Chapter 33 The Nest Store
The Nest Store
Mads
The nesting store is cute as hell. Cadi looks like she’s going to self-combust. She’s so damned excited.
She is a lot like Oscar—calculating and data-driven, but with none of the compulsion to be exact.
She has to see everything and have all her options available to her.
The store is comprised of two levels. The top level is the showroom, and the lower level is the store.
We have a stylist, a beta woman named Sarah, in charge of gathering information and things our omega likes.
We opted for the customized planning room, so our stylist will put things together in a custom room to make sure it’s right for Cadi.
“We have narrowed the color theme down to three options,” Cadi says to us all. “Lilac and honey. So warm tones, mostly purple with offsets of honey-yellow. Lavender haze. So pinks, purples, and violets in comforting low tones. Or jewel amethyst. Dark hues and powerfully bold purple colors.”
I walk next to her while she talks. Locke is ahead, and Kol is behind with Sarah. We’ve gone through the giant showroom twice now. Cadi and I both love watching home renovation shows, so we have always dreamed of doing something like this.
It’s pretty great to let your dreams become reality.
“What do you think?” She bounces on her toes earnestly, and we take a quick right into her favorite vignette.
It is a plum sofa where the seats extend out the length a bed might be.
It’s low to the ground and covered in soft things.
There are chairs and poufs strategically placed around, and wicker hanging chandeliers.
“Lavender haze. Periwinkle. Pink. Purple. But this is your nest, duchess. You’re the one with the vision.”
She grabs my arm and squeezes. She’s much too excited to look at me. She’s looking at all the nice things. I just love seeing her like this. I watch her ass as she crawls onto the plum couch again.
“I like this couch.”
“Oh, we know,” Kol says lovingly.
“Is it weird to get a big ass couch instead of a bed for a nest?”
“It wouldn’t be in a nesting store if it were weird.”
Sarah, the stylist, says, “This is a hybrid couch. It’s sturdy and stain-resistant. It comes with covers to change out during the heat. My sister has one and says she wouldn’t want anything else.”
We all look at her. I wish she didn’t follow us around.
But I guess packs have a tendency to desecrate the vignettes because they get so excited.
We don’t want to hear about her sister fucking on the couch.
I hand it to her because she feels how unwelcome we are and takes a few steps away, giving us a small amount of privacy.
“Come join me. I want to see if it’s big enough in this size or if we should order up.”
I rest my cane off to the side and crawl in along with Locke and Kol. It seems big enough. But if we had one or two more…
“Let’s size up, Little Momma. The nest room is plenty big for the larger size. And let’s get those same chairs. I don’t like that material that’s on them, though.”
He points to two round swivel chairs in front of it.
“The wool chairs? I think I’d prefer something softer, too.”
There’s an entire room downstairs full of materials for us to choose from. I’m sure we will find something.
“The lights,” I say, looking up.
“Yes! I want more of them, too. A low wattage. You said there’s natural light in my nest?”
“Yes, a whole skylight. There’ll be a retractable screen in case you want to block it out.” Kol thought of everything. Her nest is so beautiful, and there’s nothing in it yet. The entire place is designed around it.
I’m pleased these alphas have their priorities straight.
Cadi comes first.
“You’re very quiet, Locke,” Cadi says with a somber tone.
I put my hand on his leg. He’s been quiet a lot lately. His tongue glides over his sharp teeth. I wonder how it feels, having a bond you make slowly sever.
It must be hell.
“I’m sorry.” He looks away, but Cadi brings his face back to her and pushes their foreheads together.
“You miss her?”
His face scrunches up like he’s trying to keep it together.
“It’s ok, Locke. It’s ok.” He grabs onto her and hugs her tightly. “I’m thinking of asking Oscar to fly her out for a weekend. Maybe we could all spend time together.”
“Cadi, quit being so damned good. It’s ok to be angry with me. Jealous that she has any of my attention, even.”
“Can I just be what I am? Locke, don’t insult me. I’m being honest.”
“Sorry. I’m so mixed up. I feel like I’m being torn in half.”
I also feel stretched out because of this. Kol strokes my back. I look at him. What does he think of all of this? He hasn’t said much, but I hear him with Oscar. Kol doesn’t like us in discontent. I sneak a quick kiss onto his cheek. He smiles and gives me one back.
“We kiss each other in public now?”
“Why not? Is it illegal?”
He kisses the smile right off my face. I open my mouth and give him more than he’s giving me.
There’s a throat clearing, and Sarah says, “We ask that people refrain from canoodling on the showroom furniture, Pack Soto.”
We retract our kissing. At the same time, Locke and Cadi unwind themselves.
“I think we’ve seen enough up here. Let’s get our sales order finalized, Miss Sarah,” Kol says, and we follow her out and down the escalator. I grab Kol’s hand as we ride down, much to his surprise. His entire face goes pink all the way to the tips of his ears.
We’re there for a few more hours in the style room picking out materials and everything. They give us boxed lunches and as much coffee as we want. We are still exhausted when we get back to the apartment.