Chapter Sixty — Trinity
CHAPTER SIXTY
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TRINITY
Ididn’t know where I was. There was beeping and strange noises, and I had no idea—
Not again.
This time I didn’t wait for caution. I opened my eyes and moved, springing for the first door I saw. Get out, get out, get out.
Arms came around my waist and I fought them. They weren’t going to take me again. “Trinity. Stop.”
The Alpha bark stopped me in my tracks. I knew that voice. The scent of smoky vanilla. “Brooks?”
“Yeah, baby. It’s me. We’re at the hospital.”
I whined, curling in on myself. Those same arms lifted and carried me back, setting me gently on the bed. There was a tube in my arm. Good thing he caught me before I ripped it out.
Everything from before came filtering in. It had been so, so close.
Brooks hovered over me when he set me down. Logan sat behind him, leaning forward, within touching distance. No one else was in the room. My other Alphas— “Where are they? Are they okay? What happened?”
Hands framed my face, dark green eyes locking with mine. “Everyone is fine. Aiden, Theo, and Bastian are speaking to the authorities. They’ll be back as soon as they can.”
Logan caught my eye. “They’ll be pissed they weren’t here when you woke up.”
I held onto Brooks’s forearms, shivering. How did I crack through the panic that felt like a whirlwind in my chest? The beeping—now I knew it was the heart monitor—went way too fast.
They must have been so out of their minds if I was panicked like this. Tears flooded my eyes. “I’m sorry.”
Brooks frowned. “Why are you sorry, baby?”
“You must have been terrified, and if I hadn’t looked into the story I would never—”
He leaned forward and kissed me. The softest, warmest kiss I could remember. It flipped my insides and made me gooey. Calmed my instincts enough to take a full breath.
“Under normal circumstances,” Brooks murmured against my lips, “I might let you apologize, even if you didn’t need to, if it made you feel better.
Not this time. If you hadn’t looked into the story, we wouldn’t have Aiden.
And even if that weren’t true, you are not at fault for the actions of people who tried to kill you. ”
Logan stood and came to the bed. Brooks made room for him to take my hand, lift it, and kiss the back.
“Yes, we were scared. But Brooks is right. That isn’t your fault.
” He pulled his chair close enough so he could both sit and cradle my hand.
“The five of us are struggling with the fact that we didn’t see the pattern.
That we suspected the break-in was more serious, and we still let you walk out the door. ”
I saw what he was saying without words. We were all going to feel guilty when we weren’t. We were all going to react to this differently, and that was okay. But my whole body and soul were unsettled. “I don’t know how to feel.”
Brooks smoothed my hair back with one smooth motion. “That’s okay.”
“I love you,” I whispered. “I haven’t said it to all of you, and I thought I’d never be able to.”
Logan made a noise low in his throat, choking back his own tears.
“I love you so fucking much, and I couldn’t breathe thinking you might not know.
But I do.” Taking a slow breath, he closed his eyes.
“It’s fine that you don’t know how to feel, because none of us do. We’ll be okay, but it will take time.”
“I love you too,” Brooks said, finally perching on the side of the bed. “And I plan on telling you every day until the end of time.”
I swallowed slowly. “Can you tell me what happened from your side?”
“Yeah.” They did, filling in the details of how they found me. “Your blood sugar was through the roof when we got here. All the stress and adrenaline.” Brooks stroked a finger along the tube in my arm. “It’s better now, but they’ll be back to test again.”
Something tiny released between us. Him facing that same fear and being okay. A final healing in the middle of all the rest of it.
“Where is she?” a panicked voice said. “I’m going to make sure she’s okay before I kill her myself.”
It was Isolde. She came to the door, Ocean close behind her. “Oh, thank goodness.”
Brooks leaned in and kissed my forehead. “We’ll give you a couple of minutes.”
I wasn’t sure I wanted that. I loved my friends, but they were the only thing that made me feel safe. “Yellow,” I whispered. “Please don’t leave me. Please.”
