*Kash View*
It had to be a dream. The forest I stood in I had never seen before. At first the forest was bright and warm looking. The sun shone through the green pines reflecting in the creek beside me. The creek water was clear flowing slowly over the blue coloured stones on the bottom. When I looked over the edge, past the reflected trees, the never-ending sky was now seen making the creek look endless.
Taking a deep breath in, all I could smell was the forest surrounding me. That is when it got dark. Something told me this was wrong. It was instinctively wrong with smelling nothing within the forest. I was alone and I did not want to be. The sun was gone, a moon now hung in the sky. The creek was dried up and the wind started to howl.
Without question I started to run. The trees moved with the gusts of wind, branches whipping around, some hitting me. All I could think of was finding someone. I was running out of breath and yet no scent came to me. Running in a panic I never saw the root that grabbed my foot. Before I knew it, I was falling.
That is where I woke. My whole body screamed at me, unsafe! What I failed to realize as I tried to jump up was that I was not in my room or on a bed. My body landed hard on the ground of the wood floor, and that was my wake-up call. A sore bottom and a headache now plagued me. Covered in sweat and out of breath, I tried to gather my bearings.
After the landing, my first reaction was to grab my blankets and scuttled back to rest against the couch. I felt like a fool. Never have I ever slept any where besides my room, and here I am an adult having a small panic attack. Thankfully I was not alone and my wolf spoke up.
"Look up stairs. Someone still has a light on. Go see if you can hang out with them for a little while."
Sure enough, when I looked up where my wolf told me, a light was on. It was not very bright, so the door was closed. Sighing and gathering the bravery to bug someone, I stood up. Quickly without a second thought, I grabbed my blankets and crept up the stairs.
It couldn't be helped and I stood in front of the door unsure if I should knock, now knowing it was Atlas's door. His scent was all over, and I did not want to admit it, but soon realized it calmed me. Quietly I knocked. After a few seconds, I was thinking of maybe just leaving and forgetting the stupid idea when the door opened.
"Kash? What's wrong?" He was standing before me in just pyjama bottoms and my jaw dropped. The damn body exposed for my eyes to take in once more. "Everything okay?" This time I could hear some humour behind his words.
Choking back my thoughts, I tried to put words together, and it did not work for me. To help process my thoughts, I brought my blankets up to cover my eyes. "I woke up and forgot where I was. Now I can't sleep."
"Kash?"
I shook my head there was no way I was going to look at him again. "Don't worry about it. I will go back downstairs." I grumbled to my wolf of how stupid I felt.
Atlas chuckled. "Hold on. I will put a shirt on."
The feeling of embarrassment was greater now knowing that he made me feel this way when he had no shirt on. Since Zion explained more about scents, I worried he could smell it coming from me. For the first time in my life, I felt a hunger that had nothing to do with food; and that scared me more than just a little.
"You can come in now. I was just reading, so you did not bug me." When I looked up, he was now wearing a plain black tee and sitting on his bed. The black shirt did nothing to hide what I saw. He patted the open spot beside him and I slowly walked over. "Is there anything you need? How about a glass of water?"
Shaking my head I sat down. "I have never slept any where but my room before and it was a small, no, large shock when I woke."
"Hmm, that would have been part of your fathers rules I am guessing?" He smiled as he spoke allowing me to feel at ease once more.
"Yes. Not that I had or knew anyone I could stay over at anyways. What gets me, is how panicked I was when I first woke. I am used to feeling more in control." I felt getting it out in the open was for the best. He can smell it on me, I was sure of that. It also felt good, releasing some of my tension.
"I was wondering what was wrong. You want to talk more of it or just relax?" Atlas really was a breath of fresh air.
"What were you reading before I bugged you?" A change of topic and thought process was what I needed right now.
Atlas chuckled. "Here." He leaned over to the side table then handed a well read book over to my hands. "I have read this book so many times I have it memorized. I know many think of it as a book for women, but how can you go wrong with classics?"
