Page 1 of Wild Fires

Ryan

Chapter 1

Wake up, make the bed, shower, dress in khakis and a button down with tie, or a polo if it's a casual day. Comb my hair, brush my teeth, put on my socks and shoes, then head to the kitchen where my coffee is already programmed to be waiting. I fix a quick breakfast of avocado toast and bowl of overnight oatmeal I prepped the night before. Then I sit down to eat while going over my schedule for the day. This simple, quiet routine every morning started my day off right.

I looked down at my dress shirt and frowned. Today I was going to be meeting with the chief at the firehouse. Clarence Grimes was one of our newest council members with the Grimes family only recently earning representation.

It was about damn time if you asked me. And of course, the fact that his daughter was mated to my older brother, Elias, meant I was probably a bit soft towards the struggles of the Grimes Flock.

As mayor of Ravenden I strongly felt that it was my job to represent all of my town, even those Flocks others would deem less important. They were all important to me.

Finishing up my breakfast and with a good idea of how my day was going to go, I got up and took my dishes to the sink. I never understood why anyone would leave dirty dishes in the sink when it only took a minute to quickly wash, rinse, dry, and put them away. It just made no sense why I wouldn't take that minute of my life when it would mean returning to a clean home.

I liked things neat and tidy. I didn't think anyone had ever taught me that or enforced it with me. As far as I knew, I'd always been that way and sometimes I struggled to understand how others weren't always like me.

Keeping things organized and efficient had led me into leadership, becoming the youngest mayor of Ravenden at only twenty-five years old.

Many said I was far older in spirit. My siblings sometimes teased me that I was a little old man stuck in a young man's body.

That had never bothered me though. I was particular about the way I liked things and that was okay with me. I didn't project those expectations onto others, well, most of the time I didn't.

Feeling satisfied that everything was in order, I retrieved my keys from the hook by the door and left my apartment. As I was getting in the elevator, the only other door on the top floor of my complex flew open and Kim rushed out.

“Ryan, hold the elevator,” she yelled, looking a little disheveled and only further proving my theory that sticking to a timely routine was the right way to start my day.

“Good morning, Kim,” I said with a chuckle, shaking my head.

This wasn't an uncommon part of my day lately.

“Blame Elias,” she muttered.

I didn't even want to consider why she would make that statement, but knowing they were still relatively newly mated, I had my suspicions.

She smoothed down her hair and threw it up into a long sleek ponytail.

“What are you up to today?” she asked.

I knew she was just making idle conversation.

“I'm meeting with your father this morning, actually. He requested it. Not sure why. Do you?”

She shrugged. “Who knows. Could be Council business or could be that fire they had out by the cliff last night.”

“Fire? I didn't hear about this?”

“Happened late last night. I was on the phone with my brother Andrew when the call came in. He checked in around one this morning to let me know everyone was okay.”

I frowned. “Couldn't be that. He hit me up yesterday morning about this.”

She shrugged. “Probably some grand idea he wants to run by you. Don't look at me, you guys are the ones that voted him onto the Council.”

I laughed as the elevator opened to the garage level. Kim gave a quick wave and ran for her car, clearly running late.

Checking the time, I knew I needed to speed up or I was going to be late too.

The drive to the firehouse was short. It was a beautiful day, and I could have walked over, but I was planning to go into the office afterwards and knew it would be more practical to have my car with me. I had no idea how long this meeting would take.

My preference was to always walk into a room prepared for whatever was about to be thrown my way. Life had taught me that simply wasn't always the case. I was used to dodging bullets and facing things on the fly, even if it wasn't entirely within my comfort zone.

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