Time jump:

Bobby watched her pace in front of him, her eyes falling on him every few seconds. "Athena, sit down before you make a hole in the floor."

"A hole?" She scoffed. "That should be the least of your worries."

"Sit down so we can talk about it." He knew she hadn't completely digested what has happen. "Athe-"

"You almost died." She snapped. "Correction you changed into a wolf after you got shot! Then you nearly died!"

"Athen-"

"Then I had to stand there and watch someone shove a blowtorch into your wound!" Athena continued to pace the room. "I thought I was going to lose you, Bobby."

Hearing the small croak in her voice, he jumped to his feet and collected her into his arms. "I'm sorry." He hadn't taken the time to consider what it must have been for her. It was bizarre even to him and he was the one that got burned.

"I need some time to think." Athena mumbled into his chest.

Bobby tensed, flinching at her pulling out of his arms. "What do you mean by that?"

"I need to wrap my head around this." Placing a hand on his chest, she refused to meet his eyes. "To sort myself out."

He stopped the growl wanting out. Instead, he took a step back and nodded. "Okay."

"Bobby I'm not-" She was cut off by a low rumble. "Did you growl at me?"

Running a hand down his face, he shook his head. "There are certain things I still need to control about myself."

"Growling is one of them." She raised a brow.

"Yes." Looking down at his hand, he clenched and unclench it a few times. "You need space, I get it. I'll move back into my old apartment." Grabbing the duffel bag he had prepped for work, Bobby jogged out of the house. Her voice called out to him once more, but he refused to turn back. He needed her to truly decided on her own accord. Not influenced by him.

A week.

That's how long it had been since he has talked to his wife. He's seen her a few times on calls, but no outside work talk has been exchanged between them. He stopped himself a few times from calling or texting her. He felt drained both physically and mentally. It took twice the energy just to get through one call. His temper had been getting worse for the team to deal with. It has gotten to the point where they openly began to avoid him.

Except for Eddie.

The younger fireman had taken up an almost motherly role with the pack. The team had witnessed a few odd exchanges between Eddie and Bobby. Just the other day they walked up for lunch and caught the two settled on the couch. Bobby was laid out with his head on Eddie's lap asleep. The latter ran his hand through the captain's short hair while on a video call with Emilian. They didn't dare interrupt the scene for two reasons. One Eddie gave them a look that scared even Hen. And two it had been days since Bobby has slept. They noticed a few other things as well. The two were inseparable at times. They came in together and left together. Bobby would get hurt and Eddie was all over him like a mother wolf caring for their pup. May it be the other way around and you had an overprotective alpha caring for his pup.

"Don't give him too much chocolate." Eddie groaned at Emilian yelling too late and hanging the call. "Bobby, how much would you miss Emilian if he went missing?"

"Not much." Tossing the chopped onions into the oiled pan, he grabbed the streaks and got to marinating. "How's the shoulder?"

Rolling his shoulder around Eddie grinned. "Not even a tingle."

"Good, it sucks being a ma-" His head snapped up at the scent of Vanilla with a hint of lavender. His eyes landed on Athena walking up with the team.

Eddie turned to see what had his captain tensed. "Oh, hey Athena." Giving her a quick hug, he joined the others by the table. "She came on her own or did you drag her here?"

"We found her hovering by the entrance." Hen whispered.

"Took us twenty minutes to convince her to come in." Chim added.

Eddie chuckled. "That's all?"

"Hey."

"Hey." Bobby glanced to his team and back to her. "What's up?"

"What's up?" She huffed. "That's it."

"I'm not sure what you want me to say here?" Pushing the food aside, he focused on her.

"What's up was not on the top of my list." Athena sighed.

"Okay, then how about how are you?"

"Fine."

"Okay."

"Bob-" She clenched her jaw at the radio going off. "I have to go."

The fire bell went off. "So do I."

Hen shook her head as the two went their separate ways. "That was worse than watching Chim attempt to flirt."

"I have a good game."

Eddie snorted. "For a teenage maybe."

