Page 4 of Bubblegum Pop

“Well, my dear,” the alpha said, lines crinkling at the corners of his eyes as he took a step into the room. “You seem to have found yourself in quite a predicament, haven’t you?”

His tone might have been kind, but there was no chance I was letting my guard down.

Suddenly, instead of suffocating me, his aura gently eased into calming waves, peace fluttering through me, trying to force me to relax. It was part of their stupid alpha deal, so an omega didn’t go mental during their heat. Most of the alphas on this side of town just used it to get a free lay. It was way easier to assault an omega when they were forced to be calm.

I’d had paying alphas do it before, to make the sex easier, but most didn’t bother. They just bent me over and took what they wanted.

I sighed in relief, like I was glad he had eased up, as a normal omega would. I watched closely to see how he would react, but his smile didn’t change. I sat my ass against the edge of the cabinet, my hands riding the edge, desperately clinging on. I refused to let him dominate me. Instead, I gave him a sultry smile, popping a hip, praying he didn’t see the whites of my knuckles as I pushed out my chest.

“Where do you like to start?” I purred, the sound rumbling from my chest. “You can take me here if you want? I like to fuck standing up.”

I simpered as I gathered myself, acting like the pretty omega I was. My stomach tensed, my chest tightening as I released a waft of perfume. It flowed from me, filling the small room with the heavy scent of bubblegum, rich and sweet, my own personal flavour.

Some of the girls could make their scents stronger, but nothing like this. If I could wind him up, then I’d just have to put up with him for a few hours. Take his knot, ride him out, hope he didn’t kill me, and then I’d be done. It wasn’t different from any other night, really.

But he didn’t even sniff the air. He just kept smiling at me placidly, like he was used to seeing an omega perfuming on command. Almost all omegas had to get worked up to perfume, unless they were still young and had just presented.

He cleared his throat, tilting his head, never taking his attention off me. “Danielle, is it?” he asked, lifting a brow.

I jumped in surprise, my lips parting as one solid heartbeat of fear stole my breath.

He shouldn’t know that. No one should know that. I’d done everything possible to hide my identity since I ran away from my foster family as soon as I presented at eighteen. They were happy to sell me off for eight hundred pounds and an eightball, and force me to bond to a pack twice my age.

On the day I was supposed to go to them, my foster dad pushed me down in the kitchen and tried to fuck me one last time. I stabbed him with a steak knife sticking out of the dishwasher, and I’d been hopping from city to city for two years since then to make sure the police couldn’t find me.

“Who’s Danielle?” I asked, cocking my head. I thought I’d hidden my fear, but there was a tremor in my voice.

“Please don’t bother. Our conversation will be much smoother if we both refrain from lying.”

I twisted my lips. “How did you know then?”

“Let’s call it an occupational hazard. Tell me, Danielle—”

“Candy,” I cut him off. I stopped being Danielle the second I got away from my foster home.

He dipped his head, exhaling softly. “Candy, then.” His gaze dropped to my feet, doing a full sweep of my body. The white dress cut just over my knees and split up the thigh for easy access. No underwear, no jewellery, nothing to get in his way. “How much are you paid for jobs such as this?”

I hitched my chin, giving him a teasing smile as my hair swept around my shoulders. Even if his aura was terrifying, I’d fucked guys with guns in their hands. If I died, I died, but usually a good performance got me a payout, especially with the crazy ones.

Curving my back, I tilted my head at just the right angle to show my neck and make him think of a bite. “Enough to make it worth it,” I said with a quick flutter of my eyelashes.

I sent another waft of perfume his way, but I already knew it wouldn’t make a difference. It was like he couldn’t even smell me.

I’d spent years on the run from alphas who couldn’t control themselves around me. So, I had to be the one to learn control. Alphas in rut could be fucking terrifying, and that’s why I always carried a knife in my purse, kept my nails sharp and used my aura to calm them. Two years of fighting and running, and I had the scars to prove it.

But he didn’t even blink.

“Your friend Stevie says you earn at least a thousand every night,” he said.

I snorted, a hand shooting up to my lips, swallowing the next giggle.

I was grinning when I lowered it. “Sir, if I was getting a thousand pounds a night, do you really think I would be here?”

“Yes, I suspected as much.” He nodded. “His type are all the same.” He tutted with a small shake of his head before he moved to stand in front of me. I was still pressed up against the cabinet, but I didn’t feel like he was closing me in.

“I do believe it’s time,” he said.

Resignation settled in me. Whenever someone bought me, it was the same. Even though I knew what was coming, I always hoped for something different.