Page 3 of How to Lose an Omega in Twelve Days
“Yeah,” I said. My uncle had fallen deeply into debt and sold the resorts one by one, leaving hundreds of shifters suddenly unemployed and most of them homeless. Only two of his resorts had made it back into the family chain.
My father sighed. “When my siblings and I were old enough, our father gave us each resorts to continue in legacy. Just as his sister passed hers to my cousins. But because of his brother, my father included a safeguard when he transferred ownership…”
I leaned forward, curiously.Thispart was news to me. What sort of safeguard?
After giving me a moment to wonder, my father continued, “Among other things, one stipulation was that wehaveto transfer a resort to our children. Otherwisehalfof our resorts will be divided up among the other sibling and their children. I have to transfer a resort to you or your brother by the thirty-first.”
“O-of this month?!” I cried.
Sure, my brother and I would take ownership of the resortssomeday.We had been preparing for it all of our lives,but I hadn’t expected one this soon!
“Yes. Of this month. Before the new year. Now, your brother…”
I groaned as it clicked; I knew where this was going. My brother was an alpha. Sure, he was a lazy, spoiled, entitled alpha, but he was an alpha nonetheless. It was no secret my father was putting off giving us control of any of the resorts because he was hoping my brother would turn himself around. But if he was being forced to give only one of us a resort, the alpha son was the logical, expected choice.
Even though my brother was probably going to run it into the freaking ground and leave people as high and dry as our great-uncle had. And since most of the income from each resort went into the others and supporting the resident shifters, it would impacteveryoneat our resort chain. I was very familiar with the books and I knew exactly how much each resort contributed and how damaging losing even one would be.
“Unfortunately, your brother has been spoiled by our lifestyle. I should have forced him to live more… modestly.”
My jaw actually dropped as I stared at my father. My brother’s shortcomings were common knowledge, but I had never heard my father say it so, well,bluntly.
He ignored my reaction. “Every time I give you and your brother a chance to manage a property, the proceeds for the one your brother has plummet. It’s a disaster every time. In light of that, I think it’s only fair I giveyouthe first property.”
“Dad, I…” I gaped at him.
Without another word he slid a tablet across the table to me. On the screen was a map with several pins on it. I knew at a glance that each pin marked a resort property that my family owned.
“You may choose your resort.”
I already knew which one I wanted. It was one of our ski resorts in New England. All of the architecture was inspired by old world Bavaria and the town at the foot of the mountainalways held massive Christmas markets and a parade. It had always been my favorite one.
“This one,” I said quickly.
My father grunted as I did and I got the distinct impression he wasn’t please. “Of course,” he muttered.
“You said I could pick.”
“I did. But I was hoping you wouldn’t pick that one. It was… a test. And you failed.”
“What?!” I demanded. “What do you mean I failed?”
He sighed and shook his head. “Whenever you manage a resort you do a fantastic job. I am always pleased when I read the reports.” His eyes narrowed at me. “From January to October. But every single time I let you take over a resort in November or December, you spend an outlandish amount of the budget on holiday crap. You plan lavish Christmas parties and events and…” He threw up his hands and growled. “The profit margin is always razor thin. It’s a miracle you don’t do worse than your brother. And I know you chosethatresort because you want to turn it into some whimsical, festive, Frostville knock-off Christmas Fair,” he spat.”
I decided against reminding him that the Christmas Capital of the World was called Frostbourg and it was famous for a market, not a fair. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite dispute the rest. Ididtend to go overboard for the holidays. I had a feeling he also wouldn’t want me to point out that once I had purchased décor for a resort, I wouldn’t need to spend as much the following year.
My father drummed his fingers on his desk, studying me. “I love you, Shaun. And I think you have a good mind for business. And I believe you have the potential to run these resorts the way your grandfather would have wanted. I also know you can do far better than your brother… but this Christmas thing… it has tostop. So, here’s what we’ll do. Go pack. You’re leaving for your resort on the next flight.”
“Wha—” I started.
“You’ll be managing it until the end of the month. When you’re done, I’ll check the reviews, the books, crunch the numbers… if you went overboard for Christmas, you’re done. The next day, January 1st, I sign it over to your brother.”
“But—” I gasped. My chosen resort wasn’t just my favorite, it was quaint and charming and everyone but me hated it. My father wanted to bulldoze the whole thing and built a new, hideous modern one on top. My brother wasn’t much better. If I had known that I could lose it in just a couple of weeks, I might have picked one I could stand to lose. If my brother got it, I’d lose it for good.
“Now,” my father went on, ignoring my protest, “the resort is already decorated for the holidays and the events are scheduled. You arenotto involve yourself or make any changes or additions. I don’t want you hanging a single wreath. In fact, I want you to be… a grinch!” A smile, not unlike the Grinch himself, spread across my father’s face as the idea occurred to him. “Yes. I want you to let someone else handle everything Christmas while you’re there. For the rest of the month, you will be a grinch.”
“Dad,” I started. “That’s…”
“Hundreds of shifters count on these resorts,” he snapped. “It’s their home, their livelihood. If I can’t trust you to put aside your Christmas obsession for three measly weeks, how can I trust you to run an entire resort? You’re too much like—” He stopped abruptly and cleared his throat. “Show me you can do it. Prove to me that running the resort is more important to you than a holiday. And it’s yours.”
