Chapter195 The Voice on the Line Third Person POV

Chapter195 The Voice on the Line Third Person POV
Behind the counter of the convenience store, Bella was crumpled on the floor.
She clutched the receiver with both hands, tears streaming down her face, barely able to breathe.
The voice on the other end wasn't Emma's.
"Hello?"
Bella's mind had slowed to a crawl from exhaustion and fear. For a moment she couldn't place who it was.
"Who is this?" Her voice was trembling badly. "Where's Emma? I need Emma."
"It's Steven." The voice on the other end carried a weight that was impossible to ignore. "Bella. Where are you right now?"
"Steven." Just hearing his name broke something loose in her. "They had me. I got out, but I broke. I told them everything."
Steven had been reading a security report. His hand stopped moving.
"What did you tell them?"
"About Ah Dai." Bella was crying hard. "About Klaus losing his memory. Grayson's people know. They know he doesn't remember anything."
Steven's grip on the receiver tightened.
"Listen to me, Bella." His voice went sharp. "Take a breath right now and tell me your exact location. Street name."
Bella sniffled, looked up at the sign through the glass door, and managed to piece together an address.
"Good." Steven picked up his car keys from the desk. "Stay inside. Find a corner where the security camera can see you and crouch down. Keep the phone near you but you don't have to hold it. Don't make a sound no matter who walks in."
"Are you coming to get me?" Bella's voice was barely a whisper.
"I'm sending people now. They'll be there fast."
Steven set the phone down on the desk, leaving the line open, then walked down the hall to the break room.
He pushed the door open and pointed at two guards who were on standby inside.
"Weapons on. Go to this address and pick someone up." Steven passed one of them a slip of paper with the address written on it. "Move fast. If you run into any of Grayson's people, put them down. Bring her back alive."
The two guards took the paper and headed straight for the elevator.
Steven watched the doors close and turned to go back to his office.
Andrew stepped out of the other elevator at the same moment, carrying a stack of freshly delivered medical records.
He took one look at Steven's expression and stopped.
"What happened?"
Steven walked over and pulled Andrew into a blind spot in the hallway where the cameras couldn't reach.
"Bella just called," he said quietly. "Grayson's people had her. She escaped, but they got something out of her."
Andrew frowned. "Is she safe?"
"I've already sent people." Steven looked at him directly, his voice dropping lower. "That's not the worst part. She told them about the Alpha's memory loss."
Andrew went pale. His eyes moved instinctively toward the ICU door at the end of the hall.
They both understood exactly what that meant.
Grayson had been holding back, circling the hospital's perimeter without committing, because he wasn't sure how badly Klaus was hurt. A wounded Alpha was still dangerous. Grayson hadn't been willing to risk a direct move.
But an Alpha with no memory, who didn't even know his own name, was a different story entirely. That wasn't a threat. That was an open door.
"He's not going to stay quiet after this," Andrew said under his breath.
"Lock down every entrance to the hospital," Steven said, already running through the list. "From this point on, no one gets near that ward except staff we personally trust. Check the backup power and go through all the footage from the underground garage."
Andrew nodded and turned to go.
--
Just before dawn, a cab pulled into the underground garage at Bridgewest Hospital.
Emma pushed the door open and stepped out.
The last few days had taken a visible toll. The dark circles under her eyes were deep, and her face had gone pale.
She didn't stop by her office to rest. She went straight to the top floor via the private elevator.
The hallway was quiet. A handful of guards moved through their patrol routes in slow loops.
When they saw Emma, they dipped their heads in acknowledgment.
Emma walked to the ICU door and pushed it open gently.
The lights inside were dimmed low. The moment she stepped in, Klaus turned his head.
He hadn't been asleep.
Since the day Emma left, he had been restless. Most of his waking hours were spent watching the door. The moment he caught the faint sound of footsteps in the hallway, he was already awake.
When Emma came close, something shifted in his eyes. He pushed himself upright.
"You're back." His voice was low, steady, fixed on her.
Emma stopped at the side of the bed and looked at the fresh bandaging wrapped around him. Some of the tension she had been carrying for days quietly loosened.
"I'm back," she said softly.
She reached for the chair to pull it out and sit, but Klaus moved first. He reached out and caught her wrist.
His grip was firm. His palm was burning hot. The pull was strong enough that she stumbled forward and ended up sitting on the edge of the bed.
He didn't let go.
He leaned in and pressed his nose against the collar of her shirt, along the side of her neck. He picked up unfamiliar scents, the smell of other wolves from Moon River, and something in him tensed immediately.
His fingers tightened around her wrist. His eyes found hers and stayed there.
"Will you stay with me tonight?" His voice was barely above a whisper.
There was nothing charged in the way he asked. It was just need, direct and uncomplicated. He needed her close. He needed to know she was real. He needed his own scent to settle over whatever she'd picked up out there.
Emma looked at him for a moment.
She didn't say no.
She slipped off her coat, lifted the edge of the blanket, and lay down beside him.
The bed was narrow. They had no choice but to press close together.
Klaus wrapped his arm around her immediately, tucking her in against him. He rested his chin on top of her head and breathed in slowly. The tension in his body began to ease.
Emma closed her eyes. She listened to the steady rhythm of his heartbeat and felt the warmth coming off him.
It was the first moment in days that she felt anything close to calm.
--
A short while later, someone knocked on the door.
Three quick knocks, urgent.
Emma was on her feet before the second one finished.
The door opened. Steven walked in with purpose.
He took in Emma and Klaus sitting up in the bed, and cut straight to it.
"Sorry to interrupt. Something's happened."