Page 50 of Where There’s Smoke (Fire House Omegas #2)

Fitz

“ D o you think Melody might want Mexican food tonight?” I asked as we piled into Elliot’s large SUV.

“We can ask her once we get to the rescue,” Samson said as he closed his door.

I grabbed my phone to check for any text messages from our sweet-as-pie omega when an email caught my eye.

“Fuck, yes!” I cried, fist pumping the air as my adrenaline surged from excitement.

Both my pack mates turned to look at me like I was crazy. You would think after so many years being in a pack together, they would be used to my antics.

“New level on your mobile game?” Elliot asked, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“No, jerk face!” Though that wasn't a bad guess. “I just received the e-mail confirming the purchase of a certain plot of land next to the firehouse with the relevant building permission.”

Elliot’s brows rose. “Shit. I really didn't think it was going to happen. You've been trying to buy that property for weeks. That’s some good news!”

“It's amazing what you can do when you flash a bit of cash and a family name.” I smirked, nudging the air with my elbow, since I couldn’t reach Elliot or Sam from the back seat.

“After weeks of not succeeding on my own, I set the family estate lawyers on it. Since there’s already a structure on the land, my contractor is taking a look.

If it’s good, we will just expand and spruce it up.

If not, we will tear it down and start from scratch. ”

“Honestly, I forget you have shit like family estate lawyers.” Samson chuckled as he shook his head.

“Me too. But when I do remember, they come in handy.”

“So, do you want to be the one to tell Melody that she has a whole new place, and all the work she's putting into her current one is for nothing?” Elliot said pointedly and teasing.

Scoffing, I waved him off. “I've already thought that through. If we build her a state-of-the-art facility next to the firehouse, she can use the old building as a secondary location.”

Melody was in full swing, getting the rescue back up and running. It was only a fraction of what it once had been, but I wasn’t going to diminish her work. If she wanted to use the old space, then I would ensure she had all the funds she needed to do so.

On the way to go pick up Melody, we kept talking about what color she would want to paint the walls of the new place and how we would manage traveling back and forth between the two rescues.

It was silly, and there was still so much to do before we got to that point.

Hell, there was even a discussion of buying a vehicle specifically for moving animals.

Elliot wouldn't admit it, but he loved that idea. I could see the way his eyes lit up when he thought about car shopping as a pack.

“We would have to get it fitted wi—what the fuck?!”

His sentence cut off as we turned down the road that led to the rescue.

Pillars of smoke emanated from the building, and my stomach dropped out of my body as my mouth fell open.

Melody.

“Hurry up,” Samson snarled, sitting forward like he could will the vehicle to move faster as he gripped the dash.

Elliot didn’t need to be told twice, and within seconds, we were pulling up to the building, jumping out of the car and darting toward the burning rescue with our omega inside it.

Samson already had his phone up to his ear. “I’m calling Melody. You call the fire in!” he instructed, his voice hard as nails.

Elliot was already gone, running around the back of the building, no doubt checking the fire exits. Yanking my phone out of my pocket so roughly that I almost dropped it, I dialed the familiar number for the emergency switchboard.

“This is Fitz Holden Wilder. I'm a firefighter with Station Seventeen. We have just come across a fire at a local animal shelter, and we need full backup immediately. The fire is rapidly growing, and we suspect potential foul play. Send authorities as well.”

I rattled off the address before hanging up.

There had to be more going on that a simple accident. We’d learned the first fire was arson, and now it was happening again? Yeah, that didn’t bode well and was way too convenient to be a coincidence.

More importantly, Melody was inside that building, and if I lost her, I’d search for whoever did this, even if I had to hunt them down to the ends of the earth.

Samson’s shout grabbed my attention, but as I turned to look at him, a door next to me slammed open, and Melody came staggering out, covered in soot, with a towel wrapped around her face.

“Firecracker!” I called, grabbing her and pulling her away from the worst of the smoke. “Holy fuck! What happened?”

“Fitz?” she asked through racking coughs.

