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ChapterSixteen
Miles
The smell of the hospital had dread rushing through each and every fucking cell in my body. There was nothing about this place that didn’t make me want to run out of here. If not for Graham’s firm hand on my bicep, I’d be gone.
“Breathe, omega,” he rumbled in my ear. I shivered at the gravelly command and tried to cling to the odd sense of safety it gave me. The scent of his spiced rum and alpha pheromones was strong enough that it dulled the sterile scent of the hospital. Graham and Ellis were both so strong that imagining Ellis in the hospital was almost incomprehensible. If Graham weren’t by my side with constant touches and reassurance, I’d have broken down. He was such a natural alpha that his ability to take over and direct me through this moment was exactly what I needed.
“I need to find my omega!” Wells demanded, barely keeping from crashing a fist on the counter as Tallon tried his best to cling to his side.
“You have to be calm, sir, or we’ll have security escort you out,” the beta nurse said curtly.
Beckham stepped up. “Blair Mackenzie and our alpha Ellis Crane, please.” He had used his sweetest voice despite his obvious annoyance, and she ate it up. After a few routine questions and showing our IDs, we were in the clear.
“Ellis is in ICU room six, and Blair is still in surgery. The waiting room is outside of ICU and up the west hallway. They may have updates for you,” she explained. “Now, I need you all to sign in.”
Beckham handled it for all of us while she pretended not to notice, and in less than a minute, we were racing for the elevators.
“ICU is on three,” I said quietly as Beckham’s finger hesitated over the buttons. He clicked it and gave me a worried smile. They all knew how I’d lost my parents, and I wasn’t keen on reliving some of the memories I’d shoved away but never truly dealt with. What ten-year-old could deal with that kind of thing?
“I’ll head to surgery,” Wells said as the elevator rose. I didn’t know what to say. I was so torn on who I should check in on first, but once again, my pack was there to help make the decision for me. I need to send them a fucking bouquet of roses or give a really good blow job when all this shit is over.
“We’ll head for Ellis,” Beckham said, gesturing to Graham and me. I nodded, knowing damn well I wouldn’t get through this without them.
As soon as the elevator opened, we were off. Wells jogged down the hall, dodging nurses and staff, before disappearing around the corner. Tallon stayed on his heels, calling out apologies as they went.
Graham led us at a more sedate pace, his worry mixing more deeply with ours the closer we got. There were so many fucking complications in this whole situation that I wasn’t sure where to start.
“Do you think it was him?” Beckham asked quietly. “The baby’s father.”
“Yes,” Graham said. “This wasn’t a random attack. They’ll have more answers, I’m sure.”
He meant it to be reassuring, but it only made me more terrified. They were attacked in a very public parking lot in broad daylight. Whoever the father was, he clearly feared no backlash from this.
“Hello, we’re here for the alpha of our pack, Ellis Crane,” Beckham said as we neared the receptionist.
“Oh good, he just woke up and is inconsolable. He’s in room three. Go on back,” the nurse told us, his haggard face lighting up with relief. That definitely wasn’t a good sign. It probably meant that Ellis was going crazy in there. If he’d watched Briar get shot, he’d be beside himself. Plus, they couldn’t exactly wheel him over to the surgery wing for reassurance. “Let me know if you need anything.”
That was all the prodding we needed to rush down the hall toward the room the nurse had pointed to. The curtains and door were wide open, probably because the staff were too busy trying to deal with our alpha.
“We will be forced to sedate you if you cannot calm down, Mr. Crane!” The nurse was doing everything she could to soothe him, but Ellis was nearly throwing her out of the window.
“My omega and our baby are here somewhere. Someone better fucking tell me something!” he roared before wincing and falling back, breathing heavy, as blood started to seep out the bandages wrapped around his side.
“Ellis!” Graham’s voice was so loud even the nurses froze. Ellis sagged in relief, and Beckham rushed over, throwing himself over the alpha without a care for any bruises or wounds. The man looked like he’d been absolutely brutalized, and my steps faltered in the doorway. My instincts had me ready to cry and run over to him; seeing our alpha like this wasn’t something I’d ever be ready for. But he’d let out such a groan when Beck collided with his body, I knew he needed a calmer approach from the rest of us.
“We’ll leave you to him then,” the nurses announced as they filed out in a rush, shifting me out of their way.
