Chapter 13 #2
“You paint?” an alpha asks an omega dressed in a pretty corset dress and a heavy black coat.
“I always have,” she says shyly. Her name is Lydia, and she’s one of Aisling’s omegas. “I sketch when I can’t paint.”
“Jayden paints as well,” the alpha says, nudging his pack mate.
Smiling, I watch as Jayden blushes. “Do you have any photos of your sketches or paintings?”
Tamping down the urge to squeal and jump up and down, I continue eavesdropping on different conversations. Eventually, I get a glimpse of Cian who appears angry and thunderous, glaring at a gorgeous omega in his early forties.
He’s laughing at something another alpha is saying, and I wonder if someone has finally caught Cian’s attention. I pity Pack Racine though, because my friend doesn’t play fair. That is of course, if he decides that he wants to give into the pull he’s experiencing.
Why do we all have to be so stubborn?
“Hollis?” Aster asks, coming over to me with a worried look on her face.
“Hi, is everything okay?” I ask.
“Someone is walking through the flowers,” she whispers, appearing horrified. “I don’t know what to do.”
“They’re what?” I ask, almost stumbling as she grabs my arm and begins to pull me along. “Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she hisses. “Hollis, they’re the Christmas roses! I guess whoever it is dropped something and walked through them to find it. You promised no one would traipse through the flowers.”
Fuck. I did in fact promise that when we booked the event. The paths are well marked, there’s no reason to walk through any of the beautifully planted beds of flowers and bushes.
“Well, I’ll go talk to them,” I reassure her.
As we walk by, Malcolm catches my eye and raises his brow to make sure I’m okay. I smile apologetically and nod, mouthing that I have a flower emergency. He hides a smile and turns back to speak to Brice as I leave the event and walk further down the path with Aster.
“Why would anyone come down here?” I ask. “The event is behind us. I made sure that everyone would be situated where we could monitor them.”
“You really did, didn’t you?” Aster muses. “It’s a beautiful event, but you’ve pissed off some major players.”
A shiver crawls up my spine that has nothing to do with the weather, and I glance at her.
Her lips are pressed together in a hard line, and I think about how she’s holding onto the arm that has access to the slit in my dress where my knife lies.
I have my hair up in a braid at the front only while the rest is loose and curled.
All of that to say that the pins holding my braid in place are more than simply decorative.
They’re very sharp and long, allowing me to slide my left hand toward my hair and palm a pin for defense.
I’m not sure what Aster is doing yet, but I’m not feeling very safe in her presence and I always trust my gut.
I left the gun in my car due to being in a crowded venue, but I have a high powered stun gun between my breasts in lieu of my traditional knife. I’m still capable of protecting myself if needed.
Fuck. Aster seemed so nice earlier. What the fuck happened?
“You need to let go, Aster,” I say softly. “The security here isn’t as nice as I am. They’ll shoot to kill because I’m important to them.”
I’m no stranger to killing people, but I don’t want to kill her. Something doesn’t feel right about this.
“Maybe,” she whispers. “I can’t let you go though. You need to keep walking. I have a sister, Hollis. Emilia has her. I can’t help you.”
The hard barrel of a gun presses hard against my side and I immediately stiffen. I could try to disarm her, but I also might end up getting shot. Or, I’ll have to kill her, and I know that she’s not doing this because she wants to.
For now, I allow her to drag me a bit further as my mind races to make a decision.
“Aster, I know people that can help you,” I say softly. “The men guarding the property are mafia men, there’s no way they’ll allow your sister to be hurt. However, you have to let me go. I won’t be able to help you if you’re actively involved in kidnapping me.”
God, I’m trying to negotiate with someone who has a gun trained on me. What is wrong with me? The reality though is that I need her to move the gun so that I can make my move. The pin is in my hand, I won’t hesitate to use it, but I don’t want a hole in my body either if I act too soon.
Aster pulls me off balance before shoving me, and my heel catches on the lip of a paver. Unfortunately, the angle I’m pushed at isn’t kind, and I can’t keep myself from falling. Breathing hard as I hold onto the pin, I see a size thirteen boot just before it kicks me in the face.
“I’m sorry,” I hear as my world explodes in pain, but I can’t be sure if that’s the ringing in my ears.
