Golden Bonds

A Lesson In Balance

"Sebastian." I kept my tone flirty trying to calm his wolf. "It wasn't their fault. I stepped into it. Nothing is broken but I'm going to have one hell of a bruise for a few hours." I didn't know how to explain the joke between Zeek and me without getting him into more trouble so I pretended not to notice the defensive aggression Sebastian was emitting towards Zeek. His wolf found Zeek a threat to our mate bond.

I swallowed against the rising panic. It had been nice, feeling human for a while, forgetting that underneath the bravado and carefully controlled order we were all monsters.

Violence was a natural part of our existence and Sebastian was struggling with a strangled need to attack. I could feel it trickle down the pack, everyone on edge prepared to fight. Little squabbles growing into bigger problems. Misunderstandings and unintentional disrespects were on the verge of turning into grand offenses.

Zeek felt it too so he gave an apologetic grin and went back to his position in the field removing the threat. I searched for a way to comfort Bash and not make it worse. There was nothing between Zeek and I that should make him jealous but how to show him that? I stopped rubbing my shoulder and lifted it towards him. "See, the bone is fine. You can check."

The dominance receded as Sebastian's silver eyes slid into gold with shock. I'd given him permission to touch me. He would offer to let me touch him but I'd never returned the gesture. The one time when he touched my neck I'd let him but I hadn't offered. Now I was telling him to touch me. It might not seem like there was a difference but for me that was a big deal. Bash went from hostile to cautiously hopeful with three little words.

Molten eyes searched my emerald ones to make sure he'd heard me correctly. I lifted my arm towards him. The mate bond tightened. Something in it changed, grew deeper. He stepped forward, gentle fingers felt around the bruise, feeling for any cracks or fractures in the bone. His touch feather light. I smirked at him when he eventually nodded agreeing, the bone was fine.

"I get first base." It raised the mood back up and brushed off any remaining awkwardness.

To keep the atmosphere uplifted Conner kept up the competitive edge. "You crowded the box."

"The ball still made contact. I get first." He wasn't going to put up too much of a fight with Bash still irritable.

The reluctance to take his hands from my skin was charming. I regretted it as much as he did. There was a pattern forming, a quid-pro-quo. He gets to touch, I get to touch. I reached out and squeezed Bash's arm, as a 'thank-you' and an 'I'm-fine' in one quick touch; reassuring both of us that we were fine before I jogged to first.

Zeek was still feeling sorry for himself. I didn't want him to stop our sibling rivalry so to pull him out of his moping I stole second base out from under his nose. And then third when the ball sailed passed him into outfield that Conner had thrown to catch me. I did a victory dance on third to rub it in.

From the dugout Bash watched my geeky little jig with a peculiar expression on his face. It made my heart beat spike, the muscles low in my belly clinched. My foot slide sideways off the base and I barely kept a toe on as I tipped over catching myself with my hands on the dirt.

After that they kept a closer eye on me when I was on base. Omega doesn't mean submissive, I was aggressive in my own way and sneaky enough to steal bases. A gymnast doesn't get to champion level without a fierce competitive streak. I was much quicker than they were expecting. If they weren't watching closely I could make it to the next base in a flash. Conner didn't walk me again; he went for strikes to keep us from scoring more runs.