Chapter 13
A WEEK LATER
My stomach churned as I stared at the window of the shop in front of me. The business my friends and I had worked our asses off to create, had been targeted.
I guess they weren’t satisfied with simple emails anymore.
It had been a week of my inbox being flooded and I’d blocked so many senders I wasn’t sure I could continue.
I hadn’t found the right time to tell anyone about them, but I guess the time of my silence was over.
“What the actual fuck?!” Bea gasped. She took out her phone and snapped a picture.
They’re out of your league, bitch!
The message was clear. In their eyes, I wasn’t fit for my pack, and I needed to learn my place.
Etta, the older omega running a jewelry store next door, walked over to join us, hand over her heart.
“Oh my. Someone was jealous of your success I see,” she tsked.
“I think it’s my fault,” I whispered, the horror in my voice had all three omegas turning my way.
“Absolutely the fuck not,” Taryn growled. “No one but the assholes who wrote that get to take that blame.”
My eyes flickered back to the angry, blue letters on our windows. The same shade of blue as the Knuckleball Knockouts logo and uniforms. A fact that wasn’t lost on me.
With shaking hands, I took a picture to send to my pack later. I couldn’t face them quite yet.
Etta’s footsteps hurried off without a word. We were confused until she came back a few minutes later with her pack in tow, each holding tools to scrape and scrub off the offending message.
“Let the sheriff get over here first,” her alpha warned as she started to head for the words. She nodded once, but gave me a grim smile.
“The moment they take their notes, we take care of it. This isn’t something we let slide in this town. You’re one of us.”
That camaraderie was exactly why I loved this town.
I was in such a daze, staring at the words, that I didn’t notice anyone calling the police. But there the sheriff was as I blinked my eyes open, frowning at the sign and taking statements. It was as if they all realized this was aimed at me and suddenly it felt like the world was closing in.
Then I was surrounded by arms, and the scent of rain, light citrus, and sage. Calm. Steady. Reassuring.
“What’s going on, peach?”
When I couldn’t answer, he let me go and walked around to face me, his fingers wrapping gently around my chin and forcing my eyes up to his.
“Talk to me.”
I tried. I really did. But I couldn’t suck in a normal breath to force the words out of my mouth.
“Hey, hey, what’s going on?” Jackson’s voice joined the gentle words, mountain air and cypress wrapped around me, a sweeter edge to mix with Cy’s steady scent.
“What the fuck?” And there was Griff. His anger was palpable as he walked up, first eyeing me, then his anger flaring all over again at whatever he found on my face.
“It has to be about you guys,” Bea said bluntly. At least it wasn’t an outright accusation. “Any jealous exes we should know about?”
“Try every thirsty woman in the age range,” Taryn snorted, though it held very little humor. “I’ve seen the comments on their socials.”
I winced, which drew their attention to me.
“Don’t you dare listen to a word of that, sweets,” Jackson told me firmly. His dark green eyes were full of indignation on my behalf. “You are so fucking perfect. Sexy. Smart. Independent. Strong. Business savvy. They are all the ones out of our league. If anything, you're out of ours.”
“Damn straight,” Bea agreed. The cop taking her statement chuckled at her words as he tried and failed to keep her attention long enough to get any real answers.
Finally, he turned to me after giving up on her. “Well, if this was aimed at you, can you tell me why that is?”
“Us,” Cy said easily. “We play for the Knuckleball Knockouts. This has ‘crazy fans’ written all over it.”
My eyes widened enough that the sheriff eyed me. “That seems to mean something to you. Has there been more?”
“Yes,” I admitted. “For almost a week now I’ve been harassed in my emails.”
“What?” Taryn and Bea gasped while my guys eyed me with varying looks of concern and hurt. I hadn’t trusted them with this and I was realizing now that was a mistake.
“I’m sorry,” I whispered. “I thought they’d just go away when I didn’t give them some kind of reaction. It didn’t feel like a big deal.”
“That never works on people like this, sadly,” the sheriff sighed. “Can I see them?”
“It would be easier inside,” I said, unlocking the door and ignoring the streaks of blue dripping down around the handle.
The shop was still dark, untouched, and I let out a relieved sigh as I flicked on the switch. It was the same as always. Shelves tidy, everything in its place, pleasant scent of books and ink in the air.
I led the sheriff to the computer, my pack firmly behind me, refusing to give me space. I’d always faced everything alone and it clearly didn’t help this time, so I didn’t protest as Cy and Jackson stayed at my back, Griff at my side.
