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Thayer was leaning back against the table with his elbows resting on the top and his legs stretched out in front of him, while Kingston was lying down on the opposite long bench under the shade of a large tree. He had one foot braced on the ground and his forearm was draped over his eyes, enjoying a moment of rest since he’d been on his feet all morning. He couldn’t really sleep since the sounds of construction were too loud to ignore anyway.
One of the floors in the administration building across the street was undergoing a major renovation. There had been an incident there not too long ago when a supernatural who had been involved in an arson case had caused a massive fire there when he’d tried to get rid of the evidence against him. Thankfully, the damage had been contained to a single floor, but they were still searching for the culprit since he had managed to get away before they could apprehend him.
While most of the interior work could be fixed using magic, protocol had to be followed and appearances had to be kept in the Human Realm. Since a lot of neighbors who were non-magicals had witnessed the fire, they needed to manually fix the exterior of the building.
“How much longer will they be working on the renovations? This shit is hurting my ears,” Thayer bitched.
All of the crew at the firehouse had been complaining since the renovations had started since most supernaturals had better hearing than humans. Shifters’ hearing was even more sensitive than other races, so Thayer did have good reason to grumble.
“As soon as they finish working on the exterior, they can handle the rest overnight.” He suddenly remembered that Thayer wasn’t just a shifter. “Use your magic to block out the noise.”
“I don’t like dimming my senses since I like enjoying all aspects of life to its fullest extent.”
“Can you hear my eyes rolling?”
“I sure can, you dick,” Thayer said with a chuckle before sobering again. “Speaking of dicks, I hope the council’s sentinels catch that bastard before he can set another fire.” He paused before adding, “But I heard a rumor that he wasn’t the original arsonist.”
That caught Kingston’s full attention. “What do you mean?”
“I know people are saying that guy showed up here to destroy some evidence of his previous crimes, but I heard that the original fire was at the house he shared with his mate, and he came here looking for information about his mate’s kidnapping.”
Kingston had been pissed when he thought that guy had been setting fires for fun but hearing that his mate had been kidnapped made him reconsider the entire situation. If there was any truth to that, then the case was a lot more complicated than it seemed, and he hoped investigators would be able to figure it out before anyone got hurt.
He lowered his arm and opened his eyes to glance over when Fire Chief Colton Varga called out a greeting to them as he walked out of the administration building with Huxley Bazin by his side.
“You’re clear for the rest of the day,” Colton shouted to the trainees. “Go grab something to eat and relax. Training will reconvene tomorrow.”
The trainees wasted no time hauling ass away from their tormentors, making the chief shake his head and mutter something under his breath. Huxley laughed and shook his head as they walked over to the table to join Kingston and Thayer.
Colton Varga was a bear of a man, and no one looking at him would have guessed that he was an eagle shifter. The Fire Chief had been a member of the Bazin pack for decades, but he’d been alive a lot longer than that. He was only starting to show his advanced age with a few gray hairs, though he was still as fit as ever.
Huxley Bazin had impressed Kingston when he’d first met him. As the next in line to become alpha of the Bazin pack, Huxley could have been like Kingston before he’d been set up. Instead of becoming a spoiled wastrel, the wolf shifter-fae hybrid was an honorable male of purpose. He lived a life of service as a Firefighter and EMT Critical Care Paramedic and already cared for his pack as a true leader.
Since Thayer’s parents and younger brother had settled in with the Bazin pack after the debacle with the pride, it felt like everyone at Station Five was a member of one big, happy family…except Kingston. After everything he had gone through, family was a touchy subject for him.
He was friends with the pack and the crew at the firehouse, but he still tried to keep a relative distance from all of them. While no one had ever treated Kingston like he was a criminal or an outsider, he didn’t feel like he deserved to officially join the pack. He also didn’t want to lead trouble to anyone’s door. Even so, he’d had no choice but to risk staying close.
Kingston had to in order to protect his mate.
The last thing he had ever expected was to find the mate fate had chosen for him living amongst the shifters of the Bazin pack. For some reason, he’d always assumed he would end up with a demon like himself, so discovering she was a witch had been a surprise. He hadn’t been disappointed, though.
How could he be when she was the epitome of perfection to him?
Kingston had been invited to pack dinners at Paul and Rachel Bazin’s home for weeks after he’d officially moved to Mystic. He had managed to avoid attending until Thayer had finally had enough of his shit and had dragged him along with him one night, and he would forever be grateful his friend had.
That night, the pack had been having a Christmas party. Even though it was a decidedly human holiday, most supernaturals who lived in the Human Realm enjoyed celebrating any holiday they could. Since the Bazin pack was a unique mix of supernaturals, they also celebrated all of the special occasions for each of the races.
The first time he’d ever laid eyes on Autumn Arcane, he’d felt his entire world shift. She had been standing near a big pine tree that had been decorated with colorful ornaments and strings of tiny white lights. Those lights had put stars in her pretty amber eyes and had highlighted her rich brown hair. Her lush lips had been curved into a wide smile, and color had flushed over her high cheekbones, put there by the fairy wine she had been drinking. When she had thrown her head back and let out a throaty laugh, he’d felt his heart squeeze painfully in his chest.
At that moment, he’d known that nothing would ever be the same for him.
That night, he had barely been able to take his eyes off her, but he had forced himself to keep his distance and not to acknowledge what she was to him. Autumn was beautiful, sweet, talented, smart, and compassionate, everything he’d ever dreamed his mate would be. She was a ray of pure sunshine in his otherwise bleak world, but he couldn’t claim her.
At least, not yet.
Not until he managed to clear his name.
Kingston still had a target on his back, and once everyone knew the pretty little witch belonged to him, it would only put her in danger. That was something he simply couldn’t allow. If anything happened to her, he knew his control would break, and he’d become the ruthless demon most people thought he was.
