LiaThe next day or so had the guys moving into the extra rooms we had. There were two so Colby and Rain paired up while Jesse and Matt shared the other. I tried to make myself scarce but with it being a Friday, I had no choice but to accept that this was my life now.At least at school, I could pretend.But I focused on the fact that my brother would be there.Or so I thought.“What do you mean you're not going to be here this weekend?!”“I’m visiting my mate. We haven’t seen each other in a while because she has been busy with exams and I’ve been busy with rugby.”“That means I’ll be alone with them.”“Them?” Michael asked with a laugh. “You mean your mates.”I shivered. “Stop saying that. I don’t like to hear those words, you know that.”“Denial is not a good thing, Lia.”“Denial is the only thing getting me through this!”No matter what I said, my brother refused to listen to me. He told me that I was going to be fine and the weekend would be a good bonding experience for me along
MattMy phone started going off way too early. Growling I grabbed it and opened the group chat.Group Chat: "Team Mission Lia"6:03 AMJesse: You, everyone up? We need to talk.Matt: ...Why is this happening before the sun is fully awake?Colby: Because it’s important, Matt. Now get over it and focus.Rain: zzzz…Jesse: Rain, wake up. This isn’t optional.Rain: Half-conscious. Proceed.Matt: This better not be about Lia. It’s too early for emotional trauma.Jesse: It is about Lia. We can’t ignore this anymore.Colby: We’ve been a mess around her, and it’s time we get our act together. No more lurking awkwardly or being avoidant.Rain: Do you mean no more "accidentally" bumping into her to check if she’s still mad?Jesse: EXACTLY. We’ve been idiots. Years of bullying her didn’t help.Matt: Didn’t it help? It made her hate us. Deservedly.Colby: Which is why we need a plan. She’s smart. If we just rush her with apologies, she’ll think we’re trying to manipulate her.Rain: We kind of wer
MattI kept pacing in front of Lia’s room. She had to smell and hear me. The pacing was just going to make her nervous, but if anyone was extremely nervous in this situation then it was me. It felt like my heart was going to leap right out of my chest.“Why are you pacing outside the room?” Rain hissed from down the hall. “Matt just knocks on the door and asks Lia if you can speak with her.”“And if she says no?”“Then tell her everything through the door. Problem solved!”I sighed, deciding it was better to take Rain’s advice than just pacing back and forth, doing nothing but wearing a path on the carpet.So, I took a breath, knocking rapidly at the door.“Hello…?”“Hey, Lia… it’s Matt.”“I know, I can smell you.”I cursed under my breath. God, why was she such an awkward idiot when it came to her now?“Anyway, can I come in?”“…. Yes.”With my nerves on edge, I walked inside and stayed in the doorway. Standing in the room where she spent her time was difficult. Her scent was overpow
RainThe pot I pulled out from the cabinet slipped out of my hands and clattered loudly onto the floor. I let out a nervous shout, trying to grab it before it made any more noise but I ended up dropping it again!Footsteps from above caused me to freeze. Shit, did I wake some of them up? I wasn’t trying to wake anyone up!“Rain, what the hell are you doing?” asked Colby who popped his head into the room.I paled. “Shit, did I wake you up?”“No, I came down to get some coffee so I was already awake. The more important question is why are you down here? You hate getting up early.”“I’m making breakfast in bed for Lia,” I said proudly.Colby paled. “You're going to cook?”“Yes.”“Rain you, the man who has a toaster on fire trying to make toast, is going to make breakfast?”I frowned. “Hey, I’m just making eggs!”“I remember the one time you made eggs when we were on that Rugby retreat. Somehow they turned out to be runny and burnt at the same time. No one could figure out how you did som
ColbyThe smell of burnt food filled the house for at least an hour after Rain’s cooking attempt. I plugged in one of those air fresheners and it seemed to do the job.No one was even shocked to smell the burning or hear Rain swearing from down in the kitchen. All of us, including Michael, were used to him setting random things on fire. I honestly don’t know how the hell he managed to set so many things on fire. It was a skill that no one should have.But then I heard laughter and hushed voices. Lia and Rain were having a suitable time. Matt hadn’t spoken much about his date with Lia but he had a small smile on his face when he came in the other day.I tried to ask him about it. Matt just huffed, going back inside his room. We all thought it would help him open and be more willing to accept that this was our life now. But Matt was even closed off than before!Jesse was his roommate. Let Jesse deal with Matt and try to make some sense to him. Hell, if he had to do it then go ahead. The
Jesse“So… Jesse what are you and Lia planning to do today?” Rain asked me, leaning in the doorway with a curious grin on his face.“Coffee,” I said simply.Rain blinked. “Wait, that’s it? Just… coffee.”“Yes, Coffee.”Matt scoffed. “Rain you do know that coffee dates are a thing, right?”“Well, yes but that sounds super boring.“Maybe Jesse doesn’t find them boring.”I nodded. “I don’t find them boring. They are very simple and to the point. We can either sit there or have our coffee and go. What more could you want?”Rain paled. “I don’t know why you would want to go on such a date. It’s so boring but hey Jesse that’s up to you. Do what you feel like you need to do.”“I always do, Rain.”Everyone seemed so nervous. Matt was still in a state of denial and Rain had screwed up breakfast because of how nervous he was. But to be fair, Rain just didn’t have any cooking skills. He had the exact opposite of a cooking skill.My thoughts drifted to Colby who was on his way back from his outin
