Page 32 of Breaking the Alpha (Serpent’s Tongue Ink #2)

A ngelina jolted awake with the piercing ringing of a phone, her mind taking a moment to clear as Birch answered his cell.

“Hello?”

She lifted her head from River’s lap and felt his arm tense around her, pulling her upright against his side.

“Uh-huh,” Birch mumbled, meeting his brother’s eyes and giving his head a small shake.

“Yeah. No. Of course. Okay.” He hung up and sat back on the love seat beside Jocelyn.

“Nothing yet. Fogerty says there are teams situated all around Lincoln and the connecting highways, but they’re pretty much at a standstill. ”

River’s eyes narrowed. “A standstill? That’s bullshit. He was supposed to be released thirty-six hours ago. He’s somewhere.”

With a nod, Birch let out a groan of frustration and leaned his head back, closing his eyes.

“They’re moving slow and staying out of sight because they don’t want to be seen and scare the guys off in case Grey hasn’t been let go yet.

” Lifting his phone, he squinted at the screen.

“It’s four a.m. Let’s head to bed. I’ll wake you up the second I hear anything. ”

Although she could tell River was reluctant to leave the living room where they’d been waiting impatiently for two nights, he released his hold on her and stood, forgoing his crutches and limping up the stairs behind her.

“I hate waiting.” He collapsed onto the bed and reached out to her. “Waiting and not knowing.”

She climbed in beside him, sighing in contentment when he covered them both with his blanket and wrapped his arms around her. “It won’t be much longer. There are too many people looking.”

“We should be out there looking.”

“We were told to stay put,” she reminded him, cradling his arm between her breasts. “And I hate it too.”

Birch and Jocelyn’s bedroom door clicked closed and River nuzzled her hair. “What if they didn’t release him?” he asked in the darkness, voicing what all of them had thought at least once over the past day and a half. “What if they don’t?”

Her eyes were already closing as she struggled to stay awake with him, refusing to leave him alone despite her exhaustion. “They need Serpent’s Tongue. And the only way they can guarantee your and Birch’s cooperation is if Grey comes home. So they will.”

His shallow breathing slowed to match hers and she drifted off into a restless sleep, hoping for better news come dawn.

*

River watched the speedometer creep up on Birch’s truck as they sped along the highway, Jocelyn riding shotgun and Angelina sitting beside him in the cramped back seat.

Lincoln General.

Grey was in room 212 at Lincoln General.

Grey was alive in room 212 at Lincoln General.

The Feds revealed no other details over the phone, promising to meet them at the hospital where Grey was being treated under a heavy undercover guard.

The call had come in at two p.m. By 2:06 they were on the road, the overnight bags Jocelyn and Angelina had insisted on packing for everyone two nights ago already tossed in the truck bed.

Including one for Grey.

Angelina’s phone played a quiet trill and she snapped out of her daze, her tired eyes becoming alert as she eased her purse onto her lap and pulled out a lukewarm bottle of water and River’s inhaler.

“Here,” she said as she rifled through her purse searching around for the pill bottles.

“On a scale of one to ten, how’s the pain? ”

“I’m good for now,” he replied, swallowing the antibiotics with a grimace.

“Take one,” Birch called over the soft radio coming through the speakers. “It’s going to be another long day and you don’t need the distraction of pain. But only one so you don’t get too loopy.”

With a nod, he held out his hand for the painkiller and took it, stilling long enough for Angelina to press her wrist to his forehead. “How much longer?”

“The GPS says eleven minutes,” Jocelyn interjected, her attention on her phone. “When we get there, Birch will pull up front and you guys will jump out. Angelina and I will find a parking spot, okay?”

The final stretch of the drive was tense and silent, with every red light amping up the anticipation. Pulling up in front of the hospital, Birch threw the truck in park and hopped out, grabbing the crutches from the bed while River limped over to the sidewalk and the women drove away.

“They would have warned us if he was in real bad shape,” Birch said out of the blue as they entered the elevator and pressed the button for the second floor. “Right?”

Nodding, he swallowed the lump forming in his throat. “Sure. They don’t blindside people with that kind of shit.”

Neither of them believed the other, but both silently agreed to pretend.

He adjusted his crutches when the doors slid open, hobbling alongside Birch as they went left toward room 212.

“I thought he had security,” he said, noting the absence of anyone outside the room.

Birch pushed at the door, frowning to find it locked. “Are we sure it’s 212?”

There was movement on the other side, the lock clicking before the door swung open and a beast of a man stepped into the hall. “Can I help you?”

“Birch and River Baker to see Grey Baker,” Birch said, easing his wallet out and handing his ID over.

