Chapter 27
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
Kara
My wine glass sat empty on the coffee table as I stared at the black screen of my phone on the couch next to me. There should have been a decision by now and either I’d get a call from my pack or the lawyers. One meant we’d be able to match, and the other…
I stood from the couch, taking my wine glass to the kitchen to pour another half a glass. Yes, it was before noon on a weekday, but I didn’t care. I wasn’t working for obvious reasons, and I needed some kind of support since Ella couldn’t take the last few days of her employment off.
She’d decided to enter the match this fall after her visit to her parents’ house over the summer. I had a feeling she’d met a pack, but I couldn’t get her to tell me anything.
I went back to the couch and checked my phone just in case I’d missed a call. Kayla hadn’t texted me in over an hour, but she might have also been arrested.
I couldn’t stop my smile as I took a sip of wine. Kayla had sent me a picture one of her alphas had taken as she screamed into a megaphone. My sister was badass, and I loved her to pieces for being outside of Pack Health headquarters supporting my pack when I couldn’t be there myself.
I clicked over to my documents and pulled open the letter I’d written for the pack’s lawyers. It had flowed straight from my heart but left me an emotional wreck.
Dear Omega Protective Services, World Pack Health Organization, and Omega Match,
I was once the type of omega that followed the rules and lived with the fear of not being perfect. My entire being was consumed with the need to be the best I could be, and then Omega Match happened.
On the morning that spring match results were sent, I was so excited, only to have every hope and dream I’d had taken away. I had no matches. While I don’t know if I’ll ever know what truly happened to my match results, I am glad it happened because I met my pack.
Growing up, I had the privilege of watching a strong and loving omega be surrounded by equally as strong and loving alphas.
With six fathers, I was no stranger to how alphas should treat and take care of their omega, each other, and their offspring.
It wasn’t just a pack with an omega, but a partnership of seven amazing parents.
When one of my fathers passed away suddenly, I thought everything was going to fall apart. My mom was a mess and my fathers had just lost an essential part of their pack bond. What could have easily destroyed the pack didn’t because of the strength they had together.
Every pack must face tragedies and overcome obstacles to their happiness, but it’s how they come out on the other side that shows their true strength.
Alvaro, Tate, Cal, and Avery have faced a lot in their short time as a pack.
From rejection, to fame, to navigating it all without an omega that they so desperately wanted and needed.
By all accounts, the pack should have fallen apart and turned feral, but they didn’t.
Their bond, even when weakened, was able to withstand intense pressures other packs would have crumbled over.
It’s cruel to stop a pack that does nothing but bring joy to others from having their own joy. They’ve jumped through every hoop imaginable and yet are still told they can’t have the only thing they really want: me.
We met under interesting circumstances where they could have very well taken advantage of my fragile state of mind, but they didn’t.
They tried to return me to my sister’s house, but I stopped them.
It was ultimately them who decided to do things the right way when all I wanted were their bites on my neck, consequences be damned.
Over the last few months, I have gotten to know the pack better than I ever could have through Omega Match.
I know what hardworking and compassionate men they are.
Their bond has only strengthened, and when I showed up on their bus in heat, they worked as a pack to make sure I was comfortable and taken care of.
Not once did I feel they were taking advantage of me or feel they would force a bond with me.
I do not take choosing a pack lightly. My entire being knows that the Estrada pack is mine. They will always be mine, and if it takes years to be allowed to match with them, then I will wait.
My biggest regret is I never had the chance to tell Alvaro, Tate, Cal, and Avery that I love them before I was ripped away from them. I hope you find it in your hearts to let me have the chance to say it every day for the rest of my life.
Sincerely,
Kara Sterling
I put my phone on the arm of the couch and finished my wine. My nerves were shot and there was a slight tremble in my hand as I put the glass on the table.
Maybe they wouldn’t be allowed to talk to me afterward, even if things went well. My sister hadn’t been able to contact her pack after matching because of their celebrity status. But I had their numbers and they had mine, so why was no one calling me?
I grabbed my Squishmallows and pulled them to my chest. “What are we thinking, girls? Are we going to be packing or opening a new box of tissues?”
“Don’t be such a downer! We can still run away to Mexico with them,” Jane Doe squeaked.
Princess Leia smooshed against the deer. “But if we run away, we can never come back! Plus, people can be extradited, and N’Pact are pretty recognizable. Although, maybe they could grow bushy beards.”
“Not bushy beards! They remind me of hunters! Ahhh!” I threw the deer across the room. “Run!”
I sighed and lay down. If they didn’t approve them to do the match, I honestly didn’t know what I was going to do.
My phone rang and I nearly knocked it off the arm of the couch grabbing it. Breaking it was the last thing I needed.
