36. Chapter Thirty-Five

Chapter Thirty-Five

Lana

W aking up to the furious beeping of my phone alarm, I blindly search under the pillow, only for my hand to come up empty. It’s not where I placed it when I slipped into bed last night, and I don’t think it’s fallen down the gap between the bed and the wall.

I let out a groan.

Ugh. It’s so damn loud!

Sitting up, I feel the sheets slipping away from my legs, and I just barely grab them and cover myself up in time to avoid showing my visitor more than he’d ever want to see.

My night shirt has predictably ridden up to bunch around my middle, and I’m betting my hair is sticking up all over, too. I’m not super happy that this handsome stranger has seen me without makeup, and now also with crazy bed-hair.

At least I didn’t flash him.

That’s a win, I guess.

I glance his way, and I can’t help thinking he probably rolls out of bed looking that good.

He doesn’t seem the slightest bit tired, despite having stood in that one spot all night.

“Can you see my phone?” I ask, as it continues to make that excruciating sound.

He takes a step closer and plucks it from the sheets at my side.

He turns the alarm off before he hands it to me. “You picked it up in your sleep. It looked like you were trying to make a call. It was kinda cute.”

I feel my cheeks flushing. “Um, what?”

He laughs. “That’s how it ended up over there. I didn’t touch it because I thought it might wake you up.”

And now I’m embarrassing myself in my sleep, apparently.

“You can stay in the hallway next time,” I warn him, as I swing my legs out of the bed while keeping my mid-section covered.

He doesn’t respond to that, and I know he isn’t taking the threat seriously.

Why would he suddenly decide to do that anyway?

He ignored all my attempts to get him to leave last night.

And despite being sure I wouldn’t sleep, somehow, I passed the hell out and slept like a log.

Well, if logs sometimes try to make phone calls, I guess.

I can’t believe I slept with a strange Alpha looming over me.

Even if he said it made him angry to think of someone trying to hurt me.

I knew he had to have a sweet side to be with Ezra.

He’s protective, like Pete.

I can’t help wondering how different this morning might have been if Owen hadn’t taken over from Pete last night.

It probably worked out for the best.

Considering I was too horny to go to bed without touching myself, all Pete would have had to do was look at me the way he did when we met, and I don’t think I would have been able to resist making a move.

Which would have been nuts.

I mean, seriously, Lana.

There’s no way that guy would hurt his pack just to sleep with you.

You wouldn’t want that, either.

I wouldn’t.

I know that.

I’m just … I don’t know, lonely, I guess.

Clearly, being alone is driving me crazy.

I’m going to have to make time to download a dating app.

There’s no other solution.

The thought of slogging through endless fuckboy profiles makes me cringe, but maybe I shouldn’t be writing those guys off, at least not while I’m hopelessly horny and way too interested in a pack of men who already have each other.

I take a ridiculous amount of time making sure my night dress covers what it needs to before I give up on making a graceful exit from the bed.

“Turn around,” I tell him.

He raises an eyebrow. “What?”

“I need to get up, and I’m not wearing panties, so unless you want to see my …”

He turns around, smacking his arm against the wall as he does it.

At least now I know he really isn’t interested in my lady parts.

I’d kind of assumed that since he’s in an all-male pack, even if it’s a bit presumptuous.

Pete clearly still appreciates the female form despite not having a female mate.

I wouldn’t know what the rest of his pack are into.

Getting up, I move quickly over to the dresser.

“Just give me a minute to grab some clothes. You can turn around when I close the bathroom door.”

Maybe I should have given him a chance to use the bathroom first, but it’s not like I’m used to having an overnight visitor. I make sure I’m not wasting any time when I get into the bathroom.

I run through my usual routine at a quickened pace, not cutting corners but moving a little faster at every step. With the exception of slowing down to shave my legs, and again to make sure I don’t make a mess of my makeup, I get ready as quickly as I can.

When I’m ready to get moving, I leave the bathroom in the black pants and cream shirt combo I pulled from my drawers without really thinking about.

I step into my heels, and then I switch off the lamp.

“You can use the bathroom, if you need …” I offer.

He nods and I move to sit on the end of the bed to let him pass.

He doesn’t close the door fully.

I don’t see anything.

And I hum under my breath to try and avoid concentrating on the sound of what he’s doing in there. I’m going to have to charge my phone when I get to my desk. The battery’s almost dead.

When I hear the flush, my shoulders relax.

The faucet starts up a few seconds later.

He’s actually taking the time to wash his hands.

I give him an expectant look when he steps back out of the bathroom.

“I assume nothing happened while I was sleeping last night?”

His expression stays neutral as his gaze meets mine. “No one tried to get in.”

“That’s because no one’s out to get me,” I tell him, knowing that’s not completely true.

