Page 46 of Bubblegum Pop

“No, I don’t care.” I shifted back, brushing his hands off my neck.

“Candy, listen, please. You know how we feel about you, but—”

“Move, Apollo,” I said coldly. “It’s time for my show.”

I stormed past him, head held high. There were alphas out there who wanted me, alphas who wouldn’t leave me, alphas who would choose to stay with me if I asked them.

“Candy,” he called after me. I refused to look back. I could hear his footsteps behind me, still smell the light traces of mango in my hair, but it meant nothing when they were running away from what we had together.

Apollo

Ileant against the back wall of the theatre, standing above the crowd of seated alphas, all waiting for the big show. The main lights were still on, and the excited chattering and bantering between the guests created an easy atmosphere that would be ruined the moment they dimmed and the pink stage curtains opened.

Though the cleaners had been thorough last night, Candy had been performing here long enough that even the walls smelled like bubblegum.

A scent we only had weeks left to savour.

Zeus’s nightmares had been growing steadily worse, especially around her heats. We kept hoping they would subside, but they had become a mix of losing us and losing Candy, and the three of us were exhausted. We could barely hold ourselves together. I was still against leaving, but Odin insisted and, no matter how desperately Zeus protested, part of him just wanted to sleep.

It cut deep that I couldn’t help him in the way he needed most. I might be his mate, but I could never be his omega.

It was going to be heart-breaking after fighting for her for years. We’d reject her, sever our bond to her, and leave.

I should have been more careful, talked to her about it after the show instead, though there was nowhere else I could talk to her seriously without raising flags with the security team.

The three of us were only here to watch the crowd. Candy had a way of messing with alphas—I got a buzz out of it, but I hated having to deal with it, too.

I folded my arms as the lights dimmed and the chattering settled. Alphas adjusted themselves in their seats and tension rose as the anticipation reached its peak.

The curtains opened, and Candy stood there in all her terrible glory. The bright light behind her cast her silhouette, an arm high in the air, wrist bent, the other resting on her popped hip. With one knee raised, the sharpness of her heels I had been stroking only half an hour ago glinted as the stage light swept away and revealed her to the cheering crowd. Clad in a tasteful champagne-pink dress that was feathered at the bottom to show glimpses of her thighs as she danced, her hair coiffed and studded with pearls, she looked like a classic pin-up model with a touch more grace. The pièce de résistance was the pink feather boa draped across her shoulders, which had become the star of my fantasies since the 1920s theme began.

The opening notes of ‘Fever’ boomed around the theatre. She bounced her shoulders, then her hips, until she opened her arms, and the first rush of perfume rolled over the crowd.

Silence descended as every single alpha in the room drew in a deep breath, myself included.

She was like crack—one hit of her sweet scent and I was begging for more. If I hadn’t guarded her for two years, I would be leaping on the stage and dragging her away. Instead, I was like all the other alphas in the room, already edging closer, some on the very edges of their seats just to luxuriate in her scent.

Candy had quickly risen to the top spot since her first heat, and she was now the most sought-after omega at the club—which showed from the size of the crowd she drew every night. On a weekend, she could fill the entire theatre, bringing in three hundred people. But she preferred a more personal show, with fifty alphas attending, all ready to bid on her at the end of the night.

She perfected the art of seduction way before Michael started selling her, and it showed. She moved through her performance so effortlessly that Zeus was already wavering. We shouldn’t have put him right below the stage. He promised he would be fine, but he had a front-row seat to her pussy, and she was hard to resist.

Odin was on standby, rigid on the opposite side of the stage. I was at the back of the room by the exit, and a few more of the club security team ringed the room.

I sent Zeus calming waves through our bond, and he shot me a grateful nod. Odin’s rock-solid energy kept us grounded, and the three of us working together stopped us from going into rut the second she stepped on stage. We practised almost every night and were fluent in the art of holding our shit together after years of guarding her.

And we needed a break. It had been two years of struggle. We could only stand by for so long and watch as our omega was purchased night after night, especially when we had to see her flirting with them as she brought them into her boudoir. She insisted we be the ones to guard her, and it lessened her physical pain to know we were near her when she worked. Plus, if we found out anything had happened to her, and we weren’t there to protect her, we’d never forgive ourselves.

Candy stood at the front of the stage as she ended the song, keeping away from the square microphone standing straight in the middle. That was for later.

“It’s just so hot in here!” she cooed, fanning her face. “What do you think, alphas? Should Candy take off some of these clothes?”

Shouts came from the crowd as she wiggled her hips, and all the scent blocking spray in the world couldn’t dampen the flood of bubblegum she pushed out, adding to the already heavy musk of horny alphas that blanketed the room.

The strip tease was upon us. This was where we had to pay attention. It wasn’t unusual for alphas to snap the moment she showed her breasts; we had firsthand experience of that.

She notched her thumb under the spaghetti straps of her dress, a cheeky smile lighting her face. “I’m going to start with this! Unless you have any other suggestions?”

She paused, beaming at the crowd in delight as comments flew in from every angle.

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