Escaping Wildfire

Gema

"Let me see the phone you have." Larkin gestured with his hand for me to bring him my phone. For a minute, I got nervous that he was lying and would just take the phone as soon as I handed it over, but then I realized I had nothing to lose. I couldn't use the phone uncharged, so I had to trust him. Either way, I had already told him about the phone, so they just had to search the room and it could be easily found and taken.

I went over to the walk-in closet where I hid the phone and handed it to Larkin. "Do you have a charger for it?" I asked as he turned it over in his hand. "Yeah, it's the same one as my phone." He walked to the living room, came back with a charging cord, and plugged in my phone. "You can call as soon as it's back on, but we'll stay in the room with you while you talk." I nodded in understanding. I was really going to get to talk to the boys in just a few minutes.

I felt sick and excited all at once, and my hands started to sweat. I wish I could tell Jasmine about this, but I promised Larkin and Nora I'd keep their secret. The phone was taking what felt like forever to charge, and I kept my eyes on the green circle as it swirled around the zero percent. Once it hit one, Larkin started the phone up and waited for the phone to load before handing it to me. "You said your brother, right?"

"Yes." I had debated between calling Noah or Cristian, but I thought that I would immediately burst into tears as soon as I heard Noah's voice, so Cristian was the safer option between the two.

"Go ahead and call then."

I pulled up my brother's contact and waited as the phone rang. There was no response. It was mid-morning by now, so I wondered what my brother could be doing. "He isn't answering, can I try another number?" Larkin nodded, and I dialed Noah's number, but he also did not respond. My heart sank, and I feared the worst. 'It'll be fine, it's early, maybe they're in training and don't have their phones on them.' Amora attempted to calm me down. 'That's a good point, you're likely right.' I took a deep breath and clutched at my phone as it continued to charge, sending up my prayers to Moon Goddess that the boys would respond or call back.

Noah

We had taken to our places in the Harvest Moon pack quite easily, but Alpha Kedrick still treated us like privileged rank trainees. He said he wanted to keep our skills sharp for when we took back Cobalt Falls. Sometimes I had the energy to believe him that we'd get our pack back, but today was not one of those days.

This morning, Alpha Kedrick had us studying the territory maps. He wanted us to know where the territories of every shifter type were located by memory as we were still looking for the cat contact and were considering scouting the different territories for a cat shifter who held rank.

Alpha went to help with training this morning as we had gotten a few wolf packs that sent members for training, and Gamma Isaiah and Luna Ellis needed the extra help, so he let us use the conference table in his office to study.

We were quizzing each other on the territories, as we heard Cristian's phone buzz. He didn't even look at it before shutting off the ringer. "Ignoring calls? Have you been giving your number out again?" I raised my eyebrows at him in question.

He ran a hand through his hair and sighed, "No, learned my lesson the hard way, one-night stands don't get my number." He shook his head and winced before continuing. "I might have left my phone unattended at dinner a few nights ago, though…and Evie texted herself my number. She's been calling…and texting ever since." He looked away and cringed at his negligence with his phone.

Jordan clapped his hands as he laughed at Cristian's predicament. "That's hilarious, so she's been trying for a booty call, or what? She sure did move on from Noah quick enough." He pointed at me.

"She probably figured our boy, Cristian, here's a sure thing." I laughed along with Jordan as I clapped Cristian on the back.

"Hey, I've not touched her." He raised his hands in surrender.

"Yet." Jordan cut in.

Before I could say anything else, I heard my phone buzz from the other side of the table where I left it, but it stopped before I picked it up.

"Holy Shit!" I stared at my screen thinking my eyes were playing tricks on me. "Gema! It says Gema just called."

"What!?" Jordan came over to look at the screen, and Cristian fumbled to get his phone out of his pocket.

"Do you think it's really her? Should we call back?" The three of us stared at each other contemplating our next move when Cristian's phone started ringing again.

"It's Gema." He stared at his phone, transfixed.

"Answer it!" I yelled.

He took a deep breath before hitting accept and holding the phone up to his ear. "Hello."

"Cristian!?" My wolf hearing allowed me to hear her shaky voice on the other end of the line. It's really her.

"Put it on speaker." I rushed over to his side as he clicked on the speaker.

"Gema, how are you calling us? Where are you? Are you okay, are you safe?" He said all in one breath.

"I'm at the Wildfire packhouse, they're keeping me locked up here, but I'm safe. They aren't hurting me." Relief washed over me at the sound of her voice, and Cosmo started prancing around in my head for the first time since Gema was taken.

"I made some friends, and they helped me call you."

"Are the others safe? Jasmine and Jade?" Jordan asked.

"The girls and twins are safe, but they have my parents and Noah's locked up in the cells."

"Those bastards." Cristian cursed. "Why are they keeping you there? Do you know?"

"Cristian…" Gema paused.

"Gem…it's okay, just tell us." I tried to reassure her, sensing there was something she didn't want to say.

"Dad made a deal with Alpha Marek to keep him from killing us and the rest of the pack."

The three of us exchanged a frustrated look. "What kind of deal, Gema?" Cristian prodded her for more information, the frustration evident in his voice. Gema sighed on the other end of the call.

