front of the bottle, recognising the shower gel as the exact brand I use at home.
I pull the other door open, and my eyes flash with shock as I see everything inside has been replaced.
Last time I was here, this was filled with generic items. Now, it’s… all mine.
My shampoo, my conditioner. My body butter. Hell, even a razor matching the brand I have at home.
I stare at the little collection lined neatly together, realising that someone has deliberately gone out and bought all of these things for me.
How… how does Silas know? I know he’s done this—he’s the only one who would—but…
He couldn’t know. He’s never been to my house to snoop, and I haven’t ever brought more than my toothpaste here.
Oh, fuck.
Isaac. He’s been to my place and has had plenty of opportunities to snoop.
Warmth blooms through my chest so suddenly it almost catches me off guard.
He must have taken note of them when he stayed over, and then passed that information on.
Fuck.
I sniff, trying to make the tears stop, because I can’t cry every single time they do something nice for me.
I’d spend most of my time crying if that were the case.
I trace my thumb absently over the label before grabbing the things I need and placing them on the side of the sink for easy reach during the shower.