“Yeah, it’s me. Jesus, fuck, are you okay?” I ran my eyes over her, looking for any sign that she was injured or burned, thankfully not seeing anything horrible. “Is anyone else in there?”

She shook her head. “Not anymore. Reed ran. Blocked the exit,” she spluttered.

Reed ran? Of course, it was that fucker. If I see him again, I swear ? —

“He…he was angry…” Melody’s voice was rough, her stare distant, showing how upset she was.

I wanted to probe for more information, but I needed to ensure Elliot knew that she was out so he didn’t try to go in. Samson hurried over next to us, scanning Melody for injuries as well. We couldn’t see anything too bad, sure, but she was going to need to see an EMT as soon as possible.

“Tell Elliot,” I instructed Samson.

When it came to nasty situations, we all barked orders at one another, and we were mature enough to understand the necessity.

We respected each other, and emergencies weren’t the time for pleasantries.

I’d ask politely when there wasn’t a building on fire and a “potential” arsonist getting away with it.

“Will do. There're bottles of water in the car, make sure her airways are clear,” Sam shouted as he turned to run around the building, toward where Elliot had gone.

As I pulled Melody back, she glanced up at the building, her face distraught. “Oh God, it's going to be ruined— again ,” she whispered.

“We can rebuild. For now, the only thing that's important is making sure you're okay.” I tugged her toward the car. As I was cracking open a bottle of water and thrusting it into her hand, several fire engines pulled up, along with squad cars and an emergency medical truck.

Dylan and the second shift from Station Seventeen came, along with an engine from Sixteen.

“Melody?” a familiar voice shouted as a fully suited firefighter ran over to us. I would recognize that giant frame anywhere.

“Rune!” I greeted with a nod. “The building is empty, but it's going up quickly.”

“We’ll have that under control in no time. Is she all right?”

“A few small burns, but her airways look good,” I said, my eyes raking over her again. There was soot in her hair, and there were streaks on her face from the tears she had shed over the rescue.

But she was holding her hand in front of her, and I needed to get a look at that. “Melody, I need to see.”

She gave me her hand slowly, and I gently peeled away the blanket she was holding. Angry red welts on her palm and forearm made my stomach clench. I had a feeling the one on her palm was from trying to open a door that was too hot.

“These are bad. Come on. We need to get to the EMT.”

I resisted saying anything more in the moment, but mentally, I was already plotting the fire-safe doors we would be installing in the new rescue.

And a state-of-the-art sprinkler system.

Hell, any fire preventive measures we could take, we would.

It would be a very cold day in hell when I allowed our girl to be at risk of any fire ever again. Fires were a part of life, and they happened occasionally, but I was going to make sure Melody was not at risk.

“Shit, that looks bad,” Rune hissed, looking down at her palm.

“I-I’m fine,” Melody insisted, tugging her hand back.

Rune turned to me, brows raised. “I’ll leave you to deal with that while I help the others put out the fire. You may want to get her home—Hailey isn’t opposed to a house visit.”

“I don’t need—” Melody started to say, but I cut her off.

“How would you feel if it was me who was burned?” I pointed out. That stopped her complaining. She sagged, her body going lax. “That’s what I thought. EMT, and then we’re getting you home.”

Taking her home was definitely a priority after she got that wound looked at. She was probably beginning to come down from all the adrenaline of the fire, and that burn was going to start hurting—a lot.

Our pack mates were standing by one of the fire engines, talking to Dylan, who was organizing how they would approach putting out the fire. As none of us had gear, we had to stand back and let the others who had their breathing apparatus and fire gear do their jobs.

It was hard to be on the sidelines, but Melody was my top priority.

And as Sam and Elliot ran over to us, I knew it was the same for them.

Someone had tried to hurt our omega. That fucking brother of hers, and he needed to spend the rest of his life behind bars while I made sure Melody would never be harmed or trapped in a fire again.

But first things first, our girl was hitting up the EMT. Hand burns were a special concern because of how they could heal improperly, and I wasn’t taking any chances with her. Not a single one.