LiaIn the morning, I groaned, tempted to pull the covers over my eyes, but I realized that I needed to get to school. We were getting to the point where graduation was just around the corner. Hard to believe that I would be a high school graduate who would be going on to college. I was excited to study teaching in college because teaching was always something I had wanted to do.Instructing students and trying to get them to where they needed to be something I always wanted. This was just the next step in the plan I had worked out in my head. The one part of my plan that wasn’t something I expected was to be mated to the four guys who I used to call my torments.Even now I was still shocked, but the events of the weekend sent me reeling. What was I going do now that I had to see them after sharing moments with every single one? We all had an enjoyable time during our separate events, talking and just forging a new bond.My phone buzzed while I was in the middle of getting dressed. Si
MichaelI logged into the group chat, ready to say my peace. It was time to get it out there. The guys had a right to know what I was doing. There were going to be some pushbacks but so be it.This wasn’t even unexpected! I had been wanting to live with my mate for a while now. She was finally done with school so it made sense for the two of us to take the next step. Then we could make our bond official and become actual mates, registered with the state and everything.Michael: Hey everyone, just wanted to let you know I’m officially moving out next week.Rain: Wait, what? Moving out?Colby: Is this like a short trip, or are we talking permanently moving out?Michael: Permanent. I’m going to live with my mate full-time now. It’s time.Matt: …You’re serious?Jesse: Man, are you sure about this?Michael: Yes, 100%. You are all here for Lia now, so she’s set. You’ll handle things fine.Rain: I mean, we are here for Lia, but this was kind of sudden.Matt: You’ve been the buffer, man. Lia’
LiaAfter that awkward pick-up from college, the guys had been on their best behavior. I was pleased to see that they weren’t falling into bad behavior again. It would’ve been a shame, knowing that we had come so far.But then things got complicated again. I was in the process of going off my suppressants and getting a new one. With the old ones still in my system, I was going to be all right for the time being but I needed the new ones.It was all I could think about as I got closer and closer to the time I might start showing symptoms of my heat. What if I broke into heat at school? It wasn’t unheard of and still happens, but it is a rarity in our modern society.Most times people were on suspensions successfully for years until they decided to go off them and not the day before then.However, my medication had been discontinued, leading me to find a new one. I had waited, desperate to get the new medication they subscribed me but then it was late.The first day it was late I was fi
LiaAdjusting to college was something that took a little time. But, I was determined to enjoy my newfound freedom on the college campus.Today was no different. Simone picked me up and together we drove to school. We were in the same major so the two of us were constantly together. I don’t know what motivated Simone to become a teacher, but sometimes I feared she was going along with it simply because I was.It would break my heart to know she wasn’t as taken with it as I was. But I didn’t ask, not wanting to rock the boat.Simone and I didn’t have the last class on our schedule together so we split up. I stopped by the library before heading to the car. Alex happened to bump into me as I was leaving, wanting to give me the book I let him borrow.It was a completely innocent thing, but I knew they were going to read more into it. I could hear it in their voices and actual words!When I glanced over Alex’s shoulder, I saw the expression on Colby’s face. Even Rain looked annoyed, much
LiaIt was my first day of college and the guys were hovering. I looked over at Colby who leaned against the doorframe, frowning deeply.Try as I might, I couldn’t ignore him. He was persistent, standing there and gazing at me with this worried expression on his face. Then the other guys showed up, all of them looking at me.“Are you okay?”“Why wouldn’t I be?” I shot back, stuffing my water bottle into the side pocket of my bag.He sighed softly, obviously exasperated by my comment, but I didn’t care. I was frustrated with this line of questioning. Why did they even have to question me about this anyway?It was my first day of college. I wanted to enjoy it, to experience my first day on campus without worrying about my future mates being so overprotective and super involved in my life. They should calm down and let me live my life.This is what they got to do!“Because it’s your first day,” he said. “At college. Without us.”“I went to high school without you.”Colby frowned. “But As
