Chapter 8 - Hailey
Hailey
“Should I feel special, getting a house visit?” Melody asked as I wrapped the bandage around her wrist, taking care not to aggravate the sensitive skin.
The sweet omega was curled up in her nest in her pack house as I changed the bandaging on her hands. No matter how crappy I felt, I wanted to check in on her. Her shelter had been set on fire for the second time. This sweet omega just wanted to help animals, and fate kept dealing her a shitty hand.
Then again, I had a feeling her luck was about to change, considering she was now happily bonded with a pack of her own.
Elliot and his pack were good alphas, and I knew they would take damn good care of her.
I was thrilled for her—and maybe a tad jealous.
Not of the fire, of course, but at least her mates hadn’t been her problem.
Sunny, who was postpartum, was sitting cross-legged at the edge of the nest with Dottie, Melody’s little Dalmatian puppy, sitting in her lap as she absentmindedly chomped on her finger. Puppies loved to chew everything.
“I didn’t get a house visit.” Sunny pouted playfully.
“Not true. I came to the firehouse when you were sick!” I declared, shaking my head as I slowly wrapped the bandage around the other omega’s hand. “And I made a baby blanket for you.”
“Yeah, but you're always going to fire stations to help the firefighters who do dumb things, like forget their masks. I never got a house call…”
“You got a house call after you gave birth!” I chuckled.
It had been a fleeting visit, but I had stopped by, waved hello to her and her new baby daughter, and given them the baby blanket. I’d refused to go into the house fully, considering I looked like death, and they thought I had the flu.
Can’t get little babies sick.
Sunny cocked her head to the side. “But you were visiting as a friend, not professionally. By the way, that baby blanket you gave us is the best thing ever, and I am obsessed with it. I can’t believe you make them.”
“You’re amazing at making blankets,” Melody agreed, smiling at me. “I am so thankful that all the ones you made for the rescue were here, instead of at the rescue, when the fire happened.”
I beamed at Melody. I always liked hearing when my little creations helped people. “Well, if they had been, I would’ve just remade them for you! Okay, let me grab some tape, and you’re good to go. But you still need to be careful, and we’ll keep checking on this.”
The other two omegas started chatting about the asshole brother who’d burned down the rescue as I focused on cleaning and taking away the dirty bandages.
This felt normal and comfortable, something that was rare these days, and I didn’t realize how much I’d needed it. But the separation had taken its toll on me, making it difficult to do the very things that made me happy.
“What is that?” Melody asked suddenly, leaning forward.
My heart plummeted as it dawned on me that, as I moved, the neck of my soft sweater had fallen down, exposing the bite mark.
Shit.
My face flushed bright red, cheeks positively burning. “Oh, uhh, nothing!”
I desperately hoped I could brush off the whole situation, like it never happened. Grasping the neck of my sweater, I tugged it up, trying to conceal the mark.
Unfortunately, from the other end of the bed, Sunny put the dog down and scrambled over to take a look. “That’s a bonding mark!” she declared enthusiastically.
My stomach dropped further as I started to shake. Fear, panic, I wasn’t sure why, but everything felt too hot and tight and wrong. Waving my hands, I shooed both of them away, a little too aggressively, and I internally kicked myself.
“Shhh! Please don’t say anything.” I glanced toward the door, praying that none of Melody’s guys could overhear us.
“Why? You know the guys won't give a damn,” Melody said, frowning, that crinkle forming in the middle. “Unless… Is it another firefighter?”
Both the omegas made noises of excitement, but I only felt dread.
“You joining our ranks as a firehouse omega?!” Melody asked excitedly, oozing that joy for a friend that I wished I could appreciate at the moment.
“No, umm—maybe. Ugh!” I broke off in frustration.
Part of me knew it was best to keep my situation a secret, but another part of me desperately wanted to talk about it. I’d been on my own in all of this, and carrying that around all day, every day had beyond drained me.
“Look, if I tell you, you can’t tell your guys. This is very new, I’m very confused, and I don’t know what I’m going to do,” I rambled.
Melody leaned closer, placing her non-injured hand over mine in a comforting gesture. I practically melted into it.
Sunny and Melody glanced at each other as the silence persisted before Sunny turned to me, her energy calm now.
