Page 36 of Their Knotty Pack (Starbrook City Omegaverse #3)

Miles

"' W eary traveller', the innkeeper, an older woman with a sinister gleam in her eyes says, 'please rest, though I'm not sure if I have room for you'.

" Bethany looks at me with a raised brow.

Doing the voice of the characters is my favorite part of being Dungeon Master.

"But when you look around, you notice the inn is essentially empty. "

My phone starts buzzing in my pocket, and I pull it out, making a face when I see it's my parents. They’ve been calling every three days or so since we got out of the heat clinic.

I haven't found a way to tell them that I've kind of joined a pack. Not without lying straight to their faces. Or telling them that I’ve been lying to them the last seven years and I’m actually an omega.

For now, it's easier to hit ignore and text them to say I'm working. Even if it is a Saturday.

Bethany frowns as she thinks, oblivious to the quick text I send my parents. "I want to look around the inn, but like…subtly."

"Okay, I need you to roll for perception—"

"What are you guys up to?" We look up to see Brody standing at the side of the breakfast nook, eyeing our setup with interest.

"I'm running a mini-campaign for nymph so she can get confident with her playing." I arch a brow at him. Brody doesn't strike me as the kind of guy who would make fun of someone for playing Dungeons & Dragons, but I'm definitely not expecting what he does say.

"You know, I've always been curious about this game. Would it be too much trouble for me to join? I'm a quick learner."

"You're just saying that because you want to bask in the presence of our beauty," I tease.

He blushes . And he had his fingers all up in Bethany last night, so he shouldn't be blushing about her at this point. But could that mean…? He's quick to defend himself. "No! I mean, you're both beautiful—handsome? But I really do want to play—"

Bethany and I exchange a look. She gives me a little shrug, letting me know that it's up to me, and I grin up at Brody, who is still trying to recover. "Welcome to the dark side, Brody Benson."

By the time I've grabbed my laptop and pulled up the website to help Brody build his character, Damien, Hunter, and Kieran have wandered downstairs.

"You boys want to play?" nymph asks, fluttering her eyelashes at them. And that's how we end up in the living room with all the guys except for Hunter pulling up the character builder tool on their phones.

"Dude, you rolled a fifteen, and you gave it to intelligence?" Brody looks over Kieran's shoulder.

"What? He needs to be smart." Kieran frowns at him.

"He's a barbarian," I explain, "so his attacks and abilities aren't going to be enhanced by intelligence. You want strength for that."

Kieran's frown deepens. "I just thought the poor guy could do with an even playing field."

Well, damn, he's pretty cute.

"Think of it this way," I come next to him, pointing to the description of his character class.

"An MMA fighter doesn't train for his fights by reading books, right?

Just like a…mathematician do esn't train by lifting weights.

You need to make sure that your stats are aligned with your strengths and abilities. "

"Huh," Kieran says thoughtfully. "Yeah, okay that makes sense."

"He's an excellent teacher," Damien winks at me from his phone. "All I hear during the day is "Mr. Hawthorne this , Mr. Hawthorne that . It's a nightmare, honestly."

I can feel my cheeks flame as I let out a nervous laugh. "You're just saying that."

"I never just say anything, blue," Damien's eyes twinkle, and I flush further, turning my attention to Brody.

"How's your character coming along?" He chose a human cleric, which I think fits him nicely. Bethany made a new character—an elven druid, and Damien is a gnome bard.

"Good," He grins at me. "I think I'm about done."

Nodding, I peak over his shoulder at his stats. "Eighteen wisdom, nice. You can balance out Kieran's character."

"His name is Gunk!" Kieran calls out, his eyes not leaving his screen.

"Gunk?" Bethany wrinkles her nose.

"Yeah, like that stuff you put on your face every night before bed."

"That's called face wash, you heathen."

"Oh?" Kieran smirks. "I thought it was called cum—ah!"

Kieran yelps as Hunter knocks him upside the head. "What the fuck—"

"Please, Kieran, for the love of all that is good and holy, respect the omegas." Hunter mutters before leaning back on the couch.

Bethany giggles and waits until Hunter is looking away before sticking her tongue out at Kieran.

"Tell me you saw that!" Kieran says in mock outrage, but I only grin as I shrug.

"I must say, I don't know what you're talking about."

"I told you guys to not go over there," I sigh, regretting the fact that I even mentioned the cave down the hill. "I said you weren't ready for it. But did you listen? Nope. After all, I'm just the damn Dungeon Master ."

"Um…I cast…speak with animals! I want to explain that we mean no harm." Bethany asks in a panicked voice, her eyes wide.

