Some of the Omegas bring up food and everything is thoroughly checked before anyone is allowed to eat. Here is the reality check moment for me to grasp what it means to be a warrior. I've wanted to be a warrior for as long as I can remember, but this is the first time it has truly sunk in.
Fighting is one thing, and it's actually the easy part. However, it's the unknown threats, the things that can mess with your mind if you think about them too long, that I didn't consider.
This invisible threat, no one knows who's behind it, and there is always a villain. Some may be more extreme than others, but you have to be vigilant and watch out for them all, especially when responsible for the protection of the pack's most important members.
We all sit around or on the Luna's bed and pretend to watch TV, while the warriors are keeping a discreet watch over the suite, checking the windows and doors. It's what keeps making me feel uneasy. I've had to change positions multiple times to be close to each of my friends. I had to maintain physical contact, but I couldn't do that with all of them at the same time. So, I let my instincts guide me, and shifted towards the person I was drawn to. It's a bit weird and exhausting. Eventually, I got tired and crawled in between Kota and Cam, in our usual sandwich position, and fell asleep immediately.
Their cocoon of warmth and safety allowed the last of my anxiety from the Luna's story to fade, and I was able to rest properly. I'm not sure how long I was there, but my body heat suddenly kicked in, and I had to move to avoid sweating to death. It was as if someone had turned on a space heater in my chest, and I felt suffocated.
I carefully crawled out from their limbs, each wrapped around me like octopus tentacles, and slid to the floor at the end of the bed with Sierra and Sam, who were watching an action movie. The sky outside was growing darker, but it couldn't be more than late afternoon. Sierra was sitting between Sam's legs, so I laid on my side, using their thighs as a pillow. Sam casually draped his arm over my side, and Sierra started playing with my hair, lulling me back to sleep.
Like before, my body heat woke me up from a deep sleepless sleep, but as I tried to move, I realized my body was being trapped by something. Trying not to panic, I looked around and noticed I had turned into Sierra, with my face buried in her hip. I could still smell Sam, but there was something else - vanilla and spices. Mateo. His strong arm was wrapped around me, with my back pulled tight against his chest. He was using Sierra's leg as a pillow, too. I took another deep breath of their combined scents and felt calmness wash over me, but the heat was going to kill me. I had to move.
I dislodged his heavy arm from around me and looked around to find Oliver's legs sticking out from the side of the Luna's bed.
I crawled over to him in the darkness, with the sliver of moonlight the only thing allowing me to make out his shape. He was lying on his back, with his left arm draped over his eyes, and I moved to his right side, with my head propped on the edge of his pillow, face pressed into his bicep as I wrapped both arms around his massive arm like a child hugging their favorite toy. And again, I drifted off.
"Not until she does." Oliver's gruff mumble alerted me to people talking around me. I poked my head groggily, trying to figure out what I was hearing as the last dregs of sleep lifted away from me.
"Well, then wake her up, I'm not leaving without her, and by now, she's probably starving." Cam's whisper was stern and matter-of-fact, but at the mention of eating, my stomach made itself known with a loud, garbled growl. 'See, starving."
