Page 58 of Bound By Song (Evie Quad Omegaverse #1)

Dane nods once and goes to get the blanket and Blaise moves first, stepping into the nest like he belongs there, grabbing a pillow and pulling it against his chest, rubbing his scent into it.

Then he tosses it to the centre of the nest with a smirk.

“That’s a start…but this is better.” He finishes by ripping the shirt he’s wearing up over his head and throwing it right into my face.

His bad boy scent smacks me in the face and I instinctively grab the shirt, pressing it closer as I inhale deeply, greedily breathing him in and getting high off the hit of crisp relief his apple scent provides.

Yes! More! My omega screams. Now that she’s had it pointed out to her, she’s rabid to add the missing scents to complete our nest.

I drop the shirt and click my fingers at Blaise. “Pants too.”

Before the words are even out of my mouth, my face is in flames, eyes wide with disbelief.

Oh my god, did I really just say that?

But Blaise just chuckles and obliges.

He hooks his thumbs into the waistband of his jeans and shucks them down without ceremony, stepping out of them like stripping in front of me is the most natural thing in the world. And maybe it is – for him. For an alpha.

But I wasn’t ready.

My brain shorts out for a second, eyes locked on the trail of bright red hair that disappears beneath the band of his black briefs.

His brightly inked abs flex as he moves, sharp-cut and glinting in the firelight, and there’s this bold, confident line to his body that screams alpha . Like he was built to be looked at.

Worshipped.

And there’s the tattoos. A riot of colourful ink that snakes across his chest and down his arms, wrapping around muscle and bone like the art was made to live on him.

As he turns. I note that there’s a phoenix bursting from flames on one shoulder, bold strokes of fire and feather, and something floral trailing down his ribs – unexpected, delicate.

I want to trace them. Learn them. Like maybe if I follow the lines with my fingers, I’ll understand the pieces of him he doesn’t say out loud.

My mouth goes dry.

My thighs clench.

I can feel my omega press forward inside me, practically clawing at my insides with a desperate need I didn’t know I could feel just from looking .

He tosses the jeans into the nest like an afterthought, then catches me staring – and smirks.

Arrogant bastard.

But I don’t look away.

Not when he kneels beside the pile of pillows.

Not when he leans over, bracing one hand in the nest like he might crawl in deeper.

Not even when the scent of him – apple-crisp and warm skin and need – floods my senses again, thick and intoxicating.

I swallow hard, clutching his shirt like it’s anchoring me.

I’m in so much trouble.

And I don’t want to be anywhere else.

Xar follows, slower, more deliberate. He picks up one of the soft blankets and drapes it over his shoulders for a moment before folding it neatly and setting it on the pile. “Omegas feel safest when their nest smells like their pack,” he murmurs, his eyes on mine. “It’s instinct.”

I can’t dwell on what he’s saying, the subtext in his words, because I know – god, I know – what he’s telling me, but I’m not ready to hear it.

But my omega is.

She leans forward inside me, reaching for him with something primal and aching.

Because this alpha?

He’s steady. Controlled. All coiled heat under cool restraint.

The kind of man who would worship you slowly – with intention.

The kind who would guard the nest, not just scent it.

And my body knows it before my mind can catch up.

“More,” I croak out, drinking him in with thirsty eyes. “Clothes…please.”

The last bit is tacked on like an afterthought. Grams would be turning in her grave at my lack of manners – but honestly, she’d probably already burst through the coffin floor over the rest of my behaviour tonight.

Not that it matters. My omega is nearly feral now – gnashing her teeth, impatient, demanding. Waiting for her bidding to be done.

Xar obliges, of course. He doesn’t make a show of it like Blaise did.

Just slides his shirt over his head, folds it. Shrugs off his jeans. Passes them to me without a word, standing there in just black boxer briefs like it’s nothing.

But it’s everything .

I snatch the clothes from his hands and bury my face in them like I’m starving.

His scent wraps around me – toasted tonka bean, cashmeran, and cardamom. Comforting. Solid. Home .

Already, my omega begins to settle, muscles unclenching, instincts purring.

These scents are hers.

These alphas are hers.

And the nest is almost complete.

Almost. But not quite.

I look at Dane as he comes back with my blanket in his hands and passes it to me.

The biggest of them. Broad, intimidating, dark-eyed and darker inked.

The one who hasn’t kissed me. My omega hates that.

He hasn’t moved since returning. He just watches me.

Watches the way my fingers curl into the blanket.

The way I sway slightly on my feet, like my body already knows what it wants before my mind catches up.

Like he knows.

His arms are crossed over his chest, thick with muscle and ink, veins cutting through his forearms like rivers. One long line of patience and power.

My omega whines quietly inside me. Restless. Needy. Incomplete .

And still, Dane doesn’t move.

Not until his voice breaks the silence.

“Come here, little omega.”

The words land in my chest like a stone dropped into still water – deep, rippling, impossible to ignore.

Without thinking, I drop to my knees and crawl to him, drawn by the pull in his voice, by the weight of his stillness. When I reach him, he meets me halfway, kneeling and reaching out, big hands settling on my waist. He lifts me like I weigh nothing, pulling me up into his arms as he stands.

The moment his deep, heavy scent surrounds me, I melt. My body sighs . My omega all but purrs.

He sets me down but holds me close, letting me breathe him in. Letting my scent press into his skin, while his sinks deeper into mine. I rise up onto my tiptoes and rub my face along the rough line of his jaw, nuzzling without shame. Needing it. Needing him .

