Page 167 of Beasts of Mine

“Making you comfortable.” Luca answered as though there could be no other explanation.

“You put Malek’s shirt behind me.” I pointed out to Luca as I looked over my shoulder toward the fabric now pressed securely against my back.

“You kept moving toward it.” Luca explained as he fixed the last fold. I stared at him while he very deliberately refused to smile.

“You noticed.” I accused Luca.

“I notice things.” Luca answered as he settled beside me and opened one arm rather than pulling me toward him.

I moved into it anyway. Luca’s scent was strongest around me now, sandalwood and herbs worked into my skin and the blanket covering us. Malek’s cedar-and-rain scent remained faintly at my back, while traces of Tavian lingered on the little gifts sitting on the shelf and the camera strap in the next room. My own scent had worked into the pillows and blankets too, leaving the sleeping space smelling different from when I had first walked into it.

“Sleep.” Luca murmured as his fingers moved slowly through my hair and his purr continued beneath my ear.

“You’re very bossy too.” I muttered to Luca, already struggling to keep my eyes open.

“I learned from Malek.” Luca answered, amusement slipping into his voice.

“That is a terrible excuse.” I told Luca as I shifted my cheek more comfortably against his chest.

“I thought it was convincing.” Luca replied before pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

“It wasn’t.” I answered Luca, although the word came out around a yawn. I fell asleep with Luca’s purr beneath my cheek, Malek’s shirt tucked against my back, and Tavian’s ridiculous little gifts sitting close enough to reach.

When I woke, pale morning light had only begun working through the shutters, turning the room from black to a dim gray-green. For several seconds, I stayed exactly where I was, listening to Luca’s slow breathing and the first calls of birds outside the temple walls. His hair had come completely free during the night, dark strands scattered across the pillow and one cheek, and sometime in the early hours his knot had softened enough for us to separate without either of us waking fully.

I shifted carefully and felt something crinkle behind me. Malek’s shirt was tucked against my back where Luca had put it the night before. His blanket had twisted around my legs, another pillow was pressed close against my other side, and my overnight shirt had somehow ended up beneath my cheek. One of Luca’s smaller blankets had joined the collection during the night, although I had no memory of pulling it over. Tavian’s green seed and tiny shell were still sitting on the shelf within easy reach.

I stared at the arrangement for several long seconds. My things were mixed with theirs, soft fabric tucked around nearly every side of my body, and each object I had moved the night before had ended up exactly where it felt most comfortable.

Then it clicked.

“Oh.” I whispered to myself as warmth crept into my face.

I had made a nest. Not exactly the same as tucking Malek’s shirt beside my pillow at the station. I had known what I was doing then. That had been one familiar scent placed somewhere that made sleeping easier, the beginning of something I had consciously recognized even if I hadn’t wanted to think too hard about what it meant.

This had happened without me deciding to do it.

Malek’s shirt at my back. Luca’s blanket around me. Tavian’s little gifts close enough to reach. My clothes and pillows arranged between all of it until I had surrounded myself with pieces connected to all three of them.

In their home.

Apparently, sometime between lying down and falling asleep, my Omega instincts had decided one Alpha’s shirt beside my pillow wasn’t enough anymore. Luca’s eyes opened beside me, unfocused with sleep for the first couple of seconds.

“What?” Luca asked sleepily, his voice rough while the arm around my waist tightened instinctively before relaxing again.

“Nothing.” I answered Luca as I pulled the blanket slightly higher, which did absolutely nothing to hide the evidence around me and probably made me look guiltier. His gaze followed mine over Malek’s shirt, the blankets, my clothing, and Tavian’s ridiculous gifts before returning to my face.

The corner of his mouth started to lift.

“Do not.” I warned Luca, pointing at him from beneath the blanket before he could make whatever comment was threatening to appear.

“I didn’t say anything.” Luca answered as he pressed his lips together, although his green-gold eyes were far too amused for the innocent face he was attempting.

“You were about to.” I accused Luca, keeping my finger pointed at him.

“I was going to ask what time it is.” Luca replied as he settled more comfortably against the pillow, visibly fighting his smile.

I grabbed my watch from the low shelf.