31. Bones
Chapter thirty-one
The scent of Delilah’s pack’s old blood sticks in my nose, even as I storm around the clearing behind the house. Their fear lingered on the fabric, my over-sensitive nose holding on to the notes even as I try to push them away.
“What the hell was that?” Cross shouts at me after he closes the back door and tramps down the stairs.
I snarl viciously, not trusting myself to form words right now. My instincts are too triggered, and the call for violence that lingers too close most days rings in my ears.
The need to protect. The burning, aching longing that’s taken root in my chest from the moment I laid eyes on the terrified, pathetic, scrap of an omega Joker dragged out of the facility.
The fury, not at her, but on her behalf.
No one so small and vulnerable should have to endure so much.
Joker might be an omega, but I know he can protect himself. Delilah, though…
I’m pulled from my thoughts as Cross grabs me by the arm and whips me around to face him. His hood has fallen down, revealing the rumpled black hair underneath, but his jade-green eyes glare up at me even as his scent shifts to the soothing incense and violets in an effort to get me to calm down.
“Maverick, what the fuck was that?” he asks again, words sharp but low enough not to be overheard.
I swallow at the use of my given name, taking a deep breath through my mask. It presses hard into my jaw and the back of my neck, but I know better than to take it off when I’m like this.
“What was what?” I ask back, making a conscious effort to hold back my growl.
“Barking like that. There was no need—”
I turn away with a scoff. “We needed answers and we weren’t going to get them if I didn’t pull her out of whatever bolt hole she’s found to hide from us all the time.”
“Bolt hole—do you mean the makeshift nest she’s made in her room out of the scraps she had to scrounge for?” Cross fires back.
“Whatever. She had to answer for what happened with that package,” I go on.
The words hurt, but I need to keep my emotional distance.
In truth, I’m constantly aware of where Delilah is at all times.
Her presence calls to my alpha instincts like a ping on RADAR.
Her movements, her hiding places, I’m acutely aware of her night and day.
And when I work out in the mornings, all I can smell is her spoiled, traumatized scent and every alpha instinct in me wants to do the only thing they know how to do: fight and kill until she’s safe.
“What the fu—you know what, that’s not the point. I’ve told you that you can’t act like that. She’s been busting her ass like a slave, and the first time you’ve acknowledged her since we got home is to snap and bark at her.”
I look back at Cross’s face, my shoulders dropping.
He’s right. He always is. I’ve been acting like a dick, and forcing the pack to do the same, all because I didn’t want us to get too attached.
But I’m not blind. I see the way Phantom looks at her, the way Cross tries his best to help her when he doesn’t think I’m looking.
And Joker…he has to follow my orders, but it kills me to see him pining after Delilah.
As if summoned by my thoughts, the back door slams open and closed, Joker’s honey and musk scent preceding him as he charges down the stairs straight for me.
His beautiful face is twisted in rage unlike anything I’ve ever seen, and he unleashes the full force of it at me as he puts his hands on my chest and shoves.
And despite being larger and heavier than him, Joker manages to send me staggering back four steps.
“How fucking dare you speak to her like that!” he roars at me, face red and spit flying.
“Jokes—”
“Stay the fuck out of this, Silas,” Joker snaps, not even turning to look at Cross.
The beta swallows but doesn’t speak, though I do notice his hands twitching at his sides, his body ready to react if needed.
“I’m sorry—”
“Not nearly sorry enough! She damn near pissed herself from fear when you barked at us,” Joker cuts me off, his shout loud enough to send birds into flight from the nearby trees.
“She has been through some absolute shit. And I’m done letting you treat her like she’s something you stepped in. She’s moving into the nest with me, and you’re gonna stay the fuck out of it until I see you’ve learned how to act like a fucking person and not some power-tripping alphahole.”
The clearing goes quiet for a moment, and I look down at Joker, stunned. He’s never behaved like this before, not even before I made him my mate. Our bond is ice cold, and I can’t feel anything coming from him, and that’s enough to tell me how serious he is about this.
“I understand you’re upset, Teddy. But let’s not say anything we’re going to regret tomorrow,” Cross says, speaking in a low, soothing tone like one might use on a spooked horse.
“The only regret I have is not putting my foot down sooner. Delilah has been through hell, and I’m done with all of you treating her like she’s some sort of spy or double agent.
She needs our help, even more so now with that fucking package that’s shown up on our front step,” Joker goes on, speaking with all the seriousness of the grave.
“What do you know?” I ask, searching for a directive so I can ignore my feelings for a little while rather than having to sit with them.
Joker rolls his eyes, and it takes more effort than I would have thought not to correct him.
“That came from her old nest. You know, the fucking crime scene of where she lost her pack? And it came from someone she knows, someone who she either can’t or won’t name,” Joker explains, rocking his weight onto his back foot as he crosses his muscular arms over his chest.
I mull over those words for a few seconds, but I’m distracted as Siren opens the door and leans out, looking around for a moment before spotting us.
“You need to come see this. I caught something on the cameras,” they say, seriously.
Cross, Joker, and I look at each other for a long heartbeat.
This conversation isn’t over by a long shot, but we have more pressing matters to attend to right now.
While it’s clear this package was meant to terrorize Delilah specifically, the fact that she—and by extension, us—was found is alarming for entirely different reasons.
Any insight into who we’re dealing with will only aid us in our efforts to protect the base, and the people who live inside it.
All of us move in unison back toward the house, following Siren to the security office to review whatever footage they found from last night.
When we pass through the living room, I notice that Phantom and Delilah aren’t here, and my enhanced hearing picks up the sound of running water coming from the bedroom hallway.
There’s a pang of longing again in my chest, but I shove it down, determined to be the prime alpha I need to be and protect her and the rest of my pack as best as I can.