Page 85 of Bubblegum Pop

Apollo was trembling, pure shock splashed on his face, all the light I loved gone as he grit his teeth.

None of us said a word. It was too much.

They kept telling me. Over and over again, they kept saying what the contracts meant, and I still chose to push them.

Odin kept his hands solidly around me, and I reached out to spread mine over his. I wanted to comfort him, at least.

I looked up at him, his face creased with the same concern which pulsed through all of us, his gaze fixed straight ahead.

Zeus was suddenly in front of me, quickly tearing his shirt off over his head, his tanned chest on display. He laid it over my body, covering me, hiding me from everyone else, but it was too late. Everyone in the room had already seen me naked, but his thoughtfulness was what I needed.

I opened my mouth to say thank you, but Zeus’s attention had already swung back to Apollo. I bit back my hurt, reminding myself it wasn’t only about me.

“Don’t worry,” Odin murmured as he pressed his lips to the top of my head. “That’s just how they are.”

I could feel the three of them faintly in my body, as if I was under water, watching them above me. The energy of an omega bite faded with time if it wasn’t returned by an alpha, so I wouldn’t let it go. I said I wouldn’t bite them without their permission, but that was an emergency.

After all that—no, because of that—I was more determined than ever to receive their bites.

Apollo was willing to kill for me. He destroyed that alpha, and he would have disappeared before our eyes as he sunk into madness if it wasn’t for my bite.

He was deathly pale as he walked beside us. His silence was so intense that he was the only thing I could hear until a low voice spoke from in front of us. “This way.”

My head shot up, shaking as I saw Bones at the end of the corridor, dressed exactly like the beta guards who had kidnapped me, his gun pointed downwards.

It didn’t matter that he was blank-faced, completely professional. Even if it was his job to follow orders, he knew. Arrow knew, and he hadn’t said a word. Those betas who chloroformed me knew, and so did Gordon Roberts. They all were part of Michael’s play.

Betrayal wasn’t the right word for what sunk through me as Bones turned and led us through the maze of corridors.

Zeus stayed close to Apollo, stroking him, murmuring to him, trying to keep him stable, though it looked like he might collapse at any moment.

I was exhausted; my face, wrists, and ankles throbbed with pain. I couldn’t relax when the men who had kidnapped me were walking around like it was just a job.

They threw us glances as we passed, and my fingers dug into Odin’s hand as I tried to keep myself together. I wasn’t going to cry, I’d already been shamed enough.

The state of the mansion was pathetic but, considering how Gordon was, it shouldn’t have been a surprise. Everything was rundown and falling apart, and I suspected Gordon had moved everything that still had some value to that room. Or maybe Michael only paid to have one room decorated.

I didn’t know what the security team was doing, but there were bodies everywhere, and other guards with first-aid kits leaning over them. I couldn’t tell who were the kidnappers and who were the men who had come to save me. There was no difference when they were all drenched in black. I used to think all those guards were there to protect me during my shows, but it was more proof that I was naïve enough to believe that Michael had somehow saved me from my harsh life, that he’d been keeping me safe all this time.

Odin held me tight as he turned to a flight of stairs and started downwards. I could see sunlight ahead of us, and prayed we were really leaving the shambles of the mansion.

I looked up at Odin again, relief making a home inside me as I lifted my other hand to his steady heart. His chin dipped, meeting my eyes, his face like stone. He softened for the briefest second before his head shot up, focusing on the front doors.

Apollo was on Odin’s right by my feet, Zeus on his other side, joined together by my bite. And as Odin’s shoes touched the scuffed marble floor, I felt it settle between us.

That was the real moment we became a pack. Even if my mates kept pushing me away, there was no way they could deny the ripple that ran through the four of us. Odin sucked in a harsh breath as Apollo jolted, coming to a standstill. I could sense them, sense how Zeus wrapped his arms around Apollo, how they sunk into each other, and a wisp of pain fluttered in Odin’s chest as he sighed.

The sunlight was a strange contrast to the dimness of the mansion, and I drew in the deepest breath of fresh air I could. I was finally free, even though we hadn’t properly escaped.

“Put me down,” I said quietly.

“But we’ve nearly reached the car.” Odin’s chest rumbled as he spoke. It was so tempting to let him carry me, but I needed to leave the mansion by myself.

“I want to feel it,” I said as he lowered me, his brow tight with concern. I wanted the sharp stabs of gravel to be a reminder. Like when I ran from an alpha in an alleyway all those years ago, my feet aching as I escaped. It might seem like it was over, though now I couldn’t be sure.

There was no way I could work at the club anymore. Whatever we had to do, whatever Michael demanded of us, I’d do it, as long as I never had to be with another stranger again.

I quickly threw on Zeus’s t-shirt, the familiar size and smell setting off my wild omega instincts which were telling me to throw myself at my alphas and ride them right here. I could show Gordon and all these other bastards we belonged together, and that I wasn’t going to be beaten by this.