Chapter 3 Kai
Kai
Iwas used to their parents thrusting various omegas at my alphas, but this was seriously too much. Like flinging shit at a wall and hoping it would stick.
My gaze panned the ten circular tables spread throughout the room, stacked with fine gold tableware and lush bouquets. All delicately prepared and expertly arranged for maximum effect. The room overflowed with alcohol and perfume, and I was trying not to grimace at how obvious they were being.
The ten omegas that Zania and Vivian had invited were whispering and giggling amongst themselves, throwing glances between me and Brandy.
I kept hearing words like ‘fake’, ‘freak’, and ‘whore’, which just made everything ten times better.
Especially because everyone had brought their entire fucking families just to oggle at us and my alphas.
Cas and Sin’s mums had left out the most important part of the dinner: there was a fucking dress code. And every one of the pretty omegas staring at us like we were there to be judged and executed wore their own individual colours that matched their family’s.
Plus, the bitches dressed us in white. Like we were fucking ghosts or inconsequential or something other than Sin and Cas’s mates.
Brandy totally took the whole thing in stride, and I was so fucking proud of her. Despite people firing loud insults and sneers at us, she just kept on smiling. Even though I knew she wanted to puke because people were just layering their scents and auras on her.
If Caspian hadn’t looked like he was going to have a breakdown, I would have spun over there and whipped her away, no matter the fucking consequences.
They forced Brandy and me as far apart as possible. I was absolutely hurling love at her through our bond to make sure she didn’t feel abandoned.
It burned not to be near her at a time like this. We’d bitten each other so much it was like I couldn’t fucking breathe without her. Even though she said she didn’t want to be with us, if Cas and Sin didn’t bond with her soon, I didn’t know what I was going to do. But it wouldn’t be good.
She was at the top of the room, her gaze fixed on nothing as the other people at the table completely ignored her.
I would have at least sat down with her if those other people hadn’t been Zania, Vivian, and their fucking alphas.
So, yeah, there was no way any of them were shifting to let me in there. Each time Brandy tried to get up, they fucking grabbed her and forced her to stay.
My wrist kept stinging, and I just knew Zania was gripping hers under the table.
Maybe sitting with them was an honour to the other omegas, but they didn’t realise they were keeping her on a leash. They hid her from the rest of the room by the wall of Zania’s alphas.
And then there were these assholes. My fucking alphas.
If I knew Cas couldn’t drink, smoke, or do any drugs in case he lost his shit, I would have said he’d dropped a ton of acid before he came to the restaurant. Because he was fucked up.
And not even in the classic ‘I’ve had a bad day, so I’m going to be a growly cunt for the rest of the night’ kind of fucked.
I’m talking rogue-level fucked.
The moment he and Sin got close enough to the restaurant for me to sense them through the bond, they burned with rage, grief, guilt, and any other fucked up emotion under the sun.
It was so strong that Brandy shivered in her chair, looking at me across the room with shock.
Though that could have just been from the general vibe of the party.
I didn’t care that Sin phoned to say Cas was ill, or that Cas now sat between the both of us, holding our hands like he was going to collapse if we let him go. This was their chance to show their mums that Brandy was ours. And Cas couldn’t even keep his shit together.
They both glared at the main table as if they were preparing to kill everyone there. Every time Zania or Vivian laughed and Brandy reacted, Caspian would jolt, pure anger firing through him.
“What the fuck happened?” I hissed to Sin as Caspian leaned forward, staring at the tablecloth like it had called him a little bitch.
“We can talk about it later. What matters now is that we keep him calm.”
“Did he lose it?”
Sin shook his head. “I knocked him out before he could do any damage.”
My eyes widened along with my grin as Sin stared resolutely at his shitty mum. Vivian was fluttering around, waving her hands as she chatted with Zania like everything was fine and she hadn’t placed a target on our backs for all the other omegas in the room.
“I am so disappointed I missed that,” I said.
“Don’t be. We’ll pay dearly for it later. Please focus on Caspian; I can’t handle him emotionally like you.” Sin was better at subduing Caspian physically when he went rogue, and I soothed him afterwards, usually with my mouth and my ass.