It took a few moments to boot up our systems and log in to my email.
“This all went to your work?”
“Yeah, there was an attempt to get me fired. Guess they didn’t realize I was part-owner,” I admitted. My voice sounded hollow as I pulled up the long string of emails. There was a new set of them, one that blatantly asked if I liked the new artwork.
I stepped out of the way as the Sheriff nudged his way in, eyeing my guys but they didn’t back away. There was a mix of curses as they read the increasingly ugly words.
These assholes cut me down on everything. My town. The shop. Weight. Looks. Background.
I stayed away, refusing to let any of it penetrate the shaky barrier around my sanity right now.
“My IT guy is coming out. You got a printer? We’ll want copies, too,” he said, already tapping at the phone and walking away.
Shit. This just got even more real.
Then the guys were in front of me.
“Peach, why didn’t you tell us?” Cy asked. He kept his voice even and careful but the way he was holding back still had tears slowly tracking down my cheeks.
“I’m used to handling things alone. I’m sorry,” I answered, trying to keep the tears at bay.
“Hey, don’t cry,” Griff groaned. “I can’t take it. You’re breaking my heart, gorgeous.”
“It’s just… I thought they’d give up, go away. Then it got worse and I started to let some of their words sink in, then I was too ashamed to tell you,” I admitted. The darker side of my thoughts had won finally.
I couldn’t meet their gazes and even as they pressed against me, I felt the armor around me try to keep us apart.
“This is why you were acting a little off, huh?” Griff’s words weren’t a question at all. He had already connected the necessary dots.
“Yes,” I whispered. “Sometimes it doesn’t make sense.”
“What doesn’t, sweets?” Jackson asked.
“You guys. Me. This.” My hands gestured between us but Cy reached out, circling my wrist with his fingers. It wasn’t harsh, but firm enough my lips fell open and I gaped up at him.
“Let me make something very fucking clear to you, peach. I chose you the moment I saw you, not even scented you. That day I took in those pouty lips, that shock of red curls, the creamy expanse of your skin, and those fantastic tits. Your body is everything I’ve dreamt of. All I need and all I’ll ever want.”
“Cy,” Jackson said gently, but I think I needed to hear his truth.
“No, let her hear this so it sinks past those walls she’s putting up,” he argued before looking back at me.
“Every second I spend around you is a lesson in self-control.
All I can imagine is laying you out between us and claiming you as mine.
My alpha is on edge, but more than that, I'm obsessed, peach.”
Jackson, catching on, spun me his way next.
“You’re the complete package, sweets. Those smarts, that ass,” he flashed his dimples before continuing.
“Everything about you calls to us in a way no other omega or beta could compare. You are ours. Everyone else and their bullshit opinions, don’t matter. ”
“The moment you give the word, you’ll wear my bite, hold my claim,” Griff said, his dark blue eyes locking on me. They weren’t soft and warm now, but molten with heat.
I did that. Me.
Their words wrapped around my walls, dissolving the barrier between us, until all I could feel was their confidence in me, their need.
“Get out of here, take care of our girl,” Bea cut through. “Before your pheromones drown us all.”
“Thanks,” I managed before they were sweeping me out of the door and into the morning sunshine.
Etta and her pack were already working, cleaning up the mess that was left behind. She beamed when she saw me.
“That’s right, girl. Let that pack carry you now. I promise, the fall is worth it.” Her dreamy smile turned to her pack before looking back at me. “We’ve got this.”
“Thank you,” I said before my pack was sweeping me off.
“Now you’re ours. All day, peach,” Cy cheered.
“Where are we going? What about camp?”
“We called in to the camp coach and ours to let them know something happened and we had to stick around. They’re even putting a statement out on the socials on our behalf about no tolerance for bullying,” Jackson said, looking determined.
I had no doubt all of that was his work.
He was the more reserved of the three, but no less protective.
I didn’t know if it would stop this, but I sure as hell hoped it would help.
Though, I hated the idea of them stopping their lives for this. That just let the bullies win. We were all grown ass adults, even if some didn’t act like it. I refused to bow down or change my life for that idiocy.
"No, I want you to go to the camp and practice. I'll just go with you and watch you work," I told them. Those kids didn't do this to me and I hated the idea of letting them down.
My guys sighed before Griff spoke up, running a hand through his dark hair as he considered it. "Fine, but you will not be out of our sight and if you see anyone taking your picture at all, you call for us."