Page 12 of Match (Damselverse #1)

Chapter twelve

Dane

I can’t stop thinking about Halle the whole time I’m on shift. She’s become my entire focus, and I swear I am going crazy.

I want to make her mine.

Mine , my Alpha repeats.

Here we go.

“What are you smiling about?”

The question comes from Dacre, one of the Alphas on my team and a fellow firefighter, and I sigh.

We’re currently in the firehouse locker room. I’ve just had a shower as I stand in nothing but a towel, spraying myself with deodorant.

It was hard to have the shower; I didn’t want to rid away any remnants of Halle’s sweet rose petal scent.

She’s all I can think about, and my captain has noticed how distracted I’ve become.

I need to be focused after all. I’m a first responder. People depend on me.

“Nothing,” I tell Dacre.

Yet he still pries, and he’s always been this way since we started working together three years ago. While he may not be a member of my pack, I still consider him a brother.

We’re work buddies. Family in other ways.

“It’s that Omega, isn’t it? The one you rescued from Penn’s bookstore?”

I appreciate his choice of words. He could have said, ‘The one who burned down Penn’s bookstore,’ but he focused on the positive. My heroism.

I was just a firefighter doing my job, but I know there is more to it. The only reason I knew to go down into that burning basement was because of my Alpha instincts.

Halle is my scent match. And I wonder if she even realizes yet. Whether she wants me or not, I’m hers.

I will always protect her from here on out. And that goes for protecting her from slimy Beta women, too.

Seriously, who was that woman at the store? And why did Halle hide from her?

Did she hurt Halle at one point?

A growl rumbles in my chest, and Dacre arches his brows. “Whoa, easy. I was just curious.”

I snap out of it, meeting his eyes. “Sorry. It’s not that. It’s just… I’m a little distracted.”

He smirks, and I roll my eyes.

“Sounds like this girl really has you wrapped around her finger.”

He doesn’t know the half of it.

“Look, nothing is happening between us.”

“Yet…” he remarks.

I sigh. “We’re just offering her a place to live until she gets back on her feet.”

Dacre pries further. “And she has no Alpha or pack that you know of? Seems a little odd for an Omega to be living in a basement of a bookstore.”

It is odd, and again, I wonder if there’s more she’s not telling us. She never wanted to tell me who that Beta woman was at the nesting store.

Still, I won’t invade Halle’s privacy. Her past is her past, but if there are any potential rival males that I should know about, then…I would like to know.

If there had been Alphas in her life, then they were obviously cruel to her. Hence why she was on her own.

“Hope, can I see you in my office?”

Dacre and I turn to find the captain in the doorway of the locker room, and shit, looks like I’m in trouble.

Dacre gives me an apologetic look as I finish getting dressed

I make my way to the captain’s office and take a seat in front of his desk. He finishes going over some paperwork before he puts his pen down, regarding me sympathetically.

“What’s wrong, Hope?”

The Alpha is only a few years older than me, but he still gives me that fatherly expression.

I shake my head. “It’s nothing, Captain. I know I’ve been a little distracted these last few days, but I promise I will focus from this point on.”

“You don’t have to. Because I am giving you leave. Something is obviously on your mind. It’s the Omega, right?”

Damn. Am I that obvious?

He waves me off. “It’s all good, Dane. I can find someone from Station Twelve to cover your next shift. You get back home and help that Omega settle in.”

The captain doesn’t go into too much detail, but it’s obvious to outsiders that Halle is my scent match.

All the signs are there. The wistful sighs, the staring off into the distance.

My Alpha is hurting because he is not around his new Omega and scent match.

“All right, Captain. And thank you. I promise there will be no more distractions during the rest of my current shift.”

Before he goes to reply, the bell goes off in the firehouse, and we jump into action.

“Well, it looks like duty calls, Hope.”

I nod and follow him out of the office as we rush to our gear.

There’s no time to lose. Someone’s life is in danger, and we have a duty as firefighters.

***

Shit. These types of calls always get me the most as I hold on to the small, shivering animal in my arms, reassuring him as much as possible in my oxygen mask.

Thankfully, I managed to rescue him from the fire in time. I carry him over to the truck. Unfortunately, he did manage to get some burns.

“It’s okay, fella. I just happen to know one of the best vets in the city. You’ll be as good as new once again.”

As the captain said, duty calls. And it appeared someone’s life did depend on me.

Well, time to get this little guy on the mend again.