Chapter 27
Hailey
“Where are you off to?” Merrick asked as I grabbed my car keys.
“Just going to visit Sunny,” I replied casually. We’d all eaten our pizza in relative silence as I tried to come to terms with what Nolan and Wilder had told me.
Merrick gave me a knowing look. We both knew I wasn’t going to see my friend, even though that would be lovely. No, I wanted to go see her alpha.
I had a few questions to ask him about my convict alpha. Walker was a good man, and both Merrick and I trusted him implicitly. Even though Nolan hadn’t wanted to tell anyone, I needed answers.
“Do you want me to go with you?” Merrick asked quietly.
“I think it’s best I go alone so the others don’t think we’re ganging up on them,” I said, dragging my feet to the living room where the rest of our pack was.
Merrick nodded. “Okay, but call me if you need anything.”
“I will. Thank you,” I told him, leaning up on tiptoes to kiss his cheek. He wrapped an arm around my waist and kept me there for a few seconds, embracing me warmly.
My heart was going haywire the entire drive to Sunny’s house. I could have gone and spoken to Walker at the fire station, but something about Nolan’s desperation to keep Preston’s identity a secret made me think twice about that.
I wasn’t sure if I could trust everyone at Station Sixteen, but I knew for a fact that I could trust Walker and his pack.
Pulling up outside their house, I sat in the driver’s seat for a moment, just thinking about what I was going to say. I would have to tell Walker everything, and I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it.
It was Blaze who opened the door, grinning at me. “Hello, Hailey. How are you doing? Are you here to see my beautiful child? Visitors are more than welcome, seeing as she’s been a bit ornery the last few nights, and we haven’t got much sleep.”
“Oh no, how is Sunny doing?” I said, almost glad for the change in direction of the conversation.
“We’re ensuring she gets plenty of sleep,” Blaze offered proudly.
“And what about the rest of you?”
“We’re used to very little sleep with our jobs, so we’re doing fine,” he said with a smile.
“Well, I’m actually here to see Walker, if that’s okay.”
Blaze looked taken aback for a moment. “Yeah, sure. He’s just in the kitchen. You’re welcome to go through.”
He gestured down the hallway, and I nodded thankfully before heading in that direction.
Walker was standing in the kitchen, flipping something in a frying pan that smelled suspiciously like bacon.
“Hailey! How are you doing? What can we do for you today?” He offered a bright grin. “Sunny's upstairs, relaxing.”
“I actually came by to see you if that's all right?”
“You know you're welcome anytime. What can I do for you?”
I took a deep breath, shuffling my feet. I didn't know how to say what I wanted to say.
Eventually, I just blurted it out. “Are you working with a convict named Preston at Camp Bower?”
Walker stopped minding the pan, going still for a minute before looking at me with utter confusion.
His eyebrows sank low as he stared at me. “How do you know that name?”
I took a deep breath. Lifting my hand, I grabbed the collar of my shirt and pulled it down so the bite mark was easily noticeable. “Because he and I accidentally bonded a few months back.”
“Fuuuck,” Walker hissed. “How?”
“Well, I went out drinking with a friend a few months ago. One thing led to another, and we accidentally bonded in an alleyway. He managed to tell me he was actually a convict firefighter before he absconded and left me on my own.”
Walker's face went pale, his head shaking. “Are you… Merrick?”
I took a deep breath, ignoring the knot of anxiety in my stomach.
“A lot happened, and I'm not sure I can condense it, but…well, Merrick is now part of Preston's pack. The other two members of the pack are in town looking after me because I'm pregnant and suffering from separation sickness. Merrick bonded with me because I didn’t think I could trust Preston or his pack to do it to ease my symptoms, and I am happy about him, but that’s not important right now. Tell me. Do you know Preston?”
Walker stammered for a moment, before collecting himself and shaking his head. “I do. Let's go sit in the living room and talk. Do you want a soda?”
“Cherry Coke if you have it, please.”
Walker nodded and grabbed a can from the fridge before handing it to me. We didn't say anything as he walked into the living room, having to step over a few of his son’s blocks littering the pathway.
“So, how do you know Preston?” I asked once we sat down.
Walker ran a hand over his face. “This cannot leave your pack, you understand?”
I nodded. “Of course.”
“I met Preston several years ago. He was a military firefighter, our paths crossed during a large wildfire outbreak where he was one of the smoke jumpers.”
“So he was a firefighter before a convict firefighter?” I asked.
“Yes. Last year, I was in charge of Camp Bower, or at least I was overseeing it, until a new warden came in, because we had an influx of convict firefighters help tackle the wildfires we've been having. Only recently…we've noticed a lot of drug-related issues in the camps.”
“Drugs?” My stomach clenched.
Walker grimaced, jerking his head in agreement.
“We weren't sure how it was happening. The place has really strict security, and all of the guards are well-vetted. We conducted a few investigations and came up with nothing, so we decided to contact an old friend of mine to see if he could help. Preston has firefighting experience. If we made a fake criminal record for him, he would be the ideal candidate for the convict firefighter program.”
I was on the edge of my seat. “So he never actually did anything wrong?”
“Not at all. Preston is one of the best men I've ever known. Fuck, Hailey. Why didn’t you come to me sooner?”
“I was worried that being bonded to a convict would put my job in danger, and Preston didn't exactly have time to tell me what was going on, did he?”
“Jesus, yeah, that’s fair. How are you doing now?”
“Better. The bond with Merrick really has helped.”
“So the flu that just wouldn’t go away…”
“Was separation sickness made worse by the fact that I’m pregnant.”
Walker shook his head. “I am so sorry this happened to you.”
“There's been very little communication with Preston, so can you tell me what’s going on? When is he coming back?”
“Well, given the situation, he should be coming back immediately. I’m going to have someone get in contact with him and try and extract him from there in the next few days.”
“Really? You can get him out that quickly?” I asked in surprise.
I knew that he would be coming to stay with us eventually, but now it felt like a real possibility. And I wasn't sure how I felt about that.
It was already difficult learning to live with his other two pack mates and Merrick. Would I even get along with Preston like that?
I knew we got along sexually, but just because a guy could make you see stars didn’t mean you could live together without wanting to commit homicide.
Walker nodded. “I’ll make it happen. No job is worth leaving behind their pregnant omega, and I’m sure Preston agrees. I'm pretty sure he would have told me himself if he had an easy way to contact me.”
“Why doesn't he?”
“It was part of the job. There's no way for me to be in regular contact with that camp and also allow Preston to get deep enough undercover to figure out what the hell is going on.”
“Nolan, one of his pack mates, went to go see him.”
Walker's face turned white. “Shit, is his cover blown?”
I shook my head. “I don't think so. Nolan simply pretended he was a lawyer seeing his client. Not that much of a stretch, considering he actually is a lawyer, and he’s dealt with Preston's bullshit several times from the sounds of it. He even gave the fake name that Preston has been using.”
“That’s good! That’ll keep him safe.”
I sat back in my chair. The nausea in my stomach eased somewhat after Walker reassured me.
So the good news was I wasn't accidentally bonded to a convict; I was just bonded to a complete stranger.
Not ideal, but better than the alternative.