Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Clint

I see Olivia Morley from a distance.

As much as I want to pretend that I’m the kind of nobleman who will move heaven and Earth to rescue a complete stranger, I can’t pretend that I’m not far more desperate for this woman’s safety because I know her. I don’t fully understand this because I know her but the two of us are quite hateful toward each other. Perhaps hateful is too strong a term but I don’t believe that it’s inaccurate even if a little strong.

This is the woman who tried to strongarm me into selling my land. This is the woman who fought with me every step of the way. I suppose she believed she was in the right, and I certainly possess information about the situation that changes the character of it. It was reasonable for her to believe she was in the right but unreasonable for her to believe she could force anyone to do anything at all with his own property.

I don’t like her.

She doesn’t like me.

So why in the world am I breaking with the procedure to rush toward her? I’m putting my life at risk and theoretically risking others’ lives as well. That’s what we say when the procedure is broken. It risks lives. Don’t get me wrong, letting her die would be evil but I’m behaving like she’s related to me, and there are reasons firefighters don’t fight the fires at their own homes.

This isn’t my home, of course. I think this apartment complex belongs to Olivia, though. There’s no other reason for her to be here. It’s not a nice enough place for her to live. She’s very wealthy even though she’s young. She’s in the fourth building, cut off from everywhere else because of the fire. I’m also unable to get to her.

Safely.

I’m not saying this place is a slum. It’s a nice, clean, and livable place. There isn’t any luxury to it but I also don’t see anything about the place that suggests this fire has to do with anyone shirking his duty. No, not his. Her. If she’s the owner, she didn’t shirk her duty at all. On the contrary, Olivia handles her duties with precision and absolute attention to detail. I think I’d prefer an Olivia that doesn’t.

A strong-headed person who’s intelligent, pays attention to detail, and works hard is dangerous as an opponent. But the land she wanted was my land, not hers, and wanting it doesn’t mean she’s entitled to it regardless of how smart and dedicated the girl might be.

Damn it all, I can’t wait. I’m going to catch a lot of hell for this. “I’m going in!” I shout.

“No!” Garret shouts in reply. I ignore him.

It’s easy to be reckless as a shifter. We heal very easily. Oh, it’s not like the healing that you see in movies with the superheroes but essentially, a shift will heal all minor damage immediately. If I’m looking at second and third-degree burns as I run through the fire to rescue this girl, I’ll only suffer for as much time passes before I can shift into my bear. When I shift back to human whether it’s a day later or just a minute later, the burns will be just a memory.

If I get third-degree burns it will take more than one shift. If I’m substantially injured, I might not be able to keep from shifting. It becomes an almost involuntary response. The shift from human to animal is very powerful. There’s less knowledge about the shift from animal to human. There are healing properties but we don’t really register our injuries in the same way as animals so it’s difficult to compare before and after.

So, I’m not afraid of getting hurt, not really. Honestly, if we were allowed to be more open about our natures, I could just shift before running into the fire and be much safer. But we aren’t allowed to just throw that knowledge out there in view of the general public, even though shifters technically came out to the world a while ago. Humans still tend to think we’re fairy tales and the higher-ups are hesitant to let us live our true natures.

Anyway, right now, I don’t need to be debating the right or wrong of keeping shifters hidden. Right now, I need to rescue the girl I can’t stand.

I haul ass and hit the wall of fire. I move so fast that I really don’t register the heat until I get through it and see where Olivia is huddled against a bookcase. She’s in a horrible spot. I can see the flames licking around a door to the right. How has she not passed out yet?

I get my answer. She drops the scarf she had bundled in front of her face and starts screaming the moment she sees me, waving and jumping. Then, she starts really coughing hard, and then, she stops and there’s a pause. I know what’s coming next and I race over to catch her as her eyes roll back and she collapses.

I pick her up and press her to me, trying to cover her completely with my body. I see a small break in the fire that looks like the best opportunity and run for it. We blast through and I keep on running until I get her to the waiting ambulance.

She’s still unconscious as I help them get her onto the stretcher. I watch as they check her vitals and get oxygen going.

“How’s she doing?”

The EMT gives me a brief thumbs up as they kick the stretcher up into the ambulance. “She seems stable enough. You got to her just in time.”

“Well, I’ll check in later at the hospital. You’re going local?”

He nods and shuts the door.

“What the fuck, Clint? I gave you a direct order to not play the hero and you fucking ignored me!”

“I’m fine, thanks for asking.”

“I’m not asking a goddamned thing! You, my friend, are going to take some time off and think about the shit you just pulled.”

I turn around with a growl. “Well, that shit I just pulled saved her life. We couldn’t wait for procedure to save the day, Garret!”

He throws up his hands and backs off. “Well, get back to the station and clear out. I’m going to switch your days. You need some downtime.”

I walk away. I know he’s right, but I know I wasn’t wrong. I’ll just accept it as it stands.

The next day, I call into the hospital and found out that Olivia is doing well and should be discharged in the morning. I go back to watching TV coverage and wallowing in my angry indignation at being taken off the rotation early.

A week later, though, things are back to normal. I actually only got two days off and then, Garret called me back in after two of the guys called out with a bad flu. I finished my rotation and am back on my days off, enjoying life and thoroughly enjoying not having that reason to think about Olivia Morley.

I head to the kitchen and check the fridge. Leftover lasagna from Fredo’s. Beautiful. I grab it and some beer, ready to relax.

The doorbell rings.

Who the fuck rings a person’s doorbell at night?

I grumble my way from the couch to my door and swing it open, ready to yell at some dumbass kid.

“Hello, Clint.”

Olivia Morley is standing there, looking beautiful, with her long mussed-up hair and big green eyes. She walks in without an invitation, though, so I’m not too swayed by her beauty.

“Um, excuse me? I didn’t invite you in.”

She doesn’t say a word, just looks at me with those luminous eyes. Then, she shrugs her long coat off and I see she’s only wearing a small little kimono robe underneath. Now, I’m silent.

She steps up to me and undoes the belt on her robe. It swings open and gives me a very tantalizing view. “I wanted to say thank you.” She pauses and looks down. Her hair falls over her face. “For saving my life.”

Where does this girl get her ideas about life? A Hallmark movie?

I look at her and then, all my anger just dies. She’s just so small and, well, I don’t bother to say no. I just reach out and retie the belt on her robe.

“You don’t need to do that, Olivia. You owe me nothing. I was just doing my job.”