Escaping Wildfire

Gema

My days here at Wildfire were starting to run together. We had no clock or calendar to let us know the time, and our schedule each day was the same. I might have been in a luxury suite, but I was still a prisoner with my three square meals a day and recreation time with my fellow inmates in the TV room.

Every so often, Alpha Marek would send over the wedding planner who kept having me make decisions about the impending wedding. This wasn’t really the wedding I was planning, so I picked whatever they suggested. Alpha Marek wanted red and gold as they were the Wildfire pack colors, so we went with red and gold decor. Alpha Marek wanted dahlias for the bouquets and tables, so we went with dahlias. Rory sat in with me for each meeting so far, letting me know what her father suggested, but otherwise, she remained silent about anything of any real value. I was starting to wonder if her whole personality was just her father.

Nora and Rory were my only connection to the outside world, but that didn’t say much as they hardly spoke to me. Alpha Marek had been letting me eat dinner with Jasmine and the others, so at least I had them for part of the day, but our dinners and recreation time were solemn affairs as the girls were still mourning over their parents.

Nora entered my room carrying a dress bag. “The Alpha says I am to get you ready for dinner tonight. He sent over this dress for you.” She unzipped the bag to reveal a light pink dress with a deep neckline. It was beautiful, but again, not something I would have chosen for myself.

“Will I be dining with Alpha Marek again?” I hadn’t seen him since the day he called me into his office, but I suppose there was no reason for it as I’d been playing nice.

“No…” Nora paused and set down the dress. “Alpha Marek has planned a date for you and Alpha heir Larkin.”

I hadn’t noticed before, but she looked paler and thinner than usual, and she was wearing a long-sleeved shirt even with the heat of the summer. It made me wonder if they fed her appropriately, but I somehow doubted Wildfire treated Omegas with any respect.

“A date? Here at the packhouse?”

“No, he’s made reservations at a restaurant.”

“And if I refuse to go?”

She swallowed hard before looking down at her feet. “You can’t refuse…please don’t refuse. It won’t be as bad as you think. Alpha heir Larkin is nothing like his father, and Alpha Marek will punish all of us if you refuse this date.” She started to fidget with her hands and looked taken aback by her own words as if she’d revealed too much. It made me wonder if I'd find bruises behind those long sleeves she wore.

She'd said enough, though. If I didn’t go on this date, not only would I be punished, but so would she and Larkin. “Don’t worry, I won’t refuse. Now let’s get me ready.”

I sat down and watched as she put on my makeup and curled my hair, much like she did for that first dinner with my parents and Alpha Marek.

A firm knock sounded at the door, and Nora opened it to reveal Larkin on the other side. He had his hair slicked back and was wearing a gray suit. “Is she ready?”

Nora nodded and opened the door wide to let him see. “Good, let’s get going.” He gave me a nod and walked back towards the exit. Nora handed me a clutch with a single lipstick inside, and I followed closely behind Larkin.

We arrived outside where an SUV was waiting for us. Larkin opened the door to let me inside and walked over to the other side, sitting right beside me in the back. I tried the door just in case, but the child locks were activated. Of course

Larkin sat down and rested his head on the seat as he closed his eyes. He looked about as excited about this so-called date as I felt.

We drove for nearly an hour before we pulled up to a restaurant. The driver let us both out, and I noticed that it looked like Larkin’s side of the vehicle was also child-locked.

“I hope you like Italian.” He led me into the restaurant and gave them his name at the front. The hostess led us out to a patio area with twinkle lights all around. It was a lovely restaurant, and if the company had been different I might have been excited to dine here.

“Would you care for any wine or appetizers?” The waitress asked, and Larkin ordered something, but I wasn’t really paying attention to what he said. Before long, the waitress returned and poured us both a glass of red wine. Larkin quickly downed his glass and reached for more as I sat awkwardly looking at him. “Do you not like wine?” He raised his eyebrows at me.

“I’ve never had it, actually. Do they know I’m not yet 21?”

“It’s a shifter restaurant, they don’t care, so drink up. I have a feeling we’ll both need the wine to get through this meal.”

“Is my company that terrible?” I tried to make light of the situation.

Larkin looked me over before answering. “Not bad, just not who I would have chosen.”

“Oh…and who would you have chosen?”

“My mate…at least, if I had one.” He shrugged and took another big drink of his wine.

“So, neither one of us is here by choice. We could make the best of this, though. Play along with it…” If he was as much a prisoner in this as I was, I wanted to get him to trust me.

