“Oh…” My body instantly soothes as I run my hand over the material of the blanket, and my shoulders relax significantly. “Well, this…this is mighty nice.” As I pull the blanket out of the bag and place it on my lap, an omega purr rolls out of my chest, and my eyes widen in mortification as I glance over at Maeve.
A big grin lights up her face. “You like it?”
I cough, trying to clear my throat. “I…I do. I s’pose.”
Maeve rolls her eyes, but smiles. “Well maybe you’ll find the others ‘mildly satisfactory’ as well,” she teases.
Despite myself, I continue to sort through the bags, my chest feeling lighter with each item I decide to keep for my nest. Thirty minutes later, I’m nearly buried in blankets and pillows, my omega compelling me to scent mark each item before I pass them off to my mates to mark later.
I know I must look ridiculous, but at this point I’m not sure I care.
“Last, but not least…” Maeve pulls a surprise bag out of nowhere and hands it to me. “This is more of a…well, a gift, as opposed to a nesting item.”
“Maeve, what on Earth did you get me a present for?” I take the bag from her, pulling out the decorative tissue paper stuffed into the top. “If anythin’, I should be gettin’ you somethin’ on account of how much you’ve helped—sweet butter beans!” The nonsensical exclamation leaves me as I gasp, my fingers pressing into the softness of the large mix of a pillow and stuffed animal that resembles… “It’s Turnip!”
The rat in question pokes her head out of the little box that acts ashernest at the sound of her name. The squishy pillow is almost oval in shape with a slightly square-ish bottom, but the ears poking out of the top, the whiskers and teeth embroidered on the face, and the white and gray coloring make it obvious.
It’s Turnip.
Squeezing the pillow to my chest, I let out a little squeal. “It’s socute!”
As if offended, Turnip scurries over to me, chittering defiantly.
I roll my eyes, placing the pillow on the floor between us. “Don’t be silly, Turnip! This could never replace you. Look. We’ll make it a boy, and we’ll name him…Radish.”
Turnip tilts her head before approaching the pillow, sniffing it gingerly. She squeaks, then climbs on top of it, curling into a ball. “Well, that’s just adorable.” I grin. “But I think I just lost my new toy.”
“We’ll get you another one.” Maeve pats my shoulder, and I sigh.
“Looks like we’ll have to. Thanks for all this, Maeve. You didn’t need to do so much.”
“But I wanted to.” She tilts her head. “Now you’ll be able to finish your nest today. The girls and I will paint it when you leave for your…dinner with Luka and Illya in two days.”
I shouldn’t be surprised that she already knows the plan, no doubt Declan updated her before sending her to the nesting store.
“Sounds good.” My voice is tight. “But…I don’t need y’all paintin’ the room for me, really. I can do it myself, and the guys will help me—”
“Yeah, and where are you going to sleep while the paint dries, hm?” She gives me a knowing look. “If we do it while you’re gone, it’ll give it time to air out before you get back. Besides…” she trails off, shaking her head. “I don’t think you realize how much those girls feel they owe you. I had to tell them they couldn’t come with me to deliver all this and it damn near broke their hearts. If it weren’t for you, they would still be fuck-knows how far under the ground in that facility. You savedthem, Jo. They want to try to repay you in any way they can.”
“It don’t feel right,” I mutter, picking up both Radish and Turnip and holding them close. “Havin’ them move me and paint my room after all they’ve been through.”
“You may not believe this,” she takes the bag that I pass to her before grabbing the next one, “but after being kept in an experimental facility, and then being forced into recovery, they’re actually chomping at the bit for something to do. None of them have any scents due to the experimental drugs, so you won’t even have to worry about rogue pheromones stinking up your space.”
That eases the knot in my chest a little, but I still feel off when I agree. “I s’pose if theywantto…”
“They do,” she assures me, placing a hand on mine. “You just do what you have to do for your mission, and let us take care of the rest.”
eleven
Sam
My little troublemaker seems to be back to her usual fiery self today as she stares up at me, chin jutted out. “I’m not backin’ outta the plan, and you can’t make me.”
After she got her nest set up yesterday just how she wants it, minus the color of the walls, of course, she mentioned that Maeve said the omegas wanted to come help paint while we were gone.
Which made me realize something we all seemed to have magically forgotten about yesterday.
“We failed to take into consideration the fact that your heat could start any damn second, Trouble,” I snap, taking a stepforward. My hands itch to go to her sides, to hold her close to me, but I restrain myself. I have to hold my ground.
