Page 127 of Baseball and Shifters

“Aubree, your path won’t be straight, but your heart will know what’s true.”

“Maya, yours will be the loudest, and the most protective.”

“And Dallas... yours are closer than you think. Waiting to awaken your truest form.”

Rachel squeezes my hand. The fire snaps again, and for a moment, nobody says a thing.

Then Maya leans forward, wide-eyed. “Okay, but like… are they hot?”

Aubree snorts. “Please let them be hot.”

Dallas mutters, “If one of mine turns out to be a dolphin, I swear to all the fates...”

Laughter bubbles up around the fire, just like that, the tension fades. Mom leans back with a satisfied smile, I swear she looks even more smug than usual.

Rachel curls back into my chest with a sigh, and I press a kiss to her temple.

Whatever's coming next for her friends, I know one thing for sure.

They’ll be ready.

The sun cuts through the curtains like it has something to prove.

I blink awake slowly, limbs tangled with Rachel and at least two of my packmates. Bas is draped half off the bed like a fallen statue, snoring softly, a bead of drool hanging out of his mouth. Liam’s arm is flung over Rachel’s waist, and Lucas is curled up against her back.

She’s smiling in her sleep. That little half-smile that means she feels safe.

My chest gets warm and my heart rate picks up a little from just looking at her beautiful face.

There’s peace in the room. A post-celebration exhaustion, the kind that settles in your bones after you’ve danced, laughed, and loved too hard the night before. The scent of sugar and salt still lingers on our skin from the bonfire snacks. Someone, I think Bas, has littered the glitter from the confetti cannons all over my room.

A phone buzzes on the nightstand. Once. Then again.

Bas groans. “If that’s mine, throw it in the lake.”

Lucas grunts. “Yours is dead. That’s mine or Liam's.”

I sigh, sliding out from under Rachel as gently as I can. She stirs, but doesn’t wake.

I grab the offending phone, pressing the power button to wake it up. The lock screen shows a picture of Lucas and Rachel, he’s planting a big sloppy kiss on her cheek. The carefree grin on her face fills me with joy and I understand why it’s his background.

Well, that answers the question whose phone it is.

He has five missed calls and a dozen unread texts, but the email notification has my full attention.

Eldergrove Athletics Alert — URGENT: Supernatural League Baseball Draft Announcement

I enter his password and open the email. If he didn’t want me going through his phone, he should have a stronger password than his birthday.

I stare at the screen, my eyes scanning the words, now fully awake.

It’s happening. It’s really happening!

Their dreams are coming true.

“Guys?” I say, louder than necessary.

Bas snorts. “Is it pancakes? Because if it's not pancakes, I’m not listening.”

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