The first rays of sunlight filtered through the apartment window, painting the interior golden.
Erika stretched on the lounge chair with a soft groan, her back a little stiff from the uncomfortable position, but the feeling of relief at seeing Melina sleeping peacefully more than made up for it.
"(Another day. Thank God Melina's better,)" she thought, stretching her arms above her head until her joints creaked.
Her eyes, though heavy with fatigue, lingered on her sister's calm breathing. It was a fragile, beautiful moment of stillness that reminded her of everything she was fighting for. The weight of the past night began to lift, slowly.
Determined to prepare a light breakfast for herself and her sisters, Erika got up and walked carefully to the kitchen, trying to make as little noise as possible. Every step was a conscious effort not to disturb her sisters' precious sleep.
The aroma of coffee beans that usually filled the kitchen was the first thing she encountered in the morning, but this time there was something different in the air. A faint scent, almost imperceptible, yet exquisitely familiar and unfamiliar, something sweet, something she couldn't identify, but which made her feel strangely calm amidst the usual morning rush.
The omega paused for a moment, inhaling deeply. "(What's that? It's not Rose's incense or the scent of Melina's medicines... It's different.)"
She didn't expect much from the kitchen; she always left it clean and unoccupied, with the dishes washed and the table cleared. So when she walked in and saw a package on the table, an object that didn't belong in her home and one she'd never seen before, she froze completely. Her mind, still a little sleepy, took a second to process the anomaly.
"(What…?)" Erika's eyes widened, the tranquility she'd felt moments before fading away and replaced by an instinctive alarm that coursed through every fiber of her being, causing her heart to pound, its rapid drumming against her ribs.
Her body reacted before her mind could formulate a thought. A shiver ran down her spine. Her teeth began to grow, slowly sharpening into piercing fangs. Her nails lengthened, transforming into sharp claws ready for defense.
The stranger's scent, however faint, had been enough to trigger her most instinctive omega response… that of protection. The package was a sign of an intruder in her territory, where her family was.
"(Someone was here! How? When? Why?)" Protective fury clouded her thoughts, leaving only room for the need to defend.
Her eyes frantically scanned the kitchen; apart from the peculiar package, nothing else seemed out of place. The dishes were in the drainer, the coffee maker was in its place, and the fruit bowl was untouched. No one had forced the door or the windows; there was no disorder. But the mere presence of that unfamiliar object was enough to set off all her alarms.
Erika scanned the air, her nostrils flaring, trying to catch the slightest hint or trace of the intruder's scent.
She sniffed, again and again, moving her head from side to side like a wary animal. But she found nothing, no lingering trace, not a scent imprint that betrayed the presence of an outsider… it was as if the person who had left the package had vanished into thin air.
This absence of a trace, far from reassuring her, unsettled her even more. It meant that whoever had entered was exceptionally stealthy, someone who knew how to conceal their presence.
"(This isn't normal. Whoever it was, they're dangerous. Very dangerous.)"
With her senses on high alert and her body transforming, the omega decided to approach the package. She moved with extreme caution, step by step, every muscle tense and ready to react, not letting her guard down for even a second.
Fear, mixed with a dose of protective anger, drove her forward.
Up close, she could appreciate the details of the object. It was an undoubtedly expensive-looking box, with intricate, beautiful details of a deep violet color that seemed to shimmer in the morning light.
She didn't recognize the brand on the box; it was a stylized symbol that seemed ancient, elegant, and mysterious. The material seemed extremely soft to the touch, almost velvety, inviting her to touch it. However, her instinct for caution was stronger than her curiosity, and she didn't dare check it for the moment.
What she did do, with extreme care, was pick up a small note that came with the package. She held it between her fingers, slowly bringing it closer to her face, feeling, as if halfway there, a particular scent, the same one she had faintly sensed upon entering the kitchen, hit her full-on.
It was a scent that was deeply familiar to her, though she couldn't place it precisely at that moment.
"(Where... where do I recognize this smell from?)" Erika thought, her eyes fixed on the note, as the fragrance invaded her. "(It's... it's incredible. Why do I feel this way? I shouldn't, not after what happened.)"
Belion was so surprised and astonished that she was so focused on remembering where the fragrance emanating from the note came from that she didn't notice a fundamental change in her own body.
The scent, with its deep familiarity and intoxicating quality, was having an unexpected effect on her alertness. Little by little, almost imperceptibly, her body was calming, the tension in her muscles was easing, and the protective fury that had driven her was dissipating. Her appendages, the fangs and claws that had emerged in her state of alarm, began to slowly retract, returning to normal.
Erika, oblivious to this internal transformation, kept the note pressed to her nose, trying to unravel the mystery of that mesmerizing fragrance. Her mind was torn between the urge to remember and the immense calm the smell brought her. It was a paradox, a dissonance, a scent that was both a mystery and a balm.
Who was the person behind that fragrance?
Why had they left that package and that note?
And, above all, why had his presence, although invisible, provoked this duality of fear and such profound peace?