FireWolf (5 page)

To think, not an hour before, he’d been holding an armful of
warm, lustful woman, rather than a middle-aged shapeshifter in mortally bad
condition. With strength he hadn’t known he possessed, he heaved Barkley onto
his shoulder then climbed out the window.

He barely felt the ladder beneath him as he slid down,
focused completely on holding the unconscious man against his body. Hands
reached for them as their padded forms hit the ground.

Five firefighters surrounded Barkley’s still form as Smokie
pulled off his face mask and puked into the grass. Gasping and coughing, he
felt shocked to be alive. He’d never been in a fire like that before.

When he caught a couple of breaths, he crawled over to the
downed man, and was so grateful to see signs of life that he forgot his own
injuries.

As three EMTs raced toward them, Barkley growled, “That
woman’s your true mate.”

His eyes closed just as two EMTs knelt over him. Smokie
tried to take a breath and found he couldn’t. As he face-planted in the dirt
next to Barkley, he distantly heard one of the EMTs shout.

For a moment, he wasn’t sure if the smoke had gotten to him,
or if Barkley’s words were responsible for his collapse. Olivia wasn’t his true
mate. She wasn’t even a shapeshifter. Still, their sexual chemistry, and his
cock’s inability to rest when they were apart, was unusual.

He felt a hand on his shoulder just as he lost consciousness.

* * * * *

Olivia saw the flash of a tail again when she locked her
front door, ready for a run. Some kind of wildlife had been stalking her
property for a few days now. Beasties weren’t uncommon since she lived across
the street from a wooded park where the creature probably dwelled. As she did
some perfunctory stretches, she made a mental note to upgrade her garbage cans
so nothing could break in for a snack. Her brain circled around to its favorite
topic in less than ten seconds.

Smokie hadn’t contacted her in a week. She’d had to read in
the newspaper about the fire that had interrupted their last sexual adventure.
Never before in her twenty-two years of dating had she been dumped without a
word of explanation.

She knew he wasn’t in the hospital. Her cousin Owen had told
her that much. He was the reason she’d ended up with such hopeless lust for
Smokie in the first place. She’d been Owen’s hostess numerous times for fire
station picnics, fundraising pancake breakfasts and the like. Smokie had been
at all those events, seemingly oblivious to her. But one look at his dashing
smile and his abundant muscles had made her cream every time. He wasn’t just
her go-to guy for personal pleasure sessions, he’d been her only guy as her
marriage fell apart and ended.

Now she felt like the loser stalker-chick who’d gotten a
one-night stand with the hot guy and was then cast aside.

She set off on a fast walk to warm up, pepper spray in her
pocket just in case the wildlife decided to get too close. Maybe exercise would
cure her of the sexual longing that kept her from sleeping well at night. She’d
lost three pounds in the past week. Even food was unappetizing. Of course,
trying to exercise at four in the afternoon in July was bound to take off any
water weight too.

Shoving her hands into her ponytail, she growled aloud. “Let
him go! You’re too old to carry a torch for someone who isn’t interested.”

On the other side of a screen of trees, she heard a wild
howl that so perfectly matched her mood she almost responded. On second
thought, she didn’t want to know what was attached to that howl. A big dog at
the very least. Shapeshifters were rumored to live in these parts as well. In
fact, family lore said her great-grandmother had been part of a werewolf clan.
Olivia had no recollection of the woman who’d died when she was two.

She reached for her can of pepper spray and reversed her
direction, heading back to her house. It wouldn’t hurt to visit Owen at the
firehouse, right? Bring him that batch of brownies she’d made after lunch to
keep her hands busy? She didn’t even have to ask about Smokie. Hell, she’d been
hanging out there before he’d ever passed the firefighter exam. She wouldn’t
hide from him.

* * * * *

Smokie smelled the rich scent of chocolate before he saw
Olivia. At first, it made sense for him to duck into the breakroom, but was he
really hiding there? After all, that’s where she’d always found him. It was
their place. So was he hiding from or welcoming her?

He cursed himself when he saw the door open, Owen’s hand on
the handle. Duke followed, tongue practically hanging out of his mouth, a
gallon of vanilla fudge swirl ice cream in his hand. His friend had a major
jones for chocolate. He was such a girl.

