I watched Waverly and Makhail remove the boy’s father from the minivan. Alive. That was a relief, but his face had many cuts and bruises. Probably more on other parts of his body. I made sure Roe couldn’t see his dad as we headed to the fire truck.
“You and kids, huh?” Franks met me there with Lavina, the woman from Children’s Aid who came to every emergency scene where children were involved.
I shrugged. “I always end up with them even though I don’t have any of my own.”
“What are you waiting for?” Lavina chuckled. “Better find yourself an omega or a woman and have some of your own since you seem to be so good with them.”
I gave her a half smile, thinking of Ladon and how he hadn’t responded to any of my texts since we’d had sex. I believed we had a strong connection right away and tried to include his son where possible but had no idea how I’d screwed up. “Svensson. This is Roe and the dad is Lucas. His father is Tobias Svensson but is away on a business trip. They were heading to his poppa’s for a birthday party.”
Roe lifted his head. “And there’s cake in the trunk.”
“Yes, cake in the trunk. Until it’s cake time, here’s something for you.” After setting the boy down, I reached into the truck for a bottle of water and one of the granola bars. I opened the packages for him and watched as he devoured the bar then handed the wrapper back to me.
“Where’s my daddy?”
“He’s in the back of the ambulance now,” Lavina said, reaching for Roe’s hand. “I’m going to take you there and we’re going to see if we can get ahold of your father or your poppa, too.”
The boy looked up at me as if asking for permission.
I nodded. “Lavina will take you to the hospital to be with your dad.”
As Roe walked off with Lavina, Franks slapped me on the back. “These scenes are always harder when children are involved. Thank goodness he was okay, but it’s gut wrenching when they’re injured. Their bodies are so tiny and delicate to work on. And we never want to let a parent down.”
Vices clenched my chest. I’d been lucky enough to never have responded to a pediatric call or one where a child was injured. I couldn’t imagine having to tell a parent that their child didn’t make it. Even more so after briefly getting to know Kirin, a child I didn’t know if I’d get to see again. If only his dad would text me back. My dragon wanted me to go to his apartment and make my way back into his life, but I refused. I wasn’t an alpha who couldn’t control my beast.
Chapter Eleven
Ladon
“Daddy, the bus is missing.”
I glanced toward the layover stop on the other side of Main Street where we caught the bus on days we visited The Chicken Placeto pick up dinner before heading home. I was surprised it wasn’t yet there and that Kirin said something to me other than asking about Blaze. “I guess it’s running late. We’ve got time.”
It was my son’s birthday, and while I had brought treats and a cake for him to enjoy with his friends at day care, I’d promised Kirin we’d also go out for supper. As much as I didn’t want to hear about how he’d used his “blowing out the candles” wish to ask for a chance to see the firefighter I’d had sex with again, I couldn’t deny my son a special meal for his celebration. It wasn’t as if we had any family who would show up to honor his birthday.
When the light across the crosswalk indicated it was safe to go, we hurried across the street. Yet, when we arrived at the stop, there was still no sign of the bus.
“This stop is temporarily closed,” an alpha said from the doorway of the barbershop while a cigarette bobbed between his lips. “There was some kind of accident. You should have checked the app before you came here.”
“And you shouldn’t smoke.” Kirin glared at the man and crossed his arms before letting out a chuff of smoke.
“What the—”
Placing my hands on Kirin’s shoulders, I turned him around then took his hand so we could get away. Quickly. “Let’s go. We’ll walk there.” I didn’t need anyone questioning why he could produce smoke all on his own. Plus, The Chicken Place was only a few blocks away. We usually took the bus to save time, but thatmattered less than not giving anyone a chance to figure out what kind of shifter we were and claim we were a danger to society.
As soon as we turned the corner, I slowed down and released my son’s hand. “Kirin, you have to stop chuffing. If you want to be a firefighter, you can’t go around setting fires.”
He stomped his foot. “I didn’t start a fire. I didn’t even breathe fire. I only chuffed some smoke because he was rude to you.”
My heart melted a little and I couldn’t be mad at my son for trying to stand up for me. “I appreciate the gesture, but chuffing smoke is only going to cause us problems. There are other ways to handle alphas like him.”
Kirin knocked the toe of his shoe into the nearby post. “Next time, I’ll kick him.”
I chuckled, not sure that would be appropriate either, but I loved my little protector. “Let’s go get some chicken.”
For the next two blocks, Kirin spent half of it in front of me and the other half behind when something would catch his attention. The area wasn’t too busy, so I didn’t insist he remained at my side, but I still knew exactly where he was.
When we reached the end of the block, I took his hand again. The restaurant was to the left with the firehall Blaze worked at on the right. With one of the trucks parked out front, it looked like they had recently returned from a call. I hoped Kirin remained focused on getting chicken instead of asking to go see Blaze.
