Chapter 31
Violet
“She’s so damn cute,” Rylee gushes, cooing down at the little bundle in my arms.
“Isn’t she?” I grin, unable to take my eyes off my daughter. “She’s perfect.”
“Just like her mama,” Thomas says, grinning down at the both of us.
When I tell you, there's nothing hotter than seeing three buff, sexy men holding a little baby, I’m not even joking.
There have been a few moments where I said fuck the traumatic birth, give me another one. Right now.
But then I try to move, and I’m filled with pain, bringing me back to reality.
“So, does she have a name yet?” Jenny asks from where she’s sitting on the edge of the bed.
“She sure does.” Aiden reaches down to run his thumb over our daughter's cheek. “Hazel.”
“Aww, Letty,” Jenna says in awe. She’s standing next to us on my other side. “After your mom?”
Tears sting the back of my eyes as I nod before kissing my girl's little forehead. “Your nana would have loved you so much, sweet girl,” I tell her, my heart aching with the fact that my parents weren’t here to meet her. They used to talk about how much they missed me being little and couldn’t wait for me to have kids someday so they could love and spoil them.
With everything that's happened within the past year, I haven’t had much time to think about them. I’m not sure if that's a good or bad thing. Because when I did think of them, I only ended up being sad. But that only made me feel guilty that I’ve been so busy with my bullshit that they hardly crossed my mind.
I know they would be proud of me. Proud of my overcoming everything I’ve been through, for fighting for my pack, and for being the best mom I can be with this little one.
After giving birth in the parking lot, I was whisked away to a room. We’ve been here a few days, the doctors wanting to keep an eye on the both of us after everything that happened.
The police were called about Sylvia and what happened back at the house. My Alphas were livid, ready to tear apart this town in search of her after I filled them in on everything that happened.
The girls managed to get a last-minute flight and came in later that night. They filled the police in on their part and what they heard over the phone.
Aiden went to the higher-ups—Sylvia’s uncle’s bosses—done with her getting away with this shit because of who her family is.
Now, there's a warrant out for her arrest. They’re looking for her, but from the updates I’ve gotten, they haven’t been able to find her.
They think she’s fled town. With the kind of money she has, I’d bet she’s on some private island somewhere.
Part of me hopes she is because it would mean she’s far away from us. But then again, I want more than anything for her to be charged and locked up for everything she’s put us through.
She doesn’t deserve to be out running around, making other people’s lives a living hell, because she can’t accept that life doesn’t always go how we want.
“Knock, knock,” the doctor says, stepping into the room. She gives us a warm smile. “Who’s ready to go home?”
“Me,” I sigh. “Not that I don’t enjoy this place,” I joke. “I’m just ready to be back in my own home.” The home I share with my pack. My place. My life. My everything.
Crazy that almost a year ago, I was sad, lonely, and craving a pack to love me, to care for me. And now I have everything I could ever want.
I can’t help but think back to the day I showed up at the cabin. I was sitting in the living room, snow coming down heavily as the fire crackled and burned bright. My eyes found the photo of my parents and I sitting on the fireplace mantel, setting me off on a crying jag.
I cried because I missed them, and I never felt so alone in my life as I did at that moment.
Curled up with a blanket, tears running down my cheek, I prayed to anyone who was listening to give me someone, anyone to love me. I was sick of being alone in that way.
Now I wonder, was that my mama listening? Did she know what I needed and sent me Pack Wheeler? I’m choosing to believe so.
“Alright, this is what we’re going to do. The girls and I are going to head out now while you get all ready and packed up to go. We will make sure the house is good to go for when you get there, okay?” Jenny says, standing up from the bed.
“Jenny.” I give her a watery smile. “Thank you.”
She gives me a warm one back, coming over to stand next to me. “You're my best friend, Letty. My sister, my person. Just like these two.” She nods her head at Rylee and Jenna. “My ride or die. No matter what, we will be by your side in a heartbeat.”
“I love you,” I whisper, knowing if I spoke any louder, I’d burst into tears.
“Love you more.” She bends over, kissing my forehead.
Growls rumble around us, and I can’t help the smile that takes over my face.
“Oh, hush, you two,” Jenny scolds my Alphas.
“Mine,” Aiden growls.
“She was mine first.” Jenny crosses her arms, giving them a smirk.
“Jenny!” I hiss.
“And we have her forever,” Thomas shoots back.
Jenny laughs. “That you do. You three are some lucky fuckers, you know that, right?”
