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I wanted to spend the rest of my life with this pack.

We went to the master bedroom and made love. When we were spent and tired, lying in each other’s arms, I curled around Ember and whispered, “You were right,” in her ear.

I felt better, like my soul was lighter than it had been. I’d made music for the fun of it. I’d forgotten what it felt like for music to be a joy and not feel like a burden or work.

“I’m always right,” she said, sounding sleepy.

I kissed her neck. “I love you.”

She squeezed her arms around me. “I love you too.”

I hummed the snippet of the song stuck in my head, thinking maybe I’d be able to make something of it after all.

Chapter 42

West

My omega instincts had never been happier. Which was good, because work was extra stressful. Between the unexpected heat and moving in, I couldn’t seem to catch up.

Something my boss kept reminding me of.

Despite knowing it was my house now, it was still weird staying home alone all day. I’d spent most of my remote days at Cosmic Bonds, but I stopped early for the day and went for a drive. I was getting annoyed at being in a random office, since spending my day in Ember’s office led to epic office sex, but neither of us got much work done.

I found myself at Talk of the Town without really planning on being there. Now I understood what Ember meant by the gravitational pull of the place.

But I shouldn’t bother Alejandro at work. I had my laptop; I could just go work in a coffee shop.

Or I could swing through and make sure the alpha didn’t need anything. I wasn’t curious about where he worked. Nope, not at all.

I sighed and got out of the car. Ember used the back door, but I wasn’t that comfortable. I walked into the double doors,thinking we should do a pack date here so Rian and Ben could ooh and ahh over Alejandro’s place of work.

The hostess was a pleasant beta girl barely out of her teens, and she looked at me brightly. “Hello, how many?”

“Uhhh…” I panicked. My mouth dried up like I had never spoken to another person ever. How stupid was it to show up and expect to just go into the kitchen, where Alejandro was busy working?

The girl had to have been trained well, because she waited pleasantly for me to get my shit together. Cold sweat broke out and I was about two seconds away from turning on my heel and fleeing. And then not telling anyone. I knew Alejandro wouldn’t mind me being here, but still, he had to be busy. I didn’t have the right to barge in and expect him to drop everything.

The restaurant looked busy too. A couple of open tables scattered the floor, but most of them were taken.

“Do you want to wait for your party?” The beta gestured behind her. “I have some tables open if you’re the first here.”

“I’m not,” I said, looking around for a hole to open up in the earth and let me escape. What was I going to do? Order lunch and then sit there and eat it by myself?

Sunshine passed through the dining room. She stopped and then turned to me. “West?”

I couldn’t decide if this was a better or worse turn of events. “Yes,” I said. That was my name.

“You here for Alejandro?” Sunshine walked over. “You could have come through the back.”

Suddenly I saw why Ember used the back door.

I nodded, unable to make words come out of my mouth.

“This is West, Alejandro’s omega,” Sunshine told the girl at the hostess stand.

She turned pink. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.”

“We’re not bonded,” I muttered. “I didn’t introduce myself.”