Well, you know what they say about assuming things.
He smirks at me again as he turns the ignition—the switches are already flipped over to heat, but of course the damned thing has to warm up to be of any use. Sam's chuckling at my frozen expense as we creep down his driveway. It’s still dark and the fat flakes falling from the sky are swirling around and obscuring the road. He seems more cautious than anything, which I can understand. We won’t do anyone any good if we crash before we get there.
“So, we’re headed to the station first. If we miss the truck then no worries, we can meet ’em there. The fire's outside of town and the station's on the way. It’s too much to hope you have any experience with this, isn’t it?” Sam glances my way quickly while he’s talking, but his focus is almost entirely on the road and the winter storm we’re stuck in.
“Experience being a firefighter? No, none at all. I just started my medical residency a few months ago. The hospital I’m working with said I’ll be taking a turn through the ER to get the full experience, but I haven’t done it yet. Sorry.” He gives a curt nod at my reply, and then says something unexpected.
“Listen, I’m…I’m sorry about earlier. I mean, this whole day has been a shitshow with trying to register the pack, and then you and your brother showing up. My whole family situation is a trainwreck, and my brother is in charge, so it’s gonna be even more fucked up on location. I didn’t exactly want to drag you into all this drama. But if you are gonna be stickin’ around, you’ll find out sooner or later.”
He continues on, giving me a quick rundown on the weekend they had. How he’s been packless until he met Teddy and Kelly, and his brother is upset about that. I think he’s leaving some stuff out, because not all of this makes sense. He tells me briefly about the drama with Teddy’s parents and how happy they are for him. I cringe inwardly, because his mom is gonna be superpissed when she finds out that Steve and I are back in the picture.
She loved us growing up and was always excited to hear about our future pack plans. But after Teddy presented as an omega and Dad refused to let us even speak to him…Let's just say she’s not my brother’s biggest fan and has had more than a few choice words to say about him when speaking to my mom. Not that I don’t agree. Jessica has always doted on Teddy, and she was always kind and supportive to us. Even with his and Steve’s relationship, she was never anything but positive about the situation.
Sam also tells me about Kelly’s family—all betas—their reticence to approve of her joining a pack as the only female. I have a feeling that’s going to come back and bite me in the ass if we do stay. Not that my inner alpha thinks there is any chance of that not happening. As far as he’s concerned Kelly is ours, and we’re not going anywhere. That being said, it is entirely her decision if she wants me, she and Teddy already have a pack with Sam, so I guess it’s his choice too if he can accept us into it.
Rubbing my hands down my face, I sigh and let his words wash over me as we finally turn out onto the paved road and into town. The trip to their home earlier only took half the time, but it wasn’t dark, or this slippery yet. There is so much shit to unpack here, but the one preeminent part is what I focus on. “So, if he brings it up, are you going to tell him you’re expanding the pack with two new alphas?”
Sam jerks as if I electrocuted him with my question and his glare swings my way.
“I’m gonna take that as a no then. I thought he might bring it up since I showed up with you, and we may or may not be sticking around. Depending on what you three want?” The last bit is phrased as more of a question than I intended it to be, but he eventually nods in reply.
“If he’s dumb enough to bring it up in the middle of all this, then I’ll tell him we’re considering it. Does that work?” His eyes meet mine for a second as we pull into the fire station, and I know he’s expecting a reply.
“Well, if he asks me, can I just tell him it’s none of his fucking business?” He grunts out a chuckle, and puts the truck into park, nodding at me before we both get out to face the unknown and the fucking freezing ass wind.
Chapter 35
The firetruck's still in the bay. The towns barely big enough to afford one, but under normal circumstances that’s all we need. The doors are rolled up and people scramble around inside trying to get organized. Gabe takes in Garret and me and waves us over. “You know, this isn’t a bring-your-kid-to-work-day kinda thing, right?” Gabe doesn’t have much room to talk since he’s my age and expecting twins.
