You really hadn’t expected the symptoms to start so soon, or at all honestly. Which was completely stupid because it’s not like you could just turn off your heat. Well, you could. But the thought of taking heat suppressants still didn’t sit right with you. It was no different from human birth control that kept a woman from bleeding every month. Sure, maybe she would experience some PMS symptoms, but that was it. Heat suppressants worked the same way, suppressing most if not all symptoms of a heat - from the horrible cramping, increased pheromones to the ungodly inferno you have to surfer through. 

And yet it was natural for your body to experience that. To go through the cycle of increased fertility for no other reason than to procreate. Or at least, that’s all you thought heats were good for. And to keep your body from going through that for years just seemed so damaging. It was definitely not an option for you, though you wouldn’t shame anyone who did use them. To each their own. But god if you didn’t heat your heat and all its symptoms! Including the preheat symptoms. You’ve only had two heat cycles now, but your body seemed to already be on a regular cycle. Not surprising. You had always been, if anything, routine oriented. 

So when you found yourself hoarding an ungodly amount (3) of Jisung’s hoodies, you kinda clued in what was going on. 

-

“Everyone’s preheat symptoms are different. But there is one thing all omegas share in common.” Chan lectured. “About five or so days out an omega will start nesting. So that’s always a good indication of how soon your heat will start.”

-

Nesting honestly wasn’t just an omega thing. Or maybe it was but these boys were just different? Because there had been on more than one occasion you had physically seen a makeshift nest in the living room. The culprits of said nest were generally Felix, Hyunjin and Jisung - three of the more cuddle hungry and clingy members. So it didn’t seem off to you when you would want to wear one of Chan’s shirts and you just forgot to return it. Or if you snatched Seungmo off of Seungmin’s bed and cuddled the cute plushie at night when you slept, it felt completely normal. 

What wasn’t normal was wrapping yourself up like a burrito in Jeongin’s blanket, while wearing Chan’s shirt and Jisung’s hoodie on a sweltering summer day. 

“Not again.” You muttered to yourself as you hobbled down the second floor hallway, initial destination to your bedroom, but after a quick glance to the deemed “nesting room”, you decided that that was probably the better place to go. 

-

“I don’t need a nesting room!”

“But you’ll want one.” Changbin grinned, and with the help of Minho, the two alphas pushed the two bed frames together.

“No I don’t-“

“Watch out, Y/n” You stepped to the side quickly as Chan entered the room, carrying the newly bought king mattress. 

“-want one. Guys really! You’re doing way too much for me.”

“We’re not doing enough.” You jumped as Jisung wrapped his arms around your waist, chin hooked over your shoulder as he watched the pack’s alphas work on setting up the room. “There is so much more we could do to make you comfortable.”

“But I am comfortable. Really.”

Chan looked towards you after dropping the mattress on the box frames and smiled. “We’re gonna make you extra comfortable and you can’t stop us.” You groaned as he danced in place. A dork. He was a giant dork but you adored him. Not just as a member of the pack but as more. Maybe one day you would be able to freely admit that.  

-

You surely couldn’t have stopped them and now you were glad you hadn’t. After getting the bed in there, they had left you to decorate it since it was supposed to be your nest room. Though everyone uses it from time to time. So you tried to make it neutral enough for everyone to enjoy. Picking from aspects of each member, you had the walls painted a beautiful mint green color. They were decorated with painted canvases done by Hyunjin. Through Felix's insistence there were LED lights lining the top of the walls ( “You never know when you’ll want to switch up the feel of the room.” ). 

It was still pretty sparse though but what else did you need for a nest? The bed and things to go on it honestly. Any other material item was trivial. Still though…

Waddling to the bed, you tossed yourself onto it and slowly unwrapped yourself, making sure the blanket was spread out in the center. Jeongin’s sweet scent wafted around you, mixing with the tropical rainstorm that was Jisung and Chan. It was calming and relaxing, but it just wasn’t enough. With a huff, you got up and marched out of the room, intent on filling the bed with much needed nesting material. 

 

———

 

Half an hour later, you found yourself curled up around Minho’s pig plushie, covered with Hyunjin’s blanket. Around you were various other blankets and clothing items, all smelling strongly of your pack. As much as you didn’t want to admit it, the turmoil that had been raging inside you was calmed to a more tolerable level. You dreaded the thought of how bad it would get in the future, though. 

You stirred slightly at the sound of what you thought was the door. Your brain felt fuzzy from the preheat, however, that you weren’t one hundred percent sure you had heard correctly. You got confirmation when the bed dipped and arms wrapped around your waist, a warm face nuzzling into your neck. Thick menthol filled your nose and you choked slightly at how strong Felix smelled. The alpha only ever smelled that way during his rut and you highly doubted he had been left alone in such a state. Maybe he was just really excited. “You stink.” You muttered softly, smiling at the soft giggle Felix let out. 

“Sorry. Minho got a little handsy on my way up here.” You shuddered at how deep Felix’s voice was - an aspect you probably would never get used to. The man sounded like sin. 

“Ah, the hunter strikes again.” 

“Always.” Felix hummed, shifting behind you and pressing closer, conforming his own body to the curve of yours. “I see your nesting.” You groaned and tried to roll away from him, despite your wolf barking every curse word it knew at you for doing such a thing. Snickering, Felix tightened his hold on you and pulled you back against him. “Going into heat?”

“Not yet.” You assured him, lifting your head to look at him finally. “Few days probably.” You shrugged. 

“Ah,” Felix nuzzled into your neck once more, pressing a faint kiss to the skin. “Then you’ll need more than just this.”

