3. Sunny
Chapter 3
Sunny
W arm arms hugged me to a smoky chest.
I should have been terrified. I mean, this man was huge , almost comically so. My head would hardly reach his very wide, very firm chest, which the firefighting gear did very little to hide.
He had a thick layer of stubble and short hair in the same dark color. His eyes were a deep brown and full of concern. There was a slight crooked tilt to his nose, like he had broken it before.
He should have looked hardened, rough and ready. And he did—don’t get me wrong—but the look on his face was so caring, it made me feel immediately at ease with him.
An overwhelming smell of graham crackers hit me, and there was something so safe about it. It may have been the adrenaline wearing off, or maybe it was the smell of the alpha who pulled me into his arms, but the floodgates opened, and I proceeded to messily sob all over him.
I hadn’t been around many safe alphas. My brother and his pack didn’t count, because they were family. They wanted nothing from me, whereas alphas who were strangers…
“It’s okay, Cher,” he muttered in a light Cajun accent, his ungloved hand gently running through my hair in a soothing gesture. “Blaze is the firefighter with your boy. He’s my pack mate, and your boy seems rather taken with him.” He chuckled.
“He loves fire trucks,” I said through my sobs.
My body swayed as the alpha holding me laughed lightly. “Luckily, we have a few of those to keep him amused while the paramedic here checks you over. You were completely out of it when we found you.”
“How is Luka?” I asked, looking up at him, trying to right myself but failing miserably.
“He seems good. A little distressed, as is to be expected, but he seemed to avoid the worst of the smoke. Did you wrap the damp cloth around his face?” I nodded. “Well, that was a damn smart move, Cher. You protected your little boy. The blankets under the door were another good call. You did everything right.”
His reassurance that I had done well, that I wasn’t a complete failure of a mother, set off another wave of tears.
Now that the adrenaline was wearing off, I was shaking and oh-so-fucking drained. The firefighter, who had yet to tell me his name, didn’t let go of me as the paramedic placed an oxygen mask over my mouth and fussed over me. They put a little monitor on one of my fingers and checked things like blood pressure and pulse.
The entire time, the firefighter didn’t leave me.
“You’re doing amazingly, Cher. They’re just checking your blood oxygen now,” he explained softly.
I nodded, letting them do whatever they wanted to me as I came down from my high, shaking.
“My name’s not Cher…”
He chuckled, a warm sound I wanted to sink into. “It’s a term of endearment where I’m from.”
“Oh…”
I liked that.
The firefighter frowned when he noticed my trembling. As he pulled back, out of my personal space, I had to resist the urge to sob harder.
I needed him near. I couldn’t explain why , but the idea of him not being at my side made me panic.
Maybe I was feeling a little more sensitive because of everything I had just been through. Omegas tended to need more care, more affection. They sought out comfort and reassurance from alphas.
I didn’t usually, but that was because I had tried and been burned before.
Only, with this guy, the idea of him turning away made my chest tighten with even more panic.
My worry abated when, instead of turning away, he unzipped his bulky firefighter jacket and threw it over my shoulders, enveloping me in warmth and a heavy dose of that graham cracker scent that made my body preen with happiness.
“Can’t have you cold now, can we?” he muttered.
I opened my mouth to reply when a smooth voice called out, approaching from the left of me. “Look who’s ready to see their mama!” A firefighter wearing only his bulky bottoms and a dark gray shirt walked over to us, Luka on his hip, and set him gently on the stretcher.
“Luka!” I cried in relief, holding my arms out for him. He crawled into my lap, snuggling into me. A scent that wasn’t his own clung to him, a deep, rich chocolate with a hint of spice—maybe cinnamon?
“He’s been cleared by the paramedics and is good as gold,” the firefighter told me.
Ripping my eyes away from my son, I actually looked at the man who had just handed me back my child.
The alpha .
I shouldn’t have been shocked; most firefighters were alphas. Their natural inclination to athleticism meant that they gravitated to athletics and high-activity jobs, like emergency services.
He was clearly the source of the chocolate cinnamon scent that was making my head spin.
“Hey, I’m Blaze—yes, I know the name is hilarious, considering my job. What’s your name, sunshine?” he asked, his eyes raking over me and the way the other firefighter was hovering over me. His dark curls were falling in front of his face, damp with sweat as he beamed at me.
“My name is Sunny,” I croaked.
Blaze blinked a few times, his face breaking out into a gigantic grin. “Well, I think that’s the perfect name for you, sunshine.”
“His name is Luka, right?” the large, bulky firefighter asked.
“Yes,” I said, stroking Luka’s hair out of his face as he burrowed into my chest and into the firefighter’s jacket.
“Beautiful name,” he said in that gruff Cajun lilt.
“You haven’t told me your name,” I pointed out.
He looked at me, startled, like he was shocked that he’d forgotten to do that. “Rune. My name is Rune.”
Rune. The name suited him perfectly.
He didn’t make any moves to leave as the paramedics cleared me, insisting I rest and take it easy because my throat was going to be sore for a while.
“When can we get our stuff?” I asked, looking up at the building. The fire seemed to be winding down. The firefighters weren’t rushing around nearly as much, and there was considerably less smoke.
Rune frowned. “The building isn’t going to be safe to enter for at least a week or two.”
Crap. That was going to be an issue. As much as I wanted to stay and bask in the delicious scents of these two alphas, it was the middle of the night, and I needed to make a plan for my next steps. Luka needed to sleep, and exhaustion was weighing heavy on me as well.
“Do you have somewhere else you can go, sunshine?” Blaze asked, his voice full of concern, and I didn’t miss the way Rune’s grip on my arm tightened slightly.
Did I have anywhere to go? My only family was my brother, and usually, he would be there for me in an instant, but his life had been totally upended recently.
“M-my brother. Storm. Only… his omega just had a baby. I don’t think they have room for us, and I don’t want to impose when Kennedy is postpartum,” I mumbled.
“Storm? Your brother’s name is Storm?” Blaze chuckled. “Sunny and Storm?”
I nodded. “We’re twins, and our parents were total hippies. At least I got a semi-normal name.”
Rune chuckled. “Blaze, man, you can’t say jack about names. You’re a firefighter named Blaze .”
The younger firefighter pouted. “I mean, I guess you’re right.” He sighed.
“I don’t know where to go,” I admitted in a small voice. I didn’t have much money, and most hotels were expensive in the local area.
“Usually there’s a shelter we can point people in the direction of…” Blaze said, but his voice was unsure.
“No.” Rune shook his head, a slight growl to his voice. “There’s no way she’s going there.”
Blaze nodded in agreement. “Yeah. It doesn’t seem right.”
“Not happening,” Rune repeated, giving Blaze a hard, almost angry look.
“Care to explain?” I asked in a croaky voice.
Blaze grimaced, shaking his head. “The shelter isn’t exactly the safest place. It’s usually men there, not much security, and we’ve never seen an omega there, and children are a rarity.”
I knew just the kind of place. If given the option, I would have probably been safer staying on the street.
“Well, I guess there’s only one thing to do.” Blaze grinned, a wide smile lighting up his entire face. “We've got plenty of beds at the station—you’re coming back with us!”