33. Sunny
Chapter 33
Sunny
I should have known that things were going deceptively well. We were all in a happy little bubble that was going to be popped sooner or later. It had been a few weeks since we signed the legal paperwork, and everything felt… blissful.
Flitting around the firehouse kitchen, I prepared a large batch of chili in the slow cookers. Next to them was a little buffet of all the possible toppings the guys could want. Cheese, jalapenos, corn chips, stuff like that. The idea was that the guys could come and grab a bowl whenever it was good for them. They were always running in and out of the kitchen between calls and all the general firehouse tasks that, despite their best efforts, they didn’t get a chance to sit down together to eat often.
The least I could do was make sure my guys were fed.
It still felt weird to call them my guys , but there was no denying it anymore. The bite mark on my neck solidified the bond; there was no walking away from this.
Not that I wanted to walk away. I hadn’t even thought about finding my own place in a long time, and now it was obvious that I would be living with my pack instead of finding a place alone. The idea of living apart from the pack was almost physically painful. Deep down, I knew that was the bond, but there was no point in fighting it. We had just made our bond official; there was no changing things now.
I was a bonded omega, and I needed to get used to that. Every time I saw my brother’s pack spoiling their omega, I was green with envy. So, why was I so reluctant to let my pack spoil me in that way?
They wanted me, baggage and all. Blaze had also made it painfully clear that he was all in and excited to bond when the time was right.
Lost in my thoughts, I didn’t even register that Blaze had entered the kitchen until I was engulfed in that rich chocolate scent as he wrapped an arm around me from behind.
“What you making, sunshine?” he asked, his lips tickling my ear. There was a scuffling behind us, so I assumed someone else had entered the kitchen with him. Judging by the mild motor oil scent, it was Merrick.
“Chili.” I smiled. “It’s all in crock pots, so you can grab it when you’re hungry.”
“You’ve made us a feast!” he declared, kissing my neck. “Is there dessert?”
I pulled out of his grip, turning and kissing his cheek. “There will be, but not for a few hours. I was going to make some sort of cobbler. Hi, Merrick!” I craned my head around Blaze to smile at the quiet alpha.
“Good afternoon, Sunny.”
“Any cobbler requests?” I asked.
Merrick pursed his lips. He never asked for anything, so if he actually gave me a request, I was going to jump on it.
“Why does he get asked?” Blaze pouted. “I’m your man!”
I rolled my eyes. “You’re a spoiled brat, that’s why.”
Merrick’s lips twitched at my words. “Do you have the stuff for a peach cobbler?” he asked after a moment’s thought.
I beamed at him, ignoring Blaze’s pout. “I do! The farmers market had delicious peaches, so I’ll have a fresh one whipped up in a few hours.”
“Thank you.” He gave me a small smile.
“Sunshine!” Blaze whined, pulling me into his arms. “But I want a strawberry cobbler!”
“Then I’ll make you a strawberry one—but Merrick is getting his peach one first,” I told him in a firm but playful voice, picking up my wooden spoon and pointing it at him.
“Fine,” Blaze sighed. “I get that I’m not loved.”
Drama king.
“Shall I go tell Walker that you’re being mean to your teammates?” I asked, cocking an eyebrow.
Blaze held his hands up in surrender, a look of mild panic overtaking his features. “I’ll behave!”
“Now, either go get yourself some chili or get out of my way. Luka will be up from his nap soon, and I want to get a start on baking,” I said, shooing him out of the way.
He turned to leave, thought better of it, and turned back to me, grinning as he smashed his lips against mine in a quick, demanding kiss that made my legs quiver. Fuck. How could a quick kiss affect me so much?
“See you soon, sunshine!” he declared before scampering out of the kitchen, leaving me breathless and reeling.
What a butthead.
Merrick gave me another of those small smiles. “I’m going to grab some chili, if that’s okay?”
“Of course it is!” I said, taking a step back so he could easily access the food. Grabbing a mixing bowl, I made myself busy. No one wanted to dish themselves food with a neurotic omega hovering over them.
“I didn’t know if you were just cooking for your men,” he said as he grabbed a ladle.
Turning to him, I frowned. Did he really think I wouldn’t feed him as well? That was such a bizarre notion.
Then again, an omega cooking for their alphas was somewhat normal… an omega cooking for a firehouse was less so.
Putting my hands on my hips, I glowered at him. “Listen here, Merrick I-don’t-know-your-last-name, if I cook anything in this firehouse, it isn’t just for my pack. It’s for everyone, okay? I was making meals before we got all… chompy. So, don’t you dare assume any food isn’t for you, or I will clobber you with a wooden spoon, okay?”
The entire time I was berating him, Merrick had been looking at me, his eyebrows raised in surprise.
“Is that clear?” I asked when he didn’t answer.
He nodded, another little smile gracing his features.
Two smiles in twenty minutes? Clearly, I’m doing something right!
“Crystal clear, ma’am,” he said, before turning back to the chili and scooping a heaping portion for himself.
“Good.” I nodded, the wind under my sails deflating.
“Thank you,” Merrick said as he finished gathering his food and headed toward the table, leaving me to get to work on the baking.
“Actually!” I rushed to speak before Merrick left. “Would you grab that jumbo mixing bowl from the top shelf? I would grab it myself, but the guys freak out if I climb on countertops.” I grinned sheepishly. Walker had caught me one time, and the lecture had been almost an hour long.
Merrick gave me a really kind of look. “Of course, I will… and you shouldn’t be climbing on countertops,” he said as he put his food down and made to grab the mixing bowl in question.
