Page 93

His fingers massage my scalp, and I moan with pleasure. I love this so much. I didn’t think I would because I’m so sensitive about my hair, but he really does think I’m beautiful. I can tell inthe way he touches me, kisses my head, reminds me it’s just hair.

It’s going to be difficult for me to get used to not wearing a wig. I really hate the way it feels, and it’s always itchy, I’ve simply been indoctrinated into wearing it.

Cooper’s firm motions drag me under into sleep, and I stop fighting it.

Twenty-One

Riley

Ican’t help getting lost as I gaze at Nina. Her entire body seems to relax completely againstCooper. The alpha is a menace to society and people move out of his way when he walks down the street, but he’s a downright teddy bear for his omega.

Go figure.

“Okay,” I sigh, standing. “I’m going to go see what the kitchen has for ingredients. I’ll just make the pasta sheets from scratch if necessary.”

“You can do that?” Ethan asks, surprised.

“Yes,” I laugh, “I can. I can prepare five course meals from scratch, I just don’t have the time to anymore. My mother loves to cook, and taught me how so I could spoil my omega. It’s like she knew something I didn’t. I have never put much stock into scent matches until it happened to me.”

“Neither did I,” Cooper says, also appearing sleepy. Nina is definitely everything he needs. His insomnia has just been makingeverything worse.

“Huh,” Ethan grunts. “Learning new things every day. Is the hospital going to understand that you’re taking vacation days?”

“I said it was a pack emergency,” I say. “These things happen, and we’ve already put our paperwork in to state that we want to record our pack information. The hospital didn’t make a big deal about it.”

“Good,” he murmurs. “Your rotations have been brutal.”

“Wait till residency,” I tease him, walking away to check out our food situation.

Silas promised a full stocked kitchen, and that’s exactly what I find. Preparing dough, I fall into the repetition of making fresh lasagna sheets and laying them out to dry before beginning the filling.

While I’ve missed cooking, sleeping, and all the normal parts of life, I also love learning at the psychiatric hospital. Every day is something new. I’m never bored, and I know my work is meaningful.

Unlike what they do at Weeping Willow.

I stir a little more viciously as I snarl at the pan I’m holding.

“The food is not going to be able to defend itself,” Ethan says, leaning against the counter. I didn’t even notice that he’d walked in.

“It could,” I grunt. “I got caught up in my thoughts.”

“I could tell,” he says. “What were you thinking about?”

“The differences between the hospital I work at currently and Weeping Willow,” I reply. “Too many people believe that psychiatric care should be manipulative.”

“It shouldn’t be,” he says. “Look at my dad. Didn’t you say you care for feral alphas?”

“We do,” I say. “I don’t think he needs or wants treatment, though. She’s the only person who can help calm his instincts. The problem we run into at the hospital is when there’s no way the alpha can be reunited with their omega. They either died or they couldn't be together.”

“Fuck,” he says. “That’s a hard place to be in. Can I help you with anything?”

“Can you make bread?” I ask.

“Umm. If you point me in the right direction I could,” he says, biting his lip.

Fucking adorable.

Nodding, I let the sauce simmer, and move over to him. Grabbing him around the back of his neck, I pull him tightly to me and kiss him hard.