Caspian froze, his aura crackling around us like lightning. The car shook as it built, the red flecks in his eyes thickening, growing wider, drowning out his green irises.
“You are looking in the wrong direction,” I said through gritted teeth. “Camille is behind us. You need to look at what we have now, and our future, at Kai and Melanie.”
He snarled again, but I refused to react. I had to keep holding us together.
I parked, pausing to attempt to summon my love for them to temper myself as well as him.
We had taken far too long, and his concentration was slipping. I needed him to be in control when we entered the restaurant. At least until I could seat him between Kai and Melanie, and our omegas could support him.
His body slumped, his energy firing out in pulses as the state started to dominate him.
Panic took me over, and I darted forward.
“Caspian!” I shouted, slapping his cheeks, forcing him to look at me. His eyes were nearly blood red as a snarl ripped from him. “I need you to focus.”
I held his gaze, summoning as much love as I could. Kai sensed when we arrived, his resentment and confusion fighting against the red rage that was swallowing his alphas up. Even when his love joined mine, it couldn’t break through the cloud that kept building.
“All we have to do is find Kai and Melanie, and then we will leave. You will not snarl. Or growl. You will not say a single word until I feel you are calm enough.”
I lightened my touch, my fingers sweeping down his clenched jaw.
He still wheezed, but his eyes came back into focus.
No matter what I said to him, I didn’t think I could temper his reaction when he saw his mother again.
“We are going in there, we are finding our omegas, stabilising you, and then we are leaving,” I repeated. “Do you understand?”
He looked at me like he was a beast I was muzzling, and now was not the time to think about sex. I was tempted to slap him again, though it could either enrage him or bring him back to me.
“Answer me, Caspian.”
“I understand,” he said, though his aura continued to flare.
“Good.” I nodded as I released his cheeks. “Now let’s find our omegas.”
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.
