Page 70 of Chosen Beta

It’s like a knife to my heart in the moment, but I realize she’s asking for him because he belongs there. She might have to explain me, since I don’t officially work for the academy yet, so I’m not wearing one of their uniforms.

I step out of the office and to the side of the door.

Shadow joins me, resting his head against my shoulder as we watch Ezra lead Lana out of the office. He lifts his head once they’ve crossed the hallway. Lana stops at the reception desk, says something to the Omega behind the desk, and the girl nods before getting to her feet and putting down her pen. Theredhead glances at us and waves as she heads in the direction of the elevator. I don’t hear a ding, so I suspect she went into the corridor that’s past the elevator.

Lana and Ezra are just disappearing from sight into the medical wing’s corridor when I look back.

“She’ll feel better once she’s eaten something. You know women. They get hangry.”

“Says the guy who had two lunches and has been thinking about dinner for the past hour.”

He shrugs. “More like the past two hours. The service they do here is awesome. And there’s a lot of nice stuff in Ezra’s fridge, too. I could probably make something really good.”

Shadow is a phenomenal cook, when he’s in the mood to be.

When he’s not totally into it, he just burns everything.

I’d eat it either way, but he orders takeout when he burns dinner.

“Ezra can bring me a plate when it’s ready. I’ll be staying with Lana for the night.”

“Well, someone thinks he’s made a good impression,” Shadow murmurs.

“I mean I’ll be staying with her for her safety, Shadow. I know Ezra needs to be the one to tell her.”

“At least now, he will.”

I frown at him. “What?”

“Once Owen’s met her. You don’t think he’s going to talk to Lana before he talks to our other Alpha, do you?”

Damn. He’s right.

Ezra won’t want to reveal that until he’s sure about how all of us feel.

That probably means she’s not going to find out tonight.

There’s no doubt in my mind that Owen will be as interested in Lana as the rest of us are, but it wouldn’t be fair not to make sure first, and Ezra doesn’t do anything he doesn’t think is fair.

Having to spend all night around her without letting it slip doesn’t sound simple.

If she stays mad at me, it might be easy, but I’d rather not get off to a rocky start.

I start preparing my apology in my head while we wait for them to come back.

Chapter Twenty-Four

Lana

It’s not a smart move to have the hottest doctor in the building escort me to the bathroom. My crush on him is as strong as it’s ever been, and I’m halfway turned on that he wants to protect me like his mates do, and halfway weirded out by the thought that he might hear me pee.

I smile awkwardly at him after I push open the ladies’ room door.

“I’ll just be a minute.”

“Take your time.”

He sounds genuinely happy to wait.