Page 29 of Escaping Wildfire

“Yes, right now.”

Jordan wiped his eyes before standing up in front of me. “Let’s do it.” He surprised me by his sudden shift in mood, and I looked over to his friends to confirm their decision. They both stood up beside him, following their Alpha’s lead.

“Alright boys.” I nodded and noticed that Ellis had pulled out my pocket knife from my desk and was handing it to me.

“I, Jordan Ramírez, pledge my loyalty and strength to the Harvest Moon Pack. I take Alpha Kedrick as my Alpha and promise to use my skills and knowledge for the good of him and this pack.” Jordan and I then cut our palms before shaking hands. Jordan’s Beta and Gamma repeated the same words before I recut my palm and shook their hands as well. I felt their three links connect to mine as our newest pack members. ‘We’ll make this right, now go try to get some rest. We’ll meet first thing tomorrow and come up with a game plan.’

The boys nodded and headed up to their rooms. I doubted they would sleep much tonight.

Ellis wrapped her arms around my waist, and Beta Gabriel took his leave.

“That poor boy has been through so much. First his mate, now this?”

“I know, but they’re all strong, and I’m sure they’ll recover. We’ll help them.”

“I’m sorry I pledged our pack to them before speaking with you, but someone has to end this with Wildfire, why not us?”

“You’re right, and if we’re honest with ourselves, it’s only a matter of time before they come for us, too. It would be good to stop them before they do that.”

Ellis nodded and gave me a soothing hug before we headed upstairs and tried to get some rest.

13 The Council

NOAH

Jordan, Cristian, and I headed upstairs to our floor, and we all piled into Jordan’s room together. Ever since we were younger, we had a habit of hanging out in Jordan’s room together when one of us was feeling down, and today definitely fit the bill.

Cosmo, Neo, and Ax had been silent since our pack bond broke. I hadn’t been able to connect with Cosmo or use the mind link after I felt the break. That’s how I knew what Elder Frank said was true, and Alpha Henry really was dead. The three of us had always been close to each other’s parents, so it was as much a blow to me and Cristian as it was for Jordan, but Cristian and I set aside our feelings and put all our energy into supporting Jordan right now. Cristian kicked off his shoes and laid on top of the covers of Jordan’s bed while Jordan climbed onto the other side under the covers. I was left with the couch, so I grabbed a throw blanket and settled in for the night.

The three of us were silent for a long while, pretending to sleep but knowing it was impossible. I stared up at the ceiling for what felt like an eternity.

“This blows.” Cristian broke the silence.

“You can say that again,” I added.

“Do you remember that time in middle school when we beat the shit out of those two boys that were talking crap about our sisters? Luna Christina was so mad at us. She said we couldn’t just take justice into our own hands like that…then she told Alpha what we did, and he came in and gave us that lecture, but as soon as Luna left he gave us ice cream and told us he was proud of us for defending our sisters.”

Jordan rolled over and smiled, “Yeah, my dad was awesome like that. After you guys went home, we had to keep pretending he was mad at me the rest of the night because my mom was still super pissed.” We all laughed at the memory.

“We never did get into another fight, though. Luna was always pretty scary…you remember that time we were playing soccer in the house, and we ended up breaking the brand-new television. Luna Christina looked about ready to kill us.”

“Yeah, her angry face could make a grown man quake in his boots…to be fair we were little shits as kids.”

“You’re still a little shit.” I poked fun at Jordan who threw a pillow at my face in return.

“They were always there for us, though,” Cristian said softly.

“I remember when my mom went into labor early with the twins. I had a soccer game, nothing big but I had been excited about it all week, so your parents took me to my game so I wouldn’t miss it. They stayed and cheered for me the entire game because they didn’t want me to feel abandoned…they were always so supportive of everything we ever did.”

“Also, your mom made the best mac-and-cheese,” Cristian added.

“Yeah, she did. I’d invite myself over for dinner with y’all just for her mac-and-cheese.”

“Thanks, guys, it’s good to see that my parents’ legacy will live on through me…through all of us.” Jordan sounded ready to cry again.

Cristian patted Jordan’s shoulder. “We’re always here for you, man, whatever you need.”

“They were the best parents I could have hoped for…” He laid back down as he trailed off.