Page 35 of Where There’s Smoke (Fire House Omegas #2)

Melody

W e had stopped on the way back from the shelter to get a sweet treat, much to my delight. The ice cream shop had so many flavors, I had agonized over what to pick before settling on a cookie dough brownie flavor that looked heavenly.

I was very happy to discover that it tasted as good as it looked.

“You know, I should have gotten three ice cream cones,” Fitz mused as we returned to the station.

“The two cones weren’t enough?” I asked. He had opted to order two cones with two scoops each.

“I’m a growing boy!” Fitz said indignantly, chuckling as he licked along the side of each one.

“Sure.” Samson snorted.

Spending time with the guys was starting to feel so natural and easy, and I was struggling to imagine going back to a life without them. They had insisted I was part of their pack now, but what that meant for our relationship, I wasn’t sure.

My feelings for them were growing by the day, and that was scary.

We entered the lobby to the firehouse, all of us pausing as we noticed the stranger standing there. I hardly got a glimpse of him before the guys were in front of me, blocking my view. Their protectiveness was cute and all, but it was a little annoying at times.

“Who are you?” Elliot asked, his voice stiff.

I craned my neck so I could look around Samson’s bulky frame, doing my best to peer at the stranger who’d gotten the boys so riled up. I nearly fell over as I was attempting to get a good look before the man’s voice broke through the chaos.

“I’m—” the man started to say.

“Chord?!” I exclaimed, recognition washing over me as I stepped around Samson and got some space from the protective wall they’d created. “What on earth are you doing here?”

“You know him?” Fitz asked. There was no mistaking the tone of his voice: sharp, on edge, and suspicious.

“Yeah.” I nodded, still shocked by what I was looking at. It’d been years since I’d seen Chord or Reed, and either of them showing up was not on my bingo card this morning. “This is Chord. My brother.”

I hadn't seen him in so long, years at this point, but it was undeniable that he was my brother.

The sandy blond hair and bright blue eyes were the same as they had always been when he had been a gangly teenager.

Only, now, he was slightly taller and a bit more filled out.

He was still a beta, of course, so compared to Pack Wilder, he was much smaller and less imposing.

Still, my stomach tightened and did flip-flops simultaneously. We weren’t close, but it wasn’t like I hated the guy.

“Melody! Are you okay?” he asked, taking a step toward me but thinking better of it when he looked at the guys.

Out of my two brothers, Chord was easily my favorite. He had always been kind to me and didn't take any of our parents’ behavior seriously. When I had expressed an interest in wanting to help animals, he hadn't belittled the idea like the others. In fact, he had said it was cool.

Hearing that from my brother had meant everything to me at the time.

“What are you doing here?” I asked, lurching forward and embracing him.

He lived on the East Coast, the opposite end of the country, so it was a shock seeing him.

The faint smell of coconut hit my nose, and I was surprised to realize that my brother had a scent.

It was definitely beta, but it wasn’t unpleasant.

“You haven't been answering your phone. Mom and Dad are freaking out,” he explained, taking a step back and looking at me. A frown crossed his face, and for a moment, he looked deep in thought, like he was trying to comprehend something. “You… Melody, are you an omega ?”

The way he asked it made it sound like he didn't believe it, even though he was the one asking the question. Not that I could blame him for being at a loss.

“Yeah, there's been a few developments around here recently,” I admitted, my eyes dropping to the floor as I considered how much of an understatement that was. “Please don't tell our parents. I don’t need the third degree from them.”

He raised his hands in surrender as he shook his head. “I wouldn't dream of it. I just wanted to be able to tell them that I'd seen you, and you're alive and well. Hopefully, they’ll stop pestering us both for a while.”

“They really convinced you to travel all the way out here just so they could keep an eye on me?” I shook my head back at him, embarrassment and guilt leaking into my mind. They’d always asked way too much of us. They were such helicopters. Our parents couldn’t let anything go.

Chord nodded, crossing his arms over his chest. “You know what they're like.”

“I do. That's why I moved across the country to get away from them. Ugh,” I sighed. The tension had backed off some, the shock of Chord’s arrival lessening.

But I could still feel the guys on edge behind me.

Cue breaking more of the tension . “Have they convinced you to go to law school or med school yet? Or, better yet, both?”

Chord snorted, rolling his eyes. “Despite their best efforts, no. Though, you can imagine how, once they realized how much money I was making in software development, their tone quickly changed.”

“Ahh, our parents. Materialistic until the end.”

“They still talk about how they want you to come home constantly .” Chord laughed at my grimace.

“Yeah, it doesn't matter how many times I explain to them that they behave like overbearing assholes with us, it just doesn't seem to make it through the years of self-imposed victimhood mentality they’re sporting. We owe them for even having us. Reed is still in law school, though, so he is the favorite, of course.”

“I wouldn't expect anything less.” I laughed, knowing that Reed probably loved it that way. He’d always been a suck-up with our folks.

“I have got some news for you, though… Lilia is pregnant.” His smile was dazzlingly wide as he admitted that.

