30. Phantom
Chapter thirty
I pull open the box flaps, prepared for anything. We have a lot of enemies, and Delilah shouldn’t have brought this in the house. But it’s too late now, and it doesn’t sound or feel like any parcel bomb I’ve ever seen.
As the last flap opens, I let out a grunt of confusion.
Sitting among a nest of scraps of fabric is a stuffed animal, a rabbit.
The seam is torn at the neck and it’s absolutely filthy, a muddy, reddish-brown color worked into every fiber of the toy’s fur.
But there isn’t a note immediately visible to indicate who might have sent this weird package to our door.
Delilah moves to my side, looking past me, her light scent meeting my nose. It’s a little ashy today, but it isn’t particularly unpleasant. But that scent turns to sour milk and charred fruits as she lets out a scream loud enough to wake the dead before taking off back down the hallway.
“Delilah!” Joker shouts after her, trying to run, but Bones has a hand on his arm.
“Let her go. What’s that?” the alpha says, getting to his feet to look.
Joker snarls and rips his arm free and goes after the other omega without looking back.
Cross joins us at the island, and they share the same confused look I’m sure I have on my face.
Cross reaches into the box carefully, his fingers sliding under the body of the stuffed rabbit, lifting it carefully.
I duck down and nod for him to continue, not seeing any tethers or wires coming from the back.
But as he lifts, the head of the rabbit rolls off, bouncing twice on the island before stopping.
“Wait, is that…” Bones starts, leaning in and sniffing the rabbit. “That’s blood.”
I feel the color drain from my face as I look at the headless rabbit again, mouth dropping open. On the second glance, what I thought was just dirty, slightly matted brown fuzz turns out to be dried blood that’s soaked into the material.
Siren lifts one of the scraps of material from the box, holding it to their face and smelling it, their eyes going wide.
“This…this was hers,” they mutter hoarsely.
I grab another scrap and smell it, and sure enough, there are faint traces of several scents on the fabric, but the strongest of them all is the soft jasmine and chocolate scent I’ve detected a handful of times coming off Delilah.
“What in the holy hell is this?” I mutter, more confused than ever.
“I don’t know. And she said it was just sitting on the front porch?” Cross asks.
Siren nods beside me, but then goes stiff, sucking in a sharp breath. “Does anyone remember how her old pack died?”
We’re all silent for a moment, and then Cross lets out a creative cuss, dropping the rabbit body onto the counter. “They were beheaded. Do you think…”
Bones snarls, a low, dangerous sound before he turns toward the hallway.
“Omegas. Here. Now.”
His shouted bark sends a cold shiver down my spine, and I’m not even experiencing the full force of it.
There are several long moments of silence before we hear a single set of footsteps getting louder.
When I look, I see Joker cradling Delilah in his arms, her face pressed to his shoulder and visibly shaking.
And Joker, for his part, is glaring daggers at Bones.
“What,” he snaps, not moving from the doorway, the minimum requirement to fulfill the compulsion of the order.
“Explain,” Bones snaps, hardly sounding human with the way his growl is distorting his words.
Delilah squeaks and sniffles, clinging tighter to Joker’s throat as she tries to move away from Bones.
“Take a lap, Mav. Before you do more harm than good,” I say, protective instincts flaring hot.
Thankfully, Bones doesn’t fight me, stomping out the back door, Cross hot on his heels. Siren and I move toward the couches, motioning for Joker to follow us. He sits with Delilah on his lap, holding her close and purring softly.
“It’s okay, little wisp. You’re okay. You’re safe,” he whispers, rubbing her back and brushing her hair back from her face.
I sit on the coffee table facing them, Siren sitting close but not enough to crowd them. Their scent is soft, calming roses and rain filling the room.
“Honey, can you talk to us?” I start, dropping my voice to barely above a whisper, trying to be as gentle as possible.
Delilah shakes her head, trying to make herself small in Joker’s arms. It hurts a part of my heart I thought was long dead to see her so afraid, but I can’t protect her if I don’t know what sort of threat I’m facing.
“Who sent that package, luv? Do you know?” Joker tries, nuzzling her head.
Delilah nods, but doesn’t speak, only whimpering slightly.
“Was it the same person who killed your pack?” Siren asks flatly.
Delilah lets out a choked sob that tugs at my heart and instincts, and I lean closer. I want to touch her, to soothe her, to wipe away her tears. But Bones’s orders were clear, though I’m not sure how much longer I’m going to be able to obey them.
“He called me rabbit, because I’m jumpy. And I would run from the fighting. He got me that rabbit. It was in my nest. God, how did he get that? How did he find me?”
Delilah speaks in hoarse, rushed sentences, each more panicked than the last. Joker rocks her gently, purring so hard I can feel it vibrating through the floor.
Siren’s scent gets stronger as they move closer, laying a tentative hand on her arm, their thumb brushing across the bare skin of Delilah’s forearm.
I look at them in alarm, but I don’t stop them, especially after how they’ve acted in the past.
“Who is he? If you tell us—”
Delilah lets out a startled, pained shout, clutching her chest. “I can’t. I can’t,” she gasps.
“It’s okay. You don’t have to,” Joker says.
Siren shoots him a look, but our omega only glares back, his arms tightening protectively around Delilah’s slight frame.
“We can check the cameras, see if we can get anything from them that might give us a lead,” I suggest, looking at Siren and nodding toward the loft.
They sigh and roll their eyes, seeing the dismissal in my gaze.
It’s not that I don’t want them here, but Delilah needs a gentler hand than they’re able to give.
With a sigh, Siren stands up and heads upstairs toward the security station in the loft without further protest, leaving Joker and me alone in the living room with Delilah.
We lock eyes, a newfound solidarity forming between us. He wants to help this poor girl so badly, but Bones has more control over Joker than any of us. But me…I have no such compulsion. In a battle of wills, I’m the only one in the pack able to stand up to our prime alpha.
“I need to hear you ask it, Jokes. I can’t do anything until you allow it,” I whisper, referring back to his claim.
Joker nods. “Keep her safe, Connor. I need you,” he says, voice full of conviction.
I return the nod before extending my arms. Joker looks down at Delilah with a soft smile on his face, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear. “Phantom’s going to take over, okay luv? He’s not going to let anything happen to you, I promise.”
Joker’s voice is full of a warmth I’m not sure I’ve ever heard from him before, and it seems to settle something in his fellow omega. She nods and sniffles, pulling back from Joker’s arms enough to wipe her cheeks.
“Atta girl. Now, he’s going to take over for me. I’ve got an alpha who needs some sense knocked into his thick fucking skull,” Joker says, laughing slightly to lessen the intensity of his threat.
Just like that, Delilah nods and crawls over into my arms.
And sweet baby Jesus and all the saints, nothing has ever felt as right as her little hands resting over my heart.