Chapter 24
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Hunter Cabin, Blue Valley Woods
Joker snatches the blanket off the back of the chair and hurls it over the hearth to smother the flames. The fire backlit us, broadcasting our positions to the Krakens.
Instantly, the room is plunged into darkness.
The temperature drops.
The only remaining light is the cold white from the snowstorm, which is driving against the window.
Joker’s expression becomes hard. He pulls out his SIG, Baby One, from one of his many concealed compartments in his jacket like the dark gray semi-automatic handgun was built for his hand alone.
My training kicks in.
I push Bird to the floor, before retreating to press my back against the wall next to Phantom.
Phantom’s gaze is fixed intently through the window like he can see through the howling void to the Krakens.
Were they injured by the explosion?
The storm is growing worse.
I strain to see movement out in the night.
Nothing, only snow, darkness, and silence.
Phantom points his weapon through the window, meaning enemy-in-sight.
I raise my arm forward toward him with my palm out at chest level: I’m ready to move.
Phantom shakes his head, before pointing at Joker.
Wait, he wants me to stay here with Joker? Why is he changing the plan?
It’s risky.
The booby trap should have incapacitated Reaper. The bomb expert will have been drawn into trying to defuse the bomb. Reaper will believe that she is smarter than us.
Except, Joker is smarter than her. He is a gadget genius.
The explosion is her well-deserved surprise from him.
She may already be dead.
The plan is for us to wait here because Viper is obsessed. With Reaper injured, her partner will attack, blinded by rage and grief.
Viper may have been paid to capture Bird and me, but she is truly here for Joker.
I push myself to stand in front of Phantom.
I close my fist and push it outward in the signal to remind Phantom that this is meant to be an ambush.
Bird crawls to the wall, watching us in concern.
My heart races. My pulse is too loud in my ears.
Phantom ducks his head, taking a steadying breath. Then he raises his shaking hands to the edges of his mask.
My eyes widen.
Is Phantom finally going to remove his mask?
My breath stutters, when Phantom removes the mask.
Phantom raises his gaze to mine.
His face that had been hidden by the mask is paler and raised with the uneven ridges of scar tissue.
I am happy that he finally trusts me with all of him.
I know what Phantom is telling me with the simple gesture. I understand it as a fellow fighter and killer.
Reaper did this. I need to kill her myself.
I simply nod.
I am stunned, when Phantom drops the mask to the floor and kisses me.
It’s butterfly light, inexperienced, but as tender as the times that he kisses the back of my hand.
It’s still everything that I have been dreaming about.
Yet my stomach drops.
Phantom must have kissed me because he knows that it may be the only time that he can…that it will possibly be the last time.
I don’t beg him to stay.
He needs to do this alone.
An Alpha must face their past. And then fucking tear out its throat or put a bullet in it.
I can see by the look in Phantom’s eyes that he knows I understand.
Joker taps him on the shoulder.
I can sense the agony in the bond from Joker; this is tearing him apart. He knows as well as I do the danger of splitting up like this but also how important this is to Phantom.
Joker keeps his expression neutral, therefore, as he gestures with a quick two-finger flick forward: Go.
Phantom nods, before dropping next to Bird and petting his hair.
Bird forces a smile, before Phantom marches out into the kitchen.
I flinch at the bang of the backdoor. I know that Phantom won’t have locked it again.
Viper needs an opening to take the bait.
Joker has his own unfinished business that he needs to take care of as well.
I will help him, but I won’t steal his revenge.
I point at Bird, patting at my waist.
Fear spears through the bond. Bird is terrified, unlike the rest of us, he is not used to being in situations like this. I am proud that he is prepared to face it for his pack.
Bird’s hair is plastered to his face. His breathing is ragged. His hand is trembling, but he looks determined, as he understands my order, pulling his dagger out of its sheath at his waist.
He holds it in front of him in whitening knuckles.
I slip my own dagger easily into my hand.
