The Rookie

by Abigail Owen

  Blake changed tack. “Can Aidan do it?”

  Sera held in a snapped retort with effort. “Titus is a trained medic. Just go, Blake,” she said, then cringed. Okay, she hadn’t done great holding back the snap in her voice.

  “Come on, dude,” Titus said, giving Sera a look that said he was on her side. “I want to hear about how you tried to put the fire out.”

  Blake’s little chest puffed up and he went along happily.

  Aidan waited until Blake was out of earshot before turning to her. “Sera—”

  She held up a hand. “Don’t.”

  Without a word, Sera stalked to the group of dragons that also included Delaney and Finn. She pinned the boss of the team with a direct stare. “Tell me this is a freak coincidence and has nothing to do with dragon shifters.”

  God above, if her new friends had made her son a target, put him in danger, she had no idea what to do about that.

  Chapter Five

  Aidan clenched his hands as Sera practically spat the word “dragon.” When had they become the enemy to her? She’d shown no sign of disdain or even discomfort with them before now. In fact, he’d been pretty damn impressed with how she’d handled the discovery the day Delaney was kidnapped right in front of her.

  But the tone she used… Was she blaming them?

  Finn shared a glance with Delaney. “I can’t tell you that,” he said slowly, as if trying to ease Sera into the answer. “Because the fire smells of dragon.”

  Sera dropped her head to stare at the ground, hands on her hips, obviously struggling with whatever thoughts were going on inside her head. Did she even notice how his stopping her from running inside had pulled her red winery shirt haphazardly out of the beige shorts she was wearing? Probably not. Finally, she raised her head, turquoise eyes a muted shade, as if a storm cloud passed overhead, dimming the light inside. “I can’t wait any longer, Finn.”

  What did that mean?

  For his part, Finn set his feet and crossed his arms. “You have to stay until all the papers are signed.”

  “No.” She sighed. “I don’t. I can come back to sign them.”

  Papers? Come back? What the fuck were they talking about?

  Apparently, Delaney was also in the dark, her head whipping back and forth between her mate and her best friend. “What’s going on?” she asked.

  Sera tossed Aidan a brief, unreadable glance before turning to her friend. “I’m selling the winery to you. Blake and I are moving.” She tacked on a mumbled few words that sounded like, “Far away.”

  Rejection snapped Aidan to rigid attention. She wanted to leave? Forget about her friend, about the guys…about him? “You can’t.”

  She turned sharply to face him, but paused, mouth open. For a split second, he thought he saw something in her eyes that looked like…regret maybe? Then her lips firmed. “Tonight only proves that I was right to be worried. Blake is my only concern.”

  An electrified sensation—panic if he didn’t know better—surged over his skin and through his body. “You’d sacrifice everything you know and love, everything Blake loves?”

  She gave a jerking negative motion with her head. “I never wanted the winery. Not really. Devlin was going to run it. I was going to teach.”

  The ghost of a memory passed before his eyes. Her earnest face tipped up while she told him something similar, but vague, like it had never happened. A memory from one of his dreams.

  “I’m not even supposed to know about you,” Sera continued. “This is best for everyone.”

  “No,” Aidan snapped. “It’s easiest for everyone. That doesn’t make it best.”

  She crossed her arms with a glare—a tiny woman facing down dragon shifters with zero fear. “Can you wipe my memory?”

  Aidan ground his teeth. “You know we can’t.”

  “Exactly. It’s been too long, and I’ve seen too much.” She’d already been told. They could wipe the memory of humans who witnessed something the day before, but not months of memories. They’d risk hurting her, breaking her mind.

  Sera tossed her head back, searching the night sky for the gods knew what. She turned to Delaney, taking her friend’s hands. “I can’t do this,” she whispered. “I love you, but the world you live in…it’s too dangerous. I have to think of my child. You know I have to go.”

  Aidan’s dragon growled low in his head, curling inside him, pushing to get out, to fly her far away. Because of those blasted dreams, his animal side felt…possessive of Sera. Protective.

