Page 72 of Written in Scent

The full weight of the care package finally washes over me all at once.

They did this. All of them. Every single item was chosen with such deliberate care… it all fits my life so perfectly it feels like they’ve been watching me for weeks.

They have put this much thought into me. Into us. Into something I still have not fully agreed to.

Awareness crashes through me like cold water, shocking and overwhelming. This is getting serious. Really serious. They’re not just flirting or being kind. They’re building something. For… me?

A wave of panic rises in my chest, tight and breathless. I’m not ready for this. I don’t know how to be ready for this.

I need to tell my parents. Before any of this goes any further. Before I let myself fall any deeper.

I look over at Sophie, still wide eyed and beaming beside the pile of gifts, and my voice comes out small and shaky.

“I think… I need to call my parents.”

I grab my phone with shaky fingers and pull up the video call app. Sophie stays right beside me on the floor, cross-legged among the ripped paper and open gifts, offering silent moral support with a hand on my knee.

I hit the call button before I can talk myself out of it.

Mom and Dad answer after two rings. Mom’s face lights up first. “Hi sweetheart! This is a nice surprise, but it’s still very early for you. Is everything OK?”

I swallow hard and try to keep my voice level. “Hi Mom, Dad. I… I have something important to tell you. There’s this pack — the Whitmore pack. I wasn’t interested at first. I told them I didn’t want anything like that, that I came here to focus on my studies. But the more I’ve gotten to know them… I’ve decided to let them court me. To see if I might want to mate with them someday.” I pause, then add quickly, “I’m still focusing on my studies one hundred percent. The pack knows that too. They’ve been really respectful about it.”

Dad leans closer to the screen immediately, brow furrowed. “A pack? Elodie, this is so unlike you. I thought we sent you to university to focus on your studies, not to—”

Sophie pops into the frame beside me before he can finish, holding up Alex’s ornate antique entomology book like Exhibit A. “Hi Mr. and Mrs. Maddison! You can’t really blame her though — look at this!”

She angles the book toward the camera so the gold embossing and hand colored plates catch the light perfectly. “It’s a signed 1897 first edition. Alex bought it for her the day he first scented her, before they’d even spoken. He’s been holding onto it for weeks, waiting for the right moment.”

The line goes quiet for a beat.

Dad’s eyes widen behind his glasses. The scientist in him visibly takes over as he studies the book on the screen. He rubs a hand over his face and lets out a long breath. “Well… that is a genuine first edition. Signed?” His shoulders slowly relax, the tension draining out of him. “I suppose I can understand how something like that might… distract a person.”

Mom leans in closer, eyes sparkling with sudden curiosity. “OK, now you have to tell us everything. Who are these boys? What are they like? I want names, details, the whole story!”

Sophie grins and squeezes my knee under the frame while I let out a shaky laugh, the knot in my chest finally loosening. Between Mom’s excited questions and Dad’s reluctant scientific approval, I feel like I might actually be able to explain what is happening without falling apart.

I sit at my station in the archives, the silence broken only by the occasional rustle of pages and the scrape of drawers from the far end of the room. A few seniors are still here, hunched over their own stations, muttering under their breath as they rush to finish pinning and labeling before mid-term deadlines hit.

Their energy feels frantic compared to the precise rhythm of my hands, but I don’t mind the company. Although it is funny to see them all here all of a sudden.

My fingers move with practiced care, sliding the number-four pin through the thorax of the newest specimen, then adjusting the wings until they lie flat and symmetrical against the spreading board. The work always pulls me under like this, keeping me focused, the rest of campus fading away.

My free hand drifts up without thinking. I trace the delicate chain at my throat, the diamond butterfly necklace warm against my skin from hours of wear. The stones catch the desk lamp and flash tiny sparks of light across my knuckles. I smile to myself, small and private, and keep working.

My phone vibrates against the desk, sharp and sudden in the stillness. I set the pin down and glance at the screen. The group text from Alex lights up first.

Pack dinner tonight? Nothing fancy. Just the five of us. Come over whenever you’re free. <3

Warmth spreads through my chest before I can stop it. I type back a quick yes and set the phone down again.

It vibrates almost immediately with a second message, this one from Jamie alone.

Already on my way to the Natural Sciences building. No walking across campus in the dark by yourself, Elodie. Be there in ten.

I shake my head, a real smile tugging at my mouth now. The quick protectiveness should feel too much. Instead it sits somewhere behind my ribs, along with the awareness that he knew exactly where I’d be.

I finish the last label, slide the drawer closed with a click, and start gathering my things. I reach for my backpack leaning against the desk leg and pause when the blue morpho wing keychain swings free. The resin catches the light, flashing electric blue. Another piece from the care package. I run my thumb over the smooth edge and let the smile stay.