Joker is focused on the window, desperately searching for any glimpse of movement through the storm.
His distraction is leaving us vulnerable through the door to the kitchen.
I prowl to the door, standing to one side and scanning into the dark.
Nothing.
Our breathing sounds dark in the silence, apart from the howling of the storm.
I am coiled with tension.
Viper is coming.
But like this each second draws out.
Viper will be wearing scent and pheromone dampening patches. It won’t be possible to smell her approach. She will know that she has lost the element of surprise with the explosion. She will still be invisible to us, however, for a crucial moment or two.
Sometimes in a fight, that is enough to take someone down.
Both Joker and I could weaponize our Rogue Powers against her. Joker explained to me, however, that he needs to feel his hands stained with the ex-SEAL’s blood.
He needs to fight Viper like she did many times in hazing, training, and her nighttime visits to his bunk.
He needs to show her that he can beat her just as he is.
And I need to show Joker that he is no longer alone with Viper.
He will never be alone again.
Joker plays with his gun, although he is standing stiller than I have seen him stand before.
Suddenly, three shots ring out in the night.
Bird flinches.
Joker presses his forehead against the wood. His shoulders heave.
Was Phantom or Reaper shot?
Who died?
Shouldn’t I know if my own Alpha is lying dying out in the freezing snow?
My own distress amplifies Bird’s through the bond. Bird starts to stand at the same time as I jerk toward the door.
Joker, however, slices his hand across his throat to signal for us to stop.
We freeze.
Only then do I feel the relief like a warm spring melting Bird and my icy distress in the bond.
Joker knows that Phantom is okay.
I cock my head at him in question.
When Joker taps his gun, I understand.
He recognized the shots as belonging to Phantom’s gun.
I grin viciously, sending Bird a thumbs up.
Bird slumps back to the floor. He is pale. He looks like he has just lived through the entire stages of grief in a couple of seconds.
If there was any doubt that he loved our Chief Alpha, there isn’t any longer.
All of a sudden, a chill makes my skin goosebump.
A gut sense that has saved my life on missions before, makes me shift to the left.
There is a sudden crack, followed by a bullet flicking past by ear with a whip-like hiss. I grit my teeth at the sting, as the bullet grazes me, before it thuds into the wooden wall behind me.
Splinters spray over my cheeks.
Joker doesn’t hesitate.
He shoots through the open doorway like he was only waiting for this moment to give him a target.
Someone screams.
Bullseye.
My eyes burn with wicked delight.
I snarl, baring my canines.
I am still taken aback by the unhinged Alpha, feral with fury, who barrels through the doorway.
Viper is slim with poisonous green eyes and spiky silver hair. She is dressed in khaki trousers and matching long, buttoned up khaki coat. Her coat is stained with crimson blood from the gaping shoulder wound where Joker just shot her but also, down the front.
Is that Reaper’s blood from Joker’s explosive gadget?
Here’s hoping.
Viper is not following any plan. She is not being strategic.
She is attacking in a red mist, which means that she is weak and sloppy.
Vulnerable.
My grin widens.
She is our prey.
Are Rogues truly the apex predators? Or have I been forged like Joker has to come alive amidst death?
Either way, I am a Hunter, in many ways.
Can I help it if I love it? Is it wrong, if each kill makes this world a better place?
My conscience, such as it is, can live with this.
“You fucking Beta bitch,” Viper snarls. “I’m going to fucking slaughter your pack, slowly, one by one. Then I’m going to—”
“I missed you too.” Joker points his gun at her. “No one does dirty talk quite like you.”
Viper growls with rage.
Instead of attacking Joker, as we expected, however, she snatches Bird by the hair and drags him onto his knees.
I dive forward, but Joker shakes his head at me and waves me back.
I growl, barely able to restrain my rising Rogue Power.
When Viper points the gun at Bird’s temple, I think that I will lose the ability to ever breathe again.
