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“It’s done with love,” Abbott grunts. “They also don’t enjoy running.”

Shiloh and Ansel snort, knowing he’s telling the truth abouttheir omegas.

“Enough talk,” Ansel barks out, and I groan because I know what’s coming. “If you have enough breath to talk then?—”

“You need to run harder!” The group yells.

Fuck me.

I’m in the middle of a protective circle today, and no one would ever know there’s an omega in here. The running group is larger than normal today, though Ethan had to skip to start working for his other clients so we can begin our plans for the online newspaper.

The group picks up speed and I’m forced to follow.

The plan is to offer advertising space to companies to cover some of the start up costs for the newspaper. We’re also going to reach out to writers who may be interested in providing articles and content for the paper, especially those who are thinking about working more part-time.

Being an online newspaper allows us to also offer more flexibility, as long as the articles are submitted on time.

“Pick it up!” Cassidy barks out, and I huff as I force my feet to move faster.

My mind clears of everything else as I concentrate on not passing out and continuing to breathe. It feels as if we’re flying as the world blurs as we run. The sun shines intermittently between the branches of the trees, and the world is quiet outside of the birds chirping.

This is why I run. The feeling of freedom is addictive, and the alphas in this group offer me the safety to be able to enjoy it.

Slowly, they reduce the pace until we’re walking slowly to be able to take a break. I’ve learned that completely stopping isn’t a good idea because my legs will turn into jello and collapse.

“Feel better?” Cassidy asks before taking a sip of water.

“Yes,” I say honestly. “Much.”

“Good,” Abbott says. “It always helps to chase out the racing thoughts by depriving them of oxygen.”

Snorting, I shrug. Well, that’s one way to go about it.

Cooper is on top of me as he sleeps, pinning me to the mattress. Usually, I wouldn’t care, but I really have to pee.

It’s been a week since I was fired, and I’ve been satisfying the itch to write by working on my book. I’m calling itThe Confused Thoughts of an Omega: a guide to figuring it out.I don’t know if anyone will want to read it, but I think at this point, it’s more for me than anyone else.

“Cooper,” I rasp. “I have to pee, and I don’t think that watersports are on the agenda for today.”

Riley snorts as he lays next to me, refusing to help. Ugh, this is just mean.

“Did you just tell Dad in his sleep that you didn’t want to pee on him?” Ethan asks behind Riley, yawning.

We have this giant bed, yet we usually end up in the middle by the morning.

“I don’t know, Little One. It’s your birthday, you can piss on Cooper if you want to. Wait, is that not the way that song goes?” Riley asks.

As they laugh, my brain short circuits. Shit, is today really my birthday?

God, I’m twenty-two today. It’s sad, but at one point while I was at Weeping Willow, I didn’t think I’d live to see this birthday much less any others.

“I’ll roll him over, Nina,” Riley says, shoving Cooper off me so I can escape.

“What the fuck,” Cooper groans.

“You almost became the victim of Nina pissing on you,” Riley says as I shut the door to the bathroom.

The sigh of relief as I get to do my business is soul deep. I almost didn’t make it.