RainI can’t believe I’m graduating today.How can that even be possible? It doesn’t seem possible. Something is wrong with me because I’m not as excited as I thought I would be. I’m more nervous, wondering what the hell I’m going to do with my life.None of us had gotten any responses from the scouts. I knew something like this could take time, but it didn’t help my anxiety.What if I didn’t get on any team? Rugby was all I knew. Matt liked to keep pointing out that we had our backup plans but I wanted to respond that I didn’t want my backup plan. I wanted my first choice!It was immature of me to think this so I didn’t say anything.I should be focused on graduation, on this next phase of my life. Look at Lia who had graduated and was thrilled with starting college soon.Speaking of college, the thought of her being there with all those alphas was enough to make me growl with frustration. I didn’t want to think of her on campus with older alphas but what was I going to do? Prevent h
LiaI was getting closer and closer to starting college soon. It was going to be such a change and I was nervous. What were Simone and I going to do when we headed onto campus that first day? It was beyond anything we had ever attended before.Imagine going from our medium-sized high school to a large local college campus. But I was looking forward to this next step.Whenever I brought it up around the guys, I did notice they tensed a little. It was as if they didn’t want to see me go to college or were nervous about me being on the campus surrounded by all those alphas and betas.There were omegas too, but why would they be worried about omegas?I wasn’t going to have it if they started in with their jealousy again. One part of me said at least they weren’t getting jealous of one another, but I didn’t want to see any of it! It was stressful enough starting college and I didn’t need added stress.But, life is full of stressors. No matter how much you try to avoid stress, something wil
LiaI woke up with a pounding headache. The liquor I drank last night had gone right through me, making me act more carefree than I usually did. Normally, I was a more reserved person but last night… I feel like I made a fool of myself.But I had a great time with my pack. I blushed thinking about dancing with the guys, my body pressed against theirs. Parts of their body had started to respond… and I was almost disappointed that nothing came of it.Groaning, I buried my bright red face in the soft pillow below me. How was I going to get through this?I was convinced that the next morning I was going to be embarrassed when I saw them but when I headed downstairs, no one said a thing to me.“Hey guys,” I greeted, blinking when they all turned to me, looking rose for wear. “Are you all okay?”“Depends on what you mean by okay,” Jesse stated, voice flat.“Jesse, even you drank too much?” I asked, gasping softly. “I expected it from say Rain and Colby but not you.”He smirked. “Blame it on
LiaI was unsure of what to do with myself now that I wasn’t in school. In a matter of weeks, I would be starting college soon and I was thrilled. In a few years I would be on my way to becoming a teacher, a profession I always wanted to go into.The guys were on their way to graduating. With their big game this weekend followed by a graduation a week after, they would be moving on to their careers. I know they all hoped they were going to be drafted. It’s all they had talked about for years. A day didn’t go by they didn’t bring it up.Sighing softly, I looked around at the guys who had joined me for a movie. There was a bit of an argument over who would sit with me, but we worked it out. I made it clear no possessive crap around me or that there was going to be problems.Rain asked me point blank if I would be coming to the game. I gave him a look, causing him to blink.“What, why are you looking at me like that? I just want to know if you're coming.”“Rain, of course, I’m going. Thi
“What do you guys think of adding to the pack?” I asked one morning.The table went silent, everyone pausing in mid-bite or drinking. I shifted uncomfortably, wishing they would say something. It was so quiet you could hear a pin drop!Matt cleared his throat, tone gruff and bordering on a growl. “Who do you want to add?”“Matt, my dude, which sounds a little possessive,” Rain whispered to him, giving him a sharp elbow to the ribs.“You were thinking it too!” Matt accused Rain who shook his head desperately.“I did not!” Rain muttered, casting a glance at Colby. “Colby were you?”Colby rolled his eyes. “I wasn’t thinking it. Jesse?”“I figured she meant Michael and Simone.”My eyes flickered over to Jesse. “Thank you Jesse for injecting some sanity back into the conversation.”“That’s what I am here for.”I giggled. “Anyway, that was what I was thinking. Simone, her mates, Michael, and Gabi have yet to join a pack. Simone still has some time but Michael has only about a month left.”T
ColbyLia’s graduation was almost upon us. It was this weekend and I wanted to do something special for her. All the guys wanted to do something special for her. She was going to be finishing high school and heading into college.It was a shame we all wouldn’t be able to attend the same school together. Me and the guys were going to be graduating from college, hopefully moving onto the next phase of our lives, professional rugby players.Imagine if all of us were scouted to the same team. This would be a dream if I could work beside them all the time. But I was realistic, knowing that I might be drafted by another team. It was always an option when it came to these sorts of things.Once all of us were downstairs, we decided to have a discussion.I leaned back in my chair, tapping my fingers against the table. The others sat around me, waiting for some grand idea. The truth? I had one. It wasn’t grand, though."Okay, listen," I said, glancing at Rain, who was already smirking like he h