Page 89 of Brandy Snap: Part One

Zania sat on my red leather sofa like she belonged there, like it was her nest, like I was the one entering her space.

Chest tight, eyes wide, I suddenly couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t think. I couldn’t even take a step because standing right behind her were two male alphas.

And none of them had permission to be there.

The aura I had no idea how to use exploded, and I gasped in shock as a silent scream of energy ripped from me. I choked as I stumbled backwards, and the world shifted.

I was violently, intensely alive, aware of every little thing within the room. Anything that had a shape was part of me, and Zania and the two suited alphas behind her beat with wrongness.

Everything should have smelled of brandy, but there were alien scents swirling out from them. I had to get rid of those presences. I knew deep down I would do absolutely anything to get these people out of my nest.

Like a fire had lit under me, I had to move. This wasn’t the heat-filled pleasure of being with the Risler pack. This was the kind of fury that I’d only experienced once in my life: when I found out Rosa snuck into my flat and stole my jar of coins and notes that I’d been carefully saving for years, only to spend it all in a single shopping spree.

The inhuman level of rage stormed through my body as Zania turned to me, a placid smile spreading across her cheeks that would have suited a hyena more than Caspian’s mother.

“Well, Ms Sanderson,” Zania said as she neatly placed her threaded fingers on her lap. “How nice it is to meet you when you’re in more comfortable attire.” She gave me a once-over, taking in my wide flowery skirt and loose yellow t-shirt. Maybe I looked like a preschool teacher, but like she said, it was comfortable.

My body jumped between fight or flight. I barely had a clue what was happening as the feral urge pulsing inside me told me to attack and kill all three of them.

I should have been appalled that I wanted to hurt them like that. But right there, with Zania looking at me like she owned my nest, I had no problem being the reason the light left her eyes. If there was any light in her to begin with.

That fury blazed through me as she rose from my sofa with a composed look and left me shaking.

I tried to breathe as she stalked towards me in a white pantsuit, her neck and ears heavy with gold jewellery.

My throat closed up, my eyes spotted with black dots as my nails dug into my palms. I’d only realised my flat was my nest weeks ago, and it was already being defiled.

Entering another omega’s nest without their permission was like a declaration of war.

Zania drew in closer as I scanned the room, but I couldn’t reach anything to use as a weapon. Unless I suddenly had a burst of brute strength and tore a coat hook from the wall or lifted the cabinet by the front door, I didn’t have a chance. She’d proved she was strong enough when she grabbed me the last time we met.

By the time I thought of using my key to slash her face, she was rearing over me in her gold stilettos while I tried to control my instincts that were telling me to attack without hesitation.

“Get out,” I growled, my hands curling into fists. The alphas were too big, there was nothing I could do if they went for me.

“Hm, how uncouth,” she said, frowning as she inspected me.

My lips rode back over my teeth. “Get. Out,” I snarled.

My brand-new omega instincts didn’t care about my safety, taking over as I raised my fist. I had to get rid of her, I had to make sure she could never enter my nest again.

The alphas behind her made their move, reaching for me, but Zania could protect herself.

Before I had even thrown a punch, her open hand slapped me so hard across my left cheek that my neck cracked as my head whipped to the side.

A whimper flung from me as my vision blurred and agony ripped through the left side of my head. My ears ringing, my skin burning, shock pounded through me.

I’d never been slapped before.

My trembling turned to shaking. I didn’t want to see the smile I could hear in her voice.

This woman was no one to me. Just another stuck-up omega who thought she owned everything because she had money. She was no different from any other omega I’d run into at the Spa, only that she was in my nest, and she saw me as weak, just like they did.

“Oh, I’ve wanted to do that since my son introduced you. How lucky that you’ve given me the opportunity.”

I lifted a hand to my throbbing cheek, gasping as I touched a welling line of blood.

“I do hope this helps you understand how serious I am about ensuring that my family remains untainted.”

---