“More? I have like half of Jisung’s hoodies in here.” You complained, blushing at the confession because indeed, you had ransacked Jisung’s closet and took almost all his hoodies. But in your defense you were just in love with the scent of rain. You always had been, even as a little girl. 

“Shh,” A finger was pressed obnoxiously to your lips to silence you. “We all know you’ll want more. Hey! Don’t bite me!” Felix whined, pulling his finger back to examine it. 

“I don’t need more.” You said stubbornly. Felix let out a heavy sigh, but didn’t say anything more, instead settling behind you. You figured he had dropped the subject and returned back to your current state of suspension. Not really awake but not really asleep either. You were really just resting, basking in the scents and now Felix’s warmth. Time no longer existed for you, so when you smelt another member entering the room, you weren’t sure how long it had been since Felix first joined you. It was a faint scent, but images of oranges and grapefruits flooded your mind and your stomach decided to voice its sudden displeasure... loudly.

“You should have told me she was hungry.” Seungmin snorted as he climbed into the bed. You should have known. With the exception of Chan, no one else had such a strong citrus smell to them. And with Chan, he was more tropical with citrus, floral and coconut notes. Completely different from Seungmin, who always had to be different. Granted his scent wasn’t something he could control, but it would figure that he would be the only one who smelt like fresh fruits.

“I didn’t know.” You felt Felix shrug besides and you finally opened your eyes. Twisting your head, you looked down at the end of the bed, watching as Seungmin moved carefully, laying out a few pillows and more blankets, making a small barricade. There were even a few of his sweaters decorating the pillows and it reminded you of the first nest you had ever built. Back when you were still new to being a shifter and being a part of a pack. It felt like years ago, but it was only a few months ago. There was a hint of nostalgia to it, but still held a brand new feeling to it. Probably because you weren’t the one making it. 

“Wasn’t hungry then.” You finally decided to speak up, spooking both Felix and Seungmin as they jumped, the younger of the two flailing to keep his balance and not fall off the bed. You laughed, shaking your head as you stared fondly at Seungmin. “You always make me hungry though.”

“Me?” Seungmin’s eyes widened as he pointed to himself and you nodded. “Why?”

“You smell like fruit. I love fruit.” 

“Oh,” Shifting on his knees, Seungmin slowly crawled his way towards you. “Do you want me to get you some?” he asked, head cocked to the side curiously. You shook your head, letting your eyes flutter close for a brief moment before opening them again. 

“No,” Your words were more breathy than you intended, a side effect of the preheat symptoms. “Just wanna stay here. Cuddle me.”

“Are you sure?”

“Cuddle. Me.” You repeated. You grabbed the front of Seungmin’s shirt and yanked, taking advantage of your shifter strength to pull Seungmin down next to you. He landed with a small “ooff”, paralyzed. “Seungminnie.” You whined, pouting at him when he didn’t immediately cuddle up to you. You weren’t sure what snapped him out of it, but eventually he lept into action, scooting closer and delicately curling an arm over your waist. It wasn’t a surprise he was so cautious about this - the two of you hadn’t really had the time to be alone one on one. But this was as good a time as any to start and hopefully become closer.

Smiling to yourself, you leaned away from Felix - ignoring his protesting whine - and snuggled up against Seungmin’s chest, your own arms wrapping around his torso and pulling him closer. Sighing contently, your eyes closed once more and you let yourself relax against the two betas.

 

---

 

The next time you woke up, there were more people in your nest than you last remembered. The scents around you were mixing and mingling, wrapping you in a cocoon of safety and dare you even say…love. You lifted your head off of your makeshift pillow - Felix’s arm - and looked around carefully. Bodies were intertwined - limbs tangled and making it almost impossible for you to tell where one person ended and another began. Around the foot of the bed you could make out Changbin and Jeongin - the two alphas snuggled tightly together, teetering on the edge of the bed but never falling. In front of you was still Seungmin and behind him was Hyunjin, the sleeping beta looking like a prince compared to Seungmin’s wide open mouth state. At least he wasn’t snoring. 

You shifted carefully and looked behind you, smiling at Felix’s sleeping face, his arms still wound around your waist protectively. There was a leg thrown over Felix’s hip and it took a bit of craning of your neck to see that it was Minho and just behind him was Jisung, splayed out and taking up the majority of the other side of the king bed. Figures. Jisung was a mover, you had first hand experience and faded bruised to attest to that. 

“Y/n?” The soft call of your name scared you and you turned quickly, laying on your stomach to get a better look at the only member you hadn’t accounted for. 

“Chan.” 

“Did I wake you up?” Blinking slowly, you tried to recall the reason you woke up, but nothing came to mind, so you shook your head. “Okay good.” he sighed in relief.

“Mmm, why are you still awake?” You asked, stretching yourself out, careful of hitting bodies with your feet and arms. 

“No reason.” Chan shrugged, smiling fondly at you. “I’ve just been watching you all cuddle and sleep.” he said and you flushed. 

“You know you could join us, right?”

“I know,” He hummed softly. “I will in a bit.”

“Promise?” You held out your pinky finger towards him. He stared at it in confusion for a moment before hooking his own pinky finger on yours.

“Promise.” He whispered. Smiling brightly, you brought your hand up and yawned. “Go back to sleep.” Reaching out, Chan soothed his hand over your head in light , your head slowly lowering back onto Felix’s arm. You readjusted your body to face Felix this time and snuggled into him, eyes closing once more. As Chan’s petting lulled you back to sleep, you could only hope he would keep his promise. But even if he didn’t, knowing he was there and watching over you and the others, it was all the comfort you needed from the pack alpha. And maybe this time around, you would let Chan spend your heat with you. It was that last passing thought that helped send you off into dreamland.