Chapter 6 - Merrick
Merrick
Paperwork and more paperwork. That was what was on the agenda, so it caught me entirely off guard when Hailey walked into the firehouse.
Shit.
Whenever Hailey came around, I couldn’t help but watch her, against my will and higher reasoning. Still, she was magnetic; there was this pull to her I always experienced. With a blinding smile and that soft, subtle Southern accent, she was sweetness and fire all wrapped into one.
A small part of me tended to hover just because I wanted to get another whiff of her scent. Usually, our jobs meant that our scents were muddled. Smoke and sterilizing chemicals tended to do that.
But not with Hailey.
A few months ago, Hailey had come to the firehouse to help Sunny, who wasn’t feeling all that well. She hadn’t been working that day, and I hadn’t been ass-deep in cleaning up fire debris, so when she’d stepped through the doors of Station Sixteen, I’d been hit full force with her scent.
Strawberries. Sweet, delectable strawberries and cream.
My mouth had instantly watered when I picked up a faint trace of it while walking down the hallway toward my bunk room. At first, I’d thought it was Sunny baking again. She’d been making all sorts of goodies with her son, Luka. Having her and the kid at the firehouse was actually kind of wonderful.
You weren’t going to catch me complaining, at any rate. I loved kids; having them around just made things more lively.
Only, it occurred to me that Sunny was sick, so there was no way in hell that she was going to be making goodies.
Then I bumped into Hailey—literally.
We had met several times, and I knew how stunning she was. Who could miss that? Blonde hair and bright green eyes that made me wonder why a pack hadn’t snatched her up yet.
Her kindness and compassion when treating patients at the scenes of fires was what made my cold heart flutter in a way it hadn’t in a very, very long time, though. And I was not prepared for that in the slightest.
Hailey’s scent had been overwhelming at that moment, but not in a bad way. That sweet, undeniably omega fragrance scrambled my brain and made rational thought difficult.
Hell, it’s been nearly impossible to think of anything but grabbing her and kissing her.
In every way, I wasn’t interested in dating, but if Hailey asked me out, if she so much as hinted at it, I would be there in a heartbeat with the biggest bunch of flowers I could find.
Only, dating really wasn’t on the table, so I contented myself just watching, since it was impossible not to.
Except, today, she walked right up to me.
“Hey, Merrick.” She smiled sleepily, holding a folder up in the air. “I need some signatures from your boss regarding the Amhurst fire. Is he around?”
Her eyes had dark bags and were puffier than normal, like she’d been crying.
My stomach lurched, all my thoughts surrounding whatever was distressing her. Omegas tended to be pampered, but Hailey seemed more independent.
Everything in me itched to grab a blanket and wrap it around her, to ask her what was wrong and fix it. But that wasn’t my place.
“He’s in his office,” I said, stepping out from behind the front desk where I’d been sitting, pulling receptionist duty.
“I know the way.” She smiled again, but it didn’t reach her eyes. Waving the folder, she strode off in the direction of Walker’s office, her steps more hesitant than usual, like she was tired or sluggish.
I didn’t like it.
My feet acted of their own accord, following her to the office where Walker was sitting behind his desk.
“Hey, boss man,” Hailey greeted. “I need an autograph from you.”
Walker looked up from his desk, noticing me hovering behind the small omega.
“Sure thing. We really need to get fax machines or something, so you don’t have to keep doing this,” he said, getting up and taking the papers from Hailey.
The alluring woman snorted lightly, and the sound made my nerves sing. “Fax machines? We need to enter the twenty-first century and do digital signatures. Then we can do everything via email.”
Walker nodded. “Well, alright, then. Hmm… Okay, I need to pester someone up the chain of command to do that, but—Hailey…are you okay?”
“Fine!” she blurted, but her voice was overly cheery and cracked.
“You’re clearly exhausted,” I rumbled behind her, startling her a bit and making her look over her shoulder.
“Well, thank you for telling me I look bad,” she growled in that sweet, Southern accent, turning to me with a glower.
“That’s not what I said,” I insisted.
Hailey was beautiful; there was zero question about that. It was the fact that she was unwell that unsettled me.
