Chapter 6
Hestia
Ididn’t notice they hadn’t pointed out where my bedroom is until Orion stops at the door to the tower and tells me these are my quarters.
“My—what?” I say.
“Your rooms are through here. We can show you around, or you can explore on your own if you’d prefer we stay out of your space,” Orion says.
“If this isn’t to your taste, we can move you to one of the other empty bedrooms,” Henri says.
“You can show me around,” I say, still surprised I get to sleep in the fancy tower I saw when we drove up.
I follow Henri in, surprised to find only a cushy couch and some tables and shelves. I didn’t expect to have an antechamber to my bedroom.
“It’s not much, so let us know what else you need,” Charm says.
This is what they’re calling not much? My dorm at the academy just had a bed, desk, and small closet.
“This is plenty,” I say.
“The rest of your rooms are through there,” Orion says, nodding at the door on the other end of the room.
I guess they plan to stay out of my private areas regardless. It’s not like they don’t know what the rooms look like, and my things aren’t even in there yet. But their omega probably wouldn’t be happy if they went into my bedroom with me.
I leave them in the sitting room and explore the bedroom on my own.
There are more shelves and chairs, plus the giant bed, which is a huge step up from my tiny dorm bed.
The furniture is all light wood, and the bed has a puffy blue comforter and sheets with additional blankets draped across the end of it.
There’s a small fireplace against the wall, wood already stacked and ready, with windows on either side. From this high up, you can see clear across the valley to the other mountains. If I look to the right, I can just make out the sea reflecting the lights of the port towns.
A large walk-in closet completes the room. I certainly won’t have to worry about storage space, unless my bosses insist on taking me shopping again.
The bathroom has the same color scheme, light blue tiles, bathmats, and fluffy towels.
There’s a shower and clawfoot bathtub. I find it’s already stocked with brand-new soap, shampoo, toothpaste, toothbrushes, and fancy lotions, soaps, and bath bombs.
They must keep personal care items on hand in case they get visitors.
There are several switches on the wall, with one marked floor, which I hope means there’s underfloor heating. There was a towel warmer too, so I’ll be living in luxury apparently.
I don’t want to get too spoiled, but I’m sure there will be plenty of rough days in the field, and a little pampering sounds nice.
I peek through the last door leading off the bedroom. It’s dark and I search for the light switch, finding a round knob instead.
I turn the dimmer switch, and the room slowly brightens, strip lights running along the lower part of the walls. Their glow is warm and comforting, unlike harsh overhead bulbs.
I’m so distracted by the fancy lighting that I don’t notice anything else until they’re turned up as bright as they’ll go.
I gasp when I finally focus on the giant nest room.
I admire it for a moment before whipping my head around to make sure my bosses haven’t come in. They’re still out in the sitting room, but I shut the door behind me just in case and lean against the wall, chest heaving.
I don’t know why I panicked about them looking. The room is clean and the bed is neatly made up, so obviously they were in here recently and know what it looks like.
It was just an instinctive panic about them seeing my nest.
I need to fix my nest before my alphas come in.
I ignore my omega.
She was picturing my teammates when she said that, and they’re certainly not my alphas. They’re not even all alphas. She must get dumber when she’s horny.
No one else will be coming in here but me. Heh.
There’s no way I could find temporary alphas for my heat and bring them back here to bang it out while my bosses are just a floor away.
I’m used to ignoring my omega’s strange urges at this point. She rarely makes sense even though I know she’s a part of me, my base self.
While nesting is one of the stronger urges, I keep that under control by creating a nice nest for myself, not to impress some imaginary alphas, or just the closest alphas.
Maybe if my omega could smell their omega on them, she wouldn’t be so interested in my bosses. Then she’d realize there’s never going to be anything between us. Their pack is closed.
It makes me wish they hadn’t covered their scents so thoroughly.
They were smart to let me come in here on my own, obviously they’re used to dealing with omega instincts.
I check out the nest now that I’ve thoroughly scolded my omega for trying to lure in unsuspecting alphas.
This room also has a stone fireplace, but it has a solid screen door and a second screen in front of that. I assume that’s so no one gets so lost in the moment that they accidentally roll into the fire.
I inspect the fluffy pillows and blankets piled on the giant bed. The materials meet my specifications, so they get to stay. I think I catch a whiff of chocolate while I’m adjusting them, but maybe that’s just the bit of iced chocolate coffee I spilled on my shirt this morning.
Next are the strange sofas, chairs, and footstools scattered around. They’re all in unusual shapes and sizes. It must be some eclectic style I’m not familiar with. There’s even a swing in the corner, which is a cute idea I’ve never considered for my nest. It, too, has a strange design though.
I test out a few, and the seats are comfortable enough until I try an S-shaped chaise and can’t figure out how to sit on it. It’s made of vinyl, and I slide down it immediately, legs hanging off the end and dangling in the air.
