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“So, where do I fit into all of this?”
“Right in the middle,” Jared teases.
I swat him on the shoulder. “No, seriously, aside from my apparently important pedigree, what is my role in this apparently fated quartet?”
“You’re the glue that holds the entire world together, Layla,” Milo answers softly. “There is no more important role than that. We exist to support you, to advocate for you, to cheer you up when you’re down. You’re the one who has to do everything else, and that’s enough.”
“It’s too much,” I whisper, chin trembling. “A week ago I was just a girl finally about to experience a normal life. Now I’m supposed to take on the responsibility of this entire pack. Let alone accepting that tonight, I morphed into a giant wolf—I’m saving that one to unpack later.”
“I think,” Landon says, standing, “That we can save all of it to unpack later. I doubt any of us are ready for sleep yet, so why don’t we watch a movie or something? Lady’s choice.”
“A movie sounds great. But I don’t want to pick. Just something funny. Maybe nothing supernatural, though.”
Jared pops up and grabs the remote. “Funny is my specialty. Why don’t you get settled on the couch? We’ll assemble some snacks and get a movie queued up.”
So that is how I ended up once again pleasantly tucked between Milo and Jared, with Landon’s head resting on my crossed legs. I toy with his hair absentmindedly, realizing that as wolves I pet both Milo and Jared, but not Landon.
I don’t know when it happens, but at some point I drift off to sleep, my head on Milo’s shoulder and my blanket-wrapped feet on Jared’s lap, fingers resting on Landon’s neck.
Unsurprisingly, I do not have another wolf dream.
ChapterTwenty-Two
Layla
* * *
When I wake, I’m tucked into my bed with no memory of how I got here. Mid-morning sunlight streams through my windows, and I feel completely rested. Even so, there’s a heavy sense of dread at the back of my mind that my conscious brain hasn’t caught up with yet.
I lay for a moment trying to remember, and I hear a low voice just outside my bedroom door. Faint clinks of dishes. The low rumble of the tv.
Milo’s out there. I know immediately. And Jared and Landon. I sense their presence.
And that’s when it all rushes back to me.
The shifting, the pack, the attack from the other wolves, the story about curses and alphas and bloodlines.
Shit. Well, now I understand the sense of dread.
The last I remember is falling asleep on the couch with the guys. They must have carried me to bed in my sleep. I’m kind of embarrassed, but kind of warmed by the thought. I wonder which one did it, but then I realize it had to be Landon. It just seems like a very Landon thing to do, gently placing me in the bed while they apparently crashed in the suite for the night.
A smile curls my mouth, and I throw back the covers to go check on my ‘fated’.
I shouldn’t be surprised, but I can’t help the laugh that escapes my lips when I open the door. All three hulking boys crowd around my tiny two-seater breakfast table, feasting like starving men. The table’s laden with breakfast, including eggs, bacon, sausages, French toast, fruit, and coffee.
They look up simultaneously with guilty expressions despite their stuffed cheeks.
Milo is the first to swallow his mouthful. “Morning, Lex.”
Landon holds up a tray covered with a silver dome. “We didn’t want to wake you, so we saved you a plate first… but we didn’t want to let the rest go cold waiting, either,” he adds with a sheepish grin.
Jared glances between the other two and shrugs. “What? I was hungry.”
That draws another laugh from me, and I cross into the room. “It’s fine. I’m sure Susan made sure there was enough for everyone. Milo, can you pass the coffee, please?” I spotted the French press on the table and my desire for caffeine is strong.
By the time I’m settled onto the couch, Landon has arrived to set the tray on my lap and removes the cover. Milo follows with a cup of coffee, generously poured with cream and sugar.
The guys grab their plates and join me, two sitting on the floor and sharing the coffee table while Milo balances his plate on his lap beside me. We enjoy a comfortable breakfast, and it’s not until we have cleared the plates and pushed the cart of dishes out into the hall that the weight of everything revealed last night settles over me again.
