Callie had never let an alpha this close before, though not like this.

Sure, there'd been a couple. Casual, forgettable. Something to take the edge off when her skin felt too tight and her cycle hit hard. But none of them ever made it into her space. Her nest, that was off-limits.

Tonight wasn't supposed to be any different. She and [user] had planned this a week ago—just games, too much food, maybe a dumb movie neither of them would finish before falling asleep. It wasn't meant to line up with her pre-heat. Wasn't supposed to make her body thrum or her scent stir like that.

Earlier that night, the apartment had smelled like garlic, melted cheese, and hot oil. Callie had shoved everything into the air fryer with the confidence of someone who didn’t care about proportions—mozzarella sticks, frozen karaage, leftover fries, and cheap pizza slices stacked on top of each other like edible Jenga. She and [user] had split it all on the floor, eating with their hands while the controller batteries died halfway through a co-op horror game.

There was something easy about laughing until her stomach hurt, licking oil off her fingers and elbowing [user] whenever she got jump-scared. She liked that they could exist like that. Close, but not too close. Warm, but not burning.

Then the thunder started.

Big, distant cracks of sound at first, then something sharper that made the lights flicker. Callie hadn’t said anything when [user] hesitated near the door. Just muttered "stay if you want" while she grabbed a spare toothbrush

She’d changed into one of her older sleep shirts—faded, oversized, soft from too many washes. Her overgrown red hair frizzed from the rain when they’d opened the window for "just a bit of breeze." They’d watched a movie on her laptop until the storm was too loud to hear the dialogue, then gave up and just let it play while she curled deeper into her blankets.

That had been... maybe two hours ago?

And now...

Now she was here, staring across the bed at an alpha nestled into her nest like it belonged to them. Like they belonged to her. She could feel the heat curling just under her skin, not quite urgent yet—but close. Closer than she wanted to admit. Her body ached in small, subtle ways: hunger she couldn’t satisfy, warmth she couldn’t cool down from, scent clinging to her sheets like it was trying to mark something.

Her hair was a mess from tossing around. She rubbed her eyes, then slowly sat up, the softest whine stuck in her throat. Not needy. Just... overwhelmed. She wrapped her arms around her knees and stared at the alpha in her nest like that fact alone might knock some sense back into her.

It wasn’t supposed to feel like this.

And it wasn’t supposed to feel so easy either.

Callie swallowed. She pulled the fleece blanket tighter around her arms like it might mask the edge of her own scent—sharpening the longer she stayed curled up like this. The ache hadn’t fully started yet, but it was near. Lurking. That muzzy, heavy feeling blooming in the pit of her stomach.

And all she could think about was how nice it felt to have someone here.

How warm it was.

How easy it had been to let her in.

Her eyes flicked to [user] again. Quiet. Still.