“You’ve done plenty. I need to sit with the truth and figure out how I’m going to talk to my husband.” She wiped her red-rimmed eyes. “Thank you for telling me. I’m not happy to know, but I think I’ll get there.”
She used my tiny attached bathroom to tidy up her makeup and waited with me until it was no longer evident she had been crying before she stepped out, leaving me alone.
Fucking Andrew. Even though I was only the messenger and not the source, seeing her devastated was absolute shit.
It was all for the best. So why did it feel like the worst?
Ahand closed over my mouth and nose, jolting me out of sleep, a bolt of panic electrifying me down to my toes.
Andrew stared down at me, his eyes hard and cruel. “You selfish little cunt.”
My heart rate skyrocketed, the monitor beeping frantically. I tried to pry his hand away, clawing desperately, my lungs already burning as my pounding heart rapidly used up myoxygen. Why was he here? Where was my pack? I glanced over at where the baby was sleeping in the hospital bassinet right next to my bed, needing to reassure myself she was safe.
“You just had to interfere, didn’t you? Were you ever going to sign the fucking papers? She won’t leave if there’s another baby. You’renotgoing to ruin this for me.”
Black spots danced in my vision.
“Don’t you fucking pass out before you give me what I want.” He freed me to suck in one breath and before I could use it to scream, his hand slammed back down. Andrew grabbed my hand that wasn’t attached to an IV and shoved a pen into it, bringing it down to a clipboard on my lap. “Sign those and I’ll let you breathe.”
“Andrew, what are you doing here?” Charlotte’s stunned voice echoed behind him. “Oh my god! What are you doing? Let her go!”
Charlotte threw herself at him, trying to pull him away, but he shoved her away, making her trip over the chair behind her. The tussle had him letting go of me, and my shriek of a panic sent nurses running in.
Charlotte wrapped her arms around Andrew, trying to drag him away from me. She’d stayed at the pack house with her children overnight while I was in the hospital. I hadn’t expected to see her again.
“Get him out!”
“Security!”
Andrew tried to push through them, but Micah filled the doorway, blocking his way. “What the fuck are you doing here? I told you what would happen if you came after my family again.”
Andrew moved faster than I realized he could, throwing a punch at Micah. My alpha dodged it and dropped the water he’d been carrying to snare Andrew by the back of the neck, bringing his head down at the same time he brought his knee up. Thecrunch made me queasy and Andrew dropped to the ground, cradling his face.
Micah swerved around him and cupped my face, pressing a kiss to my forehead. “Ava, are you all right?”
“Micah,” I called out, breaking into a relieved sob. “Don’t let him go near the baby.”
Andrew rose up like a vengeful demon, tackling Micah. My alpha caught himself with a grunt before Andrew’s weight would have made him crush me, and wrestled him out into the hallway.
I scooped up my daughter as the two alphas fought. Cradling my baby to my chest, I whispered to her. “It’s okay. Mama’s here. Everything’s gonna be fine.”
I kept my face tucked down as security got involved, the shouting growing louder, turning into a din in my ears. My baby girl wailed over the commotion.
“I know, baby. I know. I’m sorry.”
“Jesse, take the kids!” Luke shouted from the hallway, and then more yelling from a handful of voices.
Charlotte wrapped her arms around me. “I’m right here, Ava. Security’s got him and your pack is here.”
Micah dropped to his knees at my bedside a moment later. He had the start of a black eye but otherwise seemed relatively unscathed.
“Where were you?” I cried, burrowing into Micah’s arms with the baby still clutched to my chest.
“Angel, I’m so sorry. I just stepped away to grab some water. The nearest machine was broken so I had to go to the next one. I had no idea he was here.”
“Where is everyone?”
“They’re with my kids,” said Charlotte. “They all went to the cafeteria to get some lunch. I’m sorry. I had no idea Andrew was coming here.”