Chapter 27 #2
“They’re just lounging on the bed,” Toni sniffs. “It’s unseemly. Why can’t they shop normally? It really sets a bad precedent. Next, you’ll be chasing out the homeless!”
I roll my eyes as I tug my hands away from my alphas and get off the bed. She’s being completely ridiculous.
“Honestly,” Cooper rumbles as he stands. “That’s quite the assumption, Toni.”
The woman’s eyes widen while he looks smugly at her. She hasn’t changed very much over the years due to medical intervention, but it shows that Cooper doesn’t forget a face.
Just like he didn’t forget me.
“What’s wrong with your voice?” Carli asks, taking a step back.
Feral alphas give off an aura of danger, and Cooper is definitely giving ‘fuck around and find out’ vibes.
“What’s wrong is that you’re upsetting my omega,” he growls. “Vivian kept me from her daughter for a year after we found out we were scent matched, and let’s just say it didn’t go very well for me.”
“Feral,” Toni whispers. “Oh my God, ladies. Did you hear that?”
Cooper gives a slow, dangerous smile that I think is roguish and hot, but probably scares the shit out of them. Ethan’s hand rests on my lower back as we watch Cooper work his magic, because he’s always had a way with words.
When Cooper snaps his teeth as if he’d bite them, they scream while I suppress a smile. He’s also a bit theatrical.
“Leave my pack alone, ladies,” he says. “I won’t tell you again.”
“Oh my,” George mutters under his breath, wringing his hands. For a moment I think he’s going to tell us to leave, but the opposite happens. “Ladies, it appears that you’ve worn away the good will of this establishment. I will escort you out.”
“Us?” Toni squeals as George begins to herd them out like animals.
“Go,” he says. “Time to leave. Cooper, will you be taking the bed as well?”
“Absolutely. Thank you, George,” Cooper calls after him with a dark chuckle.
“You made a friend,” I say in awe. “I really thought we were going to be thrown out.”
“Nah, I told him we’re furnishing a new home and that we’d be spending lots of money today,” he says wryly. “Also, your mother’s friends are all cunts.”
“That’s an accurate statement,” I say with a nod. “Okay, what’s next?”
“A fuck ton of curtains,” Riley says. “The house gets a ton of sunlight with all of the windows.”
Well they aren’t wrong.
It’s easy to forget my mother’s friends as we shop, moving from section to section of the huge store. It’s more a home goods shop than just furniture I quickly see as I move further into the building.
“The curtains are lilac, the couch is a pale oak color, what color bookcases do we want for a library?” Riley asks.
“A library?” I ask, surprised.
“Mmhmm. There’s a small room off of the hallway that would make a great library,” he says. “It’s kind of hidden.”
I vaguely remember the room, but it does sound nice. Cooper pulls out his phone to show me, and I think about how nice it is that he has that photo.
“I photographed the entire house,” he explains. “It makes it easier to plan that way. I also don’t want to deal with people again for a while after this.”
Ethan barks out a laugh as his father rolls his eyes. People are kind of annoying. He’s not wrong .
The store associates have wonderful timing, and pop in when it appears we clearly need help.
No one feels pressured, but it allows us to get our questions answered.
Before long, we’ve found beds for the other rooms, and Cooper explains his plans to make the space off the living room into a movie theater.
He wants to do the work himself, and I can see how excited he is about it.
“I think it’ll be amazing,” I say. “It’ll be fun to have everything we might want in our home. I think I’m about to have my fill of being out soon too.”
“Oh, this is not an excuse not to take you out,” Cooper murmurs, cuddling me into his side. “We intend to do that often. This is so that we don’t have to worry about what the movie theaters are showing because we have our own.”
Smiling up at him, I enjoy gazing up at his eyes because I can see how much he loves me. I never have to wonder about it since they show me with their actions.
“Anything we don’t find here, I’ll order online, but I do think you should decorate your nest while we’re here, Princess,” he says.
“I don’t know the first thing about what a nest should have,” I admit. “What if I suck at it?”
“I very much doubt you will,” he says, walking me back to where the nesting department was. “Whatever you want is what you’ll get. That’s what a nest is: a place where you can go to relax, decompress, or spend your heat with the alphas who adore you.”
“Hi, I’m Millie,” an omega says with a smile as she stands up from a table. It looks like a command center of look books and fabric. It’s set underneath a canopy and there are soft lamps underneath it as well. She’s perky and clasps her hands together as she sees us. “Can I help you with anything?”
“Yes, you can,” Cooper says. “We’re moving into our new home and my omega needs a nest. Can you help Nina figure out what she wants for it? ”
“Yes,” Millie says with an enthusiastic nod. “Am I helping to design the entire nest?”
“Please,” Cooper grunts. “Do you need a photo of the area?”
“Do you have one?” Millie asks, surprised. “I would love to see it.”