He nodded once and glanced toward a chair on the other side of the room. “I won’t. Will you be okay if I sit over there?”
My breath shuddered in and out. “I think so.”
“I’m proud of you for telling me what you need.” He kissed my forehead one more time. There it was. The golden, hazy glow of approval and safety. So strong it nearly made me cry again.
It seemed silly that I needed to know things hadn’t completely changed in less than a day, but it helped.
My friends approached, Ocean with a small vase of flowers. The way they both looked at me, between shock and horror, made me cringe. “Sorry I’m late.”
It broke the tension and Ocean shook her head, laughing once. “This is what I could pull together from what we had. They all either mean ‘healing’ or ‘alive.’”
The little bouquet was a chaotic riot of color and green leaves. It made me smile and brought a little lightness to the room. “Thank you.”
“Are you okay?” Isolde asked. “I mean, kind of a stupid question, but…”
“I’m alive. Other than that, I’m honestly not sure.”
“Yeah. That’s fair.”
I looked at Ocean. “Please thank your Alphas. They saved my life.” If the guys hadn’t had access to that helicopter, I would have been out of reach.
“They were happy to help.”
“You want to kill me?” I asked Isolde.
She laughed, but her eyes were teary. “No, but if you ever pull this again, I will absolutely kill you. Not that you pulled anything. You know what I mean.”
“I do.”
Ocean glanced between me, Logan, and Brooks. “It’s nice to meet you guys. I hope to meet the rest of you too. We’re not going to stay. We just wanted to see you.”
“We can bring brunch to you until you’re ready to come back into the world,” Isolde said with a smile. “Just say the word.”
“Thanks. I’m probably going to hibernate for a while.”
“We don’t blame you. We’ll check in, okay?”
“Okay,” I smiled. My lip hurt when I did that. “Love you guys.”
They both hugged me quickly before leaving with a wave. It was good to see them, but I was glad the visit was short. I was too overwhelmed by everything.
I touched my lip and winced.
“It’s cut,” Logan said.
“How did that happen?”
He growled instinctively, and I watched him swallow it down. “We think it happened when he hit you.”
Pushing myself further down into the bed, I pulled the blanket up. This place smelled weird, and it was way too bright. “Do I have to stay here?”
“They said you could leave once your sugars were down. Thankfully, you don’t have a concussion.” Logan stood. “Will you be all right if I go find a nurse to check your progress?”
“Come back quickly.”
“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” He turned at the doorway and winked. “But you have a replacement.”
My other three Alphas walked into the room. Bastian pushed past the others and came to my side, practically lifting me off the bed in his rush to hold me. His purr rumbled, as rough as his kiss.
Yes.
This was what I wanted. This and home and them. Nothing else.
“Oh shit.” I pulled back from the hug. “Is this on the news?”
Aiden nodded. “Yes. We tried to keep it quiet, but someone caught wind. No one knows the truth yet. Just speculation.” A sad smile. “Safe to say Edgar will publish your exposé now.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
Theo leaned over the end of my bed and gripped my ankles gently.
He squeezed one and then the other. “You have to, sweetheart. It’s all going to come out.
There’s no way it won’t, and your name is already connected with the story.
You should show people your work. Don’t let these psychopaths stop you from telling the world about it. ”
He was right, but I couldn’t consider it yet.
It was too much. “I’ll think about it. Right now I just…
” A new thought struck. “Do you think Dad knows? If he knows I’m in the hospital, he’s going to freak out.
I can’t see him right now. I’m barely handling all of this without him and the rest of it on top. I can’t.”
“We’ll take care of it,” Theo said. “You won’t have to see him until you’re ready.”
“Thank you.” I closed my eyes and let my head fall back onto the pillow. It was scratchy and nowhere close to what I needed. “These pillows suck, by the way.”
Brooks stood. “I’ll find Logan and check the progress. Let’s go home.”