“For always trusting me.” He kissed her, the kind that went on forever, and with it all her fears temporarily vanished. She was thankful they were parked away from the prying eyes of others, but it turned out not to be paparazzi they had to worry about, but two jealous alphas. “We could just ignore them.”
Sonnet giggled as she pulled away from the kiss and rolled down the driver’s side window, still straddling Felix’s lap. “Hi! How were your work meetings?”
Jude and Kai looked at each other, then at Felix, then at Sonnet. Their chests were puffed out, and their arms crossed.
“We leave you alone with our mate for a few hours, and this is what you get up to?” Jude scolded.
“A parking lot? Really, Felix? And here I thought you had class.”
“Easy, Kai,” Felix growled. He squeezed Sonnet’s hips possessively before opening the door and letting her slide out. “You both were taking too long.”
They all bickered back and forth, and the jealousy turned playful. Walking into the store, Sonnet almost entirely forgot about why she was nervous in the first place. She couldn’t stop laughing and joining in on the teasing with her alphas. By the time they merged into the middle of the store and Sonnet remembered what they were shopping for, she felt relaxed. And then, everything became fun.
Sonnet had never gone nest shopping before, not even with Scarlett, who loved redecorating her nest every few heat cycles. She had never experienced the hype of nest shopping before, and the more aisles they walked, the more ecstatic her omega became.
She couldn’t believe it when they walked out with three different shopping carts full of items. Tons of pillows and blankets, fairy lights Jude picked out himself, sheets of paper to make paper chains with, hanging paper stars, a disco ball for the fun of it, candles that all reminded her of her alpha’s scents, lots of fake plants because she didn’t want to be bothered struggling to take care of real ones, and then there were things she didn’t even know she’d want until her omega was practically seething at the mouth to have them, like seashells. Lots of seashells.
I never want to forget our time at the ocean.
In a matter of a month, everything had changed, especially within herself. It was scary, growing into her own anatomy as an omega after years of avoiding her own admission to being one. But as life shifted, she felt her happily-ever-after approaching quickly.
Let’s tell them the truth this weekend.
Really?
I don’t want to be ashamed of who we are anymore. Bad things have happened to us, but that doesn’t make us bad. I can see it now. What you were saying about our alphas. They are here to support us on our journey, as we’ve done for them. I’m ready to let them in.
Then I’m ready to accept them.
Chapter 46
Decorating an entire mansion was exhausting, intimidating, and fun. Since all her alphas were out for meetings, she’d been left alone all day long with nothing better to do. It was hard the first few hours, but now that she was brightening the place up, she was feeling much better living in their house.
The massive, open-concept living room alone had come a long way. With everything dark—the flooring, walls, ceiling,EVERYTHING! —it was tricky to figure out how to brighten the space without it clashing too much with the grey wood flooring and charcoal walls.
Pillows were layered across the leather couch in shades of lavender, soft yellow, and peach. She added a few fun-shaped pillows, like a goose and a seashell. She also added a few throw blankets since her alphas struggled to share.
The biggest struggle was laying down the white carpet with splashes of pastel coloring. The couch and table were heavier than she expected, but she was determined to have everything done before they came home.
The coffee table was worse than the carpet. She was used to Summer coming over to build all of her IKEA products. The instructions were infuriating, and Sonnet wasn’t very confident the coffee table wouldn’t fall apart, but that was future Sonnet’s problem.
The fresh flowers on the table, back door, and in the kitchen brought in the warmth and homey vibe she was looking for. That, paired with the cream-colored, cozy floor pouf, brown bookshelves, and pictures from their vacation in cute picture frames, tied everything together beautifully.
She still hated the house, but at least now it felt a bit more like home. Like she belonged.
There was just one last problem. Her nest.
“I have a vision,” she began, looking between the empty room and her bags. “I just don’t understand the vision.”
Should we start making paper chains? Then we can think through things.
“I think that is the one thing I can do.”
But as Sonnet was making them, the heavier her hands felt, and the more her anxiety was creeping back in. She had so many suppressed memories; things she once considered far-away fantasies were now real-life experiences.
Looking at her nest was just another reminder of how Sonnet felt like she had failed at being an omega.
Every time she looked at her nest, she heard her birth mother telling her that to be an omega was to be a whore. She tried for so many years to remember her mother as someone who sacrificed kindness for the sake of her daughter. But two things could be true at once. Her mother sacrificed, but she was also traumatized. She loved, but she also hated.
