Chapter twenty-seven
Ben
Trey’s and Bertram’s house was on fire.
When I woke with the certainty that something was wrong at Trey’s, I hadn’t known what. I just knew that it was bad.
Seeing Trey’s house engulfed in flames, windows exploding, and huge pieces of timber falling to the ground, thick, black smoke pouring into the open air, I was physically sick. As soon as I got the car door open, I staggered a few feet and threw up on the cold ground.
Colt had called the fire department the moment we saw the glow, and the dispatcher had told him trucks had already been sent out. We stood helplessly, watching the destruction as sirens filled the night, growing louder until we could see the lights of the big trucks approaching.
Neighbors stood in their yards watching in horror.
“Let’s have a look around back. Ben, stay here,” Angus said.
“Be careful!” I yelled at the three alphas. Shaking, I stood, transfixed, until a shout pulled me out of my shock and I turned. When I saw Trey hurrying toward me with the baby in his arms, I almost collapsed in relief.
“Are you okay?” I asked, grabbing him by the shoulders. Bertie was screaming, his little face red and arms flailing. He wore only his one-piece sleeper, and Trey was in a T-shirt and thin pajama pants. They must have had to jump out of their beds and leave the house without anything.
Trey nodded, then fell into a fit of coughing.
Shrugging out of my jacket, I helped him put it on, then zipped Bertie into it with him. Almost immediately, the baby’s sobs quieted and he started sucking on his tiny hand.
“How did you know?” Trey asked, watching the fire trucks pulling into the yard with an ambulance close behind.
“I had a bad feeling. Where’s Bert?”
“With the neighbor. Around back, I think.” Trey looked worriedly that way. “I hope they’re okay.”
When a couple of paramedics approached, I told them Trey had been in the house, and they took him and Bertie to the ambulance to be checked out. The blaze was out of control. Firefighters dragging hoses directed them at the flames, but the damage had been done.
Cold and scared, I went to sit with Trey to wait, sending a quick text to David that there was a fire but everyone was safe.
Eventually, Angus, Maddox, and Colt returned with Bert. Under the onslaught of the huge fire hoses, the house was smoldering, smoke billowing into the sky. I was dismayed to see there was barely anything left of the foundation.
Bertram, Trey, and the baby all received oxygen, as they had breathed in a lot of smoke before escaping the house. Bertram had a bad burn on his arm that a paramedic treated.
“Follow us back to our house,” Angus told them when the ambulance and fire trucks began to pull out. “We’ve got plenty of room for you.”
“The neighbors offered to put us up tonight,” Bert said, tone unsure.
“Well, I’m offering to put you up for a lot longer than that. Come on.”
“Thanks, Angus,” Bert mumbled, clearly overcome.
“No thanks needed when I know you’d do the same for me. Now, let’s get going; it’s cold. Ben, where’s your jacket? Oh.” He saw that I’d given it to Trey to wear and slipped out of his own. “Put this on.”
“I’ll ride with them,” I told Angus when I got the jacket zipped. “I want to be with Trey.”
Obviously agitated by all that had happened, Angus didn’t look happy about that, but he didn’t say anything.
Climbing into the backseat of their Range Rover, I waited for Trey to get situated beside me with the baby, who was asleep against Trey’s chest, still inside my coat. I pulled my phone out to text David we were coming so he could get one of the guest rooms ready for them and was surprised to see that he’d texted me.
David:All the omegas from the Borders’ are here. They showed up at the door with Laura. Elliott woke them up freaking out about Trey.
As I stared out into the dark night, I wondered how Elliott could have possibly known what was going on. Did the omegas have a police scanner in their quarters?
David met us at the door and immediately pulled Trey into his arms.