"Listen here wo-"

"Hey!" Bobby yelled from the garage. "Was I the only one that heard the bell?" Jumping into the passenger side, he spotted Athena in her cruiser. She was wiping tears off her face, taking a few deep breaths to calm herself. "God dammit." Jumping out of the car, he walked over to her car and knocked on the window. The moment he had access, he grabbed the back of her neck and pulled her into a kiss. "I understand you need space, but that doesn't mean we can't even talk to ourselves. Dinner tonight, I know a small place."

"I-okay."

Seeing the others climb into the truck he gazed down at her. "See you tonight."

Of course, the world had other plans for him. Pulling up to the 9-1-1 dispatch center, his senses were overloaded with smells. There was fear and anxiety and he was sure someone had wet themselves. But he couldn't pinpoint the one scent he was looking for.

"Captain Nash." Glancing over his shoulder, he briefly acknowledged captain Shore. "You're first on scene."

"Right now we need to get everyone out and get that fire contained." Taking another deep breath, he growled at not picking up her scent.

"Cap." Eddie thanked one of the dispatchers. "Records room on the second floor is fully involved."

"Okay, Hen I want-"

"To set up a triage area." She nodded. "I'll use the parking garage next door. I'm going to need some extra hands."

"It is Monday?"

"Fine, you'll do." Hen sighed.

Before he could stop Hen, she was already hauling the man with her. Ever since he came into his house, Bobby felt something off about him. He couldn't get a clear scent on him. Not to mention he bristled every time the fireman got near him.

'Emilian?'

'Yeah?'

'You got wolves on us?'

'I have Theo, Mark, Eric, Jess, and myself. We are nearby.'

'Have Jess shift back and send her my way.'

'As you wish.'

Bobby stood by the front of the truck, waiting on the young wolf. Spotting her jogging her way over to him, he pulled her to the side. Grabbing a set of paramedic clothes from another ambulance and handed them to her. "Put this on. I want you to stick by Hen and Chim until this is over. Anything happens, you let me know."

"Understood." Changing into the uniform, she went after the paramedics. It's a good thing she was trained as one, otherwise, this would have been a mess.

"I want crews at Delta side, as well." Bobby continued with his task. He knew jess would keep Hen safe, there was someone else that had him worried. "Chimney, put together a team from the 133, rise the ladders and start hitting that corner window."

"Copy that. Han, you're with me."

He turned to the last two remainders of his team and Lucy from Shore's team. "Buck, Lucy, suit up. You're going inside. You're gonna hit the fire at the source on two."

"Copy."

Looking over at Eddie he sighed. "You see May?"

"No, but I'm sure she's one of the first to have evacuated." Eddie sure hoped his words were true. "Was that Jess helping Hen out?" Bobby nodded. "What's that about?"

"Don't worry about it."

"Captain Nash, my people are initializing our disaster protocols, which means they're gonna need help turning a sizable part of that parking garage into a mobile dispatch center, so we can keep taking calls." Susie was huffing out of breath, the stress of the situation getting to her. Yes, they were in a danger, but if they didn't get things moving, who knows how many lives would be lost?

"How's the volume?" Shore asked.

She gave them an exhausted look. "Oh, it's unusually high. There's no way the valley can handle all the traffic."

Bobby jumped in. "Contact Paramedic Hen from the 188 and coordinate with her."

"Any of my people can help you set up as well." Shore added.

"Thank you. Oh, I also have five of my senior dispatchers still taking calls upstairs." She coughed out. "Unless the fire's encroaching they won't stand down till we get the truck line connected."

A sense of relief came over him. "You said, senior dispatchers. So, May has been evacuated?"

Eddie beat him to punch. "She's still up there?"

Susie was shocked at not remembering two of her dispatchers. "I put her in the quiet room with Claudette. I am so sorry. With all this craziness, I forgot."

"Where is this quiet room?" Bobby bit back the growl brewing at the base of his throat. His pup was still in there. Trapped in a room with no escape. 'If anything happens to her, I am going to tear her apart.'

"It's on the third floor." Susie stepped back at the darkness in his eyes. "It's behind the main dispatch."

"That's just above the source of the fire." Shore cut in.

Sue gasped. "What?"

