JAX

Not even gonna lie, I was feeling pretty damn good.

My date with Corey had been a perfect disaster, a mirror reflection of what our relationship was at its core.

Looking back on last night, I quickly realized how stupid I was to have been so nervous about it. The borderline panic attack I had was so damn embarrassing, just thinking about it made me ripe with the desire to hurl my guts all over the cushy rug that I currently sat on.

"Ooo, I've got a good one! Would you rather have toes for nipples or nipples for toes?"

Everyone in the upstairs common room shot Tyrus a somewhat dumbfounded look as they contemplated his question. The man was grinning proudly as if he'd just discovered the cure to cancer, unreactive to all of the confused expressions cast in his direction as he sat on the carpet to the right of me with Daffodil's tiny body curled tightly around his entire left arm.

"Is that seriously your question?" Balked Osias, who also lounged on the carpet along with everyone else. My best friend had one, muscular arm resting up on the seat of the couch behind him and the other curled tightly around the waist of his mate, Berlin, who sat comfortably in his lap.

"Don't be rude, Osi. You had your turn, now it's his." Berlin scolded through closed teeth, smacking his mate's chest gently as 'punishment' before turning back to his brother with a big, toothy smile as he began to explain himself.

"...I mean, I've always wondered what I would choose. Like, toes are really useful for picking up things but would they be just as useful on your chest? But then again, what if you wanted to go to the beach, would everyone see your nipple toes or could you just hide them in the sand? Man, it keeps me up at night sometimes." Tyrus continued, his expression twisting into one of genuine contemplation and free hand going to scratch at the back of his neck.

The room was silent for a long moment as everyone continued to stare, lost for words as to how to respond to the male's abnormal thought processes.

Well, everyone except for Daffodil, who was - as always - in his own little world as he clung to Tyrus's arm and smiled so brightly that it was obvious that there was not a single thought behind those giant ass, alien lookin' eyes.

"Nipples for toes." Responded Benji after a few beats, pink hair fluttering as he nodded finitely and settling further into the dark cave of Tank's chest, "I value my nipples way too much. Plus, I could just like... wear socks all the time and nobody would even notice."

"Yeah. Benji's nipples are much too valuable to me." Tank added a second later, grinning a wide, cheshire cat smile that made him look even more dangerous than he already did. The large warrior attempted to inconspicuously slip his hand up Benji's shirt at the same time, but was easily intercepted by Benji's anticipatory hand which grabbed his wrist in a tight grip.

"Not here!" Benji whispered, although the entire room could totally fuckin' hear them.

"Ooookay, let's move on, people." Brook, one of Berlin's friends, encouraged as she sat next to her own mate and pack patroller, Jay. Her kind gaze swiveled over to me and my eyes widened slightly, caught off guard by the attention. "Let's see what Ortiz has up his sleeve."

All of a sudden, the urge to gag overwhelmed me.

Not because everyone was waiting for me to take my turn in the game, staring as if I were a specimen under a microscope. No, I felt sick because of... of that.

That name.

Ortiz.

Whenever I looked into the mirror, Ortiz was all that I would ever see staring back at me. That scared little boy only being called by his family name, cowering in a filthy corner and protecting his head at all costs like he'd been taught in that one self-defense lesson at school.

Ever since Corey started calling me my real name, anything else began to sound alien.

I was not Ortiz. Not anymore.

The pressure of Corey's littlest finger crossing over the top of mine and pressing down firmly held me anchored to reality as I began to get a little bit too carried away in the perpetual ocean storm that was my memories. I gratefully accepted the gesture that sent comforting tingles throughout all of my nerves, knowing that he was likely picking up on the hint of smokiness that was beginning to overtake my scent.

'Tell them. You've got it, Jax.' Corey's impossibly deep voice crackled through our private mind link, the Alpha's intuitive nature easily working out the source of my discomfort.

Risking a glance upward and to my right, my mate's eyes were already on me, hooded and dark and trained to my face like a flower to the sun. However, this time they shone with a glint of encouragement that anyone else absolutely would have missed.

Encouragement that somehow melted away all of the anxiety that had rested on top of my shoulders like a heavy cloak.

"Hey, guys..." I started hesitantly, peeling my gaze away from the black holes that were attached to my mate's face and settling them instead on the group that sat around and in front of me. My palms began to sweat, but before they could get really bad they were engulfed by the pressure of Corey's giant, cool palm.

"...I would really like for you all to call me Jax from now on. That... that's my name."

The room was drawn into complete and utter silence for a good twenty seconds or so, everyone shocked into a hush by my unexpected request. But before long, Osias' raspy voice broke the streak.

"Alright, Jax. What's your 'would you rather?'"

My lacrimal ducts filled with equally unexpected tears that I quickly forced myself to swallow down.

I may have been moving in a good direction when it came to taming my wild ass emotions, but crying in front of all of these people would not be a part of that process.

It took a few more moments for my brain to start working again before I could even begin to think of a 'would you rather' question that matched the level of insanity that this game was quickly moving toward.

"Uhh... Would you rather go to the grocery store in your underwear or go to a beach fully nude?" I finally asked after a careful inner-deliberation.

"Pfft, that one's easy, Jax!" Came the high-pitched voice of Corey's dad, Danny.

The omega lounged in the far corner of the circle, tucked securely between the tree-trunk legs of his mate Rayson, whose large hands were pressed protectively against the steadily protruding swell of Danny's large, third trimester pregnancy bump. Rayson was not participating in the game but Danny was more than excited to engage, so therefore - like a shadow - Rayson followed his mate wherever he desired to go.