  Hell. That side had wanted her since the second he caught her scent of earth and wine and grapes.

  “Blake’s the only one I have left.” Sera’s voice cracked and faded.

  Gutted didn’t begin to cover what those few broken words did to him. Aidan fought back the urge to yank her into his arms and promise her it would be all right. This fragile human woman, despite the distance he tried to keep between them, still managed to wriggle her way under his skin.

  But he couldn’t promise her that. Hands clenched and jaw aching, he stayed where he was.

  “I know,” Delaney said. “But the guys can protect you.”

  Sera let loose a hysterical, bitter laugh. “They were all standing right here, and my son was still in danger. Because of them.”

  Hold up. “You’re blaming us?” Aidan demanded.

  The glare Sera turned on him came like a hard slap to the face. Her eyes glittered with judgment. “Why do you even care?”

  Delaney gave a small shake of head, telling him to back off, but the hell with that.

  “I don’t deserve that.” Aidan stepped into Sera, tugging her by the arm, forcing her to face him. “After everything we’ve done to protect you—”

  “Protect us?” She laughed, the sound both bitter and sad. “Since I’ve known you, I’ve lost my wine storage facility and more wine than I could afford. I’ve had fires started close enough to endanger my vines. I’ve had people attacked on my property. I’ve had my best friend kidnapped in front of me. Now my son and my home have been attacked. Protect me?”

  As soon as those last words were out of her mouth, Sera grimaced, and turned to her friend. “I don’t blame you, Delaney.”

  Sadness reflected in Delaney’s eyes. “I know,” she murmured quietly.

  Given how Delaney’s presence had caused most of those things, Aidan wasn’t sure how she got a pass. “No. You don’t get to let her off the hook and put it all at our feet.”

  Sera whipped back to glare at him. “No? Who should I blame, then?”

  Shock flashed raw though him as tears pooled in her eyes, leaching all his righteous anger away.

  “Someone went after Blake.” She swallowed, seeming to draw into herself. “I’ve lost everything, but if I lost him—” Her lips mashed down over words she couldn’t say, and she stared up at him.

  The need to fix this for her slammed through his chest.

  Unable to stop himself a second time, Aidan wrapped his arms around her, inhaling her sun and earth scent, familiarity unclenching some of the tension in him. Gods, she was tiny. Her bright personality and constant, unflappable determination made her seem so much taller, but she was fragile against him. She also remained stiff in his arms, though she didn’t pull away.

  “Let us fix this for you,” he said into her hair.

  “Do I have a choice?” Her mumbled voice was muffled against his chest.

  No way was he letting her think that way. “You’ll always have a choice.”

  Sera lifted her head, her brow lowered over her eyes in a frown he shouldn’t find adorable right now, but did. Still conscious of the men around them, watching, he didn’t do what instinct urged him to do. Comfort her.

  Kiss her.

  Possibly sensing his hesitation, she stepped back, out of the circle of his arms, that careful shield they always kept between them firmly back in place. He let her go with a reluctance that surprised him by its intensity.

  “Why would a dragon shi
fter target Blake?” she asked, more calmly.

  Aidan didn’t have an answer for that.

  “It’s possible he is targeting you,” Finn said.

  Sera and Aidan both faced him. “Why?” she asked.

  “Because you’re a human who knows about us. Which means you shouldn’t leave until we track them down. They could follow you.”

  Crossing her arms, Sera blew out a long breath. “Frick, Finn. I have movers coming in three weeks.”

  Three weeks? She was just going to leave? Was she even going to say goodbye?

  “What do we do about it?” At least she was back to we instead of her versus them.

  Finn glanced around at all his men. “I guess we go back to how we handled things when Graff was after Delaney.”

  Sera was already shaking her head. “I can’t come live with you. The winery takes too much of my time.” She grabbed Delaney’s hand. “We were going to tell you this weekend. You already know the books and the grapes, but I was going to spend the next few weeks going over everything.”

  “I don’t want it without you,” Delaney murmured, brows drawn into a scowl.

