Page 130 of Starting a New Life

“What do you… holy shit. Did they spend the whole night down here?”

“Looks like it.”

“Do you think we should go back to our room? Let them sleep?” The voice sounded unsure, the hesitance kicking my brain into motion.

Connie and Nick. They were asl… no, they were definitely not asleep anymore. Without opening my eyes, I sent out a thrill of magic, checking their auras, relief flooding me when they both felt fine to me.

“But I’m hungry,” Nick whispered.

“You’re always hungry.” I could practically hear the eye roll in Connie’s voice.

Ugh.

Was it morning already?

I slowly opened my eyes and blinked against the pale light filtering through the windows. The sun was obviously up already but hidden behind a wall of clouds. At least it wasn’t snowing anymore.

Sitting up, I looked around the living room, my eyes searching for a hint about what time it was. It felt early. My body was still sore, with exhaustion clinging to me. A throw blanket pooled in my lap, and I blinked at it until the room stopped spinning and the plaid pattern came into focus.

Then I looked at the two teenage shifters standing a couple of feet away from the couch and smiled. Their hair was still rumpled from sleep, sticking up in every direction, but their eyes were wide awake, darting across the room, unsure if it was okay to look at me or not.

It was. Both Gray and I were dressed in sweats and shirts. No sex on the couch for us—for at least the next two years.

“Morning,” Connie whispered.

“G’morning,” I answered, rubbing my eyes as I yawned.

Why was I still in the living room? Gray had wanted to carry me upstairs once I’d fallen asleep, but my mate was lying next to me, his chest rising and falling evenly, his hair a mess on the couch cushions.

Oops. Looked like he’d fallen asleep faster than expected.

“We’ll see if it’s a good morning once you try getting up,” Nick chirped, nodding at me and the couch. “My parents always said that this kind of shit hurts when you get older.”

I barked out a laugh but quickly slapped a hand over my mouth, my eyes darting to my sleeping mate. Gray kept breathing evenly, though, his aura completely calm. I let out a breath of relief.

He needed his sleep. Desperately so. Yesterday, I’d woken him way too early with my worries, and then the day had just swept us along. Debriefings, becoming foster parents for two teenagers, introducing Callum to the pack, healing Callum, holding a fucking pack meeting so everyone was informed about what was going on, and then it’d already been dark outside, the day over before we’d noticed it’d just slipped by us.

Focusing back on the pups, I rolled my eyes. “I’m only twenty-six.”

Nick shrugged. “That’s still nine years older than me. And ten years older than Connie. Anyway… is there a chance we’ll find food in the fridge? I’m starving.” His stomach gurgled loudly as if trying to prove his point.

I let out another yawn and carefully got up. Ouch. I tried to hide a wince as my cramped-up muscles were put to work, and quickly sent a thrill of magic through my body, easing the pain.

Maybe Nick was onto something. Maybe I really was getting old. I mean, I basically had two kids now. Teens at that.

“Honestly,” I said as I walked to the kitchen, Connie and Nick in tow. “I’m not sure. I didn’t check.”

I probably should have, but by the time we’d arrived home, it’d been past eight, and we’d spent the next hour setting up an air mattress in Gray’s home office because his guest room wasn’t suited for guests.

Another thing we’d have to take care of. The list was ever-growing.

Opening the fridge, I grimaced when I saw the leftovers from dinner two nights ago. Aside from that, the fridge was painfully empty. There were a couple of slices of bacon, a few eggs, but not much else. Originally, we’d planned to go grocery shopping together, but then the whole Otto thing happened in such a short time, we’d never actually gotten to it.

“That looks like the answer is no,” Nick said, pressing a hand to his stomach.

I eyed the counter. “I mean, we have leftover pizza?” At least a few slices. “Or coffee?”

Nick shrugged. “I’ll start with coffee.”