Extinguishing Wildfire

Jordan

“Do you think Mom and Dad can see us from wherever they are?” Jade stared up at the stars as if it were possible to see beyond them.

“Oh yeah, Dad knows about your little make-out session with Alejandro, and he’s up there right now, planning out how he can haunt that little punk from the Moon Goddess' realm.” I joked with my sister.

Jade laughed but it seemed Jasmine wasn’t having it. “Does that mean he’s seen everything you’ve been up to as well?” She raised a single eyebrow at me. I sighed loudly but didn’t answer her question knowing she was talking about Aaliyah.

“It’s getting late, and you two have school in the morning, so let’s head back inside.” My sisters intertwined their arms while I stayed behind them as a protective force while we headed inside. Things felt more peaceful between the three of us, and I was glad for it. I’d deal with Jasmine’s thoughts on my relationship…or nonrelationship another day.

As we turned the corner toward the stairs, I was hit by the scent of mint. Aaliyah’s here. My excitement immediately bubbled up, and Neo puffed out his chest in anticipation.

She was at the foot of the stairs about to head up.

“Jordan, I was just about to come find you.” She gave me a hesitant smile, probably because my sisters were around.

“You two go on without me. I’ll be up later, but I’m just a mind link away if you need me. Good night.”

Jasmine gave us the stink eye but continued walking without saying a word.

“Your sister really doesn’t like me.” Aaliyah looked at the spot on the stairs where the girls had just been.

“She’ll come around. She just has to get to know you. The real you.” She smiled at my words, and for a moment, we just stared at each other unsure of where to start.

“Come with me. I want to show you something…or someplace really.” She grabbed my hand and walked us out the front door.

“Where are we going?”

“I want to show you my favorite place in the pack.”

We walked to the edge of the forest and Aaliyah started to strip down without saying a word. I froze and just stared at her, not really feeling like this was the right time for romance but also not being able to look away.

“It’s kind of far, so we’ll need to shift.” Shift? Of course, that’s why she’s taking her clothes off in the woods. I quickly shook off my dirty thoughts and set aside my clothes before shifting into Neo.

Hope and Neo nuzzled each other for a few minutes before taking off. Hope led us up through the trees until we came to a hill. She snuck off behind a tree and reemerged wearing a t-shirt and shorts. She tossed a set of clothes my way and turned so that I could shift.

“My dad used to bring me here when I was little. Then as I got older, I’d come up here a lot on my own when I needed to get away.” I walked closer and saw that we were at the top of a hill that overlooked the entire pack. We could see the twinkling lights of the houses below. It was peaceful and comforting. Aaliyah had also set out a blanket on the ground and sat down, patting the spot beside her. “I figured with everything that’s happened the last few days, we needed to get away.”

I chuckled but nodded ‘yes.’

“You and your sisters are close.”

“We are, even more now that we’re all that we have. You and your brothers are close, too.” I retorted, not really wanting to go into things with my family.

“Yeah, we are. We’re all pretty spaced out, so they’ve always been really protective of me, but they’re the best big brothers a girl could ask for.” She tucked her legs under her as she sat, moving to face me. “My family…they don’t know we’re mates, but they know something is going on between us. They smelled you on me when I went back inside this afternoon, and yesterday, too.”

“Oh…that’s…do they hate me?” I felt my face flush with embarrassment at the thought of Alpha Kedrick knowing I’d been intimate with his sister. He doesn’t know about the mate bond, so I’m surprised he hasn’t killed me yet.

“What? Why would they? They think you’re amazing and actually told me to be careful with you.”

“You’re serious?” My eyebrows rose in surprise.

“Yes, completely serious, they don’t know about us being mates, so it looks like we’re just hooking up.”

Neo perked up at her words.

“So, we’re not just hooking up?” I was certain she could see the hope all over my face as she looked surprised by both my question and the realization of what she had said. Had she just slipped up or did she really mean her words?

“I…it’s…” She shook her head, and I was pretty sure she was battling things out with her wolf as she stayed quiet for a while. “No, we’re not just hooking up.”

“It seems that took a lot for you to admit.” I couldn't help the smile that came over my face as I teased her.

“It did take a lot…but it’s true.”

“If you know this is more than just a hookup why won’t you accept me then? And don’t say it’s because you want to be a doctor because I’ve already told you we can make it work.” My voice rose with each word, and I sounded more agitated than intended. I wasn’t going to bottle up my feelings tonight though. I was tired of the back and forth, and I had already decided this conversation would change things between us. Either she accepts me now or she rejects me formally.

She played with her hands, again seeming to battle with her wolf.

“Aaliyah?” I whispered her name as I drew closer. She didn’t look up at my words, and I took her hands in mine to still her movements.

“I’m scared.”

I stayed silent, hoping she’d elaborate.

