Page 86 of Shattered Trinket

I bite my lip before glancing back at Data. She takes a sip of the drink she walked over with and sighs before looking at me with a tired smile.

“I promise he won’t be in any danger or trouble for doing this for me.”

Something in her eyes tells me she’s running from something, or someone, but I also see the truth in them. That this favor of hers won’t be dangerous for my alpha.

“Okay,” I murmur softly, patting the hand on my leg. “Help her.”

When he agrees, my mind automatically tunes out, finding their conversation about her needs devoid of any meaning or interest. Instead, I find contentment in sitting in my alpha’s arms, feeling his warmth and cherishing our time together, regardless of where we are. After downing two full glasses of Dr. Pepper, the need to pee becomes borderline uncomfortable. I’ve been trying to hold it, hesitant to venture to the bathroom by myself, but Data and Jeremiah are engrossed in theirconversation, and I don’t want to disrupt them by asking for him to accompany me.

I’m an adult.

I should be able to go to the bathroom without a chaperone, dangit!

With that thought in mind, I wiggle to get free, huffing when Jeremiah’s grip on me tightens.

“I have to go to the bathroom,” I grumble under my breath, prying his hands off and jumping down.

He steadies me when I wobble, and I give him a smile. He frowns, the look in his eyes conveying his worry and innate need to follow me. I pat his leg and lean up on my tiptoes to kiss him on the underside of his jaw, making him growl.

“I’ll be fine, Alpha. You’re right here and I know you won’t let anything happen to me. I don’t want to take you away from your conversation.”

He grips my chin, eyes raking over my face.

“Straight there and back. Don’t talk to anyone and lock the door behind you, understand?”

I swallow at the intensity in his eyes, biting back the whine that tries to roll up my throat with how needy he makes me when he shows me how much he worries about me.

“Yes,Daddy,” I whisper, low enough that only he hears me.

I giggle when he sucks in a shocked breath and skip away when he tries to pull me back. People move far out of my way as I walk through the room in search of the bathroom, which I find odd, but also makes it easier for me to keep moving. Nobody tries to talk to me or get in my way, and I eventually find the ladies’ room, locking myself inside as I quickly relieve myself.

When I’m done, I wash my hands and pat my red cheeks with some cool water. Smiling at myself in the mirror, I straighten my shirt and hurry to get back to my alpha.

“Gods, what was he thinking bringing someone like you in here?” a woman snorts over in a corner when I step out of the bathroom, wiping my hands on my jeans.

When I look at her, my cheeks flame with heat at how much skin she’s showing off. Which is ridiculous, considering I spent a year completely nude while I was locked in a cage. Nudity quickly became such a normal aspect of my life.

But now, I’m working to break all of those chains that still weigh me down, which means learning what I truly am comfortable with and not what I was conditioned to become comfortable with. If that makes sense.

“Excuse me?” I ask, a frown in place.

“I said, I can’t believe Ghost brought someone like you here. You aren’t his usual flavor,” she says, eyeing me up and down. “Maybe you’re hoping he’ll let you ride his knot, little omega? He might. But then he’ll throw you aside like everyone else, so I wouldn’t go getting attached if I were you.”

I look over at where I left Jeremiah, biting my lip. She’s speaking my inner fears out loud, hitting a nerve whether or not she intended to. Though I’m smart enough to recognize it was definitely intended.

There’s a primal part of my brain that has been calling him mine for so long, but that hasn’t stopped the other part of me, fearing that he won’t stay. That he won’t want to truly keep me with all my traumas and issues. That he won’t want to live a normal life and quit what he does.

“Aw, you’re not gonna cry, are you, sweet omega?” the woman taunts, tilting her head with a smirk on her awful red lips as tears fill my eyes unwillingly.

I try my hardest to fight them back, but when a lick of anger ignites inside of me, even more tears fill my eyes.

Fudge.

I’ve always despised that I cry with any big emotion I have.

Hurt? Cry.

Angry? Cry.