  Sera gave a watery smile. “Yes, you do. You love this stuff.”

  Delaney just shook her head, obviously unwilling to admit anything along those lines. “How about this…” she said. “You stay here with two of the guys, like we did before. Except you send Blake to stay with me. He’s off school for the summer and he loves the guys. It’ll be like firefighter camp until we figure this out. That way, if they come after him, he has seven shifters to keep him safe, and if they come after you, Blake’s not caught in the crossfire.”

  Sera ran a hand over her face, and even with the distance between them, he could feel the vibrations of tension riding her body. “Okay,” she finally whispered.

  “One man will need to be in your apartment at night, and with you at all times,” Finn warned.

  “Aidan,” Sera said immediately.

  The sound of his name barreled into him harder than getting hit by a dragon’s tail.

  She wants me?

  “Wait…” Time to backpedal the hell out of that one, because resisting her when he wasn’t anywhere near her at night was already close to impossible. “Why me?”

  She flicked him a glance filled with way too much knowing. “Because you’d be the last person to get any ideas.”

  Did she seriously believe that? All he had were ideas about the woman. Wrong ideas that would ruin every goal he had in life.

  Sera’s gaze morphed from dismissive to irritated faster than a clock could tick its second hand over. “Don’t worry. I don’t bite.”

  Aidan flattened his lips, holding back the words. The trouble was he did want her, more than he’d ever let on. Apparently, she’d taken that as total disinterest on his part.

  Only this time, Aidan caught a flash. Her eyes shadowed. Suspicion took root. Did that bother her? Did she want his interest?

  No way. That couldn’t be right. He’d never approached her in any way other than as one of the guys, and, other than the hug she’d given him before the fire—a hug that had rocked through him, the physical contact in reality making him crave things he shouldn’t—She’d reciprocated with about the same. Sure, sexual tension swirled around them all the time, but he’d figured that was him. Because of those damn dreams and how difficult those were to separate from truth.

  “Aidan stays with Sera.” Finn’s voice interrupted their staring match. He held up a hand when Aidan opened his mouth to protest. “Consider this your first official assignment, rookie. We’ll swap out who stays in Delaney’s old apartment as backup.”

  “Is it safe?” Sera asked.

  “A bit singed,” Finn answered. “But we can take care of that.”

  Sera nodded slowly. Seemed like all the feisty had abandoned her as she drew in on herself.

  “Come on.” Delaney tugged Sera toward the tasting room. “Let’s go tell Blake and you can give him a hug before we go.”

  Before long, both ladies returned with Blake between them. For a kiddo that’d just been through a fire, he acted unfazed, talking a mile a minute.

  “Guess what?” Blake called out.

  Aidan grunted as he found himself ambushed by forty-two inches of enthused child as Blake wrapped around him. “I get to come stay at the heat-quarters and train to be a firefighter with you and Titus.”

  “Headquarters,” Sera corrected, almost automatically.

  “No, Mom. Heat-quarters. Get it? Heat? Because they’re firefighters.”

  Delaney and Sera both chuckled.

  Aidan smiled as he squatted down to eye level. “That’s awesome, man. What do you want to learn first?”

  “I want to drive the truck.”

  Sera made a choking sound and Aidan chuckled. “We don’t have a truck, remember?” Only the pickup and the transport bus, all part of the charade of being a human hotshot crew who dealt with wildland fires.

  “Oh yeah.” Blake pulled a disgruntled face. “I wanted to spray the hoses.”

  Sera put her hand over her face.

  “No hoses, either, bud. How about we show you how to work a chainsaw?”

  Her hand dropped fast. “No way,” Sera said.

  “Awesome!” Blake bounced off to Rivin and Keighan.

  “No chainsaws.” Titus spoke before Sera could.

  Aidan ignored his teammate, directing his words at Sera. “It’ll be a toy saw, okay?” He might’ve ordered one online a while back.

  Sera crossed her arms. “It better be. I’ll pack a bag for him.”

