Extinguishing Wildfire
Chapter 7: Conversations

Jordan

Taking on the class of new warriors was a welcome change to having to see Aaliyah again after our morning together. For a moment, I thought she had changed her mind and was going to accept me and Neo, but I was more than wrong.

'We just need to keep trying. She'll come around.'

'You keep saying that, but I'm not so sure anymore. I need a break from her for now. She hasn't given a good reason for not wanting to be with me, but she keeps insisting it won't work. I don't have time for her shit right now.'

'What happened to working hard to change her mind?'

'This morning happened. I don't like feeling used, and that's exactly what she did…got her rocks off and then took off leaving me high and dry. It's too much right now. She already broke my heart, I don't really feel like handing my heart over again for her to just break it more.'

'Let's go for a run then.'

With that, Neo and I put our energy into working out and getting even stronger. I had limited time to get ready for Wildfire, and I wanted to be in top form. That asshole Marek needed to be taught a lesson, so I wasn't going to make time for Aaliyah's shit anymore.

Aaliyah

My training class went as expected, and I was on my way to the clinic. I was still reeling from what happened this morning and had yet to hear a word from Hope. I wasn’t sure whether to be glad or mad that I hadn’t seen Jordan since this morning, but I was certain he was avoiding me by this point.

“There you are, I was just coming to replace you.” Hadley met me at the entrance to the clinic, and we walked together to one of the break rooms. “I hope you don’t mind, but I invited a friend to help us with everything today.”

“That’s fine, the more the merrier, right?” At least I thought so until I saw who her friend was.

“This is Gema, have you two met before?”

“We’ve met,” Gema said flatly.

By her expression, she didn’t know I would be coming either. We had only met once when I first arrived, but I noticed she kept giving me dirty looks, so I assumed she knew about me and Jordan.

“Great, let’s get to work. Sawyer wants us to keep working on the inventory, but he said we can look in on some of the patients if we finish early.” Hadley had confided in me that she wanted to start nursing school in the Spring.

While at Wildfire, she never thought about what she would want to study in college, but she said that since arriving at Harvest Moon, her mate had encouraged her to attend college, and she's loved her volunteer work so much that she wants to study nursing.

I had always loved medicine, so it was hard for me to imagine a world where I didn't know what I wanted to do with my life.

With the three of us working together, the job was going by quickly. "Have you decided about school yet?" Hadley turned to Gema.

"Not yet, but I've been leaning towards just waiting until everything is completely over with Wildfire. I would have loved to start in August like I was supposed to, but everything's changed.

When we get our pack back, we'll be in charge, instead of our parents. We were all supposed to finish college, meet our mates, and maybe even just get settled into adulthood before taking over.

The guys are gonna need me on site as I'm the only ranked female for now." She glanced over at me saying nothing with her mouth but so much with her eyes. A mixture of hurt and anger lingered in her gaze.

"Usually, the Alpha's sisters help when the Alpha doesn't have his Luna yet, but Jade and Jasmine aren't really in a position to help right now." She forcefully shoved the box she was looking at back on the shelf as she made eye contact with me.

"Being ranked sounds like a lot of work. No offense," Hadley continued," but I'm glad I have time to just focus on myself instead of an entire pack."

"I guess I never saw it that way. My parents involved me and Cristian in their work so much that it was just what we did...and I always hoped to be the Gamma female anyway…" She shrugged a shoulder as she blushed.

"You wanted to be a Gamma female?" I asked incredulously. Most girls I met wanted to be a Luna.

She rolled her eyes at me, probably not expecting me to say anything. "Not a Gamma female exactly, but Noah and I have known each other our whole lives. I wanted to be his, and being his comes with the job."

"So you chose your future based on a guy?" I didn't intend to sound condescending, but by the look Gema and Hadley both gave me, I was certain I came off that way.

"Not that I need to justify anything, but I've always wanted to be a warrior. I love it, especially working with the pups. I also love Noah. I lucked out that we have similar interests...or maybe the Moon Goddess paired us together for that reason, who knows? Either way, I wanted Noah regardless. He's worth making sacrifices for. I'd give up everything for him, even though he's never asked and he never will."

Her words shocked me a little. She was so sure of herself and her love for her mate. Every ranked woman I knew had made sacrifices for her mate and had given up so much of themselves. Even Ellis quit her job as a warrior the instant she met my brother, but here Gema was happy to change her plans for her mate…even if that meant holding off on college.

We worked silently after that, and Gema headed back to the packhouse as Hadley and I stayed to visit the few patients we had at the clinic. We mostly spent our time with the babies at the nursery, and afterward, we walked back to the pack house for dinner.

"Hey Hadley, Luna Ellis wants to host a slumber party for some of us girls, and I was hoping you could come."

"Yeah, I love slumber parties, who else is invited?"

Well, Ellis was thinking you, Nora, Gema, and Jasmine…but I don't think the others really like me all that much, so I was hoping you could maybe help me to get them to come?"

"Yeah, I can ask them, what day?"

"Friday."

"Great, I'll have everyone there, just text me the info."

I nodded, thankful I had Hadley to help me out. This is gonna be interesting...

Noah

The week felt like it was dragging. We had been busy with the training while Alpha contacted the bears and cats to set up a meeting with all of us. I tried to keep my mind on my job, to help with building up the reserve fighters, but I was mentally exhausted with keeping up with training and my brothers. They were doing great with school, but I wanted to make things as normal for them as possible, so I helped them with homework and training every night. It was exhausting. I don't know how my parents did it all.

"Hey, are you ready to head out?" I called out to Gema who was in the bathroom.

