Burning Desire

Chapter 4

Cara

I finished the rest of the day at school and ran back to the pack house. I still had to do chores for the Luna before I could sit down and do my homework, plus I had to help with dinner.

“Cara!” Luna yelled as soon as she saw me.

“Yes, Luna?” I said, bowing my head.

“Jace is turning 18 next week, and I’m planning a huge celebration. A few of the alphas and families from our neighboring packs will also be coming. So we will be cleaning this place from top to bottom to make sure everything is perfect,” the Luna told me.

“Yes, Luna,” I replied.

“Meet me in the kitchen. I need to talk to Mauve about the food we will have at the celebration,” Luna said, walking away. I rushed up to my tiny little room in the attic to drop off my school books and hurried back down to the kitchen.

“So, Mauve, the eggs you made today for breakfast were excellent. At lunch, the warriors were bragging that the chocolate cupcakes were mouthwatering. I would really love for you to use that creativity of yours to make more wonderful dishes for not only the pack meals but the celebration as well,” Luna told Mauve.

Mauve bowed to the Luna and said, “Thank you, Luna. Honestly, the creativity just comes to me suddenly. I would hate for it to escape me and disappoint you, especially at the celebration.”

“Well, I have a thought: why don’t you experiment with food you think would be good for the celebration during the pack meals? From that, we can create the menu based on what works well,” the Luna suggested.

“I think that is doable, Luna,” Mauve responded.

“Excellent! Well, I can already tell you, I approve of making the chocolate peanut butter cupcakes. They will be the perfect dessert, plus Jace loves chocolate,” Luna said.

“Of course,” Mauve replied.

“Good. And Cara, you will be very busy with cleaning and helping Mauve here in the kitchen, so you won’t have time for any extras,” the Luna said, turning away from Mauve.

“What about school?” I asked the Luna.

The Luna sighed and said, “I will talk to the school. I know you need your education, but since I also need you here, I will get your assignments and have you excused for the week.”

I knew there was nothing I could say to change the Luna’s mind.

“Yes, Luna, thank you,” I said.

“Okay then, I need you to clean upstairs in the bedrooms. We will work on one area at a time this week, okay?” the Luna said before she left.

“You okay, child?” Mauve asked me.

“Yeah, I’m fine. I just don’t think the Luna really likes me,” I replied.

“Child, it’s not that she doesn’t like you. It’s the status of our society. You were orphaned at a young age, and you are an omega. So she, being a Luna, has to help you as well as raise you. You are technically below her in status, so it is a bit different for her to raise someone of a lower status,” Mauve tried to explain.

“Mauve is right,” Star said suddenly.

“Star! You’ve been so quiet lately! Are you okay?” I asked my wolf through our mind link.

“Yes, I have just been feeling very off lately. Is there any way we could go for a run soon?” Star asked.

“I know it has been a while, Star. I will try to do it soon,” I told her.

I left the kitchen to start cleaning the guest rooms, as the Luna had instructed. The guest rooms were the easiest to clean, mostly because they just needed a dusting and the bed linens shaken out. I also made sure the guest bathrooms were stocked with linens and toiletries, ready for use.

I finished the guest rooms much quicker than I had realized, so I headed back down to the kitchen. Maybe tonight I would be able to let Star run a bit.

“Child, you’re done cleaning already?” Mauve asked as she saw me.

“Yeah, it was just the guest rooms, and they are the easiest to clean before people stay in them. It’s after the guests leave that it’s more work,” I explained.

“Well, good! Since it’s your food that the pack loves, help me prepare a dish for dinner,” Mauve laughed.

“What if we make a simple roast beef for tonight?” I suggested.

“That sounds good. I will go get the meat, and you gather up what you want to do with it so I can make note of it for the celebration,” Mauve said.

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Jace

Damn! This game is tough. Right now, we are losing. We can’t lose. Losing is not an option here. We have to change up what we are doing.

“Tristan!” I called him over.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“We need to try something; they are getting the best of us,” I told him.

“Okay, what are you thinking?” he asked.

“Switch positions with Bryan,” I instructed.

“Got it!” he said, heading over to Bryan.

After the switch, we came back and ended up winning the game 3-2. My father approached me after the game.

“Very well done, son. I saw you made some changes that helped secure your victory,” he said.

“I just did what needed to be done, Dad,” I replied.

“You did well; that was definitely a good decision. That’s a strong trait to have as an Alpha,” he told me.

“Thank you,” I said.

“No need to thank me; that was all you. You proved yourself today. Now all you need is a Luna who is strong and capable like you, and you will be a great Alpha,” my dad said.