“That’s right.” I kiss the top of Joker’s head. “Your Alpha.”
Slowly, he blinks.
Joker stares up at me, embarrassed. “I’m sorry. Shit, I shouldn’t have… Phantom normally only sees me…”
“Is it because I touched your invention?”
“Dad’s gadgets killed everyone,” Joker replies. “I tried not to blame him, but I was angry with him for a long time. Inventing was his passion. I know accidents happen. I would never have taken away something that made him happy, and I know thatthe rest of my pack wouldn’t. But if it meant that they were still alive…if I hadn’t been made a Companion…if I hadn’t been separated from Colette…”
“Ifis a game that does nothing but hurt you.”
“I’ve forgiven him now. But for a long time, I wouldn’t invent anything. It’s in my blood, however, and Phantom convinced me to start using my skills to become a secret gadget expert for him when we joined the SEALs. It scares me for people who I care about to touch my inventions in front of me in case it burns them to ash. We had a rule that Phantom never would. I want to get past this. Rationally, I know that nothing bad will happen. But our emotions aren’t rational.”
“Then don’t think emotionally.”
“We can’t all be like that. If you suppress your emotions, then they’ll find a way to break free eventually.”
Is that what happens with my Rogue Powers?
“Will you tell me about your gadgets? I promise to keep my hands to myself.”
“As long as that promise is only about my inventions and not my gorgeous body.” Joker tucks his blond hair behind his ear as he turns eagerly back to the workbench. He points at the devices in turn. “These are prototypes that I am working on. This one monitors scent and pheromone output. This is a compact scent dampening gadget. This is a prototype Rogue Power system.”
My brow furrows. “What does that mean?”
Joker glances at me with a look that promises something world changing. Yet what he picks up looks like the type of watch that Mars would wear: A sleek and elegant piece of jewelry.
Nothing more.
“This is my secret weapon.” He waves the watch at me. “This watch will monitor a Rogue Switch’s unique dynamic. It warns when our pheromones are rising. It will teach Rogues how to control our powers.”
I scowl. “You mean control us.”
Joker shakes his head. “How to give us self-control. Do you want your power to explode every time you Hulk out? Or do you want to be the one fully in control of whether your power heals, triggers ruts and heats for your pack, or is a weapon, but only when you need it to be?”
My heart is racing.
I stare at the watch like it is the answer to a prayer that I didn’t know I had been screaming at the heavens.
“You invented that…?” I whisper. “You’re a genius. In the wrong hands, however, it will be used as a way to control us. It could mark us. We will be forced to wear it.”
Joker’s face falls. “I know that. It’s why I have been holding back, improving it. Now, through it, you can even focus the Rogue Power onto certain people and not others, rather than it affecting everyone in the room.”
“You’re serious.”
“Deadly.”
“We’d become the most powerful people in the world.”
“They would never stop hunting us.” Joker lowers the watch onto the bench. “You see my dilemma. Why I haven’t finished refining this.”
And I do.
Rogues were always a threat. It’s why we have been hunted and burned.
With Joker’s invention, we could dominate the world.
On the other hand, it could make us even more feared than we already are.
