Page 88 of Death and Donuts

"He knows. He’s helping search too.”

“Good. Then, tell Doc to coordinate with Cross while you take a nap.”

I was already nudging him to his room.

“And why do I want to nap?” he asked with a teasing smile.

“Because your pack needs a rested Alpha. And I’ll cuddle with you.”

“You should have led with that.” He chuckled and allowed me to escort him to his room as he texted Doc and Cross.

“This isn’t the date with you I had planned,” he said as he handed me his phone and pulled me into bed with him. “You better still be here when I wake up.”

I held his arm around my waist and closed my eyes.

“Go to sleep, Shepard.”

His breathing evened out within moments, and I eased my phone out of my pocket to set an alarm so neither of us would be late for our shift later.

I didn’t need to worry. Before the alarm woke me, I felt the bed shift, and the warm body that had been next to me was gone.

Glancing behind me, I saw Shepard pulling out a dress shirt and black pants from the closet.

“Did you sleep at all?” I asked. “I think I melted into the mattress.”

“I slept enough. If you need to sleep more, go ahead. You have another thirty minutes.”

“There’s no point without you next to me,” I said, just to watch his eyes spark with gold.

I sat up, and my sore muscles protested the movement. Shepard caught my wince.

“You can stay here if you’re not up for work.”

I shook my head and stood to stretch. “It’s better if I keep moving. I’ll atrophy if I don’t.”

Walking over to my suitcase, I found it was empty. Shepard pointed to the closet. “Your things are in there and in the dresser.”

“When did you have time to do that?”

“Lisa did it. I hope you don’t mind. She takes her den mother role seriously.”

“I don’t mind.” I looked in the closet to find Shepard’s clothes pushed to one side and my things on the other.

“I’ll meet you at the entry when you’re ready,” he said. “I need to speak to a few people. Unless you need something now.”

“I'm fine.”

He kissed the top of my head as he passed by while also tying his tie. “I like having you here,” he said then left the room. A moment later, I heard the door to the suite close.

I knew I had time to spare, but I also knew Shepard would want to get to Blur sooner rather than later, so I hurried to get ready and was at the entryway in fifteen minutes.

Shepard was off to the side, talking to four men. When he saw me, he ended the conversation, and they took off in two trucks.

“Ready?” I asked.

When he nodded, I held out the key to the new SUV. “Want me to drive so you can communicate with people?”

“If you don’t mind.”

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