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Seeing my perusal, Micah offers me a tour when he returns with my water.
The place is basic but cozy, with lots of little touches reflecting the personality of its occupants.
“How long have you all lived here?” I ask, following Micah to the upper level.
“A little over a year now. Mason and Cabe were in the dorms their first two years, but when I showed up, we decided it made more sense to just get a pack house so we could have more space. It’s nice having our own bathrooms and kitchen and stuff. We have a small yard and deck out back too.”
“And you don’t need an omega to qualify for a pack house?” I’ve been learning a bit more about packs from Mackenzie, but I’m still a bit confused by all the different norms. “And sorry if that’s a nosy question,” I hurry to add. “I didn’t really grow up around this, and Em—I mean, Leo’s—pack is the only one I’ve spent any time around. He and Tanner live together, but Lincoln lives closer to the base.”
“I don’t mind! I grew up near a few packs and obviously was really close with Cabe and his family. But Mason’s the only alpha in our immediate family. He’s an anomaly. Y’all should totally form a club. Cabe’s family basically took him in, and I tagged along for the ride. This is Cabe’s room.” He pauses in front of a slightly ajar door.
Peeking in, I get a glimpse of a neatly made bed, a less neat desk, and some posters. A soccer ball sits tucked into the corner.
“To answer your question, packs don’tneedan omega to move into a pack house. Just like they don’tneedan omega to be considered a pack. Some of the packs around here have bonded to omegas, but others are like us. Each house comes with a nest, but I’ve definitely seen some packs move into bigger spaces when they bond.”
“This house has a nest?” I can’t help my intrigue. Emotionally, I have such bad associations with nests. For over a year I had to resist what my body was instinctually calling for, convinced that if I used the nest my father made me build, it would bring me another step closer to my heat hitting. It was a representation of my captivity, my torture, and my future of being sold off as a sex slave to some scumbag alpha. Not to mention the night before my rescue, I was assaulted in my nest.
And still, none of that erased the nearly overwhelming urge I feel to hoard and assemble every soft thing that crosses my path.
“Yep,” Micah confirms.
“Would it be okay for me to see it? I’ve never actually seen one before, and I’m curious.”
“Well ...” Suddenly, Micah looks embarrassed again.
Did I overstep? Is it inappropriate for a non-pack omega to be in that space?
“I won’t, like, go in it or anything,” I rush to clarify. “I know it’s a sacred space for omegas, and I’d never try to put my scent on anything in there.”
“Oh jeez, now you’rereallymaking me feel guilty,” Micah chuckles, running a hand through his wavy hair as he looks away.
“Huh?”
“I’ve— Umm ... we may have gone a bit unconventional with the space ...”
“Unconventional?”
“When we moved in, I sort of convinced the guys to let me claim it as my own room ...”
I blink up at him, dumbfounded. “You’re using an omega nest as your bedroom?”
“It’s not as weird as it sounds!” he protests, smiling nervously. “Or maybe it is. I’m not, like, sleeping in a nest or anything. It just ... it has a super-nice bathroom, and it’s designed to get all dark, which is perfect for my gaming setup. I figured since we don’t have an omega, it wouldn’t hurt to use it in the meantime.”
I must still look pretty stunned, because he starts walking down the hallway again to a door at the farthest end.
“You can take a look.”
At first glance, the room doesn’t seem that different from any other bedroom. There’s a bed in one corner, but most of the space is taken up by a large desk with a fancy-looking computer on it. There are three screens, a large set of headphones, and a few other techy gadgets I don’t recognize, but the only thing that strikes me as odd is that there aren’t the normal windows I’d expect. Instead sliding screen-like things are pulled across the glass, and soft lights up in the corners of the room lend the place a glowing, comforting vibe.
I take a few steps inside, noting a few feet in, the flooring changes from hardwood to something soft and cushiony.
“Come on—you have to see the bathroom. You’ll see why I couldn’t resist.” Micah leads me further into the room and over to another door.
The lights in here are a little brighter, but not by much. There’s a large shower and a giant jacuzzi tub. If it weren’t for the personal products lying around, the space would look like it belonged in some sort of fancy spa.
“Wow,” I agree. I spend a few more minutes looking around the room before following him back out the door. “But what do you do when an omega you’re courting wants to check out the nest space?”
Mackenzie was telling me about this just the other day. The pack courting her brought her over to show off their nest, probably in one of the houses nearby. She was telling me how it was an important step in showing an omega they’ll be provided for, and often a pack will buy the omega new nesting materials as a gift.
