69. Chapter Sixty-Eight

Chapter Sixty-Eight

Lana

W aking up buried in a pile of warm, muscular bodies is a surreal experience. At some point during the night, my head slipped down and nestled into Owen’s neck and shoulder, resting partly on the arm he’s got pushed under the pillow. His body is covering half of mine, his free arm draped around me.

Behind me, Ezra’s chest is against my back, close enough that he must be trapping Owen’s arm where it is. Ezra’s arm is around me, too, just below Owen’s, his hand resting under my stomach.

I might be kind of stuck where I am right now, but it feels good, and I have no desire to move.

At least until Ezra’s alarm clock starts to beep angrily by the side of the bed.

Shadow groans. “Make it stop!”

Ezra sucks in a breath as he wakes up.

Owen laughs. “You’re the one right next to it, Shadow. Reach over and hit snooze.”

Shadow mumbles something under his breath as he follows Owen’s instructions.

The sound stops and we let out a collective, relieved breath.

Owen’s hand strokes my back. “You awake, Ms. Cole?”

“I’m awake,” I admit. “But you should call me Lana. I think we know each other well enough for that now.”

“I was practicing for when I’m with you at work,” he says. “Which is going to be soon, unfortunately.”

“I was trying not to think about it.” I move back a little, knowing all of us are going to have to get up soon and trying to get myself used to the idea. “But, now that you mention it, I should probably head over to my room and get ready for work.”

“I’ll walk you over,” Pete offers, from behind Owen.

“That would be great.”

I’d much rather stay in bed all day with my mates, but I know there are important things happening today and I have a lot of people relying on me.

“Damn,” Owen complains. “I was hoping we had a little more time.”

“We will,” I tell him. “Later.”

That makes him smile.

He doesn’t look much like a pouty Alpha-hole with his messed-up bed-hair and a real smile on his lips. He never really was that guy. Cressidan City was full of bad memories for him, so he seemed surly when we met.

I’m pretty sure we’ve already started to change how he feels about this place.

Last night was a good start, and I intend to make the most of tonight, too.

“I won’t be working late from now on,” I add, not willing to sacrifice my time with my new mates.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Owen says, giving me a quick kiss, before he moves back and gets out of bed.

The alarm starts going off again.

“Oh my God, that’s so loud!” Shadow moans.

He hits the snooze button.

I turn to Ezra. He gazes at me with a sleepy smile.

It’s hard to believe how much he changed my life just by coming out here.

His pack is here because he was.

I never would have met any of them otherwise.

“No more working late,” I remind him, before I lean in and press my lips to his.

“No more working late,” he promises.

The sound of my phone alarm makes Shadow groan, and I feel instantly guilty.

“I’d better grab that,” I tell Ezra.

He lets go and I get out of bed.

It doesn’t take too long to find my pants with the sound leading me, and once I’ve switched the alarm off, I start to get dressed. I don’t have a ton of time to make it to my desk before nine, but, with the day I have ahead of me, I’m not going without a shower and a change of clothes.

The shower starts to run in Ezra’s bedroom’s adjoining bathroom.

I spot my cami laying next to the alarm clock on the nightstand, and I move over there to grab it.

I don’t expect Shadow to grab my wrist when I reach for it.

He smiles as he opens his eyes. “Don’t I get a good morning kiss?”

I laugh as he props his head up with his hand under the pillow.

He has no intention of moving from the bed.

I lean in and kiss him.

He smiles brighter when I move back, sighing softly as he sinks back into the pillow.

“Better,” he murmurs.

I reach out and brush his hair back from his face.

He started his first heat last night.

His Alphas will have to make sure one of them is with him all the time until it passes.

Ezra sits up, stretching a little.

“Ezra, if you want a couple days off …” I start.

Ezra smiles at me. “Let’s get to the weekend before we think about that. An Omega’s heat is unpredictable. It could last for a while.”

I nod slowly. He’s been with Shadow for a lot longer than I have. He knows what he’s doing.

I slip the cami over my head and smooth the fabric down.

“I’ll see you when the psychologist gets here.”

He nods. “I’ll see you then.”