“Har de har har, smartass. This is Garret. Garret, this is Gabe, lead alpha of Pack Asher, and all around hilarious motherfucker.” I nod back to Garret before returning my attention to the man in front of me. “Is Leo here? I thought he could give Garret a rundown on what to expect.” Gabe’s eyebrows go up. “Garret’s a medic, he’s in town visiting family and friends and staying at my place. When I got the call, he offered to help.” There, not exactly a lie.
Gabe nods and waves his arm, and a few moments later the giant alpha appears behind him so he can make introductions. “Sam brought help if you need it, this here’s…um…Garret?” He looks from me to the alpha standing beside me, and I see Garretnod from the corner of my eye. “Leo, this is Garret, he has medic training and came along in case you need help since we’re shorthanded.” Leo reaches out and shakes Garret’s hand, and they start to talk quietly while he leads him over to the lockers.
Gabe grabs my attention again as I’m heading towards the lockers myself, but I stall out. “Joseph’s gonna flip his shit when he sees you, you know that right?”
I sigh and shrug, because what else can I do? “You’d rather be shorthanded?”
He shakes his head, but the smile he gives me doesn’t reach his eyes. “Not at all, I just wanted to warn you. After what happened this weekend, I figured you’d be expecting shit on that front.” His upper lip curls in a snarl, and I’m glad that he’s not blaming Joseph’s outburst at the ceremony on me.
Fuck, yeah, that all started at his bonding ceremony, didn’t it? These last few days have just been crazy. “Yeah, sorry about that. I didn’t mean to cause a scene at your pack’s big day. I really—”
He cuts me off. “Sam, man, you saved Jacks. Pulled his unconscious ass out of a fire, when I was barely fucking coherent. We’re good, no apology needed.”
I’m trying to scramble into my boots as his head swings from me to Garret. “Also, congratulations on finding your pack. How’s that goin’?”
I just manage to wedge my foot down into my boot as another truck pulls into the parking lot. At last, we can get this show on the road, but I answer Gabe anyway as we climb on board. “Well, it’s fucking complicated, that’s for damned sure.” He just chuckles and shakes his head as Joseph climbs out of his own truck. His glare stays fixed on me the entire run across the lot until he’s climbing into the driver’s seat of the firetruck, and we pull out into the frozen night.
The wind plays merry hell with the truck, and we slide several times before we arrive on scene. Gabe is on one side of me and Garret’s on the other. He’s still in deep discussion with Leo, and I’m glad he has someone to talk to so I can think for a few minutes. Only three of Pack Asher and a few lone alphas were able to make it out, and I’m starting to appreciate Garret’s willingness to volunteer.
Not that I’m letting him get anywhere near the actual fire, but it’ll be good to have an extra set of hands to help out. Things are always crazy in these situations. Maybe if he and Steve stick around they can join up, get trained properly and be more helpful. But that’s a thought for another time. Though, the way Xan was glaring earlier, these two are gonna need to do more damage control for how they treated Kelly.
We—surprisingly—manage not to hit anyone or take out any street signs on the drive over. A couple of cop cars are already there—they were probably closer to the scene when the call came, and didn’t have to wait for a team to assemble to get here. I look at my watch and it’s already been over thirty minutes since I got the call in the first place. That’s a nightmare in and of itself, but this weather wasn’t helping anybody.
Once we’re stopped, we all pile out and get to work. Joseph takes Leo over to talk to the people standing on the sidewalk. For lack of a better option, Garret follows along like a baby duck, his head following the conversation even though he doesn’tjoin it. According to Gabe, Jacks stayed home with Candice in case anything happens with the storm or her pregnancy. And according to Xan, because he demands that at least one of them gives their omega a proper honeymoon, and he refused to leave.
Gabe and Xan locate the nearest hydrant. We have it on the map, but it’s buried under a snow drift. Xan gets to work uncovering it while Gabe unrolls the hose. Everyone rushes around, but I’m standing like a statue—half waiting for information about people inside, half waiting for my big brother to throw more disappointment my way.
Garret wanders back to where I’m standing sheltered from the wind by the side of the truck. “No one seems to be letting you know, but the people on the sidewalk over there said this is their house, and the whole family is out. Their kids and cat are sitting in the car across the street out of the storm, but everyone’s safe.”
