Tallulah hugged herself, looking uncomfortable. “I was working and I saw you guys walking into that museum.”
I watched the muscles in Storm’s jaw clench. “You shouldn’t be out here doin’ that shit, Tallulah, and Tug shouldn’t be making you.”
Tallulah’s tired eyes flashed angrily. “All betas in the club need to pull their weight. I do this for Tug and he protects me. Y’all rode off on your moral high-horses and left us all in the dust, so excuse me if I don’t really want to listen to your bullshit.”
I didn’t know what sort of work they were talking about and I had a sneaking suspicion that I wouldn’t want to know.
“Then why the fuck did you call out to us?” Storm growled, and I could hear an alpha-bark in the rumble. It was easy to forget that the awkward, sweet man was actually an alpha, and a strong one at that. The hair on the back of my neck stood up and Tallulah cringed away from us, her nails digging into her sleeves as she glared at us.
“Because she was waiting for me to arrive,” a deep voice said as a giant, scarred man stepped onto the sidewalk. He was older, with a grizzled beard and a pair of dark eyes that seemed to pin me to the spot like he was an entomologist examining a butterfly. “Long time no see, Storm, Podcast.”
I felt my insides shiver as I stared up at him and I wasn’t the only one. Podcast’s soothing eucalyptus scent soured as he seemed to curl in on himself, his entire frame beginning to violently shake next to me. I shot him a curious glance and found him pale and sweaty as he glared at the alpha in front of us.
My view of the scarred alpha was quickly blocked as Storm stepped in front of us. He drew himself up to his full height and squared his shoulders. “Tug, I’m going to need you to get the fuck away from us right now,” he said, his voice deadly calm.
The sound of grating laughter filled my ears and Podcast flinched hard. I reached out to slide my hand into his and gave it what I hoped was a comforting squeeze.
“I don’t know where you get off giving me any orders, little pup, last I checked you’re outnumbered,” Tug said as several other men dressed in different variations of ripped jeans and leather appeared from seemingly out of nowhere and surrounded us.
I glanced around, hoping to find any help, but found that the street was conspicuously empty aside from our group.
Storm’s entire body was tense, like a bow string about to snap, and I could feel his rage rolling off of him in waves. Podcast, in stark contrast, looked like he was about to collapse. His face was white with fear and his eyes remained glued to the ground like he couldn’t bring himself to look up.
Podcast looked like all of the omegas in 1915 that had been sold into unwanted unions with alphas. That same subservient fear wafted from his body and I felt my anger spark in response.
“The rest of our pack is close by, so if you don’t want Bat to put a bullet through your head, I suggest you all back the fuck up,” Storm spat. He was bluffing, I knew it and so did Podcast, but I was hoping that the alphas circling us wouldn’t call him on it.
“Yo, Tug,” one of the bikers closest to me called. “Seems like our friends have a second omega, where’d you come from, baby?” he asked and reached for me with grubby oil-stained fingers.
I crowded into Podcast’s space to get away from him and yanked my hand out of his reach. “None of your fucking business,” I snapped with a glare, the curse rolling easily off of my tongue after a week of listening to the rest of the pack swear with what seemed like every breath.
The alphas next to him just chuckled. “She’s a lively little thing.”
“Where’d y’all find a second omega?” Tug asked and I peeked around Storm’s shoulder to look at him and was filled with instant regret.
Tug’s already scary face had taken on a look of hunger as his eyes met mine and it sent a shiver of fear down my spine. I hid behind Storm again and tucked my nose into his back, inhaling his comforting scent to calm myself.
I had never met a killer before, but I knew in the marrow of my bones that the man in front of us had done his fair share of it.
Podcast pressed in close to me, his body fully shuddering as he sucked in a ragged breath. When our eyes met, I could see the abject panic in his gaze.
The desire to protect both of the men in front of me filled me. It was paired with that same bubbling rage that I had felt earlier in the manor, like my entire body was being lit on fire.
‘Youcanprotect them,’the voice that I hadn’t heard since the night that I fell into the future whispered in my ear. I didn’t have time to answer because one of the alphas surrounding us reached out and yanked Podcast away from me. Another one tried to grab me but instead grabbed the back of my jacket in his fist and I slipped out of it easily.
Podcast’s mouth was open, like he wanted to scream but no sound came out as he scratched at the hand that was gripping the back of his neck. Storm growled and the sound of fists hitting flesh echoed off of the tall buildings around us.
“Get off of him!” I shouted and hurried after the alpha who was hauling Podcast away. I grabbed the alpha’s arm and bit down as hard as I could, causing the alpha to shout and release Podcast who crumpled into a heap onto the ground.
Unfortunately, my victory was short lived because the alpha that I had just bitten raised a meaty hand and brought it across my face.
Stars filled my vision as I tried to remain upright. I heard Storm shouting something, but I couldn’t make out what it was over the ringing in my ears. Something rumbled off in the distance as I glared up at the alpha who lifted a hand to grab for me again.
‘Protect your pack,’the voice was desperate as it rang through my throbbing head.‘Burn them, Juneau, burn them all.’
The simmering rage that I felt just underneath my skin began to sting as I sucked in a deep breath. I thought about the death of my mother, of my nest being shown to the world, of Podcast’s scared face as he re-lived whatever horror the alphas attacking us had put him through.
I gathered all of that anger into my hands, and with a scream, I released it watching with shock as flames erupted from my fingers and slammed into the alpha approaching me.
