Extinguishing Wildfire
Chapter 35: Put to Rest

Gema

Cristian rushed out after Rory, but I stopped him in his tracks, “Don't, not right now.” My voice was firm and cold.

“Move, Gema, I have to talk to her.” Noah came and stood behind me, backing me up.

“Cómo eres pendejo, Cristian! (You're such an idiot!) We all told you to stop with Evie, now you have to deal with the consequences. You might have just lost the best thing that ever happened to you. Rory's been through a lot today, we don't need you making things worse…or at least worse than you already have.” He ran his hands through his hair, clearly frustrated. “I'll go talk to her. You two start helping put out the fire.”

I ran up to catch her, as she had just gone to the edge of the forest, not really having anywhere to go as the fire raged.

“Gema,” She was openly crying, and her voice wavered. “Does he not want me? Does he have a girlfriend?”

“She's not his girlfriend…he's just made some poor choices here lately.” I shrugged, not really wanting to go into my brother's playboy ways.

Her eyebrows furrowed in question, “You know, I grew up seeing my mother suffer from my father's infidelity, but I never thought I'd ever feel the pain of it myself. With just that brief moment of what he did, it felt like my entire body was on fire and my heart tore.” She sighed deeply, “I now understand my mother so much more. How could she endure that kind of pain all these years? I don't want a life like my mother. I know he's your brother, but do you think I'd be better off rejecting him?”

I'd hopefully never have to feel the pain of betrayal, so I couldn't speak on that, but I also knew my brother was a good man, despite all of his flaws. “I can't tell you what to do. I love my brother, and I know he's a good man, but I also understand your fears. You two should rest and talk before you decide anything. I'll support your decision either way.”

“Thank you, Gema.”

Jordan

I stared down at the lifeless body of the man who killed my parents, and I felt an overwhelming surge of relief knowing he would never be able to hurt anyone else ever again.

“We did it,” A hand patted my back, and I looked up to see Alpha Kedrick giving me an exhausted smile.

“Yeah, it almost doesn't seem real.”

“We've still got a lot to do here, the clean-up and everything, but you'll be home soon Alpha.”

Before I could thank him like I wanted, shouts started up again, and we turned to see a group of men setting fire to the pack house.

“Fucking hell! Looks like we have another fire to put out…literally this time…come on,” He ran over to the packhouse. “We need to put this out before it gets out of hand.”

With that, Alpha gave the order for everyone to help, and we found a few water hoses and buckets. Everyone pitched in where they could, the house was easier to put out than the forest, but after what felt like hours, we finally got everything contained. If my body didn't hurt for days from the fight, it definitely would from having to haul all that water back and forth. There was no way the pack house was salvageable, though.

“Alpha Kedrick. It's nice to finally meet you in person.” We turned to see Alpha Larkin approach, and the two Alpha's shook hands. He then turned to me and shook my hand, “Alpha Jordan, right?” I nodded in answer.

“You did well today, Alpha Larkin. I'm sorry we couldn't save your home.”

Larkin looked up at the ruins, “It was a place filled with bad memories, we'll get to rebuild one now that will hold only love and happiness.” The three of us shared a smile at his words.

“Now that the fire is contained, let's see to our people. Alpha Kedrick started shouting out orders, dividing people amongst the different duties. He had some collect the dead and start identifying them while others were in charge of replaceing anyone still alive and taking them to the medical tents. He also had some people start making food. I wasn't sure what time it was, I figured it was still morning, but I suddenly felt famished not having eaten all day.

“I'll see if any of my people can help with food. I still have to see who's loyal to me, but I'll help where I can.” Larkin rushed off as he saw Nora, and together they started rounding up their pack.”

It took us another couple of hours to get everything done. It seemed that several Marek loyalists had fled after setting the fire, so everyone who stayed was glad to usher in a new era of peace at Wildfire. A search crew had been sent out to replace the former Beta, but they had yet to return.

I made my way through the medical tents, looking for Aaliyah, knowing she'd be here in her element. She smiled as soon as she saw me heading her way, and I was greeted with a hug, such a difference from when we first met.

“I heard there's food, let's go eat before I starve.”

We managed to replace Gema and Noah. They were sitting next to Rory, but there was no Cristian in sight.

“You okay?” Aaliyah noticed Rory's dejected appearance and sat down beside her, taking Noah's place as he got up to join me. Rory and Aaliyah seemed close, so they must have become friends during her time here.

I looked at the three girls sitting next to each other and couldn't help the smile that came over me. My Luna next to her Beta and Gamma females.

