Kierren

I quickly gather Jacob's men a hundred feet from the still raging fire. "Alright, I need two of you to extinguish anything that is smoldering around the edges, any volunteers?"

"Where's Jacob?" I recognize the man as the one who had been shouting from one of the truck beds. In the murmurs as I had gathered them, I heard that his name is Jeis. "And who are you, exactly?"

I puff my wolf up to showcase my power, knowing that it will force them all to listen. "I suppose, if you must waste more time. Jacob has taken Ana to the healer, and my name is Alpha Kierren. I hope that you will address me with more respect."

Immediately, the mood in the crowd changes from one of suspicion to one of submission.

"If we understand each other, can I continue?" I wait for the nods before I return to my list of orders. "Jeis, take another man and do as I have just asked. Another two, ensure that there is no debris, rolling logs, kindling – anything that could catch a flame, along the edge of the fire line. Then you two, search for burning roots, and make sure that you remove anything that could work as fuel."

"What are you going to do?" Someone takes the pause in my sentences as an opportunity for a question.

"I will join Jacob and make sure that communication is sent out to you," I reply firmly. "Complete the tasks I have asked of you. If the fire continues to burn out of control, send a report to the healer's building."

"Yes, Sir," the small crowd replies, before they quickly disperse to do as I asked. It won't end the situation or kill the fire entirely, but it will help stop it from spreading further into the town.

There is something more important afoot now, at least for me. I suddenly know that Jacob's tie wasn't knotted by his step-sister, and I've connected that with the color of the girl's fiery hair.

I'm not sure of it, but her age lines up. I am almost certain that girl is Cassandra's daughter… And mine.

Knowing that the town's Healer's clinic probably has a shifting room, I don't waste any time getting out of my suit. They know that I am here now, and there is no reason to try and be sneaky.

If that girl is my daughter, I want to make sure that they save her. I should be there. There is another question, too. Young Jacob is clearly in love with her, but I'd heard that his fated mate passed away.

Whatever their relationship, I trust that she is in good hands, but I still feel that I must be there. I want to talk to Jacob, to find out more.

I gallop across the town, following the faint smell left behind by Jacob when he took her. The distance makes me wonder if she even made it all the way there. I hope that she did, that they got to her in time. Right now, I don't even know if she is still breathing.

It takes several minutes of almost sprinting before I pull up in front of the emergency area in front of the healer's building. Nobody is outside, so I saunter in through the doors and telepathically question the first person I see in the waiting room.

"You!" I think at a middle-aged woman sitting in a chair against the wall. "Where is the girl with the red hair that they brought in?"

She looks up at me in total surprise, her mouth agape. "I don't know! Who are you? Why are you shifted?"

"Sorry, over here, please," Another woman calls from behind a counter. "Our patients are in distress, we'd prefer that you didn't bother them."

I want to comment how that lady does not look to be in distress, but I keep it to myself. I remain in wolf form as I approach the receptionist, apparently named Velisha. She doesn't seem to either notice or care about my ranking, which should be clearly emanating from my body as sheer power.

"May I ask why you are here today?" She says politely enough. "Are you the patient?"

"I am looking for Alpha Jacob," I think at her in return. "He brought a girl here earlier."

"Ah, you must be Kierren," she nods. I'm not sure if I am offended that she did not use my proper title. "He is waiting for you in the shifting room. Please follow me."

With that, she hops down from her seat and waddles off like a penguin. I walk regally behind her towards a set of doors further down the hallway.

"Here we are," Velisha says brightly, pushing them open for me. "There will be clothing to change into inside. We will let you know once the healers have stabilized Anastasia."

"Thank you," I think, and pass her into the room beyond.

It looks like a living room that has been hastily thrown together, with three couches in the middle and a television in the corner. Two vending machines stand against one wall along with a coffee station. On the other hangs a rack of clothing.

Young Jacob is sitting, pale-faced, on the middle of the three couches. He stares tensely at the floor when I come in, before he lifts his eyes to acknowledge my presence.

"Clothes are there," he says in a dead voice, pointing to the racks on one side. "They haven't said anything yet."

I shift back into human form, and dress myself in black jeans and a white button-down shirt. It's not the grandest attire, but it works. The whole time, Jacob seems to be staring into a void.

"How long did they say we would need to wait?" I ask, sauntering to the coffee station to make myself a mug. "Hour, two?"

"I don't know," Jacob answers, clearly not in the mood to talk to me. "Just said that I have to wait."

