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My head throbs even before I open my eyes, and all I want is to roll over and go back to sleep. I’m already not a morning person, and I doubt waking up with a headache will make me easier to deal with.
I lie, debating, listening to the sounds around me. I hear birds not far in the distance, which tells me it’s probably still early enough to get a few more hours, but in the end, something stops me from drifting back off. As much as my head might hurt, I feel restless, as if I’ve spent too long in the same spot.
I blink my eyes open slowly, half expecting the early morning sun to blind me, but instead, I’m met with darkness. Without my beast, I’ve found everything more difficult. Whereas I used to be able to see in the dark decently, now I might as well be blind for how dense it is, and it’s not just my vision that’s been affected. My sense of smell and hearing are less as well; it’s disorienting and kind of depressing.
Slowly, my eyes begin to adjust. At first, it’s just outlines—the edge of the bed, the wall, the arch of the door—but the more I see, the more my head throbs, and I have to fight back tears that well in my eyes.
I push to sit, scooting back against the head of the bed. The cool wall on my back soothes something in me, and I take a second to breathe.
Movement near the end of the bed catches my attention. Squinting, I look closer and am shocked to find something there. Not just something, but a mass of… fur?
I gasp aloud at the pain that shoots through my skull, reaching up to cradle my head in my hand. My vision blurs for a moment before it returns to normal.
Something feels off, but I can’t grasp what it is. Fuck, what I would give for some ibuprofen right now.
The bed shifts to my left, and I look down to find Blair, judging by his dark hair and size. How I’d missed him before, I couldn’t tell you, but I’m going to blame it on being half awake and feeling like someone is trying to crack my skull open like an egg.
Shit, that means the mass of fur is probably Pike in wolf form.
My eyes well with tears as I look around, sure the others must be here. I find Sol to my right, and the outline of what I’m almost positive is Lyle in a chair on the far left side of the room. Seeing them has my emotions all over the place. I’ve missed them so much. Much more than I let myself feel because I was stuck in survival mode. But now, seeing them, it’s as if I can breathe again… or mostly breathe again. Something’s still missing, and it only takes me a moment to realize it’s not something but someone, two someone’s actually.
Look as I might, I don’t see Storm or Garrett.
I wiggle out of the blanket as carefully as possible to avoid waking any of the guys. I’m not sure what’s going on, but I don’t want to worry them until I do. Now that I’m free, I have three options: Do I try to climb over Sol, Blair, or Pike in his big, furry form?
Yeah, probably not Pike. I’m honestly surprised he hasn’t woken up already. Usually, his wolf is a pretty light sleeper. It’s kind of ironic, considering he’s the opposite when in human form; he must be exhausted.
Blair’s also out. He’s not a giant wolf and doesn’t sleep as light, but he is big. Curse my tiny, well, everything.
Sol, it is.
I move toward him, trying to figure out the best way to go about this. I don’t really want to climb over him. Gods forbid he wakes up, that could be awkward.
Guess I’ll just have to jump.
I jump, not giving myself a second to hesitate, and silently praying Storm isn’t on the floor, about to become a landing pad.
Only to make it nowhere.
A strong arm wraps around my waist, pulling me back against a hard but warm chest.
“Blair?” My voice is hardly more than a husky whisper, my throat dry from lack of use, but it seems enough.
“Fuck, Little Rabbit.” He spins me around before once again pulling me into him. “You scared the shit out of us,” he says, damn near squeezing the air from my lungs. I can’t bring myself to pull back or complain, though, instead melting into his arms.
Fuck, I’d missed him; I’d missed all of them.
I knew the guys would be upset, but I hadn’t imagined they would find a way to me. Considering how protective they are, I probably should have, but it doesn’t matter if they found me or I got back to them. All that matters is that we’re together again.
I hadn’t meant to scare them.
We sit like that for a while before he finally pulls back, and even in the low light, I see his eyes roaming my face, looking for something. I’m not sure exactly what it is, but when he’s finally satisfied, he leans in and kisses my forehead. It’s nothing new, something he usually does after I’ve had a particularly bad nightmare or even some nights when we lie cuddled, talking when I can’t go back to sleep. I can’t explain why, but something about it feels different, and I suddenly find myself grateful for the low light.
“Don’t ever do that again.” His tone is firm, and I look away from his intense gaze, unable to hold it.
The bed dips behind me before I get the chance to answer, and we both turn to find Sol slowly sitting and rubbing his eyes.
“Fuck, what time is—.” He cuts himself off the second his eyes find mine. His eyes go wide, and where he was just rubbing sleep from them a moment ago, he looks wide awake now.