“Hey, we can keep a secret from our pack if need be. Are you okay? This is making me worried.” Sunny scooted forward, putting her hand on my shoulder.
“Is there anything we can do to help?” Melody offered.
She really was such a sweet omega, and the concern on her face nearly made me tear up. I was surrounded by women who cared, and I didn’t know why, but that was almost worse.
“No, I just—” I broke off, running my hands through my hair, despite how they were shaking.
“Talk to us,” Melody said with a sympathetic smile. “We're here to help.”
“I don't think you can help,” I whispered. “The other night, I was stressed out about life things, and I decided to go into town to the local bar and have a few drinks. I met an alpha, and his scent was amazing. It was like crack. But…ugh. The next thing I know, we’re fucking in the back alley behind the bar.”
“Heck, yeah!” Sunny giggled, clapping, before reeling it in while still giving me a look. “Girl, you deserve to get laid.”
“You work so hard for everyone, with the blankets and house calls; you do deserve something nice,” Melody agreed, adding, “but you don’t seem…happy.”
“Yeah, well. I was happy about getting laid against a wall in an alley until something weird happened. I don’t know what came over me. I accidentally…bit him, and he bit me back.”
Sunny and Melody stared at each other for a moment, their faces unreadable. I hated the silence now, each moment like walking on the edge of a knife.
“You bonded someone you’d just met?” Melody asked in shock. “That's not normal, is it?”
She turned to Sunny. Melody was rather new to being an omega. She had only presented recently, after the first fire at her rescue. It was a whole thing with delayed blooming, so I didn’t blame her for her ignorance.
“It's not. Don't get me wrong—it happens occasionally when an alpha and omega are really closely scent matched,” I said. “But no. It’s not common. Still, like it or not, we are bonded now. And I don’t know what to do about it, because I don’t even know the guy. What if he makes a terrible mate?”
“Well, what's he like?” Sunny asked gently, and I could see how encouraging she was trying to be with her smile.
I shrugged, eyes dropping to the space between us. “He's sweet enough, but that's not the main problem.”
The pair looked at each other in shock again, and I knew that as soon as I admitted the truth, they would be way worse than shocked. Hell, I worried that they’d be less willing to hang out with me after the bomb drop.
“So… After we bonded, I asked him to come back to my apartment because it wasn't far, and clearly, we needed to talk. That was when he admitted he was part of the…convict firefighter camp and had actually broken out for the night. We had bonded, and then bam! He just up and left, hightailing it out of there because he’d already broken a rule, big time.”
“To go back to jail?” Sunny exclaimed quietly.
I nodded, sitting on the bed with a grimace. I was the paramedic who made baby blankets, but now I was the omega who’d fucked a criminal behind a bar. Ugh, I felt gross.
“Yep. My choices are pretty limited here, as you can see.” I slumped, still shaking slightly. “I accidentally bonded with a felon. God, that sounds like the title to an unbelievable romance novel.”
We all glanced between each other, lost for words, because what was there to say? We couldn’t alter reality, as much as I wanted to.
“If you need anything, don't hesitate to call us. Are you sure you don't want to tell our guys? They might be able to help or come up with a potential solution,” Melody insisted.
I shook my head. “No, he wasn't supposed to be in town that night, and he could get into a lot of trouble. He could be carted off to another facility. The distance would mean that I would have to leave because of the bond. I’m already struggling enough…” I trailed off.
“Oh, girl.” Melody sighed, pulling me in for a hug.
I sagged in her grip, needing the embrace more than I could put into words.
“I don’t know. I’m not like this. I don’t make rash decisions and just throw caution to the wind.
I’m a medical professional, for Christ’s sake.
I don’t know how I ended up in this situation.
I still hardly know anything about the guy, and I feel royally stupid for letting myself get carried away like that. It was just his scent… It was so…”
A sob broke free, and for a moment, the three of us all huddled into each other and let me get it out. I needed a good cry. Everybody did occasionally, and these two women held me tightly and whispered words of comfort as I sobbed.
They really were incredible friends.
“Okay, enough of this.” I sniffed, pulling myself up and trying to shake off the funk. “Let’s finish bandaging you up and talk about those sexy men of yours.”