Chapter Fourteen
Jamie
“I can’t believe today has been so busy.” Erik sat next to me on the rig. “I guess we were owed it after it’s been so quiet.”
“Shush.” I huffed. “You’re going to curse us if you keep talking. Enjoy the ride and get ready for action. Okay?”
“Sorry.” Erik made a motion of zipping his mouth. The other guys laughed. It was common knowledge that the guy couldn’t keep his mouth shut.
Pulling up to the address, I recognized where we were, and a tiny thread of unease weaved into my thoughts. This was Zane’s apartment complex. I really hoped this wasn’t another one of his tricks. He had been a big problem lately, and I was seriously thinking of ways to handle it.
Several minutes later, my suspicions were partly correct when it turned out the little kitchen fire was indeed inside Zane’s apartment, but it did not appear to have been deliberate. The problem was that Zane was looking at me like I was his savior.
“Now that the fire’s out, I’m heading back outside.” I tapped Jason on the shoulder as he was speaking with Zane about the importance of fire safety.
Thomas and I left the building and stood near the truck, waiting for everyone to wrap up.
Although I was glad the guy wasn’t injured, I was sort of annoyed that I had to see Zane again.
I sighed. “If he’d completely give up his fantasies of me leaving Charlie, he might be a good guy.
Sadly, even today, he tried to talk with me while we were dealing with the fire.
Someone could have been seriously injured. ”
“I get ya.” Thomas took inventory of what we had on the truck, making sure we were packing everything back up correctly. “But you need to do something.”
“I’ll think about it and talk it over with Charlie when our shift is over.” I ran a hand through my hair. “He seemed relatively sane when we dated. I didn’t see this type of behavior from him.”
“Sometimes that’s how it is.” Thomas hitched his chin in the direction of the building. “He’s coming over here.”
I turned and saw Zane running toward our rig, eyes wide and focused on me.
What’s he doing now?
“Jamie.” Zane stood in front of me, face flushed and smiling widely. “I wanted to thank you for coming.”
“It’s our job.” I nodded, keeping my face as neutral as I could so he wouldn’t misinterpret anything. “Just make sure to be more careful. Fire safety is no joke.”
“Anyway. I thank you.”
Before I was aware of his intentions, Zane had approached closer and quickly leaned in as if to surprise kiss me. I dodged it.
I put my hands out to keep him away from me. “You need to stop this shit.”
“What the fuck are you doing, Zane?”
I knew that voice. I heard it every day and hopefully would for the rest of my life.
Why is my mate here?
“I was just thanking Jamie for saving me.” Zane backed away, now staring as the omega stormed in his direction.
“That is done with words, man. Not by trying to make out with a mated alpha.” Isaac followed Charlie. Not a surprise, although I still wondered why they were here.
As Charlie got closer, I noticed the expression on his face. This was unlike any I’d seen before on my mate. His face was flushed red, his eyes narrowed, and his lips pressed together in a thin line. My mate looked mad as hell, and I was only glad I wasn’t the focus of that anger.
Then I realized that the scene might turn ugly. Pregnancy hormones plus an omega who just saw another omega trying to attract his alpha did not equal anything good.
I caught my mate just as he went to pounce on Zane, Isaac helping me to block Charlie’s attempt to pummel the idiot.
“If I were you, I would run away right about now.” Thomas pointed at Zane.
“And stop with this bullshit. This man is mated to the one fate deemed perfect for him. There is nothing you or anyone else can do to separate these two. Do us all a favor and stop. At this point, you are looking like a crazy stalker. You are making omegas look bad.”
“I—” Zane backed away from our group, his eyes on Charlie, who was still fighting us to get to him. Finally, he turned to return to his apartment, and Jason signaled all was clear. “I gotta go.”
“Yeah, you better run.” Charlie struggled against my grip. Isaac had let go, with a big smile on his lips.
“You can quit the act now. He’s gone back inside.” Isaac shook his head, chuckling. “If that doesn’t scare him off of your man, I’m not sure what will.”
Charlie stood straight, his lips forming a sly grin. He winked at me.
“Did you seriously just pretend to be a rabid mate about to attack someone crouching on your territory?” I looked between Thomas, Isaac, and my mate. “I swear I thought I was going to have to subdue you there for a moment.”
“Honestly, I really got into the role.” Charlie shrugged. “You may have had to if he dared to keep up his shenanigans. Part of me wishes I had thrown hands. That might make him finally give up the chase.”
“We were just talking about what to do about Zane.” Thomas looked at my mate. “I never would have come up with that.”
“It was an impromptu thing.” Charlie leaned against the rig. “Isaac and I were visiting our friend Piere who lives in the complex, when we saw you guys parked out here. We were admiring you from afar when I saw Zane approaching and came up with the plan. Isaac was on board, so I went with it.”
“Well, I think it was a fantastic plan.” Thomas nodded and gave a couple of quiet claps. “I honestly wouldn’t have blamed you if you were that fed up with the guy. But the fact you were acting—brilliant.”
“Thanks.” Charlie reached out and forced my arms around him. I turned it into a real hug, quick. “But I can’t promise it won’t be real if there is a next time.”
“We’re ready to go.” Jason came up to our group.
“Is that omega up there bothering you, Jamie? We can put it in an official report, and that way, you have backup if you decide to pursue stalking charges or anything in the future. He seemed okay, just a bit love-sick. But you never know when that can turn toxic.”
“Part of me does, another part of me doesn’t want to do anything that might hurt his future once he finally wises up.” I blew out a breath, looking down at my mate in my arms. “What do you think?”
“Put a note in the case report, but don’t do anything beyond that yet.” Charlie looked up at me. “Let’s see if we got through to him this time. If not, we will consider stronger options for making him stop.”
“Okay.” Jason nodded. “I need to take your mate away from you again. Sorry. I promise to give him back tomorrow.”
Charlie pulled away with a little pout. “Fine. But promise you’ll keep him safe. From fires and from crazy exes who just won’t let go.”
“I’ll do my best.” Jason clapped me on the back and got into the rig. “Let’s roll out.”
I placed a kiss on Charlie’s head. “Love you, baby. See you tomorrow.”
“Love you too.” Charlie gave a tiny wave.
I got in the truck with the rest of the guys and waved out to my mate and Isaac. Thomas gave a head nod in their direction.
“Something going on between you and Isaac?” I whispered to Thomas, who had become one of my best friends over the years and usually spilled all his secrets.
He had been uncharacteristically silent lately on the dating front.
But I wasn’t blind to the subtle looks he had been giving a certain alpha over the last few weeks.
“Not ready to talk about it.” Thomas looked straight ahead. His features remained neutral, giving nothing away.
“Okay, man.” I bumped him slightly with my shoulder. “Just remember, I’m here if you need to talk.”
“I know. I will.” Thomas blinked twice. “Eventually.”
I wonder if Isaac is as tight-lipped as well. I’ll have to ask Charlie tomorrow.