Page 3 of Brandy Snap: Part One

Zania wouldn’t dare throw anything at her precious Caspian, her only alpha son; the consequences were too severe. But I wasn’t the only alpha she bullied.

I glanced to my family for potential support, though all eyes remained glued to Zania. They wouldn’t dare go against her when she was hellbent on controlling the situation.

Myself and Caspian's parents had helpfully divided themselves into two camps.

My parents presented a united front by cramming themselves onto a lone sofa on our right, my mother and sister perched between my two fathers. Whereas Caspian's parents were led by Zania, the true queen of us all. She lowered herself back onto the dappled green cushions that made up her centre stage. Her four alphas, Caspian’s fathers, lined up behind the sofa like soldiers. They were so familiar with her behaviour that one had already stepped forward to bequeath her with a fresh cup.

“I’ve had enough of your nonsense,” Zania continued, clearing her throat with faux politeness. “You have a month until the Selection Ceremony. That’s plenty of time for you to find a replacement omega.”

She made no attempt to hide her sneer as she flicked a disapproving glare at Kai before returning to me, the ‘reasonable one’ of our pack. Her pinkie finger extended as she daintily brought the cup to her lips as if that had somehow solved the matter.

We hadn’t had to attend a Selection Ceremony since we bonded with Kai five years ago, but this year there were extenuating circumstances.

The east living room of the Risler mansion was its own brand of distasteful, though I would never say it outright. It was one thing to subtly allude to your wealth with expensive art, fine architecture, and stylised interiors. It was quite another to stuff so much into a room that a single ray of sunlight could blind you from the sheer volume of gold that hung from every wall and drowned each surface. Gold-plated furniture, gold wall hangings, three golden fireplaces, and large golden picture frames sporting full-sized portraits of each individual member of Zania’s pack lined the wall behind her—as if we would somehow forget Caspian’s parents’ grandeur in the short seconds it took our eyes to drop from the ghastly portraits and onto them.

It was the fresco in the domed arch above us that truly finished the room.

But we were used to it now. Instead of admiring the obscene wealth poured into the space, our attention oscillated between Caspian’s mother and my own, Vivian. She tightened her arm around my sister, Camille, who perched next to her, both of them trembling at the slightest sign of aggression.

Camille’s only accomplice was her honey-scented bodyguard, who stood rigidly behind the sofa, doing a poor job of concealing his rage.

Zania sighed lightly as she placed her teacup onto its saucer and fixed her hawkish glare on us.

“I don’t care to repeat myself,” she said, her tone considerably less irked. Earl Grey worked wonders, both for throwing and for drinking. “Either choose from the omegas on the list, or we will follow through on our promise to mate Camille to the Hiscox pack. And, as I said, disown you.”

My sister flinched, pulling her shawl tighter around her shoulders. I held back my frown; while Caspian scowled enough for the three of us.

Camille was weak as it was, but forcing her to travel from Kensington to Mayfair when she had had an episode last night was deeply unfair. Even the London air could be too much for her on a good day.

Though we were both pale, my sister was painfully pallid at the best of times, with shakes in her hands and permanent bags topping hollowed cheeks. But it was no wonder she was bedridden when she had to endure our families nearly every day.

I gently circled my thumb over the back of Caspian’s hand, asking him to relax. If he exploded now, there would be no saving the situation.

Kai followed suit, his hand shifting from Caspian’s thigh to cup his alpha’s knee. Zania instantly picked up the movement, and sneered at the sight. I had made Kai promise not to taunt Zania, despite it being one of his favourite hobbies. This meeting was far too delicate for us to play games.

Camille glanced at Caspian, but he refused to look at her.

He clenched his jaw as his poorly honed anger surged through our bond. Kai and I shared every aching emotion that freely blazed through him, along with his physical sensations, thanks to the pack bond connecting our bodies and hearts. We could either fuel or calm his fire in return. And I had to send a pulse of energy to my omega down the bond as a warning not to stoke it.

“Disown us as well?” I echoed, tilting my head, finally replying to her. “That is a new one.”

We had already been arguing for half an hour, all boiling down to Zania’s current outburst.

“Well, it’s much easier than creating two separate dramas!” My mother cut in with her shrill tone that said she was desperate for us not to fight. “We can address all the nasty issues together, rather than dragging it all out.” She smiled in that way of hers that made it seem like each word that dropped from her mouth seeped with innocence.

“You can’t disown us when we run some of your biggest businesses,” Caspian replied stiffly.

“And think of the fallout,” Kai said. “What would the media say if there was such a sudden change?”

Though we were all perfectly capable of running our own businesses, our mothers could ruin us with one word if they wished.

Silence drenched the room as malice ran through our parents. No matter their disagreements between each other, they all agreed on one thing: my omega was not welcome in this family. And, any attempts he made to speak up were met with total contempt.

I needed to change the direction of the conversation or they’d distract us from the real issue at hand.

I drew in another slow breath, my nostrils flaring as I turned to my family. “Mother, surely you cannot be serious. You know what the Hiscoxes will do to her.”

The Hiscox pack was notorious for their treatment of omegas. Though they were praised for the medical advancements achieved by their pharmaceutical companies and laboratories, that did not erase the fact that all three of their omegas in the past four years had died from 'unexplained circumstances’ months after bites.

---