Page 41 of Their Knotty Pack (Starbrook City Omegaverse #3)

Kieran

" D ude, what the fuck?" Noah's voice echoes in my office at work, his pissed expression nearly drawing a laugh out of me.

Not even having Bethany safe in my arms last night, the rest of our pack around us, was enough to quell the protective rage simmering under the surface at the knowledge that Noah gave her advice on how to handle the voicemails from Pack Douche Canoe and didn't give us a damn heads up.

"Is everything okay, Noah?" I ask innocently. "To what do I owe this oh-so-pleasant call from my asshole brother-in-law?"

" I'm the asshole?" he sputters, making me grin. "You sent me a fucking glitter bomb!"

Boy, did I.

His hair, his face, his damn eyelashes are all coated in fine, silvery glitter.

He turns the phone around so I can see his home office, where every monitor, keyboard and hard drive is covered in the same sparkly substance.

"Do you know how long it's going to take me to get this off of everything?

!" He asks angrily, turning the camera back on himself.

I can't hold back my snort. "Yes, but now your outside matches your shining personality."

His face contorts in anger before he spits out, "You're a dick."

"Sure, but I'm the dick who sent you a harmless glitter bomb. You're the dick who gave my mate advice on what to do with harassing voicemails from an ex-pack and didn't think to fucking tell me."

"…Harassing voicemails?" His pissed off expression turns confused for a moment before he curses under his breath. "Hold on." Then, the phone moves like he's holding it down by his side, and all I can see is black. "Hey, princess!"

Ew.

"Hey—why are you covered in glitter?" I suppress a snort at the surprise in my sister's voice.

"That friend that you asked my advice for a few weeks ago? Did that happen to be Bethany?"

"…Yeah, why?"

"Because your brother is on the phone, my office is covered in glitter, and we're both pissed as hell."

I hear a little huff of breath, and I see both Noah and Hannah's faces, sitting on their downstairs couch. "Speak, asshole."

"Hannah, what happened exactly?" I try to keep the ire out of my voice.

"She came to me a few days before her heat started, telling me that her old pack was harassing her, and I asked Noah for some advice. That was before you two even knew each other, and then after, well it's not really my business, is it? I figured she'd tell you when she's ready."

A growl rumbles from me, a response that I can't help emanating in my chest at the reminder that my mate was dealing with this shit-storm by herself the last few weeks.

My hackles rise at an invisible enemy, and I can't seem to communicate to my alpha that there is no immediate threat that we can help at this very second.

Alm ost instantly, I feel Bethany brush against our bond, probably in realization that whatever has me on edge has nothing to do with work.

"Watch it, jackass," Noah snaps, his own growl rumbling behind his voice. "She may be your sister, but she's my mate."

"Calm down, fluffy." Hannah huffs, and the growl in my chest instantly fades, suddenly replaced by a laugh.

"I told you, I'm not fluffy. " Noah's mouth turns down in a petulant frown.

"And I told you to stop being mean to my friends."

"He's not your friend, he's your brother—"

Their conversation fades as a notification pops up at the top of my screen.

Chompy

Is everything okay?

I open it, pausing my video feed while I answer.

Me

Everything's fine. Just work stuff-sorry if I worried you

Chompy

?? *heart emoji *

A small smile pulls at my lips as I close out of the chat, returning to the video call. Hannah is now also covered in glitter, and I don't want to think about how that happened while I was busy answering a text because gross, that's my sister.

"I'm sorry for growling," I watch as Hannah's brows shoot up at my apology, "Hannah, you're right.

It wasn't your job to tell me. And Noah…

you didn't deserve the glitter bomb for this, considering you didn't know who you were giving advice to, but…

you probably did something else to deserve it, so I'm not apologizing. "

Noa h regards me for a moment, his eyes narrowing slightly before he shrugs, his voice going low and dangerous. "Fair enough. But careful, Kieran, you just opened up a door of possibilities I'm not sure you're ready for."

My nose scrunches. "Are you…flirting with me?"

Hannah's laugh has my lips tilting up and Noah only rolls his eyes before reaching for the phone and hanging up.

Chuckling, I put my phone down and look around my office. The glitter bomb had actually been Charlie's idea, but I wasn't about to throw him under the bus.

Me

Glitter bomb delivered today. You may come home to a pissed Noah

Charlie

WTF

I didn't think you were actually going to do it

Do you know what you've started?

I snort.

Me

Noah is all bark and no bite. How many times does he threaten to 'drain peoples bank accounts' and then we never hear anything about it?

Charlie

BECAUSE HE COVERS HIS TRACKS, DUMBASS

Me

Well, Hannah will get mad at him if he drains my account of like…a couple hundred dollars.

Charlie

Oh, he'll get you back another way, and he'll make sure it's never traced back to him.

Eh, it'll be fine. Charlie and I used to be the masters of pranking. Of course, it was all directed at guys who were interested in Hannah back in high school, and I didn't realize it at the time, but old Golden Boy himself was riling me up on purpose just so I'd help keep her single for him.

You know, I don't think he ever apologized for that.

Maybe I'll send him a glitter bomb next.

Rolling my eyes, I stuff my phone back in my pocket and check my work emails. One in particular, from one of the owners of the company, which has the subject line "Bonding Leave".

I frown, clicking it open. I never told them I was bonded.

I figured since Bethany and I got the bond settled the hard way, I'd save my actual leave for when the rest of the pack bonds her and Miles, since getting two instances of bonding leave isn't exactly a normal practice, especially for a small family business like this one.

My eyes scan the email, a small smile forming as the words sink in.

Kieran,

We're not trying to be invasive, but it has come to our attention that you recently bonded an omega and have not taken any bonding leave. We hope you know we provide full benefits for bonding leave, and apologize if it was not made clear that you're entitled to the benefit.

We truly value your work, we've never had a project manager who is as dedicated or diligent as you. Please know that we appreciate you, and let us know whenever you want to take that leave.

Sincerely,

Paula and Henry

Of course, these two would apologize for me not taking bonding leave. I do wonder how they found out though.

I q uickly type out a reply.

Paula and Henry,

What gave me away?

I wasn't attempting to hide it, but this bonding was…

complicated, as my pack and I scent-matched to an omega pair.

I am only bonded with one of them right now, and am planning on saving my leave for when the entire pack bonds.

Thank you for your support, I will make sure to give you ample time to find someone to cover for me when that happens.

Kieran

It then occurs to me I haven't gotten either omega a courting present.

I mean, sure, we just started "officially" courting yesterday, but I've been bonded to Bethany for a few weeks now, and I'm sure that Miles and I are this close to taking things further in the bedroom.

We've both been dancing around it, and honestly, I'm not sure if he's ever had sex with another guy before.

I know I haven't.

I do know, however, that I'm glad Miles will be my first and only.

My laptop dings with a new email, and I read the response from Paula and Henry.

We first noticed how your scent had changed, and then Henry saw you walking into the gym this morning, your mark on display. We aren't trying to be invasive, we just want to make sure you're aware of the benefits being offered.

We'll keep an eye out for your bond leave request when the time comes.

Hopefully, it won't be more than a couple of weeks, considering Miles’ last heat was a little less than two months ago.

Definitely not telling them that little piece of information though, so I close my email and get back to work, more than a little eager for the day to end so I can get home to my omegas.