Page 172 of The Bonding Games: Part 2

Propping the gift up on her knees, the sound of paper tearing glides through the now-quiet room, and I lean forwards to get a better look at Havoc’s face to see her reaction as the box underneath is revealed. It’s black cardboard, so she can’t see what’s in it yet, but the moment she opens the top of it, Tiger blurts, stare larger than ever, “Do you like them?”

Cooper snorts. “Give her a chance. She hasn’t even seen them properly yet.”

A dramatic pout is sent his way before Tiger’s gaze whips back to Ezla as she reaches inside and pulls out a long boot.

Buzzing with nerves and excitement, he starts talking again in an instant. “Like us, you don’t have casual clothing, right? I only saw pyjamas, your Avri suit, and a bunch of posh stuff when . . .” He trails off, a shadow coming over his eyes that he quickly shoves off, not wanting to dwell on the memories of that penthouse. None of us can right now. Those sickening images, especially those of that bedroom, are all too fresh, and this day even more than every other is all about Ezla and the start of her new life with us, not those horrors. “So I thought you might like some comfier things!” he explains brightly. “I got you a whole bunch—” He gasps, slapping his hands over his mouth. “Spoilers! Sorry!” The words are muffled.

Ezla’s lips twitch, but other than that, her face is pretty unreadable. I want to poke around in her mind a bit, and I know I can simply reach for what she’s thinking, but even I understand the concept of privacy in a moment like this. This is a huge day for my Havoc, and she no doubt has a lot of thoughts and feelings surrounding this situation, one of which is too strong not to reach me when she’s always got the bond open:

Warmth spills over from her. Happiness and love.

Shoving my groan of contentment back down my throat, I don’t manage to stop my eyes from closing or my head from tipping back slightly as I inhale deeply like I could absorb all of that into me. Her happiness is the best kind of drug.

My vision zooms back in on her in a flash when she takes the second combat boot out of the box and says, voice quieter than usual, “I love them. They are perfect. We must get some comfier clothes and shoes for you too soon so that you do not have to wear your pyjamas and Avri suits forever.”

“Another day,” I grunt as Tiger makes goo-goo eyes at her, elated by her words and the truth of them that’s radiating from her. Then I yank down the neck of my Avri suit.

Cooper scrubs a hand over his face. “You did not.”

I grin, biting my lip as I stare into Havoc.

Scotty shakes his head, amused. “When you said you were going to get another tattoo earlier, I knew it would be Ezla-related, but I didn’t expect . . . that.”

Havoc’s eyes sparkle, and I’m in paradise. “That is my bite mark,” she states.

Alby stares, open-mouthed. “That’s why you wanted her to bite you this morning?”

Ezla hums a yes for me before another fucking glorious grin takes over her face. “I love it.”

I grunt, dick that’s permanently hard around her twitching as she leans my way and nips at my jawline, and my arms snap out, unable to keep themselves from her. Crushing her to me, I plant a firm kiss to her forehead, and I can feel her delight as she gets a better look at the tattoo in this position.

“Can I give you my second one now?” Tiger’s eager voice pierces through the moment.

“Hang on a minute,” Cooper huffs, reaching for the present before him. “It’s my turn. And then Alby’s and Scotty’s.”

“Ohhh yeah.” His hands clap together, unbothered by the denial as his eyes zip to the gift in our brother’s hands. “This is a good one, Ezzy!”

“They’re all good ones,” I mutter, tracking Havoc’s every move as I begrudgingly allow her to pull away and take the present.

Tiger’s head bobs up and down with lightning-fast speed. “Of course. We thought out everything with maximum care. In every spare moment, I was thinking about this and—” Eyes wide, he cuts himself off as Alby waves his hands all over the place without the subtlety he was going for, evidently as alarmed as the rest of us. “And . . . cupcakes,” Tiger finishes, then puts on that signature grin of his.

Muttering under his breath, Cooper buries his face in his hands.

Humming, Ezla makes no comment on that, schooling her features into a neutral expression. But I know she’s far from oblivious to what we’ve been planning. How could she be when she’s constantly in our minds and we refuse to block her out?

Tiger shoots all of us quick apologetic glances, but I don’t think anyone’s really mad at him. When he’s excited about something, I’ve learned it’s next to impossible for him to keep that in—he just wants the entire world to know, unable to keep it all inside him. Besides, all I can feel from Ezla is a steady warmth and love and increased fondness after Tiger’s almost slip-up, and anything that makes my Havoc feel good gets a big yes from me.

When she unwraps Cooper’s present to reveal a black velvet box, my eyes slit. The fucker got all flustered and shit when he went into the city’s best jewellery shop and had the quietest, most suspicious conversation with one of the staff members when we followed him in to have a look around ourselves. Ten minutes later and he’d walked out, gripping the box now before us in his fist with no way for anyone to have the slightest chance to grasp it.

He clears his throat now, hand rubbing over the back of his head as he goes just as red as he did back then when the lid opens up to reveal the box’s contents. “It’s, ah . . .”

Squinting, I lean forwards to get a better look at the necklace Havoc takes from the box.

“Vengeance,” she reads out loud, holding the heart-shaped pendant in the palm of her hand, the long silver chain dangling over its side. When she tilts it, what I now see is some sort of red liquid stored in the 3D shape moves around. Eyes narrowing, her head snaps up. “This is your blood.”

Tiger’s jaw unhinges, and he shoves his face right up to the necklace. “No way.”

“Yeah . . .” Clearing his throat, Cooper gives her a smirk despite his obvious sheepishness. “I heard your thoughts about wanting to keep actual parts of us but not wanting to hurt us. Thought you might like it . . .”