Extinguishing Wildfire

Aaliyah

“It’s good to have you back home.” Isaiah was dragging me down to dinner in the hall, even though I wanted to eat in my suite tonight. I’d been back less than 24 hours, and I had never felt less happy to be here.

It had been a rough morning with all of the planning that went on for our attack on Wildfire. Whenever Kedrick and Isaiah called, they would let me know everything that was going on with Wildfire and the Council. I had been sad to hear that Jordan’s parents had both been killed by Alpha Marek. Hope hadn’t spoken to me very much since I told Jordan I wouldn’t be his Luna, but I could tell she was heartbroken for our mate. I wouldn’t wish that kind of loss on anyone.

I had already decided to stay at Whispering Pines for a few more weeks so that I wouldn’t run into Jordan again, but I couldn’t extend my time anymore. Either way, everything was different now as Jordan was now part of our pack, and as far as I was concerned, was here indefinitely.

His cherry and leather scent overwhelmed me as soon as I walked into my brother’s office this morning. He looked even better than last time, and I could tell the extra training he’d been doing was paying off. Hope was a panting mess in my head and begged me to get closer to him. If it were up to her, she’d have me begging on my knees to get him back.

It surprised me that he had told my brothers what happened but had left my name out of it. I’d have to ask why he never told them I was his mate.

“You’re back!” Carissa rushed up and hugged me. At least, I had my best friend here, so it wasn’t all bad.

“Come sit with me, we’ll have to have a girl’s night soon so that you can catch me up on everything you’ve been up to.”

“Sure, how about Friday? Movies and junk food.”

“Have you seen…you know who yet?”

“This morning,” I groaned. “He’s as handsome as ever.”

She just shook her head at me and sighed.

“What?”

“Oh, nothing, just wondering how long it’s going to take before you realize you actually do want him.”

Just as she said that the scent of cherries started wafting my way. Jordan’s here. I internally groaned as my eyes searched him out. He walked in with two girls, Kedrick had told me they’d rescued his sisters, so that must be them. They all favored each other, but the older girl looked sad and tired.

“He’s always with his sisters since they arrived. It was so sad about their parents. The youngest is only 13.”

“Yeah, Kedrick told me all about it.” I kept watching as the three of them sat down with their friends. “He’ll be taking over raising his sisters now.” I looked back at Jordan as he laughed at something one of his friends said. He really did have a nice smile, too bad I hadn’t seen much of it since I had known him.

Jordan

Alpha had called a pack meeting for after dinner to let the pack know about the new training schedule we’d be starting tomorrow. He hadn’t let the pack know the full extent of what we were doing yet, mostly just the warriors, but he would be letting everyone know tonight. I just hoped it went well as I knew war was a serious subject. The dining hall also served as the meeting room as it was the largest room in the packhouse, so we just stayed in our seats after we ate.

Alpha Kedrick called me and the guys up along with Gema, Nora, and his sister. He hadn't told us he would be calling us up, so I wondered what he was up to.

“As all of you know, we invited these three young men into our pack for training so they could return to their pack as better leaders. Unfortunately, the Wildfire pack attacked Cobalt Falls, and these young men were displaced. We then welcomed them as members of our pack. What you don’t know yet is that we have been working closely with some of the other wolf packs to get these boys their pack back and get rid of Wildfire.” We could hear murmurs around the room and Alpha Kedrick had to calm the pack back down.

“Our warriors have been busy working with other wolf packs and with some of the cat shifters to get ready for the war that is planned against Wildfire, but we need to make some changes around here to ensure the safety of the rest of our pack.

Starting tomorrow, we will increase the warrior training and start training a reserve army. The young men from Cobalt Falls will be leading training for the reserves and the newly shifted and new warriors. Their pack might be under Alpha Marek right now, but we will be taking the pack back for them, so I would like you all to address them by their titles of Alpha, Beta, and Gamma. Gamma Noah's mate, Gema, will also be helping with the pup training. Some of you have met Luna Nora here, she will be helping with some of the Luna tasks while our own Luna takes on some of the more rigorous warrior training.

While these young men and women are all a part of Harvest Moon under my Alphaship, their rightful place is with their packs that we will restore them to once Wildfire has been terminated. I want you to treat them with the same respect you treat me or any visiting Alpha.”

A few hands went up with questions after Alpha’s speech. “Why are we involving ourselves in this? Wildfire hasn’t come anywhere near our pack, wouldn’t this put us on their radar?”

“We’ve let Wildfire do as they pleased for over 30 years now. They decimated more packs in that time than seems possible, and they will continue to do so. As of right now, there are seven wolf packs, one bear clan, and many cat shifters who have agreed to work together to help end Wildfire. They have mostly targeted smaller packs, but with their attack on Cobalt Falls, we know they are now focusing on larger packs. They have also destroyed a lot of the cat territory, so this isn’t a matter of whether they will ever attack us or not but of when. We want to get to them before they get to us.”