And then there was Olivia. His eyes skimmed her then he
blinked and looked again. No sexy dress this time, but yoga pants, tennis shoes
with those cute short socks tailed by pink pom-poms, and a fitted scoop-neck
T-shirt that displayed her clavicle and a hint of cleavage.

Very sexy, yet just workout clothes. Not her seduction gear
at all, but he found it even more endearing.

The sound of Rihanna’s
Skin
erupted into the room,
with the singer moaning about liking it rough.

“Dude,” Duke said.

“Shit.” Smokie hadn’t recognized his own ring tone. He
searched the couch for his phone while the others set up Olivia’s treat. Not a
blushing guy as a rule, he felt the tips of his ears grow hot.

“Smokie.”

He closed his eyes when he recognized the voice of King, his
alpha. When King called, there was either work or admonition in the air.

“Sir.”

King growled. “Two 9-1-1 calls came in about an hour ago
regarding a coyote sighting on Twelfth Street. Know anything about that?”

“Probably not a coyote.”

“Probably you, mooning around your true mate’s house, is my
guess.”

“I’m on shift,” Smokie said, wondering who might be watching
the street. “Twenty-four hours. I haven’t left.”

“Really.”

“Really, sir. Anyone reported any missing cats? I’ve heard
that one-third of a coyote’s diet is house cats.”

King laughed. “Good riddance.”

“Besides, I weigh double what an average coyote does. It
probably was a coyote, now that I think about it. Maybe one of the clan can go
hunting for a snack.”

“That’s what troubles me, obviously. I doubt we’ve left
enough population that they’d go into the residential areas. Plenty of mice and
fruit in the woods.”

“But no yummy cats.”

He saw Olivia give him a funny look and realized the
conversation sounded bizarre from his end. “I’ll be happy to go out there
tomorrow and take a look.”

“You do that. I especially want to know if any of the Legion
Clan is encroaching on our territory.”

Smokie found that hard to believe. The memory of the famous
shaming of their alpha four summers before was still fresh on many minds, even
if it had resulted in Bijou finding her true mate.

“Did Barkley spread his news around? I mean, the guy had
second-degree burns and smoke inhalation at the time he said…well, you know. He
might have been wrong.”

“He’s never wrong,” King growled. “You need to deal with
this. I know you’re young, but you’re also very lucky.”

“Right. Well, I’m at work right now.”

“And so is your true mate. Talk to her. The sooner you claim
her, the better. She’s not a young woman, you know, though still very hot.”

Smokie’s jaw clenched. How did King know Olivia was there?
He always seemed to know more than he should. Did he and Barkley share some
kind of mental communication?

When Smokie was with Olivia, he never thought about the age
difference. His reluctance didn’t stem from that at all. It was simply the idea
of tying himself down to one woman so soon. Until Olivia came around, he
thought he had years of fooling around in the meadow, a variety of hook-ups and
short-term relationships still spread out in front of him.

How could one woman be enough? He was only twenty-four!

He said a respectful goodbye and hung up, catching Olivia
watching him again. When she realized he’d noticed, she turned, her pert nose
clearly in the air.

He was in the doghouse for sure. Had a week really passed
since she’d straddled his lap in this very room, on that very couch? His cock
went rock hard at the thought. He prayed he could get by without adjusting
himself in a room full of people.

He thought of ice cubes and Antarctica, and untucked his
T-shirt, hoping it would hide the evidence.

“Want some?” Owen asked. “Olivia’s the best baker. Can’t
cook worth a damn though.”

What he wanted when he saw his CO’s cousin wasn’t brownies.

“How would you know?” Olivia swatted her cousin on the arm.
“You haven’t eaten my food in twenty years!”

“That’s because you gave me food poisoning.”

“I was in high school!” Olivia protested. “I didn’t know you
were supposed to keep the hamburger meat chilled until you grilled it at a
picnic.”

“Both ends,” Owen said contemplatively. “Don’t think I’ve
ever been that sick in my life.”

“Gross!” Olivia said, making a face as Duke laughed.

Barkley walked into the room, followed by Shamsky.

“You’re back!” she said, giving the older man a hug.

