Page 206 of All Packed Up

Her ears still worked though, and shivers danced across her skin as Griffith’s voice cut through the noise.

“Stop!” he barked, the word a command in every sense. Birds took off from a tree nearby, the flaps of their wings and the cries from their beaks echoing across the concrete.

Gravel crunched and silence settled into the evening as everyone stopped.

The command wasn’t even aimed at her, and she still had to fight against her body’s response to stop, pause, halt as Wendy pulled Arlo to the side, desperate to see what happened.

Griffith was standing, and even from the trunk she could see the tic in his cheek, the sharp line of his jaw. His entire body was tense, ready to spring at a second’s notice, but he didn’t have to.

Tate and Nic backed away, flanking Griffith.

Gavin, Josh, and Roman were on the ground. She wanted to laugh at Gavin’s perfect smirk split and bloodied. Derek glared at the powerful alpha from where he was curled into the fetal position on the gravel, still nursing his balls, cheek bright red from her slap.

And they were all frozen.

None of them were strong enough to fight Griffith’s command.

Her lips curled in a sick glee. Good.

“Get up,” Grif growled, the bark embedded in his words making them an order.

It sent shivers over her spine, but the command wasn’t aimed at her, it wasn’t intended for her.

Powerful was the word that came to mind.

Every alpha was born with a bark, a command, a compulsion.

Even her alphas. She’d been on the receiving end of a bark too many times to count. She knew what it felt like to be commanded by a bark, to fight your body when it refused to listen to you. But she felt no sympathy for them. It was pretty fucking impressive how Griffith could command an entire pack of alphas.

They stood, even though their fists were clenched in anger, jaws tight with the urge to fight the command. Derek likely had a broken nose, from the way blood poured over his lips. He wiped it away and sneered, teeth bloodied.

Wendy’s stomach turned, gripping her hands tight around Arlo’s forearms. He stayed close as they both watched.

Griffith’s gaze landed on her, his gaze darkening as he stared at her for a long moment. Lifting a hand to her throat, she wondered if there were fingerprints. If Derek had once again left his mark on her.

Her alpha gnashed his teeth and scoffed, turning his attention back to the pack awaiting another barked order.

“So that’s why you wanted an omega to pick on? Because you’re too big of a bitch to handle anyone else?” His voice seemed to bounce and echo around the entire street even though he spoke directly to them, only feet away.

Arlo cupped her cheeks gently and pulled her attention back to him. His gaze was searching, flicking from her neck and the certain bruises to trace each feature of her face.

Laying her hands over his, she nodded.

I’m okay.

Arlo let her pull his hands away, and she hopped down from the trunk, feet hitting the pavement with a slap. and drew closer, wanting—needing—to see this to the end.

“—never set foot here again.”

Griffith turned as he felt her approach, and she stopped a few feet behind him. His gaze lingered on her throat, and she saw his fists clench.

Tate and Nic kept strong gazes on the alphas, she supposed looking for any sign of resistance, but they still glanced over her from head to foot to make sure she was okay.

“If you so much as even look at her again, I’m feeding your eyeballs to my chickens.”

Derek scoffed. “You think you have any power here? She’s ours.”

Anger fueled her, and stepped froward, drawing their attention. Wendy tugged Arlo’s hand to make him follow her as she joined Tate and Nic and Griffith.