Extinguishing Wildfire

Alpha Marek

I felt two pack bonds snap this morning. It had been a few days since Gema and her friend had gone missing, and all we had found were a few pieces of their dresses near a bear den. From what my trackers found, it looked like they were attacked by a mother bear, and we were left to assume they succumbed to their injuries. What a waste of two good females. They would still be alive if they had just run to the pack house like they were told to do.

I looked out my window at a group of my warriors as they trained. They were like a well-oiled machine. I had been at this a long time, but I hadn’t quite tired of taking over other packs. There was a certain beauty to watching people crumble as they watched their entire world turn to ash.

My coward of a father didn’t understand that. He nearly caused the downfall of our pack with his mismanagement and drinking. He passed the pack to me at 18 not because he really wanted to but because I told him I would challenge him if he didn’t. He knew there was no chance his drunken ass would be able to beat me, so he turned the pack over to me instead. My first week as Alpha, another pack attacked us in an attempt to take over our lands. I showed them and all the other packs in the country that no one messes with Marek Novak, and now it's me who takes over other packs.

Luckily, I no longer had to deal with either of my worthless parents. They died just a year into my Alphaship from a car accident. At least, that’s what the official paperwork lists as the reason.

I never cared much for them anyway. My father was a bastard who beat me any chance he got, and my bitch of a mother just stood by and let it happen. They both got what they deserved.

A knock at the door startled me out of my thoughts. Perfect…my children are here.

“You called for us, Father,”

“Yes, sit,” I motioned to the two chairs in front of my desk.

“I felt two pack bonds break this morning.” I wasted no time on pleasantries. “I regret to inform you that our trackers found evidence of a bear attack, and your fiancée and her friend are no more.”

Aurora covered her mouth in shock and almost immediately started sobbing. Larkin, however, seemed to keep his composure.

“Will we have a funeral for them?”

“No, we didn’t locate any bodies, so why waste the time and resources?”

He nodded, but I saw the slight clench of his jaw. Did he actually come to care for the girl? My son was more of an idiot than I thought.

“Take your sister. I don’t have the patience for blubbering her right now.”

They stood to leave, and I called after them, “If I find out you two had anything to do with this cougar attack, I’ll have Beta Griffin finish what he started with your sister, is that understood?”

“Yes...loud and clear.” Larkin hugged his sister to his side, and left without another look my way.

‘I don’t know how I managed to get the two most worthless offspring. Their mother turned them into sniveling pups from the start.’ My wolf, Champion, was often the only one I could trust…and the only one who wouldn’t frustrate me with idiotic remarks.

'At least they both have a good head for business so they can help with the pack finances.′

‘True,’ I sighed, ‘There is no way I’m passing the pack down to that boy, though. He will ruin everything we’ve accomplished. All the land we’ve acquired and the packs we’ve destroyed will be for nothing.’

‘He’s weak...I told you not to mate with his mother, but you wouldn’t listen. Now, we’re stuck with useless offspring.’

‘Not this again.’ He never tired of telling me how much of a mistake I had made by keeping Clarissa. ‘What’s done is done.’ I rubbed my forehead in frustration.

When I first met Clarissa, she was radiant. She’s alpha-born, so I assumed our pups would be strong. Unfortunately, she couldn’t keep up with me, and she withdrew after giving birth to Larkin. She claimed postpartum depression, but she completely changed.

Champion and I didn’t have the patience for her shit, so we got our needs met elsewhere. Clarissa tried to call me out the first few times it happened, but she was too fragile to follow through with anything. Over the years, she’s learned to keep quiet and look pretty when she’s needed. She cleans up nicely and makes for a good trophy mate, so I keep her around as it would be too much work to train a new Luna.

‘All of this work just for you to not have a proper heir to pass everything down to.’ Champion snarled in my head. He’d been getting angrier lately. I needed to call one of my girls to see if a good release would help reign him in. I had found a new girl who kept her mouth shut and always did as she was told, which I liked, so I’d have to bring her in for the night.

Now I have to find another mate for that damned son of mine. I need a pup I can raise right this time and take as my true heir. I picked up my office line and rang up one of my contacts, “Alpha…I need another Alpha female, who do you have for me?”

Rory

I continued to sob as Larkin led me upstairs. We didn’t speak until we were securely inside his suite, and he had sat me down on his sofa. The thought of Gema and Hadley being dead was overwhelming, but I started crying more at the thought of them having made it safely to Harvest Moon. Nora had made it, so I had to believe they had made it, too.