"He…he promised my hand in marriage…to Alpha Marek's son..." She trailed off quietly.

My heart jolted at her words, and I saw red. Cosmo growled loudly, and I was certain the others could see him coming through my eyes just as I could see Ax coming through Cristian's.

"Dad sold you out to that fucker…" Cristian looked like he was about to rage out into Ax, so I took the phone from him as he started to pace.

"I don't want you guys to worry about me. Alpha Marek's son, Larkin, is nothing like his father. He's actually the one who let me call. He's helping me, and he doesn't want any of this either. Dad…" There was a hitch in her voice as she mentioned her father. "I'm furious with him, but I don't have much time on the phone to get into everything that's happened these past few weeks. Larkin will help me, but we need your help, too."

"Gem, we're doing all we can over here…no matter what, we'll get you all out," I promised even though I had no clue how we would do that yet.

I could hear her sniffling on the other end. "I love you, Gem." I didn't care that the guys were around to hear me. Any other day they would have made fun of me, but right now they knew Gema needed to hear those words from me.

"I have to go now, but…Noah, I love you, too." Even with the severity of the situation, I smiled at her words. "Gem, before you go…what's your wolf's name?"

"Amora." She sniffled again and giggled. "Her name is Amora, and she says hi."

'Tell her I can't wait to meet her.' Cosmo said something for the first time since we answered Gema's call.

"Cosmo says he can't wait to meet her."

"I love you guys. I'll call again as soon as I can." With that, the line cut off, and we were left in silence.

I set the phone on the table. Cristian continued to pace as he tried to calm Ax, and Jordan sat down wiping his hand across his face.

"We have a contact number!" The door burst open as Alpha Kedrick walked in yelling out triumphantly, but he stopped in his tracks as soon as he saw the three of us. "What's with the long faces? Did something happen?"

"Yeah, we just got off the phone with Cristian's sister." Jordan took the initiative and responded.

"Wait, wasn't she one of the ones taken by Wildfire?"

"Yes, but she somehow managed to make some friends who let her get in touch with us."

"Well fuck me." Alpha Kedrick said incredulously as he took a seat at the table. "That's good news, boys…that means we have someone on the inside now. What else did she say? Do we know why they were taken captive?" He looked at each of us in turn, looking for answers.

"Yeah, but…" I sighed before speaking the words that caused my heart to ache. "The former Cobalt Falls Beta made a deal with Alpha Marek to save all the remaining pack members in exchange for giving his daughter in marriage to Alpha Marek's heir," Ax growled loudly as I told Alpha Kedrick everything Gema had told us.

"Your sister?" Alpha turned to Cristian to confirm, but Cristian just nodded, unable to say any words as his anger continued to take over.

"Alright, boys, this is a lot to take in for one day. It's good that they're safe, though, we can work with that…and now that we have one of the cat leaders' numbers, we can reach out to her."

"Her? Who is she?" Jordan inquired.

"Her name is Olivia Castillo, she's a bobcat shifter. I don't know much about her, but from what we've found out so far, she's a businesswoman who owns businesses all over the country, but her main territory and home is south of Cobalt Falls. I figured we could call her and see if she'll meet with us."

"When?" I looked at him expectantly.

"How about we try her right now?" He went over to his desk and started to dial her number before the three of us could respond, but we were all more than good with him calling right now. The sooner the better.

The phone rang before a woman's voice sounded from the other end of the line. "Alpha Kedrick Jones, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"

Alpha Kedrick, paused, speechless that she knew who he was before saying anything.

"You're quiet…are you surprised I know who you are?

"Actually, I am." Alpha Kedrick cleared his throat finally finding his voice. "It took me a while to locate your number, how is it that you have mine already?"

"I have my ways." She said cryptically. "I have the number of every Shifter Council member on hand. You never know when you'll need to get in touch with someone...or need to know who's calling before answering.

"Fair point…I don't need to know how you got my number then…"

"Smart man, now I'm a busy woman, so let's cut to the chase. Why have you called, still trying to get me on the Council?"

"No, actually, I have a proposition for you and the other cats, nothing to do with the Council. I'd like to have a meeting to discuss the details."

"Hmm…" She seemed to mull his words over. "I can be at your pack on Friday, we'll talk then. I know how to find you, just tell your guards to let me in." She hung up without another word, and we were left speechless at what just happened.

"She's an interesting woman." I thought out loud.

"Interesting or scary? She sounds like she could skin someone alive if they crossed her wrong." Jordan shuddered.

"Both? But at least she's meeting with us, that's a great start. We can do more research on her before she arrives and really try to get on her good side." I wanted to remain positive, especially after Gema's call.

"Good idea, now I'll go tell the others the good news about Friday." Alpha Kedrick headed towards Luna's office, leaving us alone again.

"I need a run." Cristian took off before we could say anything.

"This is going to make Ax spiral out again, isn't it?" Jordan looked at me and I nodded my agreement. "I think you're right, but we should give him today to work through it. We can set him right tomorrow before things get bad." I knew Cristian was going to beat himself up over his father, and I hated that for him, but we would find a way to get through to him, eventually.