Escaping Wildfire
Chapter 1: Cobalt Falls

Gema

I set my blanket down on the soft grass and lay down. I loved coming to the falls after dark. The crashing sounds of the waterfall always brought me peace, and I needed just a moment of quiet today. Our pack, Cobalt Falls, was named after the waterfall on our territory. It was my favorite place in the world. All my best memories were made here.

My brother, Cristian, and his two best friends are leaving for training in the morning. He’ll soon take over the Beta position from our father, and Noah and Jordan will be our next Gamma and Alpha. I’m close to all three of them as we all grew up together, so I’m not quite sure how to feel about them leaving.

I’m sad and happy and excited and nervous all at once. It’s only for six weeks, but it feels like they’ll be gone forever. If I’m honest with myself, I’m mostly scared that Noah will replace his mate. I’ve loved him since I can remember, and I’ve prayed just as long for us to be mates. I turn 18, the week the guys return, and I’ll finally be able to replace out if Noah and I are fated.

“I thought I’d replace you here.”

I quickly sat up, startled by the voice. “Noah, you scared the crap out of me! How did you get here without making any noise?”

He smiled and sat down next to me, putting his arms over his knees. “I’ve been honing my tracker skills, glad to see I’m getting better.” He laughed.

I playfully shoved him. “Are you all packed and ready for tomorrow?”

“Yeah, all packed…not sure if I’m quite ready though.” He shrugged.

“Really? I think you’ll do great. Are you nervous?”

He sighed loudly and stayed quiet for a while before saying anything. “Not about the training…more about taking over…Dad’s already starting to talk about retiring and passing on the torch…it just feels like a lot.” He ran his hand through his dark hair. “What if I’m not ready?”

I leaned on his arm and looked up at him, “Noah, you could never not be ready. You’ve been training for this your whole life. You’re already one of our top warriors, and I’ve watched you lead training with the younger pups, you’re so good with them. You’ll only get better from here.”

He gave me a soft smile, and the moonlight reflected off his green eyes. I’ve always loved his eyes, so it was hard not to stare.

“You really think so?”

“Of course, you know I’d be the first to call you out if you weren’t ready.”

He chuckled, “Yeah, you’ve always had a knack for calling me out when needed.”

Before I could say anything else, Noah suddenly stood up and pulled his shirt off. My eyes widened as I tried not to stare, “What are you doing?”

“Come on a run with me.” He held out his hand for me to take. “Cosmo’s feeling antsy, and he wants one last run with you before we leave.”

I took his hand and stood before turning around to let him finish getting undressed. I suddenly felt Cosmo’s soft black fur next to me.

“Hi, Cosmo.” His green eyes glowed brightly as I ran my hand along his head. Cosmo nodded for me to hop on his back, and I quickly obliged.

Cosmo took off almost immediately. It felt amazing to have the wind on my face and move so speedily through the trees. My night vision wasn’t very strong as I didn’t have my wolf yet, but it was thrilling moving through the darkness so quickly without really knowing what was around me. I felt free….and with Cosmo with me, I also felt safe.

I was so ready to meet my wolf, to run with her and feel the wind flying through my fur. I hoped she liked Cosmo just as much as I liked him.

We ran for what felt like hours, but time went by all too fast at the same time. Cosmo brought me back to my blanket, and I carefully climbed off his back. I sat down with my back to him to let him shift back and get his clothes on, but before I knew what was happening, I was gently knocked over onto my back with a mass of black fur in my face.

“Cosmo!” I laughed as he licked my face. “Stop, Cosmo, it tickles.” I tried to push his face away from mine, but what was fur suddenly turned into hair, and I was staring up into Noah’s beautiful eyes instead of Cosmo’s. My breath caught in my throat, and I was suddenly very aware of a very naked Noah on top of me. I could feel every hard inch of him. He closed his eyes and leaned his forehead on mine. I was overcome with the desire to touch him, and I wanted so badly for him to kiss me.

Noah

‘Cosmo, you fucker, why’d you have us shift?’ I cursed at my wolf. I felt my dick harden just at the feel of Gema underneath me. She was so close and so beautiful, and she smelled so good, just like red apples and honey.

‘I’m just helping you out here a little bit. Now that we’re here, and she’s felt exactly what we’re packing, you might as well kiss her.’

‘We can’t just kiss her, what if she doesn’t want me to?’ I leaned my forehead against Gema and breathed her scent in more deeply.

‘Then ask her...we’re awesome, how could she not want to kiss us?’

‘Really? Just like that? We wouldn’t even be in this position if not for you.’

‘Exactly, you’re welcome…now kiss her.’

I suddenly felt her hand on my chest. I was certain she could feel the pounding of my heart.

“Noah?”

“Gema” I breathed out her name, I’d never felt more nervous than this moment. “Gem, can I kiss you?”

“Yes, please kiss me.”