“We don’t have answers yet. Tallon will be here with them soon,” Graham reassured as he checked Ellis’ chart, not giving a fuck that guests weren’t supposed to do that. “She’s in surgery, and Wells and Tallon went down for answers.”
“It was awful. I failed her,” Ellis said, his eyes clouding over as all the fight left him. Graham put his chart down and sighed, coming over to give his shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I’ll end his career, that bastard.”
“Who was it?” I asked gently, finally moving closer now that Graham had seen his results without freaking out. “She’d always been so careful to keep his name from her stories, all we knew was that he was a big deal at her company.”
“The mayor of Mason Hills, my mother’s fucking boss,” Ellis bit out before going into the full story. Hearing his voice so full of pain and anger had me dropping to my knees at his side. I rested my head on his thigh, breathing in his scent, and his hand went to my hair. Our connection was natural enough that it was second nature, and that was more reassurance than anything else.
Graham let out a low growl that continued almost through the entire story. “I’ll make a few calls. He’ll pay for this even if I have to do it myself.”
“Thank you,” Ellis told him. Graham nodded once before stalking out of the room, phone to his ear.
“Wait… Isn’t your mother the mayor’s assistant?” I asked. Once my brain connected the dots, anger started to replace my fear. It made me strong enough that I finally looked up at him, battered face and all.
He closed his eyes in defeat. “Yes. She’s the one who exiled Briar and left her with nothing. Briar’s going to fucking hate me, and we just began to start over.” The look on his face said that hurt him more than the physical pain he was suffering from now. I’d hated his mother before, and now I fucking loathed her.
“So I guess the charity ball is off?” Beckham tried to joke. Ellis snorted then winced. Beckham moved off of his bed and tried to tuck pillows around him. We couldn’t see the extent of the damage, but his arms and chest were covered in bruising. His face was swollen and red.
This man who’d always seemed so strong to me was lying in bed, looking half-dead, and I wanted to scream in frustration. Both Ellis and Briar were hurt, and we were powerless to fix it. This never should have happened, and I hoped Graham put whatever power and influence he had into bringing the mayor down.
When I tried to get off the floor and step away from him for a moment, he dragged me toward him like he needed our connection as much as I did. Glancing to his other side, I saw he was holding Beckham the same way. We moved closer so he didn’t have to strain, but the damage was already done. So much for taking it easy.
“Fuck, this hurts.” Ellis growled when he tried to shift again, obviously restless. It wasn’t in an alpha’s nature to lay back and heal, especially not when his omega’s state was uncertain. “He didn’t even fight his own battles. He ordered his help to take care of us.”
Before we could say anything, the door opened again, and Tallon came in. He looked over at Ellis and surprised us all when he rushed forward and wrapped him in a hug, being gentle enough that Ellis didn’t cry out. I barely managed to step out of his way before he mowed me down. We were all struggling.
“Is she alive? Is our baby?” I asked. Everything I was feeling had finally become too much, and I would have sagged to the floor if Graham hadn’t stepped up, wrapping his strong arms around me and holding me in place.
“She is,” Tallon confirmed, “and so far the baby is doing well. They're being monitored still. The surgery was to make sure the bullet had grazed her and left no remnants. She was bleeding fairly heavily, so they wanted to make sure the baby was handling all the stress okay. Apparently, the man who shot her had hit her in the safest place possible. It started to send her into labor, but they got that stopped with some meds. All in all, it was a deep gash on the hip, more than anything.”
“Thank god,” I breathed out, breaking into a sob that caused Graham to hug me tighter. Beckham clung to Ellis, who had tears coursing over his bloodied face. I’d never once seen an alpha cry, and that sight now threatened to break me even further.
“Is she awake?” Beckham finally asked. Tallon shook his head before dropping into the free chair.
“No, they had to be really careful with everything, so they’re gently weaning her off to keep them safe,” he explained. “Wells is waiting there in case of news.”
Graham cleared his throat to get our attention. “I spoke to my lawyer. He’s working on a warrant for all outdoor cameras now. If they’re already erased, it’ll only add to our case for suspicious activity.”
“Her caseworker told him we were coming. It’s a big possibility,” Ellis admitted. “She’s barely gone out since she moved in with us, so there’s no way he would have found her just by chance.”
