Page 27 of Pack End Game

I understand they thought they designed this room in a way to leave space for an omega to come along and put a personal touch on it. The sentiment is so thoughtful, and in theory, such an incredibly loving gesture.

But my first look at the room they expect to be my nest makes all the hope drain right out of me.

The nest looks like the rest of the house. Expensive but empty. Carefully designed, but so cold. This isn't a space I can make more comfortable. Everything is wrong. All wrong. This can't be my nest. I can't spend my next heat in this house.

My eyes sting.

All three of them are watching me so closely, waiting. They expect excitement or relief.

Instead, what comes out is pure honesty.

"I hate the house. Especially the nest."

Chapter Fourteen

Spencer

Mia's apartment is in a nice building downtown, but small enough that I fear every step Freddie takes might echo through the whole apartment. My omega needed a little space to gather her thoughts; she doesn't need to be fretting about Freddie touching every single item she owns.

"Freddie," I warn with a low growl, watching him pick up a framed photo from the bookshelf in the corner. He angles the frame toward the lamp and appraises the image with deep concentration.

After a moment, he looks over his shoulder with wide-eyed innocence. I've known him for too many years now for that look to work on me. "I'm not doing anything,"

"You're doing exactly what I told you not to do."

When I was younger, I never would have guessed my pack would someday include such an unruly beta. Now, I can't imagine life without him. He keeps Zak and me from being too serious all the time. But damn, I wish he would settle down sometimes. Mia might not appreciate him fondling all of her things.

He sets the frame down with exaggerated care–on a completely different shelf than it was sitting on before.

"Why don't you come sit on the couch?" Zak suggests, patting the empty space between us.

Freddie ignores the suggestion, already reaching for a ceramic pumpkin on another shelf. The paint job of the pumpkin is a little messy, with orange creeping up into the area that should be a greenish-brown like the rest of the stem.

"Freddie." I don't like him touching all of these handmade things in her apartment, knowing he's bound to drop something at some point. He's not especially clumsy, but his excitement level can sometimes get the best of him.

"What?" He groans, annoyed that I'm continuing to interrupt him. "I'm just appreciating our omega's taste."

"You're not supposed to be handling her belongings." I set that rule immediately after Mia invited us to go back to her apartment with her. She could have asked to go home alone, and we would have had no choice but to respect that request.

He better not do anything to get us kicked out. Our ability to complete our pack feels tenuous now that Mia has so thoroughly rejected our home.

"I have clean hands." Freddie puts down the pumpkin so he can show me his palms, as if the potential for his hands to be dirty is the problem here.

There's no point in trying to explain again to him that the point is to be respectful. Freddie only respects rules when they align with his personal interests. Sometimes that's a charming part of his personality. Sometimes it makes me want to strangle him a little.

Right now, his personal interest is investigating every inch of Mia's apartment.

He lifts the lid off a glass jar and sniffs. "A sangria candle. Sweet, confident, and a little flirty. Just like Mia." He hums approvingly and takes another deep inhale.

"Put it down," I snap at him, my voice deepening with the command of an alpha.

Freddie releases a long sigh, completely put out by me, but he won't reject a command from the head of his pack. He carefully places the candle back in its place and stomps his way over to the couch. The couch groans in protest as he flops down in between Zak and me, sprawling out and dramatically flinging an arm back.

"Fine. I won't touch anything else in the National Museum of Mia."

I take a slow, deep breath in through my nose and exhale through my nose.

Without my attention focused on worrying about Freddie, I'm able to spend more time taking stock of Mia's apartment.