Extinguishing Wildfire

Aaliyah

We all fell asleep after our third movie, and it looked like I was the first to wake up the next morning. I went over to the kitchenette and started making coffee as I was certain we’d all need it. As I turned to the counter, the door to the bathroom opened, and none other than Jasmine walked out.

“Oh, it’s you.” She said as she saw me.

“You know, it doesn’t cost anything to be nice.”

“And that’s where you’re wrong,” She put a hand on her hip, “I’d rather not be nice to the person who broke my brother’s heart.”

“Look, I don’t have to explain myself to you.” I shot back with as much venom as she was giving me.”

“Of course not, you have your reasons, and they’re good enough for you. Just remember that Moon Goddess pairs us with our mate for a reason, and that reason is usually because our fated mate will help us grow into the person we’re meant to be. So, while you’re busy trying to be the best little doctor out there, just know that you’ll never be the best version of yourself because you rejected the one person who could have gotten you there.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about. I know Jordan’s a great guy, but I was never meant to be a Luna.”

“If that’s the case, then reject him and let him move on. Don’t you think he deserves to be happy, too?”

“Of course, I do.”

“Then stop messing with his heart. I might only be 16, but even I know you can’t just string people along for your own selfish needs…so if you don’t want him, then do right by him and let him go.”

“I never said I didn’t want him.”

“Wait, what?” By this point, we had gotten to the point of having a whisper-yell match as the other girls were still sleeping. It seemed my last statement had thrown us both off. It was true that I had never said I didn’t want him. What I didn’t want was to be a Luna, but unfortunately, that was a huge part of being Jordan’s mate.

“I already told you that I don’t have to explain myself, but I also know Jordan is great. It’s not him I don’t want, it’s what comes with being an Alpha’s mate that I don’t want.”

“But, that makes no sense. Jordan would never ask you to give up your dreams for him. Why don’t you think you can have both?”

“I…” I huffed, not having an answer for her. “I don’t have time for this. I’m not going to keep talking about this with someone who clearly doesn’t understand.” I raised my hands in frustration and walked out of the door before I could hear her say anything else. Who did she think she was coming at me like that?

I felt so frustrated that I had to get out of the packhouse. Hope still hadn’t talked to me, so I couldn’t shift and ended up walking around our territory for the next hour.

I looked up at the quaint house on the outskirts of the pack and realized too late that I had walked myself right where I needed to be. I walked up and knocked on the door, hoping they were already awake for the day.

“Aaliyah! I wasn’t expecting you until tomorrow, is everything alright?” She opened the door and I rushed inside. As I turned to look back at her, the tears I had been holding in started to fall in big drops from my eyes.

“Mama,” I cried as I threw myself into the open arms of my mother.

“Aaliyah, come here.” She led us over to the sofa, and I continued to cry on her shoulder. “Is everything okay? You haven’t cried like this since you were little.”

“I’m not sure anymore.”

“Well, you’re here now, so talk.”

I turned around and grabbed a tissue to wipe my face. “I actually have some questions for you.”

“Sure, sweetie, what about?”

“I was just…well, I was wondering if you ever regretted not finishing med school. You’ve always said you didn’t, but is that really the case?”

“Oh, well, maybe a time or two when I think back on it, but for the most part, I’ve lived a good life, and I have you and your brothers to show for it.”

“So you were happy with giving up your dream?”

“Well,” She paused as if to gather her thoughts. “At the time, I was really confused. Your father was from a different pack than mine, he had just taken over as Alpha, and I was going to school in California. You can’t transfer from med school as easily as you can with undergrad, so I had a choice to make. Either be with my mate or stay in school.

I didn’t make an immediate choice, and your father tried to make it as easy as possible for us by doing the long-distance thing with me. He’d come to visit me as often as he could, and I’d come to stay with him during breaks. We did that for about 6 months, but it was hard. Wolves don’t like to be away from their mates, and Willow begged me to move to the pack permanently.”

“Did she ever stop talking to you?”

My mother let out a deep sigh. “Dad and I have always just given you kids the nicer parts of our love story, but I suppose you’re old enough for all the gritty details now, and I have a suspicion you’re asking for a reason.” She raised an eyebrow my way.

“Your father wanted us to have our mating ceremony almost as soon as we met, but I kept pushing back on it. I had always wanted to be a doctor, and your father never objected to it, but he wanted us to mark each other.” She paused and sighed again as if bothered by the memory.

“You didn’t mark each other right away?”

“No, I was too scared to let him mark me. A part of me thought I’d lose myself.”

“What made you change your mind?”

“Willow stopped talking to me, I didn’t hear from her for a whole two weeks, and in that time, I found out I was pregnant. I was both excited and scared, and I didn’t have my wolf to talk to about everything. I was miserable without her, and that’s when I realized that she was just as miserable without her mate.”