“Chord! My my god, congratulations!” I squealed, pulling him into a bear hug. My brother had been with his fiancée for over a year, and the couple seemed a perfect match.

“We're going to have to come out and visit before the baby arrives,” he said.

“You better! Or I'll have to come visit you.”

Chord embraced me again. “I’m really happy to see you, Melly. I nearly had a heart attack when I went to your rescue and saw it had burned down. I asked around, and that's how I found out you were staying here.”

“Are you in town long?” I asked, ignoring the fact that Elliot’s stare was burning a hole in the back of my head. I knew they wanted their introductions, but how the hell was I supposed to explain this to Chord?

“I fly back to New York tomorrow, so I'm only in town for tonight.”

“Do you want to get some dinner? You're paying.” I smirked at my brother, who simply laughed and nodded. He was gainfully employed, after all, whereas I ran a small animal rescue, which was currently being rebuilt.

“Name the place, I’ll meet you there. Though, you do need to explain to me why you're staying at a firehouse…and who these three alphas are, who look like they want to murder me right now…”

A bubble of laughter escaped my chest, heat rising in my cheeks. “These are three of the firefighters who rescued me,” I explained.

“We’re dating,” Elliot said, crossing his arms, his expression stern.

For a moment, I simply gaped at him. Of all the guys I thought would declare that we were “sort of” dating, my last guess would have been Elliot.

But jealousy and unease billowed off him as he glared at my brother.

If I didn’t know better, I’d think Elliot was going to rush up to the guy and snap at him like a wild dog.

“You are?” Chord asked, raising his eyebrows at me before glancing over the, no doubt, impressive array of alphas crowding in behind me.

“All right, all right. Everyone to their corners.” I smacked my brother’s arm, gesturing toward the door as I pulled Chord along. “Let’s go chat over pizza.”

“No wonder you’ve had no time to deal with our parents’ crap!

” Chord exclaimed as he gobbled down his fourth slice of pizza.

We were sitting in a small Italian restaurant not far from the firehouse, and I had just finished telling him everything that happened, from the rescue burning down to finding out that I was an omega.

“I almost envy you because I could use a distraction like that.” There was the hint of innuendo in his voice, but I could see the sympathy radiating from his stare. Chord clearly knew that finding out I was an omega had been anything but a cakewalk.

“It’s been a lot,” I admitted, nibbling on a slice. “But I’ve started to adapt. Pack Wilder has been amazing.”

“And you’re dating them?”

“Kind of. We haven’t really labeled it yet, but…” I dropped my stare to the table, eyeing the supreme pizza I’d ordered. “Would that be a problem?”

Chuckling, Chord reached across the table and took my hand. I looked up at him, and the soft honesty of his smile eased my nerves a bit.

“Not with me. Mom and Dad might have something to say about it. But you know, screw them. They’ve been dicks to us for wanting our own lives, and I’d worry that if they knew everything going on, they’d find a way to use it to their advantage.”

I thought of how Fitz came from a wealthy family, and Chord was right.

If they knew about Fitz’s money, they’d be on the first plane out, seeing if they could milk him for all he was worth.

I couldn’t let that happen. I wasn’t sure just how rich his family was, but the pack’s house certainly suggested he’d been raised with significant money.

“You’re not wrong,” I agreed, nodding. “So, let’s keep that detail between us, shall we? I care about the guys. I really do. And I think they care about me. I don’t want our parents to ruin that.”

“I’m totally on board.”

Chord grinned, and we kept chatting over old memories and silly stuff from our lives, catching up.

It felt so great to talk to Chord again, and we found a familiar connection, one I was glad hadn’t diminished because of the distance.

As lunch wrapped up, we hugged and said our goodbyes.

Chord had business in town, and he needed to prepare for a dinner with clients.

My little brother was off, living his dream, and I was proud of him.

“I wish you could stay longer.” I squeezed tight before letting go and settling down on my feet again.

“Me too. It’s been nice. Alas, duty calls. But I’m glad you’re doing well. I’m really happy that you have people in your life who care for you, something that’s pretty damn clear to me based on the reaction I got at the firehouse.”

We both laughed. “Yeah, they’re something, all right.”

“Let’s not be strangers. I’ll be better at texting, and you can always message me to chat.”

I smiled, genuinely touched. “I like that idea. Thank you, Chord.”

“Eh.” He waved me off before yanking me under his arm and digging his knuckles into my scalp like when we were kids. “I love my sister, and I’m here to look out for her. Even if that means taking the bullet with our parents.”

Groaning, I playfully shoved him off me, and then we hugged again. “Thank you, again. I’ll definitely text you.”

“You better.” Chord kissed the top of my head and then made for the door. “Talk soon, Melly. If you need anything, a place to stay or cash, just call me.”

“Bye!” I called out, waving. I was ready to go back to the firehouse and chat with the pack about all this, but it’d been nice to have one-on-one time with my brother. If only both of them were so cool.