"I would literally be naked all the damn time if I could!" He exclaimed, eyes widening a moment later as if he'd just had the epiphany of a lifetime before swiveling his upper body around toward his mate as far as his big belly would allow. "Ooo, Ray! Remember that one time in California and we went to that one nude beach and found that spot behind the rocks that nobody else was at and then you kept giving me those eyes like you wanted to eat me, and then I basically just immediately dropped to my knees and -"

"Dad!" Berlin practically screamed, pressing his palms over his ears in an attempt to drown out the story that was rapidly turning more and more explicit. "Just once, can you please not scar us for life?! That's all that I freaking ask, dear God/dess!"

I couldn't help but laugh - a real, genuine, stomach-burning laugh - at the sight before me, one that I'd seen countless times due to Danny and Rayson's inherent knack for oversharing their rampant sex lives.

One day, they were seriously going to break a few bones going at it like they do. In fact, I had ten bucks in the pack-wide bet on their hips being the first to go.

But, aside from the ridiculousness of the situation, it was exactly what I needed to help ausage the dry lump in my throat that elicited a constant, uncomfortable pressure against my Adam's apple.

They accepted me.

They accepted Jax.

I'm not sure what I expected. Maybe my constant fear of rejection kept me from seeing the true beauty of my pack all of this time; of my true... family.

"Oh damn, it's about to be like one in the morning!" Hannah, one of Berlin's other friends, yawned as she spoke, her eyes trained on the time that flashed across the giant television in the room.

"Ugh, yeah, we should probably all start to turn in. I'm sure the childcare omegas are tired of chasing around Hale and Cassius all evening." Berlin pouted as he untangled himself from Osias' firm grip and pushed on the floor beneath him to stand. The rest of the room followed suit, stretching themselves out and standing slowly after sitting in the same spots on a hard floor for a few hours.

"Well, this was fun!" Danny squealed, smacking Rayson's heavy arm with his black neck pillow in order to escape the firm restraints before quickly running up to me as fast as his short legs could carry him. My eyes widened down at the little omega that stood in front of me, jumping in my skin a bit as he grabbed my hand in a tight, comforting grip. "I'm so glad you finally joined us for game night, Jax. You really should come more often, everyone loves having you around."

My cheeks grew warm as my brain whirred, trying to formulate a response. I was a god at formulating sarcasticcomebacks on the fly, but way too many people were being nice to me lately and my swiss-cheese brain was still adjusting to having to respond in kind.

"Uhh... Y-yeah, I think I will." I finally responded shakily, grinning tightly down at the tiny man.

"Oh yay, I can't wait!" I instinctually leaned back as he moved in closer, shifting his gaze from me to Corey and lowering his voice as if he were sharing a secret. "...Also, we need to have a talk soon, future son-in-law!" Danny grinned, reaching up to tap his neck pillow against my chest playfully before finally retreating back to his husband who was waiting in the corner, looking particularly dejected and lost without his mate squished between his arms.

To my luck they retreated from the room quickly, so I didn't have to go through the painful process of not being sarcastic again. But just as I went to follow behind the throng of pack members leaving the room, a flurry of bright pink hair stopped me right in my tracks.

I blinked down at the half-fae, half-werewolf medic as he stared up at me with eyes that held something important behind them. Benji's giant mate stood respectfully off in the far corner with a patient yet observant expression, propped up against the wall with his arms crossed tightly against his muscular chest.

Benji looked over his shoulder as if he was gauging how many stragglers were left in the rapidly emptying room before shifting his eyes back up to mine.

"Jax... we need to talk." He whispered, eyes flickering over my shoulder to my Corey as if asking if it's okay if he hears.

"Corey stays." I breathed confidently, although I was a bit freaked out by the little twink's intensity. "What is it?"

Benji shuffled his feet, eyes shifting downward before looking back up at me with a contagious look of confusion that made my own breath hitch.

What the fuck is his problem?

"I... I got back the results of your genetic testing."

All of the air was sucked out of the room. All I could do was blink as scenario after scenario ran through my head.

But before I could get too deep Corey's heavy arm wrapped around my waist like a vice, likely sensing my impending distress. By pressing me into his side, my mate succeeded in instantly melting a big chunk of my anxiety away for what was probably the thousandth time at this point.

'I'm here.' Corey's intense voice booming in the front of my skull was the push I needed to finally respond. Clearing my throat of the thick saliva that had built up in it, I responded back, voice no louder than a whisper.

"What... what did the results say?"

Benji hesitated once again, soft features twisting up into something that displayed the depth of his puzzlement.

"That's just the thing, it didn't... it wasn't..." Benji sighed, running a hand through his bright hair as if he was trying to figure out the best way to phrase what he was trying to say. "...You are a Beta. That much is very clear from the results."

I raised a brow, still not understanding what he was getting at.

"Huh? Of course I'm a Beta." My head moved back and shook gently in a signature, bewildered 'what are you talking about' movement.

"Yes, yes, of course you are." Benji continued, reaching out to place a dainty hand on my arm as if he was telling a kid that his third hamster died.

"Can you just cut the crap and just spit it out?" I finally snapped, unable to hold back my agitation as Benji kept drawing out telling me whatever it is he was so obviously hiding.

"Sorry, I just..." Benji squeaked, giving my arm a squeeze before heaving out another sigh and meeting my eyes once more. "Jax, you are a Beta. But somehow... somehow you are also an Omega."

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