Page 2 of Match (Damselverse #1)
Chapter two
Dane
T he bell blares to life in the firehouse, and I jump upright in bed, slapping my hand against my forehead as I abruptly return to the world of the living.
I’m so groggy—what the hell is happening? I’m normally a light sleeper and ready to jump out of bed as soon as the bell goes off.
As an emergency responder, that’s vital. But I had been trapped in a lucid dream.
There was a woman who needed my help—no surprises there. I’m a firefighter, after all.
She was honey blonde with a light sprinkling of freckles on her cute button nose, and big eyes of bright periwinkle blue.
A real fairy tale princess.
Shit. If only I could return to the dream, but I’m on shift, and the bell is ringing up a storm.
“Get your ass into gear, Hope. Duty calls,” Captain Rogers calls, interrupting my daydream.
Someone’s life is in danger, and I’m here dreaming about some imaginary girl like a horny teenager.
At least I didn’t leave a mess in the sheets, I think as I join the rest of my team. We grab our gear, then jump into a truck.
Soon the siren blasts as we race out of the firehouse and down the high street, and my gut clenches when I see where we are heading.
No.
Penn’s bookstore is on this street, and I pray to a higher power.
Please, anything but Penn’s bookstore. He’s the least deserving of any Alpha I know. He’s one of the good ones.
As the truck gets closer, my heart gives in, and then I shut my eyes.
It is Penn’s bookstore. The old building has gone up in flames, and poor Penn is going to be crushed.
He inherited this place from his late grandfather, and it’s his whole world. His livelihood.
At least he has good insurance. No doubt he will have sensed my unease through the bond.
I was never good at keeping my feelings from him. Penn would love the metaphor, but I’m an open book where my pack brothers are concerned.
My heart keeps cracking in two when I think about all his books going up in flames.
Those books were his life, and despite the number of times I may tease him and call him a nerd , I care for the guy deeply.
As any bonded Alpha would for his brother.
We arrive at the scene as several other trucks from other firehouses arrive, too, and a crowd gathers on the street to watch as we get to work.
We are Firehouse 13, and the irony is not lost on me that we have the unluckiest number.
As I reach around the truck to unravel the hose and attach it to a hydrant on the sidewalk, I bark at a group of onlookers.
“Keep clear!”
Several older ladies at the front of the throng startle at my tone, and I try to swallow back another growl, speaking in a gentler tone. “Please. The quicker we can put this fire out, then the quicker we can clear away the harmful smoke.”
The ladies smile and nod at me next, and I hear several of them saying, “Bless you, good sir.”
Despite my trepidation, a smile curves my lips, and I must remember that these people depend on me.
They are just concerned citizens. They live and work on this street, too.
I return my attention to the task at hand. Thank God the building is empty at this hour.
Penn always locks up at six p.m. on the dot. He’s always so punctual and on time with that sort of thing.
Still, something in my gut is telling me to go down into the basement. It’s probably just paranoia, but surely no one is down there.
Hopefully.
No. I have to check. Call it Alpha instinct, but I swear a siren is calling to me down there from the sea of my clouded mind.
I must still be dreaming as I mutter to Captain Rogers, “I’m going in, Captain.”
He looks at me incredulously. “What? But the building is empty. It’s Penn’s, right? Your pack brother will be home right now.”
Oh, he will be. With acup of steaming hot chocolate with tiny pink marshmallows as he settles down in his chair by the fireplace with a good book.
Well, no…he will most likely be throwing on his coat. No doubt he has found out what’s happened.
“A gut instinct,” I tell my captain.
He's an Alpha, too, so he gets it. He knows how it is. A nagging, painful sensation that demands your attention, and this one is telling me to go down into the basement.
That siren is calling me…
Handing him the hose, I race toward the front door, kicking it down with my boot. Penn will understand, but it’s not as if the door isn’t already destroyed.
The flames have spread pretty far.
There’s one vital thing about being an Alpha where fire is concerned. I’m strong, and I have the necessary stamina and strength to run into a burning inferno without hesitation.
It’s that reckless Alpha strength that leads me right into the very heart of hell as I find the stairs to the basement and kick its door off its hinges.
When I sense Penn’s anxiety through the bond, I storm down the steps, bypassing the flames as I try to see through the mask.
I manage to block out the worst of the images for his benefit as I search the room, trying to find the source of my unease.
The siren is here, I’m sure.
A beam collapses from the ceiling, but I duck out of the way on time, thankful for my oxygen mask. The smoke is bad down here.
When I find a slumped figure on an old cot, my heart spikes.
Fuck.
There was someone down here, and I thank whatever deity gave me the psychic ability to come down here as I rush to the person.
It's a woman, and she’s flat-out unconscious. When I check her pulse, I find a small heartbeat, and breathe a sigh of relief.
She’s alive.
She’s holding onto a charred matchstick, and I heave another breath.
Well, it looks as if we found the cause of the fire.
Didn’t anyone ever warn her that playing with matches was dangerous? It doesn’t matter now. She's just lucky she's not burned to a crisp.
Someone must love her up above.
Judging by the looks of things, she’s been camping down here, and how was Penn not aware?
Scooping her up in my arms, I rush back up the stairs before they’re completely engulfed by flames, and I’m shocked by how light she is.
Like a bag of feathers.
She truly is small, and there’s only one explanation.
The girl is an Omega, and I, an Alpha, just rescued her from a burning building.
It's almost like something straight out of a fairy tale, but we’re not out of the woods yet.
The girl is still in critical condition. She inhaled a lot of smoke. If I had waited a moment longer, she may have died.
I rush her to a waiting ambulance, and the medics get her fixed up with an oxygen mask as they check her vitals.
When they lift her eyelid, her pupil dilutes beneath the torch, and all the weight lifts from my shoulders.
She is going to be okay.
I’ve rescued a lot of people from burning buildings, and many of them were Omegas, too.
But I have never felt such a protective urge as I do for her.
No wonder I felt as if a siren was calling to me. There’s no mistaking her beautiful face now that she’s out of the dark, smoky building.
It’s the same girl from my dream.
Small button nose covered in freckles, rose petal lips, and curly blonde hair. Her strong scent of rose permeates the smoke and the soot that covers her body, and then a gruff voice demands my attention inside me.
Mine.
Shit. My Alpha.
He’s good for giving me the bravado and stamina I need for my job, but right now, he’s a distraction.
He repeats, Mine, mine, mine.
“Dane!”
I whirl around, yanking off my oxygen mask when I find that familiar Alpha.
His gray eyes shine fiercely behind his glasses, and I have no idea what to tell him. He has lost everything today. Yet I gained something, and I feel so selfish.
If she hadn’t caused his bookstore to go up in flames, then we never would have met.
Because that helpless Omega happens to be my scent match.