I blinked, turning to her. She was sitting by Zero—they were makingnets. When I’d asked why, they said someonefinickyhad joined the pack and they still needed to feed him.
It actually took me a minute to realize they were talking about me.
“Sorry. Just thinking.” My eyes drifted to Phoenix when I said it. I couldn’t look at him now without having double vision—the predator in the rain, the clean-faced man looking up at me with ocean eyes.
Everything was confusing.
“Right. You know, I’ve never seen him smile this much. I mean, he never really smiled at all. When we found each other, he was angry. Fierce, loyal… but hurt. I didn’t know if that would ever go away.” Blythe’s comment was offhand, and it jerked my attention back to her. It was strange how much the thought made me panic.
I didn’t want to be the reason he smiled, because I wasn’t sure I could stay.
I didn’t want to be the reason Phoenix got hurt.
“Blythe, if he hears you talking like that, he’s going to string you up and show you how hurt he isn’t.” Zero leaned in, and his dark eyes roamed over my features. He was handsome—thick black hair that sometimes curled around his shoulders tied back into a bun, and a broad smile that seemed a little more dangerous than it should be. It was obvious that he and Blythe were twins, and it was obvious he was trying to protect her now. “And you… you need to make sure you understand what she’s saying.”
When I didn’t answer, he leaned in and caught my wrist, his long fingers circling the skin and jerking me forward.
“Zero,” Blythe warned, but he shook his head.
“Phoenix is a good man—a good leader. You don’t get to break him.”
“I—”
“The fuck are you doing, Zero? Let him go.” An arm shot between us, and the feel of Phoenix lifting me bodily from the chair where I was sitting so he could yank me back against his chest was dizzying. It was worse, because Blythe looked between the two of us with a knowing expression, and Zero settled back with his hands up.
“Nothing. You said he’s family, Phoenix. Means I get to treat him like it, right?”
Phoenix’s eyes narrowed, and he took a step back, putting distance between me and the twins.
“Maybe. But that doesn’t mean you get to touch him.” I didn’t realize he’d wrapped his hand around my wrist, circled the exact same spot Zero had, until the warmth of him penetrated my skin. It wasn’t like he’d hurt me—honestly, I understood the protectiveness. Maybe I wouldn’t have a month ago, but I did now.
The raiders really were closer, more caring, more fierce and protective than any squad I’d ever been in. The Order had us fighting them because they werevicious and wild,but fuck me if they weren’t loyal. I felt saferherethan I ever had with them.
With Phoenix’s arms around me, I felt safer than… fuck, than I ever had in my life.
It was a problem.
“It’s fine. They’re just giving me shit because I’m not like you.” When the arms around me tensed, I sighed. “The nets, Phoenix.”
There was a drawn-out second, and his body relaxed. “Oh.”
Blythe and Zero both looked at me, their expressions perfect mirrors. I shrugged. I guess I was protecting them too.
“Right. Come on. Didn’t you say you wanted to do one more sweep of the resort to make sure we had all the fencing closed up? I need to stretch my legs.”
His arms around me didn’t let go—in fact, his fingers slipped beneath my shirt, tickling at my hipbone in warning. There was another scar there, slicked across the skin and soold I didn’t care if he took it. I’d fallen off a tower I’d climbed trying to find water.
Maybe I’d keep it from him for a few minutes so he’d get brutal. He could hold me down and fuck me until I couldn’t breathe, until I gave him the story anyway. I needed him to show me the vicious raider he’d been when we’d first met instead of…
What…?
Someone with his arms wrapped around me, protective and jealous because another man had touched me?
I…
Fuck.
Maybe Blythe was right.
