Through it all, she was quiet. Pliant as they circled and rubbed against her. Scenting her. Marking her for what was to come. Not until the first hand made a grab for her, wrenching her back so Quinn stumbled into a wall of flesh, did she begin to lose the stranglehold on her fear. Another snatched her back, Quinn’s legs sliding out from under her in a messy sprawl, only to be caught up in another’s arms before she could hit the floor. A growl issued from someone’s chest, a challenge demanding to be answered. Clutched too tight, limbs dragged in too many directions, she lost the fight.
All it took was a single whimper.
The growls became snarls and snapping teeth. Bellows and roars reverberated off the cool tile and pristine walls. Challenges were made and answered in a rage. Fists pummeled, blood sprayed. It spattered hot and wet over her chest and the kid smeared it into her flesh while trying to drop his pants in desperate jerks.
A roar and he went flying.
Quinn was turned and tossed around. Bouncing from one body to the next. Terrified to drop to the floor, she was frightened what would happen if one took her down with them. The loose sweats were ripped away, leaving her in nothing but panic prickled skin. Hands that had sought to pull her in now grasped and scratched. Desperate for their taste, they began to maul.
Tears coursing down her cheeks tracked through crimson smears. She dropped to all fours amidst the chaos. Tucked her ass tight against her heels, praying to whatever deity would listen. Scrawny arms wrapped around her head, she tried to block it all out even as something hot and hard prodded between her ass cheeks. Nails dug in to the soft flesh at her hips.
More hands grabbed her up. Unfolding her to position her as they wanted. Too many to count. Too many to be believed. Frenzy following close at their heels, it swallowed Quinn whole. Too heavy bodies jostled and vied for their place, knocking her around like a crumpled piece of paper. They thrust and ground against her while battling one another.
A misplaced fist slammed into her thigh.
Quinn screamed.
A bellow that would not be ignored thundered through the turbulent air. It crackled and boomed, shuddering through her bones and making them weak.
The males around her fell away at once.
Quinn sprawled on the floor in hopeless submission, insides gone loose and watery in the face of such dominance. It promised so much more than simple pain for disobedience. Body quivering, afraid to even let out the sob congealing in the back of her throat.
It took her a long while to realize the thunderous resonance were words and that someone could speak with such command.
Whatever was said was lost in the pounding in her ears that faltered. It slammed to a stop, picking up in trembling bursts to repeat it all over again.
And then there was something else altogether different.
Rich and deep, the throaty purr slipped over her senses as Quinn was gathered up from the cooling smears she lay in. Quinn flinched, huddled into a tiny, quivering ball. Arms tucked her tight against the chest emanating such a sound, hands firm and sure as they cradled her.
“Easy now, sweetheart.” Confident rumble never ceasing, he tried to soothe the tension from her limbs, to unlock her joints so she would melt into him.
Quinn whined low in her throat, teeth bared in a grimace as she waited for him to drop the pretense. No one who commanded a pack of rapid Alphas wouldn’t expect his due.
“You did nothing wrong, little one,” the voice promised as a large hand skated down her bunched spine. “What’s your name, hmm?”
In the long stretch of quiet, only Quinn’s small sounds of pain and defeat could be heard.
The man tsked, bundling her even closer. Chafing frozen skin to bring back a hint of warmth, he tucked the edge of his jacket around her and stood.
“Explain.”
Before Quinn could be sick all over the silky smoothness of the Alpha’s chest at the idea of speaking, someone else answered.
“This is my fault, sir. This man is Alton Rippin, and I owed him a favor. He’s come to collect on it, and I didn’t stop to ask what it was.” If there was a hint of annoyance in the man’s tone, it was buried deep under heavy layers of contrite acceptance.
Quinn was not quite startled enough at the idea of an Alpha admitting to a wrong to peek out from behind the dim shadows cloaking her face.
“What is this debt, Andrés? How many times have I said my men’s debts are mine?”
“It was from long before I came here, sir. I thought he’d need something inconsequential. Like money.” And then the irritation made itself known. “I never expected him to try and dump a hood rat on my hands.”
The man holding her made a sound of displeasure. There was nothing obvious about the way he reacted that suggested anything, but the man Andrés conceded.
“Of course, no matter her background, an Omega is precious, but as I’ve told Alton,” Andrés paused, and Quinn could only guess he was glaring at Alton during the brief silence. “I’m in no position to take on an Omega. Especially not a pregnant one.”
“It’s not like I’m asking you to mate her, for fuck’s sake,” Alton ground out.