“Hailey.” Walker glowered playfully at the omega, who softened under his gaze.
They were old friends, so she turned to me with a practiced smile again. “Sorry. I didn’t get enough beauty sleep. I’m a little rough around the edges. I promise I will go to bed early.”
She tried her best to speak confidently, with that bright, charming smile, but it fell flat. Her stare was a bit distant, even, her cheeks red.
Something was wrong.
Stepping forward, I plucked the file out of her hand and reached out to touch her face.
Warm and clammy.
“You’re burning up,” I said, my brows knitting together.
Hailey was a paramedic. She knew how to take care of herself. What was she doing coming into work when she was sick?
“It’s not that bad.” She waved off my concern, but was unsteady on her feet.
I glanced imploringly over my head at Walker, who frowned back at me with a nod.
“I’m taking you home,” I said, leaving no room for discussion.
“Wh—” she started to protest, but I simply handed the file to Walker, who took it, silently agreeing with me.
Gently but firmly, I guided her out of the room. Usually, if Hailey was at full health, she would have planted her feet solidly and refused to move. The fact that she only gave a few weak verbal protests let me know how bad this was.
“My car?” she asked as I guided her out of the station and toward my truck, not even bothering to grab my stuff. My priority was Hailey, making sure she was okay.
She needs you. Get this sorted.
“Someone will drive it back to your place later. You still live at the Orchid apartment complex, right?”
She turned her head to eye me hard. It was tricky to discern what she was thinking from that look, because her gaze was hazed over in that disorienting way, with her cheeks flushed bright red.
“How do you know that?” she asked, her tone confused.
“I dropped you off after the summer picnic last year. Your car had a flat.”
“Oh.” Realization washed over her face, then something else. Surprise? Curiosity? “I forgot about that. Maybe I blocked out that traumatic memory, since the asshole at the garage tried to charge me eight hundred bucks for a new tire.”
I hadn’t forgotten. No way in hell.
A week after dropping her off, my truck still smelled like strawberries, and I’d turned into a teenage boy unable to keep my hands off my cock for longer than a few hours because, every time I got into my truck, I was rock hard.
No other omega had that impact on me. When Sunny had stayed at the firehouse, before she was bonded, I thought her smell was nice, like all omegas, but it was nothing mind-blowing.
Hailey’s scent, on the other hand, sang to me in a way I’d never experienced before.
I’d been at its mercy, her mercy, from the moment it struck me.
“Why do you have such a big truck?” Hailey asked, attempting to clamber into the seat.
She was tiny compared to me, so the sheer height of my truck made it hard for her to easily get in. For a split second, I simply watched her stunning ass as she tried to jump into the seat.
“I like it.” I shrugged, shaking my head so that I’d stop ogling her. “Plus, it comes in handy.”
“I need a stepstool just to get in,” she complained, and it took everything not to laugh.
“No, you don’t. Here, I can just help you up.”
Grabbing her by the waist, I hoisted her into the front seat. A small squeak escaped her, and her eyes met mine, wide with surprise.
“T-thanks,” she stammered.
“’Course.” I smiled before walking around to the driver's side and getting in with no issues whatsoever. Her little glare at how easy it was for me made me smirk.
In a few short minutes, we were across town and in front of her apartment.
“I’m coming with you,” I declared, helping her down from the seat.
“I can walk up a few steps into my apartment. I’m not an invalid,” she insisted, but the weakness in her voice wasn’t convincing.
“I'm not negotiating. You’re going straight to bed. I’ll get you some food, and you’re going to rest.”
Hailey’s lips parted, her chest rising as she sucked in a breath, but then she closed her mouth and simply glared at me.
It only took a moment for her to find her words, though.
“I think I liked you better when you were less chatty.”
She narrowed her eyes, before turning and stomping off in the direction of her apartment. Even though she was attempting to go for angry, the staggering ruined the effect, and I hid a smile.
And I like you all the time, sweetness.
Hailey's apartment was just as I imagined it, with touches of pink everywhere and smelling like I’d walked into a pastry shop selling only strawberry shortcake with whipped cream.
