Chapter 41
I actually really liked the building that we had applied to live in. It took us almost three months to get approved and receive the keys, so we could move in. They were extremely thorough with their security checks, which I could appreciate.
None of the apartments had CCTV, but all the hallways and common areas did. Every single inch of the lobby was covered in cameras, but no one seemed to mind. It all added an extra layer of security for the omegas.
“You know what? I think we’ve actually managed to get everything in here,” Carter said, looking around the apartment. We had gotten the keys only a week prior and had spent the last week buying and moving in an inhuman amount of furniture.
I would have been happy to bring the basic furniture from our old apartment, but as Asher had pointed out, having an omega meant we would need a lot more furniture, a lot more comfortable things—and a lot more space for them. We even visited that big-box nesting store down the road and gathered a ton of supplies. Every surface now had a blanket or pillow thrown on it. To me, it felt like overkill, but I knew Juniper would love it.
We hadn’t wanted to decorate the pack bedroom too much, because that felt like it was tempting fate. Until Juniper came home, we were gonna sleep in our own separate bedrooms, and hopefully, once she came back, the pack bedroom would be ours. So, we decorated it in shades of green—they reminded us of the cabin. Some of the throw blankets we had bought had leaves on them, and the wallpaper had very faint outlines of trees. It was like a little woodland oasis in the middle of the city. Carter had even bought a small sound machine and placed it in the corner of the room, so you couldn’t hear the sound of the city noise outside. You could only hear tranquil woodland sounds, like little critters running around and the sound of leaves falling.
The last thing we wanted was for the space to feel empty or unwelcoming when she returned. But at the same time, we didn’t want to do too much, in case she didn’t like the theme. Ultimately, we’d go with whatever the hell she wanted. Maybe she’d prefer something more modern after being stuck in captivity, followed by the woodlands for so long.
“I still think those dusty old drawers should’ve stayed in the old apartment,” I said, cocking my head to the side. Carter had insisted on bringing these decrepit, falling-apart chest of drawers that he kept by his bedside. He’d literally found them at a thrift store about to be thrown out—and got them for five bucks. That was easily ten years ago now.
While none of us were interior decorators, we had come much further along than picking up furniture that was about to be thrown out or destined for the curb.
“But I love that chest of drawers,” Carter said. “It reminds me of that sofa we picked up for our first place,” he added with a grin.
I groaned. That sofa had been disgusting. He’d gotten it off the side of the road, and it took so much cleaning before we could even consider sitting on it.
“That sofa was infected with God-knows-how-many bugs. It was fine while we were broke, but we can definitely afford better now,” I said. “Hell, I would have preferred sleeping on the floor over sleeping on that thing.”
Carter opened his mouth to argue, but a knock on the door stopped him. He huffed and glared at me. “This isn’t over,” he muttered, stalking over to the front door and pulling it open.
Standing in our doorway, holding a tray of cookies, was an omega. She was miniscule, she couldn’t be taller than four-and-a-half feet tall. She had bright red hair that fell past her shoulders and was wearing a sundress covered in a sunflower print.
“Hi! You’re the new neighbors, it’s so nice to meet you,” she chirped. “I brought you cookies!” She held up the plate and smiled brightly. “I’m your new neighbor, well, I’m your only neighbor because here there are only two apartments per floor, so I thought I’d introduce myself and give you cookies. Because if I keep feeding my guys cookies, they’re going to get fat,” she said with a giggle.
“Hey, I’ll happily be fat,” a deep voice said from the left of her. I craned my head and noticed a tall alpha standing just off to the side. The man was built like a brick shit house—easily over six feet tall—and next to his omega, the height difference seemed comical.
“Hey, I’m Dustin,” he said. “This here is Emma,” he added, nodding towards the omega. “She got so excited when she heard we had neighbors, and she had to come meet you.”
Emma nodded enthusiastically. “It’s so rare for new people to move in! The process to get in here is so hard, we hardly ever get new people to talk to.”
Dustin chuckled. “You’d think she was getting sick of us,” he joked.
Emma turned to him, her face agape. “I’m never going to be sick of you!” she said with a pout, gazing up at him adoringly. “You’re the one who's going to get sick of me!” Her eyes started to brim with tears.
