Page 7 of Where There’s Smoke (Fire House Omegas #2)

Melody

A s much as I had wanted to hide in the bedroom all night, I had to make several journeys to the kitchen to warm up water for the puppy's bottle. It had been almost five in the morning when Elliott had dragged me to the fire station, so the place was pretty quiet the first time I ventured out to make a bottle. This was precisely why I knew staying at a regular shelter wasn’t going to work.

It wasn’t like there was a big kitchen to use, and I’d annoy everyone with the constant trips.

I wasn't going to let something as simple as embarrassment stop me from feeding the little monster every two hours, though.

I’d finally gotten back to sleep when another fire alarm went off. It was terrifying to hear it in here, so damn loud and paired with flashing lights. It ended quickly enough, and everyone in the station was forced from their rest into the streets to put out another fire.

Irritation gnawed at me, and of course, it’d woken the puppy too.

I soothed her, getting a fresh bottle and taking it to Elliot’s bed to feed her.

Everything felt weird and off; my skin was itchy and dry, probably from the fire, and my stomach was queasy.

Which, considering my entire life had been turned upside down, made sense.

After the puppy calmed down, I lay down in the bed, trying to fall back asleep, despite everything.

There was a faintly warm smell to the sheets—Elliot’s scent, no doubt—but I couldn’t make it out, really.

Something about it still cut through the smoke trapped in my nostrils, though, and I was able to fall back asleep until I couldn’t ignore the midday sun streaming in from the gaps in the curtains.

I still felt off, and if I was honest with myself, I was feeling pretty darn pissy about it. I’d lost my building, my home, and now I was feeling icky? Seriously? What kind of bad karma had I drummed up?

It was past noon, and I hadn't seen any of the other firefighters yet. After the alarm had rung out, I had heard several of them clattering around, so I assumed they were out on a fire.

“Knock, knock!” a sweet woman’s voice called out, and a familiar face poked her head around the doorframe.

“Sunny!” I said, standing and greeting her with a warm hug. “You have no idea how nice it is to see a familiar face!”

She looked stunning, just as she had the day I met her at the shelter. She was the omega who was bonded with the alphas from Station Sixteen. She was wearing a long, pink floral dress, her blonde waves thrown up in an effortless bun with wispy bits falling out.

“Blaze heard that you had gotten into a bit of a situation from his cousin, so I thought I'd bring you some things,” she explained, offering a sympathetic smile, holding up two shopping bags stuffed full.

“How did Blaze find out?” I asked, cocking my head to the side as Sunny pulled out several bags and placed them on the bed.

“Fitz. They’re cousins!”

“Oh, that’s right. He mentioned something about that. I forgot. But I can see it. Same human, just a different flavor,” I mused.

“Aren’t they?” Sunny giggled. “Anyway, I brought a few sets of clothing, some body products, and snacks. If there’s anything else I missed, let me know. I can't believe you were sleeping at the shelter.”

“Ugh, so they mentioned that, too, huh?” I sighed. It was too late to do anything about it now. So, instead, I was going to do what I’d set my mind to last night—take this one day at a time.

And then I noticed all the stuff Sunny had brought.

“These are amazing!” I said, watching in awe as she unpacked the bags. “Thank you, you didn’t have to!”

“When my place went up in flames, I ended up staying at Station Sixteen. These were the kinds of things I needed. I had to get some of it out of the donation pile until I was back up on my feet. So I wanted to help. Honestly, I was so thankful that the guys were willing to help me, but I would have killed someone for decent shampoo and body wash. All I had available was that three-in-one stuff.”

I shuddered. “Yikes.”

Sunny nodded. “I didn't want to be ungrateful, but I had a lot more hair than any of my guys, and that sort of shampoo just would not work on me.”

As she laid out the last shirt, the little puppy, who’d been dozing, squeaked.

“Oh my goodness. Who is this?” Sunny asked, her eyes lighting up, attention going straight to the puppy on the bed.

“She doesn't have a name yet, but she’s a two-week-old baby Dalmatian who needs feeding every two hours. Most rescues would euthanize her, so she's staying with me.”

“Rightfully so! Aww, can I pet her?”

“Go ahead,” I said, smiling down at the tiny ball of fur.

She sat on the edge of the bed, picking up the puppy and cooing at it. “Oh, she is precious! How did she end up at the shelter?”

“She was found in an alleyway. No mama in sight, so for now, I’m her mama.” I sighed.

“Well, that’s an excellent mama, as far as I’m concerned.

She’s a precious little dotty baby!” Sunny set the puppy down, patting the bed for me to sit next to her.

I took a seat, leaning against her shoulder as a heavy breath left me.

“So, how are you holding up? Really ? And don’t say you’re fine. Your rescue burned down.”

My chest tightened, and I looked off into the distance at nothing in particular. “It did, didn’t it? Yeah, well, I’ll admit…I'm not fine. I’m sad as hell. That place was my whole life, and it’s just…gone.”