Pulling his phone out, he scrolls through until he finds the images he’s looking for. Handing it to her, he watches as she looks through the photos of the attic.
“This is going to make the most amazing nest, Nina,” Millie says excitedly. “Would you like to come sit with me so we can look through some books to see what you like?”
Nodding shyly, I walk around to sit next to her as she pulls out a book.
“Nina?” Cooper asks. My head snaps in his direction, where he’s pointing toward where Riley and Ethan are talking to George. “I’m going right over there. Yell if you need me please.”
I have my phone in my pocket, but nod anyway. I love that he was making sure I knew he wasn’t going far.
“Okay, let’s chat about color schemes,” Millie says. “What are your favorite colors?”
She makes it so easy as she helps me build my nest by adding everything that we talk about to an app she sketched out the attic on. It makes it so much easier to see the way everything will look.
An enormous bed on a pallet on the ground means if someone falls off during a heat, it’s not as far to fall. It also gives the illusion of a floating mattress.
“Do you like curtains?” she asks.
“I love them,” I sigh dreamily. “It’s so silly, but I’ve never been able to have my own space. Now that I can, it feels overwhelming, or maybe like I’ll mess it up.”
“There’s no way to do that,” she says. “It’s your space. If you want curtains, get them. A swing chair? Hell yes, let’s go. This is your chance to design a space that’s uniquely yours.”
Somehow, I feel better hearing it from another omega. Do I trust Cooper? With my life, but he also will do anything to make me happy. The anxiety still hits me that I’m a terrible omega.
I lose track of time with Millie as we chat and I touch different fabrics for my nest. Slowly, I lose the sense that I’m doing this badly, and start having fun.
I choose a hammock chair that’s large enough to lay in for a corner of the room, fluffy blankets, gauzy curtains that’ll flow on both sides of the bed, and a few hanging plants.
“What do you want for your lighting?” Millie muses, going through some options. “You have a really chill boho vibe right now. We could go with willow vine lights to crawl up the walls behind the mattress if you’d like?”
The word “willow” should creep me out, but a deep breath dispels it. I’m free, I want to remind myself of that.
“Yes,” I answer. “I like how gentle that lighting is.”
“I do too,” she murmurs. “Do you want the chair enclosed with a cute curtain doorway to shut yourself off from everything? It’s easy to feel overstimulated sometimes.”
“You just get it,” I sigh. “The world gets really loud. Even bright lights are an issue.”
“We move through the world differently than alphas and betas,” Millie explains.
“We feel deeper, are very creative, and need an outlet for that. That’s why it’s important to have employers who understand that and a nest to escape to.
That’s why I work in this nook, even though the lighting is fantastic in this store. ”
Looking out at the building, I realize she’s right. Not once have I felt as if I’m sweating underneath the lights, and the music they have playing is really chill instrumentals.
“I haven’t had any problems here,” I admit. “It’s so nice.”
“An omega and her alphas own this store. They’re amazing to work with and so nice,” Millie gushes. “I think we may need another light or two for your nest…”
Putting our heads together, we decide on a beaded chandelier and a lamp for my little swing nook. We also pick out decorations, pillows, and a wall of fairy lights. She helps me with suggestions as we chat, and I’m almost surprised when my alphas walk over.
“It’s been three hours,” Riley teases me. “If you’re still working, I should bring you food to keep your strength up.”
“I think we’re done,” Millie says with a smile. “I’m free to come set this up on Tuesday. Is that okay?”
Nest coordinator is literally the coolest job ever.
“We’ll be home,” Cooper says, coming around to help me up. My back is sore from sitting for so long while barely moving and I wince. I’m also starving. “Did you have fun, Nina?”
“I actually did. Millie made this a really fun experience. I’m glad I didn’t have to do this by myself,” I admit.
“That’s why I love what I do,” she says. “We work with a few other businesses for some of the specialty items, but it’s nice to plan everything in one place, knowing things will come together the way you want them to.”
“I didn’t know this job existed,” I say. “It makes sense though. There’s a need for it.”
“Omegas naturally get easily overwhelmed with a lot of choices too,” Millie says. “Those are all normal things we all go through. It’s something Eleanor, the owner, was adamant about when she opened the store.”
“I love that we’ve been able to furnish an entire house in one place,” Cooper sighs. “I might have lost my mind with a million stops.”
Ethan smirks. “Savannah thanks you for saving them from that,” he says as Cooper rolls his eyes.
“Thank you again,” I tell her as we leave. My stomach growls and I rub it with a wince. “Okay, I’m starving now.”
“Food first,” Riley says as we leave. “Then, we’ll go home and at least get our bed set up for tonight.”
“I still can’t believe it’s being delivered so fast,” I say .
“George may have pulled in a few favors,” Cooper says. “Let’s just say I was very motivated.”
Riley throws his arm around my shoulders and pulls me closer to him as we walk, while I daydream about how everything is just falling into place.