Page 16 of Admiring His Omega (Hobson Hills Omegas #12)

Mal checked her over, happy to see nothing looked broken. She had clearly been punched more than once and someone had grabbed her hard, leaving large bruises on her arms.

“Once your mom gets here, we need to bring you to the hospital, okay? I’m not an expert at this.”

“I don’t want to.”

“We aren’t giving you a choice. This is one benefit from being an adult. We get to make the important decisions.”

“Are you an adult?” she asked, looking pitiful.

Mal snorted, trying not to be offended. “Don’t let my laid-back exterior fool you, my dear.

While emotional maturity is an ongoing journey, I’m self-aware and take responsibility for my actions.

Plus, I know the difference between needs and wants.

In my mind, those are the most important aspects of adulthood. ”

“I’m an adult. I take care of myself and definitely know the difference between needs and wants. I’m not stupid.”

“What do you think you need to do right now?” he asked gently.

Bianca looked confused. “What?”

“When I say needs and wants, I don’t mean that you know you need food, water, and shelter. You need to know the difference between what you need to do and what you want to do. You need to go to the hospital. You seem to want to ignore whatever is happening here, hoping it will go away.”

“I don’t want to think about it.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “It’s my choice not to go to the hospital.”

“Nope. That’s Van’s decision. Mine too if you accept me as your dad.”

She started crying again. “I want you to be my dad. I don’t want to think about this. About what he did. About the baby. What am I supposed to do, Mal?”

“You’re young, Bianca,” he said softly. “Leave all the worrying to us. You aren’t alone.”

“I’m not a good person,” she whispered. “I did something bad. Real bad.”

“You’re one of the best people I know. Good people make poor choices sometimes.” He kissed the top of her head. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll take care of it no matter what.”

She started crying again and he held her as she sobbed. They sat like that until Van arrived, banging the door open as she ran in.

Mal left them alone to talk and went to his room. He sent a message to cancel the evening yoga session and searched for hospitals further away. Since Bianca wouldn’t go to the county hospital, they needed to go further out.

More than an hour passed, but it felt so much longer. Mal couldn’t settle the anger growing in him. Bianca was so young. Someone had hurt her. Someone had purposely hit that sweet child.

A few moments later, Van slipped into his room, shutting the door behind her.

“Paula is with her right now.” Her face was haggard, and she had clearly been crying. “I need a favor, Mal.”

“Anything.” He stopped pacing and grabbed her hand. “Is she alright? Who did that to her?”

Van shook her head. “Don’t worry about that. I need you to take Bianca away from Hobson Hills for a while. At least six months. Stay in Maine, but she needs to go to a hospital to get checked out. It looks like nothing’s broken, but I’m not an expert. Then, she’ll need to see a good obstetrician.”

“Obstetrician?” he asked, confused. “Why?”

“She’s three months pregnant,” Van reminded him, voice breaking. “The father doesn’t matter. He’s a piece of shit. She needs us.”

“He’s the one that hit her.” Mal started pacing again, mind processing everything.

“He. Doesn’t. Matter.” Van pulled him to a stop. “Mal, my girl needs somewhere safe to recuperate. The trash that put her in this position doesn’t matter. I don’t need anger from you. She doesn’t need that. We need your love.”

Mal took a deep breath and held it before slowly exhaling. He did it again, then again, forcefully pushing the rage away so he could focus on what was beneath it. He loved Van and Bianca like family. They needed him to be strong. Van was right. Nothing else mattered right then.

“Okay.” He nodded. “I’ll take care of her, Van.”

“Thank you.” She looked relieved and tired.

He pulled her into a hug, knowing this wasn’t easy on her. “Everything will be okay. I promise.”

As he waited for Van to return with some of Bianca’s clothes, he video called Cain. It was late, but he knew his alpha would answer.

“Mal?” Cain looked sleepy. He was clearly in bed, his chest bare and his hair tousled.

His alpha was there, looking at him, a comfort even if he was several states away. Mal couldn’t keep the tears at bay. He cried as he explained the situation.

Emotions flew across Cain’s face – worry, anger, sadness, determination. “I’ll get the paperwork together for you to have temporary guardianship of Bianca. That way she can be homeschooled and stay caught up with her studies while you two are away.”

Mal nodded, wiping his eyes. “Thank you, love. I don’t know what I would do without you.”

Cain looked torn. “I want to come to you right now.”

“No.” Mal shook his head. “This is enough. Roe needs you there. Plus, it could be dangerous, remember?”

Rage filled the alpha’s face for a moment before he forced it away. “You’re my heart, Mal. I should be with you.” He held up a hand before Mal could protest. “I acknowledge that you’re right. I have to stay here. However, I am not happy about it.”

Mal heard the door to the RV open and close. “I need to go. We’re leaving out tonight. I’ll let you know where we end up.”

“I love you,” Cain said with a sigh. “You are a good dad.”

Mal let the warmth of his words fill him. He knew Cain loved him. He could see it right there on the man’s face. It was nice to hear the words, though.

“I love you too.”