Page 30 of Where There’s Smoke (Fire House Omegas #2)

Elliot

I ’d been completely wrong about Melody. How I ever could have thought she was responsible for the fire baffled me. Sure, I’d had my reasons, but everything about her made it clear she would never be responsible for something like that.

It helped that I had looked up the insurance paperwork on the rescue during one of the breaks in her heat.

I had felt wrong doing it, but I needed to know for my own peace of mind, so afterward, I had opened the file and looked through it.

Sure enough, the insurance claim was tiny.

The payout Melody was looking to receive would only rebuild maybe a third of the shelter.

Financially, the fire was a huge loss for her, so it didn’t make sense that she would have set it.

After the heat…well, everything was different. I was committed. She may not have been aware of that yet, but I was. Entirely.

I needed to return to the house for a few hours to get some jobs done, but I had been putting it off because I didn’t want to be away from Melody so soon after her heat.

We hadn’t really discussed the arson accusation, but I knew we needed to.

She had been so mad at me, and we were in a little post-heat bubble that was sure to pop sometime soon.

There was also the fact that I hated being away from her. I’d never been the most codependent of alphas, but there was something about her that called to me. Every time I went back to the house that she had never stepped foot in, the lack of her scent drove me insane.

Our relationship was still somewhat rocky after my accusations, but they had seemingly been forgotten during her heat.

Or, at the very least, the tiny conversation we’d had about everything helped to ease that strain.

I still needed to make it up to her, though.

A heat was one thing. I needed to be there for her outside of it.

From the first moment I’d knotted her, I was a goner. Melody Smoke was mine, whether she knew it or not. Now I just need to convince her of that. Fitz and Samson had no trouble spending time with her, wooing her. I, on the other hand, struggled with that sort of thing.

Okay, struggle is putting it mildly. I do not woo. I grump.

I wasn’t completely inept at romance, but I had spent so many years focused on my pack and my job that I hadn’t put much thought into it.

As a result, I was somewhat rusty. A lot rusty.

Waking up before everyone else, I spent an hour in the firehouse gym, running a few miles and working up a sweat before jumping in the shower.

“What on earth are you doing up so early?” Fitz said as he lumbered out of the bedroom to the kitchen and started a fresh pot of coffee.

“I wanted to get a workout in.”

“You’re a sadist or masochist, I forget which is which,” he said sleepily, shaking his head.

“I think you mean masochist, which no, but it is way too early to have that conversation,” I said, picking up my bowl and taking a large bite. I had managed to work up quite an appetite.

My pack mate ran a hand through his hair, grumbling as he did so. “Do you have any plans today?”

“I was thinking of taking Melody to the house. We’ve got the new washing machine being delivered today, so one of us needs to be there. And you and Samson must finish some of your paperwork because I can’t keep carrying you.”

Fitz groaned. “Are you sure you can’t do the paperwork for us?” he asked pleadingly, giving me those big puppy-dog eyes.

“You are my pack, and I care about you a lot, but I will never do that much paperwork for you.” I laughed, shaking my head. “I hate doing my own paperwork enough, and I’ve got a lot more of it than you.”

“True, but you’re the one who decided you wanted to go to arson academy and then decided to become a captain.”

He had a point. My career choices had led to an increased amount of paperwork.

Usually, I didn’t mind that I could take care of it in one evening, sitting in my office, maybe listening to some music with a bottle of beer.

Only now, I felt like there were much better ways to spend my time—day or night.

Namely, getting to know a certain omega better and making her fall in love with me.

“Good morning,” Melody said cheerily as she strode into the kitchen, Dotty in her arms. The puppy was starting to get very wiggly and active.

Melody couldn’t hold on to her for long, so she plopped the puppy on the floor, who started running between the table legs excitedly, making adorable small grizzling noises.

“She’s getting big,” I said.

Melody nodded. “I swear, sometimes they double in size overnight. I looked at a photo of her as a two-week-old puppy on my phone the other day, and she’s tripled in size since then.”

“That’s good, though. She needs to grow into those ears and big feet,” I said. While the puppy was adorable, they were definitely too big for her frame.