I turned to look at my pack mates in alarm. Why was the omega starting to cry? Did we do something wrong or offended her? Shit, we couldn’t make a bad impression on our first week in the apartment! We wanted people to like us.
“Oh God, are you okay?” Carter asked, panicking.
Emma nodded quickly. “I’m so sorry! Pregnancy hormones,” she said, shoving the plate of cookies into Carter’s hands before quickly wiping her eyes.
Dustin only chuckled, pulling her into his arms. “She’s a few months along, but she’s not showing yet. She’s just a bit emotional,” he explained with a fond smile. “We will never get sick of you, sweetheart,” he assured her.
“So, who are you guys?” Dustin asked.
Carter stammered out, “I’m Carter, this is Dylan, and this is Asher.” He pointed to each of us in turn. “We just moved in this week.”
Dustin nodded as Emma pulled herself together and turned to look at us again, flashing a bright smile. “Do you already have an omega, or are you courting one?” she asked excitedly. “I would love to meet another friend.” She bounced up and down on her heels, her earlier tears forgotten.
I shook my head. “We’re not officially courting yet, but we’re getting the place ready for our omega.”
“Wait—you’re getting the place ready, but you’re not courting yet? How?” Emma asked, tilting her head in confusion.
“We met our omega in the real world,” I explained.
Asher nodded and continued speaking. “She decided to go to the Haven for a year, because she had a lot of trauma in her past and wanted some time to readjust to the world after all she’s been through. So, we kinda decided to start courting officially after the year was up, and we’ve got about a month and a half before we reach out to her.”
Emma nodded, a smile lighting up her face. “So that means, in a few months, there will be an omega here for me to talk to?” she said, grinning.
Dustin chuckled, shaking his head. “You’d think we lock her away and don’t let her talk to anyone. She’s friends with most of the omegas in this building,” he teased.
Emma waved him off. “I know, and I love my friends, but this is a fresh friend, a new one, fresh meat, new blood!” she said with a giggle. “What do you guys do? If you need help picking out things for your omega, I am more than happy to help!” Emma added.
Dustin nodded. “Yeah, she’s decorated half the apartments here. Honestly, when guys move in before they court, she kind of takes over because they usually don’t know what a new omega wants.” He laughed. “Like every omega wants the same thing Emma does.”
He was laughing, but his eyes were full of nothing but love for the tiny pocket rocket in front of him.
Emma huffed. “Well, considering we’re around nothing but a bunch of moody, grumpy alphas, I would say, out of the possibilities, I know the best what an omega would want,” she said, crossing her arms and glaring up at her alpha. “Do you disagree?”
Dustin shook his head, a smile tugging at his lips. “I would never dream of it.” He turned back to us. “I work in logistics, and my pack mates are mostly in finance.”
“That’s really cool,” Carter said. “We’re in security and medicine. Honestly, we were in the military for a bit, but we have branched off and started our own business.” He gestured toward Asher. “Asher there used to be a medic in the Army.”
Emma grinned. “That’s amazing! It’s always good when people who know about medicine move into the building. We actually have a doctor on the third floor—he’s such a sweetheart. He’s an older gentleman now, but I’ve texted him so many times when I have questions about pregnancy.”
She smiled brightly, then added, “Anyway, I just wanted to pop over and say hi and give you the cookies. If you like them, let me know, and I’ll send my guys over with more. I’m baking so much because the pregnancy hormones make me want cookies, but then when I bake them, I don’t want the cookies…” She trailed off with a pout, staring into the distance.
“Pregnancies are brutal,” she continued, perking up again. “When your omega gets pregnant, you’ve got to be nice to her.”
Dustin chuckled as he wrapped an arm around her from the side.
Carter nodded firmly. “If our omega is ever wanting to get pregnant, we’re going to spoil her and do everything possible for her.”
Emma nodded approvingly. “Good. I like you guys. You seem decent.” She yawned suddenly. “Anyway, enjoy the cookies—I need to go have a nap.”
She turned, grabbing the hand of her alpha and dragging him away. Before disappearing around the corner, she called back over her shoulder, “Bye, I’ll see you soon.”
I walked up to the front door, watching her retreat. “Why did that sound like both a threat and a promise?”
Carter grunted. “I think it was. I think she’s definitely the most terrifying thing in this building.”
I nodded in agreement. “I think I’m going to have to agree with you there.”