Page 76 of Where There's Smoke
Chapter 37
Elliot
It 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 youreallygoing 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 wasslimy. His hair was slicked back and probably a few shades darker than its natural color, and he wore a suit heclearlythought 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 upsettingmyomega.
Melody glanced over at me, and I didn’t miss the way her entire body sagged in relief, her eyes lighting up. That littlegesture—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.
