14. Bea
Dani’s pack snagged us amazing tickets to the game. We were close enough to see the action and they’d even supplied fresh jerseys for the guys and Phoenix. I loved how easily they’d accepted her into our big, messy family, and how much she loved being around them.
Right now, she was wearing a standard Knuckleball Knockouts jersey and matching blue stripes painted across her cheeks.
She was smiling more than I think I’d ever seen her smile.
This was exactly what I wanted for my girl.
She deserved to see what happiness looked like, to not have to look over her shoulder every five seconds.
Part of me still worried my sister would come calling, showing up out of nowhere. Then again, she didn’t know our new address. It wasn’t that I was hiding it from her. I was just… avoiding surprises. She knew where our store was and had my number if she decided to check in.
It was strange having my pack with me now. I’d avoided them for so long, been so stressed that things would turn out poorly, that I was still trying to wrap my head around the fact that they hadn’t just accepted me and the baby, but Phoenix, too.
“And now, let’s welcome the Knuckleball Knockouts!” the announcer yelled across the speakers.
The team rushed out, music blaring as they jumped straight into a choreographed dance. Corvin looked over at me, eyebrows raised. It seemed we took the alpha by surprise.
“Did you not realize this wasn’t a standard baseball game?”
“I mean… I think I knew,” he admitted. “I just didn’t expect it to be all of this.”
“Oh, come on. This is the best part,” Apollo said. “Maybe I should’ve gone into this instead of firefighting.” He was doing a little shimmy in his seat now as he watched the players on the field, his smile wide and bright. I loved how open and secure he was.
The moment the players called out to have everyone join in, half the stands jumped to their feet, dancing along. Apollo joined in, shaking his ass with zero shame, making Phoenix cringe and the rest of us laugh.
When the dancing ended and the game started, the guys settled in around me. My omega had never felt so content. There was no need to run. No need for insecurities.
Any time anxiety would flare, their hands would brush my arm, land on my lower back, always touching me in some small way. Grounding me.
“Do you guys want anything from the concession?” Ezra asked as he stood, glancing down at Phoenix first.
She perked up, looking at him with wide puppy-dog eyes. “Nachos. Maybe cotton candy. And a soda?”
He looked at me for confirmation, and I shrugged. I wasn’t going to be strict at a game like this. It was probably her first.
I reached into my purse, but he waved me off. “No, I’ve got it.”
I bit back the argument. He looked almost amused before leaning down and pressing a quick kiss to my lips, right there in front of Phoenix and my friends.
Not one of them said a word. In fact, I caught the hint of a smile on Phoenix’s face as she turned away.
I think she liked the idea of me finding my pack, especially if it meant them taking care of us and adding even more to her unexpected family. She deserved that kind of stability and security.
Our focus shifted to the field again as the Knuckleballs played against a newer team in the league. You could tell they were still finding their footing, and the Knockouts didn’t hold back.
Phoenix cheered the loudest, but we all joined in. Dani leaned in closer to my niece, pointing out players and plays so she could understand the game better. They were forming a bit of a bond themselves.
Apollo and Ezra walked back in twenty minutes later with their arms loaded full of snacks. Even though not everyone requested something, they passed them out. I snagged a bag of popcorn, and Ezra handed me my favorite soda.
I’d mentioned it once during dinner, and he remembered.
Every time they made me feel seen or heard, it pushed Cameron a little further from my mind and rewrote my ideas about pack life, about how I saw myself.
Sitting there with my chosen family, my niece, and my pack by my side was probably the happiest I’d been in… who knows how long.
If ever.
Maybe I was being pathetic, but I didn’t think anything could top this moment. My hands instinctively went to my stomach, caressing the growing bump. I was barely paying attention to the game, just soaking in the company.
“Oh god, this is the worst part,” Phoenix groaned dramatically, putting her hands over her red face.
I looked up just in time to see the kiss cam panning across the audience, picking out packs and couples. Alphas dipped their omegas back, laying on the charm, and the crowd ate it up. The teenager next to me looked like she was dying a little more with each couple that flashed on the screen.
“Tell me when it’s over,” Phoenix complained.
“Don’t look now,” Dani shot back, cackling.
It had landed on me.
Of course, my pack didn’t hesitate. All three of them dove in at once, kissing me one after the other until I was breathless and my cheeks were as red as the other team’s jerseys. The crowd around us lost it.
Phoenix chose that moment to look up. “No! I thought I made the rules clear,” she complained.
“Rules don’t apply to kiss cams,” Apollo argued, ruffling her hair and earning a glare while she huffed and played it up.
She didn’t really look upset, which was a relief. The last thing I wanted was for her to hate going out in public with us. I didn’t want to be that pack anyway. The ones perpetually all over each other, stuck in the honeymoon phase and making everyone else around them miserable.
My friends could be sappy about their packs, but they didn’t lose themselves and neither would I.
