Page 178 of Pretty When She Breaks

He reached up and stroked my face. “This is. Us, right here. Not the future or the past, but the present. You get to trust what we have here and believe you deserve to enjoy it. Get it?”

“I think so.”

“Good,” he said. “Now, I think you need a cuddle pile.”

He insisted we move to the bedroom, and I climbed onto the bed, and Kaos curled up next to me, his hand resting on my hip. Finch was on the other side, spooning me so I was sandwiched between them. The door creaked open, and I raised my head to find Ocean peering in.

“Oh,” he said. “Sorry, I just wondered where everyone was. Didn’t mean to disturb you.”

“Get in here, you idiot,” Kaos said, tossing a pillow at him.

I squeaked in outrage, bolting upright, and Ocean scooped it up. He hurried over to the bed with the pillow in his hand, and I snatched it, tucking it beside Finch where it belonged.

“Sorry,” Kaos said, nuzzling into my stomach.

Ocean lowered himself onto the mattress beside Finch, and I turned so I could hold his hand over top of Finch’s hip.

OCEAN

I woke up the the scent of Laurel’s charred panic. She was trying to throw off the tangled covers, struggling to get out of bed.

I went to put a hand on her shoulder, and she whirled to face me, eyes wide.

“I’m sorry, I know I’m late,” she gasped, panic written all over her face.

I wrapped my arms around her, tugging her against me. She tensed, clutching at me.

“It’s okay, Laurel. Nothing can hurt you here,” I told her, my heart breaking for my sweet, hurt omega.

“Gone,” she gasped, her fingers digging into my back. “He’s gone, he’s gone.” Her voice was choked with emotion, and tears were spilling from her eyes.

“He’s gone,” I echoed. “You got rid of him. My amazing omega.”

“I’m sorry,” she murmured, but slowly relaxed against me. “Didn’t mean to wake you.”

“That’s okay, I think we’re all going to have nightmares for at least a little while.”

She turned her face up to me, eyes sparkling. I kissed her wet nose.

“Of course,” she said. “What you went through was awful.”

“At least I had you,” I told her. “And the pack. I can’t imagine how much worse it would have been without that.”

ONE HUNDRED TWO

LAUREL

I was slowly settling into my new, quiet normal. It was nice, especially as it included plenty of free time and three hot alphas to spend it with.

I was making good use of the time.

This time, though, my kiss with Finch was interrupted by the sound of a door opening and closing.

“Laurel!” Jewel's voice called out. “Pull yourself away from these alphas for a few hours, we're going out on the town.”

Finch sighed as I patted his face.

“You could have given us a heads-up,” he grumbled as I stood up from the couch.