"Get suited now go." Bobby damned hiding his growl, turning to Shore. "Captain Shore, I'm passing the baton. You're the new CI. I'm going in." Pushing past the two females, he ran for the truck grabbing his gear and suiting up. "Eddie, you're with Buck. Donato, you're with me."

'Bobby, watch yourself. You may be enhanced, but the fire can still kill you.'

'She's my only priority right now.'

Emilian sighed, watching his alpha run into the burning building. 'Get your pup and get the hell out of there.'

Exiting the stairs on the third floor, he took a left and froze. The fire had the hallway engulfed in flames, blocking their access to the room. He was aware of Lucy yelling for him. Memories of his family came flushing back. Thoughts of what they must have gone through. What May must be going through.

'Snap out of it!' The voice growled in his head.

Shaking his head, he ripped the gas mask off him yelling for his pup. The flame and smoke made it impossible to hear or smell anything. It was blocking May's scent completely from his senses. "May!" Walking back to the side of the room, he grabbed his ax, pounding it into the side wall.

Lucy got the hoes running, working on getting the fire put out. Glancing at Nash, she was surprised. She had never seen someone with such force. At one point he dropped the ax and used his hands. He was ripping large chunks of the wall like it was nothing. This building was renewed not long ago, those walls were reinforced.

With a loud growl, he ripped the last piece keeping him from the room. Stepping into the room, his step faltered at seeing his pup unharmed. Taking a moment to control and steady his pounding heart, Bobby let out a shaky breath. Donato ran past him, grabbing Claudette and practically dragging her out. Yet his eyes wouldn't leave the young girl. The moment she met his eyes and he saw the fear, Bobby pulled her into his arms. He and his wolf calmed down just enough to ensure he was truly holding her.

"Are you okay?" He spoke in her hair.

May nodded against him. "Better now."

"Alright, let's go." Ushering her out of the hole in the wall, he rushed her down the hallway. Hearing the pressured air to his right, he quickly covered her body with his. An explosion went off. The fire licked his ear. "May, don't tell your mother about that."

"Okay."

Rushing down the stairs, they entered the main floor. "Keep going, don't look back." Covering her once more at the lights exploding and glass shattering, they ran for the door. Bobby did what he wasn't supposed to do, he looked back. The roof was caving in and it was not giving them a head start. He had two options and only one will ensure May made it out alive. Damn what happens to him. Wrapping his arm around her waist, he pulled her in front of him and dived. The debris covered his entire body, but he managed to maintain a space between them. Avoiding crushing her body with his and the roof over him. "M-May?" Tilting his hip to the side, he clenched his jaw at the pain shooting up his side. Lowering his head closer to her chest, he exhaled the breath he was holding at hearing her heartbeat. 'She's alive.'

'Bobby? What happened? Bobby?'

'I'm fine.' God even think was exhausting at the moment. 'I'm fine.'

'You don't sound fine.' Emilian on the other hand sounded scared. 'The roof caved in and you haven't walked out. Bobby, where are you?'

'Caved in.'

'You fucken idiot!'

'What the tone, I am still your alpha.' He paused shifting his hip once more. 'Although the position might be available soon.'

'You're hurt?'

'I don't know. Somethings wrong with my side.' Hearing a small groan, he looked down. "Hey." Her eyes fluttered open, panic kicking in at realizing what happened. Bobby shook his head, trying to calm her down. Not getting anywhere he ordered her to grab onto the lapel of his coat. "As long as you can feel and hear me, you have nothing to worry about. My team will get us out of here."

Her fist tightened on the coat, pulling him down to her. "I'm scared."

"I won't let anything happen to you." Kissing her over the head, he closed his eyes for a moment. Her scent was close to what Verena smelled like. The fear covered their natural scent.

'Enhance your scent.' Emilian whispered to him. 'Let your scent overpower hers. It will reassure her.'

Glancing down at May, he found her face buried in his chest. Her body was trembling against him, her knuckles turning white from how hard she was holding onto him. 'How?'

'Just relax. Your team knows they are on their way. Allow your wolf to take control.'

'No.'

