Page 83 of Bubblegum Pop

Heavy in her arms, I watched on in horror as my mind started to disintegrate. I was dissolving, and I couldn’t stop it.

I was breaking, destroying myself from the inside. There were so many stories of alphas losing their minds after a rogue state, though I never thought it would happen to me.

I let out a cry of pain, searching for my mates, but it was too late. There was no coming back.

Until I felt teeth on my left collarbone, until a sharp pain sliced through my skin, and suddenly I was drowning in bubblegum as my omega pierced me with a mating bite.

I gasped, my whole body jolting, my legs falling from under me as she was there—her energy melding with mine, her love blending within me.

Zeus held me as I shuddered between them. Candy clamped my flesh between her teeth, the power of her omega aura demanding I stay in place and, in my rogue state, I had no choice but to follow.

Omegas couldn’t create a full bond or control others the same way an alpha could. But in a rogue state, she was the only one who could save me. Her aura bent around mine as she entered our bond, merging with Zeus and Odin, all three of them focused on me.

And she was there, just as she said. She was safe.

My pack was with me. My pack was holding me, and I needed them more than the sharp oxygen I tried to pull into my lungs.

Zeus nuzzled the back of my head, Odin’s cheek on my shoulder, and Candy caressed my waist as she released the bite, pressing her head to my chest and she purred.

I gasped, moaning as her purrs vibrated through me. I finally gave way, my body limp in their arms. My pack supported me, clutching me, keeping me up. I was supposed to keep us together, and I had failed. Like I failed them when Odin was stabbed.

I couldn’t protect them.

“I can’t—” I wheezed, but Candy silenced me with a soft kiss to my lips.

Groaning under her, I let them take my weight. “I’m so—”

“Shh,” she whispered, brushing my cheek. “Stay with us, Apollo. Come home.”

Tears dropped down my cheeks, running between us as I panted against them. I almost lost them. I could have hurt them. Yet they were still here, pulsing inside me, reminding me of who I really was.

I let my breaths match theirs, all of us together, holding each other. I could hear Arrow and his team move around us, but nothing mattered but them.

I couldn’t do anything except let them carry me, hold me, heal me. They were all I needed.

A hollow tap echoed in the back of my mind. I thought I was imagining it, until my mates froze, unease beating through our bond.

“How charming.”

I sucked in a harsh breath as Michael’s voice sounded from our left into the busy room. His presence swept around us, his quiet power blanketing us.

Tension quivered through our bond as he walked towards us, his cane sharply tapping away.

He waited patiently. We very carefully disentangled ourselves, hearts caught in our throats as we met Michael’s familiar smile and style. All black, finished with a bowler hat, a long wool jacket, and his cane.

Michael’s gaze slid to the mangled face of the alpha next to his feet. He sighed heavily as he knocked his cane on the alpha’s chest.

“I quite clearly remember saying ‘no killing’,” he said with a frown, poking the alpha again. The alpha coughed, blood bubbling from his mouth as Michael shook his head. “Oh dear, well… I’m sure he’ll be fine.” He turned back to us with a light smile that made me so unsure of the situation, I kept my mouth clamped shut.

“I suppose this is the cost of doing business, though I did tell him not to hurt Candy when he took her.”

A hushed pause grabbed us as silence fell in the room.

“What would you like me to do with him?” Arrow asked from beside Michael.

“Well, we’ll have to get him patched up. Of course, Mr Roberts understood the risk. And he will obviously be compensated for his services, though I didn’t expect him to go quite so far. And his timing was rather off as well. He was meant to wait until at least mid-day.”

His mouth tightened in a line before he looked at Candy. “I do apologise, my dear. For that, at least.” He nodded to the scar on her neck before he stepped aside to let Arrow pull the alpha away.