The dining table had several piles of fabric on it along with a little sewing machine. I highly doubted any eating happened at that table. Hailey was known for making quilts and baby blankets. One of her creations was gracing the couch in the den of Station Sixteen.
In such a contained space, it was far more potent than I’d ever inhaled. In a moment, it infected my lungs and made my head spin.
Shaking myself into focus, I took a step farther into the apartment. As much as I wanted to lose myself in the delicious scent, Hailey needed looking after.
“Go get into some pajamas,” I instructed.
Hailey shot another look in my direction, which was too damn adorable, but did as she was told, grabbing some clothing from a white dresser and stomping into the bathroom.
While she did that, I made my way to the kitchen, opening up the fridge.
Where the hell is all the food?
The fridge was completely empty, other than a few bottles of condiments and what looked to be moldy, leftover Chinese food.
Surely, she typically ate decently? Given her job, she obviously knew the importance of proper nutrition.
When I heard the bathroom door open, I couldn't help but say something. “Do you have a single fruit or vegetable in this apartment?”
Hailey scowled at me. “I think I have fruit snacks in one of the cabinets, does that count?”
That sass got under my skin, lightning strikes beneath the surface that did something.
I glared right back at her. “You and I both know that doesn't count.”
“Ugh, I usually grab food while I'm working.”
She waved off my concern, taking a seat on her deep green sofa. She had changed from her work clothes into a set of pajamas, a shirt and shorts with little pink bows all over them.
I had to remind myself not to stare.
Focusing on her eyes, I gestured at the fridge. “You're unwell. You need to eat something real.”
“I've got leftover Chinese food.”
I held up said box of takeout. “You mean this? I think you made penicillin, Hailey.”
“Oh…” She trailed off for a moment.
With a sigh, I tossed the carton in the trash and started for the door. “You stay there, watch some TV, and I'll be back in twenty minutes.”
“Where are you going?” she asked, sitting up straight, her eyes widening.
“To get you some real food.”
“I don’t need—”
“I'm not asking,” I said simply.
Hailey opened her mouth again, but thought better of it, closing her lips and pinning me with a withering stare.
The thing was, I had been subject to Hailey's wrath once or twice. If she was truly pissed, I would know.
This time, her anger felt like that of a newborn kitten. Absolutely harmless.
I didn't know why she was so desperate to be independent, but my alpha refused to leave her there, sick and without proper food.
“Look, I know you can take care of yourself,” I told her, softening my voice. “But my alpha is going to go absolutely insane. I need to at least make sure you have food. Please. For me?”
The anger vanished from her face, replaced with a look of shock. She blinked several times at me, the cogs in her head visibly turning, then offered a small, accepting smile. “Fine.”
She sighed, sinking into the couch and wrapping a fluffy blanket around herself. Her eyes drooped the moment she got comfortable, and just like that, she was dozing.
For a second, I stared at her. She had gone from debating with me to sleeping in three seconds flat.
She must have been sicker than I realized.
An uneasy feeling settled in my stomach. Hailey was always so bold and vibrant; seeing her dulled was almost painful.
It was…wrong.
Pleased she was at least resting, I grabbed my keys off the counter and jogged down the stairs back to my truck.
There was an organic grocery store nearby, one of those places where a single banana costs two bucks. California was full of them, but I refused to drive thirty minutes to a normal grocery store and leave Hailey waiting that long.
With any luck, she would still be resting by the time I got back.
My plan was to feed her something that wasn't takeout, then let her sleep some more.
Throwing the truck into drive, I peeled out of the lot.
My chest was oddly tight at leaving Hailey.
Usually, I kept my distance, but with her sick…
I just couldn’t. For years, I had resisted getting close to her—I had family on the East Coast and always assumed I would return there one day, but now I simply didn’t care.
One look at Hailey unwell and all my priorities shifted.
Snatching up a basket, I rushed around the store, grabbing all the basics. Salmon, chicken, fresh produce. I kept my head down and focused on getting through the checkout as fast as possible.
I needed to get back to Hailey. I’d deal with what that meant later.