I felt Cosmo leaping around in my head in excitement. 'Finally! Now kiss her!'

I didn’t have to be told twice before I crashed my lips against hers. She kissed me back eagerly, and I got lost in her sweet honey taste. Her hands tangled in my hair and her legs wrapped around my waist. If she didn’t feel me before, I was certain she could feel me now as she ground her hips into mine. I moved towards her neck, kissing and nibbling at the soft skin. She moaned out my name as I sucked on the spot where her mate, hopefully, me, would one day mark her. She called out my name again, and the sound shot straight to my dick making me even harder than I was before.

I had to stop before we took this any further, but I also didn’t want to stop. I pulled back and looked down at her.

“Gem, are you okay? Do you want to–.” She silenced me with a kiss and brushed up against my lips as she spoke, “Don’t stop, I want this…with you.” With those words, I deepened the kiss, taking everything she was giving. I pulled up her dress and grabbed her thigh as I ground deeper into her. She rewarded me with a loud moan. Meanwhile, Cosmo was still leaping around in my head, urging me to go further.

Gema stopped for a second and looked at me nervously. Her beautiful brown eyes glistened in the dark. “I’ve never done this before.”

“I know…I haven’t done this either.” I admitted.

“You haven’t?” Her eyes widened, “but…I thought…”

I sat us up and pulled her up with me to straddle my lap. “No, I wanted to wait for my mate, but to be honest, I’ve always wanted you to be my mate.”

“You have?” She looked at me with wonder, and I nodded my head slowly. “Yes, I’ve prayed for you to be my mate pretty much since I learned what mates were. I love you, I’ve known that for a long time now.”

A tear trickled down her cheek, and she quickly looked down and brushed it away, “I’m sorry, I just didn’t expect those words from you…I…I want the same…you as my mate, and I love you, too. She smiled shyly at me.

Her words shocked me. We’ve always been close, I just never expected my feelings to be reciprocated.

‘Of course, she loves us, I told you…we’re awesome.’ Cosmo took the opportunity to barge into my thoughts again, ‘Not now, Cosmo, I’m a little busy here.’

‘Not busy enough, now get to it.’

Gema noticed my lapse in conversation. “What’s Cosmo saying?”

I chuckled nervously, “Nothing, just being his usual self.” His usual horny self.

I pulled her closer, and she reached up to wrap her arms around my neck. “What now?” She whispered.

“Well, we could stop and wait and see if we’re mates…or we can finish what we already started…” I trailed off feeling unsure of myself, suddenly very aware of my nude body.

“You wouldn’t regret not waiting for your mate, I mean if it turns out it’s not me?”

“I could never regret you, Gem.” I cupped her cheek. “I love you, and I can’t imagine being able to love anyone else more than I love you. I’ll keep praying that we’re mates, but if it turns out we aren’t, we’ll deal with it when the time comes.

With that, Gema got off my lap. I went to stand and grab my clothes to put on feeling a little deflated. I didn’t want to be on display as it looked like we were stopping this thing, but it appeared Gema had other plans, and before I knew it, she was reaching down to the hem of her dress and pulling it off.

All I could do was stare. I’d seen her in a bathing suit plenty of times before, but this felt way different. She was so pretty with her hair a mess from our run and her lips still swollen from our earlier make-out session.

‘What are you waiting for?’ Cosmo started up with the leaping again. ‘Go get her.’

I reached for her and guided her down on the blanket. I kissed her softly on the lips before sliding off the rest of her clothes. I trailed my lips down her neck and towards her breasts. They were small but so perfectly perky. I took one of her nipples in my mouth and swirled my tongue around it. Gema inhaled sharply, and I loved how responsive she was to my touch. I continued kissing down her body. As I got lower, she spread her legs open for me, and I couldn’t help but let out a groan at how wet she already was for me. She suddenly shifted to straddle me, and she felt so slick and warm on my shaft. We just kissed for a while, getting used to the feel of our naked bodies touching. This felt like a dream I didn’t want to wake from.

“Noah, I want you inside me.”

I laid us back down and kept her legs wrapped around my waist while I continued teasing and tasting her mouth. I reached down between us and rubbed her clit, pleased with myself when she whimpered in pleasure. “Is that the right spot?” I wanted to be sure it felt good for her, too.

“Mmhmm,” She nodded and bit her lip. She was soaked, and I loved how she reacted to my touch. I grabbed my cock and rubbed her with it, teasing her entrance.

“Noah?” I felt her heart rate speed up. “You’ll stop if I need you to…if it hurts too much?” I kissed her reassuringly. “Yes, I’ll stop if you tell me to. We’ll go slow, just tell me what you need.”

She nodded her head and tilted her hips up towards me. I slipped in slowly and kissed her face to distract her from any pain. Even just half in, she already felt amazing. Her tight, wet heat was better than I could have ever imagined. I felt her tense as I pushed in further. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Keep going.” I pulled out a little and slowly moved back inside her, replaceing a steady pace. She wrapped her arms and legs around me tighter and let out a soft moan. “Noah…”

“Tell me what you need, Gem.”

