Page 53 of Their Knotty Pack (Starbrook City Omegaverse #3)

Bethany

I place my laptop, my notepad, and highlighters on the desk that Brody set up for me in his office, arranging it just so. I had pulled Allie the Aloe from my windowsill this morning, bringing her to my new work so she could feel more at home.

She's used to an office setting, you know.

The sight of her reminds me of mine and Damien's date last night, how he made love to me under the glowing lights, with all the plants surrounding us—

"Do you need anything else, beautiful?" Brody murmurs in my ear, coming up behind me and wrapping his arms around my waist.

Shit, how does he still affect me like this? I stopped getting butterflies with Pack Hansen after like…the third date.

"Brody," I try to act unaffected and step away from him. I don't need another hickey to cover up like the one Damien gave me last night. "I'm not your omega right now, I'm your employee."

He arches a brow at me. "Number one, you are always my omega. Number two, someone report me to HR, because I'm about to tell you just h ow—"

"Brody."

" You're HR." He grins. "So they'd be reporting me to you. We're too small to have an HR department, so I'd like you to take that role. Are you up for it?"

HR? My brows shoot up. Being able to smack an alpha on the nose with a rolled up newspaper when they're being bad? Count me in.

"That sounds like it could be some fun role play," I say without thinking, and then my cheeks flush in embarrassment. Pack Hansen would have given me a look of disdain or disapproval, but Brody just chuckles, his eyes heated.

"It's like you read my mind."

Shit. Maybe coming to work for Brody was a bad idea.

Clearing my throat, I take another step away. "So, are there any omegas who need an advocate today? A support person? Someone to sit in on a meeting?"

Brody grins, shaking his head, and quickly returns to work mode. "Yes, actually. We have one client, Gina Sterling. It's not so much that she doesn't feel comfortable with her lawyer, just that she doesn't have anyone to lean on, and could use a fellow omega's support."

"That's perfect," I nod, bouncing on my heels. "What time?"

Brody checks his watch. "About…ten minutes. Which would give us just enough time to…?" He waggles his brows and I hit him in the chest.

"Brody Benson, are you going to be this insufferable the entire time?" I ask in exasperation, momentarily hating the way he makes me feel like a giggling school girl.

"No," he gives me an over exaggerated sigh, "I'm sorry, I'll try to get it out of my system." He gives me a little grin. "You're just so pretty."

My cheeks heat and I clear my throat. My tone is overly formal as I brush my hands over my skirt. "Yes. Well, thank you. I've got to go now."

Bro dy only chuckles after me as I half run in my little heels down the hall. Maybe I'm overdressed if I'm going to be routinely running from my suddenly overly-flirtatious alpha.

When I open the door to the only conference room in the building, I'm met with an alpha and omega, leaning in close together as they talk. Well, don't they look cozy.

I clear my throat slightly, and the two jump apart, the omega, who must be Gina, blushing as the alpha brushes his suit free of imaginary dust.

"Hi," I summon my best customer service voice from the OMS. "I'm Bethany Thomas. I've been assigned to this meeting as…" I trail off, my confidence wavering as I realize I have no idea what my actual job title is.

"You're here to be a support person?" Gina asks, her eyes studying me. Her long black hair looks similar to mine, but her eyes are a warm brown. Plum and cherry tickle my nose as I lean forward to shake her hand.

"Yes, that's me." I smile, but before she takes my hand, she stops in her tracks.

"Wait. I recognize you."

"I used to work for the OMS—"

"No, that's not it," she shakes her head, taking a step away from me. "Pack Hansen's law firm. You're their omega."

Gods. Will I ever escape them?

"I was ," I admit. "But I left last year when they tried to cheat on me."

Saying the words, and looking back on it now, it's like the whole thing happened to someone else.

In a way, I suppose it did.

"Last year?" Her brows shoot up, and I frown, looking between her and the lawyer.

"Yes? In like…October."

"Those bastards," she hisses, her hands forming fists at her sides.

I m ean, I agree wholeheartedly, but I don't know why she's saying that.

"I met with them for a consultation before I found this firm, just a month or two ago. They were pulling up pictures of you and them, showing me how they 'have an omega at home'." She rolls her eyes. "Named you and everything. Asked me weird-ass questions like if I live alone. "

The lawyer next to her frowns. "You should send a cease & desist. I'm sure the bossman will take care of it as soon as you tell him." Then he smirks. "I mean, I've met Pack Hansen. Telling people that you're their omega is clearly slander."