“You’re moving in here, permanently. I can’t risk you being on your own out there.”

I nodded in agreement, I was terrified of both Beta Griffin and my father, so he’d get no argument from me.

“They made it safely, right?”

Larkin sighed loudly before he started to pace the room. “I’m certain they did, but don’t worry. As soon as I have another meeting off-pack, I’ll find a way to call Gema. I had her leave me her number.”

As usual, my brother had thought of everything. A part of me wished I had gone with the girls, but a deeper part of me knew Larkin needed me here.

“Are you going to challenge him?”

He stared at me for a moment before slowly nodding his head. “As soon as I know what Harvest Moon’s plan is, I’ll come up with my plan to challenge Father. We can’t keep living like this, and I won’t have you constantly looking over your shoulder to make sure Griffin isn’t around.”

I hated his words, but he was right. I hadn’t felt safe since Griffin’s attack, and I rarely left Larkin’s room anymore. I was terrified of him coming after me again. Even Phoenix didn’t feel safe. She’d been quiet after the attack, and I knew she felt guilty that she hadn’t been able to protect me.

“Let me check my schedule. You’ll go with me for all future off-pack meetings. I’m not leaving you here without me.”

I nodded in agreement, knowing my brother was right, I couldn’t stay here without protection.

“If Harvest Moon doesn’t do anything by the end of the month, then I’ll issue the challenge. I’ll talk to James about being my second, he’s proven we can trust him.”

“What if James helps us call Gema?”

“That’s actually not a bad idea. I’ll go down at lunch and see if I can locate him.”

“Can I go with you?”

“Yeah, the warriors should be heading to the dining hall soon, so let’s get cleaned up and go.”

I rarely ever ate in the dining hall as Father always preferred for me to eat upstairs. I was surprised by how lively it was down here. Everyone was just going about their lives, resting after their workouts and talking with friends. It was odd to see so many happy looking people when I had never experienced this for myself.

“Go get in line for food, and I’ll walk around to find him. It will look suspicious if we both go talk to him.”

I nodded and headed over to the line and picked up a tray. They were serving burgers and fries today, which I actually liked, so I loaded up my plate.

A tall brunette got behind me in line, and I noticed that she kept scooting closer to me. I scooted away a few times, but she kept getting closer, so I finally looked up at her to say something but she beat me to it. “I’m sorry, I was just trying to get your attention. Can we talk?”

She looked familiar, but I was terrible at remembering names and people, so I couldn’t be sure of who she was, but I was intrigued about what she wanted. “Sure, sit with me.”

I walked over to the table intended for the Alpha family that I only sat at during pack meetings when my dad needed to make sure he kept up appearances of having a perfect family.

The girl looked over her shoulder a few times before speaking again. “I’m Scarlett, Hadley’s sister. You were friends with her, right?”

“Y…yes,” I answered with uncertainty in my voice.

“Have you heard from her?” She whispered that last part so softly that it was difficult to hear, but my wolf hearing managed to just barely understand.

‘Phoenix, do you think she’s trustworthy?’ I hadn’t had a lot of interaction with people other than Gema or those related to me, so I always questioned whether my instincts were right about people. I always had Phoenix help me figure it out.

‘I don’t sense any malice from her, but don’t say too much just in case.’

“I haven’t heard from her.” I picked up a fry and started eating, hoping she wouldn't ask anything else.

“I know she escaped, I just want to make sure she’s safe. If you hear from her, please let me know. I promise I won’t tell anyone. I just want my sister safe.”

With that, she grabbed her plate and went off to another table.

‘I feel like I should have told her more. Do you think Father will tell Hadley’s family about the breaking pack bond and that she’s dead? I don’t want her thinking her sister died.’

‘Maybe James knows more about her? We can ask him if we can trust her.’

‘I’ll ask Larkin.’

“Hey,” Larkin sat down next to me with his food. “James will come over for dinner tonight. He’s going to look for someone else to invite so it looks like a friend thing. He just has to find the right person, so he’ll let me know.”

‘Scarlett,’ Phoenix whispered in my head.

“Hadley’s sister,” I mumbled out loud.

“What?”

“Hadley’s sister…have him bring Hadley’s sister, Scarlett.” I said with more certainty this time.

He looked at me with a confused expression, but then slowly shrugged and nodded. “I’ll let James know.”