Alvaro flashed across the screen, and I burst into tears as I pressed the accept call button. This was it. He was either going to break my heart or give me the best news ever.
“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?” Concern filled Alvaro’s voice as I struggled to even say hello. He was quiet for a minute. “I love you too. It’s all going to be okay. We’re doing the fall match and we can finally be together.”
His voice cracked, and now I really wasn’t going to be able to talk. I wanted to be there with them and go home with them. I wanted to make love to them and have them give me their marks and then mark them.
“I... really?” I laughed through my sobs because it felt like a dream, or maybe that was just from having a few glasses of wine.
“Really. Your letter helped immensely. We’ll have to do weekly check-ins with OPS and Pack Health for the first few months. We hope that’s okay with you. It’s a bit intrusive.”
“I don’t care.” I grabbed a tissue and wiped my nose. “Three weeks...”
“Three weeks.” He sniffled, and I heard someone whisper in the background. “We have to go and sign some paperwork now and then deal with the crowd in front of the building. We’ll call back when we’re home and can video chat, okay?”
I didn’t want to hang up the phone or wait. Why couldn’t we be together now? What if Omega Match deleted my matches again and I was left packless?
“Kara? It’s going to happen. We have it in writing, so even if something did fuck up the match, it’s a done deal.” Alvaro’s voice was all alpha and it made all negative thoughts vanish.
It was actually going to happen. It had all been worth it, and now I just had to be patient for three more weeks.
Time moves so slowly when you’re waiting for something. I had a countdown on my phone and found myself staring at it more than was healthy. Talking on video chat just made the yearning ache so much worse.
By the time matching was done and I was cleared to leave the compound, I was a ball of omega nervous energy and kept letting whimpers free as I rode to the airport.
I was bringing the most important stuff with me, but everything else I owned was packed in boxes and shipped to the pack’s house in Los Angeles.
We turned off the highway and headed for the private plane entrance. In just a few short hours, I was going to be home with my pack.
The driver passed the small parking lot and turned down a driveway running along the side of the building.
“Um, ma’am, I think you’re supposed to park in that lot back there.” I thought the drivers knew where to go since they drove so many omegas back and forth to this very same airport.
“Special clearance to drop you off by the plane.” She rolled down her window as we came to a gate manned by two armed guards. “I have Kara Sterling.”
One of the men looked past the woman and into the backseat. “Follow the arrows next to the building and stop at the stop sign. Someone will direct the car out to the plane.”
“Oh, well this is fancy.” I pulled out my cell phone and sent a text to the group chat.
Me: Did you guys arrange for me to be treated like a celebrity?
Cal: Only the best for our omega.
Tate: We didn’t want you to be bothered by anyone.
Avery: Can’t wait to hold you in my arms again...
Alvaro: The whole world has been watching this since news got out about us. We just don’t want you to be overwhelmed.
I smiled and put my phone in my purse, planning on texting them again once I was settled on the plane. Since newly matched omegas weren’t bonded, we had to use private planes to get to our pack if they were far away. I’d offered to drive but was met with four very growly nos.
The driver stopped at a stop sign and we waited. There were a few private planes parked, but I didn’t know which one I’d be on.
A pilot stepped out of one of the planes and waved to us to drive up. I was vibrating with excitement as we stopped near the stairs leading up to the plane.
The pilot opened my door. “Good morning, Ms. Sterling. I’ll be one of your pilots today.”
“Good morning.” It was a great morning, and I slid out of the backseat and slung my backpack and purse on. The other pilot waved from the cockpit window.
“Go on up and I’ll get your bags all squared away. There isn’t a flight attendant on this flight, so get settled anywhere you’d like.” The pilot shut the back door and went to the trunk to help the driver with my two large suitcases.
“Don’t mind if I do,” I said to myself, practically skipping to the stairs and then climbing them carefully. I’d seen enough videos of people falling down plane steps to go slowly.
I stopped at the door, my stomach suddenly in my throat because the delicious scents of my mates whacked me in the face.
Was this their plane? They hadn’t said anything about sending their own plane for me. I knew they had one but thought I’d be taking one in the fleet for omegas.
If I had to smell them the entire way home, I was going to be out of my mind by the time we landed. I’d just have to not breathe through my nose and really practice my olfactory management skills.
I walked on board and turned the corner, a cry bursting from my lungs as I came face to face with my pack.
Alvaro, Tate, Cal, and Avery were all waiting for me on the plane, and my world blurred as I ran the short distance to them, falling into Tate’s arms since he was the closest. They surrounded me, stroking my hair, my back, my cheeks, and any other part of me they could get their hands on.
For once, we didn’t have to worry about anyone seeing us or about crossing any boundaries.
They were mine forever.