Chapter 18
EIGHTEEN
Six people in our SUV is the most I’d want to stretch it, mainly because I have every plan to stuff this thing to the ceiling with anything our Omegas could want for their nests.
I’ve never thought about what having an Omega would be like, especially when it comes to nesting, but now that I’ve seen how much Athena needs one, and the way Atlas is fighting it, I want to give them everything. I’d buy out the store if it would make them happy.
My Omegas are in the third row, nearly on top of one another as always, limbs tangled together as Athena tells Harvey a story about the time she accidentally brought her brother to a Hawks-owned garage.
“So there’s my brother, awkwardly shuffling from foot to foot in his khakis and button-up shirt, looking so out of place it made me want to crack up, when Slime comes out. He’d given me the initial estimate on my car, and Icarus wanted to talk it over with him.”
She turns slightly in her seat to get a better view of Harvey.
He’s got his arm slung over the back of our seat, turned so he can look at her as she talks.
She has pulled her hair up in a ponytail, with a few strands falling out to frame her face, and this is the first time I feel like I’ve seen a glimpse of the real Athena.
“And imagine our surprise when we find out Slime is his pack member that he’s been avoiding. And then Rafe comes out, and boom, what would one day be known as Pack Knight started arguing in the lobby.”
“I heard about that,” Harvey says with a hum. “Sometimes Slime is more trouble than he’s worth.”
I still can’t get over that they call him Slime with a straight face.
What would my road name be if I joined the Hawks?
I’ll have to ask Harvey later.
Atlas kisses down the curve of Athena’s neck, and I can’t take my eyes off the path his lips take. Our Omegas sure are beautiful. I love watching the way they move together, how Atlas silently supports Athena, always keeping his hands on her, like it physically pains him if they’re not touching.
It’s hard not to imagine what it would be like for them to go into heat at the same time. To watch them together, to be between them… It all sounds so decadent that my mouth nearly waters.
Shit. I need to calm down. I can’t go shopping with a stiffy.
Not again.
Wyatt whips the car into a parking spot outside of Omegamart. Charles has been sitting next to him, chattering his ear off, for the twenty minutes it took to get here, and the effect of that shows in the tension in his shoulders.
Charles talks when he’s nervous, and he’s worried that our Omegas won’t find what they need here.
I’m the first out of the car and pull the seat down before reaching my hand out for Atlas. Harvey does the same on the other side, taking Athena’s hand and pulling her out with him.
Atlas continues to stare at my hand.
“Don’t make this a big deal,” I say in a low voice. “It’s just me helping you out of the backseat.”
“I can get out on my own,” he says petulantly.
“I know you can.” I have to fight rolling my eyes. He’s so stubborn, so unwilling to be seen as an Omega, that he’s going to make his life unnecessarily difficult. “But it’s okay to need a hand. We all do. That’s a human thing, not an Omega one.”
He places his large, calloused hand in mine and allows me to help him onto the asphalt. “Don’t read into this,” he mutters, dropping my hand as soon as he’s steady on his feet.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”
Will dream of those big ass hands though.
We follow the others into the superstore, Atlas nearly vibrating beside me. I can’t tell if it’s nerves or excitement, or maybe barely contained rage at the situation, but I ignore it.
I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t hoping this expedition would help him connect to his inner Omega, though. I feel like he won’t heal until he does.
“I made a plan of attack for us,” Charles says, stopping outside the door. “We’ll split up into teams of three, one Omega and two Alphas on each team. Then, we can swap so we all have time with both Omegas.”
“That’s unnecessary,” Harvey interrupts. “They’re nesting together. They’re going to want to shop together.”
“What he said,” Atlas mutters.
Wyatt makes a noise of agreement and pulls a shopping cart from the rack.
He’s seemed uncomfortable since the Omegas got here. I know that he, in particular, wasn’t looking for an Omega. After the stress of Will’s abduction, Wyatt all but swore he’d never be near another Omega again for fear of scent matching and dragging one into our dangerous lifestyle.
Obviously, that was an over-the-top, dramatic declaration considering our jobs have us near Omegas all the time, but I got his point.
Maybe they aren’t his scent matches. He never confirmed it with us.
Before I can spiral in that thought, Charles ushers us, Atlas and Athena’s hands clasped together and Harvey standing slightly behind them like a scary dog, down the first aisle.
It’s sheets. Floor-to-ceiling sheets in a rainbow ombre of shades, half of which I didn’t know existed.
Who knew there were so many shades of pink, holy shit.