“Harder…go harder.”

I shifted us and lifted her thigh higher to open her up more, then I started pounding into her harder. “Like this?”

“Yes…mmm, just like that.” I loved how she looked. Her dark hair was spread out around her, and her breasts bounced with every thrust. Every sound out of her mouth just made me harder for her. I still couldn’t believe this was happening.

“This feels really good…” She looked up at me with her gorgeous eyes, “But can we try something else?”

“Yeah, whatever you want… show me.” I slipped out of her and she sat up on her knees and kissed me. She gave me the sexiest smile before turning around and getting on her hands and knees. “Take me like this.”

She arched her back and put her ass right in front of me, and I couldn’t stop my dick from leaking at the sight. I love all of her, but I gotta say, her ass has always been one of my favorite parts. I grabbed her narrow hips and entered her again. I was certain I wouldn’t last long with this view, so I reached down to rub her clit. We found our rhythm together, and for a moment nothing else mattered but the two of us. My movements became faster, and I could feel her getting tighter around me. “Noah, right there, just like that…I’m…mmm” I rubbed her faster, and I felt her pulse around me as she came. The feel of her pushed me over the edge, too. I pulled out and exploded all over that beautiful ass of hers.

We were quiet except for the sounds of our heavy breathing, and I still couldn’t quite believe Gem and I had just had sex. I grabbed my shirt and cleaned us off with it before laying down beside her.

She scooted closer, wrapping her arms around me as she curled up on my chest. “We should have started doing this sooner.”

“Yeah,” I chuckled. “Too bad it took us so long to confess our feelings. Now we have to wait six weeks to do this again.”

“I’m glad we did though, it was perfect.”

“Yeah, it was.” I smiled down at her and held her closer.

‘See, I told you.’ Cosmo chimed in, ‘I should have pushed you to make your move sooner. But at least we won’t die a virgin anymore. Glad you finally handed over your v-card to the girl you’ve been pining over since you learned to jerk off.’

‘Thanks, Cosmo, way to ruin the moment. Just shut it already and let me enjoy this moment with my girl…’ My girl, I liked the sound of that.

We lay there for a while longer, but I sat up once I started getting sleepy. “It’s late, we should head back.”

We helped each other get dressed, kissing and smiling at each other the whole time. I picked up her blanket and grabbed her hand for our walk back to the pack house.

Gema

I’m still in a daze from what just happened. I’ve never felt something more right than being with Noah. Now, walking back home with my hand in his, I can’t help but think of how perfectly our hands fit together.

It’s a short walk from the waterfall to the pack house, and before I realize it, we’re heading up the walkway. We call it a packhouse, but it’s really more of a complex with how large it is. Each ranked family has their apartment on separate floors, and we have an extra floor for some of the single warriors, house staff, and guests. The ground floor is all meeting areas and offices. It’s a pretty typical setup as far as pack houses go.

We soon arrived at the gamma floor. “I guess this is where I leave you?”

“Yeah.” Noah looked around to make sure no one else was around. “But maybe I can have a good night kiss before you go?”

“Yes, definitely.” I pulled his face down and touched my lips to his. He grabbed my ass and pulled me closer to him as he deepened the kiss. I could do this all night if only I could sneak into his room without getting caught.

“Holy fuck! My eyes, what the hell am I even looking at!?”

Noah and I quickly pulled apart.

“Jordan, you’re still up,” Noah spoke calmly but swallowed hard as he waited for Jordan, our Alpha heir, to speak again.

“No…” he held up a finger. “Don’t say anything…I was never here, and I know nothing about this.” He looked upset, but as he started back up the stairs he smiled at us. “For the record, though, I totally called this…took you guys long enough, but Cristian’s gonna kill you two when he replaces out about this…might wanna wash up before he smells what you two have been up to. Also, he was coming up right behind me, so best wrap up whatever was going on here fast…I would hate for him to replace you shirtless with your hands all over his little sis.” He turned around still laughing, “Remember, I know nothing, and I’ll deny ever having seen this.”

“That fucker.” Noah chuckled as he stared at Jordan walk away.

“I guess this is goodnight then, I’m not up for an interrogation from my brother, so I better head upstairs.” I gave him one last peck and rushed up the stairs pushing past Jordan on my way up.

I made it to my room with enough time to lock my door and pull out my pajamas before I heard a knock at my door.

“Gema, you back yet?” My brother called from behind the door.

“Yeah, I’m just changing, about to go to sleep.”

“Alright, I’ll see you in the morning, then….’ night”

“Yeah, good night.” I breathed a sigh of relief and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. Afterward, I drifted off to sleep to thoughts of Noah and wondered if he was thinking of me, too.