Bastian nodded. Both of those ideas would be helpful. “Are you sure? That seems like a lot of work for you both.” He could just grab something in town.
Dean was already crossing the kitchen. “It will mean more to Hudson that this is something special that you did for him.”
“Thank you,” Bastian said sincerely.
“This is what family does,” Axel replied. “While they do that, is there anything you can think that Hudson would like?”
“Flowers!” Bastian said quickly. “He loved the roses I got for dinner but he was also talking to Bas, the cat, about fixing up his backyard and adding a garden.”
“There are some gorgeous wildflowers growing that I could show you. Adam keeps them healthy and thriving,” Axel offered.
“Would he be okay with that? Me picking the flowers?” Bastian didn’t want to piss off the master of hell’s mate.
“He’ll love that you are taking them to your mate. And he’ll be able regrow them easily,” Axel replied with a smile.
“I’d really appreciate it then,” Bastian said. He looked around the room at the men who’d shown up when he’d sent the text about Hudson fighting a fire. He’d received a message from everyone in the family as matter of fact. Offers to come home or requests of what they could do.
Family.
The longer Bastian was there, the more he understood.
And now that he had a mate to protect and care for, having the support of the family meant the world to him. Hudson had his brother and friends, but Bastian was hoping to bring him a whole collection of paranormal family that would love the human to pieces.
* * * * *
Hudson
Exhaustion rode him as hard as the fire engine tires on the road. Hudson remained with his head back against the seat with his eyes closed. The barn had been a complete loss. Theysmothered the fire with water then went further, tearing down the wood of the barn, ensuring that no embers remained.
Captain Devlin had spoken to the owner of the land, who wasn’t in town yet. The owner had been upset but thankful that no one had been hurt.
Hudson was grateful for that as well.
At least on the way back to the station, his captain had been talking to Easton about the suspicious fires. It was a relief finding out he was not being the only one worried about what was happening around their town.
He kept his eyes closed, praying that the headache that pulsed around his temples, would go away once he was back at the station. A hot shower, clean clothes, and maybe some aspirin would hopefully Hudson would be able to savage the rest of the day.
“Pulling up Bud,” Phil whispered. “We’ll all get cleaned up. Maybe order some pizzas or something.”
Hudson forced himself to sit up. He was starving and that would be the pick me up that Hudson could look forward to. They were passing the last of the stores before they returned to the station.
“Who’s that?” Phil asked before making the turn to back into the bay.
“Where?” Hudson leaned forward asking.
“Black truck on the curb,” Phil said.
Hudson didn’t know who the truck belonged to. Peering out the front window, he kept an eye on the visitor. It wasn’tuncommon that members of the community stopped by, but Hudson wasn’t in the mood to socialize.
“It had better not be someone complaining about the sirens earlier,” Phil commented sourly.
Yeah, that had actually happened after the last fire. Hudson shrugged. “We’ll let Cap deal with it while we clean up.”
“Sounds good,” Phil agreed.
The engine was slow to rumble to quiet as Phil turned the truck off.
The door felt like it weighed a hundred pounds as Hudson pushed it open. He dropped down onto the concrete with a groan. Beside him, EJ pulled the ambulance in. EJ was grinning as he pointed out the front windshield.
