Jacob

I have to take a walk to calm down. Emotions are burning through me, some that I understand and some that are lingering just outside of my grasp. I don't know what to do about any of it.

At the same time, I can't spend the whole night walking around out here. Unfortunately, as the hosting Alpha, I have to get back to the gathering. It takes several minutes, but I eventually get myself under control and return.

Derek is not inside, and I appreciate it. I assume that he knows his presence will alert the others that there is tension in my pack. Medeia is there, scanning the people as if she is looking for him.

I ignore her. It is not my problem to sort out right now.

A hand touches my arm, and I turn to see who it is. I recognize the Alpha now smiling at me as Kierren, a man that my father always got along with. He has a fairly strong alliance with us, and I figure that I can only strengthen it.

Finally, I can engage in a proper conversation and steer my mind away from Ana and Gisele.

"Ah, Alpha Kierren, I'm glad you're here," I say, extending my hand in greeting. "I'd thought you'd be dealing with the border situation. May I assume that it's been brought under control?"

"Jacob, there's really no need to be so formal, you know," Kierren answers, the smile on his lips reaching his eyes. "It's already a really stiff affair. Anyway, I have very capable men looking out for the border issues that we've been having. Thought I'd swing by and intimidate a few people."

I let go of the breath I was holding and laugh at him in return. "Yeah, well, my father always taught me that I need to be on my best behavior at these things."

"Your father was a good man," Kierren says in tribute, then points at the tie I am wearing. "Interesting knot you've got there. It's fairly unique. Who taught you to tie it like that?"

I glance down, immediately thinking of Ana. For some reason, I don't feel comfortable revealing her exact identity to him. It feels like it would be complicated to explain. It's strange anyway that he pointed it out.

"Ah, uh, my step sister did it, actually," I answer with what I hope is a nonchalant shrug. "I'm terrible at this kind of thing. I'm not exactly the suit-wearing kind of guy."

"Nor am I, but I knew someone who was brilliant at the whole tie thing." Something appears and disappears quickly in his eyes. I am curious to know more, but I realize it would not be wise to prod.

"Anything specific that you'd like to speak about tonight?" I ask instead of prying, knowing that there must be a deeper reason than intimidation that Kierren is here. "Do you need our assistance? You know that I will honor the alliance as my father did."

"Yes, well, actually -"

Kierren is interrupted by a commotion at the entrance.

"I'm telling you this is urgent, I don't care if you don't think I'm good enough to be in here." I recognize the voice as one of the guards who usually patrols the Omega side of town. He's definitely not ranked high enough to join the party.

When I look over, I notice that he is in his patrol uniform. He definitely didn't come for drinks and mingling.

"Sorry, Kierren, I need to deal with this." I leave the alpha standing behind me and push my way through the crowd to get to the guard. He is being held back by the bouncers that I'd put in place, but Kimon pushes them aside before I get there.

"Can you get out of the way?" He says indignantly. "Clearly there's a real problem here."

"Alpha!" The guard shouts as soon as he sees me, and the room fills with judgment. "Please, it's important."

"Calm down," I say when I get to him. "Talk to me outside."

I hear the whispers behind me as people begin to discuss the audacity of this Omega to even address me directly. I don't care about it. The urgency in his eyes overwhelms any need to keep my image spotless.

He leads me out through the doors and onto the grass, wringing his hands together. I can see that he's freaking out, and that's not helpful.

"Okay, breathe first," I instruct when I stand opposite him again and hold my hand on his shoulder. "What's going on?"

The guard jumps around on the balls of his feet for a few moments. His eyes are huge and the stress seems to be getting to him. He throws his face upwards and blows out his breath before he talks to me again.

"There's a fire," he starts, swallowing down what seems to be a lump in his throat. "I don't know where it started, but it's serious. It's, there's so much of it. The others are trying to get water for it, they sent me here, but - "

"Okay, wait, slow down," I put both of my hands on his shoulders now, so that I can make him look me in the eye. "Where is it now? How much of the town is it covering? Or is it out in the woods?"

"Omega side of town, it's burning a few houses and spreading into the forest," he answers, his voice more even. I can still feel his body shaking under my hands. "I don't think anyone's gotten hurt yet, but it's bad."

"Alright," I nod. "I'll be there as soon as I can. Run ahead with the word that I'll bring backup."

As soon as I finish talking, he's off, and I swing back towards the party. Kimon is standing in the entrance, waiting for orders.

