Escaping Wildfire

Gema - 5 Years Ago

“Gema! You’re starting training today?” Noah asked, seemingly excited to see me.

“Yes, I wanted to start up with the next group because I’ll be the youngest here, but Alpha wants me to go ahead and start now.”

Noah smiled at me, and I felt the crazy butterflies in my stomach that I always felt around him. I looked down, hoping he couldn’t tell I was blushing.

“Alpha’s right, I’m sure you’ll do great! Do you want to be my workout partner for today? I can help show you the ropes.”

“That’d be great, thanks,” I bit my bottom lip, trying to keep my cheeks from flaming up again. I had known Noah my whole life, but in the past year, I had somehow started to notice how cute he was. He'd also shot up and was now nearly a foot taller than me…not that I was all that tall to begin with as Cristian had gotten all the height in the family.

“Come on, let’s get started.” He grabbed my hand and pulled me over to one of the mats. We had held hands since we were little, but lately, every time he touched me, my brain went to mush. He was the only guy I had ever held hands with…the only guy I wanted to hold hands with, but I was sure he didn’t see me that way. I was just his school friend and his beta’s little sister.

We stretched and then got called over to the center mat after running a few laps.

“Alright guys, let’s pair up for sparring.” Annie, Noah’s mom led our training group. She was an amazing warrior, and I could only hope to be as good as she was someday.”

“Come on, let’s get started, you come at me first.” Noah got us a spot on the mats and got ready for me to take on the offensive first. I had been sparring with my dad and Cristian since I was little, so I felt comfortable with the activity…even if looking at Noah and his vibrant green eyes did make my heart beat like crazy.

I lunged at him, and he veered to the right. He was faster than I expected, but I should have known he’d be fast as he’d been doing this practically since he was in diapers. I shook off my nerves and shut myself off from his distracting eyes before lunging at him again.

This time I made contact with Noah’s shoulder, catching him off guard and twisting my body to land a hit on his stomach with my elbow. He doubled over, and I was able to swing him over my back and land him with his back flat on the mat.

He stayed down, with his eyes wide, not having expected that from me. From the corner of my eye, I saw Gamma Rodrigo walk over to us laughing.

“Alpha asked me to come check on you, with it being your first day…but I can see you’re doing great.”

Annie came up behind him, “What’s so funny?”

“Oh, I was just remembering when you knocked me flat on my ass that first time we trained together.” He put his arm around her waist and pulled her close to him. “You were the first person, other than Alpha Henry, to ever do that.” He looked at her lovingly.

“You were too cocky back then, but now look at us.” Annie giggled and the two shared a kiss as Noah and I looked on and blushed as we felt the implication of their words.

“Come on guys, no PDA in the gym.” Noah groaned as he stood back up.

“Come on, Mijo, you’ll be the same way once you find your mate…who knows, maybe you’ve already met her.” Gamma winked at us as he walked off, leaving me and Noah to stand beside each other in awkward silence.

“Let’s go again!” Noah suddenly yelled out before settling back into his stance. He was more vigilant for the rest of the training and didn’t let me get another hit on him again, but after that day, we became regular training partners. He both challenged me and made training fun, and he never went easy on me like some of the other guys. It was just one of the many things I loved about him.

Now, it had been so long since I had seen Noah that I was starting to wonder if I had dreamt up our night together at the Falls. Good Goddess, I missed him like crazy.

Gema - Present

“Hey, there you are! I thought you had afternoon training?” Rory came up to me as I walked into the suite, effectively bringing me out of my memories. “Yeah, I have the pup class in an hour, but your father moved me to a different training group, so I’ll start with them tomorrow.”

“Do you like training?”

“Yeah, it’s actually the only thing keeping me sane right now…but I’ve always wanted to be a warrior.”

“Sometimes, I wish I could train, but father says I’m not cut out for fighting.”

“That’s silly, everyone can learn something from training.”

“Maybe I’ll be able to try it out someday.” She shrugged wistfully, not really seeming to believe that.

Alpha Marek hadn’t asked after Rory or even sent anyone to check on her since her assault, but it wasn’t surprising considering he knew exactly how and why she got hurt. Rory hadn’t left our room since she was brought here, but today she felt well enough to get up and shower. The swelling had healed on her face, but her ribs were still a little sore.

“Have you heard from your brother today?” Rory asked as she sat down and put her arms over the back of the couch, resting her head on her hands.

“He texted me a picture of everyone at breakfast this morning…they looked happy, but other than that, no. Larkin bought an extra charger just for me, though, so I’ll be able to talk to him more often.”

“Your brother seems nice.”

I laughed at her remark. “He can be nice, but he’s my brother, so he’s also annoying, overbearing, hot-headed, and on occasions gross…but in all seriousness…I guess he is pretty great as far as brothers go. He’d do anything for me. It’s just the two of us, and he’s always had my back.”