“Play along? Wouldn’t my father just love that?” He scoffed.

I picked up my menu and looked through it as I thought of how else to break through his defenses. If he hated his father, maybe he would help me escape.

“Have you ever been here before?”

“All the time, it’s my father’s favorite place.” He said, sounding bored.

“I suppose that’s the theme then.”

“The theme?” He raised an eyebrow, seemingly intrigued by my comment.

“Yes, he seems to like to be in control. His choice of wedding colors, his choice of wedding flowers, and his choice of restaurant for this date. He even picked out the last two dresses I’ve worn.” I said, making a sweeping motion over my dress.

He chuckled, “You’re pretty good at reading my father, then.”

“Not really, he’s just…easy to read.”

“Easy to read?” He repeated my words as a question.

“He’s predictable.” I picked up my wine glass and took a drink, grimacing at the taste.

“Is it not to your liking?” He continued talking before I could respond. “No one’s ever called my father predictable before…unhinged, psychotic…even evil, but definitely not predictable.”

“Well, he’s a man who will do anything for power and control. Thus, he will predictably do what gets him the most power.”

“You are probably correct in that assessment of my father." He chuckled humorlessly. "Will you be psychoanalyzing me as well by the end of this dinner?”

I chuckled back at him, “I think I need more time than that for a more complex person like you.”

“Can’t say I’ve ever been called complex.” He took another drink from his wine.

“Well, your father is the devil incarnate, and you don’t quite seem like you’re following in his footsteps, so in my book, that’s pretty complex.”

Our conversation was interrupted as our food arrived. He looked down at his plate and pushed the food around with his fork before speaking again. “How can you be so sure I’m not following in his footsteps?”

“We’ve had two encounters so far, each of which you've pretty much ignored me. You don’t want this.” I said gesturing between the two of us. “You don’t crave power like he does.” I kept talking hoping he couldn’t tell I was talking out of my ass, but I could see his walls slowly crumbling. “You already told me you want your mate and not me.”

He clenched his hand, and his eyes glowed gold for half a second before returning to their normal color.

“You’re right, I do want my mate. Mates are a gift and should be cherished…that’s something my father knows nothing about.”

We both paused to take a bite of food, and we stayed silent for a few minutes as we ate.

“You talk a big game for someone who’s only 17.”

“Do I?” I tilted my head as if contemplating something. “How old are you?”

“I’m 23.”

“Will your father be relinquishing his title to you?”

“That’s the million-dollar question, but don’t get your hopes up about being a Luna anytime soon because Alpha Marek has no plans for retirement.”

I chuckled at his comment, “I’ve never wanted to be a Luna, so no concerns there.”

“A Beta then?” He tried.

“Not a Beta either.” I shook my head. “What about you, do you want to be Alpha?”

He breathed out a sigh and looked off before responding. “I used to…but now I just want to be happy, maybe even find peace.” He looked down as if he’d said too much.

We went back to eating. “Here, try the bread.” He pushed the basket of bread my way.

“Thank you,” I said as I took a piece of bread.

The rest of the meal was uneventful, but not unpleasant. We rode back to the packhouse in silence, but when we walked inside Alpha Marek was waiting for us at the door.

“Ah…there’s my favorite couple. I take it dinner went well.” Alpha Marek was the picture of contradiction. His pleasant words were in direct contrast to his cold eyes.

“Yes, father, we had a nice time.”

“Good, good. He patted his son’s shoulder, but it didn’t escape me how he held on to Larkin's shoulder too tightly.

“Your birthday’s coming up soon. I have a special surprise for the two of you, but I won’t spoil it for now.” He smiled but it didn’t reach his eyes. “I do have another surprise that I can tell you about. I have the dressmaker coming again to help you and your friends pick out dresses for your party. I also have a jeweler coming this week. After all, we can't have an engagement without a ring.”

“Thank you, Father, that’s very thoughtful of you,” Larkin said much too stiffly, as he clenched his jaw.

“Of course...I am nothing if not thoughtful.” He narrowed his eyes at Larkin, an unspoken threat in his eyes.

It’s late, and I am sure you’re both tired. I’ll have Nora escort you to your room.” As if hearing her name, Nora appeared and walked me back upstairs. We walked silently, and when we got to my room she let me inside and closed the door behind me without coming inside with me. I heard the lock click, and I was back inside my golden prison for the night.