15. Danny

Chapter 15

Danny

I wish I could say that Riley and I had figured shit out, but we hadn't. I'd seen him only once this week, and it'd been awkward as fuck. The Jack was out of the box now, and we couldn't shove him back inside.

It wasn't just me who found it difficult, but Riley too. He was walking on eggshells around me, like he couldn't relax how he once would have. I'd reassured him that I wasn't about to jump his bones or do anything inappropriate, and his response to that had almost broken my heart.

" If it was just sex, I wouldn't hesitate. But I don't think it would be now, not for either of us. "

The most frustrating part of this wasn't Riley telling me he didn't want a relationship. I'd known that since the beginning. No, the frustration came because I understood why he felt that way. For as buttoned up about my past I'd been, Riley was an open book. I knew about every time his mum had gone downhill. How it was always linked to the ending of a relationship. How Riley had been left to pick up the pieces at far too young an age.

I'd met his mum many times over the years. Joanna was a lovely lady who adored Riley. It was hard to reconcile the woman she was now with the mother who'd let her son down so stupendously. He put it down to love, telling me that was what had broken her, what had made her lose sight of who she was and what she truly wanted.

I knew exactly why Riley didn't want a relationship. He was scared. He'd been burned by his mum's mistakes at a time when his brain and sense of self were still developing. As a result, he was determined to not repeat them.

It wasn't that Riley didn't want a life with me, it was that he was scared of going there, only for me to leave him in the dust. It was funny that Riley was surrounded by supes, yet he seemed to miss the most crucial part of their make-up.

When a supe takes a mate, that's it for them. No one else exists in their mind. They live and breathe to make their mate happy. If Riley were mine, I would no more be able to leave him than I would cut off my own arm.

That was what I hated the most. In a different world, without the past that dogged me, I knew exactly what I'd do. I'd court Riley, so slowly that he wouldn't even realise what was happening at first. I'd show up for him day after day after day. I'd keep doing that until the day he finally realised I'd never stop.

Only then would I take him as my mate. The bond would fight half the battle for me, reassuring Riley of my faith in us even when his own mind doubted it.

But we weren't in a different world. We were in this one. The one where a mating bond with me equated to either a death wish or clan life. The latter might have sounded preferable, but I knew the truth.

Being loved by an alpha made you a target. I didn't need to look beyond Sarah and Maria to know that was true.

That was what was tearing at me. My wolf wanted Riley. I wanted him. He wanted me too—at least, I thought he did. He just wasn't ready to admit it to himself.

And I couldn't let him have the time to come to that realisation, not while knowing there wasn't a future for us.

Basically, everything was completely fucked, and I had no idea how to fix it.

My phone buzzed in my hand, Riley's name flashing across the screen. A dopey smile tugged my lips up before I could stop it. Despite not having seen him much, we'd still been in constant contact. We both knew why we couldn't be together, but equally, we had no idea how to be apart.

I hit the button to answer. "Hey, Ry."

"Hi." His reply was soft. Shy, even. "Are you at work?"

"I am." Don't ask to see him. Don't cave. "Why, did you have something in mind?"

"Well it's been a while since I've been out on the bike. There's a special screening of The Day After Tomorrow over at Portsmouth Guildhall. I was thinking we could maybe head up there and watch it. We do love a terrible action film."

"We do." I scuffed the floor with the toe of my boot. "What time does it start?"

"Eight p.m., so you should have time to have a quick shower after your shift."

I bit back a disappointed groan. "Fuck, I'm on shift until eight-thirty tonight."

"How come?" I didn't need to see Riley's face to know he didn't believe me.

"Half the next crew have called out sick. Several of our shift have it too. As Leo and I are completely fine, we've both been asked to stay on for a bit longer."

"Ah the perks of being a supe or mated to one." Riley sighed. "Okay, well maybe another night."

"You should still go," I said. I hated thinking about him sat alone in his house.

"Yeah. Maybe."

I leaned my head against the wall, closing my eyes. "Ry, I swear I'm being honest right now. If I didn't have a shift I'd be there in a shot."

"Be easier to believe if I'd seen you more than once this week."

"I'm trying," I whispered. "I'm trying, Riley. I am. I'm sorry. I didn't mean for any of this to happen."

