Page 25

Melanie

I blinked again at the pair of alphas grinning in front of me. They were both dressed in tailored suits, each old enough to be my grandpa, and leering at my chest like it was on display just for them.

“And where did you say you went to university?” one of them asked. He raised his hand, aiming for my bare arm, and I quickly shifted to avoid him. Every single alpha since I’d entered the party thought they had a free ticket to touch me.

And it didn’t help that my ‘mates’ abandoned me as soon as other people wanted to talk to them. We were supposed to be acting like a pack, but they just vanished.

Lily kept me company for as long as she could, but her three alphas summoned her away, giving me the same looks the alphas in front of me were now.

Some shockingly pretty omegas had pulled me into a conversation earlier, trying to get me to spill gossip about the Risler pack, while also pointing out all the ways I was unqualified for their family based on my appearance alone. The fact Kai had designed me a dress wasn’t enough, and the way they talked about him as a male omega made me want to tear their throats out.

So I’d excused myself from the conversation using the tried and tested technique of pretending someone was calling me and getting the hell out of there.

Which led me to this stupid situation.

I wasn’t exactly trapped, but my ass was pressed into the edge of a table, and the best escape was straight between their legs. Which I definitely couldn’t do in this dress.

I scanned the room, peering over heads, searching for Sin’s shock of white hair or Caspian’s auburn bun, but they were too far away to help me.

I’d had a headache for hours because as soon as one cloud of scents left, another filled the spot. It was even worse when alphas pushed their auras onto me.

With so much energy pulsing around me, I thought I was going to throw up. And now that these two alphas were making a move, I wasn’t even sure I could stand.

So it was time for the next play.

“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.

“Well, she was being rude to my omega,” Kai replied, throwing his arm over my shoulder. “What was I supposed to do?” He pressed his lips to my hair and I instantly softened for him. It didn’t matter if his aura felt like cloying smoke—he was still holding me.

An odd look crossed Lily’s face, her brows pulling together.

“What’s wrong?” I asked her. But the second I spoke, her look disappeared behind a smile.

“Oh, it’s nothing to worry about. Just a little family business that I hope you’ll never get stuck in.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” I asked. “They really haven’t told me much about anything.”

“Oh, really? Well, maybe that’s for the best.” She patted me on the shoulder. “You’ve already had a taste of what our Mum's can be like. It might be worth running while you still can.”

Kai’s arm tightened around my neck, and his fingers twitched on my collarbone at her words. I peeked at him from the corner of my eye just to see his expression grow sharper as he narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t make fun of her, Lily. She’ll get ideas.” Kai’s voice was too fake, and he was making it too obvious he didn’t want me there. If they really wanted to act like I was their new omega, they wouldn’t have left me alone in the first place.

Lily froze as she caught sight of something over our shoulders. “Bugger,” she grumbled as her hands quickly shot out to grasp mine.

“Listen, Melanie,” she said, suddenly tense. “Whatever you do, make sure our parents don’t get you alone. They’re predators, and they won’t stop just because of my brother and Sin.”

“Stop talking shit,” Kai bit back, strained as he shot a look behind him. “If you’re saying that, why are you bolting?”

“Hm, well, you spoke up to Mum, so I’m sure she’ll go easy on you.”

“Lily,” Kai snapped. “Don’t leave us.”

She threw me a wink before she edged backwards. I couldn’t work out what was going on.

“Lovely to meet you, Mel!” she burst out cheerily as she glanced over our shoulder again. “Maybe we can catch up later?”

She sped away before I could reply.

“Ugh, for fuck’s sake. Seriously, you can believe she’s a fucking politician.” Kai scowled just as Lily disappeared back into the ballroom.

He dropped his arm instantly, half-turning to me, his fierceness blooming as he hit me with the resentment I’d been searching for since I left him.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“Just keep your mouth shut, okay?” he hissed. “Whatever Zania says, be the meek little omega you were born to be.”

I didn’t have time to ask anything else as someone cleared their throat behind us, and Kai and I both spun to face the demonic scowling omega herself.