Page 13 of Where There’s Smoke (Fire House Omegas #2)

Elliot

“ D id hell freeze over?” I asked in disbelief as I pulled my jacket on. “When was the last time you two were awake and ready before me?”

We had only gone home briefly to grab some things and sleep for a few hours.

We wanted to keep an eye on Melody, but we also didn’t want to make our concern obvious.

So, despite their complaining, we had gone home.

Usually on the mornings when we had to get to work, I was the first up and ready to go, but as I got my morning coffee, both of my pack mates were already dressed and waiting at the kitchen table, shit-eating grins on their faces.

“We're excited to get to work,” Fitz said, throwing me a boyish grin.

Shaking my head, I filled my coffee cup, pouring in a liberal amount of vanilla syrup. “You're just excited to see her again.”

He didn't even try to hide it. “Of course I'm excited to go see our girls.”

I raised an eyebrow at him. “Girls, as in plural? Have you got someone else stashed at the firehouse that I don't know about?”

Samson shook his head, a smirk tugging at the corner of his mouth. “He’s talking about Melody and Dotty.”

“The dog?” I asked in disbelief.

“Yeah!” Fitz nodded enthusiastically. “Every firehouse needs a mascot, like I said before, and a Dalmatian is the perfect one for Station Seventeen. I don't think we'd get rid of her if we tried. The guys all love that little puppy.”

“That little puppy is hardly walking,” I countered.

Fitz shrugged. “That doesn't mean we aren't obsessed with her. Plus, she took her first steps in the firehouse, Elliot. That means it's meant to be!”

When they’d told me that they wanted to cancel our date with the omega teacher, I knew they were seriously in over their heads.

Part of me thought I needed to bring them back to reality, but another part wanted them to enjoy this time.

We worked hard. If they were having a good time, then who was I to stop it?

I rolled my eyes. “Let’s go. I should just be happy that you two aren't going to be late for once.”

“That's the spirit!”

Sometimes, I appreciated Fitz’s enthusiasm, but that was most definitely after I’d had my coffee.

It was still early when I got to the firehouse with my pack mates.

They both immediately went into the kitchen to start making breakfast. Melody was probably still asleep, and they were adamant that they couldn't disturb her if she was.

She was hardly sleeping, thanks to waking up every few hours to feed the dog.

While I was cranky because of her presence, even I had to admit that her dedication was impressive.

But we had things we needed to do.

So, against my better judgment, and even though I knew Sam and Fitz would probably be pissy about it, I decided to go check on her. We needed to get moving, and tiptoeing around our “guest” wasn’t going to cut it.

I tried to be quiet, despite all that. I wasn’t interested in scaring the hell out of her first thing in the morning.

Though, I had to hope that she’d gotten better at handling the random jump scare, considering how often the alarm went off.

When I got to the door, I eased it open, peeking my head inside.

The scene in front of me could only be described as chaos. Fluffy, cozy, comfortable chaos.

Melody’s bed—previously my bed—was covered in a variety of fabrics and pillows.

I was a pretty simple man, happy with a pillow and a sheet when I was going to bed in my usual spot.

So, where the hell had all this fluffy shit come from?

It was a mystery to me, except for the fact that one of the shirts in the pile looked familiar.

Had she…?

Curled up in a bowl of soft supplies, in the middle of the mountain of blankets, was Melody.

Lying with her knees almost to her chin, she was clutching what looked like a few T-shirts to her chest, her eyes scrunched closed as she slept. Though I was tempted to wake her up and ask her what the hell had happened, I wanted to leave her to her rest. She looked so peaceful in her nest.

Wait. Oh, shit.

She was nesting .

I turned to leave, even though, deep down, I wanted to stay, to watch her sleep peacefully. But that was ridiculous, and I wasn’t looking to start a potentially extremely awkward conversation with her.

Nesting meant there was a good chance she was going into heat. If she was still denying she was an omega, we were in for a problem. I gripped the handle to leave, turning it slowly so it didn’t creak when she stirred, her eyes opening as she looked at me blearily.

“Melody?” I asked cautiously.

“Elliot?” She mirrored my curious tone.

Well, I supposed it was too late to avoid the conversation now. Better to rip off the Band-Aid.

“What happened here?” I asked, my voice surprisingly gentle. Even though she’d raided half the firehouse to get these materials, I couldn't help this soft feeling in my chest. Which annoyed me to no end.

She sat up, chewing on her lip, and glanced over at the small playpen next to the bed, where the puppy was still happily snoozing.

