5. Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Raphael
There was something about that omega human paramedic. My dragon purred with delight the moment we saw him. I knew it deep within my scales that he was the reason I was drawn to Willowdale.
Ever since he had stopped by the station, I hadn’t been able to stop looking out the window, hoping to catch sight of him again. His scent lingered on me, and I was desperate to see him again in person. Maybe I’d make my way over there. I could make up some excuse to see him.
“Don’t worry,” Levi said, standing next to me at the kitchen sink, looking out the window across the street. “You’ll see him again. We run into the EMTs all the time.”
I didn’t want to say the words out loud that had been ringing through my mind, but I couldn’t stop myself. “I think he might be what I’m looking for.”
“Well, good. Otherwise, all this obsessive pining for a man you interacted with for less than five minutes would be weird. But don’t take him away from us, all right? We’re rather fond of Luca around here.”
“He’s the only human I’ve encountered since I’ve been here. Granted, I haven’t been here long, but the place doesn’t scent of humans at all.”
“They don’t tend to stick around,” Levi said. “And it’s easier if they don’t. We’re not against having humans around—clearly, we love Luca—but it’s just easier when they aren’t sticking their noses in things. We like to be able to shift and run or talk about shifting. We don’t have to worry about keeping our kids from shifting. When humans are around, we can’t truly be ourselves. The only humans here are mates or Luca.”
“So, is the hope that Luca will move on?” I asked.
“Not at all. We love him. He probably thinks we’re all weird as hell, but we couldn’t drive him out. We didn’t even try. He’s good people. He’s special.”
“He is indeed.” My dragon rumbled at that. Luca was special because he was ours.
“Although, I think he’s on to us. He thinks we’re all a little weird—but he likes us anyway. Theo—he’s my younger brother—is close friends with him.”
If what I thought was true—if Luca was more important to me and my dragon than I could yet admit—then he would know our secret sooner or later. The rest of the town wouldn’t have to worry about hiding themselves from him because he would learn about us.
Before I could dwell on that thought, the alarm sounded, and each of our pagers went off. The lights flashed, letting us all know that we had an emergency to tend to.
“We got a live one! Barn fire out on Turner Road. The old sheep barn. Get dressed,” Tyler shouted. “Newbie, you’re going on a run on your first day.”
“I haven’t even filled out my paperwork,” I said. I wasn’t actually concerned about that.
“We’re not too worried. Besides, you’re a dragon—you’re fireproof, right?”
I laughed because, yes, I was indeed fireproof. That wasn’t the only reason I went into this career. My dragon and I loved helping people, and this was one way we could help most. I could go into fires that others wouldn’t dare.
Which was exactly why it was impossible for me to work on human crews. They never really understood how I could run into a burning building and get people out safely without a scratch, or how I always seemed to know exactly how a fire was going to spread or how it was going to grow.
I rode in the back of the truck as Tyler sped down the street with the sirens blaring. The ambulance was ahead of us, and I knew Luca was in there.
Once we arrived at the fire, the structure was engulfed in flames. The old wooden barn was secluded from the other building on site, but there were trees surrounding it. The crew set to work. It wasn’t a raging fire, so I observed more than anything, helping wherever I was needed.
“Please!” a woman cried, panic thick in her voice. She went straight for Tyler. “Alpha. He’s in there! He hasn’t come out yet. I know he’s in the barn!”
Tyler spoke into the walkie-talkie, alerting the ambulance crew and the rest of us.
“We have a person inside. Doug is in there. Fifty-year-old male. Susan, do you know where he might be in there? What was he working on?”
“I-I-I don’t know. He might be in the pen getting it ready for the sheep we bought last week. They’re supposed to arrive tomorrow. Oh god!” Tyler wrapped his arm around her shoulder.
“We’ll find him. You’re up, dragon,” Tyler said.
I nodded. This was what I lived for. I wore my turnout gear, but it was mostly for show. I could walk in there without feeling the heat.
Levi and AJ flanked my sides. The two covered the entrance while I made my way inside. The flames licked the walls, igniting everything they came in contact with. If the man had been trapped in here the whole time, even with his shifter blood… we needed to act fast.
I’d never been in the barn before. Luckily the crew had. They gave directions to me through the system in our helmets. I walked carefully. With the smoke it was hard to see, and I didn’t want to trip.
“Doug usually parks his tractor to your left,” Levi’s voice echoed through the headset that was wired inside my helmet. “It’s possible he’s there. Or perhaps the loft.”
“I’ll check the loft first. Before it comes down around us.”
I quickly spotted the ladder leading up to the loft.
“I’m heading up,” I said.
“Roger.”
The climb wasn’t graceful, but I made it quickly. The rickety ladder strained under my weight. My heart pounded. I wanted to find this person. He was a member of the town that I called home, and though I had never met him and I hadn’t been in town long, I felt the connection.
Once I reached the top, I looked around. There were stacked bales of hay that smoked, moments away from igniting.
My eyes shifted to those of my dragon. I was able to focus through the haze, and that was when I spotted him.
There, in the corner of the loft, a man lay unconscious.
He had likely hurt himself trying to escape—or the smoke had gotten to him. I pulled off my mask and placed it over his nose. The wood beneath my feet creaked and groaned. Ash and soot danced in the air around me. The roof wasn’t going to hold for much longer. I had a choice to make.
I shucked off my jacket and put it over Doug. He groaned as I lifted him in my arms. Just as I was considering how to get him down the ladder, the loft gave way.
The fire had eaten through its supports.
I kept the man in my arms as I hit the ground, taking the brunt of the fall myself to shield him. Debris landed on my shoulder, but I pushed it off and got to my feet.
Now I just needed to find my way out, even if that meant bursting through the wall.
“Raphael! Talk to us!”