Page 68 of Escaping Wildfire
“I thought you said they’re retired?”
“They are, but they still work for the pack. Warriors can retire after 25 years of service. A lot stay on, but a few get other jobs in the pack. My dad still helps with training, but my mom helps out with the daycare. She loves kids.”
With how depraved Alpha Marek was, it always surprised me when Wildfire Pack did normal things that actually benefited their pack members.
“How long have you been a warrior?”
“Three years. I started right after high school at 18…so did Scarlett, but she’s a year older than me, so she has four.”
“Did you always know you wanted to be a warrior?” This girl had probably seen more war in her three years as a warrior than I would in my lifetime, so she intrigued me.
“Oh…I…” She stumbled over her words. “I always knew I’d be a warrior. Alpha decides each pack member’s path when we’re younger, and he always had me and Scarlett down as warriors.”
“So, like, he decides who goes to college and for what?”
“Yeah,” she looked down at her plate picking at her food. I actually wasn’t all that surprised by what she said as it fit what Rory had told me as well. It looked like the topic upset Hadley, so I just went back to eating.
“Are you excited about your first pack run with us tonight? It’s your first one ever, right?”
“Yeah, it is.” Now it was my turn to shy away from the topic as I hated that my first pack run wasn’t at home with Cobalt Falls.
“We usually all hang out and share a meal afterward, so it’s pretty fun. We can hang out together if you like.” She gave me a genuine smile, and I agreed to meet her after the run. A part of me felt she was lonely and had befriended me because she had no one else, but I had no way of knowing if that was true.
The rest of my day went by quickly, and Larkin, Rory, and I headed down to meet the rest of the pack for our run. They told me that Alpha liked his whole family to be there as it made him look good to the other pack members but that he only ever acknowledged their mother during public occasions like this.
I could see how much they hated this, but I also saw how helpless they all were around Alpha Marek. He’d really done a number on his family.
Once the moon was up, we shifted into our wolves, and Alpha led us out followed by Luna Clarissa. Larkin and I came next with Rory after us. Beta Griffin was the only other ranked member, so he followed Rory. Larkin had told me the last Beta had tried to go against his father, so he killed him. He let Griffin step up for his father as he was still young and impressionable. The Gamma, on the other hand, died in battle. His only child, Nora of all people, was made an omega to shame her family for her parents dying in combat. Alpha Marek left the ranked position open all of these years because he thought he could do better than his former Gamma.
By looking at the pack on this run, you’d never know anything was wrong with them. I recalled what James had said when he helped get Nora out, and it made me wonder just how many people really liked it here.
‘Amora, you’re quiet, are you okay?’
‘I’m okay. I just wish I could be at Cobalt Falls right now. I remember seeing you there with Cosmo all the time, and I couldn’t wait for you to shift so that we could run with him.’
‘I always pictured my first pack run back home, too. My family always looked so happy during their runs, and I couldn’t wait to experience that with everyone. Here, the feelings just feel forced…I wish I could go back to my room and call the guys.’
Amora just whined at that, but we kept running, knowing it would eventually be over and that the more we played along with all of this, the more freedom Alpha Marek would give us.
True to her word, Hadley came over to find me after the run. “Hey, you want to sit together while we eat?”
“Sure, but is it okay if Rory joins us, too?”
“Yeah, come on.” She waved us over and we stood in line to get our plates. Rory gave me a worried look, but I just smiled at her. “Rory, this is Hadley, one of the pack warriors in my training group.”
“Hi,” Rory said shyly as she waved. “I’m Rory.” She held her hand out for Hadley to shake.
“Yeah, I know. Everyone knows the Alpha’s daughter.”
“Oh, I guess that makes sense.” Rory shrugged and tucked an errant piece of hair behind her ear. Hadley led us to a small table, and the three of us sat down.
“Have you two seen the new rom com that just came out, it was so cute!”
Rory and I shared an awkward look, and Hadley seemed to catch on. “Oh, I’m sorry. I guess you wouldn’t have under the circumstances…I didn’t mean…Scarlett’s always telling me I have a big mouth.” She sighed frustrated with herself.
“No, don’t worry about it. Rory and I just aren’t allowed off pack grounds, so movies are out unless we can stream them.”
Hadley smiled at my kindness. “We should have a movie night together. I love movies, but I’ve never had an actual girl’s night in. They sound fun, though.”