Page 175 of Chosen Beta

Shadow groans. “Make it stop!”

Ezra sucks in a breath as he wakes up.

Owen laughs. “You’re the one right next to it, Shadow. Reach over and hit snooze.”

Shadow mumbles something under his breath as he follows Owen’s instructions.

The sound stops and we let out a collective, relieved breath.

Owen’s hand strokes my back. “You awake, Ms. Cole?”

“I’m awake,” I admit. “But you should call me Lana. I think we know each other well enough for that now.”

“I was practicing for when I’m with you at work,” he says. “Which is going to be soon, unfortunately.”

“I was trying not to think about it.” I move back a little, knowing all of us are going to have to get up soon and trying to get myself used to the idea. “But, now that you mention it, I should probably head over to my room and get ready for work.”

“I’ll walk you over,” Pete offers, from behind Owen.

“That would be great.”

I’d much rather stay in bed all day with my mates, but I know there are important things happening today and I have a lot of people relying on me.

“Damn,” Owen complains. “I was hoping we had a little more time.”

“We will,” I tell him. “Later.”

That makes him smile.

He doesn’t look much like a pouty Alpha-hole with his messed-up bed-hair and a real smile on his lips. He never really was that guy. Cressidan City was full of bad memories for him, so he seemed surly when we met.

I’m pretty sure we’ve already started to change how he feels about this place.

Last night was a good start, and I intend to make the most of tonight, too.

“I won’t be working late from now on,” I add, not willing to sacrifice my time with my new mates.

“Sounds like a good plan,” Owen says, giving me a quick kiss, before he moves back and gets out of bed.

The alarm starts going off again.

“Oh my God, that’s so loud!” Shadow moans.

He hits the snooze button.

I turn to Ezra. He gazes at me with a sleepy smile.

It’s hard to believe how much he changed my life just by coming out here.

His pack is here because he was.

I never would have met any of them otherwise.

“No more working late,” I remind him, before I lean in and press my lips to his.

“No more working late,” he promises.

The sound of my phone alarm makes Shadow groan, and I feel instantly guilty.

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