Extinguishing Wildfire
Chapter 39: Cobalt Falls

Aaliyah

Jordan said he had a surprise for me tonight, which was frustrating because everyone else seemed to know what it was but me.

After the funeral, we all headed up to our rooms to rest for a few hours before dinner. Jordan told me to dress in something warm and comfy, so I put on some jeans and a cute sweater. Jasmine and Jade were in similar clothes.

“Are y'all ready?” Jordan looked up from his spot on the couch, and I couldn’t stop my heart from skipping a beat as our eyes met. He was also wearing jeans but with a navy Henley that molded to every curve of his muscular arms and shoulders. His curls were mussed from where he had been running his fingers through it, but that only added to his appeal.

I could feel his nerves through our growing bond and wondered why he was feeling nervous. His sisters were coming along, so I knew this wouldn’t be a romantic date. We loaded up in Jordan’s truck, another thing that had somehow been left intact in the Wildfire takeover, and we headed out.

“It’s not far, about 20 minutes. The others are already waiting for us there.” More people, now I was even more curious about where we were heading.

“Are you going to tell me where we’re going yet?”

He glanced over at me with a grin, “Not yet. It’s better as a surprise.”

I relaxed back into the seat and just listened to the music, looking out at the mountains. The day was warmer than expected for October, but with the sun going down soon, the cold was kicking in. Jordan parked beside another truck, and we followed him through a foot-worn trail through the trees. I could hear voices and the sound of water running. Before I could guess where we were, the trees opened up into a clearing, and I saw Cristian, Gema, Noah, and his twin brothers sitting around a campfire with a spread of food beside them. Sandwiches, chips, fruit, cheese, even desserts were all laid out on a blanket. As I took in the rest of the surroundings, I looked up to see the most magnificent waterfall. The deep blue water fell and swirled around in soft waves.

“It’s beautiful, right?” I turned to see Jordan looking at me with the biggest smile. I hadn’t realized my mouth was gaping open at the sight until he spoke.

“Yeah, it’s wonderful. It’s the only waterfall I’ve ever seen in person, but it’s perfect.”

“Now you see why I wanted it to be a surprise?” A laugh escaped me as I nodded, “Yeah, I’m glad you didn’t tell me.”

“Come on, let’s go eat. We can explore more after food.”

The others were in the best mood I had ever seen them in. There was no gloom in any of their eyes…well, except for Cristian, but I could imagine he was wanting Rory here with him. She seemed to be confused about the situation in a way that reminded me of when I first discovered Jordan. It wasn’t at all the same thing as Rory had a good reason to hold off, while I acted without thinking everything through. Cristian made his mistakes, but even though I had only known him for a short while, I knew he was a good guy. He and Rory could really be something good if they gave each other a chance.

"Look at you, sounding all grown up about the mate bond."

"Oh, come off it, I don't need you to keep saying I told you so."

"Yes, you do." I internally rolled my eyes at Hope. She drove me insane, but I loved her.

I felt Jordan’s eyes on me as he sat down and brought me two plates. “I got you a club sandwich with extra bacon, potato salad, and some pickle chips. Then I got you a brownie and some strawberries.” It was exactly what I would have gotten for myself, all of my favorites.

“How did you know what I liked?”

He put his arms over his knees and shrugged a shoulder as he sat down beside me, “I just paid attention.”

My heart skipped another few beats, as I smiled at him. How did I ever think I could live without Jordan?

‘I tried to tell you!’

‘Really, Hope? I realized my mistake, let’s not keep bringing it up.’

‘You’re not getting off the hook that easily. I had to walk around broken-hearted for weeks!’

‘I know, Hope, I’m sorry for hurting you.’ I genuinely meant my apology, she was the best wolf I could have, and she deserved to be happy. To think, I almost sentenced her to a life of heartache.

‘I accept your apology, but now we need to mark our mate.’

‘We will when the time is right.’

’The time is right, you love each other, your wolves love each other, he has his pack back. Now you need to make things official…plus, it’s been too long since…” She trailed off and started flashing me the hottest memories of my and Jordan’s last time together.

‘Hope, stop! I get it, I’ll talk to Jordan about it when we’re alone again.’

“Hey, is everything okay with Hope? You’ve been in there with her for a while.” The heat crawled up into my face, and I bit my bottom lip to try to calm my emotions.

He leaned in so only I’d hear, “Is Hope being bad?” I gasped and he smirked, knowing he guessed right.