“It’s not my fault you guys built this kitchen for giants!” I grumbled.
“To be fair, before you, Rune was the main cook,” Merrick pointed out.
“Okay, that’s fair,” I agreed. “I guess me being here is only temporary, so I shouldn’t complain.”
“I like having you here, it brightens up the place,” Merrick admitted as he handed me the bowl.
It took a monumental effort to stop my eyes from filling with tears at those words. Inadvertently, he had hit on a sore spot I didn’t even know I had. I knew my pack liked me—they had hammered that fact into my head—but the other firefighters? I had no clue how they saw my intrusion. Gil seemed to be relaxed, but Merrick was so quiet, it was hard to know what he was thinking. And the other guys coming in and out of the kitchen seemed to keep to themselves a bit more. Or had Walker warned them to stay away from me? I wouldn’t have been surprised.
Naturally, I wanted all of them to like me. They worked with my pack day in and day out and were responsible for their safety.
“Okay,” I whispered with a nod, clutching the mixing bowl to my chest.
Merrick smiled at me, grabbed his food, and went to the table to eat.
Bowl in hand, I started pulling out the ingredients for the cobbler, grabbing the peaches from the fridge.
Merrick’s cobbler first, because he never asked for anything, then Blaze’s strawberry cobbler wouldn’t take too much time to whip together.
I was just starting to sift the flour when I was disturbed again.
“Look who woke up early,” Rune said as he walked into the kitchen, a very sleepy Luka in his arms, rubbing his eyes with his little fists.
“Oh baby, I didn’t hear you!” I cooed as I put the flour down.
“He wasn’t crying. I poked my head in to check on him, and he was babbling away to himself.” Rune chuckled. “He’s going to be speaking in full sentences in no time.”
I grimaced. “That’s hard to believe. It feels like just yesterday he was a newborn who couldn’t even hold his head up.”
Rune took in the supplies laid out on the counter. “You baking?”
I nodded. “Yeah, but it can wait. I need to give Luka some food, he’s probably hungry.” As I spoke, I reached for my apron and started untying the string.
“No, you bake. I’m happy to feed the little man. How about some scrambled eggs?” he asked me.
Pausing, I glanced at Rune. He was doing so much with Luka, I was starting to feel guilty.
“If you don’t want me to, I totally understand,” he said calmly.
“No! No, it’s not that.” I sighed. “I want you to, if you want to. I’m just used to doing everything for him myself, sometimes it hits me that he doesn’t need me as much anymore.”
Rune snorted. “Trust me, Cher, he needs you plenty. You’ve just been running yourself ragged caring for him for so long, it’s natural you’ve become a little bit of a control freak.”
“Control freak?” I cried.
Rune shrugged, a grin on his face. “If the shoe fits…”
They had cared for Luka while I was sick, but that was different. I had been unable to. Now I was healthy, I had an overwhelming need to do everything for my son.
I needed to let that compulsion go. Ignoring the tightness in my chest, I glanced at Rune.
“Go feed my child some eggs and stop yapping, or no cobbler for you,” I grumbled.
“Yes, ma’am.” He grinned, leaning down to softly kiss me before turning to the fridge, Luka still in his arms.
He wasn’t wrong. When it came to Luka, I was a bit of a control freak, but I wasn’t going to admit that out loud. I knew now that I was part of a pack, caring for him was going to be a little different, but letting go was proving difficult.
The peach cobbler was cooling on the counter, and the strawberry was ready to come out when my phone started to ring. Pulling the cobbler out quickly, I grabbed my phone off the counter.
Checking the caller ID, I bit my lip.
Storm.
I had stuck to mainly texting with him over the last few weeks, not sure how to address my current situation. I could only avoid him for so long, though. With a sigh, I picked up the phone.
“Hey, Stormy!” I greeted warmly.
“Sunny Solace Sanderson! Where the fuck are you?” he thundered through the phone, his voice a combination of fear and anger.
Shit.
I stilled, panic taking over for a moment.
“W-what do you mean?” I asked.
Rune turned to look at me, confusion on his face.
I shook my head, before mouthing my brother.
He nodded, but didn’t seem too pleased at my expression.
“Well, I decided to bring Charlotte to visit her auntie and cousin because we’ve hardly spoken in weeks, and imagine my surprise when I find your apartment building went up in flames six fucking weeks ago?”
Double shit.
“Stormy,” I started to say, but words failed me.
“Are you safe?” he asked.
“Yes! I am, I promise that!” I rushed to say.
“Where are you?”
“I’m staying at a firehouse. They had a spare room and let me use it because a single omega and a child couldn’t really go to a shelter.”
“Shelter? You should have come here!”
“Kennedy had just given birth!” I growled. “You missed the newborn time with Charlotte. I wasn’t going to mess up your newborn days with Samuel!”
“You wouldn’t have messed it up! Where are you? I’m coming to see you right now. I’ll take Charlotte home, then come right there. Tell me the address.”
There was no getting out of this. I knew my twin well enough to anticipate that if I refused to give him the address, he would go to every firehouse in the city in an attempt to find me.
I took a deep breath, knowing what I needed to do. He was going to see me; he wouldn’t rest until he saw me with his own eyes. Which meant he would also see the claiming bite on my neck.
“Storm, don’t freak out, but there’s more.”
My brother made a sound like he was choking on air. “What more can there be?”
Well, I better rip off the Band-Aid…
“I’m bonded and have a pack now.”
It took a while for him to stop cursing and his words to become understandable again.