Breathing hard, I force myself to get up, glad my skirt isn’t tight. Another foot kicks my back so I go down again, and a hand clamps onto my hair, dragging me across the ground. Fuck.
The pin won’t help me in my hand, so I shove it deep into my attacker's wrist.
“Ow, goddamn it. What the fuck is that!”
Using his shock against him, I pull away, sacrificing a few strands of hair to get to my feet. There are two men involved in this, and I can’t see Aster anymore. My face is already swelling.
Listening hard, I can tell without looking behind me that the event is further behind me than I’d like. I have to figure this out alone, because I don’t know when someone will think to look for me.
“Emilia really should learn to do her own dirty work,” I rasp, chest heaving.
Both men are fucking huge, dressed in long sleeve shirts, leather jackets, jeans, and shit kickers. I don’t know very many motorcycle clubs, but that’s what it reminds me of.
“We are her dirty work,” one of them grunts, rushing me.
Hands free, I kick, punch, and spin to get away.
I can’t do what I need to in these shoes, and I’m pissed that I tripped at all earlier.
My loose hair doesn’t help me, and he uses it to wrap it around his fist and grabs my leg to pick me up as if I’m a rag doll.
The dickweed lays me over his neck like a fucking scarf, while I pull my stun gun and shove it into the skin of his throat.
Fancy moves aren’t your friend around me. My weapon is charged, I never shut it off when it’s with me, and all I have to do is press the button to use it. The asshole alpha screams, throwing me away from him. I can’t help it, I scream back as I hit the ground and roll into the other alpha.
He uses my head as a soccer ball and kicks it. After that, things move funny as they stomp and kick the fuck out of my body. I try my best to protect the more vulnerable parts of myself, but everything is being pummeled.
“Fuck, people are coming,” one of them says. “Shit they have guns too. You’re just supposed to be a whore omega. Who the fuck are you?”
“Your worst nightmare,” I whisper, gagging on blood. All I could do during this was curl my body up into a ball, but I am sure I look a mess. “Where the fuck is Emilia in all of this?”
“At… at her event,” the alpha says before turning and running.
Gunshots ring out and both alphas drop a few feet away from me.
Fuck it, next time I’m bringing the gun with me.
Not that it would have truly benefited me while getting the shit kicked out of me.
My arms feel like jelly as I try to push myself up to a sitting position.
My dress and coat is covered in blood, my stun gun is lost, and I’m seeing double.
“Hollis!” Malcolm yells as he runs and skids on the paved path to drop beside me.
“I’m…fine,” I wheeze. My ribs are definitely broken though. I can barely breathe without it hurting.
“The fuck you are,” he growls, lifting me as carefully as possible into his lap. I scream because I can't help it, everything hurts.
“Easy, man. Fuck,” Cian snaps, squatting next to me. His gun in his hands and his hazel eyes are angry and troubled. “Hollis, talk to me.”
“Find Aster,” I whisper, already starting to lean to the side. “Emilia kidnapped her sister.”
“Hollis, you can’t be saying that you want them to help her,” Malcolm grumbles.
“Hush,” Cian barks out, making me jump. “Sorry, honey. Whatever you want, okay? This idiot is going to pick you up and we’re going to go to hospital.”
“Cian,” I complain, starting to cry. “I hate the hospital.”
“I don’t care,” he says. “There’s only so much we can do without one. Your room will be guarded by the Finnegan brothers. They’re two sons of a bitches that’ll shoot first and ask questions later.”
Malcolm is trying to figure out how to hold me without hurting me as he stands, but it’s a lost cause. Everything makes me whimper. I’m dizzy, my vision is fucked, and I can already tell I’m going to lose consciousness.
“Cian,” I gasp out.
“I promise,” he grunts, his face contorted in distaste. “I won’t even torture the girl for information. I’ll have one of my boys ask her nicely.”
Yeah, that’s not likely. Pack Hayes doesn’t do nice.
I can’t argue though because the darkness is calling and it promises there will be no pain there. Giving in for now, I follow it down and pass out.
REMY
Felix, Brice, and I all felt this piercing pain at around the same time, just before gun shots were fired. We all ran in the direction of it while someone else took care of all of the people. Fuck it, Aisling can handle it.
“What the fuck happened?” I gasp, feeling as if I may be sick as I see Hollis bloodied and passed out.