"Yeah, let me just get my watch, and I'll be right out."

I stepped out into the hallway and noticed the guys were also heading out to start their morning. Jordan stopped to greet me as Cristian's door opened.

As luck would have it, Evie waltzed out of Cristian's room just as Gema came out of ours. Gema's eyes widened in shock, and I saw her hands clench. I grabbed onto her side, hoping my touch would calm her.

'You really should have told her about this.'

'For once, I actually agree with you, Cosmo. She's gonna be so pissed when she replaces out I knew.'

"Oh! I remember you." Evie's condescending voice cut into my thoughts. "You're the girlfriend." She pointed between me and Gema.

I could feel Gema's anger rising up with Evie's words. "I'm his mate." She practically growled out.

"I guess it worked out for both of us, then. You get the Gamma, and I get the Beta. You could even say you did me a favor." She giggled and flipped her long hair over her shoulder. "The Beta's much more my speed than your little Gamma. He really knows how to keep me happy, if you know what I mean."

"You bitch, don't you dare talk about my mate and brother that way." Gema looked like she was ready to pounce on Evie, but Cristian stepped out just as I pulled Gema back.

"How could you?" She gave Cristian a death glare as her eyes flashed silver. Before anyone could say anything else, she rushed back into our room and slammed the door.

"You should head out now, Evie." Cristian waved her toward the stairs.

"But, Babe, we were going to walk together to training."

"Just go, Evie." He left her no room for argument.

We watched her head out and down the stairs before Jordan and I looked back at Cristian.

"She's gonna kill you...then she'll come after Noah. I've never seen her that angry before." Jordan shook his head as he laughed. "So are you two rock, paper, scissoring to see who's going in there first?"

"I'll go." Cristian easily volunteered, which surprised me as he usually avoided Gema when she was upset.

"I'd wish you luck, but you should have dumped Evie a long time ago…so I kind of feel like you get what you deserve." I shrugged my shoulders, stepping aside to let him into the room.

Gema

I didn't expect my brother to be the first one through the door as I thought they'd send Noah in first to try and pacify me.

"I have to say, I expected better from you." I folded my arms over my chest as I turned to look out of the window. "She tried to cause drama between me and Noah, and you so easily jumped into bed with her. Qué te pasa, Cristian!? (What's gotten into you?).

We had grown up speaking Spanish to each other, so I often gravitated to Spanish when it was just the two of us, especially when I was mad.

"If it's any consolation, I didn't start anything with her until weeks after the bonfire."

"Entonces mientras yo estaba pasando me el tiempo de mi vida en California, tu aquí revolcándote con esa pinche puta?" (So, while I was out there having the time of my life in California, you were here rolling around with that fucking slut?)

I started pacing the room in frustration. "I'm not naive or blind to who my brother is, and it's your prerogative to sleep with whoever the fuck you want, but you're in a new pack. Out of all of the girls you could have chosen, you picked the one girl who tried to go after Noah?"

Cristian at least had the decency to look ashamed. "I know, la cagué (I fucked up.)" He sat down on my bed, "It's just been rough, and I needed a distraction from everything." He pulled at his hair looking flustered.

"It's been hard for all of us." My voice cracked at the end, and I realized I'd been pushing back my emotions for a while now. I hadn't broken down since arriving at Harvest Moon, and I was mad about Evie, but it was about more than just Evie.

"None of us want to be dealing with any of this. Our parents are either locked up or dead, and we can't go back to the life we had before this summer. I don't see why you didn't just try therapy like the rest of us."

"I know that it's just…what dad did is fucked up, and I don't get how he can just be okay with handing you over like that."

I walked over and sat next to him. "Sure, what he did is messed up, and I won't pretend to know what all Dad was thinking. We couldn't really talk while I was at Wildfire, but I'm sure he knows he was wrong."

"What does that matter though?" His voice raised in anger. "He still did it. He sacrificed you when he's supposed to protect you…and he left me in a position where I couldn't protect you." He shook his head, willing away his tears.

"So, yeah. I messed with Evie because she's an easy distraction. I already know it's stupid…Ax, the guys, and now you have all told me already."

"The guys?" I looked over at Cristian, feeling my anger bubble up again. "Noah and Jordan already knew about this?"

"Umm…yeah. But you shouldn't be ma–"

I didn't stay to hear what else he had to say. Noah could have at least warned me about this. I rushed over to the door and threw it open so hard that the door hit the wall. Jordan and Noah were both still standing outside the door.

"You knew about this already?" I put my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes at my mate.

He grimaced as he looked my way, "Yeah, I hadn't found time to talk to you about it yet."

"Well, maybe you should have." He reached for me, but I crossed my arms to keep away from him. "Not right now, we're late for class."

'You should give the guys a break. As you said yourself, we've all been through a lot. I know you're mad, but don't be too hard on them. We're all just doing our best here.' Amora cut into my thoughts.

'I hate it when you're right, why can't you just let me be mad?'

'Because it's not worth it. This thing with Evie won't last, and we all need to be on the same side for when we attack Wildfire.'

'Fine,' I groaned internally but knew well enough that listening to my wolf was always in my best interest.

"I'm just going to say one last thing, and I'll drop it. You're grown and can do what you want, but you have a mate out there, and it sure as hell isn't Evie. She's already painting herself as our next Beta Female and that's not happening. I will scour the Earth myself to replace your mate before that happens."

"Fuck that, Gema's right! Evie can't be our Beta," Jordan agreed.

"As for you," I looked over at Noah," You can make it up to me later, now let's go."