Page 38 of Where There’s Smoke (Fire House Omegas #2)

Elliot

I t had been a late call, and we were all exhausted and sweaty. Thankfully, the fire we’d been called to was a small residential fire that had been easily put out, and, most importantly, no one was hurt.

“I swear I must be getting out of shape. Those stairs felt harder than they used to,” Samson said, running a hand over his hair.

I shrugged. “We could all do with some more exercise. We’ve been so busy running around, trying to sort out the rescue, we’re probably falling behind.”

“Speak for yourself,” he said with a laugh. “I’ve been doing so much cardio, I feel like my heart’s never been healthier.”

That was because he’d been doing so many runs with the rescue dogs. What he hadn’t been doing was keeping up with his weight training. Then again, he was built like a freaking brick house, so a few weeks off probably wouldn’t do him any harm.

“Give it a few weeks, and the new rescue will be up and running. Hopefully, the new location will be too—once the seller finally agrees to take my offer. Then we can focus on wooing Melody and being happy,” Fitz said with a smirk.

I hated that we hadn’t fully discussed what we were to each other yet.

We were sleeping together, we’d shared a heat, and we were acting like we were in a committed relationship.

But when I’d told her brother we were dating, Melody had clammed up.

However, that might have been the shock more than anything.

“Maybe once she’s not living at the firehouse, dating will be a bit easier,” I said, my gut churning at the thought.

Fitz rounded on me. “What are you talking about? It’s easy to go on dates when we live in the same place. Also—are you really going to let her live at the new shelter?”

“No, but surely she needs to find a place to live that isn’t the firehouse?” I asked.

Both my pack mates snorted, rolling their eyes at me.

“I always assumed she’d just end up living at our house,” Fitz said.

“I honestly assumed the same. I just think she needs a bit more time to get used to the idea,” Sam agreed.

I liked the idea of her being at our house. Having her scent on my possessions was a downright heady experience. I wanted her to leave her mark everywhere. But I’d been feeling this strange nervousness, and I didn’t know where the others were at with her moving in because we hadn’t discussed it.

“You really want her scent everywhere?” I asked.

Sam nodded. “Hell yes, I do. Mine .”

I shook my head with a laugh. “Well, I guess that answers that. We’re just going to have to convince her.”

“What do you think we’ve been doing for the last four weeks?” Fitz pointed out. “For an intelligent alpha, you really are a dummy.”

Shouting pulled me out of sleep. It had been the middle of the night when we finally got back to the station, so we’d all had a quick shower and crashed.

I’d poked my head into my old room, where Melody was fast asleep, Dotty in bed next to her.

Part of me had wanted to join her, but she looked so peaceful, and I was still a bit amped up from the fire.

So, I’d returned to the bunk room and quickly passed out.

Clearly, I’d been exhausted, because I slept well into the morning—until the sound of Melody shouting woke me.

I couldn’t make out what she was saying, but the moment it registered that she was yelling, I bolted upright, looking around at my pack mates, who were also waking up.

Silent and in sync, we looked at each other, communicating without a word before we all launched out of bed at an impressive speed—faster than we’d ever moved for a fire alarm—and ran down to the lobby, where Melody was having a very vocal disagreement with a beta.

My immediate impression of the man was slimy .

His hair was slicked back and probably a few shades darker than its natural color, and he wore a suit he clearly thought was expensive but was actually rather cheap.

Thanks to Fitz’s family, I could easily tell a cheap suit from an expensive one. Oddly enough, it was a handy skill.

The beta was glaring at Melody, who stood with her arms crossed, glaring right back.

“Hello,” I said, keeping my voice level, even though I wanted to shout at the man for upsetting my omega.

Melody glanced over at me, and I didn’t miss the way her entire body sagged in relief, her eyes lighting up. That little gesture—being needed by her—made me feel overwhelmingly proud. No career achievement could match that feeling.

“Elliot, this is my other brother, Reed ,” Melody said, glowering at the beta as her voice turned sour.

“You seem a lot less pleased to see this one than you did Chord,” I noted.

“And who are you?” the beta asked with a pissy tone. It’d been two seconds, and I already hated this guy.

“I’m Captain Wilder,” I said, standing up to my full height, which was a good deal taller than him. His eyes widened slightly as he took me in, a hint of unease in his eyes.

“Well, I’m sorry for disturbing you. I’m just here to get my sister.” He said that like it was a done deal, as if Melody had no choice in the matter.

“Excuse me?” Sam growled behind me.

“We’re very thankful you’ve been looking after Melody, but she needs to come home,” Reed said, his tone rushed, not meeting my eyes.

“I’ve already told you—I’m not going back home,” Melody insisted, leaning closer toward my pack.

“Well, the lady has spoken. Goodbye,” I said simply.

Reed glared at me before rolling his eyes. “Look, man, this has nothing to do with you. It’s a family matter.”

I wanted to smile—or wrap my hand around his throat for thinking he could take my omega from me.

The anger at his attitude was almost overwhelming.

I usually kept a level head, but there was something about this guy’s smarmy tone that made me want to snap.

And the fact that it was her brother made it that much worse.

Family isn’t supposed to treat you like that.

“Melody, do you want to go with your brother today?” I asked, keeping my voice as even as I could.

She shot me a withering, desperate look. “No. I want to stay here.”

“Well, you can’t force her to leave,” I said, directing my words at Reed.

His face turned splotchy red. I had no doubt that if he and Melody were alone, he’d be forcibly dragging her out of the firehouse. But facing three alphas, he was woefully outnumbered and outmatched. Hell, even the weakest alpha could put Reed on his ass in a millisecond.

