Chapter 16 #3
Phantom is still dressed in the buckled and chained jeans, white shirt, and floor-length black leather jacket. The jacket is stained with blood, although he is wearing it loosely over his left arm, which is held now in a sling.
His ice-white hair is not as slicked back as it was when I first saw him but is falling forward over his masked face.
I gesture for Bird, who is frozen in fear on the bed, to remain where he is.
Phantom is fixated on Joker, who he drags away from me to his side. He instantly pats all over his Beta’s body, turning him from side to side, examining him.
I wince, when I notice just how many marks I left on Joker, during my rut. At the same time, I can’t help feeling pride at the scratches, hickies, and bites.
It was a wild heat.
Phantom growls, deep and rumbling. Then he pulls out a gun from his holster and points it at me.
I sigh. “Want to explain yourself more clearly or babble until my head is blown off, Jokes?”
“Was that rhetorical? Okay, okay.” Joker makes a hand gesture at himself and then Bird and me, which I hope means that we’re friends and not shoot the bad Alpha. “I’m fine but I transitioned in front of them and went into heat.”
Phantom’s emerald eyes become anguished. He gestures with his gun at me.
“Yeah, she could have used it to her advantage and killed me or at least, escaped. Instead, she offered to help me through it. She was incredible. And Bird here…” Joker smiles at Bird, who is still frozen on the bed.
When Phantom’s gaze swings to him, Bird offers a weak wave.
“He supported me through the whole thing. It was the best heat I’ve experienced. I felt safe and loved.”
I glow.
News to me.
But loved…?
Phantom tilts his head, studying Bird and then me.
“So, how about holstering that gun now, big boy?” I fold my arms.
Phantom toys with the pistol, and I fight to keep my gaze steady.
It seems, however, that Joker was right about how his Alpha would react. Unlike many Alphas, Phantom isn’t either territorial or possessive.
Unless he is already thinking of Bird and me as his pack as well?
Joker huffs. “It’s too late to act the tough guy. I told them that you’re obsessed with them. I bet you’ve already painted about a dozen pictures of them. How many photographs have you taken over the last couple of weeks?”
Phantom’s cheeks redden.
“Hey, we have a stalker,” Bird says far too brightly.
Phantom’s glare at Joker promises retribution later. Joker doesn’t look cowed.
Phantom does, however, holster his gun.
“Did they do a good job with the bullet?” Joker pushes himself onto tiptoes to shove the leather jacket pooling to the floor, before he checks his Alpha’s bandages. It looks like this is something he’s done a lot of times. “Not bad work. Hope the doc is discrete.”
Phantom nods, before his gaze slides to Bird.
“The Omega is okay. He wasn’t hurt.”
“Thank you.” Bird darts a glance at Phantom from underneath his eyelashes. “I’ve been told that you were shot protecting me. Although, you did drug me first, using me as a pawn to threaten my Alpha. So…”
Phantom’s eyes flash with respect. He exchanges a glance with Joker.
Joker smirks. “See, he has balls. Cookie’s perfect for us.”
Phantom quirks his brow.
“I call him Cookie because he smells like the sweetest cookies. You’re going to love smelling him.”
Bird blushes. “Well, I call him Honey. Two can play that game.”
This has gone far enough.
“Put on that shirt, and I will find you some pants,” I growl. “We’re leaving, even if I have to kick the ass of the psycho Alpha with the gun.”
Phantom’s eyes become dead and flat. His lips pull back to bare his teeth, before he makes a complicated hand gesture.
Joker sighs. “Denied, Skipper. We’re not simply tying them up again. It’s not a long-term solution.”
Bird scrambles off the bed, holding the shirt in front of himself. “Woah, there will be no more tying up of anyone, unless it’s in kinky fun. I thought that I had experienced everything. But what do I expect when I become part of two outlaw packs?”
Phantom and I growl at the same time, before glancing at each other.
“They are not your pack.” I gesture at Phantom at the same time as he gestures at me.
He doesn’t need a voice for me to know that he is saying the same thing as I am.
Offended, I cross my arms. “You’d be lucky to have me in your pack.”
Phantom arches his eyebrow: you’d be lucky to have me.
Normally, I would agree.
Phantom is striking, powerful, and a killer who both protects Omegas and allows his Beta to backtalk him.
He is one of the few Alphas I wouldn’t mind having in my pack.
When he holds my gaze intently, pink creeps up my neck.
If I don’t leave now, then I may find it impossible.
“I have a mission,” I find myself explaining. “And revenge. Important shit.”
Anguished, Joker snatches hold of Phantom’s hand. “Can we tell them, Skipper?”
Phantom shakes his head.
“Please?” Joker glances at me. “She’s not bluffing about leaving. But you are bluffing about not caring. I know that you’re just as obsessed as I am with them both. And we won’t be able to protect them if they go. Can we tell them the truth? Trust them?”
“Tell us and you’ll find out.” I meet Phantom’s intense gaze. “Why should we stay?”