“How did this happen?” one of them asked me.
“They pushed her back in, trying to get themselves out.”
“Fuckers,” the paramedic muttered. They transferred my mom onto a gurney and got her into the back of the ambulance.
The fire department chucked a carbon dioxide bomb into the building to smother some of the flames before using the water they carried in their tanks to get the rest under control. There was nothing worth saving in the building, and frankly, it probably should’ve been condemned years ago.
Hunter stood by my side while we gave our statements.
“Omega-kidnapping scum,” one of the officers grumbled. “Your fathers will be held without bail until their trial, and once your mother is out of the hospital, she’ll get locked up too.”
“She needs to be watched,” I bit out. “You’ve already seen what she’s willing to do for vengeance.”
“Don’t worry. She’s still in police custody, even if she’s in the hospital. She’ll be handcuffed to the bed, and an officer will be in charge of monitoring her.”
“Good.”
“Was this a fucking meth den?” one of the firefighters shouted.
“I wouldn’t put it past them,” I muttered. “It was when I was a kid, so they probably resurrected it.”
The lead officer on the case stepped over to us. “Sounds like that caused the fire.”
“But it was?—”
“Sounds like it was a meth explosion,” he said firmly, staring me down until I nodded. “They’ve already racked up a million-mile long list of offences. So far as we’re concerned, you arrived to convince them to turn themselves in, and there was an unfortunate accident.”
I stared at him for a long moment, not about to look this gift horse in the mouth. “Okay.”
“Get back to your omega and new baby. We have everything we need for now.”
Hunter hustled me into the car, planting me on the passenger side before sliding into the driver’s seat. “Holy fucking shit.”
“It’s over?”
Hunter turned on the car, the comforting rumble of the engine soothing me. “Sure seems like it.”
“It’s over,” I said again to myself.
“Clover and the baby are safe,” Hunter reaffirmed. “Your chosen family loves you more than anything, and your parents should be out of the picture for a long fucking while. Good riddance.”
“You fucking said it.”
Chapter 52
Avery
Clover noticed me standing in the doorway like a complete creeper and waved me over.
My girls had been home for three weeks now, and I couldn’t stop admiring them together. Clover was cozy in her nest, freshly showered, in a pair of pink silk pajamas, Blossom tucked into her arms.
Blossom. That was what we’d named our daughter. Clover had mentioned the name and said she liked that it matched hers with the nature theme. Meadow and her son had a similar theme, and it was adorable.
A perfectly beautiful name for a perfectly beautiful little girl.
Clover could’ve pulled any name out of a hat for the baby, and we’d have rolled with it after everything she went through to bring her into the world.
Parker probably had some family name he wanted to pass down, but he’d taken one look at Blossom after she’d gotten her name and he’d instantly melted.
