Page 76 of Written in Scent

The conversation about dates gradually slows, laughter fading into comfortable stretches and yawns. The fire has burned lower now, casting a warm, golden glow across the living room.

My eyelids grow heavy despite how much I want to stay awake and soak in this feeling. The wine and the long day and the emotional weight of everything we have talked about are finally catching up to me.

Alex notices first. He turns to me with his full attention weighted in those pale gray eyes and says gently, “It’s getting late. I can drive you back to campus whenever you’re ready.”

I hesitate, fingers tracing the rim of my empty wine glass. The thought of leaving this cozy house, of going back to my dorm bed where sleep has felt thin and restless for days, makes something ache in my chest. I haven’t slept well since the last time I was here. The nest they made for me is lovely, but nothing beats Jamie’s arms the one night I stayed — they have ruined me for sleeping alone.

I look down at my lap, suddenly shy. My voice comes out quieter than I intended.

“I haven’t been sleeping well since I stayed here last time,” I admit. “The dorm feels… too empty now.”

I take a small breath and push the next words out before I can think too hard about them. “Would it be OK if I stayed the night? With one of you?”

The room retains the same warmth, no one looks surprised or uncomfortable. If anything, their expressions soften with understanding.

Jamie smiles gently from his armchair. “Of course it’s OK.”

Chase nods, his deep voice rumbling with support. “Whatever you need.”

Adrian gives me a small, encouraging smile, while Alex’s hand finds mine again, like a centre of gravity that’s keeping me pulled tight.

“You can stay with me tonight, if you’d like,” Alex says, no pressure behind the words. “My room is yours.”

I meet his pale gray eyes and feel the pull settle somewhere deep and certain. Out of all of them, it’s Alex I want to fall asleep beside tonight. I need his solid security.

I nod, the shyness easing just a little. “I’d like that. Thank you.”

The decision feels right the moment I say it. The pack accepts it so easily, so supportively, that the last bit of tension in my shoulders melts away.

I’m staying the night. With Alex.

Finally, the thought of sleep feels peaceful instead of lonely.

Alex leads me upstairs with his hand firm at the small of my back. The hallway is quiet except for the creak of the floorboards under our feet.

When he opens the door to his room, the space feels like him, neat and orderly, with a wide bed dressed in deep navy linens and the faint scent of dark cedarwood and black pepper drifting from the pillows.

We change into soft sleep clothes and take turns in the bathroom without any rush or awkwardness. He hands me one of his large t-shirts, the fabric carrying his scent so strongly that I have to pause for a second just to breathe it in. Once we’re snuggled under the covers, Alex turns toward me, the space between us closing naturally until our legs brush and our faces are only inches apart.

He cups my cheek with one gentle hand, his thumb tracing the line of my jaw. Then he leans in and kisses me.

The kiss is indulgent and deep, full of everything we haven’t said out loud tonight. There’s no urgency, no demand for more. Just the press of his mouth, the careful way his fingers slide into my hair, the emotion that passes between us like a shared secret.

I kiss him back with the same tenderness, letting my hand rest over his heart so I can feel the steady beat beneath my palm. Time slips away but the kiss lingers, sweet and unhurried, until we both pull back just enough to breathe.

I rest my forehead against his, eyes still closed. “Thank you for the field guide,” I whisper. “From the care package. It’s the most thoughtful gift anyone has ever given me. I still can’t believe you bought it the same day you first scented me.”

Alex’s thumb brushes my cheek again. “You were crouched in the grass studying leaves, completely lost in your own world. I knew right then you were ours. I wanted you to have something that proved I saw you, really saw you, from the very first moment.”

“I wasn’t studying leaves,” I tease. “I was collecting caterpillars!”

“Oh,” Alex chuckles, his breath warm against my face. “Well, I could only see a leaf.”

We stay like that, faces close, breathing the same air.

“I meant what I said earlier,” Alex murmurs. “The scent match explains the pull, but it doesn’t decide for you. You can slow everything down, speed it up, or walk away completely. The choice is yours, Elodie. Always.”

I swallow around the sudden thickness in my throat. “It feels overwhelming sometimes. Wonderful, but overwhelming. Like my whole life shifted the day I met all of you, and I’m still trying to catch up. But it also feels… right. In a way I didn’t know anything could feel right.”