Page 12 of Admiring His Omega (Hobson Hills Omegas #12)

“I’m sure.” Mal blew him a kiss. “We’re in a tavern, recruiting mercenaries for help with our next adventure. It’s the perfect place to bring in a new character. Are you ready?”

“I have my second character sheet filled out just in case.”

Mal winced. “Sorry about the extra work. Rick always hazes the newbies. When Tripp first joined us after he began dating Shayna, Rick cursed him with rotting limbs. Every time he attacked something, a limb would fall off. Tripp couldn’t stand it, so he rushed a monster with a higher challenge rating and died.

Rick made us all go back and start again so Tripp could create a new character. ”

“I didn’t know Tripp played.” Cain tilted his head as he thought of the loud man that joined Mal’s yoga sessions. He really didn’t seem the type to have the patience and imagination.

“Oh, he doesn’t.” Mal chuckled. “He hates it and calls us dorks. He just played at the beginning because he was trying to impress Shayna.”

“That sounds like him.” Cain studied Mal’s face, soaking up his semi-presence like a flower in the sun. “What did you do today?”

“I worked on my next cooking episode. I decided to do an episode on drying herbs. Then Bianca and I went foraging with Truffle and Betty. I found some wild blueberries and strawberries. Bianca found some raspberry and blackberry bushes, but they’re not ready to pick yet. We’ll go back in a few weeks.”

“How is Bianca doing?” Cain asked. Mal had told him about the fight with Paula.

“She’s out of school for the summer and working a lot at the grocery store.

When she isn’t there, usually she’s with me.

Her and Paula haven’t made up yet, but I think they will.

Even if I don’t know who Bianca is dating, I can’t understand why Paula is being so close-minded about it.

” Mal shook his head. “Enough about me. How are you doing with Roe’s case? ”

Cain was quiet for a moment.

“You don’t have to tell me anything,” Mal said, voice soft.

“No, I want to.” Cain sighed. “James Dorsey tried to hire someone to assault me and Jasper in the hopes that he could intimidate us into dropping the case.”

“What?” Mal’s eyes narrowed, filling with rage. He looked like a very angry wood elf which made Cain smile.

“Earlier today, we interviewed some shady people the couple has been talking to and one of them admitted what he was asked to do. Good news is the man turned Dorsey down, but will testify. Bad news is, we don’t know if Dorsey was successful in hiring someone else to do the job.”

“That son of a –”

The computer beeped as others started signing into the roleplaying platform Mal and his friends used. The game tabletop appeared and four other faces popped up in tiny boxes at the top of the screen.

Mal growled. “We’ll continue this conversation later.”

Cain nodded, smiling despite the stress of the day. His angry wood elf was a healing balm. “Don’t worry. We both have guards now. The firm insisted.”

“They better have.”

Mal ended the call, then signed into the gaming platform. Mal’s group consisted of two other men and one woman.

One of the men, a handsome blond, smiled wide. “Hey there, Cain. I’m Rick. It’s really nice to meet you. Mal has never invited anyone to our game before. You have to be special.”

“Shut up, Rick.” Mal’s cheeks flushed as he cleared his throat. “Anyway, this is Shayna, Rick, and Rodney. Everyone, this is my, um, boyfriend?”

“Is that a question?” Shayna asked, brown eyes twinkling with laughter. “Do we get to decide?”

“I am his partner,” Cain replied calmly.

“Partner in lurve.” Rodney grinned.

“Exactly,” Cain agreed.

Everyone except Mal laughed for a minute, then Rick took charge. “Okay, that’s enough teasing. Did everyone review Cain’s character sheet? He’s an orc warrior specializing in axes.”

“Exactly what we need.” Shayna clapped. “We have a druid, a thief, and a priest, but we really need a tank.”

Rick sighed. “Only because our druid refuses to use any of his powerful summoned beasts.”

“They may get hurt,” Mal said, frowning. “My babies are special.”

“You tamed the wyvern we fought last time.” Rick shook a finger at the screen. “He would make a great tank.”

“No.” Mal shook his head. “Jojo is still healing from the damage you monsters did to him.”

Shayna snorted a laugh. “Okay, so Cain, your man tries to tame every animal-like monster we come across. Sometimes he’s successful, but most of the time, he’s completely useless in a fight.”

Cain fought a laugh. “That tracks with his personality.”

“It really does.”

“Hey,” Mal said, scowling. “At least I don’t try to seduce every humanoid monster like Rodney does. He doesn’t even keep the ones he succeeds with.”

Rodney shrugged. “I’m the love them and leave them type. I pick their pockets before I leave. That’s something, right? Remember how we got that relic a few adventures ago?”

“I take good care of my babies.” Mal sniffed.

Rick sighed. “You all give me a headache. Don’t let Shayna fool you either, Cain. She’s just as bad as those two. She’s a priestess of Godiva, goddess of chocolate. Somehow all of her spells revolve around chocolate.”

“Hail Godiva,” Shayna said, and took a bite of a candy bar.

“She also focuses more on trying to do damage than heal her team. Which is her job. To heal. Did you hear that, Shayna?” Rick looked tired. “I don’t know why I still play with them.”

“Oh, you love us.” Rodney waved away Rick’s concerns. “Come on. Let’s get started.”

The game started as Rick went from teasing friend to deep voiced narrator.

He described the forest path they walked as they journeyed toward the bandits they had chosen to pursue.

Ancient trees and thick brush made the path hard to traverse.

They had to go single file with Cain, their warrior in the front.

“A mysterious crate blocks your path,” Rick said. “Is it treasure? A long forgotten relic from the ancients? There is only one way to know. Sourpuss, the mighty orc warrior, must open the crate.

Mal grumbled. “Of course, he does. You’re going to curse him.”

“No one knows what is in the crate,” Rick said. “There doesn’t appear to be any spell or curse cast upon it, but only Sourpuss can open the heavy lid.”

Cain shrugged and rolled to open the crate.

“Sourpuss opens the crate and a cloud of mysterious dust flies around his head, soaking into his mighty pores before eventually dispersing.”

“Fuck, you’re probably cursed, man.” Rodney winced. “Want me to find a sorcerer to seduce into helping you?”

“The orc warrior is indeed cursed,” Rick said solemnly. “His large, burly frame twists and shrinks into a new form. A form of fuzzy cuteness. Sourpuss has found himself with the unbreakable curse of feline transfiguration. He has become a common housecat.”

“There is nothing common about a housecat,” Mal said, rolling his eyes. “Damn it, Rick.”

“He can’t tank as a housecat,” Shayna added, sighing. “He’ll have to start a new character. Why are you like this, Rick? Why?”

Cain thought in silence for a moment, ignoring the bickering of the others. “What do I look like?” he asked.

“Okay.” Rick sounded surprised and looked down at his notes. “The mighty orc has become a long haired, black and white cat with green eyes.”

“Okay, I can work with that.” Cain nodded. “Let’s continue on our journey.”

Rick looked absolutely delighted. “Oh, I like him, Mal. I like him a lot.”

Mal laughed. “I like him a lot too.”

The adventurers continued along the path, fighting off the bandits, or, in Cain’s case, weaving through their legs to trip the monsters before jumping for their throats. At one point, Rodney even tossed Cain at a boss, leading the warrior to shred the bandit leader’s face.

Cain took a drink of water and fought a smile. It was the best date of his life.