Extinguishing Wildfire

Rory

“Happy Birthday!” I woke up to Larkin’s voice.

“Blow out the candles,” He said as he presented me with a chocolate cake with a big '2' and '0' on top. I quickly blew out the flames and got out of bed to hug my brother. My birthday was usually a quiet affair, but I could always count on Larkin to remember. He was away at school for my 18th so I shifted by myself. The shift itself was excruciating, and I’m still not sure how I survived on my own, but the loneliness of being alone was even worse than the physical pain. It was nice to wake up and have someone who cared for a change.

“I have another surprise, get dressed and come outside.” I nodded and quickly picked out my favorite dress for the day, and left the room.

“Happy Birthday!” James and Scarlett were in the living room, each with a gift for me. The four of us had gotten closer and kept hanging out after our conversation with Gema a few days ago. For all of her sour moods, Scarlett had turned out to be a sweet person.

“Come on, let’s have some cake.” Larkin brought out plates for us.

“You guys didn’t have to do this for me.” The feelings washing over me were overwhelming. No one other than Larkin or my mom had ever given me a birthday gift.

“Here,” Scarlett handed me her bag, and I pulled out a pretty blue dress. “I hope I got the size right. I can exchange it if it’s not.”

“This is from me, it’s just a gift card, but Larkin said you like books.” James passed over a card.

“And from me.” Larkin handed me a wrapped box, and I tore it open. It was the next three books in the romance series I had been reading.

I smiled at everyone’s thoughtfulness and tried to keep my tears at bay. I was about to take a bite of my cake when a knock sounded at the door.

“Are we expecting anyone else?” I turned to ask Larkin.

“No, but I’ll answer.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt your breakfast, but Alpha would like to see Miss Rory in his office after breakfast.”

“I’ll let her know.” Larkin closed the door and turned around with a grim look on his face.

“What do you suppose he wants? Last time I was called to his office he…” Tears welled up in my eyes as I remembered how my father had beat me and handed me over to Beta Griffin.

“Don’t worry, Rory, I’ll go with you this time.” He grabbed my hands and led me to sit back down. James and Scarlett looked confused, but I faintly heard as Larkin filled them in on what happened. My mind was too consumed with my thoughts to pay attention to the others and their conversation.

“We’ll leave you to go see Alpha, but if you need anything, I’m just a mind link away. James patted my shoulder as he and Scarlett left. Larkin and I exited the room right behind them, making our way to Father’s office. My brother knocked for me as I fiddled with my hands.

Beta Griffin of all people answered the door. “Alpha only wants to see his daughter right now.” Larkin attempted to push through but Beta Griffin blocked him and waved a single finger in front of his face in a ‘no’ motion.

“It’s okay, Larkin, you can wait for me here.” I knew my brother could easily overpower the Beta, but we didn’t want to give away his full strength in front of my father.

“You asked to see me, Father.”

“Aurora, have a seat.” He gestured to the chair in front of his desk and leaned back in his big chair.

“You’re 20 now.”

“Yes, Father.”

“Larkin will soon be mated, and as such he will need his own space back.” I gave him a wide-eyed look. Was he going to make me move back into my room? “With that in mind, I have decided that it’s time for you to find your own mate as well. As such, I have arranged for two potential suitors, possibly more if those don’t work out.

It was no secret that my father would one day arrange my mating, but I didn’t expect this so soon. I thought I would at least have some time to see if my fated mate appeared before I was forced into an arrangement. My heart thudded loudly in my chest, and I was certain the smile on Father’s face was because he could hear my heart and sense my fear.

“May I ask who the potential suitors are?”

“They are alphas from packs back East.”

“Will I have any say in who is chosen?” My eyes remained focused on my hands in my lap as I didn’t want to see the look of triumph on my father’s face. He always took joy in my and Larkin’s pain.

“I will be inviting them over for dinner in the next few weeks, so you’ll meet them all individually. I’m willing to hear you out, but ultimately the choice lies with me, and I’ll select the alpha who most benefits me and my pack, not the one you like best. If you have any problems with my decision, I’m sure Beta Griffin here can help you see reason.” My eyes followed his hand as he waved over to the Beta who gave me a lascivious smile.

“I understand, Father.” My eyes dropped back down to my lap, and I tried to steady my breathing as memories flooded me from my last encounter with Beta Griffin.

“Breathe, Rory, I’m right here with you. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe, and Larkin is just outside of this door.” Phoenix tried to soothe me with her words, but all I wanted was to be back safely in my brother’s suite.

“I’ll let you know when we’ll be meeting your potential suitors. You’re dismissed.” Father waved me off with a final sneer and I gladly rose to leave.

Beta Griffin decided I needed an escort and set his hand on my lower back to guide me out. I wanted to jump out of my skin at his touch, but I swallowed down the bile threatening to rise from my throat and locked eyes with Larkin as soon as I saw him.

“Let’s head back upstairs, we’ll talk there.” Larkin and I practically sprinted up to the room to get away from my father and his Beta.

“What did he want?”

