Chapter 3
Henri
“You could have said no,” Charm says.
“I’m not going to deny someone a job they’re qualified for just because of their designation,” Orion says.
“Yes, but it’s not like you’d be kicking her out of the program. If you told HR we couldn’t take her on, they’d place Hestia somewhere else. And if you’re going to be so tense about it, you might as well have let them send her to a different team,” Charm says.
“I’m not tense. I just need to see how she handles fieldwork before I’ll feel comfortable having her on the team, the same as any other trainee. It has nothing to do with her being an omega,” Orion says.
“If you say so,” he replies.
I keep sweeping as they talk through onboarding our new recruit. Again.
It’s too late to change things at this point. Hestia is already here, just down the mountain. I know Orion doesn’t want to reject her, but he’s been going over our training rules more thoroughly than usual. It’s obvious he’s worried she’s an omega.
I haven’t complained about his grumpiness over the past few days, hoping he’ll get it out of his system now. That way, once we pick up Hestia, he’ll be back to treating her like anyone else.
I empty my dustpan and wait for Magnus and Cato to carry the dresser past before resuming.
It might be time to revisit the Cato wearing clothes thing. He wears minimal clothes around the station, even when we have non-pack living with us. Our other trainees didn’t care since he kept the major bits covered, but…
I suppose I’m no better than Orion, because I think we should behave slightly differently with Hestia. Maybe everything will be fine, but this has the potential to be a charged living situation.
We need to have Cato wear a shirt until we figure out if wandering around half-clothed will bother our omega. The omega. The trainee.
Hestia might not care about his clothing preferences, but it’s best to keep things as professional as possible when living under the same roof.
I’ll ask Orion to broach the subject with Cato. He’d given up on arguing about it since he got Cato to wear pants. He’s much like a cat, hard to pin down and put a shirt on if he doesn’t want it.
We have to make sure Hestia feels welcome. It’s imperative. I don’t want her to leave us for another team. Those alphas could give in to their instincts and coddle her too much. That won’t prepare her for the dangers of the job.
We won’t let our instincts affect her training.
I finish cleaning up the sawdust and help them move the rest of the furniture into Hestia’s rooms. After ensuring the furniture is perfectly placed for optimum room flow, I bring her sheets up, still warm from the dryer, and make the bed.
I’ve just tucked the last corner in when Cato flops onto the bed and sprawls out. I hastily push him off and he slinks to the floor, walking away like that was his plan all along.
I pull the blanket off and shake it out to prevent his smell from lingering. The air conditioning will filter our scents out, but there’s no reason to rub all over her things more than necessary.
Omegas are sensitive to other people’s scents in their private spaces, which is why we bought her new furniture, rugs, blankets, and pillows.
And built a nest.
But besides that, we’re treating her like any other recruit while still giving appropriate consideration to her biological needs.
The nest room that was here already wasn’t good enough. It was small and lackluster. It’s important that our trainee feels comfortable and safe. It won’t be good for anyone if she’s too stressed from a poor environment to perform on the job. That’s why we built her a bigger, better nest.
We stocked it with the basic things, pillows and such, so it wouldn’t look empty. Hestia can fill it with her own things and remove whatever she doesn’t like.
We redid the rest of her suite while we were at it. Fixing up the bathroom, bedroom, and sitting room, plus new furniture for those rooms too. It just made sense to renovate everything at once.
Now that everything is in place, I do one last deep clean in case we tracked in any dust or dirt. Magnus goes over the bathroom and stocks it with all the personal care products we bought her.
I wish I knew if Hestia needed anything else.
We haven’t talked to her beyond a few texts, seeing if she arrived safely.
We didn’t want to seem overprotective and ask for all the details about her travel arrangements.
Normally we would be more involved, but we’re too in our heads about whether it will seem like we’re overbearing alphas trying to care for an omega.
Orion sent her an info packet about our region and asked the other rescuers to meet with her in our stead. They’re great people, and I’m sure they showed her around town and helped her find anything she needs. I comfort myself with that thought.
It only takes two hours to clean everything, leaving the wood furniture gleaming and bathroom sparkling.
Magnus and I do one last spot check, and Cato wanders behind us, readjusting things to whatever strange decorating ideas he has—skewing pillows and moving a clock from one shelf to another.
We all need to get this out of our system before our omega joins us.
I don’t understand why we’re acting like this though.
I mean, I understand the biological urges, but my alpha has never acted like this before.
It’s not like I’m concerned about an omega working as a rescuer.
It must be the close quarters that has us out of sorts.
We haven’t dated in years, and our pack is closed to new members, so we aren’t even looking for a mate.
That must be where this stems from, instincts firing back up now that there will be an omega around.
Once Hestia settles in, I’m sure our instincts will settle too, and she’ll be just another trainee.