Page 91 of Alaska Lights

“Alaska.”

“Fuck! If you get hurt, I swear, Honeybee, I’m going to be furious.” I swing him into my arms again, his anger leaving a sour note in the air.

“Then, I guess you’re going to have to be mad, aren’t you?”

I clench my jaw, his sass making me want to turn him over my knee and spank him for that mouth. I can’t think about that right now when Soren and Glenn need me. Helios will be getting spanked later if I have anything to say about it, though.

I dash to the next pasture, stopping in my tracks when I see the cattle barn up in flames. The entire building is engulfed, and there’s no saving it. In disbelief, I lower Helios to his feet in a slow motion, watching a piece of my property turn to ash.

Soren and Glenn are closer, ushering the animals away from the burning building. They don’t fight them. They run across the field until I can’t see them.

“Stay here, okay? I have to go talk to Soren.”

“Yeah.” Leo nods, unable to tear his gaze away from the flames that seem to get higher. “I won’t move.”

“Good boy.” I grab the back of his head, planting a kiss on him before I vanish in his next breath.

I stand next to Soren, the heat from the fire already causing me to sweat. “What the hell happened?”

Soren has soot all over his face and clothes, as does Glenn, as he unwraps a few hoses.

“I don’t know,” Soren coughs. “We were rounding up the horses when we smelled it. No animals were hurt. They all got out. I called the fire department, and they are going to drop some water on it for us. They should be here soon, since all traveling restrictions have been lifted.”

Glenn positions himself and aims the hose. It’s too small. It isn’t going to do anything. Even if all of us had hose access. The fire is too big. This barn is gone.

“Fuck!” I yell as loud as I can, the flames eating away at the roof.

This barn was the first one I built. It lasted much longer than I could ever dream. Watching the frame collapse in on itself is hard to witness. It’s as if my old life is officially dead, the lonely past turning to ash, soot, and smoke.

“Hey!” Soren points up to the sky. “Bush pilot has arrived.”

“Get back!” I shout at everyone, including my mate. “Everyone get back!”

The fire is wicked; the tendrils reach up into the sky like arms wanting to grab the plane right out of the air.

The plane flies low, opens the tank, and releases water, hundreds of gallons landing on the barn. The roof caves in, embers and sparks flashing through the onyx smoke cloud. A wall follows next, the wood groaning in protest before hitting the ground.

We’re missed by the majority of the water, but we still get soaked.

Glenn waves up at the pilot. The best thank you we can conjure at the moment. Soren grabs the hose Glenn dropped and continues to spray small fires sprouting up until all that’s left is rubble and smoke.

I lace my hands behind my head, staring at the destruction. My boots stick against the mud forming on the ground. My damp hair sticks to my neck. I lick my lips, unable to tell the difference between sweat and water until salt bursts across my tongue.

“What the fuck happened?” I ask again, wondering how I’ve never had a fire in all the years I’ve lived here until now.

“I don’t know, Alaska. It was an old building. Maybe something inside caught fire.” Glenn scratches the back of his neck, water dripping from his chin.

“It’s okay. We can rebuild. We didn’t lose anyone. No one got hurt. All the animals are safe. We need to clear this out and make sure we keep all the animals away from here. They will need to stay in the other pasture until this area is safe again.” I take a deep breath, calming myself down after realizing how lucky we got.

“No problem. We can get that done in no time,” Soren replies.

I know we will use our abilities. Between the three of us, it won’t take long to clean or rebuild.

I spin around, wanting to check on Helios. He stayed where I told him to, a worried expression pinching his brows while he chews on his bottom lip. He’s staring at the scene, his eyes watering, and I step in his direction when I hear a slight whoosh in the distance.

Time slows.

All that I can hear is the breath leaving my mouth in a gasp. My vision zeroes in on the arrow coming from the opposite side of the pasture, the silver tip glinting against the sun.