"I know." His sigh was audible through the phone. "I'm sorry, I don't mean to sound like a whiny, needy little bitch."

"Hey that's my whiny, needy little bitch you're talking about."

He laughed, and my wolf purred in satisfaction.

"Okay, fine. How about we both stop apologising, and you come over to game tomorrow?"

"Sounds perfect."

"I'm not giving up, Danny."

"I know." The alarm bell began to ring, signalling a call-out. "I'm glad you're not."

" W ell, this is new."

I stood shoulder to shoulder with Leo, trying desperately not to laugh. We were supposed to be professionals, for fuck's sake.

But seriously, the guy had his head and shoulders stuck in a washing machine. And from the red-faced expression of his partner, I was going to wager he wasn't in there doing repairs.

The towel someone had draped over his rear added weight to this theory, as did the bottle of lube sat on the windowsill.

"Okay, everyone—" I clapped my hands together to get the attention of the giggling crew. "—Leo and I can take this one. The rest of you should return to the truck to give the gentleman his privacy."

I wasn't in charge, but thanks to my compulsion, all of them filed out of the room without question.

"I can't believe you called the firefighters, Ethan." The voice sounded tinny, echoing off the drum he was stuck in. If I wasn't mistaken, he had an American accent.

"Love, we've been through this." Unlike his partner, this bloke had a crisp English accent. "You're stuck. I've tried literally everything. Now unless you want my parents to arrive to find you arse up in the washing machine, you're going to have to let these nice gentlemen help you."

"Nice gentlemen?" His voice rose an octave. "How nice? You better not be looking at them, especially not with my ass on display. Mine's the only one you should be captivated by."

Ethan pinched the bridge of his nose as a smile tugged at his lips. Clearly, this was a couple who'd been together a long time. "Colin, trust me, I don't have the time or the energy for anyone else. You keep me completely satisfied."

"Good." There was an indignant sniff and a pause. "But seriously, how hot are they?"

Beside me, Leo was vibrating with silent laughter. Shaking my head at him in judgement, I smiled at Ethan. "Mind if I take over?"

"Be my guest."

I crouched down next to Colin. "Hi, Colin. How are you doing in there?"

"Fucking peachy. It's a good thing I do yoga or I wouldn't be able to bend this way for long."

I forced back my laugh. Poor bloke. Fancy expecting a good seeing to and instead having to be broken out by firefighters. "Okay, well don't worry, we'll have you out of there in a jiffy. My name's Danny, and my colleague Leo will be assisting me."

"Danny? That's my son's name."

There was an old tug on my heart. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. Well, Daniel."

Motioning to Leo to get the tools, I kept Colin talking. One of the most important things in these situations was keeping the subject calm. "How old is he?"

"Nine."

"I take it he's, uhh…elsewhere right now?" Leo asked, grabbing a screwdriver.

"Yes," Ethan replied with a fond smile. "He's staying with Colin's sister. Hence why we decided to?—"

"Ethan, if you finish that sentence I'll bite off your balls and swallow them. Don't be scaring the nice straight men."

I chuckled. "It's okay, Colin. You've got two fully-fledged members of the rainbow mafia assisting you today. Trust me, there's literally nothing you could say or do that might shock us."

"Okay, good, because I have lube running down the back of my thigh and it's driving me crazy."

I coughed to cover up my laugh. "Not a problem. Leo and I will just step outside so Ethan can assist you."

As soon as we were in the corridor, Leo started in with the questions. "Why the washing machine?"

I laughed before realising he was serious. "Come on, you must've seen this. It's practically a staple in gay porn. ‘Help, I got stuck in the washing machine.' Then the other person agrees to help them out if they can fuck them first."

"To each their own." Leo shrugged. "Anyway, I don't really watch porn these days. Ferry keeps me too busy to bother. And back when I did watch porn, I didn't stray from the straight stuff."

"I told you then you were missing out and you didn't believe me."

"I hate saying this, but you were right." He smiled at Ethan, who'd opened the door and indicated that it was safe for us to return. "By the way, I've got no fucking clue how to use these tools to safely take it apart."

I bit back a sigh. "Seriously?"

"Yup. So we can either go down for the cutters, or…"

This time I let the sigh free. "I'll take care of it."

"Knew I kept you around for something."

