Originally Posted by fruitcakelady
Alfira: Didn't pay much attention to her character because I couldn't even find her in the grove when I first played the game. When I finally got the chance to interact with her, I thought she seemed really cool. Alfira would've made a great companion. It's kind of funny that I grew to like her. I usually prefer villainous characters.

bg3.wiki thinks she might have been planned to be a companion:

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Alfira may have originally been intended as a potential companion. In the game files, she is defined in Origins.lsx which lists the origin characters as well as non-origin companions, hirelings, and a few related characters such as Losiir Losiir. In the file, she is listed as a College of Lore subclass Bard.

Unless that's just part of the dark urge storyline