We send Cato up to fetch Hestia once she’s out.
Our omega is fresh and clean when they return, but I notice a shadow in her eyes as I hug her.
“How are you feeling? We had an intense call today,” I say, holding her hips.
“I’m fine. It was a lot of excitement, but everything turned out well.” Hestia smiles, but it’s dimmer than usual.
“Are you okay after using your hiss?” I ask.
“Maybe a little tired, but I’m fine, really,” she says.
I squeeze her hips and decide to take her at her word. I’ll ask her again later if she still seems off.
“If you’re up for it, would you like to join our pack meeting?” I say.
“Oh. Is that what this is?” Hestia perks up. “Really, you want me to join you?”
“Of course, you’re pack,” I say.
“I’d love to,” she says, and smiles a real smile this time.
I kiss her and help her to her seat.
I’ve finally relaxed enough to sit too. I’m still concerned about what’s to come, but everything feels easier with the support of my packmates and our omega by our side.
“We discussed this among ourselves and agreed we don’t want to hide our relationship for two years. It doesn’t seem right. If you’re open to coming forward about our relationship, we have a way to make this work,” I say.
“658 days,” Hestia corrects automatically, but I can see her thinking. “I don’t want to hide our relationship either, but how can we go public now and stay together?”
I tell her our plan to have her reassigned to a nearby station.
“But if you’re moving with me, won’t you be too far from your area to respond to emergency calls quickly enough?” Hestia asks.
“Well…” I hedge.
I thought she was taking this too well. I didn’t spell out the fact that we’ll have to leave the Rescuers. Even if they didn’t fire us, they’d transfer Hestia anyway, and like she said, we wouldn’t be able to watch our area.
“We’ll quit and follow you to your new station,” I say.
“What! I don’t want you to do that,” Hestia says.
“That’s the only way we’ll be able to stay with you. But don’t worry, we’ll find other jobs,” Charm says, rubbing her back comfortingly.
“For now, the best option is for our pack to follow you while you complete your training. We can volunteer our services in the meantime. After you get your certification, I’ll ask the Rescuers to rehire us,” I say.
“I don’t want you to give up your careers for me,” she says, lip trembling.
I pull her into my lap and purr until her scent isn’t as tart and burned.
“It will be okay. We’ve been rescuers for more than a decade, we could stand to take 658 days off. Besides, as your alphasandyour bosses, our goal is to support you,” I say. “If that means we aren’t the ones training you, we’ll get the best team to take our place. As your pack, we’ll follow you anywhere and help any way we can. If you truly don’t want to be open about our relationship yet, we can wait, but don’t feel like you have to hide for our sake.”
“I don’t want to sneak around anymore, but…” Hestia says into my chest, her hands buried in my sweater.
“We can always join a different company or even start our own. We have plenty of options,” Henri says.
“Yeah, I don’t need someone to pay me to drag them out of a hole,” Cato says.
Hestia laughs and looks around at us.
