Page 51 of Claimed

That’s when I realize I’m naked. I’m not even sure when I shifted. I remember going to bed in my wolf form.

I press myself tighter into Bain as his arms band around me, holding me tightly. I peek over his wrist at the others and see their worried gazes.

“I-I’m sorry I scared you,” I whisper nervously.

“You don’t apologize for having a nightmare,” Maddox says, his hands resting over his knees, clenching into fists before releasing, as if he’s desperate to hold something.

Me.

I gently press against Bain’s arms, and he lets me go, his purr cutting off as I leap across to Maddox, ignoring the fact that I’m naked as I let him gather me into his arms. “You’re okay, sweetheart.” He kisses the top of my head as he whispers, “We have you.”

I let him rock me back and forth for a minute, letting his scent surround me until I feel someone else’s hand on me. Opening my eyes, I see Gage’s strained smile.

“Feeling better now?”

Instinct has me reaching for him, and I see the flash of surprise on his face before he pulls me into his lap, and I wrap myself around him. He runs his hand up and down my back and lets out a contented sigh. “This is nice,” he whispers.

“Dude!” Chase says with an indignant laugh.

“I don’t mean the whole nightmare thing,” Gage says with a sigh. “I mean being able to hold her without worrying about everyone keeping a hand on her.”

“I like it too,” I whisper before placing a kiss on his neck. He kisses the side of my head, and now it’s my turn to sigh, the nightmare starting to fade away.

“My turn?” Chase asks. When I look at him, he makes grabby hands at me. I can’t help but smile as I reach for him. Instead of pulling me into his lap, like the others did, he pulls me close to his chest, letting me wrap my arms and legs around him, then stands and exits the closet.

I feel him move into the bed before gently lying us on our sides. A body quickly moves up behind me, and a quick sniff tells me it’s Hunter. He moves so close there isn’t an inch of space between us anywhere, and as his arm skates around my stomach, I sigh, the last remnants of the nightmare nowhere to be found.

Blaze might be out there somewhere, but right now, I find I don’t care. I have my mates, what more could I need?

Your bonds, a voice inside me insists.

Yeah, well. I’m working on it.

Chapter 19

Maddox

My fist lands squarely in the middle of the bag and Bain nods. “Again, harder.” Holding my hands in front of me, I throw my right arm forward, harder this time, enough that when I hit the punching bag he’s holding, Bain has to take a small step backward.

“Better.” I throw a few with my left arm, mixing jabs and hooks with the occasional kick until sweat rolls down my forehead and into my eyes, making me stop so I can grab a towel and wipe my face.

It takes a lot to make a shifter sweat, and I suppose I have been pushing myself to my limits for the past two hours.

After seeing Cherry panic from a nightmare, I was reminded of everything she’s been through, and every one of her enemies that are still out there. We’ve been in a bit of a blissful bubble the past few days, arriving in Starfall Haven, moving into our new home, and seeing Cherry start to shift at will.

But now, after that Goddess-damned note from Blaze followed by her nightmare and extreme reaction to it, I feel like I’ve been thrown back into reality. I’ve been slacking, and I don’t want to get complacent. Not when her safety and the safety of my pack are at risk.

“I have a suggestion,” Gage says, stopping the treadmill he’s been running on for the past hour. With the twins keeping her calm and asleep down the hall, Bain, Gage, and I decided we needed to blow off steam after seeing her so upset.

“What’s that?” I ask as I run my towel over my face and neck.

“I think we should go back to the bakery and talk to Erica and her mates.”

“For what reason?” I ask as I grab my water bottle and drink half the contents.

“I’m betting she’s an omega. Maybe she can tell us more now that we know about the whole omega thing.”

“Does it matter?” Bain asks before punching the bag and sending it flying toward me. I jump back just in time before it hits me, and he tries not to smirk.