I might not believe anyone who works here would stab me in the back, but I know there are people out there who would love to scare me out of my position at the academy.

I refuse to live in fear of them.

If I was afraid of what they might do, I never would have accepted the position here.

There’s always opposition when a little boat rocking starts up.

I knew that when I climbed on board.

Real change can’t happen without a fight.

I’m ready to battle for what I believe in.

If they’re ready to do the same, let them try to take this ship from me.

I can handle a dozen or more crusty, rich, old bastards.

Owen scrutinizes my face before he says, “Whoever installed that camera out in the hall knows Pete checked the lights yesterday. He’ll be biding his time now. Waiting for the right moment.”

“We don’t know for sure the camera means anything.”

He gives me a derisive look that makes me wish I didn’t say anything.

“It’s a recording device that you didn’t sign off on, and we have no idea who’s using it. People don’t go around installing cameras for nothing. There’s a reason someone put that one up out there.”

Ugh. He’s right. You know he is.

It doesn’t matter. I can’t let this distract me.

“I have work to do, and I don’t have time for this, whatever it is.”

“That’s why you need us,” he tells me, straightening to his full height. “You might not think you need a personal security detail, but you do, and now that I’m here, I’m going to make sure no one can get close enough to lay a finger on you.”

His voice doesn’t falter, and his gaze stays fixed on mine.

I ignore the way my heart races at that promise.

I’m just another client to him.

He only cares about protecting me from harm because it’s his job now.

It’s hard to marry up my feelings to the facts, but I can’t pretend I don’t know.

He could barely stand to look at me when he first got out here.

He doesn’t seem to have that problem now, but that doesn’t matter.

“I need to get to work,” I tell him, keeping my tone cool.

He frowns as I get up and move toward the door.

I unlock it and step out into the hallway.

“No one’s out here,” I call back to him.

He growls lightly as he comes toward me, stopping only to grab his jacket off the floor.

When he stops in front of me, I can see how mad I just made him.

Whatever we learned about each other last night, he’s gone back to the Alpha-hole stranger who looked at me with angry eyes when we met.

He shakes his head, not saying a word.

I move past him, yank the door closed and lock it while he’s uncomfortably close and blatantly fuming at me. His heavy breathing is weirdly satisfying.

He pissed me off when he refused to get out of the room last night.

Getting him to feel some shred of that same ignored anger makes me feel better.

He can’t stand me, and I don’t want to be around him.

That’s how things need to stay.

I don’t know him.

I don’t know his pack mates, either.

All I do know is I have an important job to do, and I can’t let anyone keep me from making sure I’m doing everything I can to protect the Omegas under my care.

So, I steel myself for another day spent cutting through administrative red tape, and I slip my phone into my pocket as I move away from my bedroom door.

Owen falls into step behind me.

I stop and turn to him. “Don’t tell me you’re coming with me to my office?”

He grunts and nods.

Typical caveman Alpha.

“Fine. You have paperwork to fill out, anyway.”

It would be stupid to let my emotions get in the way of having the staff I need in place at the academy, and, so far, I haven’t had any red flags raised about his company.

I need to be smart about the choices I’m making.

The reality is, I don’t know this guy and I shouldn’t have automatically believed he must be trustworthy, just because he’s a part of Ezra’s pack.

He helped remind me I have enemies.

I don’t know where those enemies might come from, or what tactics they might use.

Refusing to leave my side as if I need that kind of protection from anyone is weird.

Pete left my office when I asked. He respected my need for privacy.

Owen doesn’t want me out of his sight, or out of earshot.

I don’t know what that’s about, but I intend to find out.

I lead the way down the stairs and along the medical wing’s corridor, forgoing my morning coffee because I’m too irritated to have to stop and deal with anything extra.

Owen catches me up and holds the door open for me that leads out to the reception area.

It feels like an empty gesture. He might be polite about little things like that, but he’s not the courteous type in general.

I lead him across the reception area toward my office, slowing down only to sort through my keys. When I get to the door, the breath is knocked out of me as he wraps his arms around me from behind and lifts me off my feet.

Shock scrambles my brain.

My grip tightens on my keys, but with my arms pinned I can’t find a way to use them.

He steps back and sets me down by the side of the bench.

I spin around to face him, pointing the keys at him, ready to slash.

My heart is racing, and I’m filled with disappointment that he turned out to be worse than an asshole, and that’s when he shakes his head and nods toward my office.

I frown back at him, trying to figure out what he’s up to.

He already had me trapped, and he let me go.

And now he’s trying to get me to look away from him?

He makes a slow, deliberate gesture with his hand, and it takes me a second to realize he’s using ASL. Once my slow brain catches up with his meaning, my mouth drops open.

I hear the scuffle of footsteps a heartbeat later.

Someone’s inside my office!