“How’re you feeling, Kady?” Hale asks.
“Good.” The word comes out in a breathy puff as my heartbeat starts to steady itself again. “So good.”
“Anything else?” Hale presses. “How does your body feel?”
“I’m a little,” I stifle a yawn, “tired.”
In fact, I’m absolutely shattered and feel like I’ve just finished three marathons. My limbs are extra heavy, like every scrap of energy has been zapped from my body. The dull ache between my legs leaves me with a deep sense of satisfaction so all I want to do is crawl under the blankets, get comfortable in the pillows, and take a nap.
“You should sleep.” Calder’s knot twitches inside me. “I make a pretty good pillow.”
I yawn, unable to suppress it. “I guess you do.”
After Hale pulls a blanket over the three of us, I reach out to lay my hand over his chest.
“Don’t go anywhere,” I tell him.
“I won’t,” Hale promises, caressing along my cheekbone tenderly. “I’m not going anywhere. I’m staying right by your side. I’ll be here when you wake up.”
I smile sleepily as my eyes flutter closed, wondering how it’s possible that I’ve gone from not wanting anything to do with alphas to feeling a deep sense of contentment at being snuggled between two of them.
FORTY
Ezra
“She’s starting to stir now,” Riven comments after checking his phone. Hale has been texting him updates. I didn’t know that a sleeping omega could be so fascinating, but I’m enthralled by his cute message about how she murmurs in her sleep. “They’re going to help her clean off before coming downstairs.”
When Kady wakes up, Riven and I have a feast waiting for her. I stopped at Pearl’s to buy a few of everything—fresh baked cinnamon buns that are larger than my hands, bulging donuts stuffed with thick pistachio cream, a slice of every fruit pie they make, even though I might have accidentally scarfed down the pecan one on the drive back. All this waiting is making me antsy.
Usually, I escape to the forest when I need to clear my head. Take a stroll along the stream. Look for flowers. Study the pond life. But right now, the only thing I want to look at is Kady, and knowing that she’s upstairs is killing me.
“This is exciting, isn’t it?” Riven has an icing sugar mustache from devouring a churro. “Us having an omega.”
Riven is often so hyper-fixated on whatever subject has become his latest fascination that we don’t see a lot of him. And when he is around, he’s never like this. Since Kady came into our lives, he’s come out of his shell. He’s still the same Riven thatwe all know and love, but he’s more comfortable in his skin and talkative. Who knew it would take an omega like Kady Sinclair to do it?
Suddenly, a phone rings from across the room, followed by a loud yowl from Larry. Like his owner, Larry has been enjoying a rather long nap until now, his squashed face staring in judgment at a cushion where the offending sound seems to be coming from.
“It’s okay, Larry.” I pat his head then locate the phone that must have fallen down. “I’ll take it away.”
“That must be Kady’s phone,” Riven says.
“It’s…” I see that it’s a video call from the “Stella Girls” group chat. “Kady’s friends.”
“We should probably answer.” Riven grabs another churro. “If they’ve been monitoring traffic conditions, they would have been expecting Kady home over an hour ago. Maybe thirty minutes if we got held up for food. They may be worried about her.”
If Kady wasn’t likely to be tied up for the next few days with her heat, I’d just ignore the call and let her get in touch with them herself. However, from what Kady told us on the drive here, her girlfriends are a huge part of her life. After the last fiasco where she went unaccounted for a few hours, the last thing we need is another SWAT team descending on our cabin and destroying more wildlife with a helicopter landing.
I answer the call and am met with three faces peering at me through the screen. A red head, a brunette, and a blonde, all wearing what look to be matching pink robes, sitting on a sofa, hugging bowls of snacks. I recognize their faces from Kady’s screensaver.
“Professor Brackenwood!” Faye squeaks in surprise, almost spilling a bowl of popcorn. I instantly recognize her from my classes. Faye’s got a keen eye and a natural talent for botany. Ifshe nurtures her talent, I’m sure she’ll be more skilled than me in a few years. Although I’m now kicking myself for forgetting that one of Kady’s best friends is one of my top students. “It’s good to see you.”
“You’re Professor Brackenwood?” The redhead—who I presume is Sabs based on Kady’s description—peers uncomfortably close to the screen.
I feel like I’m being exposed to some kind of inspection, like a contestant on a dating show.
“You can call me Ezra outside of the classroom.” I loosen my collar with my spare hand as Sabs withdraws with a satisfied nod. I guess that means I satisfied whatever she was looking for? “Kady can’t come to the phone right now.”
“You better not be holding her hostage!” Sabs wags her finger. “Although being locked away with four alphas in a cabin doesn’t sound like it’d be too much of a hardship for her.”