The man examined it, his eyes moving between the photo and Birch’s face before he passed the card back over and waited for River to wrestle his own out. Confirming his with a little more scrutiny, the man stepped aside. “Go ahead. I’ll alert the hospital staff you’ve arrived.”

Feeling like a coward, he held back a fraction and allowed Birch to lead the way, his eyes on his older brother’s face while he passed the small bathroom and got his first look.

“Aw fuck, Grey,” Birch exhaled, disappearing around the corner. “Am I ever happy to see you, kid.”

Over the soft beeping of machines, he heard his younger brother speak, his voice raspy and weak. “Is it that bad? You look freaked out.”

River paused out of sight, his lungs protesting the deep breath he tried to take before he steeled himself and hobbled forward to take in the sight of Grey on the bed.

A murderous rage washed over him and he slammed it into the recesses of his mind.

His baby brother was not only beaten to a pulp, he was fucking terrified.

It didn’t matter if Grey was twenty-three.

His blue eyes held the same look they’d held when Birch went to jail, when their last rock and protector was ripped from them.

And it had been River’s job to erase that fear and uncertainty before it became permanent.

“Your poker face is shit, Birch,” he said, ignoring the tubes and gauze and zeroing in on his brother’s blackened eyes. “You look like hell. Which sucks for me, because I think you’re about to take my place as Angelina’s favorite patient.”

Grey’s swollen lips cracked a smile as Birch pulled up two chairs beside his bed. “Fuck, it’s good to see you guys. I didn’t think—”

“And we aren’t going to think about it,” Birch interjected as he stood behind one of the empty chairs, glancing toward the hall when he heard Jocelyn’s voice. “You’re here, and we’re taking you home soon.”

*

Angelina stood as River exited the hotel bathroom, a towel wrapped around his hips and his hair dripping water over his shoulders. “Sit,” she commanded, pointing to the bed and laying out the gauze, antibiotic cream, and white medical tape on the side table.

He obeyed, limping across the room without a word.

It had taken a lot of convincing to get him out of Grey’s hospital room overnight.

After a long evening listening to doctors and nurses and the agents assigned to their case, the dark circles under his eyes became more pronounced, and the rasping of his shallow breathing quickly earned concerned looks from both Birch and Grey.

But he remained stubborn and steadfast in his insistence on staying at his brother’s side until Grey’s doctor pulled him aside and quietly mentioned that his deteriorating condition was beginning to stress Grey out.

She may or may not have enlisted the good doctor’s assistance. With Jocelyn’s help.

Kneeling in front of him, she changed out each bandage one by one and assessed the dark purple and blue bruises covering his legs and arms. His silence fed hers while she examined the slice across his cheekbone and the one on his forehead before moving on to a soft check of his broken ribs.

“He looked bad.”

Meeting his eyes, she nodded. “But he’s strong. And the doctor said that aside from his broken fingers and his wrist, it’s all surface damage and dehydration.” Sitting back on her heels, she collected the discarded bandages and stood, tossing them in the trash. “He’s safe.”

He was wound up, his muscles tight and jaw set as he reached into his bag and grabbed his boxers. “I should be there. I know how to keep him chilled out.”

Turning off the light, she crawled into bed while he tugged his shorts on and lay back with a grunt of pain. “I think,” she opened slowly, “you’re in worse shape physically right now—”

“I’m not dying. I can take care of my damn brother.”

Placing her hand on his heart, she concentrated on the steady beat. “And he’ll need it soon enough,” she continued. “But not now, and not with the physical injuries. He’s going to need you when the mental toll hits him. And you need to be strong enough to carry him through it. Again.”

She knew she’d gotten through to him when he sucked in a sharp breath and let it out slow and shaky. “Point made.” He rolled onto his side and spooned her, burying his face in her hair. “I love you. And I swear, when this is over, I’ll make up every second to you.”

“No one’s keeping a tally,” she murmured, her own exhaustion taking over. “I love you for you, not for what you can do for me.”

Her words seemed to soothe him, but only because he didn’t know how much she’d left unsaid. Yes, she loved him. Desired him. Needed him and wanted him.

But she was quickly realizing how entwined his family was, how reliant they were on each other for support and strength. They were a tight unit. A complete package. Being with River meant being a part of all that, being another pillar.

And she wasn’t sure she could do it. She was having a hard enough time accepting that he would likely be leaving Epson once he was fully recovered, and that she might not be a part of his future.

Yet while the thought of losing him made her heart ache like nothing she’d ever experienced, she knew that losing his family as well would be an extra hit.

As horrible as the past week had been, it was also the first time in her life when she’d felt needed and wanted for no other reason than who she was.

No one was using her, no one was tricking her, no one was playing a game.

She’d never known this kind of unity before, and she was terrified by how much she was growing to love it.

Losing River would destroy her heart, but losing him and his family would destroy her soul.