The leather-bound book had gold letters almost faded from use. Running my fingers over them, I read the title. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen. I looked up at Atlas surprised. "You actually read this more than once?"
He laughed at my reaction. "I read all her books. She has a way of writing that pulls the reader in."
Shaking my head, I chuckled. "I had to read this for English class, and I had trouble with the style of writing. The old style is not for lazy people or light reading. Though I admit the story was a nice idea, if the world was perfect. Now, the people that threw zombies in that story; that I could work with."
"That was a bad rendering of a good classic. But the movie was enjoyable." Maybe my choice to come up and see Atlas was not a bad one. Atlas himself continued the same conversation topic. "So, what do you like to read?"
"Umm, science fiction mainly. Though a couple of my go to books are history based." I started to swing my legs in boredom. "What do you usually do for fun?"
"For fun? That is a good question. Guess you will have to find out during your visit." He pat my head as he spoke, and for once I did not want to move away.
"That is not playing nice you know. But! I will look forward of finding out." Turning to look back at him I smiled. For a royal pain in the ass, he was really fun to be around. "Can I ask you a question, and promise you won't laugh?"
"Anytime Kash. I am hear to help you no matter what you choose." His voice was full of sincerity and I decided to trust him.
"Why would I wake the way I did? Like, my whole body was in a panic and felt unsafe." He stiffened a little beside me. His reaction caused me to worry. "It took a bit for me to settle down enough to come up here to the light."
"You woke and felt unsafe? Have you never had that before?" His question let me think. I could feel him relax a little more from his first reaction of my question.
After only a couple minutes I could answer him truthfully. "Never in any of my memory, have I woke feeling like that before."
Atlas sighed before turning his body towards me. "If it was in another area, I would say it could have been intruders that set your instincts off, but I believe it was something else. You have never slept any other place, and this cabin does not have your scent in it. Your body is craving your nest or safe zone. Without it you will struggle to sleep."
I felt let down by my own body. The best thing for me was to leave. "Then I guess I should just go back to my room then." Atlas grabbed my wrist and pulled me back to sitting when I tried to get up.
"Please let me finish." He let me get comfortable once more before he continued. "I have a room ready for you at the palace. You are able to scent it how you please. If you need something to make it more comfortable, you just have to ask. Zion, Doc and myself are here for you."
"Then what should I do for this evening? I can't stay in here all night and bug you." Secretly I hoped he would allow it. The thought of going back alone gave me the shivers. His scent really helped calm me, along with other reactions that I tried to ignore.
"As if I would leave you alone. What did I just say? You can ask if you need something. Here hold on." Atlas jumped up from his seat and opened the closet pulling out several blankets. With a giant smile he tossed them down at my feet. "Lesson one! Make a spot yours, even if just for one night."
My eyes went from the blankets to him several times. "What?"
He chuckled. "You can make a nest here and chill out, sleep, relax, whatever. You feel safer now, right?" I answered with a nod. "Then use it to get some rest. You can sleep on the plane as well, but the trip is short. You just have to make a spot comfortable and then scent it like you would in your heat cell or room. That will give you the security you need to sleep. If you allow, I will add my own scent like I did before. That should give you a little more comfort to allow you to settle in for the night."
This caught me off guard. Something deep inside me knew what I needed to do, but it was nerve-racking to do around him. "Uhh, I guess I can do that."
As if he sensed my line of thought, Atlas spoke up once more. "Look. I am going to hop in the shower. You can do what you need and not worry about me. If you do not feel safe doing it here, find another spot." I watched him walk out with a towel in hand.
Within seconds I moved to the pile of blankets. First, I started by laying them out but that did not last. If anyone saw me, they would compare me to a puppy trying to find the right spot to curl up. That was exactly what I was doing. Ignoring what my so-called human half of my brain told me, I left my Omega half do what it needed. It took but a few minutes and I was curled up in the pile, my main scented blanket on top and I was falling asleep.