"Can you take care of all of this for me? Make a report, and we'll discuss it in the morning?" I say to him, knowing that he probably heard the whole conversation. "Send five guys out to come and help."

"Sure," Kimon sighs. "Can't believe you get to do the fun part and I have to stay here with the stiffs."

"Respect, Kimon," I warn, even though there's a tone of amusement in my voice. "Any case, you'll get to deal with the clean-up from this."

"Oh, yay," he says and walks back inside to end the conversation.

Ignoring the fact that I'm in an expensive suit, I shift and gallop towards the Omega section of town. The guard had been so stressed out that I'm sure at least several blocks have gone up in flames.

If the woods are on fire now, it could spread further. It has been dry for the last few weeks, and the wind does not seem friendly. Depending on where it started, it could spread to the warehouses too, which could ruin all of our stores and put us in a very vulnerable position.

It only takes ten minutes of full gallop before I see the flames licking the sky. It seems to be in the area where Ana's house is. I'm relieved knowing that she's in my house and not here.

A group of people are standing at the edge of the fire, which seems to moving out of a cul-de-sac. Exactly where Ana lives. I'd considered sending her home a while ago, but now I am glad that I didn't.

A fire like this would be difficult to survive.

When I shift back and skid to a stop in the midst of the group, someone throws me a robe. I pull it on, ignoring how ridiculous I must be looking.

"Update," I say to the closest person. "Come on, we don't have time to be standing around."

I quickly realize that they aren't guards, and that none of these people should be dealing with this kind of thing. In fact, it looks like it's their homes that are burning to the ground.

"The guards are between here and the packhouse," one of the women says, dressed in pajamas and looking exhausted and broken. "They're trying to stop it getting from storage."

A small child comes up and pulls at the arm of my robe. "What you going to do?"

"Okay, listen, move to the center of town," I say, keeping myself as calm as I can with the heat brushing over my face. "I'll send someone after you. You'll all be fine."

They start uncertainly moving away, but I'm already halfway to the warehouse. I spot the patrol at the edge of the fire there, with buckets of water. It doesn't seem like it's helping much.

"Hey!" I shout to them, noticing the guard I'd sent ahead coming down the road. He shifted much later than I did, evidently. When he shifts back, someone throws a towel at him, and he wraps it around himself.

"Alpha!" I recognize Jeis, a Beta guard who has been placed in charge of this patrol. "We're going to need a lot more help."

"Jeis, listen, get the pickup truck with the water tank," I say as I draw level with them. "The rest of you, keep doing what you're doing, make sure it doesn't spread any further this way. I need three people to come with me to the town's side to keep it under control. There will be higher trained men on their way about now, I'll send them for more pickups."

"Yes, Sir." Most of them salute me, but some are already running. Three young wolves follow me back to the town's side, where I send two of them across the street.

I walk down the road, where a crowd of those living in the surrounding streets have gathered nervously.

"If you can help, get water," I shout over the sounds of burning houses and crashing debris. "If you can't, get to the town center! Stop standing around!"

People start moving in a rush, many of them grabbing children and heading in the direction of the center. I know that everyone at the Alpha Hunt will see them, but I don't care. The safety of my pack comes first.

Soon, Jeis comes roaring up the road with a pickup truck, followed by two others driven by the wolves that Kimon sent. They split up in three directions, setting up hoses to break the fire at strategic points.

I go back to the entrance of the cul de sac, where the flames have swallowed all of the homes along it. People line themselves up all across the road, buckets being passed between hands.

They're barely able to kill one spot of fire before it starts up somewhere else. The heat here is insane. I am quickly covered in smoky smears of dust and sweat. For the most part, I hope that we can get this under control quickly, and that nobody is stuck in one of these houses.

"Don't get too close!" I shout at one young wolf, who is quickly being surrounded by walls of flame. He manages to run out of the way just in time when a car in one of the neighboring driveways flashes into a ball of fire.

I am worried. This fire will get out of control quickly, and I'm not going to be able to get everyone out of the way before someone gets hurt.

I decide that only those trained for this situation need to be here. "Evacuate!"

Some of the people who had volunteered to help look around to stare at me. They seem confused.

I understand it, but I cannot let my pack members get hurt unnecessarily.

"You heard me!" I yell fiercely. "Get to the center of town. If the fire gets worse, follow the orders of the guards who will come to you. We'll get this under control. Leave!"

People abandon buckets on the side of the road and immediately march out of the area. I'm not sure we can actually get this under control. I need to find the pickup trucks to see if we can cut this fire off.