“How’d you know?”

“I think I can feel it through the bond.” I hadn’t realized we were so close until we heard a yell from the other side.

“Alright, love birds, break it up!” Cristian stood up, making his way to the water, extending his arms to the side as he yelled back at us. “Who’s up for a swim!?”

“That water’s freezing in the summer, there’s no way I’m going in,” Gema looked at her brother like he was insane.

“Really? No one else?” I raised my eyebrows at Jordan in question, it was crazy and there was no way I’d go in, but I didn’t want to stop him if he wanted to.”

“Let’s go, but we’re making the jump. Come on Noah, we need our Gamma with us.” Noah rolled his eyes but stood up and walked with them. They stripped down to their underwear and disappeared up the side of the hill before reappearing at the rock formations above. We watched as they counted down and all jumped in together. They jumped like it was something they had done hundreds of times, and they probably had. Their loud yells sounded out as they hit the icy water.

“I’ll go get the towels, I had a feeling they’d do something like this,” Gema grumbled and she and Jasmine walked back to where we parked.

I looked back at the guys, and couldn’t help the smile that washed over me as I watched Jordan laugh with his friends. At that moment it hit me that I was happy, and I could definitely get used to this life here with Jordan.

Jordan

“Alright, on three…one…two…three.” We jumped together and hit the water with a shock. It was exactly as cold as I had anticipated, and I hated it, but as we all crested the water, I couldn’t help the laughter that erupted from my throat. The three of us laughed at our childish antics and everything felt right, we were back home, back where we belonged. Noah and Cristian nodded along with me, and even without words, we all knew we felt the same. We’d be okay, and we would lead Cobalt Falls into a period of healing and happiness once more.

We almost immediately swam back to shore and were greeted by our sisters who had been smart enough to bring towels. I wrapped up and sat back down with Aaliyah, who was laughing. She took my breath away when she laughed.

“I can’t believe you guys did that!”

“First and last time,” I shook his head, scooting closer to the fire. Even with my wolf, I was still cold from the water. “Come here, let me warm up, and then I want to take you back to the house, I have something I want to show you.”

Gema pulled out the makings for s’mores, and we spent the next few minutes just hanging out by the fire. I had told the guys my plan to talk to Aaliyah about marking each other earlier, so they had offered to take my sisters back with them later on. I was feeling nervous again. A part of me still wondered if Aaliyah would change her mind and put me through an actual rejection this time, but I knew those were just my fears talking. She’d been all in since arriving at Cobalt Falls a few days ago, and I knew it would take both of us being all in to make this work.

“Time for us to go,” I stood up and got dressed before heading back and helping Aaliyah stand up. We said our goodbyes and drove back home.

“So, I was thinking that we should remodel the apartment sooner rather than later. I don’t want to feel like I’m playing house in my parents’ home. I want the place to feel like ours.”

“Okay, I can start looking into things after Noah and Gema’s mating ceremony.”

We arrived at the pack house and continued the conversation as we headed upstairs. “Well, I was hoping we could start earlier than that.” I passed our door and continued walking to a door down the hall.

“Jordan, where are you going?”

“Why don’t you follow me and replace out?” I walked backward, shrugging my shoulders, hoping she’d take the hint. She giggled and called my name out again but followed anyway.

“What are you doing?”

“I told you I had another surprise, remember?”

Her eyes widened, and I unlocked the door using the keypad. I opened it wide and let Aaliyah in first.

“Jordan!” She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. “What is all of this?”

“My sisters are heading back to Harvest Moon soon, so I thought we could move in here while they remodeled the apartment.” I looked around the room for the first time since letting us in. The room was filled with soft candlelight and bouquets of white roses and blue hydrangeas. On the table was a tray of fruit and chocolate with a bottle of champagne on ice.

“When did you have time to do this? It’s beautiful…and my favorite flowers?”

“I asked your brother about that one, and I asked some of the maids for help with the rest.” I led her further into the room and pulled her close to me. “I know we’ve had a rough few months, but these last few days with you have shown me a different side of you, a side I hope you keep showing me.” I lifted her chin so that I could look directly into her eyes.

“What’s with the stalling? Just mark her already!” Neo had also shown me a few different sides of himself since meeting Aaliyah. His usually calm demeanor had gone through a roller coaster of sadness, anger, excitement, and love. It was hard enough holding my own teenage hormones back, but dealing with a horny wolf made it even harder.