“All of the important women in my life have given up their careers once they got mated. My mom was halfway through med school when she met my dad and got pregnant. She dropped everything and moved to this pack with him. Ellis was a warrior in her old pack and also dropped everything the moment she met Kedrick. Even the Luna back in Colorado left her job for her mate. I don’t want to lose who I am just because I have a mate.”

I put my hand under her chin so she’d look at me. “I would never let that happen to you. If who you want to be is a doctor, then we will work together to get you there. You can be both a doctor and my mate, that won’t take away from you being my Luna. If you’re busy with school, then we’ll find someone to help with the pack stuff. There’s ways to work around everything.”

“But I’ll make a terrible Luna.” She shook her head and gently pushed my hand away as she looked down again. “Lunas are supposed to be compassionate, warm, and social. They’re the heart of the pack like my mom and Ellis. I’m not any of those things.”

“Yeah, some Lunas are those things, but some aren’t. I wish you could have met my mom. She was a no-nonsense kind of woman, always telling it like it is. She was more iron fist than honey, but everyone loved her for it anyway because she was the kind of Luna Cobalt Falls needed.”

By this point, I saw the tears trailing down her cheeks, “I’m not iron fist or honey either…and I’m definitely not no nonsense.”

I laughed at her words, which made her laugh, too. “Are you laughing at me?” She playfully swatted at my arm.

“Considering all this nonsense we’ve been through with this mate thing, I’d say you’re not wrong…but in all seriousness, I don’t care what kind of Luna you are as long as you’re mine.” Her breath caught at my words, and she let me pull her into my lap to hold her.

“Will you accept me?”

I really thought she’d say yes, but instead, she let out a shuddering breath and sighed. “Can I think through all of this? I need more time.”

“Umm, yeah. How long do you need?” My heart hurt as I really thought my words made a difference, but she was still holding back. I set her back down and stared out at the lights of the pack below. It was peaceful, but it made me miss hanging out at the falls back home with the guys.

“The Harvest Moon.”

“What?”

“Give me until the Harvest Moon. We’re having a big festival that day. The pack spends the entire day in celebration before heading out for the run.”

“Four days and you’ll let me know before the run?”

“Yes,” She nodded with conviction.

“What about your heat? How did you handle that away from me?”

“I had one of the doctors I worked with knock me out for the night, and I locked myself in my room. I shared a cabin with two other girls, so no males were around.”

I wasn’t sure what to say about that, but I was glad she didn’t seek out other males after we met. Her cheating would have been the final straw to everything shitty that’s happened this summer. If I felt her betray me, there’d be no getting over that, but with the way things happened, I could see myself getting past her initial rejection.

“Come here,” I pulled her back towards me and held her again. Holding her like this was just about the only time I didn’t hurt, didn’t worry about my sisters, didn’t think about my parents, and didn’t feel packless. I was made to belong to her, I just wished she’d stop with the back-and-forth and realize she also belonged with me.

I laid us down to look at the stars. “I think we should slow things down until you’re sure about what you want. Being together is great, but maybe we shouldn’t have sex again until you’re sure about me. I don’t want to take advantage of the situation or even feel like I am.”

Aaliyah

It made sense, taking things slow, but I was so frustrated with myself right now.

“I thought you were going to accept him. What happened!?”

“Hope, not now. I need more time to think things through.”

“More time won’t change anything. Our mate said he’d support us. We could tell him we wanted to be a flying trapeze artist, and he’d find a way to buy us an entire circus just to make our dream come true.”

I groaned internally, hoping Hope would quiet down. Jordan reached for my hand and laced our fingers together. “You and your wolf seem to talk a lot, what’s she like?”

“He’s asking about me!” Hope shook out her fur and perked up. One second ago she was getting on to me and now she’s ready to flirt.

“She talks a lot, but she’s usually the more level-headed one of us. She talks me through everything, so she’s pretty upset that I didn’t give you a chance when we first met.”

“Neo’s pretty level-headed too. He’s way calmer than me…at least that’s how it used to be…” He trailed off, but I caught the words he didn’t say. He meant how he used to be before his parents died. I squeezed his hand as no other words about it needed to be said.

“Hey, Liyah.” He surprised me by using my nickname, but I liked that name on his lips.

“Yeah.”

“Will…you let me help you with your heat this time?”

I was so surprised by the question that I didn’t have words to speak.

“I don’t mean sex…unless you want to. I mean, we just agreed to take things slow. I just don’t want you in pain, so if I can be around to ease your pain, then I want to be there. I can also knock you out and just sit with you if you prefer. Whatever you need. I just want to be there for you.”

“He’s perfect, how can you even entertain rejecting him?” Hope gave him her best puppy dog eyes from inside my head, but I was sure she was projecting it to Neo.

“I’d like that.” We smiled at each other, and for the first time since meeting him, I felt like I belonged.