48. Cross
Chapter forty-eight
It takes several hours for Joker, Bones, and Delilah to emerge from the nest room, which is honestly for the best. Delilah needs rest and attention, and even if Bones can come off as a cold, stubborn bastard, Joker is there to make him care and keep his rougher edges in check.
When they do, Delilah’s hair is braided in two plaits that fall over her shoulders, her eyes a little puffy, but overall, not that bad.
Joker, however, looks like he’s the king of the world, and Bones has that protective look in his eyes as he follows behind the omegas.
“Have a good nap, baby girl?” Phantom asks from the couch, a knowing smirk pulling at his lips.
Delilah blushes the most adorable shade of pink, ducking to hide behind Joker, not making eye contact. We all chuckle fondly at her reaction, my smile making my cheeks hurt.
“If anyone is wondering, I also had a good fuck—I mean, nap,” Joker says with a false stutter.
Siren snorts from their perch on the kitchen counter, another cup of coffee in their hands. “Still scrambled, pup?” they tease.
Joker lets out a little purr, winking in their direction, but thankfully he doesn’t go into details.
Not that I wouldn’t want to hear them, but Delilah looks about ready to melt into the floor from embarrassment.
I catch her eye and jerk my head backward, giving her a small, soft smile.
She moves away from Joker and comes over to sit between me and Phantom on the couch, immediately grabbing a blanket and getting cozy.
Phantom purrs in approval, and I swear I can see the spark of life brightening in her eyes.
It’s only been a few weeks, but the change in Delilah has been profound.
Her face has more color, her cheeks rounding out and making her look less skeletal.
Her hair looks healthier, and her body is finally starting to fill out.
She’s been so good about eating, thanks in large part to all the positive reinforcement we’ve been giving her for finishing her plate and not fighting us each time a little more is added.
Stability, care, and attention has worked wonders on her.
It’s a crying shame that we’re going to have to take that away from her.
“So, about this tracker…” I start with a heavy sigh.
Bones grunts slightly as he sits at his place at the dining room table, turning to look at Siren. “Any headway with tracing the signal back?”
Siren shakes their head. “The thing they put in her was a glorified vet chip. Meant for local readings and basic location tracking. As far as I can tell, it pings off cell towers to help triangulate a location. Because there’s only a few towers out this far, it wouldn’t have taken Dunne long to find our house. ”
Phantom lets out a soft curse, but my eyes go to Delilah, gauging her reaction.
Her eyes are a little distant, but not full-on dissociating.
I lean in and take Delilah’s hand over the blanket, squeezing slightly to give her something to ground herself with.
She shifts her eyes to me, giving me a small, grateful smile.
“So…he knows where we are, but we have no way to find him. Great. Just great,” Bones grumbles.
“Well, there is a way to figure out where he is, but I’m not sure you’re going to like it,” I say, interjecting into the brief silence.
Everyone looks at me, and I give Delilah’s hand another squeeze.
“We can use it to draw him out,” I say, letting the words fall into the silence.
There’s a long moment when all that fills the house is the gentle sound of the wind in the trees outside, and the occasional bird taking flight or singing. Then Joker lets out a snort that leads to a disbelieving chuckle and before long, he’s doubled over, laughing.
“Why is that funny?” I ask defensively.
“It’s not just funny; it’s hilarious. Because on what planet would we ever do something as crazy as that?” Joker says between his laughs, wiping away tears from his eyes.
“You don’t even know what I’m proposing,” I counter.
“I don’t have to. I know it’s going to put Lilah at risk, and there’s no way on God’s green earth that we’re doing it.”
Joker smirks and crosses his arms over his chest, and I already feel the stubbornness building across our bond. I should have seen this coming, but I turn to Bones, looking for backup. The prime alpha lets out a sigh and turns an exasperated look at Joker.
“We need to hear all possible options before we decide what to do, Jokes. Just like always,” Bones says calmly.
“Not this time. Not when it comes to my little wisp.”
“Joker—”
Joker turns up his nose as Phantom tries to chastise him, earning correcting growls from all three alphas. Delilah lets out a little squeak and I pull her closer to my side, tucking the blanket around her more securely. Bones’s expression turns stony as he glares at Joker.
“You’re gonna sit down and listen to Cross. Do you understand me?” Bones says, and I feel the ripple of authority across the bonds, the hair standing up on the back of my neck.
Delilah’s eyes go a little wide as she catches the subaudible hum in his words, but Joker’s whole body goes loose, his feet carrying him to a seat at the table, where he throws himself down and all but pouts as he glares at me. But thankfully he doesn’t protest.
“What I’m thinking is that we could use the chip to draw Dunne off by splitting up, one group takes the van and Delilah, and then the other takes the chip. We dump the chip somewhere and then regroup at another safehouse,” I say, summarizing the thoughts that I’ve been mulling over for a while.