'He is a part of you Bobby, right now it's wanting out.'

It was true, the animal was clawing at his chest. 'I will shift.'

'No, you won't. The wolf just wants to protect its pup. Let its leash slack.'

May whimpered once more. 'Alright.' Taking a deep breath, he exhaled slowly. He felt the animal stop its clawing. In fact, he found himself in the same position he was in, but in a room. Looking to his left, he came face to face with the wolf. Bobby licked his lips, swallowing the lump in his throat. "Do not hurt her." The wolf tilted his head, before bowing down to Bobby. Laying down on his belly, he crawled in between the two and laid his head over May's chest. Opening his eyes, he looked down to find May relaxed. She was still against his chest and holding onto him, but she no longer smelled of fear. "I got you."

Emilian paced across the street waiting for any sign of Bobby. He had seen the 118 run to his aid. And as much as he would have wanted to, there was nothing he could do. Looking over his shoulder at the approaching pack mates, he chuckled at seeing all of them. They were 20 strong at the moment. The pack had suffered a loss a few weeks ago and many decided to leave. Those that stayed have agreed to follow Bobby for as long as he was alpha.

'Anything?' Dave was the delta of the group, basically third in command.

Emilian shook his head. 'No, did you bring me a set of clothes?'

Spencer trotted out with a bag in his mouth. 'Will he be okay?'

Shifted back, he slipped into his clothes. "Please, he lived through the training. A roof is nothing."

'Emilian?'

'Bobby?' He turned towards the building. 'Hey, you okay? Where are you?'

'Are you shifted?' Bobby sounded in pain. 'Human form.'

'I am.'

'Come to the building.' Bobby ordered. 'Eddie will see you by the door.'

'Okay.' Turning to the pack, he told them to stay. "Head to his house. Stay clear of the alpha female." Going by unnoticed by the cops and firemen, he spotted Eddie calling him over. "Hey, you alright?"

He nodded, pulling Emilian into a hug. "Better now, but Bobby's hurt."

Walking into the room, his eyes landed on Bobby first. The man looked fine if you didn't count the metal bar in his side. The thing had gone through and through. "One day. That is all I ask for. One day you don't elevate my damn blood pressure. You are worse than a clumsy toddler."

"Shut up and come help me with this." Bobby growled.

"He-what is he going to do?" May was standing next to him, holding his hand. "You need to go to a hospital and get that out."

"We could." Emilian bent down to examine the item. "But it would just be a hassle explaining how he healed so quickly." Looking up at him, he raised a brow. "Shouldn't she be checked out? Maybe the blond lady can take her."

Bobby turned to May grinding his teeth. "No, she needs to know." His eyes moved to Lucy. "We are in need of a new teammate."

Eddie looked over at Lucy with a warning look. "This stays between us. No one, but us and Athena know. Word gets out and we will be coming for you."

She raised her hands in a surrender gesture. "Understood."

"That is a turn on." Emilian chuckled, yelping at the smack on the head he got. "Ow!"

"That did not hurt, now hurry up." Bobby growled. "It hurts like a bitch!"

Rolling his eyes, he grabbed the bar and pulled it out. Bobby doubled over from the pain, falling to his knees. He was sure his insides had been pulled out as well. "You're dead!"

"What the hell did you do?!" May shoved him back. "You trying to kill him?!"

At being challenged Emilian forgot for that second who she was. One moment he was forcing her to submit and the next he was on the ground. His mouth fell open with a silent groan, the pain from the impact creeping up his back. "Fuck!" Freezing at the growl by his ear, he turned to see Bobby's wolf baring its teeth.

'You must have lost your mind.' Bobby snarled.

"She attack-" He flinched at the snap of teeth. "Bobby-"

'She is my pup.' Ever since he allowed his wolf some control, he never reeled him back in. Right now Emilian was dealing with both the man and the wolf.

Shifting into his grey wolf, he jumped to his feet. 'She may be your pup, but she is not blood. She is not a part of this pack. She has no right-' Before he could react Bobby lunged at him, knocking him to the ground and forcing him to submit.

