Escaping Wildfire

Gema

As promised, Alpha Marek sent over a jeweler for me and Larkin to select an engagement ring together. Rory joined us as she had been made privy to Alpha Marek’s preferences again. As expected, he wanted the opposite of what I would have selected, something big and flashy.

I looked at the rings, feeling dead inside and wondering what Noah and the boys were doing right now. I never knew I could miss someone as much as I missed Noah.

Larkin couldn’t have been less interested in this activity, but the jeweler kept trying to draw his attention. The whole process was ridiculous as wolf shifters rarely even wore jewelry as it easily got lost when shifting, so I wasn’t sure why Alpha Marek was so insistent on all of this.

We finished up, and I stood up to head back to my golden prison.

“Father said that I could take you on a tour of the pack if you would like.” Rory stood in front of me. She was wearing a modest dress and ballet flats with her hair slicked back in a half-up style with perfect curls. She always looked like she was on her way to a luncheon at a country club. It made me wonder if she dressed like this for herself or because it was what her father expected.

“I would like that, thank you.” While I honestly had no interest in Wildfire, it gave me something to do other than being locked up. I also thought knowing the layout of Wildfire might help me plan out an escape. Maybe if I continued to play nice, they would continue to let me out of my room.

“Good, we can start outside and work our way back inside.” Rory’s words sounded positive, but her facial expression betrayed her true feelings. She was tall with long blonde hair and dark blue eyes that always looked sad.

She led me to the back first. I recognized the field we came to as the one I could see through my window. “This is the practice field where our warriors do their outside training. We also have several indoor training areas that we use interchangeably. I looked over at the group working on the field. They all looked deep in concentration. I thought back to my days of training. It was always one of my favorite parts of the day, waking up early and working on strengthening my body. It didn’t hurt that Noah and I were part of the same training group, so I’d start my day off by getting to see him.

“The group here right now is our second tier, the first tier practices first thing in the morning.”

I looked over at the wolves and recognized the two women who had driven me and the girls here. They were both tall and had a slim athletic build. In another life, they could have been models.

“When do you train?” I asked genuinely curious.

“Oh.” She looked taken aback. “I don’t train. My father says I am not allowed, so I have never trained.”

“Do you go to school then?”

“I graduated high school last year, so I just stay here now and help with the pack duties. The paperwork, party planning, and decorating, things the Luna would do.” She cleared her throat and looked down.

“No college then?”

“No. My father believes my skills are better used by helping out around the pack. He says I should learn the Luna duties now for when I become Luna once I am mated.”

“Will you have an arranged union, too, then?”

“Yes, I will.” She said almost too softly for me to hear.

We continued walking around the back. “This is our outside meeting area where we have gatherings like our pack picnics. We also have a swimming pool over here.” She pointed to the side. “Do you like to swim?”

I could tell she was ready to change the subject, so I went along with her. “Yes, we used to swim all the time back home.”

“At Cobalt Falls, right?

“Yes, we had a pool, but we always liked the waterfall best.”

“I’ve never seen a waterfall before, I imagine it's beautiful.”

Maybe you can see it someday, I almost said, but then I remembered she was as much a prisoner here as I am.

“Maybe we can go swimming sometime?”

“Yes, we are allowed to on the weekends. I can ask Father if he would allow it.”

She talked so stiffly that I wondered if she had spent much time around people her age.

“You and the other pack members come and swim then?”

“I am allowed to come between 1 and 4 pm on Saturdays, and the other pack warriors can come anytime after that.”

“Oh.” I was shocked out of asking anything else. It seemed this poor girl’s entire life had been dictated by her devil of a father.

She continued to lead me through the grounds pointing out what some of the larger buildings were and even showing me her father’s car collection. We ended up back near the packhouse in a garden. “This is my favorite place. I planted most of the flowers myself. She led me through a row of bluebonnets and then to a section with hibiscus before we came to a white gazebo. A woman was sitting inside. Rory was busy fussing with one of the rose bushes, so I tapped her shoulder. “Who is she?”

Her face drained of color as she saw the woman. “Please excuse me for a minute.”

She quickly went over to the woman, and even though she told me to excuse her, I slowly followed behind her. She sat down on the bench beside the woman. “Mom, what are you doing out here? Does Father know you’re here?”

“Rory, have you come to have lunch with me? Oh, and you’ve brought a friend. What’s her name?”

The woman looked my way and smiled. She looked like an older version of Rory. Sadly, they both had the same sad look in their eyes. Even with her pale skin, dark circles, and baggy clothes, I could tell she was beautiful.

