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I squeeze Cammie’s hand and flash her my biggest smile. “Ready to go full omega stereotype, baby?”

She laughs, and just like that, the lightness is back.

We step through the store’s doors together. It’s exactly what I expected—a high-end boutique for omegas who want the good stuff. There’s a big-box store across town, but this is the place you go when you want to spoil your omega.

The second we walk in, a young college-aged beta near the door lights up.

“Hi! Welcome to—” She stops mid-sentence when her eyes land on Finn. “Oh, Professor Gaudreau. I didn’t realize you had an omega.”

Cammie bristles beside me. I can feel the possessive little spike in her scent. I mentally give her points for not growling at the poor beta.

Finn, in a move that’s very un-Finn, edges closer to Cammie and slips an arm around her waist. “Hi Avery,” he says, calm but clear. “This is my omega, Cammie. Cammie, this is Avery, a student of mine.”

Avery’s eyes go wide, but she recovers quickly and smiles. “Oh my god, Dr. Gaudreau is everyone’s favorite. But I’m sure I don’t have to tell you that.”

Cammie softens immediately, smiling back at the girl. “He’s my favorite professor as well.”

Finn blushes hard. I almost laugh, but I hold it back. Barely.

“Well, your favorite surgeon is ready to start pampering you, sugar,” I say, tugging her hand and pulling her deeper into the store. “Let’s go find you the softest nesting materials money can buy.”

Cammie laughs and hastily waves goodbye to Avery as the rest of the pack follows us in. Piers is already eyeing a display of luxury blankets like he’s calculating how many to buy. Leith is wearing a scowl, scanning the store like Cammie’s stalker might jump out from behind a display of pillows.

I squeeze Cammie’s hand and lean in close. “This is going to be fun.”

I was right. The Nesting Place is a fucking playground. Cammie transforms into a game show shopper the second we walk away from Finn’s student. She’s grabbing everything at rapid speed. Soft blankets in every shade of green and pink, bright blue throw pillows, sunshine yellow ones, and a bright orange bolster that makes her light up like a neon sign. What doesn’t fit in the cart gets thrown at us. The guys and I are basically pack mules at this point, arms full, following her around like happy morons.

I spot the perfect thing in a back display—a string of twinkle lights with pink heart-shaped bulbs scattered across them. I grab it immediately. When Cammie turns around with another armful of colorful pillows, I hold it up like a trophy. “Heart lights. Obviously.”

She laughs and takes it from me, eyes sparkling. “Like my sunglasses. I love it.”

Finn steps up next holding out the softest grass-green blanket I’ve ever seen. “I thought… this one felt like you.”

Cammie’s face goes soft. She buries her face in it for a second. “I love it. Thank you.”

Piers is last. He’s holding a set of luxurious pillowcases in deep emerald with tiny, elegant gold thread embroidery of the sun in the corner of each one. “I wanted you to have something that felt like home every time you lay down,” he says simply.

Cammie looks like she might cry. Then she hugs the pillowcase to her chest. “I love it. All of it.”

Leith doesn’t say much but he holds out a heavy, high-quality weighted blanket in a deep teal. It’s the kind that looks simple but makes you feel like you’re being held. He meets her eyes. “For when you need to feel safe.”

Cammie takes it from him, fingers brushing his. “Thank you, Leith.”

Finn shyly holds up one last thing. A beautiful scent catcher. It’s a delicate contraption with small glass vials and soft fabric pouches designed to hold fabric or small items soaked in each alpha’s scent so she can smell us anytime we’re not near.

“I thought you might like to have our scent with you when we can’t be,” he says softly.

Cammie’s eyes go full-on misty. She takes it from him like it’s the most delicate thing she’s ever held. “This is perfect. Thank you.”

The four of us stand there, arms full of color and softness and her, and something warm and wonderful, and a little terrifying grasps me. We’re really doing this. And so is she.

Cammie looks at the mountain of stuff in our arms and the overflowing baskets and laughs. “I think this is enough for today.”

I drop everything in my arms into the nearest basket with a dramatic flourish. “Not quite.”

I grab her hand and drag her toward the lingerie section before she can protest. The second we get there, I throw the absolute trashiest things I can find at her. Tiny lace sets, sheer babydolls, crotchless panties, the works.

“You can model these for me later,” I say, intentionally pushing as much filth into my voice as I can. “I want to see you in every single one. Slowly. While I tell you exactly how I’m going to take them off you.”