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Story: Ours Later

“Leave my pack alone, ladies,” he says. “I won’t tell you again.”

“Oh my,” George mutters under his breath, wringing his hands. For a moment I think he’s going to tell us to leave, but theopposite happens. “Ladies, it appears that you’ve worn away the good will of this establishment. I will escort you out.”

“Us?” Toni squeals as George begins to herd them out like animals.

“Go,” he says. “Time to leave. Cooper, will you be taking the bed as well?”

“Absolutely. Thank you, George,” Cooper calls after him with a dark chuckle.

“You made a friend,” I say in awe. “I really thought we were going to be thrown out.”

“Nah, I told him we’re furnishing a new home and that we’d be spending lots of money today,” he says wryly. “Also, your mother’s friends are all cunts.”

“That’s an accurate statement,” I say with a nod. “Okay, what’s next?”

“A fuck ton of curtains,” Riley says. “The house gets a ton of sunlight with all of the windows.”

Well they aren’t wrong.

It’s easy to forget my mother’s friends as we shop, moving from section to section of the huge store. It’s more a home goods shop than just furniture I quickly see as I move further into the building.

“The curtains are lilac, the couch is a pale oak color, what color bookcases do we want for a library?” Riley asks.

“A library?” I ask, surprised.

“Mmhmm. There’s a small room off of the hallway that would make a great library,” he says. “It’s kind of hidden.”

I vaguely remember the room, but it does sound nice. Cooper pulls out his phone to show me, and I think about how nice it is that he has that photo.

“I photographed the entire house,” he explains. “It makes it easier to plan that way. I also don’t want to deal with people again for a while after this.”

Ethan barks out a laugh as his father rolls his eyes. People are kind of annoying. He’s not wrong.

The store associates have wonderful timing, and pop in when it appears we clearly need help. No one feels pressured, but it allows us to get our questions answered. Before long, we’ve found beds for the other rooms, and Cooper explains his plans to make the space off the living room into a movie theater.

He wants to do the work himself, and I can see how excited he is about it.

“I think it’ll be amazing,” I say. “It’ll be fun to have everything we might want in our home. I think I’m about to have my fill of being out soon too.”

“Oh, this is not an excuse not to take you out,” Cooper murmurs, cuddling me into his side. “We intend to do that often. This is so that we don’t have to worry about what the movie theaters are showing because we have our own.”

Smiling up at him, I enjoy gazing up at his eyes because I can see how much he loves me. I never have to wonder about it since they show me with their actions.

“Anything we don’t find here, I’ll order online, but I do think you should decorate your nest while we’re here, Princess,” he says.

“I don’t know the first thing about what a nest should have,” I admit. “What if I suck at it?”

“I very much doubt you will,” he says, walking me back to where the nesting department was. “Whatever you want is what you’ll get. That’s what a nest is: a place where you can go to relax, decompress, or spend your heat with the alphas who adore you.”

“Hi, I’m Millie,” an omega says with a smile as she stands up from a table. It looks like a command center of look books and fabric. It’s set underneath a canopy and there are soft lamps underneath it as well. She’s perky and clasps her hands together as she sees us. “Can I help you with anything?”

“Yes, you can,” Cooper says. “We’re moving into our new home and my omega needs a nest. Can you help Nina figure out what she wants for it?”

“Yes,” Millie says with an enthusiastic nod. “Am I helping to design the entire nest?”

“Please,” Cooper grunts. “Do you need a photo of the area?”

“Do you have one?” Millie asks, surprised. “I would love to see it.”