“You’re safe, little one. We’ve got you,” I whisper, not even caring if anyone else can hear.
“Out,” Delilah rasps.
I blink, not sure how to respond. But then she reaches up and starts scratching at the skin on the back of her neck, right where that fucking tracker is.
“Baby doll, what are you—”
“Out,” Delilah whimpers, louder this time, scratching even harder.
“We can get the tracker out, beautiful. Just—”
“OUT!”
Delilah’s screech makes my ears ring, and stuns me for a moment, giving her time to scramble out of my lap and across the floor. She darts into a corner, hiding her face as she continues to claw and rip at the back of her neck.
Cross takes a few steps toward her crouched form, hands up where she can see them. “Honey, you’re hurting yourself. Stop—”
“Out! Out, out, out,” Delilah snaps, dissolving into sobs, not stopping.
Joker is the first to move, going up behind her and taking both of her wrists in his hands, hauling Delilah to her feet when she screams and thrashes. Using his hold on her, he wraps both of their arms around her stomach as Cross turns the lights back on.
“Lilah, you have to come back to us, to me, okay? We can’t help you if you’re going to fight,” he begs.
Phantom and I get to our feet, but Cross motions for us to stop. Delilah sobs, tears running down her face, but even with the weight she’s put on, she’s nowhere near as strong as Joker.
“Should we sedate her?” Siren asks softly, coming up behind me.
“No, not yet,” Cross answers, speaking before I can.
I look at him, taking in his expression. He’s watching carefully, hardly blinking as he takes in every detail. I don’t know what he’s seeing but I trust him enough to let him take the lead for now. When I look back at Joker and Delilah, my shoulders drop a little in relief. Delilah is still crying, but she’s not fighting as Joker holdsher, more of an embrace now than restraining. He’s whispering something in her ear, so low I can’t hear, but whatever it is seems to be calming Delilah down at last.
“Honey, can you talk to us?” Cross tries, words a low, comforting murmur.
“I just…please. Get it out,” she says, voice raw.
“Do it,” I snap, turning to face Cross.
“I will, but we need to consider—”
“It’s safe. There’s no explosive. It’s just a vet chip,” Siren says, speaking over Cross.
The medic lets out a long sigh and looks away, his eyes darting around the room as he straightens, cataloging. I turn my attention back to Delilah and Joker, breathing out a sigh of relief to see she’s turned to press her face against Joker’s chest, and he’s rubbing slow circles on her back.
“Okay. I just need…give me a few minutes to get prepared. Can you get Delilah on the bed?” Cross says, speaking first to himself and then to Joker.
“Can she stay in my lap? She doesn’t want to let go,” Joker says with an ironic chuckle.
“I can make that work,” Cross replies, moving off to start digging in the cabinets for supplies.
I give my omega a grateful nod as he gathers Delilah in his arms, carrying her over to the bed. Phantom adjusts the back so Joker can lean against it, Delilah positioned over his lap with her head tilted down. Without thinking, I step up and gather her hair away from her neck, accepting a hair tie from Phantom and wrapping it around the strands to keep it out of the way as Cross sets up for the extraction.
Chapter forty-four
Istandatthekitchen island of my pack’s cabin, cleaning dishes. Dinner was incredible, some of my best work even if I didn’t get the chance to taste much of it. But my alphas are always so hungry. And seeing them eat and enjoy my cooking is the true joy.
“Omega, be careful with those,” Tyler sneers, yelling from the living room.
I contain my flinch, gripping the soapy plate in my hands even harder. I didn’t think I was going to drop them but he probably saw something I didn’t.