I can throw the dagger between the Alpha’s eyes…slit her throat before she pulls the trigger…floor her with my powers…
She is daring to threaten my Omega.
Except, didn’t I promise to trust Joker?
I’m not on lone missions anymore where I trust my own instincts.
Joker has known Viper throughout his entire training and military career. He knows her better than anyone apart from Reaper.
I must show Joker that I trust his competency to make this call.
We’re a unit and a pack now.
But it’s fucking hard.
Bird has become ashen. He’s trembling.
I’m impressed, however, by the way that his chin is lifted. He’s attempting to hide the pain the Alpha is causing by pulling on his hair.
“Drop your gun, Beta freak,” Viper gives a nasty smile, “unless you want me to put down this Omega who stinks of you.”
“Are you taking back your promise to kill them?” Joker challenges, letting his gun clatter to the floor.
“Kick it away.”
He kicks the SIG toward the hearth.
He’s playing a dangerous game.
“If you let me claim you in front of them willingly, then I’ll let them live.” Viper’s possessive gaze sweeps over Joker hungrily. I admire how Joker manages to stare back at her flatly and doesn’t recoil. “You were always mine. You just wouldn’t admit it.”
“How is that willing?” I snarl.
“Shut up, mutant,” Viper barks. “I’m returning you to the Facility where you belong with all the other monsters.”
“You’d know what a monster looks like. Unless you’re too ugly to look in the mirror.”
“I said, shut up, bitch.” Viper glances away from Joker at me, enraged.
This is our opening.
Joker takes it like I knew he would.
He slides a concealed switchblade out of his sleeve and throws it at Viper’s hand, which is holding Bird by his hair, skewering her.
Viper howls, dropping Bird.
She fires at Joker, but he is already hurling himself in a roll to the side.
Then Viper howls again, dropping her gun in shock, because Bird has plunged his dagger through her boot, pinning her to the floor.
Never underestimate an Omega.
I lunge forward, kicking her gun away. Then I punch her across the jaw.
Viper’s lip splits, and blood drips down my knuckles.
She hits out at me, but I weave to the side, slamming into her wounded shoulder. She grunts in pain, attempting to keep her balance.
Bird scrambles out of her reach to the side of the room.
Viper is a good fighter, despite her injuries. She has lost her control, however, and that’s why she’ll lose.
Also, because she is alone, while Joker has his pack with him.
I grit my teeth, as Viper strikes me in the guts.
I weave the dagger in between us. The moonlight catches on its sharp blade. I make sure that I have her attention on it.
I have practiced this move with Joker.
Viper watches the dagger, warily.
Joker brushes past me, and with the slightest shift in balance, I pull off my signature magic move.
Viper doesn’t notice.
Joker rams into the Alpha, tumbling her to the floor.
I dodge back.
Viper yells, trying to pull her foot free, while blood pools. Yet she can’t free herself. She’s trapped.
“Fuck you, Beta bitch,” Viper pants. “I should have killed you, rather than let anyone else have you.”
“And I simply should have killed you the first time that you touched me,” Joker replies. My courting dagger is now magically in Joker’s hand. “I am bonded to the best Alphas in the world. They respect me. I would rather die than belong to an Alpha like you. Even better, I’d rather kill you.”
Viper stares at the dagger in Joker’s hand like she can’t work out how he is holding it to her throat.
That’s magic.
Joker drags the sharp knife across the Alpha’s neck, efficiently angled and deep.
Viper stares up at him in shock, never looking away from him. Blood sprays from her neck across Joker’s face and the bond marks on his throat like a sacrifice.
He doesn’t flinch.
This isn’t justice. It’s vengeance.
What justice is there in the world for people like us?
Yet it’s just as cleansing.
Viper claws at Joker, and he doesn’t look away.
Bird and I watch in silence.
The moment feels sacred, as blood stains Joker, and the light slowly dies from Viper’s eyes.
And that’s true magic.