Chapter 163 The Message

Chapter 163 The Message
Pete's POV

My phone vibrated in my hand.

I froze.

The screen lit up, and it was the same unknown number. My heart began pounding so hard that I could hear it. For one terrible second, I couldn't breathe.

This was it….It had to be them.

My fingers tightened around the phone and a dozen possibilities crashed through my mind at once, but they all led to the same place. Diya and Matt.

What if they were hurt? What if the person who took them was calling to threaten me?
Or worse…what if they were calling because something had already happened?

I wasn't even thinking clearly. I just answered immediately and pressed the phone to my ear.

“Hello?”

Nothing.

I tightened my grip on Mike's hand.

“Hello?”

Still nothing.

My breathing became heavier.

“Who is this?”

Silence.

I could hear nothing except the faint sounds of the hospital corridor behind me and Mike's weak breathing beside me.

“Talk to me!”

Nothing.

“Where is my family?”

Silence.

My chest tightened. I could hear my own heartbeat pounding against my ribs as I waited for an answer. Even a threat would have been better than this silence. At least then I'd know someone was listening, but there was nothing. Just silence.
And somehow, that silence frightened me more than anything they could have said.

My patience snapped.

“Fuck!”

I threw the phone onto the floor.

“Is there no fucking person in this hospital?!”

My voice tore through the corridor.

“Someone help!”

The silence shattered and a nurse came running around the corner.

“What happened?”

She stopped the moment she saw Mike and her face went pale.

“Oh my God!”

I followed her gaze and for the first time, I saw Mike the way she did.

Blood…everywhere. His body was so still that something cold crawled down my spine.

“No…”

The word barely left my mouth.

She immediately turned around.

“Doctor! Doctor!”

Within seconds, the corridor exploded with movement. Doctors and nurses came rushing into the room.

“What happened?”

“Get the emergency trolley!”

“His blood pressure is dropping!”

My stomach dropped.

“No.”

I shook my head as though refusing to believe the words could make them untrue.

“No, he's going to be fine.”

I didn't know whether I was telling them or myself.

“Get the monitor!”

I stumbled backward as they surrounded Mike.

“What are you doing?”

“Sir, please step outside.”

“No.”

“Sir, you need to let us work.”

“He's my best friend.”

My voice cracked.

“He was stabbed. He needs help.”

“We know. Please step outside.”

I didn't want to move. I couldn't. I watched them cut through his clothes and the sight of the wounds made my stomach twist. There were several knife wounds. Someone had stabbed him repeatedly.

“Goddess…”

I covered my mouth.

How had he survived?

“Pressure here!”

“His pulse is weak.”

“Get another line.”

“Prepare the defibrillator.”

Defibrillator?

The word hit me like a punch. That wasn't something they brought out unless things were bad. Really bad.

My hands suddenly felt cold and my eyes widened.

“Why are you getting that?”

No one answered me.

“Mike!”

I tried moving toward him but a doctor caught my arm.

“Alpha, you have to get out.”

“I need to stay with him.”

“You're in the way.”

“Don’t fucking tell me what to do. I said…”

“Alpha Pete!”

The doctor looked directly into my eyes.

“If you want your friend to survive, let us do our job.”

The words cut straight through me.

My first instinct was to fight him, to push past him and to stay beside Mike until someone could promise me he was going to survive. But then I looked through the glass at the doctors surrounding him.
Mike wasn't asking me to stay, he was lying there fighting for his life, and if I truly wanted him to survive, I had to get out of their way.

My throat burned.

“Don't you fucking die on me,” I whispered, then I stepped backward and they pushed the door shut.

I stood outside alone. For a moment, I simply stared at the closed door. Then I started pacing back and forth. I couldn't stay still.

Every second felt wrong.

My body wanted to move because standing still felt too much like accepting that there was nothing I could do.

Fuck. I hated that feeling.

I was an Alpha. I was supposed to have answers. I was supposed to protect the people under my care. Yet I was standing outside a hospital room, helpless, while my best friend bled behind a closed door and my mate and son were somewhere I couldn't reach.

My hands kept going to my phone. The unknown number was still there. I called it again and it was unavailable.

I stared at the screen. Whoever had taken them had called me and made sure I heard Matt, then they had cut the call.

And now they had tried calling again.

Why? What did they want from me?

My thoughts were moving too quickly. Diya, Matt, Mike, my mother, the council…Everything was happening at once.

I didn't even know what I was supposed to pray for.

Goddess, please protect my son.

No.

Please protect Diya.

My chest tightened painfully.

No…please protect Mike.

I squeezed my eyes shut.

Who the hell was I supposed to pray for first? My son was missing, my mate was missing, my best friend was fighting for his life and I couldn't even reach any of them.

My hands went to my hair.

“Please…”

My voice broke.

Who was I supposed to ask you to save first?

