Chapter 16
Sixteen
CALEB
I hate hiding shit from Hollis.
Her brown hair is tangled, but at least she’s in clean clothes. I went to her apartment to get her all her things while Cian had someone join my brother to stand guard at the door.
Hopefully, she’ll be able to soak in a tub and sleep at Pack Ledger’s home. She has a lot of healing to do. That’s what I tell myself at least as I give Lars a warning glare to not tell Hollis about the midwife who has her eyes.
“If you need anything, or find you’re missing something, text me,” I say as I wheel her outside. There’s a warm blanket wrapped around her that I brought from her apartment, and Remy has her bags in his hand.
“I will,” Hollis murmurs. “Why are you being weird, Caleb?”
“Other than the fact that Emilia is gunning for you and laughing about it on her podcasts?” I ask, pushing my hand through my hair as I deflect hard. “The Little Rabbit has made three videos about this shit, Hollis. They’re basically waging war against each other at this point.”
“I have to issue a statement, but I haven’t decided if I’m going to keep my camera on or not,” she sighs. “I don’t like the idea of sympathy views.”
“Awareness isn’t begging for sympathy,” I growl. “You make me insane, woman. I don’t see weakness when I look at you, I see someone who motherfucking survived a terrible beating.”
“Cian says that there was a burn mark on one of their necks,” Lars grunts.
“The brute lifted me and decided to wear me like a fucked up scarf,” she grumbles. “What else was I supposed to do?”
“Exactly what you did,” he says. “Using his weakness against him is what I taught you to do.”
We taught Hollis how to defend herself, even kill when necessary. There wasn’t a chance in hell we were going to do anything different when she moved away from home.
“Stop obsessing,” I remind her. “The only thing I regret is that we couldn’t torture the guys who hurt you. It was more important that your guards put them down so they couldn’t escape, Hollis. Now, get some rest, and try not to work too hard.”
“That’s an oxymoron when it comes to her,” Lars mutters.
Malcolm gets out of the car while Felix opens the back door, and I have to admit they’re efficient.
“We’ll muddle through,” Brice says, scooping Hollis up out of the wheelchair. “Did someone get her car from the botanical garden parking lot?”
“Evan did. It’s in the underground garage of your loft,” I grunt. “Your binders, laptop, and phone are in your bag, Hollis. If I missed something, text me. Please don’t go into the office this week.”
“I won’t,” she murmurs. “I’m still really tired.”
Her head lolls on Brice’s shoulder as she yawns, and I wish that I could murder Emilia and not care about the fallout.
“Take a nap,” I suggest. “Get better, please.”
I don’t take mafia jobs anymore, despite how I run my bar. Sometimes, my employees are barely old enough to work for me because it’s that or live on the streets. My brother and I are secretly softies, I guess.
Hollis’ eyes close, and Brice growls under his breath before getting into the back seat with her so he can keep her in his lap.
“For the record, the only reason you’re going home with her is because you’re her alphas,” Lars says. There’s an air of danger between us as we stare down Pack Ledger.
“We know,” Malcolm says as his pack gets into the SUV. “This isn’t a dick measuring contest, guys. We need time with Hollis. You’re important to her, and we get that. She’s finally letting us in.”
Forcing myself to take a breath, I nod. My guilt is riding me hard, so I’m projecting. Fuck, I need to track this girl down. If she’s Maree, then she has a lot to answer for.
Does she know who she is? Is that why she ran? Or were we just that fucking scary to her?
“Good,” I bite out. “I’ll check in with her later.”
Malcolm waves goodbye and gets into the vehicle, pulling away from the hospital entrance a moment later. No one has slept while she’s been here, and I can feel it pressing down on me like a heavy blanket.
Pack Ledger has been setting up their home so that Hollis will feel safe.
“Are we crashing the maternity ward now?” Lars asks.
“Yep,” I say, turning to return the wheelchair. “This doesn’t bode well for that squeaky clean image you give off, brother.”
Snorting, he shakes his head as I drop off the wheelchair with the reception desk, his curls dancing on his head as he walks alongside me.
“The other image was a little scary for a cafe owner,” he says. “There’s nothing wrong with reinventing yourself, Caleb. You just have to commit to it.”
He certainly has. I don’t think he stays up past ten at night anymore, and the round the clock guard posts we’ve held is definitely taking a toll on both of us.
The elevator opens as I hit the button, and a woman struggles to hold her newborn while also picking up her bag. Why isn’t there anyone to help her?
“Can I help you?” I ask gently. I don’t want to scare her, and she appears to be overwhelmed.
