Page 55 of Daisy

"Nothing's wrong," he says finally. "We're just... adjusting. To everything."

"I'm sorry," I whisper. "If I'm causing problems..."

"Hey, no." August's voice turns fierce, and he reaches across the space between our beds to cup my face briefly. The touch is gentle but his eyes burn with certainty. "You're not causing problems. You're exactly where you belong. Where you've always belonged."

The certainty in his voice makes something warm bloom in my chest. But the confusion is still there, mixed with this new awareness of my own body that I don't know what to do with.

"The suppressants," I say quietly. "Not having them... I can feel everything now."

August's expression softens. "Your body's waking up."

"Is that why they're struggling?" I ask quietly, finally putting the pieces together. "Because they can smell me?"

He nods. "Your scent affects all of us."

Heat floods my face, spreads down my neck. "Oh. I'm sorry. I don't know how to... I can't control it..."

"Don't." August's voice is firm. "Don't apologize for being yourself."

We sit in silence that feels less comfortable now, weighted with things neither of us is saying. Through the connecting door, I catch the sound of someone's sharp intake of breath. A whispered curse that sounds like it's been torn from someone's throat as they close the door to their bathroom.

My skin prickles with awareness. With the knowledge that I'm affecting them. That my scent, my awakening body, is calling to them in ways I'm only beginning to understand.

My stomach chooses that moment to growl loudly, cutting through the tension like a knife. The sound is so normal, so ordinary after everything we've just been discussing, that I almost laugh.

"August?" I say softly. "I'm hungry."

It's such a simple statement. I'm hungry, and I'm saying so. Not waiting to be offered food, not asking permission. Just stating a need.

August smiles, and it transforms his whole face. "I have snacks. Give me a second."

He gets up and quietly closes the connecting door between our rooms, muffling the sounds from next door. But I can still feel them. The pull. The awareness. Like invisible threads connecting us all.

"Better?" he asks, returning with a bag of trail mix and some crackers.

"A little." I accept the offered food, but my hands shake slightly as I take it. Everything feels different now. Charged. Like the air itself has changed.

We munch in comfortable quiet for a while, sharing the snacks between us. It's peaceful in a way I haven't experiencedin... maybe ever. Just two people eating together because one of them was hungry.

"Can I ask you something?" I say after a while.

"Of course."

"Cassian," I whisper, the name feeling heavy. "I know you said he won't hurt me, but... he's so big. And when he looks at me, I want to..." I trail off, not sure how to explain the feeling.

August nods, understanding flooding his expression. "He affects everyone that way. But underneath all that terrifying exterior..."

"What?"

"He's the gentlest soul I've ever known." August's voice goes soft, reverent. "When I first met him, I thought he'd break me just by looking at me wrong. But he was the one who kept trying to leave."

"Really?"

"Really. It was two in the morning, and I was walking home from the library. This drunk alpha started following me, getting aggressive. I thought I was going to end up seriously hurt." August's voice grows soft with memory. "Then Cassian appeared out of nowhere. He put the guy down so fast I barely saw it happen."

I try to picture it. Cassian as protector rather than threat. It's easier than I expected.

"What happened then?"