Ignoring the new nickname I seem to have picked up, I increase my speed as we walk out of the lot.
“Is that going to cause an issue?” I ask.
“Now you ask?” the beta beside me asks.
“Shh,” Burner grunts. “No, ma’am. We won’t allow it to. He disrespected you first. You’re no one’s whore unless it’s said in the privacy of your bedroom. And then I don’t want to know anything about it.”
A half hysterical giggle escapes before I clamp my free hand over my mouth.
“You good?” the beta asks.
“Introduce yourself, Gremlin,” Burner sighs.
“Didn’t you do it for him?” I ask, finding my inner stoicism with extraordinary effort.
“Please don’t call me Gremlin,” the beta groans. “Vik works for me.”
“Girl!” Devon yells behind me, making me roll my eyes.
“That behavior doesn’t work for me,” I call over my shoulder. “Use your words or don’t speak at all to me.”
“She has bigger balls than I do,” Vik whispers. “Little Queen it is.”
“Oh please don’t make that a thing,” I hiss, my boot hitting the first stair as we begin to climb them.
“They’re wet as fuck,” Burner says, offering his arm at the same time Vik does.
“Is this?—”
“If you fall on your ass, that’ll be a problem. Accept the goddamned help,” Nick says from the top of the stairs.
Inclining my head because these steps are made of fucking marble, I wind my arms through those offered. As if the silence of the world has popped, I can hear motorcycles revving, people talking, and men walking around the church.
My head is a muffled mess, which is the best explanation I have for my continued struggle to pay attention to my surroundings.
“Marie!” Devon yells behind me. “Stop!”
His alpha bark hits me like a truck, causing me to shudder mid step. There’s a gasp and weapons pulled as people recognize the bark for what it is: an act of war.
“Fight it!” Burner hisses, his fingers digging into my arm. “Come on, Little Queen. Remind people who the fuck you are.”
It takes everything inside of me, but I gasp before forcing myself to take another step. He didn’t specify what I should stop doing, so my body stopped doing everything but the bare minimum to keep me alive. Even the air froze in my lungs until Burner spoke to me. I’m going to train myself out of responding to alpha barks.
This world doesn’t always care that it’s rude to bark an omega to do something, especially without clear instructions.
“I’m fine! Put your dicks away, boys,” I call out nonchalantly, though my body hurts as I continue to shake off the bark.
A gunshot goes off and I turn my head quickly to see who I’m losing next. The bullet hits the pavement in front of Devon’s feet, and I raise my brow as Storm and Wilder move through the crowd to stand in front of the visiting president.
“What—”
Wilder punches Devon in the face, while Storm kicks him in the stomach. More guns come out, making me annoyed as fuck.
“Excuse me,” I say, dropping my arms from the men next to me and climbing a stair ahead of them to scoot around them. I accept the hand Burner gives me as I step down before placing my fingers to my lips to whistle.
If they don’t chill the fuck out, we’re going to have the cops called on us.
“Hey!” I yell, waiting for the full weight of a hundred men’s gazes.Fuck, that’s scary.Most have their faces covered, which makes it difficult to know who is who.