“When we get home, you two owe us a fucking explanation.”
“We must stabilise Caspian first,” Sin said, releasing a harsh breath.
It was rare, if not almost impossible, to shake Sin up. I’d seen him go through so much atrocious shit and come out the other side with a blank face and an absolutely neutral aura. Ruffled was not a word people used for Sin Risler.
But he was shuffling in his seat, his attention bouncing from Caspian to Zania to Brandy. I didn’t know what Zania had done, but it must have been pretty fucking bad for Sin to be reacting like that.
So, I gathered my energy again, trying to remember why I fucking loved them after everything, and pushed that love through the bond.
Caspian shuddered, but his shoulders relaxed as he kept clasping us. It seemed like the perfect time to curl up in bed and snuggle into Caspian to keep him the fuck down. Just as long as Brandy came with us. I’d never done an omega pile-on, but I was looking forward to it already.
“What is she even doing here?” one omega said loudly and too obviously. “I thought Zania said they weren’t committed to her.”
“Don’t worry, ladies,” Zania’s voice travelled over the entire room. “She’s simply here as decoration.”
A rainbow of emotions, ranging from irritation to raw hate, exploded through the bond from all four of us. It was probably the first time we’d been in sync, and Sin and Cas hadn’t even bitten Brandy.
“What gave you that idea?” I cut in loudly, facing the omega head-on. She couldn’t have been more than twenty, and she was acting like she had a fucking right to even look at my alphas.
“Did you think we somehow made a mistake and brought the wrong omega?” Sin asked her.
There was a twinge from Cas as another tremor buzzed through him.
I sort of wanted to push him and set him off, get him going enough that we could cause a distraction and whisk Brandy away.
But I was seriously worried about how messed up his aura was.
He was literally shaking the table, even with all the love I was shooting at him.
“N-no… Of course not. We were just told…” The omega blushed, light pink dusting her high cheekbones that clashed with her orange dress.
The chattering slowed as people listened in.
“Sin, leave the poor girl alone and enjoy your food,” Zania chimed in. She had a shit-eating grin on her face, which should have probably been our cue to leave. But there was no fucking way we were taking off when our omega was trapped up there.
“I’ve promised everyone here that my son and Sin are still looking for a mate. No matter what they say, if you prove yourself worthy, you will be welcome to join our family.”
A lovely snarl cracked from Caspian, and all of us jumped as he drew in a heaving breath. It felt like he really was going to go for her.
Bolts of anger zipped out from Brandy as well, but everyone had forgotten her as they focused on the writhing mass of muscle that was my mate.
Seriously, even when I was pissed off with him, he still looked sexy as fuck.
“Caspian. There’s no need for that kind of outburst,” Vivian gave him a shaky smile. “He’s just being coy because there are so many beautiful women we hope will join our family.”
“Bullshit,” Caspian snapped, finally entering the conversation.
“Absolute fucking bullshit. I can’t even believe we’re doing this.
” He pushed his chair back from the table, but Sin and I kept a firm hold on him.
No matter how much fun it would be to see him lose his shit, we couldn’t let him go rogue with an audience.
“Don’t move,” Zania said, her hand tightening around her wineglass.
“I’m not sitting here listening to this crap,” he growled straight back, and I was getting excited. Maybe Caspian had finally decided about Brandy, or he was just feeling so crap he wanted to get the fuck out of there.
“We made our case, and we were pretty fucking clear about our decision,” I said forcefully.
Her upper lip curled the second I spoke, murmurs flying around the room. It was like they didn’t even notice a male omega was here until I raised my voice.
“That is completely beside the point,” she said, recoiling from me like I was going to infect her from ten whole feet away. “The main thing is stopping some Knottinghill whore tainting our bloodline.”
A ripple of energy flowed around the room as shocked silence suddenly suffocated us.
And all at once, whispers flew up from around the table as Zania’s words fired up the gossips.
I was there, ready to rush to her defence, about to finally take that bitch down while Sin was distracted by Caspian.
But a slam echoed through the room, followed by a high shout. “That’s enough!”