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“Security purposes?”

“Mmm.” His hands slid under my t-shirt, warm against my skin. “Need to know every inch of what I’m protecting.”

I should have had a witty comeback. Something snarky about his caveman tendencies or his poor excuses. Instead, I leaned down to kiss him, my hands cupping his face as our lips met.

The kiss was gentle at first, almost hesitant, before deepening into something hungrier. Logan pulled me closer until I was straddling his lap, my arms winding around his neck as his hands explored the skin beneath my shirt.

When we finally broke apart, both breathing hard, he rested his forehead against mine. “Bed,” he said again, but this time the word held a different meaning.

“Stay?” I asked, though I already knew the answer.

“Always,” he promised, lifting me and laying me gently on the bed before stretching out beside me.

I curled into him automatically, my head finding that perfect spot on his chest where I could hear his heartbeat. His arms came around me, solid and warm, making me feel safer than I had any right to feel.

The door opened quietly, and I lifted my head to see Cade and Keir standing in the doorway, their expressions softening as they took in the scene.

“Room for two more?” Keir asked.

“It’s a king bed,” I pointed out, “but it might be a tight fit with three alphas.”

“We’ll manage,” Cade said, his voice a low rumble.

And they did. Somehow, the four of us fit perfectly—me in the middle, surrounded by their warmth and strength. Cade’s chest against my back, Logan’s arm draped over my waist, Keir’s hand finding mine in the darkness. Mochi had relocated to the foot of the bed, while Boba had somehow wedged himself between the pillows, snoring softly.

“Good night, little fox,” Logan murmured, pressing a kiss to the top of my head.

“Night,” I mumbled, already drifting toward sleep.

I fell asleep to the steady rhythm of their heartbeats, surrounded by their warmth and scent, feeling utterly, completely safe. My last coherent thought was that I could get used to this—to being held, to being wanted, to being…

Loved.

Chapter 18

Iwoke to sunlight streaming through the curtains and the pleasant weight of three werewolves surrounding me. Somehow during the night, we’d shifted positions—I was sprawled across Logan’s chest, with Keir pressed against my back and Cade’s arm thrown over both of us. The king-sized bed that had seemed enormous last night suddenly felt woefully inadequate for four grown men, especially when three of them were oversized alphas who apparently considered personal space an optional concept.

Not that I was complaining.

I carefully extracted myself from the tangle of limbs, earning a disgruntled noise from Keir who immediately rolled into the warm spot I’d vacated. Logan’s arm twitched as if to pull me back, but he settled again without waking. Cade—ever the lightest sleeper—opened one eye to track my movement before seeming to decide I wasn’t making a break for it and allowing it to close again.

My feet had barely touched the floor when Mochi’s head popped up from his spot at the foot of the bed, his tail already wagging in anticipation of breakfast. Boba remained a potato-shaped lump among the pillows, one eye cracking open justenough to communicate his utter disdain for morning people before closing again with a dramatic sigh.

I padded across the plush carpet to my en suite bathroom, closing the door quietly behind me. The reflection that greeted me in the mirror was… different. My hair was a disaster, of course—a combination of beach, sleep, and three pairs of hands running through it had left it sticking up in directions that defied physics. But beyond that, there was something changed in my face. My eyes seemed brighter, my skin had a healthy glow that had been missing for years, and the perpetual shadows beneath my eyes had faded.

After taking care of the more pressing morning necessities, I splashed cold water on my face and made a half-hearted attempt to tame my hair. It was a lost cause, but at least now I looked less like I’d been electrocuted and more like I’d just had a particularly vigorous pillow fight.

A knock at the bedroom door startled me as I exited the bathroom. I froze, glancing at the three very asleep werewolves sprawled across my bed. Thankfully, the layout of my room meant the bed wasn’t visible from the doorway—a small architectural mercy I’d never appreciated until this moment.

“Finn? You alive in there?” Drew’s voice called through the door.

Drew stood in the hallway, fully dressed in jeans and a button-down, car keys dangling from his fingers. His eyebrows shot up as he took in my appearance.

“Well, well.” He smirked. “Looks like someone had an interesting night.”

“Did you need something?” I asked, trying for dignified but probably missing by several miles.

“Just letting you know I’m heading into Seattle for the day,” he explained. “Jake and Tyler convinced me to check out thatnew exhibition at the Glass Museum, then lunch at Pike Place. Might hit a few shops after.”