“She’s going to be a big girl,” Melody agreed with a happy nod.

I looked at my pack mate before glancing at Melody, trying to put a pleasant smile on my face, which probably made me appear constipated. I could be charming, but for some reason, when it came to Melody, I devolved into a fumbling idiot.

“Do you have any plans for today?” I asked.

Melody shook her head. “Not in particular. I was thinking of going through some of the items the guys brought back from the shelter, but there’s not much I can do with them right now.

It’s a bit warm today, so I’ll wait until the evening to do a bit of harness training with this sweet girl,” she said, reaching down and scratching Dotty’s head.

I cleared my throat. “In that case, would you like to come with me today? I’m not doing anything overly exciting. Just a few errands, and I need to go to our place and get a new washing machine installed. There’s a fantastic bakery not far from our house that I’m sure you’ll love.”

“I can watch Dotty while you’re gone,” Fitz said hopefully. “Didn’t you say you needed to spend some time away from her to stop her from getting separation anxiety?”

I had no idea why my pack mate was being so helpful, but I was eternally grateful, if also concerned that it was because I looked like I was struggling .

Melody pressed her lips together, deep in thought, before nodding. “Okay, that sounds like a good idea. Are you sure you don’t mind watching her?” She addressed the last part to Fitz.

He snorted, waving off Melody’s concern.

“She doesn’t need to be bottle fed every two hours anymore, and she’s eating normally.

We’ve got plenty for that mischief maker to eat, and I think I can handle her for a few hours, don’t you?

” He picked up the puppy and placed her in his lap.

He didn’t even wince when she started nibbling on his chin.

Rolling my eyes at him, I couldn’t help but see how Melody’s face lit up. She smiled, scratching Dotty behind the ear and then nodded.

“Okay, then. Let’s do it.”

“Oh, wow,” Melody muttered as the house came into view. “This is…”

I looked at what Melody was taking in. I was used to seeing the place by now, so it didn’t seem like a big deal anymore. Still, I remembered how I’d felt after Fitz had helped the pack find a nice-ass house with his money.

The place was three stories, boasting six bedrooms. It was more than big enough for our entire pack, with a massive kitchen, game room, and expansive backyard. The community itself was gated, which helped me feel a bit more secure.

As Melody’s eyes roamed over the pristine exterior, eyeing the pale-cream-colored columns and decorative accents, I snorted, shaking my head.

“Over the top?” I laughed. “Fitz's family insisted we get a place here. They all live locally, and they were adamant that it would help give them some peace of mind.”

“It’s a gated community… You guys choose your pizza place because it’s two dollars cheaper than the one next door.”

I continued to laugh. “I guess old habits die hard. When we formed a pack, we had no idea what sort of family Fitz came from. We knew he was well off, but when he came into his trust fund… Let's just say, it was an eye-opening experience.”

“Are pack finances all shared?” she asked. I had a feeling there was a lot about pack life Melody knew nothing about.

“Yes and no. It’s kind of like marriage. There can be legal paperwork to separate things, but usually, assets are shared in a pack. So, when Fitz came into his trust, the little shit decided he wanted to share it and didn’t set up any legal protections.”

Now, Melody was the one chuckling. “He’s a special one.”

“That’s one way to describe him,” I muttered. Still, as much as I wanted to scold the guy, teach him some basic financial protections, I couldn’t deny that the gesture had been extremely generous of him.

“What’s through there?” Melody asked, jerking her head in the direction of the pack suite.

“Those are the pack rooms.” I said it casually, but my chest tightened at the mention of those rooms.

I had known that one day I would want our omega to live in those rooms, but now, instead of picturing an unknown omega, I was picturing Melody settling in there.

The idea of her living in our house, being in our space? My chest hurt with how badly I wanted that.

How could I convince her of that?

The guys from Station Sixteen had bought a house nearby, so even when we were working, Melody would have a friend she could talk to. Sunny was as sweet and friendly as they came. We already knew that the two of them got along, so it was perfect in a way.

Then again, she’d probably be busy working at the rescue.

And if Fitz had his way, the rescue would be right next door to the fire station.

That rich bastard was really onto something.