Page 23 of Their Knotty Pack
"I mean it, Brody," I tell him, my voice deadly serious as I open my eyes, only to find him staring at me. "I'm trusting you with this. If you run off and tell Kieran or Damien…"
"Damien doesn't know?" Brody raises a brow, and I can't blame him for being surprised. I've known Damien since we were kids, he knows everything about me.
Except this.
"No," I shake my head. "I…it's not importantwhyhe doesn't know, but he doesn't."
"I promise this stays between us." Brody says so seriously it takes me a second to contemplate his words.
Okay. Here it goes.
"It's not…" I trail off, rubbing the back of my neck as I take a seat at the end of the couch, next to his chair. "We're all pretty aware of each others' sexual preferences and habits," I grimace, thinking of the damn powerpoint presentation and questionnaire Damien had us fill out when we all decided to pack up. "But what I didn't include is…" I huff a breath, the words harder to get out than expected. "I physically cannot have sex with someone I don't have an emotional connection to."
Brody's brow furrows. "Physically? Like…like little detective is not reporting for duty if you don't already know the person?"
I roll my eyes. "Yeah. Exactly. So, can you see why I don't want to show up like that, all limp-dicked?"
He frowns. "And you didn't share this with the class because…?"
My cheeks flush. It would have been easy to tell them exactly why I'm against the heat clinic thing. Damien for sure would have been understanding, but Kieran…I don't think he wants to be the head of the pack, and we don't officially have one, but I can tell he's constantly battling with his alpha about it.
"When we were first talking about courting an omega, it didn't matter because it's not like sex would be on the table immediately anyway. I'd have time to form that connection."
"Okay, but I'm talking about five minutes ago. You know they would have backed off if they knew the real—" He sighs at my grimace. "…Kieran."
There are bound to be growing pains with any newly-formed pack, but most packs are typically formed in the members' late teens to mid-twenties. We've all had too long to get set in our own ways. Too long without having to answer to anyone for our decisions.
This goes beyond that. I'm not even sure if Kieran is doing anything on purpose, but it's like his alpha constantly wants to rise up and challenge mine, even if he agrees with my decision. My dominance naturally wants to fight back, hence the reason Damien wants us to find an omega as soon as possible. I hadn't realized it was affecting him so much.
"Alright, alright," Brody sighs, "I'll keep my mouth shut. But don't get your panties in a twist if we meet someone at the heat clinic."
I have to agree, I know this. I can't refuse to tell the rest of the pack the truth and get upset at the consequences.
"Yeah, yeah. I know."
Chapter 9
Bethany - One Month Later
Part of me wants to squirrel Miles away from the rest of the world where nobody else can see him. He's just so…precious. Don't get me wrong, he has these intense moments where his protectiveness rivals an alpha's, but most of the time I just want to wrap him up and cuddle with him while we gorge ourselves on those chewy watermelon candies.
Like any respectable omega.
Miles has spent the last month showing me what it means to be properly loved. How I could ever think Pack Hansen cared about me outside the prestige of having an omega is beyond me. He doesn't scoff or get annoyed when I start talking about something I'm excited about, like my plants. He even asks me questions and seemsinterestedin the answer.
In return, Mile's has me set up in a single player mini-campaign in D&D so I can get used to the rules and how it's played before we start trying to play with other people. I have to admit, I was pretty disappointed when I found out I can't play as a water nymph, but then I suppose settling for a dual-wielding rogue elf isn't a terrible thing.
Plus, he has me totally hooked on this anime,Demon Slayer, and it has a ripped shirtless guy wearing a hog's head as a helmet. It's pretty damn cool.
He said we can watch throughSailor Moonnext, which I'm really looking forward to. I watched an episode or two a few times when it came on TV when I was a kid, but I'm pretty excited to watch it through from beginning to end.
Pack Hansen never would have let me hear the end of it if I had expressed interest in something so "childish". What the hell is childish about knowing what you like and being unafraid to be excited about it?
They certainly would have scoffed and rolled their eyes at me if I had attempted to beg them to turn the car around and flee my brother's driveway like I'm tempted to do right now. I have no idea why…could it be the fact that my heat is coming and I want to keep my omega all to myself?
"You okay, little nymph?" Miles' hand grasps my knee as he puts the car in park, and I inhale his scent before turning and taking in his delicious appearance. His white button down shirt has the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, showing off the lean, taut muscles of his forearms, as well as half of his tattoo sleeve. That, combined with the way his shirt is unbuttoned nearly halfway, giving me a peak of the smooth planes of his chest, the look of his blue hair pushed back out of his face, and his black, rectangle-frame glasses perched on his nose, makes me think I'm more likely to want to ride him than snuggle.
His own gaze darkens as he looks me over, and I know he appreciates the cut of my little black dress and my silver heels. I've done my make-up a little more than usual, but I know it makes my eyes pop.
