Chapter 32

"This time we need to teach that bastard a lesson!"

DeAndre shouted.

"Right, let's tie him up and drag him in."

"Don't forget to beat him with clubs!"

"If the chief tries to stop me again, this time I'll charge at the chief too!"

"I won't stand for it either!"

The gathered guys raised their anger gauge to the max. Dane had kept his mouth shut until then, watching them get excited and act wild as if they were about to hang Greyson Miller right now. He had no intention of getting caught up in this atmosphere and causing trouble, and it was clear that if he caught their attention, he would only feel annoyed at being told he was worse than Miller. He was just indifferently resuming his lat pulldown exercise, thinking they would eventually stop, when it happened.

Weeeeee!

At the loud blaring siren, the guys who had been shouting flinched simultaneously. The hesitation didn't even last a second. With their accumulated experience, they sprang into action like springs. Dane also let go of the equipment and ran out at full speed. After putting on his full firefighting gear in an instant and rushing out to the fire station entrance, Wilkins opened the passenger door of the fire truck and shouted.

"Get in quickly! Hurry! Quick, quick, get in!"

Wilkins waved his arms frantically, urging his team members. Ezra, who was about to get into the truck while listening to the team leader's repeated shouts of impatience, hesitated. When the colleagues waiting to get in behind him also hesitated, he, looking flustered, quickly looked to one side and shouted.

"Hey, Miller! What are you doing? Get in already! Come quickly!"

The other guys, who had been blinking in confusion, belatedly understood the situation and twisted their faces. Greyson, who was standing alone leaning against the wall, also frowned as if he equally didn't understand why they were trying to take him along. But Ezra continued to call his name, unconcerned.

"Get in quickly, hurry! Come here, we need to respond!"

"Hey, are you crazy?"

One guy who had come to his senses belatedly urgently grabbed Ezra's shoulder. With a hushed voice and bulging eyes, he continued to press Ezra.

"Why are you calling that bastard? What help would he be?"

"Right, we'd be lucky if he doesn't mess things up. If something goes wrong, we might all end up in ashes together."

"Just leave him, you get in quickly."

Other guys also joined in, adding their comments. Their words seemed reasonable at first glance, but Ezra thought differently.

"Hey, what if we leave that bastard here and he really sets fire to the fire station? It's not like anyone will be watching him."

Greyson Miller was, so to speak, a time bomb. He did many crazy things even when they were watching him, so what about when he was out of sight? Then, who knew what disaster he might bring. Surely their workplace, the fire station, would disappear into blackness, and they would end up pitching tents on the street.

At those words, the pressing voices all stopped at once. After looking at their wavering eyes in turn, Ezra nodded and said, "Right."

"That bastard will cause an accident as soon as he's out of sight. It's better to take him along and let him wander around there. Then either one of us will see him, or someone among the onlookers will spot him doing something stupid."

Ezra's words were so plausible. Considering they had been talking about him right before responding to the call, his concern was quite convincing.

"He has a point."

When one person agreed, similar opinions followed in succession.

"Right, let's take him with us. It makes me nervous when he's not in sight."

"Surely he wouldn't actually set a fire..."

"That bastard is an extreme Alpha, a psychopath. He'll definitely do something terrible we can't even imagine without thinking twice. We have to prevent our station from disappearing, right?"

If it was possible to prevent that danger just by taking him along, they would do it by all means. Thanks to this, everyone's opinion united, and they began to call out to Greyson in unison.

"Miller, come quickly! It's finally time to respond!"

"Yeah, you passed the test and everything, now it's time to really become a firefighter!"

"Let's go, we'll make a place for you too. Miller, I said come quickly!"

Despite their unanimous calls, Greyson still stood there with an unwelcoming expression. But they didn't give up and continued to call him. Despite the loud siren continuing to blare, they seemed determined not to move an inch if Greyson didn't get in.

"Haa."

Finally, Greyson let out an irritated sigh and detached himself from the wall. His expression was full of boredom as he walked toward the truck, but everyone pretended not to notice and waited. And when he got close enough to reach, Ezra and the rest of the guys grabbed Greyson's arms as if they had been waiting and pushed him into the truck.

"Let's go, let's go! Dane, what are you doing? Get in quickly!"

The guys who had rushed in afterward called for Dane. Dane, who had been watching them with a pathetic expression until then, got into the fire truck last without saying a word. Wilkins's shout was heard from behind.

"Slow, too slow! DeAndre, you get in over there! Is everyone in? We're departing!"

Wilkins, who was about to get into the truck immediately, suddenly noticed Greyson sitting in the back seat. The chief's words suddenly came to mind, making him flinch, but there was no time to waste. Reluctantly, he got into the passenger seat, and the guy in the driver's seat immediately started the truck. And the fire truck raced onto the road with a loud siren.

The fire had occurred in a very quiet residential area. That old neighborhood, which they usually saw when driving by, was always quiet and peaceful. It was a place where children often played and elderly people leisurely tended their gardens. A fire in such a place.

"My mother-in-law lives there too."

One colleague, a father of two daughters, spoke with visible anxiety. As he hurriedly called home, worried about his family, another guy asked Wilkins.

"Have all the people there evacuated?"

"They're probably in the midst of chaos, trying to help put out the fire themselves. If it's gotten too big, they would have all evacuated. I hope there are no casualties... We need to get there quickly and check."

Dane, who had been silently waiting with his arms crossed, listening to his colleagues' conversations, suddenly stopped his gaze at one point. It was because Greyson was looking at him from across the seat. When their eyes met, the sweet scent that he always felt when near that bastard was sensed more strongly. It wasn't because of the enclosed environment of the truck. It wasn't just Dane who felt it; other guys also turned their gaze toward Greyson.

Originally, containing pheromones was a very basic manner, just like everyone observing TPO. Of course, extreme Alphas who lived for their own self-importance didn't seem to care about such things at all.

Though he gathered uncomfortable gazes, Greyson also didn't seem to care at all. Rather, unlike his earlier annoyance, he seemed excited about his first response, with a faint smile on his cheeks that showed a slight blush. Everyone hesitated and closed their mouths at the sight of Greyson Miller's face. Watching his colleagues avoid eye contact, in stark contrast to how vehemently they had criticized him in the fitness room, Dane inwardly thought, as expected.

There's nothing to gain from confronting a crazy person head-on. This had been a principle he had maintained throughout his life, but unlike the other guys, Dane didn't take his eyes off him. Rather, with a furrowed brow and narrowed eyes, he leaned back in his chair and sat with his legs spread arrogantly, and Greyson across from him also stared back at Dane intensely with his mouth closed. For a while, the two just glared at each other like that. No one opened their mouth. Only an uncomfortable silence continued in the rapidly moving truck.

Greyson was the first to change his expression. His face, twisting the corner of his mouth and snickering, looked nothing but sarcastic. Dane twitched his eyebrow, but that was all. Looking at him, Greyson recalled what someone had said.

<It could also mean that as you do that job and help others, your partner will appear. Anyway, the keyword is fire.>