When he finally lets go, it’s only to guide me down onto the plush mattress. I hadn’t noticed it before, but the moment I land, I swear – it’s like falling into a cloud. The softest thing I’ve ever touched in my life.

“Lie down,” Dane says, voice low, thick with heat and something else. “Make it yours.”

I sink into the mattress, pressing my face into the blankets, into the pillows that already carry hints of them. Their scents are everywhere. Warm and sharp and grounding.

I roll onto my back and stare up at the star-lit ceiling, and something settles in my chest. Heavy. Peaceful. A warmth unlike anything I’ve ever known seeps into my bones.

Xar and Blaise join me slowly. Blaise tucks himself on one side, lazy and smug, propping his head on his hand like he’s already planning to stay there forever. Xar settles behind me, solid and steady, his hand resting lightly on my hip – anchoring me without caging me.

Dane stands at the edge of the bed, eyes on me.

“This is yours, Evie,” he says softly. “All of it. Whenever you need it.”

Then, slowly – like he knows exactly what the moment means – he undresses. No performance, no rush. Just quiet reverence.

He folds each piece of clothing and passes them to me.

And I take them like they’re sacred.

Because they are.

His scent sinks into the nest like the final note in a perfect chord.

And finally… finally …it’s complete.

For the first time in my life, I believe this is mine. One thing that belongs to me . That I deserve.

As I curl into the centre of my nest, surrounded by their scents – and them – I let myself feel it: Safe. Held. Home.

Everything is simply perfect.

The scent of them is everywhere even though I instantly know I’m alone.

I breathe through my mouth, but it doesn’t help.

Their scents cling to the blankets, the pillows, the very air in the room – thick and consuming, flooding my senses until my body trembles with the urge to submit.

My heat flash has faded, but the aftershocks linger, and the alphas’ presence only stokes the embers of something I’m desperately trying to suppress.

I can’t stay here.

My legs are unsteady as I push away from the nest, shaking off the cocoon of warmth.

The room is dim, the twinkling lights above casting flickering shadows along the walls.

I’m alone in here but I know they’re close.

I can hear them moving about the house, feel the weight of their presence pressing against my fraying control.

A deep inhale and I catch them – that creamy, toasty, spicy scent of Xar’s, sharp fruit and leather from Blaise, Dane’s dark wood and musk. My body shudders, my fingers curling into the blankets as my traitorous instincts urge me to sink back into their scents, to drown in them.

No!

I stagger to my feet, but my balance wavers, dizziness threatening to pull me down. The heat may be gone, but my body still remembers. Still craves.

The door opens before I can reach it.

Blaise fills the frame, his expression unreadable, but his scent – thick with control and something darker – crashes into me like a wave. My knees weaken, and I brace myself against the wall, cursing under my breath.

He doesn’t speak, just watches me. Assessing.

“Move,” I manage, my voice hoarse.

He doesn’t. Of course he doesn’t.

“You need to rest.” His voice is smooth, but there’s an edge to it, a quiet authority that stirs something low in my belly.

“I need air.” I clench my jaw. “Away from?—”

I don’t finish. I don’t need to. His eyes darken, flicking over me, taking in the way I sway slightly where I stand.

“You’re not okay.”

I hate that he’s right. Hate that my body is betraying me like this.

Movement behind him, and then Xar is there, his calming pheromones cutting through the tension like a blade. His gaze flicks between us before settling on me.

“She’s fighting it, Xar.” There’s something almost amused in Blaise’s tone. “That’s cute.”

I glare at him. “Fuck off.”

Xar exhales through his nose, not quite a sigh, not quite a laugh. “Come back to the nest.”

I shake my head. “I can’t.”

“Why?” He doesn’t ask it cruelly, doesn’t push, but the weight of the question settles in my chest.

Because if I do, I won’t want to leave again. Because my scent is perfuming, my body is producing slick, and I’m in danger of embarrassing myself.

My breath shudders. The truth is a raw, ugly thing, sitting heavy between us. My instincts are a living thing beneath my skin, clawing at me, desperate for something I refuse to give.

Xar steps closer, and I press back against the wall, my body reacting before I can stop it. His expression softens into something almost thoughtful. “You’re exhausted,” he murmurs. “You look like you haven’t slept.”

“Maybe because I haven’t,” I snap, but the fight is weak. The room is tilting again, the exhaustion catching up with me in waves. My body is demanding rest, demanding comfort, and it wants it from them .

Blaise watches me for a long moment, then steps forward. I tense, but he doesn’t touch me. He just stands there, close enough that his scent wraps around me, steady and grounding.

“Come back to the nest, Evie,” he says quietly. “Sleep. We’ll stay with you this time. Be here when you wake up. We won’t leave you. We won’t make that mistake again.”

My whole body is aching with the need to listen, to obey, to surrender to what I know will make this easier. But if I do…

If I do, I don’t know how I’ll pull myself back out. How I’ll survive when they’re gone. Because they will leave. Everyone always does. And they’re rockstars. They have a whole public life they live in the limelight…my idea of hell.

It doesn’t matter that they’re my scent matches, my mate…mine…I can’t have them. Not forever. And it’s already going to be agony to let them go with how deeply they’ve burrowed under my skin in such a short space of time.

A long, slow breath. My lashes flutter, my vision swimming for a moment. I sway, and then?—

Strong arms catch me before I can hit the ground.

I want to fight. I do. But the warmth is already pulling me under, the weight of exhaustion finally tipping me over the edge.

I don’t fight when they carry me back to the nest. Don’t fight when I’m tucked back into the cocoon of scent and heat. A deep inhale, and my body melts against the blankets.

Sleep takes me before I can remember why I was resisting at all.