“What's up, man? You good?”

“Exhausted and starved, but I'm good. I'm just looking at our future right there,” I nodded toward the girls, unable to contain my smile.

“Our mates, who would have thought? Or at least 2 out of 3 for now. Here's to hoping Cristian gets his girl.” He shook his head, and I instantly knew I had missed something big. “We'll tell you later…but let's just say the Evie thing finally came back and bit him in the ass.” I nodded slowly, thinking of a million possibilities for what that might mean. I guess I’d just have to replace him later.

“What about your parents? You got them out safely?”

He sighed more deeply than I expected. “They're at the medical tents. They were in pretty bad shape, but uhh…my dad was the worst. They kept him drugged up. He's alive but in a coma. My mom said he hadn't woken up since they arrived.

“Shit, man, I'm sorry. We'll get him the best medical treatment. I promise I'll do whatever needs to be done to help. Your parents have always been like second parents to me.”

“Yeah, thanks.” He gave me a small smile, but I could see the pain behind it. He was scared, but I meant what I said. I'd get his father back no matter what it takes.

We finished eating and continued on with our day until it was evening, but there was still no sign of Cristian anywhere. I would probably have to go replace him as I'd hate for Ax to go on a rampage of some sort because of this. In the meantime, there was still a lot to do around the camp.

Alpha Larkin came up to us and addressed his sister, “Rory, we're going to go ahead and bury our dead. Are you wanting to say your goodbyes to him?” He didn't say names, but we all knew he was talking about Marek. “Mom asked to do the honors.” He reached out for Rory, and she stood to go with him. “The rest of you are welcome to join as well.”

We followed Larkin and Rory, and Alpha Kedrick, Isaiah, Rebecca, Olivia, Dr. James, and Hadley also followed.

Alpha Larkin and Nora stood at the front and addressed their pack. “We lost only a few people today to death, but we lost several of our pack members to the influence of my father. His rule has ended now, and we want to officially put him to rest, but what I'd like to do instead is remember all of those we lost as a result of my father's avarice.”

It was typical for us wolves to send off our dead by burning them. It was usually an honor to light a loved one's funeral pyre, and the seven dead were laid out, surrounded by their family. All except for the former Alpha Marek. He was on his pyre but alone. We had a short ceremony for the six other pack members and their families sent them off.

When it came time to light up Marek, his former mate walked up to him. She stared at his body as if in a daze and slowly lit the pyre. Everyone was silent, and I saw as her shoulders started to shake, but what I thought was sobbing got louder until I realized she was laughing hysterically. It was the laughter of a person who was finally free from torment. She laughed until her laughter turned into tears, and her two children let their mother pour out all of her emotions onto the man who had made her life a living hell.

Rory finally went over to collect her, and Larkin spoke again. “As I said, we'd like to honor the lives lost, so if anyone has someone they'd like to honor, the floor is yours.”

Silence fell over the crowd, and no one moved or made a sound. The first to move was Elena, Cristian and Gema’s mom. She slowly made her way to the front.

“I was only six when Alpha Marek attacked my pack. Luna Mesquite was the first pack he ever attacked. He killed my parents, the Alpha and Luna of the pack as well as my 10-year-old brother, Joaquin. My aunt and I were the only survivors of the attack. I grew up an orphan because of him, and he made me and my prisoners. No one deserves death more than he did, so thank you for stopping him.” She gave a small nod, and Gema went up to her mother and held onto her as they walked back, both in tears.

“My husband died in one of the fires he started.” Olivia stepped up to share her story with everyone, and there wasn't a dry eye after the two women spoke. Several others stepped up to speak, cats, foxes, and wolves.

What was most shocking though, were all of the Wildfire pack members sharing about their own friends and family. So many of them were forced to fight and lost their lives for senseless reasons. It was no wonder that so many Wildfire pack members wanted to end Marek. James shared about how he lost his childhood friend in one of the battles, and Nora even honored her fallen parents.

By the time we finished with the ceremony, it was late into the evening. Alpha Larkin came up to me and Alpha Kedrick. “You are all welcome to stay on my lands for as long as you need. If anyone needs to be transported to the clinic, please let me know. We have the space.”

“Thank you, you're already doing great as the new Alpha of Wildfire.” Alpha Kedrick extended his hand for Larkin to shake.

“Actually, it's Blue Oak. Nora and I have agreed to go back to our original pack name. Wildfire will be put to rest with Marek Novak.”