Page 29 of Home: Posy 5

Needs to find his mate, I said.Ain't easy being unmated as it is, and Coach is twenty-six now.

I hear that. Poor Coach. I hope him and Reuben are next. They both need their special person.

Yeah,I agreed.I hope so, too.

Coach was convinced his mate had died in the sickness, but I trusted in the Moon Goddess. Surely she wouldn't allow her children to survive the sickness only to suffer, mateless and miserable, for the rest of their lives.

"He can learn how to play," Wayne pointed out, drawing me out of my thoughts. "He's smart. You'll see that for yourself. He's going to be in your auto mechanics class with us."

"I'm sure he is, and I look forward to teaching him, but he hates the feel of the uniform and had a freaking meltdown over wearing the mouthpiece."

"He's quirky," Archer admitted, "but we can work something out."

As they pleaded their case, Beckham Hall, who was Coach's younger brother, hoisted Thoreau up on his shoulders and ran him around the track. Giggling, Thoreau wrapped one hand around Beckham's head and waved his other like a queen.

All of the pack boys waved back, even the hard cases like Elijah Ford and Bridger Donahue. Seeing that, our human teammates waved, too, probably not understanding why, but going along with it nonetheless.

Never thought I'd see the day Ford and Donahue were randomly nice to someone, Landry smirked.

Everyone loves Reau,I replied.I think it's because he's so genuinely innocent. Hurting him or being mean to him would be like kicking a pup.

"Come on, Coach!" Wayne wheedled. "He could sit on the bench the whole time and watch if you don't want to play him. Please?"

"No, boys," Coach said, shaking his head. "I can't give up a slot just so your buddy can be on the team. He's welcome to come to conditioning and weightlifting, and he can hang out with us, but he can't be on the team."

"Aw, come on, big brother! We want to keep him!" Beckham called out as he ran past our small huddle.

Ninety degrees, post-conditioning, soaked with sweat and a hundred-pound boy on his shoulders ... and dude wasn't even breathing hard. In fact, he wasgrinningas he sprinted.

Mase's special training, River said, and I nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, have a heart, bubba," said Bowie, Beckham's twin, as he trotted up to us. "He's a precious baby!"

"This is a high school football team," Coach said through his teeth. "It requires perseverance, hard work, and respect, notprecious babies.Becks, put the kid down before Spring worries himself into anemia!"

I looked over to see Spring chasing after Beckham, probably worried he'd drop his little human buddy. Bowie laughed and ran after them both and had Thoreau jump down into his arms.

"Again! Again!" Thoreau squealed.

So Bowie perched the kid onhisshoulders and took off running, making us all chuckle.

With a huff, Spring gave up and slunk off to lay in the shade under the bleachers, but his eyes followed Bowie's every move.

"Well, what if he became an unofficial mascot or something?" Archer suggested.

"Yeah!" Wayne jumped up and down. "Spring can be our mascot and Reau can be his handler!"

"Wearethe Greenville Wolves, Coach," I reasoned, "and we haven't had anyone apply for the mascot position in years."

With a groan, Coach tucked his precious clipboard under his arm and rubbed his hands down his face, pulling his cheeks so his lower eyelids curled out while he stared up at the sky. He stood there for a full minute before he finally gave in and dropped his hands.

"Sure, but you two arehishandlers." He eyeballed Wayne and Archer. "I donotwant toeverhave to link Beta Emerson or the alphas to tell them something happened to the kid. Got it?"

"Sir, yes, sir!"

Archer and Wayne saluted him in perfect sync, just like I'd seen them do many times with Nathan Barlow, and Coach rolled his eyes before walking away.

"Dude!" Wayne shouted as he bro-hugged Archer. "Mission accomplished!"

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