“You can’t get involved in this. It’s family business,” he said, his voice strained. “She never even bothered to tell us she was an omega.”

“What relevance is that to you?” Melody asked, exasperated. “This is my life, Reed.”

My eyes narrowed. The only reason that would matter to them wasn’t a good one.

Reed looked stumped for a second, then stammered, “If we’d known, we would’ve made sure you had everything you needed.”

“I do have everything I need,” Melody replied pointedly. “The guys have taken amazing care of me.”

“They’re not your family. Their motives may not be good,” Reed argued.

Melody snorted—a sharp, indignant sound. “Well, I doubt our parents’ motives are exactly noble. I didn’t forget about all the dates I was forced to go on, all the speeches. Have you?”

“Look, you’re an omega . You should be home with your family. Legally , we’re supposed to be protecting you,” he insisted.

“Oh, get stuffed, Reed. I’m well taken care of here. I haven’t needed my family in years, and don’t try to use any fancy lawyer talk on me,” Melody growled.

“Now, listen here. You’re going to listen to me, or I?—”

Grabbing Reed by the collars of his pathetic suit, I backed him toward the exit. He went with the expected, “Get your hands off me,” but I didn’t give a single solitary fuck. Pulling the door open with one hand, I shoved him through with the other.

“You don’t threaten our omega. If I see you near her again, I’m going to take legal action of my own and get a restraining order. Good day.”

I slammed the door shut without another word and turned back to the room. Everyone looked at me in shock, but it didn’t take long for Melody to run up to me and launch herself into my arms.

“Thank you, Elliot.” She looked up at me, her doe eyes large and beautiful. “Thank you so much.”

After a moment, Melody pulled back, hurrying to her phone on the kitchen counter and flicking open her screen like she was on a mission. Tension radiated through her that I could sense from here, and her jaw was set as her obvious anger built up.

“Firecracker, what are you doing?” Fitz asked as she pulled out her phone and started furiously dialing.

“I’m calling my brother,” she said, raising the phone to her ear.

“The brother you just kicked out?”

Melody huffed. “No, the one who probably spilled the beans to our parents about me being an omega and caused this whole problem.” She tapped her foot impatiently as the phone rang.

Thankfully, she put it on speaker, so when Chord’s voice rang out with a “Hello?” we all heard him.

“What the hell did you tell our parents?” Melody snapped.

“Oh, shit. Did they call you? I was talking to Reed the other day, and I accidentally let it slip that you’re an omega. It was a complete accident. I was talking about a case I was doing with an omega and totally spaced. I told him to keep his trap shut—but I guess he didn’t.”

“Jesus, Chord. I don’t know if he listened, but I do know he just turned up at the fire station, insisting I go home,” Melody said.

“Wait—really? Why the hell would he do that?” Chord asked.

“I have no idea, but he was spewing nonsense about how omegas are meant to be protected by their families. Like I’d trust our parents to take care of me,” she growled.

“I’m so sorry, Melody. Do you want me to come back out there—keep an eye on things if Reed’s still around?” he offered.

Melody shook her head, glancing at the three of us. “No. I think I’m pretty well protected by my pack.”

My chest tightened and expanded all at once, like it was going to explode. Melody had just referred to us as her pack . No words had ever sounded so fabulously fucking amazing.

I wanted to hear her say it again. And again.

“We’ll take care of her,” I said, raising my voice so Chord could hear through the speaker.

Chord chuckled. “I have no doubt. You’ll do a better job protecting her than I ever could. But if you need anything—or just want to chat about how shitty our family is—call me. I’ll be there in a minute.”

“Thanks. But don’t you have a fiancée to look after?” Melody smiled. “How’s Lilia doing?”

“Cranky, but happy. The morning sickness is still pretty bad, but she’s finding some foods that help.”

“Good. Make sure you’re taking care of her. I want to snuggle my future niece or nephew soon,” Melody said.

“I’m really sorry this happened, Melly. Hopefully, it was just a shock to the family, and they’ll stop bothering you soon.”

Watching Melody, I saw her shoulders slump, all of her visibly deflating. “I assume it’s wishful thinking to hope our parents don’t know yet?”

Chord snorted. “Come on. You and I both know—if Reed knows something, they know something.”

“The perks of being the golden child.” Melody laughed, but there was little humor in it, and I could tell she was stressed.

“Your brother some big-shot lawyer or something? I feel like I’ve seen him before.” Melody looked up at me as the line hung with a brief note of silence.

In tandem, the siblings replied, “No.”

Melody shook her head, smiling at me when I raised my brows.

“He’s a big deal back home as a law student .

I don’t know why you would have seen him around here.

He doesn’t travel this way often, if ever, but he has assisted with some high-profile cases in the past year.

Maybe you saw him with the lawyers of his firm? ”

“Yeah, he hasn’t taken the bar yet,” Chord added. “But hey, I need to get going. Are you sure you’re all right?”

I stopped listening intently as Melody and her brother said goodbye, my mind churning over where I’d see that slimy asshole before.

I knew I had. Had he been involved with one of the arson cases that crossed state lines?

No, it couldn’t be that. We were clear on the other side of the country, and none had taken place on the East Coast. Had I seen him on a news report in the background while the real lawyers did their jobs?

“Bye, Chord.” Melody stuffed her phone into her pocket, sighing. “I need a fucking break. That was too much, and I’m going to lie down.”

“We’ll come with you.” Fitz hurried to say. “We’ve always got your back.”

As Melody padded back to her room, smiling through the stress with Sam and Fitz hot on her heels, it finally hit me where I had seen Reed Smoke before.

On the CCTV footage from behind the animal shelter.

He was the one who’d set the fire.