“Huh?” she looks over at us, and the stupid elevator doors threaten to close.
Lars sticks his size fifteen boot in the doorway to force them to open, and steps into the frame.
“We noticed you’re struggling,” he says. “Can we help? I’ve always thought that mothers should be able to grow extra arms for all the things they have to carry.”
A tired smile graces her lips as she chuckles.
“That would be really cool,” she admits. “I forgot to put Addy in the carrier, and then had to commit to the decision. My midwife was going to come back to the room since she’s getting the car, but I just want to get the hell out of here.”
“Did anything happen?” I ask. She seems jumpy.
“I don’t like new places,” she explains. “I want to go home.”
“This place kind of blows,” I tease her. “I don’t blame you. Is the carrier in the bag? If you’re okay with it, we can help you get it.”
“Are you sure?” she asks. “I’m so sorry, I’m blocking the elevator too. Shit.”
“You’re good,” I reassure her. “Can I pick up your bag to help?”
The woman tentatively nods, and I grab her bag so she can step out of the elevator.
“The wrap is just inside the bag,” she explains. “I’m not great at doing it yet, which is why I figured I’d take my chances.”
Leaning down, I open the bag and find a folded piece of material at the top. As I pull it out, I find that it’s longer than I initially thought.
“If you can shake it out, please, I’ll be able to put it on,” she says.
Doing as she asks, I look at it critically. It looks complicated, but I know when to keep my mouth shut. There’s not a chance in hell I’m sabotaging a woman with a fresh baby in her arms. Its face is so scrunched up and cute.
“What part do I give you?” I ask instead.
“Do you see the tag in the middle?” she asks. “That’s the part I need.”
Finding it, I watch as she wraps it around herself and the baby without ever letting go. The tails of the wrap get thrown over her shoulders before she tightens, adjusts, and knots until the baby has its own little pouch.
“You’re so good at that,” Lars praises her, eyes wide. “The baby didn’t even wake up.”
“Oh. Thank you,” she says with a slight blush. “It was really important for me to learn. I’m going to need my hands free, but I also just want to snuggle. Addy is so perfect.”
I’m trying not to make assumptions about why she’s alone. I can tell she’s a beta, and even if she doesn’t have a pack, the father should be here to support her. Zipping up her bag, I hand it to her.
I’ve heard that Omega’s Haven has resources for those who aren’t omegas as well, and I doubt they’ll refuse to help this woman if she needs the help.
“Do you think you’ll need any help with Addy?” I ask. “There are some pretty great new mom resources if you want it.”
“My midwife is actually going to be staying with me to help me tonight,” she says with a brighter smile. “I didn’t even know that was a possibility. I promise to look into those resources if I need them though. Thank you for being so kind.”
Lars and I say goodbye as we watch her walk out to where there’s a van waiting for her, and we get back into the elevator car.
“Why do I feel as if she’s going it alone?” Lars asks.
“Because I think you’re right,” I reply, pushing the elevator button to go up to the maternity ward. “We can’t help everyone, Lars.”
“I know. I want to know who the father is. I want to talk to him,” he says, popping his knuckles.
The enforcer, as I live and breathe. He usually hides it pretty well, but Hollis’ hospital stay is fucking with both of us.
“I don’t blame you,” I say instead of giving him shit. “The security may be tighter here, Lars. I wish we had that girl’s name.”
“We’ll describe her, and say that she left something we want to return to her,” he says grimly, his heavy steps resolutely leaving the elevator as soon as the doors open.
I guess it’ll be that simple. Maybe.
Finding the nurses’ station, I give the woman one of my best smiles. She gazes at me dispassionately, glancing at our visitor badges.
“Can I help you gentlemen with something?” she asks.
Sometimes, I wish that people recognized me the way they did Cian. Except, if they did, I’d have to do scary mafia shit all of the time instead of running a bar. The trade off isn’t worth it.
“I’m looking for a midwife with blonde, pink, and purple hair,” I say. “She mentioned that she’s working with a client on this ward, and I wanted to return something to her.”
The nurse doesn’t need to know anything else. Hollis has been beating herself up for years about being unable to find her sister. It makes sense that she hasn’t been able to when the girl looks so different now.
Identical twins take a different meaning when one of them does everything possible to appear different. Whether it’s done on purpose or not is up in the air, but the fact remains that eyes don’t lie.
“The midwife you’re describing recently left,” the nurse explains. “You just missed her.”
I can feel Lars’ disappointment because it mirrors mine.