Colin seemed calmer when we returned. That lube must've really been bothering him.

"How ya doing, Colin?" I asked.

"Okay. But I'll do a lot better if you can free me before my in-laws arrive."

"Is that why you're over?"

"Yeah." Ethan smiled fondly down at Colin. "It's their fortieth wedding anniversary. Usually we bring Daniel, but we decided to have an adults-only trip. I did try to tell Colin this was a stupid idea, but…"

"I get it." I grinned at him. "I have someone who gets stupid ideas into his head then refuses to budge."

"Excuse me." Colin's voice was haughty from inside the drum. "You didn't think it was a stupid idea when you were balls deep, did you?"

Ethan slapped a hand to his face and I decided it was time to get this over and done with. When I next spoke, compulsion wove through my words. "Okay, so, Ethan, I'm going to need to you to step back. I'm going to safely remove Colin from the machine. You will forget everything you see and will remember Leo and myself using the cutters. Colin, you will also believe we used the cutters. Nothing unusual happens and everything is completely normal."

I didn't need to check whether the compulsion had worked, I knew it had.

I exhaled slowly, releasing a little tension from the lead I had my wolf on. It was damned hard to do a partial shift, but I only needed my claws for this. It took a few moments and a lot of wrestling with my wolf, but eventually my hand became a paw. Using one of the four deadly claws, I made a clean cut along the top and front of the machine. Letting my hand return to normal, I worked with Leo to disassemble the machine around Colin. When we got to the drum, I repeated the shift again, slicing neatly along the top and back.

It clattered to the ground, revealing a handsome man with rumpled dark hair and a stubbled jaw. His lean body was shaking as Ethan helped him to his feet and immediately wrapped him in a massive hug.

Leo and I politely averted our eyes as the towel covering his arse hit the deck. From the quiet murmurings going on between the pair, they were looking forward to resuming their activities where they'd left off.

I couldn't resist a cheeky comment before we left. "Maybe stick to the bed next time."

Colin looked over his shoulder, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. "Could've been worse, I suppose. I could've got my dick stuck in a window frame."

I fumbled the bag I'd been lifting. "Is that, ahh, something that would be likely with you two?"

Ethan sighed. "Sadly, yes."

My radio on my shoulder buzzed. " RTC, M27 NORTH. ONE PATIENT, CRITICAL. ALL UNITS RESPOND. AIR AMBULANCE EN ROUTE. "

Leo and I exchanged a dark look. A car crash. If they were calling us in, it was because they needed the jaws of life. There was a passenger in need of assistance, and without us, they couldn't get to them. The air ambulance wasn't a good sign either. Whoever was in that car, they weren't betting on them having enough time to make it to hospital in the back of a traditional ambulance.

"Enjoy the rest of your break." I gave the two men a tight smile, my mind already racing ahead to the next job. "Nice to meet you."

I was on the stairwell when I heard a quiet smacking sound followed by Colin's hissed whisper. "They weren't nice, they were fucking gorgeous. "

Ethan growled. "I'll show you gorgeous."

A ny lingering humour faded as our engine sped along the M27. We were on the hard shoulder, passing miles of backed up traffic. No one was moving at all, telling us that the police must've closed all three lanes.

That only happened if there was a fatality or if the accident had spread across all lanes. Fuck, I hoped it was the latter. I hoped we weren't too late. We couldn't save everyone, but it never got easier. Even as a supe, knowing that the humans I came across would die hundreds of years before I would, I still found it hard.

Leo was pushing the engine to its limits while I sat next to him up front. In the back of the engine, the rest of our crew were tensely waiting for us to arrive. The grim silence was familiar to all of us. We were focused. Mentally preparing ourselves for what we were going to find.

Nothing could've prepared me.

At first, there was nothing to differentiate it from your typical horrific collision. It was a mangled mess of metal straddling two lanes. The front end was crushed, utterly unrecognisable as a vehicle. It lay on its roof, glass covering the road around it.

But as we drew closer, my wolf began to howl in horror. A matching scream built in my throat, pulling at my vocal cords.

I knew that car.

I'd been there when he'd bought it.

I'd sat in the passenger seat.

Washed it on sunny weekends.

Driven it home when he'd drunk too much.

It was Riley's car.

It was Riley.

It was Riley.