She willed him to believe he could relax with her, to not feel as though he had to be doing something, to let whatever was troubling him leave for the night.
It was everything she could do to keep herself awake, given that all the things she wanted him to feel she’d experienced herself. But she was determined to see that he slept and wasn’t going to give up until she’d done that.
Betsy felt rather than saw when he fell asleep. His breathing changed, and he relaxed. She let herself glance up at him then. He appeared different than he had passed out at the desk. With his eyes closed, and his mouth slightly open, Cyrus came across as younger. They’d not discussed his age, but she’d guess him to be in his mid-thirties. Maybe that was wrong. Maybe werewolves aged differently.
She bit down on her lip. How could she feel so connected to a man and not know how old he was? Betsy exhaled the breath she’d been holding. Somehow, she had to change her thinking. It was okay to feel the way she did about him—they were mates, and she wasn’t human. She was mated to the Alpha of Manhattan. She’d gotten him to fall asleep when he’d claimed it impossible after giving him his very first blowjob.
She’d ask him his age in the morning. And what his company did. For now, she knew that he had a really big heart that no one had taken proper care of in however many years he happened to have been on the planet. That would change now that she was around.
Not daring to move for fear of waking him, she snuggled closer and gave into the lethargy threatening to overtake her. Sleep would work for both of them.
****
The next time she opened her eyes, light streamed in underneath the curtains into the room. Her muscles were sore from lack of movement, and she had to blink several times to clear the fog from her brain. The clock read eight in the morning, which meant she’d been asleep for five hours.
Betsy grinned. Not only had she been asleep, but the Alpha snoring lightly next to her still slept on. It had taken a little TLC to get Cyrus to conk out. Now she wanted to make him food before he woke up, checked the clock, and panicked.
He didn’t stir when she got out of the bed. She’d made it to the bathroom and out when she heard his phone vibrating. Betsy bit down on her lip as she debated for a second whether she should leave it alone. People were very private about their cell phones. Still, she wanted him to sleep, not get awoken by somebody needing something the second he opened his eyes.
She grabbed the phone and walked out of the room. The screen read Lake, and she answered.
“Hello?”
There was a pause on the other end before Lake spoke. “Betsy? Is Cyrus okay?”
“He is.” She cleared her throat. Having not spoken yet, she still sounded hoarse. “He’s actually asleep.”
“Really?” The tone of Lake’s voice raised a fraction in surprise. “I’ve never ever known him to sleep late.”
“Well, today he is, unless there’s an emergency I need to wake him for?” She glanced back at the door toward the room where he slept. Betsy would hate to disturb him, but an emergency was an emergency.
“No.” His sister laughed, and Betsy had no idea why. Something was funny? “I’m getting texts from Alexei’s people wanting to know the time for the meeting today.”
Betsy rolled her eyes. She hadn’t liked the Alpha, and he had certainly not cared about timing the day before when he’d shown up announced and uninvited. “Lunch time. He’ll be in for lunch.”
“Thanks. Oh, hey, Betsy?” Lake stopped her before she could hang up.
“Yes?”
“I’m really sorry if I harmed you in any way by making you turn into a full-fledged werewolf. There’s no excuse. I should be in better control than that.”
“Oh.” Betsy smiled. That was nice of her to say. “Thanks for the apology, but I think it was the best thing that could have happened to me.”
“Good. And you’re clearly the best thing that’s ever happened to my brother if he is sleeping in. I mean he has never done that. Not even when we were kids.”
“I don’t think I had anything to do with that. The Alpha wanted to sleep in, so that’s what he did.”
She heard the words come out of her mouth as she said them. There had been no conscious decision to lie to Lake. The other woman was his sister. Surely she’d want him rested and healthy. But it had felt as though the way to protect Cyrus had been to not let anyone know he needed extra sleep. Betsy would never purposely expose anything that might be considered a weakness.
“Right. Of course.” Lake continued, “Would you be interested in doing something with me and some of the other pack women some time? Like a movie or dancing?”