They come in all sorts of sizes, from a small twin-sized mattress to an inlaid floor nest like ours, and are stacked on the shelves in sealed plastic, with samples hanging from hooks every few feet for the Omegas to feel the texture of the linens.
I’ve never been here before. Never had a reason to, and it’d look weird as hell for an unmated Alpha to wander the aisles of a nesting store on his own. What would I even want here?
Okay, I know what I’d want here. They have a loungewear section that is to die for. No one needs to know that I order my PJs from Omega-centric websites.
It’s not my fault they’re a thousand times more comfortable.
Athena blinks owlishly. “Wow,” she says breathily.
“I’ve been here before, but never looked closely.
There are so many choices.” She cranes her neck back, looking all the way to the ceiling.
“Why are there so many greens? How is anyone supposed to choose? The sheets are the foundation for the nest, and if we don’t get this right, then the whole nest will be messed up.
” She whips her head and stares at Atlas.
“Help me, please. I… I can’t do this on my own. ”
If my chest is cracking open at her desperate plea, Atlas is close to shattering into a million pieces.
I can see that he wants to help her, but he doesn’t look like he’s faring any better.
His eyes are wide, and his chest is heaving with anxious breaths.
Their fingers are interwoven so tightly that their knuckles are white.
I think we all underestimated how difficult this would be for them. They haven’t been socialized their whole lives to look forward to building a nest. Instead of easing them into it, maybe with some online shopping, we threw them into the deep end of being an Omega.
I’m about to say as much, to suggest we leave, when Wyatt speaks.
“Omegas,” he says roughly. “Look at me.” They whip their heads to stare at our lead Alpha, who takes several slow steps toward them. “This is a lot, isn’t it?”
A quiet whine leaves Athena as she nods rapidly. Atlas’s free hand forms a tight fist, and he grits his teeth. But he doesn’t dispute what Wyatt says.
“Let’s make it easy, then. How about we pick some options for you, and you say yes or no? We can narrow it down that way.”
“That sounds like a good idea,” Harvey adds, looking around the aisle. “I happen to be partial to black.” He grabs a set of satin sheets that advertise their cooling properties.
“I like black,” Atlas says tightly. “What do you think, Athena?”
She wrinkles her nose, but reaches out to touch the square of fabric hanging from the shelf next to where Harvey grabbed the sheets from. “I like the way they feel. We’d need to make the rest of the room brighter to contrast them.”
“We don’t have to get black,” Harvey says dismissively. “It was only a suggestion.” He goes to put the sheets back on the shelf, but Atlas darts his hand out and grabs the package.
The Omega grips the sheets tightly. “I like black,” he repeats, teeth gritted.
Athena’s eyes widen before a pleased grin stretches across her face. She takes the package from him and tosses it into the shopping cart. “Me too. It’s sleek. Let’s look at blankets?” Harvey grabs a few extra sets once their backs are turned.
Charles leads us to the next aisle, which is lined with blankets of various textures and colors. There’s no hesitation from Athena as she snags a soft ivory fleece blanket and a plush sage green one, too. Both end up in the cart within a minute of entering the aisle.
Atlas looks like he’s going to blow a gasket trying to reel in his new instincts.
I wish the guy would relax and lean into it.
We’re not going to judge him for having strong opinions about the type of blanket he picks out.
There’s not much I can do to get him to accept who he is now, but maybe if we show him that being an Omega isn’t a bad thing, he’ll feel more comfortable.
“Hey, check out this one,” I say, snagging a soft, camel-colored blanket. “This is the color of that suede jacket you used to wear all the time.”
My friend narrows his eyes at me, like he’s questioning my motivations, before reaching out to pull the blanket out of my hands.
He turns it over, fingers dragging across the surface.
I watch with bated breath, trying not to make a big deal out of the way he’s sizing it up, testing it for whatever element it is that Omegas look for in their nesting materials.
“It does look the same. I was so pissed when it got ripped to hell when we were doing the Bates extraction.”
“I like it,” Athena says, looking over his shoulder and running her fingers down the surface, repeating the movements Atlas made. Her eyes are soft as she gazes up at him. “Can we get it?”
He spins around and kisses her in a way that is so natural and casual that it makes longing pool in my gut. I want them both to feel comfortable like that with me. To share sweet kisses and touches.
But I can’t rush it. We’ll get there.
For now, all I need to do is rejoice because the blanket I chose is going into the shopping cart. For Atlas’s sake, I’ll ignore the longing look he gives it, like it’s killing him not to pull it to his chest, as we move on to the pillow section.