“He said that with you being mated soon, I’ll need to be gone, so he’s arranged potential suitors for me. Alphas from Eastern packs.”

“That bastard.” He ran his hand through his hair and back down his face. “I won’t let him take you, Rory. I’ll call Gema up right now and ask them to find a way out of here for you.”

“Father said he’s planning a visit with them for a few weeks from now, maybe the attack will happen before they come and we won’t have to worry about it?”

“What did he mean, me being mated soon?”

“I don’t know, he only briefly mentioned that part. You don’t think he’s going to find you someone new like last time?” Last time he had attacked a pack and stolen a girl, would he do the same this time?

“I think he would. We need to call up Harvest Moon and have them see which packs have unmated Alpha females. They’re likely to be attacked next.”

“This is good, we can be one step ahead of Father.”

“Possibly, I still want you at Harvest Moon the first chance we get. I’ve been working hard to challenge Father, and James agreed to be my second, so I feel pretty confident.” He sighed deeply before continuing, “If things don’t go as planned though, and I get hurt…or worse.”

“Larkin, I don’t even want to think about that.”

“I know, Rory, but if things don’t go well. You need to run. Don’t worry about Mom or anyone else here, just run. Find the cats, or anyone else who can help you, just don’t stay here with Father. Will you promise me that?” He looked at me intently, and I could see the conviction in his eyes.

“I promise, if anything goes wrong, I’ll run…but you need to promise me one thing…you have the win, Larkin. Promise me you’ll win, that way we can all be together and safe.”

He looked at me with sad eyes, “I can’t promise you that, but I will promise to put my all into this.”

“I suppose that’s good enough for today. Let’s get James now so that we can call Gema.”

James rushed over, and we were able to fill Gema in on our suspicions of which pack might be attacked next. She said she’d pass on the information to Alpha Kedrick and that we should call again if we hear anything else.

Alpha Kedrick

Noah and Gema rushed up to me at lunch with news of their phone call with Alpha Larkin. I immediately had my tech crew combing through all the packs for unmated Alpha females.

They brought me a list late this afternoon, and I was looking over it. I called the ranked members of all the packs into my office to formulate a plan, and I sent a message to Olivia so that we could speak with her as soon as possible. As far as Alpha females, a few came up on the East Coast, but I doubt Alpha Marek would travel that far. Two popped up in Texas, one in Montana, one in Idaho, and one here in Arizona.

“I thought Alpha Marek chose me because he couldn’t find anyone.” Gema voiced out what I’m sure everyone else was thinking.

“That was probably correct, the two Alpha females in Montana and Idaho are still just children.”

“And the others? The one in Arizona…” Jordan swallowed hard before continuing, but I knew what he was thinking.

“Aaliyah” I nodded confirming that Aaliyah was most likely Alpha Marek’s next target.

An unexpected growl tore out of Jordan, and Cristian patted his back in an attempt to calm his Alpha. I know Jordan and Aaliyah have a thing going on, but I wasn’t aware he was that serious about her for his wolf to already feel possessive of her.

“We’ll have to be more vigilant from now on. I’ve already asked Ellis to start preparing an emergency drill for after dinner so that we can be sure everyone knows where the safe rooms are and how to get there. I’ll have guards on Aaliyah from here on out. Isaiah and Noah will rework the patrol shifts to ensure we’ve got all areas covered. Cristian, I’d like you and Gabriel to check in with the tech team and make sure all is running well on that end. Jordan, I’ll need your help with the drill tonight and getting everyone where they need to go. Gema and Nora, the pups are most familiar with you two, so I’ll need you two to help with ensuring they remain calm during the drill. Meet with Ellis, and she’ll fill you in on what needs to happen. That’s it for now, but be ready for after dinner. Isaiah, stay back for a sec.”

As soon as the others left, I turned to my brother, “Which of our warriors do you trust with guarding Aaliyah?”

“You really think she’s the target? Wildfire’s never come after us before.”

“That’s because Marek knows we’re a strong pack, but I think this time he’s desperate enough to come for us. We’ll be ready for him, though.”

“Then, I’ll get Emma and Ethan to guard Aaliyah. I’m sure she won’t be thrilled.”

“Not at all, but that’s why I called her in so that we could tell her the news together. I chuckled at my brother as he shook his head at me.

The door opened just as I finished talking, “You wanted to see me, K?”

I let out a loud sigh as she sat next to me and Isaiah. “I know you’re working on school stuff right now, so I’ll keep it short. You won’t like what I have to say, but I won’t let you argue your way about it. Alpha Marek is after a new Alpha female for his son. We believe you are the next target as the closest unmated Alpha female of age. From here on out, until we launch our attack, we’ll have guards on you.”

“But that’s ridiculous! I don’t want 24/7 guards. I know how to fight.”

“I already said there would be no arguing your way out of this, don’t make me use an Alpha command. Gema and Jasmine also know how to fight, but they were taken anyway. This has nothing to do with your skill.”

“Fine.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking like a petulant child. I was surprised she agreed to this so easily, but I knew she'd still look for ways to get out of this. I was good with upsetting her, though, if it meant her safety.