“Larkin’s like that too. I don’t know what I would do without him.” She shifted over to let me join her on the couch, “What about your parents? What are they like?”

I let out a long breath. “Well, overall they’re both great. My mom is tough, she’s been through a lot but she still has a huge heart. My dad taught me a lot growing up, and he loves my mom so much. He would do anything for her…which I guess is what he did when he made that deal with your dad.”

“Are you mad at him for making the deal?”

“I’d say I’m more hurt than angry….and I get that he thought he was protecting my mom from being hurt again…but I just…” I paused, sighing and shaking my head. “There had to have been something else he could have done.”

“That must really hurt, what he did. If it’s any consolation, I’m sure he’s a million times better than my father.”

“Yeah.” I chuckled at her words. “Rory…have you and Larkin ever thought of leaving?”

“Thought about? All the time…but when it comes to actually leaving…” She shook her head, “he’d go after us and hunt us down. I also can’t just leave my mom…he…well…you saw what he did to me.”

I nodded, feeling the weight of her words. I wished I could get her out like we did with the others…but I knew the only way she and Larkin would be truly free was if Alpha Marek was no longer around.

I woke up early the next Monday, mentally prepared for my new training class. Alpha Marek had moved me up a level, and I was now training with some of the more skilled warriors instead of with the recently shifted wolves. This group was much less friendly than my first one, and I felt like I was having a hard time fitting in.

The partner I had matched up with last week didn’t seem to be here today, so the leads paired me up with someone else. Unfortunately, that someone else ended up being one of the two sisters who had driven us here, specifically the driver who had been the more rude one of the two. She rolled her eyes and scowled when she saw me, but I wasn’t going to let her poor attitude deter me from doing well today.

Once we started sparring, I let her come at me first, and while she had some good moves, I was able to take her down the first two times. For our third round, I turned my back on her to walk back into position, and she ended up attacking me while I was facing away from her. I caught on to her quickly, but she was still able to knock me down as she’d already tripped me up. I made sure not to turn my back on her again, but that only seemed to anger her more.

“What’s wrong, are you scared?” She fake pouted to further mock me.

“Please, why would I be scared of a cheater? If you had any real skill, you wouldn’t feel the need to cheat.”

‘That’s right, you tell her…now let me at this, Bitch.’ I felt Amora rise up in anger.

“Don’t worry, Amora, I've got this.” I took back over and signaled for the girl to attack first.

She surged forward at my gesture, and I moved to the left before she could make contact. I then kicked her in the back, letting her momentum push her forward and onto the ground. She glared daggers my way, and just as she was getting up, the trainers announced that time was up for our session.

I turned to walk to where I’d left my bag and water, but as I went, I felt a strong shove on my shoulder from where the girl hit me as she walked past me. I wasn’t sure what her problem was. As far as she knew, I was going to be her future Luna, and she had absolutely no respect for me. Maybe she had a secret crush on Larkin and was just jealous. Either way, I decided to keep my distance from her for all future classes. I was there to learn, not to have to deal with her petty behavior.

“I’m sorry about Scarlett.” The other sister from the car showed up beside me and spoke up.

“She doesn’t really like new people, and she can be a bit rough around the edges.”

“I can see that.” I paused, taking a drink from my water. “Is Scarlett your sister?”

“Yeah, she’s my older sister. I’m Hadley, by the way…we sort of met before…” She trailed off looking embarrassed about where we knew each other from.

“I remember…you were nicer than the other guards.”

She nodded and looked down at her hands, as she fumbled with her bag. “You were really good out there. Were you a warrior in your last pack?”

“Not yet, I didn’t have my wolf until a couple of weeks ago. I’ve been training since I was a kid, though.”

“That explains it then. Scarlett and I have been training forever, too. Our parents were warriors, but they’re retired now.” I was a little confused as to why she was being so friendly, but I just nodded at what she said. If she wanted to be nice to me, who was I to stop her?

She stood eagerly beside me seeming to want to say more but looking like she didn’t know where to start.

“Maybe we can be partners in the next class, instead of you and Scarlett?”

“Umm…yeah, sure.” I was a little confused about why she’d like that, but I’m sure she had to be a better pick than her sister.

“Hadley, let’s go.” Scarlett came up to her, not looking happy that she was talking to me.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then.” She gave me a small wave as she took off with her scowling sister.

I made my way back into the pack house but was stopped as Alpha Marek walked my way.

“Gema, just who I was looking for. We’ve managed to reschedule everything for the wedding, which works out wonderfully. Looks like you and Larkin will be getting marked and married on a Blue Moon. Blue Moons are lucky, you know. We’ll announce the date change to the pack at the full moon run tomorrow. One month left until the big day.” He smiled his creepy fake smile before leaving. One month…that left us with just one more month to figure out how to get me out of here.