I wiggle around, but no matter what I do, it doesn’t seem very ergonomic. I slip down it for the third time and blow my hair away from my face, frustrated.
This thing makes no sense. My legs are up so high, my knees are almost level with my nose, and if I spread them at all it would be like—
Oh.
Oh.
This is a sex chair.
My face is on fire and no one’s even here to see how dumb I look trying to figure out how sex furniture works.
I roll off the chair and fall onto my side on the cushioned floor, quickly scrambling up.
I eye the other furniture suspiciously, trying to figure out if it’s all for having sex on or if some of them are for watching the sex happen.
After inspecting everything again, I determine some are simple spectator chairs, but most of it is definitely meant to put you in sexual positions.
I have no idea why these are here though.
I mean, I get why they’d be in a nest, but not why they’re in this nest.
I doubt this room belonged to their omega, no pack would be dumb enough to give their omega’s nest away.
Besides, the paperwork I received from HR said it was just the five of them living here, so I assumed their omega chose to live in town rather than roughing it in the mountains for weeks at a time. It’s an unusual arrangement, but it makes sense for packs with jobs like this.
All the furniture looks so new, and my stupid omega is pleased with the gifts for our nest. Under different circumstances, I might be flattered, but it makes no sense that they would have purchased these things specifically for me.
Was it extra furniture their omega didn’t want, so they stuck it in here?
My chest is tight and my clothes are irritating me, making me feel itchy.
I unclench my jaw and finish inspecting my nest, trying to put other omegas out of my mind. I certainly don’t want to think about what my bosses do with their—
The nest has plenty of blankets and pillows, but not much beyond that and the furniture. I visualize where I’m going to put the few things I brought and all the things we bought today. I think I’ll be able to fill the nest pretty well.
I hate to admit Orion was right, I did need more things. I’ve never had a nest room since I always went to heat hotels and didn’t want to waste money paying for a bigger dorm. I still plan to use heat hotels, but it’s nice to have a nest of my own.
I carefully close the door behind me and rejoin the others.
“The rooms are perfect, and the view is spectacular,” I say.
Henri smiles at my compliment.
“Is there anything else you want us to order?” Orion asks.
“No, I think—”
I jump when Cato interrupts, “Did you like the furniture I got you?”
The others must not have realized he was here either, because they turn to look for him.
As they shift to the side, they reveal Cato lounging on the couch, arm behind his head, legs hanging over the armrest.
Shirtless.
His red hair stands out against the dark green couch, muscles flexed, firm and biteable. He’s all bulging biceps and taut abdomen, a trail of red hair leading from his belly button down to disappear under his sweatpants.
Gray sweatpants that he definitely wasn’t wearing before, because I would have noticed the clear outline of his big—
“Cato,” Orion barks.
Cato acts like he didn’t hear him.
My heart is pounding, obviously because his reappearance startled me so much.
“I’m so sorry about him. Cato dresses down when we’re at home, but we’ve told him to cover both halves when non-pack members are around,” Charm says.
Orion moves in front of me, ruining my view.
“It’s fine, I don’t mind. It’s your house too,” I say, turning away like it doesn’t faze me.
It’s not like I can see Cato anymore anyway.
“This isn’t your room, don’t wander in half-naked,” Orion growls.
He pulls Cato off the couch and drags him to the door. Cato is unaffected by the scolding, languidly following him.
“Did you not like the furniture I brought you?” Cato says just before he’s shoved out the door.
It takes a second for my brain to catch up, and I let out a strangled squeak when I realize he must be referring to the sex furniture.
“We all brought the furniture in, it wasn’t just you,” Magnus tells him.
I’m too distracted by the topic to be shocked at hearing Magnus speak for the first time.
Cato hovers in the doorway, foot hooked around the frame, waiting for my answer.
An image flashes in my mind of my feet in the air on that S-shaped couch, but this time Cato is standing between my legs.
Cato smirks like he knows what I’m thinking, and his dark eyes flash before he slips free of Orion’s hold and disappears again.
I’m sure my face matches my hair at this point.
Henri apologizes on Cato’s behalf, asking if he made a mess rearranging things after they cleaned my rooms.
I hastily reassure him everything’s fine, nothing to worry about. I don’t want them coming into my nest and rearranging my sex furniture.
I’m just going to try to forget they put it in there in the first place, even though I still don’t understand why they thought I needed it. Maybe it’s in some omega caretaking manual or something.
I will not picture my bosses and my sex furniture together.
Orion tries to move past the awkwardness of Cato getting kicked out and finishes the tour.
All that’s left is a quick look at the snowy gardens and then they bring my things up to my sitting room. I attempt to help unload the cars, but they quickly wave me off.
I spend the rest of the evening unpacking and settling into my new home.