“Trust me,” Nolan says, running a hand over Hazel’s fuzzy head. “We know.”
The guys help get the room together, gathering everything we need. Nolan helps me up as Aiden straps Hazel into her car seat. He bends down and kisses her forehead, and I damn near melt into a puddle.
“Sweets, you’re going to have to control yourself,” Nolan chuckles, voice low in my ear. “If you keep perfuming like that when you see us with Hazel, she’s going to end up being a big sister before she’s one.”
“I can’t help it,” I grumble. “Have you seen how you all look with her?”
Nolan looks over, seeing Thomas take his turn, bending down and kissing Hazel next. He coos at her, a big smile on his face.
“Yeah, okay, point taken. If I could get knocked up, I’d be pregnant with triplets right about now,” he grumbles.
“Thank you,” I sigh. “You see my struggle.”
We both laugh, and I get my own kiss. “I love you, Sweets. Have I told you how brave and badass you are?”
“Only a million times. But feel free to say it a million more.” I grin. He chuckles. “And did I tell you how amazing you are?” I reach up and brush some hair out of his face.
“Amazing? I nearly shit my pants. Violet, I was so scared.” His eyes turn melancholy.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. It’s not your fault. It’s hers,” he growls. “And I can’t fucking wait until they find her and lock her ass up like they should have a long time ago.”
Licking my lips, I nod, not wanting to talk about her right now. I take his hand. “Come on, let’s go home.”
“The security system is installed and working,” Aiden reminds us, stepping away from Hazel. “I made sure to check before we left.”
“I hate that we have to worry about that,” I sigh.
“So do I,” Thomas says. “This town is normally quiet. I can’t remember the last time a crime was even committed that wasn’t done by her,” he spits. “We shouldn’t have to have a security system in the middle of the damn mountains.”
“If it helps keep our girls safe, then that’s what we have to do,” Aiden declares.
There's a knock at the door. We all look over to see an agent, one of the big dogs that got called in. “Aiden, do you mind if we ask you more questions?”
Aiden hesitates but then nods. “Thomas and I still have our cars here. He needs to finish filling out the paperwork, and I’ll speak with the officer. Nolan, are you good with taking the girls home?”
“Of course.” Nolan nods.
I pout. “But I wanted all of us to go together.”
“We won’t be far behind, Baby Girl,” Thomas reassures, pulling me into his arms. “How about you two stop in at the cafe, get something to eat that's not hospital food.”
“Oh, I like that idea,” I say, eyes lighting up.
Thomas chuckles. “Then it’s settled.” He places a sweet kiss on my lips before handing me over to Aiden so he can do the same.
Once we’re down in the car and have Hazel all buckled up safely with me sitting next to her in the back, Nolan gets out of the back seat and looks over at me. “I’ll be right back,” he says, moving to the front to turn the car on and turn up the air conditioning. “I need to pay for parking, then we can go.”
“Okay.” I give him a smile. “We’ll be right here.”
Nolan blows me a kiss and gives me a cheeky wink, making me laugh, before he closes the car door.
My eyes find my daughter, and I melt. “Listen here, little lady, I don’t think this cuteness aggression is healthy. How the hell can you be so damn adorable?”
I’m in love, utterly and deeply in love with this little girl. She owns my heart as well as her daddies’. And I have no doubt she will win over everyone in the family, too. She’s already done so with her aunties.
Aiden’s sister and parents, as well as Macy and her brothers, haven't met Hazel yet. With how stressful her day of birth was, Aiden asked them to hold off coming to meet the baby until we were back at home and settled in.
The only reason my friends were there was because they experienced the fucked up moment themselves, only it was over the phone, and they were helpless to do anything.
I hardly register the car door opening and the engine revving to life, too entranced by Hazel. By the time I do, we’re pulling out of the parking lot. When I look up, a smile on my lips to tell Nolan just how stunning our little girl is and how I couldn’t get enough, it drops, and panic floods my system.
My breathing picks up, my heart pounding in my chest, and I feel like I’m going to be sick.
Because it isn’t Nolan sitting in the front seat, driving the car, taking Hazel and me away from the hospital. It’s Sylvia.
Our eyes meet in the review mirror, and dread fills me.
“W-what are you doing?” I whisper, frozen in fear. I can’t shout; I can’t lose my cool because I have my daughter, my newborn daughter, next to me. Fear for not my life but hers has my whole body shaking.
She laughs, and it’s a cruel one. “Not so tough now, are you?” she spits. “No gun to point at my head and threaten me with?” Her eyes turn back to the road. My eyes flick to the window, and my stomach turns when I see we’re on the main highway.
