Page 9 of Marked By His Alpha Dragon's Desire

Levi and AJ flanked my sides. The two covered the entrance while I made my way inside. The flames licked the walls, igniting everything they came in contact with. If the man had been trapped in here the whole time, even with his shifter blood… we needed to act fast.

I’d never been in the barn before. Luckily the crew had. They gave directions to me through the system in our helmets. I walked carefully. With the smoke it was hard to see, and I didn’t want to trip.

“Doug usually parks his tractor to your left,” Levi’s voice echoed through the headset that was wired inside my helmet. “It’s possible he’s there. Or perhaps the loft.”

“I’ll check the loft first. Before it comes down around us.”

I quickly spotted the ladder leading up to the loft.

“I’m heading up,” I said.

“Roger.”

The climb wasn’t graceful, but I made it quickly. The rickety ladder strained under my weight. My heart pounded. I wanted to find this person. He was a member of the town that I called home, and though I had never met him and I hadn’t been in town long, I felt the connection.

Once I reached the top, I looked around. There were stacked bales of hay that smoked, moments away from igniting.

My eyes shifted to those of my dragon. I was able to focus through the haze, and that was when I spotted him.

There, in the corner of the loft, a man lay unconscious.

He had likely hurt himself trying to escape—or the smoke had gotten to him. I pulled off my mask and placed it over his nose. The wood beneath my feet creaked and groaned. Ash and soot danced in the air around me. The roof wasn’t going to hold for much longer. I had a choice to make.

I shucked off my jacket and put it over Doug. He groaned as I lifted him in my arms. Just as I was considering how to get him down the ladder, the loft gaveway.

The fire had eaten through its supports.

I kept the man in my arms as I hit the ground, taking the brunt of the fall myself to shield him. Debris landed on my shoulder, but I pushed it off and got to my feet.

Now I just needed to find my way out, even if that meant bursting through the wall.

“Raphael! Talk to us!”

Chapter 6

Luca

I stood near the ambulance, out of the way but at the ready in case any of the firefighters needed me. I had all of my equipment ready. But since no one was inside, this would probably be an easy-peasy fire to deal with, and I likely wouldn’t have any patients to care for—unless someone tripped over a hose and broke an arm, which I’d seen happen before. Not that the firefighter would admit they got injured in such a way.

Nevertheless, I was ready for anything.

I jumped when the barn began to fall. A haze of smoke and sparks flew, pushing a plume of dark smoke into the air. The heat rushed at me, and I felt it even from where I stood. There was a lot of shouting. Tyler was there, directing his staff around.

“Raphael’s inside!” he shouted. “Clear a path! Let’s get him out of there!”

I straightened at that. Raphael was inside that fire? No one had mentioned that there was someone inside.

Why my feet moved without me telling them to, I’d never know. Never would I imagine approaching Tyler in the middle of his work. He didn’t need my pesky questions, yet I couldn’t stop myself. I grabbed him by the arm.

“Raphael’s inside? Why?”

His gaze softened when he saw me. “Doug was inside, according to his ma— wife. Raphael went in to find him. Levi and AJ were guiding him since they know the inside of the barn.”

Just then, the side of the barn blew out, and a man—who had to be Raphael—stumbled out. He had someone cradled in his arms. His bare arms. His fireproof turnout jacket and helmet were not on him.

I sprang into action.

Everybody rushed to his side at once, and I set to work getting an oxygen tank. My crew moved with me. Without his coat andhelmet on, we were looking at potential burns that would need attention fast, plus smoke inhalation.

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