Sighing, I continue to make the coffee. I am burning with curiosity over this girl, but I don't want to overwhelm him with my questions. I decide that I will take this interrogation slowly. Finally, I join him on the couch and place my mug on the coffee table in front of us.

The television in the background crackles onto a human news channel, but luckily it is on mute. I suppose Jacob switched off its sound so that he didn't punch a hole into it.

"Look, I know you don't feel that chatty," I start. "But you know, time will only go more slowly if you keep staring at the floor."

Jacob glances towards me, but he says nothing. I realize that I will have to be the one to carry the conversation.

"Where is Ana from?" I ask, the first question in my investigation. Jacob frowns, his eyes still downcast.

"I don't know what you mean," he replies softly.

"Well, I mean, who is her mother? Her father?" I decide that I will press a little harder than originally intended.

"Why are you asking?" Now, Jacob is actually looking at me. There is a glint of accusation in his eyes. "Did you have something to do with this? Pretending to find her, out in the woods, when you weren't even supposed to be there?"

I lift my hands in a gesture of peace. I did think that he would go down this route, and it made sense. However, I was not going to get myself into that kind of argument with him. Not while he was in this state.

"No, I wanted to help you," I reply. It's not entirely a lie, but I won't admit that it was sheer curiosity that led me to the fire in the first place. That would be more suspicious. "I'm asking because of your tie."

Lines form on his forehead. "My what?"

"The way that it was knotted, that's not very common," I point out to add context to my strange comment. "I assume that Ana was the one who tied it."

I don't add that I thought it was strange for him to have said that she was his step-sister. It would have been damaging to his reputation to claim anything else.

"Why?" Jacob seems to have been pulled slightly out of his daze by his curiosity. "Do you know her?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out," I say with a shrug and pick up my mug to sip at the coffee. It's still too hot, but I don't show that on my face. "Which is why I am asking who her mother is."

"Her name was Cassandra," Jacob answers, making a knot form in the pit of my stomach, for two reasons. Firstly, because he used the past tense to refer to her, which has to mean that she's dead. Secondly, because that confirms my suspicions.

Anastasia is my daughter.

"Cassandra," I repeat, my voice laced with sadness. "As I thought."

"What do you mean?" Jacob is looking at me suspiciously. At least he is sitting up straight now.

I gain a slight smile as nostalgia crashes into me. "The way that she tied your tie, that's how Cassandra used to do it. I'd tell her it was strange, and she'd say that's why she did it that way."

"You knew her," it is a statement offered to me, rather than a question.

"More than that, Jacob, far more," I sigh as the memories come to me. "Cassandra was my lover, around nineteen years ago. Nearly two decades."

He stares in surprise, and I can see the connections being made in his mind. "Are you saying…"

"Yes. Anastasia is my daughter," I say firmly. "Cassandra was not my fated mate, but I loved her nonetheless. She became a rogue and left our pack, and I was devastated. Had I known that she was pregnant, I would have chased after her. As it was, she forbade me from ever following her, because my duty was more important than our love to her."

"Cassandra had a mate here," Jacob seems to be in disbelief. "But… She found him after she already had Ana…"

"I see," I didn't know that Cassandra came to this pack. She must have been an Omega here, too, which explains why I have never seen her or Ana at a single event before now. "That confirms it for me. Cassandra must have left us so that I would not be disgraced because of her child."

"Ana is an Alpha," Jacob whispers to himself, a grand revelation that batters against his expectations. "I can't believe it."

"Have there been no indications until now?" I ask curiously. "The Alpha blood must be dominant within her. It would be fairly obvious. She should have a more intense heat, much stronger healing. She should be faster, stronger, more resilient than her peers. Is that not the case?"

As I speak, Jacob's shoulders lift and he begins to smile. Then, he laughs slightly as a few tears leak from his eyes. It is as if he is only now realizing something profound, something that he has missed for most of his life.

"That explains so much," he says, rubbing at his eyes. "I never knew. I wondered, but I'd never have thought that she was descendant from an Alpha herself."

"Well, now you do," I grab my coffee. Now, it is cold enough to drink.

Suddenly, there is a knock at the door and small Velisha appears with a clipboard. The room instantly tenses up again, and Jacob is staring at her tightly.

"Doctor Robert has told me that Anastasia has been stabilized," Velisha announces, and that tension breaks into immediate relief. "He will speak with you in her room."

"We can see her?" Jacob jumps up from the couch instantly.

"Immediate family only," Velisha glances at me, but Jacob nods.

"He's her father."

The shocking reveal does not change Velisha's expression. "Alright, follow me."

Jacob turns towards me, his face bright with relief. "She's going to be okay, isn't she?"