“It wasn’t comfortable…” she admitted in a small, confused voice as she looked around at the mess of fabric around her.

“So you built a nest?” I asked, trying to soften the words a bit.

Her eyes widened, and she started shaking her head.

“No! It’s not a nest!” Melody insisted, climbing out of bed and crossing her arms. The impact of the movement was somewhat lessened when she reached out and rearranged one of the pillows to make that perfect little rounded shape that she had nested in.

Her eyes filled with tears. “I…I can’t describe it. One minute, I was trying to sleep, and the next, it was like nothing I could do would make this bed comfortable. It needed to be arranged in a very specific way, otherwise the entire world would end. It’s stupid, I know.”

“It’s not,” I said, shaking my head in disagreement. In fact, what she was saying sounded very normal—for an omega.

My eyes drifted over her little nest. I did my best to ignore the small burst of pride at the sight of it. Why was I proud of her for building a nest? It wasn't like she was my omega. And the nest most certainly wasn’t for us.

I quickly closed off that line of thought. The last thing I needed was to imagine what she and I would do in that nest together if we were a pair…or a pack.

I didn’t need a hard-on making the whole situation even more uncomfortable.

“Is…is that my shirt?” I asked. There were a few gray LADFD T-shirts in the nest. While attempting to be subtle, I inhaled deeply, and several familiar scents registered.

The nest smelled like my pack.

And only like my pack.

There was no hint of any other firefighters at Station Seventeen. Why had she picked out our shirts in particular, and how had she even known they were ours?

A small wail left Melody’s lips, and her eyes filled with tears.

As a firefighter, I was used to crying women.

They were practically part of the job. I often met people on the worst day of their lives.

This was different, though. In my day job, I had a level of detachment that helped protect me—all firefighters were that way.

We cared, but we couldn’t care too much.

But Melody… I hated admitting it to myself, but what I was feeling was way more than professional courtesy or empathy.

She was so strong, full of bite, but soft and sweet to the core. The urge to protect her was overpowering, like it had been the first time I saw her. As much as I was annoyed as hell about it, I doubted that feeling was going anywhere anytime soon. Melody had managed to worm her way under my skin.

“I’m so sorry!” she sobbed. “I couldn’t help myself.

I started with the things in this room, but they just weren’t enough, and I tried to stop myself.

Honestly, I did. My skin was on fire, and if I didn't get the things I needed, I felt like I was going to go insane. Hell, I probably did go insane.”

She raked a hand through her hair, the waves tumbling around her face as her eyes darted around the room, taking in her squishy little haven.

I grimaced. That sounded exactly like nesting to me, and I couldn’t deny that a small part of me was happy that she’d chosen our clothing to steal and no one else’s.

Apparently, we’d both been in a bit of denial about our situations, and Melody wasn’t the only one who’d gone off the deep end.

Because here I was, standing in front of this woman, who looked gorgeous all tussled and fresh out of bed, and when I should have been demanding that she pack all that stuff up and get out, all I wanted to do was jump in there with her.

Tell Melody that she could stay forever if she wanted.

Goddamn it. This was such a mess.

Instead of thinking, I simply reacted. Her sobs pained me, and I needed them to stop. Wrapping an arm around her, I tugged her into my chest, letting her sob all over my shirt.

Sweet melon that now coated every surface in the room intensified as I pulled her to me. It was almost stifling, but not in a bad way. In a very, very appealing way.

If not for the fact she was sobbing, I would have doubted my ability to keep myself in line.

I was an alpha, after all, with the biological imperatives that came with it, and having a nesting omega in front of me, covered in the combined scents of my pack, thanks to the nest, was a test of my restraint.

“Hey, it's okay,” I soothed, rubbing one hand up and down her back as she cried into my chest.

“You must think I’m a mess!” The tears rained harder. “Ugh, this feels so stupid. I don’t know what’s wrong with me. It’s like I can’t make it stop.”

“No. I don’t think that.”

I just thought she was an omega.

“It’s normal to have massive mood swings when you’ve been through so much,” I said, resting my chin on top of her head.

I didn't want to admit how good it felt having her in my arms. Maybe I really needed to go on a date. I mean, hell, if I was going mushy over a crying omega, who had invaded my bedroom and didn’t belong to me, it had to mean something.

Then again, I would be lying to myself if I said she was just any omega. She was Melody. Unique in a way that was oddly infuriating and highly amusing.

And there was no way I was getting my T-shirts back.