“Mom, this is Gema.”

“Gema, what a beautiful name.”

“Would you two girls like to have lunch with me? Sheila just left to bring me a tray. I can ask her to bring extra.

“Gema has to get back–”

“I’d love to–” Rory and I said at the same time. Her mother looked between the two of us, and Rory looked like she was about to cry.

“We’re just on a tour, we can stay for lunch.” I nodded at Rory, and she smiled at her mother, seeming to agree to stay.

“Wonderful. I’ve never met one of Rory’s friends before. Come sit by me.” She stood up and slowly led me to a small table with four chairs. “I just love eating out here in the garden. Every time the breeze blows I can smell the flowers.”

A woman with a tray came up to us. “Sheila, look who’s come to join us.” The woman smiled. “Miss Rory, how nice to see you. Clarissa is having a very good day today, so Alpha let her eat out here.”

Sheila went back to get more food, and the four of us settled into lunch.

“Gema, are you originally from Wildfire?”

“No, she has only been here a few weeks,” Rory answered for me, and the two shared a look.

“Oh…I’m sorry. I came here from a different pack as well. My father was an Alpha, but Alpha Marek brought me here when he realized we were mated.” She stopped talking to take a bite, but I didn’t miss her meaning. Alpha Marek destroyed her pack and brought her here as a prisoner, even though they were mates.

“The flowers look beautiful, Rory, you’ve done good work this year.”

“Thanks, Mom. Father let me expand the garden this year, so I added the gardenias on the side.

I ate my chicken silently as I watched their interaction. I hated Wildfire, but I had to admit that they had good food. I reached out for the salt shaker, but my short arms didn’t quite let me reach.

“Here, I’ll help.” Clarissa reached out for the salt and passed it to me, but not before I noticed the scar on her wrist. She discreetly pulled her sleeve back down, and I looked away. It made me want to know more about her. I had only been here a few weeks, but she had been here decades, what all had she endured while here at Wildfire?

Clarissa suddenly dropped her fork and closed her eyes as she took in a sharp breath.

“Clarissa…is it the Alpha again?”

She looked over at Sheila and just nodded. “Stay here, I’ll bring you your tea.” Sheila rushed inside, and Rory moved closer to her mother.

“Mom, do you need anything? Is there anything I can do?”

“No, Rory, it’ll pass. It always does.” She looked at Rory with watery eyes as she reached out to smooth Rory’s hair. “I’m sorry you have to see me like this. Don’t worry, though, the pain gets easier to handle every time, and it usually doesn’t last long.”

“I know, Mom, I just hate that you have to go through this…that he does this to you.”

Sheila came back and set a cup in front of Clarissa and sat back down. “Thank you,” Clarissa said as she picked up the cup and drank quickly.

Rory turned to Sheila, “How often has this been happening, is it still every day?”

Sheila shifted her gaze between Rory and Clarissa, seemingly warring with answering Rory or keeping Clarissa’s confidence. The former won out, though. “Yes.”

“Mom, he can’t keep doing this to you. Does Larkin know?”

“No, Rory, I’ll be fine. The tea helps. I promise you, I’ll be fine, just leave it alone.”

Rory had a fire in her eyes I had never seen in her before, and I listened to their conversation with rapt attention.

“Let’s just finish our lunch. They have the cookies you like. How about you go get some for us?”

Rory nodded before going off into the house.

“I’m sorry you had to see all of that. I just get pain sometimes, but it never lasts long.” Clarissa smiled at me unconvincingly, but I just nodded, not wanting to embarrass her.

We finished our meal without any more issues, and Rory walked me back to my room.

“Thank you for eating with us. Would you mind if I asked that you not tell Larkin about my mom?”

“The pain your mom gets…is it because your dad is going against the mate bond?”

Rory’s face flushed, but she nodded, “If Larkin finds out that my Father is still at it, he’ll flip, and last time he confronted my Father…” Her eyes welled up with tears and she trailed off not wanting to say more.

“I won’t say anything to him. Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with me.”

“Thank you. I’m sorry we didn’t get to finish the tour, but maybe my father will let us do this again, and I’ll ask about swimming.”

“That would be nice, thank you.”

I walked back into my room. Rory hadn’t shown me anything on the tour that could help me with escaping. If anything, this afternoon showed me how trapped I really was. If he was capable of discarding his mate that easily, what hope did the rest of us have?

Despite their devil father, Rory and Larkin seemed to have good in them. My next hope was to befriend them and maybe they would be my ticket out of here.