Page 73 of Brandy Snap: Part One

“You know what?” I said, lifting my glass to casually brush away his fingers that were moments away from my forearm. “I think I can hear my alphas calling me. So sorry, got to go!”

I quickly darted forward, using the element of surprise to knock them out of the way before I slipped through the gap between them and vanished into the scent-heavy crowd.

Then it was just a two-minute battle dodging and weaving to get to the double doors and out into the foyer.

I was done waiting for my ‘pack’ to come and find me.

As I finally got some space in the huge entryway, a familiar laugh bounced off of the marble walls. I spun to my left to see Kai tucked away in a shadowy corner.

I instantly made a beeline for him. Even if he was going to hiss and snarl at me, I wanted to be next to him just to feel his breath on my skin.

But my heart dropped as I noticed he was talking to another omega. Even though he must work with hundreds of omegas in design studios and on the catwalks, I wanted him all to myself.

The second I realised it was Lily, all my tension eased. She was the only friendly person I’d met since I arrived at the party.

I didn’t know whether to interrupt or not. I honestly wanted to yank her away from him because my dumb omega instincts were telling me she was competition. But she’d already introduced me to her pack, which included a world-famous actor, the owner of a clothing conglomerate, and a prime minister candidate for the election in three years’ time, so the chances of her stealing Kai from me were probably zero.

“Melanie!” Lily brightened as I approached. She lifted a hand and waved me over, and I actually felt like someone wanted me here.

“I know I sounded like a sarcastic bitch before, but I really am glad to meet you,” she said with a smile as I joined them.

I gave her a hesitant look. I guessed it was time to turn on the lies again.

“Yeah, I’m really happy to be here. It’s lovely to finally meet your family.”

Lily paused with her lips parted, before quickly returning to a smile. “Hm, yes, I’m sure.”

I looked at Kai, hoping he’d give me some sign that he at least cared that I was there, but he just glared directly at Lily.

I couldn’t work out how old she was. She said she was Caspian’s older sister, but she had this mysterious air about her that made it seem like she could have been anywhere from twenty-five to forty-five.

“Okay, that’s enough. You’re hogging her now.” Kai pouted as his smooth fingers rode around my upper arm and he pulled me towards him.

Her face sparked with amusement as she watched how he tucked himself even closer to me.

“Well, come on, Kai. You brought your new omega to a Selection party and you didn’t even tell us? What else was I meant to do?”

“But it was fun, wasn’t it?” he said, as the corner of his lips hitched.

“So you really didn’t know who I was?” I asked.

“Nope!” She laughed. “Not a clue, and thanks for playing along! I love seeing Mum’s face when she doesn’t get her way. And it’s so easy to pretend when this lot misbehave.” She gave Kai a fond smile before turning back to me. “But, really, don’t worry about them. They just assume all of their children are out to get them in one way or another. It makes life easier because then it means they don’t have to remember who’s done what. They can just hate all of us equally.” She grinned as she spoke, but the words didn’t match her expression.

Though I was sure that everyone in this entire building was doing the same thing. It wasn’t as hard to pretend as I thought it was.

Lily suddenly clutched my hands. “We’ll have to go out together at some point, just the two of us. I don’t want your pack getting in the way when you share the juicy story of how you met. If we’re going to be sisters-in-law, then I need every drop of gossip.”

Sin had originally decided the story was that the four of us met getting coffee early one morning, but Kai instantly vetoed the idea. Instead, I’d been rushing down the street with my coffee in hand, trying to catch the train to make it to my cousin’s wedding where I was a bridesmaid, and I crashed into Kai. Coffee spilled everywhere as he swept me into his arms, and we scent-matched. He pulled me into his car, made me strip, gave me a designer dress, and drove me to the wedding just in time for Sin and Caspian to appear. Apparently, I stole all the attention because the three of them were just that sexy, but I thought it was unfair. It was my imaginary cousin's wedding, afterall.

It was all dramatic and exciting and another complete lie.

Like I’d ever had time to go to a wedding before I was fired.

“I would love to,” I said instantly, until I caught Kai’s dark glare.

It seemed making friends was off the table. But even though they were paying me, they weren’t the bosses of me. Especially once the Ceremony was over and I could let loose.

“You were bolder than usual,” she said to him, her voice low as something passed between her and Kai that I didn’t understand. A serious look that I wanted to call them out on just so I could be part of whatever secret they were sharing. Even if the four of us were ‘breaking up’ after the Selection Ceremony, I still wanted to be involved in everything they did.

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