Page 76 of Pack End Game

Coach continues in a quiet voice, "To be entrusted with an omega by fate is the ultimate honor. It's not a responsibility to be taken lightly. If you've got someone depending on you to build them a safe place in this world, then you'd better act like it."

I swallow hard.

Tension radiates off of Spencer's body, warming my own flesh.

"That doesn't mean you stop doing your job." Coach grunts. "Just means you do your job knowing why you're doing it, and what's waiting for you at home when you're done."

The words land exactly as he intends.

I nod, completely understanding where he's coming from. Nothing is a competition between choosing football or Mia. We play football, and then we go home to Mia. Football's place in our lives is on the field.

For now.

For one last season.

I know in my heart it's the right choice for me.

The line I want to draw for myself.

Spencer releases a long breath. "We appreciate the advice, Coach. But I still don't know how to solve the problem of having an omega close to going into heat, while the remodel for her dream nest is basically finished, but completely unusable until the city gives us the okay to actually occupy the building."

Spencer paid the contractors to work double-time in the hopes of pulling off a miracle.

Coach offers a sly smile. "Well, I might just know the owner of a professional football team who happens to have a friend with a helicopter in the city we're playing in this evening."

"Really?" My heart still in my chest.

Spencer inhales a sharp breath. "Would Kane be willing to do us that kind of favor? It's not like he owes us anything."

"After last week's win?" Coach's smile widens. "He was willing to offer to bribe the helicopter's pilot to land directly on the field to pick you up if necessary."

"What?" Spencer whispers.

"I texted to let him know I thought you three might need alternate arrangements home after tonight's game," Coach explains. "Kane might be a bit of an enigma, not coming around much, but he loves this team. Even that damn Simon the Sloth mascot." He glances over his shoulder toward Freddie, who's still straining to hear as much as he can without getting too close to Coach.

I can't believe this. "You're serious?" I ask because it sounds too good to be true.

Coach Lamb nods. "The helicopter will be waiting at a nearby airfield for you. And if we happen to be dominating the score of the game after halftime... Who am I to say what a star quarterback, tight end, and mascot might need to handle in the locker room while some of the rookies get some playing time?"

Saying thank you doesn't even begin to feel like enough.

My mind is spinning at a hundred miles an hour as I look over at Spencer. He looks as lost in disbelief as I feel. But I can also see the stirring behind his eyes as he mentally sorts the logistics of getting back in time for the city hall meeting, and doing everything we can to secure an emergency-speed rezoning.

With fate and Coach Lamb on our side, we're about to make our omega's dreams come true.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Mia

I fully intended to stay awake.

That was the plan.

The guys warned me they would be getting back late after the away game, and that they didn't expect me to wait up for them. But after staying up to watch the entire game–yes, the whole thing, even though I barely understood anything that was happening–I really wanted to be awake to congratulate them the moment they walked in the door to my apartment.

So, yes, the plan was to stay awake on the couch, watching romcoms and waiting for them to come home to me.

But sometime after the game ended, my alphas coming off the field by the fourth quarter to let some other players have their time on the field, I must have managed to drift off to sleep on the couch.