Page 83 of Where There's Smoke
“You won’t be going anywhere, firecracker.” Fitz hugged me as Samson rubbed my back and Elliot pressed his lips to the top of my head. “We won’t letanyonetake you, least of all them.”
Fear still clung to me, but for at least a moment, I allowed myself to lean on my alphas. This was far from a good situation, but we had each other. Right?
I breathed them in, focusing on their scents.
Yes, I had my guys. I had a new life out here, and I wasn’t going to let my family take it from me.
No matter what.
Chapter 40
Elliot
Melody needed to know. She had arightto know.
I had intended to tell her, but then her parents came storming intomyfire station like they owned the place. I was livid, my blood pressure still elevated. It didn’t help that they’d threatened to take her away.
“T-they can’t really force me to go back?” Melody asked in a small voice. “Like, legally, I mean?”
Being an omega was completely new to her, so she had no idea what her family could and couldn't legally do. Hell, I didn't even fully understand it, but I had a slightly better idea than she did.
“Wewillfind out,” Samson said.
She nodded. “Usually, they complain for a bit and go away. Hopefully, the same will happen here.” Her voice was so full of hope, and I knew I was about to destroy that with what I needed to tell her.
But there was no way around it, and furthermore, I knew she’d be furious if I kept this from her. I didn’t want to upset her in the present, but I wouldnotreckon with the full force of her wrath in the future if I allowed this to remain secret. Thatwas basically suicide. She was an adult, and she had the right to know about this.
I also needed to call my bosses as soon as possible because the police needed to be informed.
“Melody…” She flicked her attention to me, her expression dropping when she met my eyes and undoubtedly saw the worry there. “There’s something I need to tell you…tell all of you.” I looked between my pack mates, landing on Melody, our sweet omega who didn’t deserve this.
Fitz frowned, his brows pinching together as everyone gathered around me. “What's up?”
“There’s a CCTV recording from the fire at your place,” I started to explain, nausea plucking at my insides.
“Yeah, the grainy one. You were waiting on more, right?” Melody said.
“Well, a few days ago, I received some extra footage. It wasn't the best, but I could kind of make out the person. But that was useless, considering we had no idea who it was or no fingerprints yet… only, I'm fairly certain I recognized who it was the other day.”
“What do you mean?” Melody asked, grimacing in confusion as she spoke.
This was it. This was the moment I’d been dreading.Better to rip off the Band-Aid. “I have a pretty strong suspicion thatReedwas the one who set the fire.”
My words hung in the air while everyone gaped at me for a moment. The tension was palpable, building and building until Melody shook her head, slashing her hand through the air.
“T-there’s no way!” Melody stammered.
“So much has been happening recently with everyone visiting that it slipped my mind to get you to look at the footage. That was always the plan. I was going to get you to sit down and look at it and see if you recognized the person. Only, I'm pretty sure Irecognized him first. If this is the case, I need to go to the police and report him, but more importantly, it could mean that you're in danger.”
“Why would I be in danger?”
“A member of your family set a building on fire that you were inside of. They knew you were in there.”
Melody's mouth dropped open as she tried to reconcile what I’d just told her.
“It really wasn't just a faulty microwave, was it?” she asked in a small voice.
I shook my head. Her face fell, and her body sagged. This sucked. There was no way around that. I’d just told her that, not only was her overbearing brother the asshole we all thought he was, but he was also willing to take his vindictive agenda to an entirely different level by burning down her shelter. He could have killed animals. He could have killedher.
