Page 33

Shaw

Six Weeks Later

H ouse hunting has been an experience. We’ve found a few here or there that we truly thought would be the one , but Saylor has taken her time. Even if the four of us have been claustrophobic as hell in the apartment, we still let it ride and went along on seventeen house tours.

Our realtor was ready to be done with us after ten or eleven, but he took home a tidy commission check, and we’re finally settled into Saylor’s dream house. It’s the opposite of an open-floor plan, with decent-sized rooms that are all enclosed. It’s a little over 3,000 square feet, with plenty of space for us to grow into and a huge backyard.

The primary bedroom is unreal, with enough room to house the specialty bed we just got last week. It has two king-size beds built together in one four-poster canopy frame. There are two gigantic walk-in closets, an attached bathroom, and a nest.

The fact we ended up buying in Easton’s neighborhood makes me chuckle when I think about it. It wasn’t intentional; Saylor just so happened to fall in love with this one. At least we know his pack is right down the street if the facility ever tries their luck again. I don’t see it coming to that, but sometimes I wonder what happened to Conrad and McCabe.

Valor and I have just finished assembling the new barstools. He takes the boxes out while I gather all the tools and leftover pieces, tossing them into a zippered baggy and labeling it with the project. This place is really coming together, but we still need to buy more furniture. The stuff we brought from the apartment looks sparse.

Movement catches my eyes from the hallway that leads to the laundry room. Our washer and dryer came with the apartment, so we had to invest in new ones for the house. That led to a huge pileup of dirty clothes while we waited for them to be delivered.

I never realized how much laundry five people produce, and some of our gym clothes are especially ripe, to the point I’m not sure how she can stand the stench. Saylor has spent a fair amount of time picking through the dirty laundry baskets, digging out the items she wants for her nest.

I stride down the hallway and stop in my tracks when the omega in question pops out of the laundry room with a giant basket in her arms. Her eyes widen, and she takes a tentative step back as I chuckle.

“How are we supposed to wash it if you keep stealing all of our dirty clothes?” I ask, planting my hands on my hips.

Her lips push together, and her adorable nose wrinkles. “I’ll buy you more clothes. I need these.”

Fucking hell.

I love her sexy little ass so damn much.

“Want me to carry it up for you?” I ask, holding out an arm and wiggling my fingers.

“Will you give it back once we make it up to the nest?”

I snort. Her instincts are wild, but it makes me feel like a king to know how obsessed she is with filling her nest with my scent. Okay, yeah, she wants the other guys’ scents in there too, but I’m focused on me right now.

“I will return your basket of rancid laundry.” I take a step forward and have to pry the hamper from her hands. Holding it against my hip, I toss an arm around her shoulder. “You haven’t let us in to see it yet. Is it almost done?” I slide my hand down to tease her ass. “You know, you could let us inside, and we could deposit our scents the old-fashioned way.”

She laughs. “It needs to be perfect, but that’s coming next.”

* * *

It’s two more days before Saylor lets us into the nest. I’ve never had a room be off-limits before, and it’s led to a bit of an obsession on my part. I want to know what it looks like, and how she chose to set it up.

“I feel like we’re the chosen ones being led to some type of sacrificial ceremony,” Omen mutters under his breath as Saylor drags us along with her hands stretched out behind her. “Don’t worry, darling. I’d follow you anywhere, even straight into the pits of hell.”

Leo snorts, trailing behind us with Valor at his side.

Saylor’s nervous excitement fills the bond as she gives the door to the nest a gentle shove. It’s dark, and it takes my eyes a few seconds to adjust as she releases my hand and steps inside.

All the hard work she’s put in is evident. The circular cushion nest comes first as soon as you enter the room. It has a massive sliding curtain that can be closed off or left open. It’s open at the moment, making it possible to see across to the den-style nest that takes up the entire back wall.

I slide into the room behind her and plant my hands on her hips, pulling her back to my chest. “Wow, princess, it’s amazing.” My nostrils flare, breathing in the heavy scent of sweaty man funk. It’s wild, but omegas are happiest surrounded by the potent smells of their alphas.

“Come see.” She takes off, skirting around the circular nest and aiming for the den. “I got all my pillows set up and different blankets piled by smell and texture.”

“Looks like you built a bird’s nest inside the den nest,” Valor says from behind me. There are blankets swirled in a circle on the middle of the mattress. It makes a wall that’s stacked pretty high, with pillows and a thin throw blanket inside. It looks exactly like a bird’s nest, now that I think about it.

“Just for when I needed to snuggle alone,” Saylor says, skipping toward the steps. “We can break it down. I thought maybe all of us could start sleeping in here for now. I know we have the brand-new bed, but this is cozier?—”

“We can definitely do that,” Leo says, vocalizing my thoughts.

Shit, we’ve been waiting for this. The doctor mentioned her next heats might be slightly out of sync as her body gets back to normal without the suppressants. It looks like things are ramping up for a regular cycle, since they come every three months when there’s no medical intervention.

This is a very good sign indeed.