Bobby waited for the wolf to turn his belly side up and bare his neck. He stood over him inches from the vulnerable neck. 'She is my pup in every way. Therefore, she is the daughter of your alpha. Like my mate, May is a part of this pack and she outranks you. Is that understood?'

Emilian whimpered. 'Yes, alpha.'

'You ever put hands on her again and I will rip your throat out.' He stepped back. 'Damn the love I have for you.'

Emilian wasn't angry with him; he knew he fucked up. The girl did whatever any pup would do, she was worried for her father. He hadn't meant to react that way, but emotions ran hot in them. Slowly getting up so as to not trigger another attack he crawled over to May. As he had done with Athena, he tilted his head to the side and waited.

May was still in shocked after seeing Bobby turn into a wolf. "W-what is this?"

"Run your hand up and down his neck." Eddie told her. "It's called scent marking. Bobby will explain later."

"Sc-uh-okay." Reaching out she ran her fingers through his soft fur. A smile broke through for the first time today. "He's soft."

"Makes for a great pillow." Eddie joked ignoring the scoff that came from Buck. Grabbing Bobby's uniform, he tossed it behind a pile of cement pieces. "You might want to change back."

"Let's get going." Walking back around he gestured for them to get moving. "This building can still fall."

May stopped in front of him, opened his jacket, and looked for the wound. "It's gone."

"I'm a fast healer." That didn't get the response he wanted. "May?" She remained fixated on the hole in his shirt. Reaching out he grabbed her chin and waited for her to meet his gaze. "I know this is a lot to take in, but believe me when I tell you I am still me."

She shook her head wrapping her arm around him. "It's not that."

"Then what is it?"

"I thought I was going to lose my dad." Her voice was muffled, she knew he heard her. "When I saw that roof fall on us, I thought you had been hurt. Then I saw the pipe and Emilian ripping it out, the blood and you-how was I going to tell mom?"

He cursed at missing all the key points. In a way, she was still a little girl. "I not going anywhere." Kissing the top of her head, he held her closer. "You call me your dad."

"That because you are."

His chest filled with pride at hearing her words. "Come on, we still need to talk to your mother. Maybe keep the fighting out of it."

She chuckled. "Pipe too?"

"Oh yeah."

Athena had received a call from Hen, letting her know they were on their way to her place. She figured something had happened when May simply said she knew. 'Did she find out about Bobby?' Taking a sip of her coffee, she got tired of sitting down and deiced to wait for her husband and daughter. When the call about the fire came in, her captain stopped her from going. Didn't want her getting in their way. She spent hours by the phone, prying to get a good call back. It was Bobby that called to tell her May was fine. But he refused to answer any questions about him. 'He won't get away that easy.' Opening the front door, she stepped out to the front and froze. "What the hell?" A pack of wolves laid and sat scattered across her driveway. Her hand went to her hip, only to remember she was off duty. Her eyes darted to a large grey wolf walking over to her. Before she could move, it dropped to the ground and began to crawl its way over. "You're Bobby's pack."

The wolf howled. 'Yes, alpha.'

"You gave me a scare." She took a sip of her drink, eying the other wolves. They were all looking at her. "You hungry?" A young-looking wolf trotted over to her, jumping up and down. "And who are you?" Crouching down, she ran her hand through the mane on his chest.

'Name's spencer alpha.' The pup was cherishing the affection he was getting from his alpha. Laying down he flipped over, groaning in contentment at having his belly scratched. 'I love her.'

'Spencer have some dignity.' Dave grumbled.

'No thank you, this is heaven.' His tongue rolled out of his mouth.

"If you are hungry there are burgers that need to be cooked." Athena addressed the pack. "Shift back and get changed. You are not getting wolf hair on my couches." Giving Spencer one last scratch, she stood up, turned around, and walked back into the house.

Taking a seat at the table, she waited for a moment sipping on her coffee. Not a minute later the door was pushed open. The pack got to work. Some prepped the meat. Others got the sides done and one got to cooking. She felt oddly satisfied in having them in her home. They gave her a sense of family if you wanted to call it that. Letting them do their thing, she waited for her husband and daughter to come home.