Sighing, I level her with a look. "Are you sure?"

"Yes!"

Brody, Kieran, and Damien all mutter to each other, saying that they hope this works.

It won't.

"You cast speak with animals, but since a dragon is a highly intelligent being, the spell has no effect.

'You fools!’ the dragon roars, shaking the ground with intense force.

" Summoning my deepest and offended voice, I tell them exactly what the dragon thinks of that.

"'How could you mistake me for a mere animal?

I am not a lizard! I am a fearsome warrior! '"

The guys exchange a panicked look while Hunter grins from his spot on the couch, snacking on a bag of chips like he's watching a very entertaining movie.

"We're sorry!" Brody quickly says. "We didn't mean to offend you, we just…we're new to this land and don't know anything about dragons."

"'Ha!'" I make the dragon bark a laugh. "'You expect me to believe that you…what? Just appeared from a land where there are no dragons? My kind are infinite! We are everywhere! You only insult me with your lies.'"

Damien purses his lips. "I can…perform a ballad in your honor? Would you let us live if I did that? "

"'I cannot be bought, you pitiful creature,' the dragon sneers. 'But…' the dragon cocks its head in thought, 'if you were to compose a ballad, what would it sound like?'"

"Well, it would sound like…um…"

Am I going to make him come up with a ballad? Absolutely.

What can I say? I never claimed to be a kind Dungeon Master.

"Oh dear dragon," he starts but I click my tongue at him, wagging my finger.

"'You must sing, two legged beast.'"

Damien looks like he's going to die of mortification, which I'll admit, is a look I've never seen on him before. Regardless, he swallows the lump in his throat.

"Oh dear dragon," he says in this awkward sing-song voice, "don't go draggin' me to your lair?" The three of them groan, shooting daggers at Damien, even as he continues his horrible semi-song. "Cause I'm not sweet, please don't eat…me?"

"That was so fucking bad," Kieran mutters.

"Does this…please the dragon?" Damien asks hesitantly.

"What's your persuasion modifier, Plier?"

Huffing, he checks his character sheet. "Plus two."

"Alright, roll a d20 for me."

Damien grabs the dice, and Bethany, Kieran, and Brody gather around him to watch the roll. When the dice stops, all their shoulders drop. "What did you get?"

"A two." He groans, his head falling back.

Welp, time to bring this game to a close.

"The song was so poorly received by the dragon," I start, tenting my fingers, "that he decided you'd all be better off barbecued in his stomach.

So he lets out a stream of fire, and since you're all clustered together," I motion to the little plastic tokens we've been using as character minis, "he gets you in one blast, and you're all dead.

The dragon gobbles you up, and goes to bed with his stomach pleasantly full. "

"What the hell!" Bethany shoots to her feet, her jaw dropped. "I die because Damien couldn't come up with a good song?"

"Nope, little nymph," I lean back, stretching my arms over my head, "you died because you followed the barbarian when he said, 'Oh, a cave we aren't supposed to go into? Let's check it out!' Why did you listen to the barbarian again?"

"Well, I thought you might be hiding some good loot from us," Bethany mutters, and Hunter barks out a laugh, surprising all of us.

He flushes slightly with attention, and not for the first time I notice just how attractive he is.

Hair even darker than Bethany's lies loose on his forehead instead of gelled back like normal, and he's in a t-shirt and sweatpants.

It's so easy to forget how big he is when he's in his work uniform, but now that he's relaxing at home, tight SCPD t-shirt pulling across his chest? The man puts Thor to shame.

Brody stretches his arms above his head, his music note tattoo bulging on his bicep. Bethany must lock in on the same thing, because she's suddenly touching it. "I meant to ask about this. Do you play an instrument?"

"Oh," Brody looks surprised at the attention, "yeah, I've been playing piano since I was seven. Though I haven't played since I moved out of my old pack house."

Bethany frowns as her fingers trace the lines of the music. "Why not?"

"Well, the piano there was owned by Harry's grandfather, so I couldn't take it with me, and I just…haven't gotten my own."

"Well, we'd love to hear you play some time." I smile at him, but Bethany just glares at me despite her mild amusement I can feel through the bond.

"Dead people can't play piano, Miles. "

Hunter's head falls back on a loud, boisterous laugh, and when he looks at Bethany, there's something that wasn't there a few days ago.

We settle down, talking about what to do for dinner when a text pops in from Bethany.

Nymph

My parents have an old piano they've been trying to figure out what to do with…should we have them bring it here?

Me

Thats a great idea. I love you and your beautiful brain

Nymph

?? *winking blow kiss emoji *