As the game continued on, Ezra pulled my hand into his lap, one hand lacing our fingers together, the other trailing slowly up and down my arm. Goosebumps spread at his touch, and as much as I tried to keep myself under wraps, my scent spiked.
Phoenix gave me a side-eye but didn’t call me out as the cloud of pure happy omega hit them before the open-air snatched it away.
It was like my omega needed the whole world to know she was content.
After the next inning the soda hit and I excused myself to head to the bathroom. I hopped up and told my pack where I was headed, and Taryn decided to join me.
"How great is your pack? I love that they care for not just you, but Phoenix, too," she gushed, looping her arm around mine.
"Right? I was an idiot to push them away," I admitted.
"What? No, we all have things to work through and you're facing them head on. That's all you can do. I’m proud of you for deciding to work on yourself," she said gently as we stood in line for our turn at the restroom. It was busier than I expected, I just hoped it moved quickly.
"Why don't these places make the women's rooms bigger?" I asked Taryn, trying my best not to squirm from the pressure on my bladder.
"That's a great question, we'll have to ask Dani and her pack about that," she laughed, before giving me the look that said she wanted details. "So… tell me how things are really going?"
"Better than I could imagine, honestly. They’ve respected all my wishes and they are great with Phoenix.” I didn’t bother hiding the smile on my lips when I thought of them. She’d see right through it anyway.
“Good, I didn’t want to have to kick their asses. Apollo is huge and I’m a tiny girl,” she teased.
“Nah, we’d just call in the grannies. They’d have their asses in shape in no time,” I shot back, both of us laughing at that mental image.
“I hope we grow up to be as feisty as they are,” Taryn said as we finally moved closer to the door.
“God, we will absolutely be worse,” I said as we walked into the restroom.
“Raising hell until we die,” Taryn confirmed, earning us a glare from the woman trying to sneak around us.
I just shook my head at her. “Ignore her,” I muttered. “Some people need to relax.” We weren’t about to let her ruin our day.
“There’s an open one, run,” Taryn told me, pointing to a stall in the middle that someone just vacated.
Thank goodness, I didn’t think I could hold it any longer. I rushed forward when the lady who glared pushed me out of the way and headed in. I stumbled on the tiled floor, grabbing the top of the stalls to stop myself from falling.
“What the fuck?” I said and knocked on the door. “I was next in line.”
Of course, she said nothing. Asshole.
The door next to me opened up and I ducked in there, instead. The nerve of some people. At least she didn’t hurt me or the baby. Taryn would have killed her for me before I even had a chance.
When I stepped up to wash my hands that bitch was yelling at an older woman to move out of her way. The woman was on a walker and trying her best to wash her hands quickly, shooting her confused looks.
Was she serious? Hell no…
“Get your hands off her,” I yelled as she started bumping into her on purpose. She startled at the shout and turned to look at me.
“Excuse me? Who the hell are you? This is none of your business,” she sneered at me.
“Well, when you laid your hands on me that gave me the right to put you in your place,” I started.
“I let that go, but there is no reason for you to harass this lady when she’s washing her hands.
The amount of time you wasted yelling at her, she could have washed her hands and you’d be done, too.
Your time isn’t more precious than anyone else’s and manners are something you need to learn. Apologize to her and wash your hands.”
Taryn stepped up beside me and we weren’t the only two surrounding her now. Nothing united people quite like tipsy ladies sharing a bathroom. And she was absolutely ruining the vibe.
She muttered something and moved to an empty sink down the line, shooting me furious looks but now that everyone was staring and whispering, she didn’t engage.
“Feel better?” Taryn asked, smiling at me in the mirror.
“I do,” I smirked back at her.
After we dried our hands, we headed back to our seats, people watching as we went. There was always drama when scents intermingled like this.
“Are we doing anything after the game?” I asked as we started down the stairs to our row.
“Dinner? Since you have Phoenix, dancing is out,” Taryn answered.
“Yes, and no drinking for me anyway,” I almost sighed at that. Not that I wasn’t grateful for this little surprise, but I did miss the carefree nights at the club.
“I’ll drink for you,” she teased as we returned to our packs.
“Everything okay?” Corvin asked as I sat down, his hand brushing the back of my neck before finally committing and kneading the tense muscles there.
“Yep, just a long line,” I reassured him. There was no way I was going to tell him about being pushed or confronting the girl after she accosted that older lady. The last thing I needed was him going all alpha on her.
He laced his free hand with mine just as Griff came up to bat.
“Go, Griff!” Dani yelled from next to Phoenix. She and my niece stood up, cheering louder for him than anyone in the stadium.
He hit a home run off the first pitch and took his victory lap around the bases before coming back to Dani and jumping up to give her a kiss on the lips.
It was a sweet moment that started the kiss cam going again.
They made the rounds and stopped on Taryn and her pack, it was sweet as they pecked her on the cheek.
As the cam shifted from her to the next pack, my blood ran cold. There was a familiar face staring back at me. One I never thought I’d see again in a million years.
Cameron.