“Oh, honey.” Sunny pulled me into a hug, and I allowed myself to feel the emotions I’d been keeping at bay. My shelter for animals was gone. I had every right to be sad about it, so I was—at least, for right now.

After a moment of letting myself be hugged, I patted Sunny’s arm and sat up, wiping under my eyes. “I don’t know how I'm going to get through this, but…I’m going to try.”

Sunny looked at me seriously. “If you need anything, please let me know. I’m more than happy to help.”

Giving her a sad smile, I nodded. “I will.”

“And, umm, sorry for the very weird change of subject, but umm…”

Nerves got the best of me, and I sat up straight. “What? What is it?”

“You smell…different. If you don’t mind me saying.” She cocked her head to the side, looking at me curiously.

“Smell different?” I looked down at my body, unable to keep myself from sucking in a breath through my nose. “I mean, there’s all the smoke, and I haven’t showered yet, so…”

Sunny shook her head. “No, it’s not that. You…you almost smell like…an omega ?”

I snorted. “Not you as well! The buttheads here keep saying I'm an omega, too, and they're not listening to me when I say I'm a beta. I've been a beta my whole life. You don't just suddenly become an omega!”

Sunny’s face scrunched as she watched me carefully. “You really do smell different, though. Does anything feel different to you?”

I considered for a moment, taking stock of my body.

“Everything I'm feeling can be attributed to being in the fire.

My body is tired, my muscles sore, and I can't smell anything because of the smoke inhalation.

I think I would know if I suddenly presented as an omega.

Wouldn't the smell of alphas be like crack to me?”

“They would be. If you could smell,” Sunny pointed out.

That made me pause. Then I remembered something I had read a while ago. Sure, it was something I'd read in a romance novel, but it sounded plausible enough.

“Late-presenting omegas go into heat pretty quickly, don’t they?”

Sunny nodded, confirming my suspicions. “I think so, but omegas aren’t black and white. We all have our quirks or issues. You could just be late presenting, and due to stress, your heat could be delayed…”

“If I start trying to climb alphas like trees, then I’ll consider that I may be an omega, but I feel totally normal right now,” I insisted.

That was a lie. I was feeling completely out of sorts, but I didn’t want to admit that to her.

“Okay, but please text me if you need someone to talk to. Also, you're welcome to come and stay at our place if you want. If you don’t feel comfortable with all these alphas around, omega or not.”

I didn't even have to think about that. Staying with Sunny would be amazing, usually, but she was pretty freshly bonded, which meant that she was probably banging her pack every other night, and on top of that, she had a toddler.

“No, I’ll be fine here. You have a full house with all those bunnies and boys.”

Sunny laughed, a warm, inviting sound that was so different than my own that it only solidified in my head how I wasn’t an omega.

“I’m definitely overrun by men. I'm really hoping this next one is a girl,” she said, patting her stomach.

I’d had no idea she was pregnant, but I was happy for her. Packs were basically a bunch of overgrown children. Still, I knew they would all adore becoming fathers again.

“You’re pregnant, and you came all this way? Sunny!” I eyed her before grinning and giving her a hug. “Congratulations. How far along are you?”

“A few months. I'm probably going to start showing any day now, and I've been nesting nonstop. The guys don't know what to do with me. Mainly, they feed me snacks and tell me I'm pretty.”

“You know what? I wouldn't mind having three firefighters telling me I'm pretty and giving me snacks. You’ve got it good.”

“If you admit you are an omega, then that's something you could have…” She trailed off.

I tossed a pair of leggings at her. “Hush. The baby is clearly messing with your brain! I’m not an omega, and as nice as that all sounds, I’m much better on my own. I have animals to take care of. Well, I did.”

The sting of loss hit again, but then Sunny was there with her usual charm. “You’ll have all that again soon. You need to let yourself heal after all this. And hey, maybe the new building will be even better.”

With my income and the amount insurance would give me, I doubted it. But I wasn't about to say that to Sunny.

“Who knows? Maybe…maybe it will be.”

“I need to get going, but you’ll text me, right?” She offered her gorgeous smile, waving at the little puppy who was curled up next to me. “And send pictures of sweet Dotty baby!”

“I will. Thanks again, Sunny.”

“Anytime! And I think Rune has already spoke to you about it. But if you have any bunnies who need temporary homes, we have plenty of space.”

“Isn't your house full enough already? You're going to be a rabbit rescue at this rate!” I chuckled.

“Luka loves them, and I have grown pretty attached to them myself. So the more, the merrier!”

We finished up our goodbyes, and then I was alone again. I needed that shower I’d been talking about, and now that I had clothes, I could actually accomplish that. I’d make it fast so that I could fix the puppy another bottle, and then…

I didn’t know. Go somewhere? Talk to the other firefighters? Get a snack?

I sighed.

One day at a time.