Several people nodded, and a few more murmurs were heard. “How will you ensure the safety of those of us who can’t fight?”

“As I’ve just explained, the reserve army will stay here to ensure we are not left unattended while the main warriors are at Wildfire. We will also be having a few additional drills to ensure the safe rooms are in working order. Starting next week, we’ll start housing a few cat families, and some of the smaller packs will send their people here so that no one is left unattended.”

“Are the cats to be trusted?”

“I know, historically, we’ve never worked with the cats, but I’ve been in contact with one of their leaders, and she is a very trustworthy woman. The cats were instrumental in helping us get Luna Nora, Gamma Gema, and the boys’ siblings out of Wildfire…so, yes, they can be trusted.”

Alpha continued answering questions for most of the meeting. His pack was understandably concerned as they had never been to war before. I was still reeling from Alpha telling everyone to address us by titles. I wasn’t sure I deserved to be called Alpha yet. I knew that was technically my title for when we got our pack back, but it felt strange being called Alpha as I still felt packless. Neo, on the other hand, felt a surge of pride at being called Alpha. He was ready to take over his rightful title. I hated feeling this way, and it didn’t help that the smell of mint and lavender was now everywhere I went. I used to love the smell of mint, but now I couldn’t even brush my damned teeth without being reminded of what I couldn’t have. Fuckin' mate bond and all.

After the meeting, I walked my sisters back to their room. Jade had started school this week, and it seemed it had been the best decision for her. I’m glad I listened to what she wanted. I was still worried about Jasmine, but she had been making some progress since arriving.

“Hey, Jordan?”

“Yeah, Jas?”

“Can I talk to you about something?”

“Umm, yeah. Let’s go to my room?” I furrowed my brows unsure of what she wanted to discuss.

She followed, and I let us into my room, where she sat down in a chair while I took the bed.

“What’s up?” I kicked off my shoes and laid back as it had been a long day.

“She’s your mate, right?”

I sighed loudly. I wasn’t expecting anyone to pick up on that, but if anyone knew me, it was Jasmine.

“What gave it away?”

“Well, I already knew about the mate thing, and you tense up anytime she goes near you. It also makes sense with the timelines. You’d been here for a while already but didn’t scent your mate until she showed up for the birthday party.”

“My sister, ever the detective.”

She shrugged, “Who else knows?”

“The guys…and to be honest, I actually knew about her before she showed up. I scented her on a stuffed bear she gave Oren…and then Gema. Noah told her.”

“She didn’t tell me?...and she calls herself my best friend!” She said jokingly.

“To be fair she’s been holed up with Noah since she got here.”

“True, I’ve barely seen her, with all of their…extracurricular activities.” She rolled her eyes.

“You’re telling me, I’m just glad all these rooms are soundproof. The guys and I are close, but not that close.” We both shuddered.

“You mean Cristian’s been up to his usual habits up here, too?”

“Something like that…you remember Evie?”

“No,” She gasped, “Tell me you’re kidding. Gema is gonna be pissed when she finds out. That girl was a total bitch to her.”

“Yeah, not kidding at all. He was really messed up about Gema and his dad. I know it’s no excuse, but all of this has been hard on all of us, so I can’t say I entirely blame him.”

“They would have killed us all if Tío Tomas hadn’t made that deal.”

She looked down, and I knew it was time to change the subject.

“You want to watch a movie together?”

“Sure, scoot over.” She took off her shoes and climbed onto the bed with me.

“Are you going to try to get her back?”

“Dad told me to give it time, but with everything that’s happened, I don’t know anymore.”

“Dad knew about her?” Her voice cracked at the end, and my own eyes watered a little as I saw the tears glistening in hers.

“The night it happened…Dad helped Neo calm back down and then he came back here with me. We sat on this very bed together. That was the last time we spoke in person.

He told me things weren’t always easy for him and Mom, but that they worked hard at it and made it work. He said my mate would eventually see how great I am and come around. Then he told me he was proud of me and loved me.”

By the time I finished talking, Jasmine was full-on bawling. I pulled her into a hug and wasn’t ashamed to say I sobbed a little with her. I might technically be an adult, but 19 was still too young to lose both of my parents.

“The last thing he told me was that he loved me, too. Gema and I went shopping that morning, and I kissed them both goodbye and hugged them before I left. I wish we had gotten more time with them.”

“Yeah, it still doesn’t feel real that they’re gone.”

“Or that we haven’t been home in months.”

“We’ll be back there soon.”

This was my and Jasmine’s first time talking about our parents. Jade had talked to me about her feelings, but Jasmine hadn’t wanted to before today. It was good to see she was finally opening up. I was certain getting our home back would help her even more.