Page 2 of Burned By My Mate (Twisted Oak Pack: First Responders #3)

TWO

Logan

I was supposed to be off an hour ago.

Instead, I’m standing outside a burning house, watching my team pick through the remains to make sure all of the fire is out. The air is thick with smoke, the scent of charred wood stinging my nose. It’s been a long shift already, and this? This is just the damn cherry on top.

I follow Harris around the back of the house to where he’s found the footprints and I curse when I see that they run off into the woods. He’s right. The prints are way too big to be the woman, and I sigh.

Guess I’ll have to apologize.

My bear stretches inside of me, yawning lazily, and I roll my eyes at him.

Tucker and Crew, our police here in Twisted Oak, come around the house and stop by my side, their eyes scanning the tree line and the footsteps.

“What do you think?” Harris asks, and I take a deep breath.

“They head towards Red Fog land, so I wouldn’t be surprised if it was them. Or maybe the woman has enemies. She said she just moved here. She could be running from something.”

“We can talk to her,” Tucker says, and my bear and I stiffen at the thought.

For some reason, we want to handle the curvy little redhead.

“I can talk to her,” I grumble, and Harris clears his throat.

“Uh, it might be better for them to, boss. You don’t seem to have built much of a rapport with her,” he says carefully, and I growl at him.

“I can handle it,” I assure him.

I turn and stomp off back to the front of the house, where the girl is still standing, staring in horror at her burnt house.

Shit, I think, and my bear snorts.

She looks devastated. How could you think that she would burn the place down?

Shut up, I snap at him, and he sighs.

I march over to her, my boots crunching against the gravel.

“Are you okay?”

“Dandy,” she grits out at me, and I wince at my dumb question.

“I mean, are you hurt?”

“No.”

I nod and turn to head back to check on my guys, and that’s when her scent hits me like a wrecking ball—vanilla and something warmer, something hers . It knocks the air from my lungs, my bearsnarling inside mein immediate recognition.

MATE.

The realization slams into me with the force of a sledgehammer.

Fuck.

I just manhandled myfated mate and accused her of being an idiot, and now she’s looking at me like she wishes I’d burst into flames right along with her house.

This is not how I was supposed to meet her.

My bear roars in my head, pissed as hell.

Fix this. Fix this now.

How? I snap at him . I accused her of being an arsonist!

She’s not, though.

She’s atarget, we both think at the same time, and I growl.

No one is going to hurt my mate.

My stomach knots, my bear on high alert. If someone torched her house, then she’s in danger.

“Do you have anywhere to go?” I ask, my voice quieter now.

She swallows hard, lifting her chin. “I’ll figure something out.”

I don’t like that answer. Not one damn bit.

I can tell what she’s thinking. It’s written all over her face. She doesn’t want my help. She doesn’t want anything from me.

I can’t have that. I need her, and I need her to need me, too.

She does need me. We have to protect her from whoever tried to hurt her.

She turns and walks toward her car, and my feet move before my brain can catch up.

Don’t let her leave. She’s ours. Protect her.

I stop beside her just as she reaches for her car door.

“Hey, I’m serious. You okay?” I ask gruffly.

She shoots me a sharp look. “Why do you care?”

I grit my teeth. “Look… I was out of line earlier.”

She scoffs. “Which part? When you accused me of being an idiot or an arsonist?”

I deserve that.

I scrub a hand down my face, exhaling. “I just… I want to help.”

Her lips press into a tight line. “You’ve done enough.”

Dammit.

I glance toward the wreckage of her house. “There’s a motel in town. It’s not great, but--”

She sighs. “It’ll do.”

The idea of her staying there makes my bear snarl.

“Come stay with me.”

She blinks, taken aback. “What?”

I square my shoulders. “You don’t have anywhere else to go, and that motel’s a dump. Stay at my place until you figure something out.”

She shakes her head immediately. “No, thanks.”

I expected that. She doesn’t trust me, and after how I acted, I don’t blame her.

Still, I can’t let her fend for herself.

She climbs into her car, and before she can pull away, Imake a decision and I run over to my Jeep and climb in.

Then, I follow her to the motel.

I radio along the way to tell Harris and the other guys to make sure the fire is out and let me know if they find anything else in or around the house that could tell us who started the fire.

She parks and glares at me through the windshield before stepping out. “What are you doing?”

I ignore her question and walk straight inside. The night clerk barely glances at me as I pull out my wallet and slap down my credit card.

“A week,” I say.

The clerk slides over the key, and I hand it to her.

Her mouth opens, then closes. “You?—”

“Don’t argue,” I cut in. “Just take it.”

She stares at me for a long moment before snatching the key from my hand. “I don’t need your help.”

But she does. And we both know it.

I nod toward the door. “Get some rest.”

I turn to leave, but then?—

A loud shriek echoes from the hallway.

Emersonbursts out of her room, rushing toward her car.

I react instantly, stepping into her path. “What’s wrong?”

She looks up at me, cheeks flushed, eyeswide with horror.

“There are rats in there,” she hisses.

I bite back a smirk. “Not surprised. The place should’ve been condemned years ago.”

She shudders. “I can’t stay there.”

I cross my arms. “So, stay with me.”

She glares at me. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

She lets out a long breath, staring at the keys in her hand before finally giving in.

“Fine.”

Relief floods me. My bear settles, pleased.

She nods me, grumbling under her breath as she heads to climb into her car, and I can’t help but smile.

She’s stubborn. I like that.

She’s also mine, and whether she realizes it yet or not…

I’m never letting her go.