  Quietly, sensing her need to be alone even when she couldn’t, Aidan reluctantly followed her into the small apartment she shared with her son, trying to give her as much space as he could.

  Realization struck that he’d never been in here before. Not even when they were dealing with Delaney’s stalker. While she went back to Blake’s bedroom, Aidan glanced around. Like the upstairs apartment where Delaney had lived before she mated Finn, the natural stone and beams of the original farmhouse were bare, creating a rustic vibe.

  When they’d renovated, Sera’s parents had played into that with iron fixtures, open floating shelves in the kitchen, rather than cabinets, white stone counter tops, and dark wood flooring. Sera had continued the theme with cozy seating in the living area in creams and tans, with the usual colorful pillows on the couch that all human women seemed to love, along with iron and wood tables made from wine barrels.

  Sera’s voice interrupted his inspection. “Can I get you something to drink?”

  She stood at the entrance to a long hall, watching him. She was dealing with dragons and fires and moving, and in the midst of all that she wanted to make him comfortable? Aidan shook his head, as much at her inherent kindness as in answer to her question. “No, thanks.”

  “Make yourself at home. I’ll be back in a few minutes.” She disappeared down the hall before he could answer.

  Aidan went back to looking around and found himself drawn to a long table with tons of framed photos. Mostly of Blake—as a baby, playing soccer, at Disneyland with Sera. A few were of a younger Sera, laughing into the camera as though she had no cares in the world. No lines of worry around her eyes, like she had now—all the time. He stopped at the one of Sera on her wedding day—glowing in a simple white strapless gown that floated around her, laughing up into her groom’s face.

  So, this is Devlin.

  Ignoring a kick of ridiculous jealousy, Aidan picked up the frame for a closer look. Given how most of the time she was smiling, the fragility of those smiles hadn’t fully struck him until this second. This was a real smile, like the one she’d given him earlier when he’d told her he’d put Blake to sleep. He’d felt that smile straight through his chest.

  “I love that picture.”

  Sera’s voice came from her doorway. Aidan lifted his head, irritated that she’d managed to sneak up on him. Where’d all his training go? Not to mention his heightene
d shifter senses?

  “We named Blake after him. Devlin’s middle name was Blake.”

  “Nice that he’ll have that tie to his dad.” Despite another pinch of jealousy, Aidan meant that.

  “Blake was going to be Blake Jacob. We changed it to Blake Caleb at the hospital because I realized his initials would be BJ.”

  Aidan chuckled, appreciating the photo he held. “You look…happy.”

  She crossed the space between them and gently took the frame from his hands, her gaze softening as she gazed at the image of herself and her husband, now gone. “I was,” she murmured, before replacing it on the table.

  Picking up the bag she left on the floor, she paused to glance at him. “Do you need to go get things to stay here?”

  Aidan shook his head. “Drake said he’d fly stuff over after he got home.”

  Her gaze went flat at his mention of flying. “Right. I’ll go give this to Delaney then.” She paused at the door. “I made up Blake’s bed for you with clean sheets and left a towel on his dresser.”

  “Thanks.” But he might as well have saved his breath, because she was out the door before he finished the word.

  In minutes she returned, her shoulders slumped as though she bore the weight of the world. Her silence hit him hard as pride dissolved in the face of truth. They had done this to her. They’d made her have to say goodbye to her child when danger lurked close. Dread sat cold and spiky in his stomach. Blake was a terrific kid. If anything happened to the little guy…

  Sera stopped, taking in where he stood in her tiny living space. “It’s late. I think I’ll go to bed.”

  When she left, Aidan found himself standing in the middle of the room. Alone. Only no way could he sleep. Maybe TV? He dropped to the comfy couch and had the remote in his hand when a small choked sound reached his ears.

  In seconds he was down the hall and in her room. Sera stood by her bedside table, already changed into a pair of black lacy pajamas. What caught his attention, though, wasn’t all the skin on display, but a piece of paper in her hands shaking so hard, the paper rattled.

  Without thinking it through, Aidan approached and reached for the note. Except Sera gasped and jumped back.