Fire and Flames

Chapter 1

Caden

I groan, turning in my soft bed. My eyes flutter open and fall on the figure at the other corner of our cabin room.

Adrian lays curled up in his bed under the thick covers. He would have looked comfortably asleep, if not for his eyes which are wide open. He smiles at me and throws the covers off of him. His small form slides out of the bed, planting his feet firmly onto the wooden floorboards.

"Only one more week Caden! We did it! Goddess, it'll feel so good to get to go home and see my mother. Aren't you excited to go meet your mate? You must me excited. Oh! I never got to ask you what you received from the Alpha. What is it?"

Adrian always spoke way too fast for anyone to keep up. Asking so many questions in one breath. But I loved that about him. Even though he was bullied by most of the boys here when we were pups, he'd get right back up.

He sure showed them all when he made it to the top ranks when the rest were sent home.

Adrian is a tracker. Trackers are very important. They helped scent out many things like rouges and food. His body is slim and tiny. But he was very skilled in battle. His small legs carried him fast and far in little time. He could take down a three hundred pound man with little effort. He really has grown over the past sixteen years.

I smile at him and pull a box out from underneath my bed. I always kept the things that Alpha Zaryn and Luna Eden sent to me. It was like being close to my mate, having his things with me. I pull out a small blue wooden box among the shirts, stuffed animals, letters, and drawings.

"Luna Eden wrote to me not to open it until we were on our way to the pack lands. I can't wait to meet my little mate. My wolf is restless." I sigh, shifting the small box around in my hands.

"What do you think it is?" Adrian asks. He leans down to the box and sniffs it.

"I'm not sure. But I think we should get ready to train now. Just because there's only a week left to go, doesn't mean we can slack off now. Not when we've come this far. C'mon."

I quickly pull on my training gear after I use the bathroom. When I make my way outside, Adrian is already sitting on the ground eating breakfast. Another plate is on his lap.

I walk over and sit down next to him. I take my plate of food. There are the usual assortments of food for breakfast. Pancakes, sausages, bacon, and fruit. We eat in peaceful silence.

The sun has just begun to rise as I take my last bite of food. We throw away our plates and make our way to the fields. Adrian comes to a stop at the path leading into the woods.

"Three..." Adrian starts counting. "Two...ONE!"

We take off, running through the woods. We hop over logs and tree roots. We twist and turn through the winding paths uphill and downhill. The trees rushing past us in a blur of greens and browns as we pick up speed.

My breathing increases to an uneven pant as we come to a stop at the halfway point. A large sign tells us to turn around and head back to complete the mile run. Adrian counts again as we head back towards the training base.

Adrian zooms past me, running to the spot that we both knew very well. He leaps into the stream at our old living area. I jump in after him, a shock surging through my body as I crash through the surface of the freezing water.

Adrian surfaces and lets out a loud howl that I join in on. We hear other howls in the distance from the other wolves beginning to start their mile run.

"Burrrrh," Adrian wraps his arms around his body. His teeth click together noisily, his cheeks a rosy red. "Holy shit! I did not expect it to be this freezing. Goddess! I would have never jumped in if I had known that it would be BELOW ZERO!"

"I think you are overreacting. The water is very nice today," I reply. Adrian scoffs. He pulls himself onto the banking and lays in a patch of sun that shines through the trees.

"I can't wait to find my mate. Do you think that he will be good for me, Caden?"

"I think that when you find your mate he will love you. You are kind and an amazing warrior and friend." I say, laying down next to him.

"Ya think? Knowing me I'm gonna want to consummate our love for each other. Sex and stuff. And have pups with my mate. I really want pups of my own. And I'll treat them better than my father ever treated me. I still can't forgive him for sending me here. Even though I enjoyed making a lifelong friend. I still don't like to think that he wanted to get rid of me like that."

"I think he was wrong to do that. But..." I try to think of something good about his father.
I couldn't find anything.

Out of the sixteen years we had been here, Adrian's father refused to send letters or any comforts of home to Adrian. He never got any letters from his mother either. Adrian still held on to the belief that his mother still cared about him. It was heartbreaking to watch him struggle with this. But I wouldn't know what it was like to grow up with family problems. I didn't know how to help him other than being a good friend to hang out with.

"Are you going to have pups with your mate when you get back?" Adrian suddenly asks me.

I choke on air, sitting upright gasping and sputtering for breath.

"What?!"

"Well, you've been away from your mate for over sixteen years. You're going to want to make the world know that he is yours. Caden, you are going to want to fuck him until he is round with your pups, and you know it."

"Okay, that's enough. I don't want to talk about that subject with you."

"I just wanted to know what your plans are after you get out of here. Honestly, I can't wait. I want to be free. I didn't get to grow up like a normal kid. I just had to grow up, period. No time for fun and games. Just work and training and more work. I can't wait to sleep in for like the whole day and then wake up and have to do nothing except for the occasional training session to prove that we aren't getting stale with our skills and abilities. I want to have more friends and family around me. It just all seem so wonderful. And it's all so close. So very close yet so far away." Adrian sighs, closing his eyes tightly.
His next words are so utterly heartbreaking the way he says them.

"I just want to go home."

So do I.