I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes.

Mike.

I didn't know why my mind kept going back to him, but suddenly I could see him everywhere. Standing beside me the first time I had to face the council as Alpha, sitting across from me at three in the morning after I'd made a decision so stupid even I knew I'd fucked up, taking the blame for things that weren't his fault simply because he knew I was already carrying too much.

He had seen me at my worst. He had watched me make mistakes, lose my temper, trust the wrong people and push away the right ones. And never once had he looked at me like I was a failure.
He simply stayed…That was Mike.
He stayed when I didn't deserve it.

And now he was lying behind that door because he had been protecting my family, all because I'd asked him to.

A tear slipped down my cheek and I wiped it away angrily. Then another followed. I didn't bother wiping that one.

I hated that I was crying. Not because I was ashamed of the tears, but because I had spent my entire life believing an Alpha had to be the person everyone else could lean on.

Tonight, I didn't feel like anyone's strength.
I felt fucking broken.

“I'm sorry, Mike.”

My voice was barely a whisper.

“I should have been there.”

I should have stayed. I should never have left them. I should have ignored the council. I should have trusted my instincts. I should have…

Footsteps suddenly sounded from the other end of the corridor. I looked up and Shantel appeared first. Then Prisca and Diya's mother.

They were carrying bags, a large teddy bear and several colorful get-well packages.

They were smiling.

For a second, I couldn't understand how they could be smiling.

Then I remembered…They didn't know.

They were carrying gifts for a little boy they thought was still sleeping peacefully in his hospital bed. They had no idea that the room they were walking toward had become a crime scene. And they had no idea that one of the people they loved was bleeding behind the door.

They were smiling because they thought they were coming back to surprise Matt.

They fucking had no idea.

The moment they saw me, their smiles disappeared and they hurried toward me.

Diya's mother looked around frantically.

“Where is my grandson?”

I couldn't answer.

“Pete?”

Shantel's voice trembled.

“What is going on?”

I looked at her and and suddenly, I couldn't breathe.

How was I supposed to tell her? How was I supposed to look into her eyes and tell her that the man she loved was lying behind that door covered in blood? How was I supposed to tell Diya's mother that her daughter and grandson were gone?

Prisca looked at me, then her eyes dropped to my shirt and her face changed.

“Uncle Pete…”

She pointed at me.

“Why is your shirt bloody?”

I looked down.

I'd been so consumed by Mike that I hadn't even noticed how much blood had gotten onto me. Dark stains covered the front of my shirt…. Mike's blood.

Suddenly, I understood what they must be seeing when they looked at me and I knew there was no way to hide what had happened.

I swallowed and my throat felt painfully tight.

“Where did you people go?”

They all looked at one another.

“What?” Diya's mother asked.

“Where did you go?”

My voice came out harsher than I intended and she immediately looked frightened.

“We…we got a call.”

“From who?”

“Someone from Diya's company.”

Shantel answered quickly.

“They said there was a get-well package for Matt. They wanted us to come downstairs and collect it.”

My stomach dropped.

“What the…?”

“They said it was from her company.”

Shantel's voice became frantic.

“We didn't think anything of it. We thought it was just a surprise for Matt.”

Prisca nodded.

“We only went for a few minutes.”

“A few minutes?”

My voice rose.

“You left them?”

“With Mike,” Shantel said quickly.

“Mike was here.”

I stared at her.

“Yes.”

She pointed toward the closed door.

“We left Diya and Matt with Mike.”

I looked at the door and my mind went completely still. Then one thought surfaced.

The package, the phone call, the timing.
They hadn't simply taken advantage of an empty room. Someone had created the opportunity. Someone had known exactly how to get everyone away from Diya and Matt and unfortunately Mike had been left alone with them.

My chest tightened.

They had known. They had created a reason to get them away from the room….A fucking get-well package.

My stomach twisted.

Diya's mother stepped closer.

“Pete…”

Her voice broke.

“Where is my daughter?”

I couldn't look at her, because the moment I looked into her eyes, I knew I'd have to say it. I didn't know where her daughter was. I didn't know where my son was.
I didn't even know if they were alive.

And somehow, saying that aloud felt like admitting that I had failed them

“Where is Diya?”

I closed my eyes.

She grabbed my arm.

“Pete, please.”

Her voice trembled.

“Where is my daughter and my grandson?”

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

Shantel's eyes filled with tears.

“Alpha…”

She looked toward the closed door.

“What happened to Mike?”

I looked at her and I saw the fear in her eyes. I didn't know how to tell her. I didn't know how to tell any of them.

I was still staring at the closed door when…

Beep.

My phone vibrated in my hand and every muscle in my body went rigid.

Not again.

Slowly, I pulled it from my pocket.

A message.

My heart began pounding again as I opened it. There were only five words.

HOPE YOU GOT OUR MESSAGE?