Wildfire Griffin (Fire & Rescue Shifters: Wildfire Crew #1)(35)

“Knew what? I swear, if he’s upset you, I’ll—”

“No!” She pressed down, adding her own weight to the weight of the barbell, as though frightened he would storm off to punch the chief right there and then. “I mean, you can’t. Please, Rory. It’ll be okay, I swear, I won’t let him—please, don’t ask me to explain. Just trust me.”

“I do,” he said, more gently. “But I wish you’d tell me what’s wrong.”

She was so close that he could feel the warmth of her breath against his lips. Her eyes were the barest ring of hazel around wide, dark pupils. He could see her in them again, all her defenses down.

The rest of the world fell away. All he knew was her. If it hadn’t been for the cold weight of iron across his chest, he would have cupped his hand round the back of her neck. Drawn her down to him, tasted the trembling softness of her lips…

Heads up, Blaise sent to him telepathically from across the room. Asshole incoming.

He had never been less happy to look up into Seth’s glowering scowl. Edith went bright red. She sprang away, letting go of the barbell completely. It was just as well he didn’t actually need a spotter to help him with the weights.

“You’re hogging the bench,” Seth snapped. If he’d been a griffin, his feathers would have been puffed out in aggressive display. “I want to use it now.”

As always, Rory pushed down his griffin’s instinct to put the other male in his place. It wouldn’t help to sink to Seth’s level. Of course, not reacting to Seth’s not-so-subtle dominance challenges also didn’t seem to help. The man didn’t seem able to grasp that they were crewmates, not competitors.

Rory put the bar back on the stand with barely a clink. “Sure, Seth,” he said, sliding off the bench. “I was just finishing up anyway. All yours.”

Seth took up position under the barbell with a little sneer, clearly feeling that he’d won the round. He tried to lift the bar off the rack. His triumphant expression slipped a little.

Edith was still flushed, but she reached for the bar. “Would you like me to give you a hand with that?”

“I don’t need a girl to help me lift,” Seth snarled. “Back off.”

“But it’s too heavy for you,” Edith said, sounding honestly concerned. “Here, I’ll take some of the weights off.”

A couple of watching B-squad hotshots sniggered. Seth’s expression darkened. With immense effort, he managed to inch the bar off the support.

Rory lunged to catch the bar as Seth’s arms buckled. The movement was too fast, too inhuman, but he couldn’t let a crewmate get injured. Even if he was an asshole.

“There’s no shame in knowing your limits,” he said, trying to defuse the situation. “It won’t help anyone if you hurt yourself and have to sit out the start of the season.”

The B-squad firefighters were now openly smirking at the C-squad boss. Still under the bar, Seth flushed dark red.

“Don’t you lecture me,” he spat. He jerked his chin at Edith. “You pretend you’re so perfect, but I saw you drooling over her just now. You only hired her to get into her pants.”

His overstretched control snapped at last. Without conscious thought, he let the barbell drop. Seth’s eyes bugged out.

“Don’t talk about Edith like that.” Alpha power rang in Rory’s voice like a blade leaving its sheath. “Ever.”

Seth made a little mewling sound. His hands scrabbled at the iron bar crushing his chest.

“Rory.” Edith tugged at his arm. “Let him go. You’re hurting him.”

Shame cut through his white-hot anger. The C-squad boss was irritating, but that was no excuse to unleash his shifter powers on the man. Not only was Seth just a regular human, he was fellow crew. Lives depended on them being able to work as a team.

He replaced the bar on the rack. “I’m sorry, Seth. I won’t let you disrespect any of my squad, but I shouldn’t have lashed out at you.”

His apology had the opposite effect to what he’d intended. From the way Seth’s fists clenched, Rory might as well have unzipped his fly and peed on his face.

“Damn right you shouldn’t have.” Seth scrambled up from the bench, pointing a shaking finger at him. “You’re going to regret this, you dick.”

A growl escaped him before he could bite it back. With his griffin still bristling, now he was one breath away from getting into an undignified scuffle with a fellow crew member. With Edith watching. He was supposed to be acting normal in front of her, not letting his animal instincts drive him.

“A-squad!” He turned away, raising his voice. “We’re going on a hike. Full gear. Let’s go!”

“Hey!” Seth spluttered. “You think you can just ignore me? Hey!”

He walked away, not looking back. The squad fell into step behind him.

“I really wish you would just punch him,” Blaise said under her breath.

Rory sighed. “If I thought it would finish anything, I would. But he’s so pig-headed, I’d have to seriously hurt him before he got the message. I can’t do that.”

Callum muttered, “I could.”

“No one starts anything with Seth.” He used just enough of the alpha voice to make it a command. “Like it or not, he’s part of the crew. We all need to do our best to make nice with him.”