“Emilia,” a very scary older man growls. “Hayes!”
An alpha with dark curly hair and blue eyes moves forward immediately, his head inclined in deference to him.
“Go find this Aster woman. She’s fucking responsible for this. Find out how she knows her sister was kidnapped, and then decide if you want to help her or not,” he snarls. “With the mood I’m in, I’m more likely to snap her goddamn neck and call it a day.”
“Except, Mr. Sullivan, Hollis said she didn’t want the girl hurt,” Hayes reminds him.
“Fucking soft hearted girl,” Mr. Sullivan says, breathing hard as he rubs his face. “Evan, I need you to drive us to the hospital.”
“Yes, sir. I’ll get the car and ensure that the emergency room is ready for us,” a beta says.
Holy shit. There’s so much going on, it’s hard to follow, but it’s clear Mr. Sullivan cares about Hollis.
“Let’s go if you’re coming,” he grunts. “Someone take Hollis, please. If I have to hear her cry in her sleep again, she’ll be short an alpha.”
“Her ribs are broken,” Mal hisses. “She’s covered in blood and there’s no way for me to hold her where she’s not in pain.”
“Okay, okay, stop,” Caleb says, swallowing hard as he looks at Hollis. He arrived with his brother just after we did. “Cian, put your gun away, and let’s go. Can someone make sure that Aisling can take care of things here please? No, I don’t give a shit about the event but she does.”
His eyes are trained on my girl, and it’s clear the “her” is Hollis.
“I got it,” someone says, jogging away, but we’re already moving toward a side pathway that’ll allow us not to see anyone at the event.
Felix has memorized the layout, and he leads us out. My stomach is in knots, and Brice squeezes my shoulder tightly as he walks beside me. I can hear everyone’s thoughts through our bond, and it does nothing to soothe me.
This is fucked up. Hollis didn’t deserve this. Someone will pay and heads will roll if the faces of the men following us have anything to say.
I can’t tell you anything about the drive to the hospital. I’m fucking scared to touch Hollis as she whimpers in pain in her sleep, and Mr. Sullivan’s hand tightens around his phone so hard, I’m expecting it to break at any time.
The upside is that his driver gives zero fucks about the traffic laws, and gets us to the hospital in record time. The huge SUV allows everyone who needs to be with Hollis the ability to ride together.
The driver ignores all of the posted rules about parking in front of the emergency room doors, and slams the vehicle into park. As everyone gets out, he walks through the entrance and yells for help. No one is going to stop Hollis from getting help, and I find myself appreciative of that.
Malcolm strides quickly through the automated doors, and a nurse runs up to him. My brother looks like someone kicked him, but I don’t know why. I suppose we all feel as if we should have done more for Hollis.
“Okay, sir, come with us. We’ll take you straight back to a room,” she says. “I’m sorry, it’ll have to be just him and the girl for now.”
“Miss, she was attacked,” Mr. Sullivan says. “I don’t think you want to allow anyone to come back to finish the job, do you?”
The nurse takes a moment to really see who she’s speaking to and pales.
“No, Mr. Sullivan,” she whispers. “Can we limit it to two more to watch the room, please?”
“Absolutely, Alice. Caleb and Lars, go. We’ll be holding up a corner of the waiting room. Please don’t forget about us.”
Nodding rapidly, Alice turns and almost jogs through the bay doors. No one bothered to take any information about her either as we move to sit down.
“Caleb and Lars know everything about that girl,” Mr. Sullivan rumbles as I keep glancing at the reception desk. “If medical information is needed, they’ll have it.”
Nodding as I force myself to take a deep breath, I grip my thighs to try to steady myself.
“She’s a strong girl. I have a feeling the blood makes it appear worse than it is as well,” he adds.
That’s the most comfort I’m likely to get from a mafia man.
After this, I don’t know if my pack will be able to handle letting Hollis out of our sight for anything. It doesn’t matter who it is.
“I hope Hollis is ready to move in,” Brice rasps between Felix and I. “‘Cause there’s not a chance in hell that I’m going to be able to let her go anywhere without four bond bites on her body.”
Well, I never said that he was the most level headed one. That’s definitely Malcolm, and he’s roaring his agreement through the bond between us.
Sorry, Baby Girl, you have four growly alphas on your ass now.