“Sylvia. Please,” my voice cracks. “Please, don’t do this.” I have no idea what she is going to do, but it can’t be good if she’s unstable enough to take off with us in the car. Is this considered kidnapping?
She shakes her head. “Nope. No point in begging me. As much as I’d love to see your pathetic ass get on your knees and kiss my fucking feet...” she pauses, laughing maniacally. “You had your chance to leave. But you didn’t take it. I offered you an out more than once, a nice amount of money, too, but you were too stupid to take it. The offer is gone now, and soon you will be too.”
“W-what are you going to do?” I regret asking the moment the question comes out of my mouth.
“The mountains are a very large place, Violet,” she says. “So much unexplored land. So many places to get lost and never be found.”
Horror turns my gut as she flicks her eyes up to me. It’s at this moment I realize just how crazy she is. She’s planning on killing me.
A little grunt has my eyes darting down to Hazel. No. No, I won’t let this happen. I won’t let her hurt us.
“Do whatever you want to me, but please don’t hurt her,” I plead, my mind trying to come up with a plan. What was it they say... play into the mind of the crazy? “If you want me to leave, I’ll go. You can drive us there if you want—as far away as you want. I promise; we won't be a bother. I don’t care about the guys, not as much as I care about my daughter. If you want them so bad, you can have them. I just want her.”
Half lies. There’s no way in hell I’d leave my pack for this crazy bitch.
She shakes her head, laughing. “Too late, Violet. It’s too late.”
As we get deeper into the mountains, my panic starts to grow. I’ve never been this way; I don’t know where this highway leads to.
Think, Violet, fucking think!
Just as I’m about to slip into full-on panic mode, the sounds of sirens fill the air. I almost sob in relief. She’s not going to get away with this. Thank fuck.
Sylvia’s eyes fill with panic, and the car starts to speed up. My heart thunders in my chest as I spin around to see cop cars coming up behind us.
“Slow down!” I shout. “There’s no point, Sylvia. If you pull over, I’ll lie. I’ll tell them you didn’t do anything.”
“No,” she shouts. “No! It’s not over. If I’m going down, you're going down with me,” she sneers.
One of the cop cars zooms past us, then another. Now they have her surrounded, with two behind us, two in front.
They speed up past us going down the road. I watch as they turn their cars, coming to a stop and making a barricade.
For a moment, I think Sylvia is going to crash through them and possibly kill us all in the process, but she slams on the break, sending us both jolting forward.
I go flying, hitting the back of her seat. “Fuck!” I shout.
“No,” Sylvia says again. “I will not let you get away with this!” she screams like a lunatic.
She leans over the center console, and I see that she’s reaching for a gun. It must have been on the front seat and fell to the floor.
Without thinking, I grab her by the hair and yank her back. She screeches as I put her in a chokehold. “Let go of me!” she gasps out, clawing at my arms. Her nails dig into my flesh, but I ignore the pain.
Fear is replaced by a murderous rage. “How fucking dare you?” I say in a low, dangerous tone. “How fucking dare you come into my life, threaten me and my family, and try to take what’s not yours.
“They are mine!” she shouts, and I tighten my hold, loving the way she chokes and gags.
“I hope they lock you up for life, that they put you in with women much worse than you. You’re going to pay, Sylvia, for all the pain you caused my family.” I bring my lips low to her ear. “And if, by some chance, you get out. If you ever come back to Snow Valley, if you ever come near my pack, my family again? I’ll fucking kill you myself.”
The front door to the car is yanked open, and everyone’s guns are pointed at Sylvia.
My back door is opened, and an officer sticks his head in just as I let go of her. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. Get me and my daughter out of here, now,” I plead, the adrenaline crash pushing me forward.
Sylvia is dragged out, kicking and screaming. She’s threatening the cops with how she’s going to kill them, charge them, or get them fired.
But they ignore her, shoving her against the car as they place her in cuffs.
Pulling Hazel out of the car, I stand there and watch as they put Sylvia into the back of a cop car.
It’s not until they pull away that I close my eyes and breathe. It’s over. After everything she put my men through—put me through—there's no way she’s going to be able to weasel her way out of this one.
The sound of my name being shouted has me cracking.
Aiden, Thomas, and Nolan get out of one of the cop cars and run over to me.
The moment I’m in their arms and safe, I break. I know they will help put me back together.
Because that's what family does. That's what packs do.