“He’s going to notice when Delilah gets in the van,” Joker grumbles.
“Not if she’s dressed like one of us,” Siren comments.
I look up to find them looking at a spot in the air pensively. Everyone goes quiet as we let them think, but I’m pretty sure I might be catching on to what they’re referencing.
“We could make up the height difference with boots, but we’d need to layer her with several hoodies to make up for the difference in sizes,” I say.
“Between me and who?” Delilah asks, perking up for the first time.
“You and me, cupcake,” Siren replies with an ironic chuckle.
Joker laughs out loud, though there’s no real humor behind the sound. “He’s smart enough to track us down. This bellend isn’t going to fall for that.”
“If I have the chip, then there’s no reason for him to not believe it. We know he’s not in the woods watching the house, so we just need to leave covertly, and then split up. He’ll follow the chip, especially if he’s unsure about where Delilah actually is,” Siren counters.
“But that means he’s going to follow you, and he could…” Delilah says suddenly, but then trails off, ducking under her blanket again as all the eyes in the room turn to look at her.
“He could what, honey? Hurt us?” I ask, tone softening.
Delilah nods, but doesn’t elaborate, but the haunted look returns to her eyes, which tells me all I need to know. I squeeze her hand again, harder this time, trying to keep her from falling into her memories.
“If he falls for it, then what, oh master planner?” Joker asks mockingly.
“We dump the chip on the side of the highway or in a river or anywhere. Just enough to get him off our back,” I finish with a shrug.
“You mean we wouldn’t even get to kill him after all that effort?” Joker protests with a groan, slumping backward in his chair and tipping his head back dramatically.
“First, you didn’t want to do this, and now you’re pissed you don’t get to off him. There’s just no pleasing you today,” Phantom says, laughing under his breath.
“Nah, I was thoroughly pleased earlier, wasn’t I, beautiful?” Joker says, winking at Delilah.
The shade of red she turns in response makes all of us chuckle fondly, but even the quips aren’t enough to break the tension in the room.
“What if we set up a trap for him instead?” Bones says into the silence.
Joker perks up, sitting up straight as he looks at our prime alpha with a feral grin. I can feel the righteous anger in the omega across the bond, and I can’t help but agree.
“It would still leave us at half strength. We don’t really know much about this guy other than he wants Delilah,” Phantom says cautiously.
“I’m not saying we leave now and wing it. But with the right planning, it’s an option that would solve the problem rather than kicking that can down the road,” Bones continues.
“I still don’t like this plan,” Joker mumbles crossing his arms over his chest.
“The minute you come up with a better one, we will consider it. But for now, I don’t see a better way to deal with this for good,” Bones says.
“He’s watching us, which means he’s got to be close by. I could just go out in the woods and hunt him down,” Joker says, eyes flashing.
“You’re more likely to end up meeting Darla again than to find him,” Phantom says seriously.
“Darla?” Delilah asks softly, looking at me.
“The local bear. She’s got a den in the area, and it’s almost mating season.
That means there’s likely to be a few suitors in the area.
Which honestly works in our favor for getting out of here without being observed too closely.
He could be too busy avoiding the bears to watch,” I explain, speaking first to Delilah and then to Bones.
The prime alpha bobs his head, not agreeing or disagreeing, his brow pinched in thought. His amber eyes are distant, the tactical wheels in his head already turning.
“One day, Darla’s going to let me pet her. Just you wait,” Joker says.
“And that one day will be your last,” Siren finishes, pinching the bridge of their nose.
Joker lets out a scoff of mock offense but thankfully doesn’t continue to object to this plan.
Delilah gives me a searching look, and I tilt my head curiously.
She doesn’t give anything away in her expression, but she must find what she’s looking for because she leans more fully against me.
Her head rests on my shoulder as she turns to watch Joker explain his plan to get Darla to trust him, a soft, contented smile on her face.
“I know it’s not much of a plan, but it’ll keep you safe long enough to get you back on your feet,” I murmur, nuzzling the top of her head with my cheek.
“I just want him to leave me alone, and your plan should do that. I trust you,” she replies, low enough for only me to hear.
My heart swells with a strange mixture of affection and caution.
Hearing her admit that out loud means more than she realizes, even if I know logically she shouldn’t.
My pack is a misfit group of murderers and outcasts.
If anything, she should be looking to get away from us as fast as her cute little legs can carry her.
But instead, she’s relaxing against my chest, giggling at the antics of my bond mate, like she’s been part of this team the whole time.
It’s going to break us when we inevitably have to let her go. But that’s a future us problem. For now, I wrap my arms around the frail omega beside me and hold her close while I still can.