Normally, you couldn’t just waltz into a working fire station. Danny was braced to do some serious sweet talking to get inside… but as it turned out, it wasn’t necessary.
“Danny?” The firefighter who’d answered his insistent knocking blinked up at him. Her uniform was perfectly pressed, the fabric stiff and new. “What are you doing here?”
“Hi, Blaise,” he said with genuine pleasure—and not just because she was likely to make this a whole lot easier. “Nice outfit. How’s the training going?”
“Actually, I already graduated.” Blaise tugged at the cuff of her shirt with self-conscious pride. “I’m a full member of the crew now.”
For an instant, he was taken aback. The last time he’d seen her, she’d still been at school. It couldn’t have been that long ago, surely?
He covered his surprise with a smile. “Congratulations. Following in your father’s footsteps, hey?”
“I hope so,” Blaise replied, a touch wistfully. She drew herself up a bit, as if remembering her duty. “Is there something I can help you with?”
“Actually, I was hoping to speak to my da.” He gave her a rueful shrug, turning up the charm. “Sorry. I wouldn’t normally drop in like this, but it’s a bit of a family emergency. Is he around at the moment?”
“You’re in luck.” Blaise opened the station door fully, standing back to let him enter. “We just got back from a traffic incident. You should be able to find him in the apparatus bay.”
Danny didn’t need to ask for directions. Some of his earliest memories were of running round this very fire station, peppering the crew with questions and getting underfoot. At one point, he’d even half-considered going into the fire service himself—but it had never felt like quite the right fit.
His lion rumbled agreement in his head. Needed to find our own path. Our own pride.
Griff was indeed in the large space that housed the fire trucks and engines. Danny found him standing next to a fire truck, doing something technical with the nozzle of a hose. He looked up at Danny’s approach, golden eyes crinkling with delight.
“Danny, lad.” Clipping the hose back into the fire truck, Griff pulled him into a rough hug. “Not that I’m not happy to see you, but you didn’t have to go out of your way to stop by. I’ve only got a few hours left on my shift. I’d have been home soon enough.”
“I couldn’t wait that long.” Danny hugged him back. “Da, I met my mate.”
“Did I hear that right?” said a familiar Irish voice from the front of the fire engine. “Surely that can’t be our Danny?”
His heart sank a bit. Not that he didn’t want to shout about Morwenna to the whole world, but the situation was complicated. He’d hoped to get some advice in private first.
“Hello, Chase,” he said. “I didn’t realize you were there.”
“Words not often spoken,” Griff murmured.
“I resent that remark.” Chase swung out of the open cab door, jumping lithely to the ground. “I am well-known for my quiet and discreet nature. So, who’s the lucky lady, Danny?”
Quiet and discreet were two words never associated with Chase, in Danny’s experience. At least, not unless prefixed by the phrase not at all.
Still, after the scene in the pub, it was only a matter of time before everyone figured out the identity of his mate. Gossip spread through the shifter community like wildfire. There wasn’t much point in trying to keep it a secret.
Despite everything, he couldn’t help a stupid grin from spreading across his face. “Morwenna.”
Griff blinked. “Dai’s lass?”
Chase let out an ear-splitting whoop, punching the air. “Dai! You owe me ten pounds!”
Oh, no.
“I do?” Morwenna’s father appeared around the back of the fire truck. From the bemused expression on his face, he hadn’t overheard the start of the conversation. “And why is that?”
Chase beamed at the dragon shifter. “You recall that bet we made, oh, fifteen, sixteen years ago?”
Danny stared from one firefighter to the other. “You two bet on this?”
“Apparently,” Dai said, sounding exasperated but amused. “Though it seems only Chase remembers it. What was this bet, exactly?”
“Ah now, you must remember. We were out at the park with the little ones.” Chase gestured expressively, hands sketching the scene. “We were watching Danny here pushing your Morwenna on the swings. You said something about how she always lit up when she saw him, and how kind he was with her. And I said, ‘Bet you ten pounds they turn out to be mates,’ and you laughed.”
Dai chuckled under his breath, as if recalling the moment. Then his face froze.
Chase thrust an expectant hand at the dragon shifter, wiggling his fingers. “Pay up.”