“So, you just quit school after that?”

“Not at first, I called your father, and we talked things through. It was a long conversation with a lot of tears and a lot of apologizing from my end. I ended up heading to his pack that next Spring, and I never looked back.”

“But you’ve always said you don’t regret quitting school, is that true?” I was confused by my mother’s revelation. I had always been under the impression that my mom quit school almost as soon as she met Dad.

“That part is actually very true. As soon as I moved here, it was like a giant weight was lifted off of my shoulders. Your father and I were overjoyed with my pregnancy, and as soon as Kedrick was born, it was like everything clicked for me.”

“So, you really don’t regret quitting school?”

“Not even a little bit. I loved medicine, and I still do, but being a mother has been my greatest joy. I loved being there for you kids growing up, and I also enjoyed my time as Luna. I did a lot of good around our pack, and now we have one of the best pack clinics in the country. I may not have become the doctor I thought I would be, but I have lived a very satisfying life.”

I wiped at the tears that were falling from my face.

“So, are you going to tell me what all this is about now?”

I shook my head, willing my tears away. “I found my mate,” I whispered so softly that I wasn’t sure she could hear.

“Well, now this all makes sense. May I ask who he is?”

I cleared my throat and looked back up at my mom. “Jordan…he’s—”

“The Alpha?” I nodded my head. “That’s…well…” she sighed, “I’ll just say this. Your brother has told me all about him, so I suppose you are the mate who rejected him?” I just nodded again.

“Oh, Liyah.” She pulled me into a hug. “You’ve always been the most stubborn of my kids. My story doesn’t have to be yours. I did what I did because it was right for me. You are still at an age where anything is possible.”

“But he’s an Alpha, Mama, I don’t want to give up becoming a doctor to be a Luna.”

“Is that what he said to you?”

“No, he hasn’t said that. We haven’t really discussed it.”

“Then that’s your first problem. You won’t get anywhere without proper communication. It took me a while to get things right with your dad, but we discussed everything each step of the way. Do you want Jordan?”

“He’s a great guy, but–”

“No, no buts. Do you want him, yes or no?”

“Yes,” I answered almost immediately.

“Then talk to him.” She pulled me back and gave me a look that left no room for argument. She was right, I had to talk to Jordan.

Jordan

Alpha had called us into his office this evening as he had gotten a phone call from Olivia earlier.

“Thanks for coming guys. As you know, I had a call from Olivia this afternoon.”

“Is everything alright?”

“As of right now, I’d say yes. We’ve had a development, and I think we can use it to get an in with Wildfire.”

We all shifted in our seats, perking up at his words. “What’s going on then?”

“Olivia got word from some of the cats on the border of Wildfire, some of the ones who helped in the search for Gema. The cats say that there seems to be some unrest at Wildfire.”

“Unrest? What exactly does that mean?”

“It seems a group of cats stumbled upon a conversation between some of the warriors out on patrol. They were talking about wanting to leave unless Alpha Larkin took over soon.”

“James, the warrior who helped me and Nora escape, said that there were pack members who knew Larkin and Nora were their true leaders. It sounded cryptic at the time, but I bet there are more people against Alpha Marek than it seems.” Gema spoke up, confirming what Alpha Kedrick was told.

“So, this James guy seems to know a lot. I wonder if there’s any way to get in touch with him.” Alpha rubbed at his chin.

“Did Olivia say anything else?” I asked.

“Yes, she said another cat shifter heard something similar at another patrol spot. Those warriors were talking about how much they hated the pack and wanted Alpha Larkin to issue a challenge.”

“I have Larkin and Rory’s phone numbers, but Alpha Mareks keeps close tabs on their phones and email. It’s not safe to call.”

“Maybe our tech people could figure something out. I’ll ask.”

“What if they looked for this James guy’s information?” Cristian added his suggestion and Alpha added it to his list.

“This is good, right?”

“Yeah, it’s great, we just don’t know what to do with the information yet. The cats are also taking a huge risk hanging out so close to the border. Olivia wants them to pull back a bit.”

Gema’s phone went off in the middle of our conversation and she quickly silenced it, but no sooner had she clicked it off that it started buzzing again.

“Sorry guys, I usually don’t get phone calls like this.” She shut it off again, but the phone again started to buzz.

“Wait Gema, who’s calling?” I thought back to us ignoring her calls when she first tried contacting us.

“I don’t recognize the number.” She turned the phone for us to see.

“That says California, though. You should answer it.” Noah nudged her, and she did as Noah said.

“Hello.”

“Gema? Gema, is that you?”

“Yes, it’s me, Gema.”

“Thank Goddess! It’s me, Larkin.”