“Be quiet and let me talk to her.”

“Okay, okay, but Hope and I have been ready for this from the start, you can’t blame a wolf for being impatient.”

“Is Neo going crazy in there?” Aaliyah tilted her head as she gave me a sweet smile.

“Is Hope doing the same?”

“Yeah, she’s umm..well…she’s...ready for us to complete our bond.” I hadn’t expected her to be the first to bring it up, so it threw me off. I was more than glad she said something though.

“I…” I swallowed hard before continuing, “I was actually hoping to talk to you about that. I want to mark each other…I’m ready, but if you aren’t, I’ll wait until you’re ready.” We just stared into each other’s eyes, two deep wells of brown scared of what came next. The fear in her eyes was evident, so I was shocked by her next words.

“I’m ready, Jordan. Mark me, mate me, everything…just make me yours.”

“You’re sure?” With our history, I had to ask, “Are you scared?”

“Terrified, but at this point, I’m more scared of not being with you, so mark me, Jordan.” She didn’t have to tell me a third time as my lips were on hers, and I lifted her in my arms as I walked towards the bed. Her hands were all over me as she undid my pants and tugged at my shirt. There was no time for soft caresses and gentle kisses as our need for each other erupted. We pulled apart just long enough to fully discard our clothes, and then I was on her lips again. Goddess, I wanted everything this woman had to offer and more. I pulled us further up the bed and flipped us over to where I was lying down.

“I want to taste you, come up here.” Our bodies shifted, and I grabbed onto her wide hips as I settled her on top of me. The scent of her arousal was driving both me and Neo insane with need, and I was certain I’d gone to heaven as my tongue took that first taste of her. Aaliyah moaned loudly as I sucked on her clit and worked my tongue in and out of her. I worked her even harder with my mouth as I massaged her full ass, taking pleasure in just how good she felt in my hands.

“Jordan…oh, fuck, Jordan.” She completely gave in to her need as she started riding my face, quickly working her way to her first orgasm of the night. I wrapped my arms around her thighs, pushing her further onto my tongue and moving her faster. Her moans got louder and it wasn’t long before she was shuddering on top of me as her orgasm hit hard. I didn’t stop for a second, lapping up every single drop of her release.

She was still breathing heavily as she crawled down my body, giving a sexy view of her ass and swollen pussy. “Fuck me, Jordan. I need you inside me now.”

A groan escaped me as she got on all fours and looked at me over her shoulder. “Li, baby, you’re so fucking gorgeous.” I pushed down her back as I settled in behind her and entered her. There was no need for us to go slowly as she was already soaked from her earlier release. I thrust into her hard and fast, chasing my release, but I needed more. I needed to mark her. I reached down and yanked at her hair, pulling her roughly against my chest. She whimpered with pleasure as I again pulled at her hair, seems my mate likes it a little rough, which I was more than happy to oblige as I continued ramming into her as my grip tightened on her hair. My other hand traveled up between her breasts and to her neck where I briefly squeezed before teasing her bottom lip with my thumb and dipping my finger into her mouth. She didn’t miss a beat and started sucking my thumb like it was a damn lollipop. She pulled away from my hand and tilted her head my way, “Mark me…do it now.” I sucked and licked down her neck until I hit the perfect spot. She gasped and moaned once again as I let my fangs graze along the spot, all the while continuing to move in and out of her. I held her tightly against me as I finally sank deep into her neck, bringing on a tidal wave of pleasure for both of us. I had never come so hard in my life, and I could feel each and every emotion of hers. Her fears, her joys, her confusion, but most of all I felt her love for me. She really and truly loved me, and now that she was mine, I was never letting her go.

I continued to hold her against my chest as we steadied our breathing, but Aaliyah didn’t wait long before she turned around in my arms and brushed her lips against mine, “Now me, I get to mark you.” She spoke against my lips, kissing down my jaw and over to my neck. She moved deliberately slowly and took her time with each kiss until she finally reached my marking spot. Her fangs pierced my skin, and I felt white-hot pleasure shoot down my body as we finally sealed our bond.

My eyes were still closed as she came back up to look at me, and I heard her soft giggle as her arms wrapped around my neck. “What’s so funny?”

“Nothing, I just can’t believe we’re really mated. It’s crazy, but I’ve never felt this happy.”

“Yeah, I know the feeling.” And with that, I pulled her close and laid us down, pulling the covers over us as we fell asleep completely satisfied and exhausted.