Smokie was confused at her recognition until he realized
she’d probably known the seer for years, in his capacity of firefighter, thanks
to Owen. The others gathered around the man, who, in typical shapeshifter
fashion had completely recovered from his injuries in only a week. Owen, wise
to their ways as usual, didn’t comment.

Smokie wondered how much the man hid from the fire chief,
who managed all nine stations serving the greater area, including Cherry
Blossom, where the Legion Clan staffed the firehouse. He knew three of the
local stations were mostly staffed by shapeshifters, so it wasn’t as though they
were a rarity.

He hung around in the background while everyone on shift
drifted in and out, celebrating Barkley’s return and eating Olivia’s treats.
Eventually, he caught Owen’s attention.

“I’ve got to go out and teach that fire-prevention class at
the senior center,” Smokie said.

“Yep, we’ve got you covered.”

Olivia had her back turned when he left, so he didn’t say
goodbye. His chest twinged when he left the room though. As much as he didn’t
want to admit it, he had it bad for his true mate.

Three hours later, stuffed with donuts and bad coffee, and
covered with the fingerprints of far too many old ladies who wanted to check
out his muscles, including one old broad who’d actually patted him on the ass,
he returned to the firehouse.

He replaced his gear from the class in the training locker
then went to the breakroom to see if any brownies were left to snag. The
station was quiet, empty. He saw an emergency medical call listed on the white
board. Hopefully something minor.

When he opened the door of the breakroom, he saw someone on
the sofa. But it wasn’t one of his fellow firefighters, it was Olivia.

He shoved his hands into the back pockets of his uniform
pants. “All by yourself?”

“The guys just left on a call. I wasn’t ready to go home
yet.”

“Why not?”

She hesitated. “Something howled in the woods when I went
out for a run this afternoon. It spooked me, I guess.”

“A couple of coyote calls came in earlier,” Smokie said.

“It wasn’t yipping. Coyotes sound more like dogs. This was
more like a wolf. That eerie sound that gets into your bones.” She shuddered.

“Someone called Wildlife Patrol,” he said, wondering if she
was right. “I’ll look around for you when I go off shift, but that isn’t until
tomorrow afternoon.”

“I called them too, not because of the howl, but because I
thought I saw a tail passing by when I walked out of my house. But they hadn’t
found anything in response to any of the calls by the time I called back.”

“I’ll go into the woods tomorrow,” Smokie said.

“I’ll go too if you want.”

“No.” He intended to do the search in wolf form. “I can
handle myself. All I need is my cell phone.”

She touched his arm. “My hero.”

He grinned, liking the sound of that, though he was alarmed
by the way heat frissoned through his body, lifting his cock and tightening his
balls. “At your service, m’lady.”

“What was that before, about you liking it rough?” she
purred.

Smokie laughed. “I didn’t realize when I bought the ring
tone that I’d get that part of the song. Some of the lyrics made sense as a
ring tone.”

“Am I supposed to believe that?” Her red lips curved.

Smokie shrugged, acting coy. He did like it kind of rough
sometimes. What shapeshifter didn’t? “Want to find out?”

She took her hand away from him, making his arm feel
suddenly cold. “I’m supposed to furious with you.”

“You are?” Women. Sucked a man in then dropped the emotional
bombshell.

She crossed her arms over those adorable, small breasts.
“Sure, and I was, until I saw you, then I was just relieved you were okay. I
mean, one minute, I’m straddling you then you have to run for a bad call and I
never heard from you after.”

He shifted uncomfortably. “Owen must have said something to
you.”

“He did. But you didn’t. I know we’re just hooking up, but
we’re both human beings and I was worried, okay?”

“Okay,” he said, taking her point even if he wasn’t a human
being exactly. “I’m an asshole.”

She uncrossed her arms and planted her hands on her hips.
“So, what’s been going on?”

He stared at the floor. Barkley’s pronouncement had been
what was going on, but he didn’t want to share that with her. “Look, Olivia…”

“Yes?”

“I’m okay and you’re okay, right? I made a mistake, plain
and simple. But like you said, we’re hooking up, and I’d love to fuck you right
now. Right here. Can’t that be enough?”