Gina's lip turns up and she shakes her head, finally reaching her hand out to shake mine. "Sorry. I just…I really didn't like those guys."

"The feeling is mutual." I give her a grin before turning to the lawyer. "I'm sorry, I didn't catch your name."

"Ah. Sorry. Jeremiah Kane. I'm handling Gin—Ms. Sterling's case."

"Nice to meet you, Mr. Kane." I give him a nod. "Will it be just you two in the meeting?"

"No, my ex-pack is going to be here any minute," Gina says, wringing her hands. "They're trying to get some kind of settlement out of me."

"Won't happen," Jeremiah says mildly, "they're really reaching here. And they're getting desperate. If we play this right, there's a chance we could get them to pay you for damages after they brought another fuck—I mean, another darn omega home."

My brows shoot up. "You some kind of magician or something?"

"Nope," he flashes his teeth and winks at Gina. "I'm an omega-rights lawyer."

"So ?" Brody asks as we get in the car to head home at the end of the day. "How do you feel about your first day?"

I flash him a smile, buckling my seatbelt. "I think I'm really going to like it here." Then I frown. "But…please don't tell me there are meetings like the one Gina and Jeremiah every day. I don't know if I can handle the intense alpha douchery for more than a few hours a week."

Brody lets out a wary chuckle. "No, they shouldn't happen every day.

A few times a month, maybe. We have five lawyers besides myself on staff, and we're still getting our name out there.

Gina's old pack…they didn't…" he huffs a breath, his fingers tightening on the steering wheel, "they didn't… say anything to you, right?"

My brow furrows. "No? Why would they?"

His shoulders relax as the tension leaves, just as suddenly as it appeared. "Just normal alpha douchery behavior."

Something tense glitters in his gaze, something that I didn't notice at the time, but now, looking at it, I think it's been there all day. I've never worked around so many alphas before, and…shit. Is me working for him stressing him out?

Without thinking, I put my hand on his thigh briefly and squeeze.

"Nope. They largely ignored me." After that meeting, Brody had taken me around the office, introducing me to each lawyer.

One beta, and two other alphas besides Jeremiah.

Then he showed me the break room, which was bleak as hell, to put it kindly.

Which reminds me… "Hey, can I do something to the break room? "

His brows raise, but he just nods. "Sure."

I fight my smile. "You don't want to know what I want to do with it?"

"You can do whatever the hell you want with it."

"Oh? What if I wanted to paint it highlighter pink and draw rainbow dicks all over the walls?"

Bro dy snorts, glancing at me before shaking his head. "Then I'd ask you what brand of paint you want to use."

"You wouldn't."

He shrugs. "I know that you know how important the work I'm doing is, and if you, for example, wanted to paint the walls pink and draw rainbow dicks, it would be for a good reason. Maybe omegas like rainbow dicks. What do I know?"

Well, now I feel kind of bad.

"I was just teasing."

He gives me a small smile. "I know, beautiful. What are you really thinking?"

"Nothing fancy, just a few homey touches. Some plants, maybe a few decorations."

He nods thoughtfully. "It can't be too expensive, though. We're running on the donation of Hannah's inheritance right now."

My jaw drops. "Brody, what streams of income do you have?" How long does he think the firm can last if they don't have any actual money coming in?

He grimaces. "None, right now. I've been meaning to apply for some grants…"

"And sponsors. I can tell you right now that Pack De Lucca will be all over this. I'll make that my job tomorrow when I'm not in any meetings."

He immediately starts shaking his head. "No, Bethany, I can't ask you to—"

"You're not," I say firmly. "It would be a stupid business decision to not utilize your connections—especially when that connection leads you to a literal billionaire and it's a cause they all support."

Brody's eyes dart to mine for a moment before they land back on the road. His hand grabs mine, twining our fingers together as he continues to drive home. He lifts our joined hands to kiss the back of my hand. "You're absolutely extraordinary, Bethany, did you know t hat?"

"Duh," I say, ignoring the way my perfume floods the car at his words. "I'm a damn catch."

Brody smiles at me, but then his nostrils flare, and something…

different than I'm used to seeing flashes in his eyes.

Just like that, though, it's gone. His fingers tighten in mine, his grip on the steering wheel white-knuckled until we get home.

The tenseness is still there, just under the surface, and I wonder just how long it'll take for him to break.