Escaping Wildfire

Gema

I wasn’t sure what was up, but I trusted Noah, and I knew he needed me to just do as he’d asked. I ran over to Jasmine who was talking to a group of girls. She’s always been a social butterfly, finding friends everywhere she goes. “Jasmine!” I called to her out of breath as I pulled her away from the crowd.

“Hey, there you are. I was wondering where you ran off to, but by the looks of it, I can easily guess where you were.” She teasingly gave me a once-over but stopped when she noticed my facial expression. “What’s wrong?”

“Something’s up with Jordan, so Noah wants us to go find your mom and stay with her until he calls us.”

Jasmine’s face paled, “Is he hurt?”

“Not as far as I know, but the guys need to know we’re safe in the pack house so they can deal with whatever’s going on with him.”

“Okay, let’s go.”

As we turned back towards the pack house, a blond in a skimpy dress blocked our path. “You two were hanging around the guys from Cobalt Falls, are you with them? Like from their pack, too?”

I was in no mood to talk to this girl, but I also didn’t have it in me to be rude to someone I didn’t know. “Um, yeah…we’re their sisters–”

“Except for Noah.” Jasmine finished for me, “She’s his girlfriend.” She pointed my way.

“So, you’re the girlfriend? Hmm, and here I was thinking he made you up.” The blonde took a drink from her cup before putting a hand on her hip and looking back at us. “I pictured you differently…more refined, but I guess you’re cute in that girl next door kind of way.” She flicked her hand towards me condescendingly.

My eyes and Jasmine’s both widened at the same time. This girl was being rude for no reason. I was guessing she was drunk or nearly there by how she smelled, but I really didn’t have time for this.

“Okay then...look, we don’t have time for whatever this is that you’re trying to do, so if you’ll excuse us…” I grabbed Jasmine’s hand, and we ran off in the direction of the pack house.

“So, that was weird.” Jasmine laughed. “You think she wants your man?”

“Oh...totally, but I have nothing to worry about there. I trust Noah.”

“Yeah, I do too.” She smiled. ” Now let’s hurry to my mom… see if she knows what’s up with Jordan.”

Noah

I rushed up to Alpha and Luna’s room. I tried the mind-link, but I figured they were sleeping already as they didn’t answer. I knocked, and a groggy Alpha Henry answered the door.

“Alpha, we need your help.”

He snapped awake at my words. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s Jordan, he’s shifted and Neo’s going crazy. We need help getting Jordan back.”

“What, that’s not like him, where is he?”

“In the woods, north of the bonfire. Cristian’s with him, but he asked me to get both you and Alpha Kedrick.”

“Alright, let’s go get him, then.” He hurried out of his room without worrying about putting on shoes or a shirt. Probably figuring he’d need to shift before long.”

We ended up having to wake Alpha Kedrick, who mind-linked his brother to meet us, not wanting to wake his Beta as he had a baby.

We headed to the woods, and easily found the guys as Alpha Henry scented them out. Cristian was facing a growling Neo when we arrived. He probably thought it best not to shift as Neo might take it as a challenge from his Beta. Alpha Henry stepped beside Cristian, “How long has he been like this?”

“Maybe an hour or so. We were at the bonfire, and he…” Cristian paused, unsure of how much to say, but I nodded my head in encouragement. The others needed to know what we were dealing with if we wanted their help. “He scented his mate. He got up to look for her, and he didn’t return, so I thought…” He cleared his throat before continuing, “I thought things had gone well and he was with his mate, but then I saw him walking towards the woods by himself, so I followed him, and this is how I found him…I called Noah, and I’ve been trying to talk him down ever since.”

“His mate…things didn’t go well then.” Alpha Henry swiped his hand over his face, then he turned and quickly pulled off his sweats before shifting. He and Jordan had matching black wolves with blue eyes. Alpha went over to Neo, and it appeared he commanded him to lie down. Alpha sat down beside him, and we watched as the two wolves had a private conversation through mind-link. After a few minutes, we decided to give them some privacy, and the four of us huddled together away from them.

“You guys have any idea who his mate is?” Alpha Kedrick asked. We both shook our heads without saying a word. “It sounds like he may have been rejected, but I’m sure he’ll tell us what happened once he’s able to shift back.

Would Alpha Kedrick’s sister really reject him? I looked over at Cristian and mind-linked him. ‘What happened?’

‘She showed up at the party, and Jordan went to talk to her. I don’t know exactly what happened as they went off somewhere private, but he rushed off into the woods by himself afterward, and I followed only to find Neo like this.’

‘Do you think he really got rejected?’

He shrugged, but before he could say anything else, Alpha Henry and Jordan shifted back. We all stayed still, just watching and waiting to see what they did next. Jordan didn’t move, so Alpha Kedrick made a move to grab some clothes and toss them his way.

“Let’s head up to my office, and talk somewhere more private.” We all agreed and followed behind him back to the pack house as Jordan and Alpha Henry stayed back to get dressed.

No one said another word until we were all seated around Alpha Kedrick’s office. “Does your wolf take over like that regularly or was this a one-off, did something happen to upset him?” He asked calmly as he grabbed a bottle of whiskey and poured some into a glass. He walked over and handed the glass to Jordan.

Jordan stared down at the glass before shooting it down. “No, it was a one-off…he’s usually my voice of reason.” He slammed the glass down before burying his head in his hands. Alpha Henry patted his back to comfort him.

“So, I don’t have to worry about this happening again? I don’t mean to sound insensitive, but I also have a responsibility to keep my pack safe, and I can’t have an angry Alpha wolf going around taking over his human.”

“Don’t worry, I get it, but Neo should be fine from here on out.” Jordan rubbed at his face before looking back up. “I found my mate…I went over to talk to her, and she told me she didn’t want a mate. Said she needed to finish school and had other plans and that she had no intention of just being some Alpha’s Luna.”

We were at a loss for words as Jordan talked. While he’d said he wasn’t ready to find his mate yet, I knew how much he’d always wanted her. Our parents had talked up the bond our whole lives, and Jordan’s dream was to run his pack with his Luna by his side. He had to be completely shattered right now.

“Was she one of our pack members?” Gamma Isaiah broke into the conversation.

Jordan swallowed hard, “I didn’t ask, and didn’t get her name either.” The three of us knew that was a lie, but Jordan seemed to be preserving her dignity in front of her brothers, so we both kept quiet.

“So, you didn’t formally reject each other?” Alpha Henry had a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

“No, I ran off before she could.” He laughed mirthlessly.

“I’m sorry this happened, son, but maybe there’s still ho—”

“No, Dad,” Jordan cut him off. “She was pretty clear about what she wants and doesn’t want, and I’m not it.”

“Maybe you should head back home with us tomorrow?“Alpha Henry looked over at Alpha Kedrick, “We can work something out and you can come back and finish the training at a later time.”

“I know you’re trying to help, but you’re not right now. I want to stay and finish, training will help me focus on something else…that is if you’re good with that Alpha Kedrick…I promise Neo will behave from now on.”

Alpha Kedrick rubbed his chin for a moment before nodding his head. “I’m good with you staying. I know the mate thing is hard, but you’ve done well these last two weeks, and I’d like to see you finish the program.”

“Thank you, Alpha, I promise I won’t let either of you two down.” He said looking between his father and Alpha Kedrick.

“Now, that that’s settled, can we all get back to bed? I don’t do too well without my beauty rest.” Gamma Isaiah chimed in, effectively lightening the mood and making us all chuckle.

We started clearing the room, but Alpha Henry pulled his son into a tight hug, and the two shared a moment before heading upstairs for the night.