31 #2
Something starts to prickle at my omega instincts while I scan over the room.
I step up to one of the closest stacks of boxes, peering into the top most one that’s already been cut open.
Familiarity tickles my brain when I pick up the piece of fabric sitting inside.
I take it out and it unravels, hanging down for me to hold it out for inspection.
It’s a shag rug. One in the exact color I once picked out for my dream nest on my Pinterest board. On autopilot, I move to another open box and pull out a pillow that also looks very familiar, and a frown tugs at the corners of my lips.
It takes longer than it probably should to come to the conclusion that my instincts have already been screaming at me for the past several minutes. Something I’d already known the moment I’d first stepped into the room.
“Did you… is this…” I trail off on a whisper, clutching the pillow to my chest as I whirl on the alphas now crowding in the doorway. They haven’t stepped over the threshold, as if the room itself is something sacred to just me.
Caito is smirking. Lark is smiling that soft smile he reserves just for me. Apollo looks like the cat that got the cream. Wren still looks incredibly nervous.
“We wanted you to have a safe space for when you stay over. I mean, if you ever stay over. This isn’t meant to be a bribe or anything.
We’ve had this room vacant for our future omega.
I may have done a little online sleuthing and found your dream nest board on Pinterest…
” Wren scratches a hand over the back of his neck again in that nervous gesture while he rambles.
Holy fuck. Holy fucking shit. “You… tried to build me a nest…?”
Wren blows out a breath, exchanging looks with the other three alphas.
He nods. “Tried. Then Lark kind of reminded us that you might want to decorate it yourself. I thought about doing it myself, but then I didn’t want to mess it up and possibly upset you.
Then I was going to hire a designer, and Lark also pointed out you might not like the foreign scents in your nest. We just want to give you a safe place here.
No strings attached.” He shifts on his feet, and I’m still just staring at him, stunned.
I can’t find words. He’s done gone and broke my omega brain by gifting me a damn nest in his pack house. No alpha has ever gone out of their way to do something like this for me. In fact, the first time I’d ever been allowed to build a nest had been when I first moved here.
I’m quiet for so long that Wren begins to babble again.
“If you don’t like it, we can toss all the items and start over.
I just went overboard and got everything off your dream board without asking.
I should have asked. We can get you whatever you need for your nest, Sweetheart.
We just want you to be comfortable-” I can’t help it.
I throw myself at him, cutting him off mid-ramble.
He catches me easily, and I don’t even care about the twinge of pain in my shoulder from the stupid sling when I crush myself to his body.
His strong arms encircle me, holding me firm, but then he stiffens as soon as my chest erupts with a sound that surprises even me.
He exhales a shaky breath as he buries his face against the crook of my neck, allowing my tiny omega purr to vibrate through him.
He’s trembling as he holds me, and it’s the best damn feeling being folded up in my alpha’s arms.
“You’re giving me a nest…” I still can’t believe the words, so I need to say them again. Wren pulls back, still holding me so he can peer into my eyes. There’s a promise in the deep, icy depths of his gaze. One that sends a shiver coursing down my spine in response.
It’s a promise of forever .
One that is getting harder and harder to ignore with each passing day.
“Everything, Sweetheart. We will give you the world if you ask it of us. There is nothing we won’t do for you. This is just a small drop in the ocean of things we wish to give you.” He presses his nose against mine, making my pulse hiccup and the breath to catch in my lungs momentarily.
I don’t know why I’m so surprised. They’ve been saying this since the beginning.
They’ve been proving time and time again that they meant what they said to me that first day during dinner.
Every promise they’ve made. My past might be partially to blame for my lack of trust, but it felt like more than that.
Finally, I managed to say, “There aren’t enough words to express just how much this means to me.
” It’s true. I wish there was a way I could offer my gratitude and for it to hold meaning.
Offering myself to them just doesn’t seem like enough.
They deserve an omega that doesn’t have all the baggage that I have.
A chorus of growls echo around the room, and my purr ceases in my chest. Shit, did I say that out loud?
“You are exactly what we deserve, Dream girl. Don’t ever doubt that.
” Lark is suddenly there, taking me from Wren’s arms. I haven’t gotten to see much of him lately, and I melt into him the moment he folds me into his arms. I breathe in his scent, tasting coconuts and sandalwood.
Like a tropical vacation party in my nose.
The other alphas in the room rumble their agreement, and then they’re crowding around us, pressing me between all of them. I feel sheltered and loved in that moment. It’s something I haven’t felt since before my mother passed when I was eight.
Emotions clog my throat, making it hard to swallow. We stay like that for a long few minutes, just soaking each other up. Then, Caito and Apollo step back, allowing me to turn in Lark’s arms.
That’s when the itch begins. It starts as this annoying tingle at the base of my spine that I can’t shake. My body begins to hum as I look out around the room, a vision beginning to come to life before my eyes.
Allowing my instincts to guide me for once, I step away from the alphas and get to work immediately.