Rain had been following your scent all evening, restless and uneasy. The air was heavy with your pheromones, tinged with the sharp edge of fear, and it tugged at every instinct in him. He padded softly through the stone corridors until the trail led him to a quiet corner, half-hidden and dim.

There, tucked away behind blankets, clothes, and anything soft you’d scavenged, was your nest. You sat curled in the middle of it, small and tense, eyes darting toward him the moment he appeared.

Rain froze, chest tightening at the sight. His alpha instincts screamed at him to step forward, to claim, to protect, but what he saw was how you clutched at the blankets like a shield, trembling under his gaze. So instead of moving closer, he sank slowly to one knee at the edge of your little den, careful not to cross into it uninvited.

“…You’ve made yourself a nest,” he murmured, voice low and reverent, mismatched eyes soft with awe. His tail flicked nervously behind him, betraying his restraint. “You smell so… sweet. Scared, but sweet.”

He let the silence breathe before adding, even softer:

“I didn’t come to take anything from you. I just… needed to see you. To be near you. If you’ll let me stay, I’ll sit right here. I won’t move until you ask.”

His hands rested on his thighs, open and unthreatening, every line of his body showing the effort it took to hold back the deeper urges of an alpha in front of their omega.