Page 70 of Wild Fires

We'd all run in the same group growing up, and while they weren't the best of friends, they'd at least gotten along well enough—or so I'd thought.

I pushed that thought to the back of my mind to consider later. Right now, I was headed into full operational mode. I needed as clear a head as possible. There was a crisis in my town and, as long as my mate was fine, the best thing I could do was stay busy and help my people.

With a final look around, I transformed into the mayor Ravenden deserved.

“I'll get a crew on it.”

“Great. I'll get some of the volunteers to start turning people around.”

Elias hadn't been the only one to arrive on a motorcycle. Those that came and weren't already allocated to the fire by Clarence were sent to the back of the line to start turning people around.

“Take my bike and I'll fly back home. As long as the fire doesn't spread north, we should be fine to stay there, according to Clarence,” my brother said.

“The Diner is just barely in the evacuation zone boundaries. Can you stop there and let your mate and our stubborn family know to close up and get the hell out of there?”

“I'm on it, Mr. Mayor.”

For once, I didn't think my brother was being an asshole for saying that. Typically, he would call me that in a derogatory way. This felt different.

Before I left the area to check on things around town, I stopped by to check in with Clarence.

“Vance sent a crew to start going house to house while we still can. And I have a team of volunteers assisting with traffic. What other immediate needs do you have?”

He stared at me in surprise for a moment. “We're good.”

I nodded when my phone rang. “Great. Let me know if anything else comes up. I'm going to make my rounds and ensure everything's running smoothly.”

“Isn't that usually someone else's job, Ryan?”

I shook my head. “Not on my watch.”

Glancing at my phone and seeing it was my dad, I pointed to it and walked away to take the call.

“Ryan Davenport.”

“I assume you know about the fire already,” Dad said.

“Yes sir. I'm onsite and about to leave to check on our volunteers and the evacuation status.”

“We're evacuating?”

“Everything south of Main and as far as the river at this point, so you and Mom should be okay. I'll let you know if that changes.”

“How's Gracie?”

“Doing her thing,” I said, trying not to let the panic show in my voice.

“And how are you doing?”

How was I?

I considered that for a moment. I was a wreck. Worst case scenarios started to come to mind.

“Fine as long as I keep busy,” I lied, or maybe it wasn't entirely a lie because I really hoped it was true.

“If you need anything, please let me know. Would you like me to update the Congress Council?”

“That would be great, Dad. No need to call Clarence, but the others should certainly be kept apprised of what's going on.”

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