Escaping Wildfire

Noah

Cristian filled us in this morning on Gema’s phone call from last night, and I hated that I wasn’t there to talk to her. I sent her a text this morning letting her know I wish we could have talked last night, but she had yet to respond. Alpha said Olivia would be video calling right at lunch, so Jordan and I had headed upstairs to get some rest before she called, but I felt too agitated to really sleep much.

As soon as lunchtime hit, I walked over to Cristian’s room and knocked. He seemed to have the same thought I did as he was already dressed to head downstairs.

“Let’s get Jordan and go.” As if hearing us, Jordan walked out, and the three of us headed to Alpha’s office where Alpha, Gabriel, and Isaiah were already waiting with Olivia on the screen.

“Alright, I don’t have much time, so I’ll be quick. One of my associates has scheduled a meeting with Alpha Marek on Wildfire territory for tomorrow at 2 pm. While they are in the meeting, we need your sister to get her friend into the trunk of the car that my associate is taking.

He will then drive to a currently undisclosed location where one of the Harvest Moon members will pick up the young lady and transport her to your pack lands. By the time Alpha Marek notices she is missing, it will be too late for him to do anything, and no one will suspect a lowly cat shifter. Your sister can say the girl just ran away.”

“You make that sound so easy, how can we be sure he can’t trace any of that back to us?”

“Nothing is 100 percent, but it’s the best we have right now. We’re lucky we have someone willing to go into Wildfire territory at all.”

“Alright, thank you for doing this for us.” Jordan ever the diplomat spoke up for us. “We told Gema we’d give her the details, so we’ll text her and see if she can give us a call tonight.”

With that, we exited the room and headed to the dining hall to eat.

“Did Gema really sound okay when she called? You don’t think it’s a trap, like they’re forcing her to get her friend out and then they’ll plant her as a spy?” I sat down at our usual table with my food, and Jordan furrowed his brow at my words. “What? It’s possible, I just like to think of all the possibilities.”

“Yeah, but Gema’s smart, she’d find a way to let us know if something wasn’t right.”

I let out a sigh. “You’re right, I just wish I could see her.”

“Look, I know you miss my sister, but we’ll get her back. Trust the process, even if it is taking forever.”

“Hi!” Evie shuffled over to our table and sat down by Cristian. “I had fun last night. I’m free tonight if you wanna hang again?” She fluttered her lashes and dragged her finger down Cristian's bicep.

‘I really hope she’s not talking about what I think she is.’ Cosmo said exactly what I was thinking.

“I can do that thing you liked with my tongue again.” She whispered to Cristian, but wolf hearing let me hear everything.

‘Nope, she’s definitely talking about that.’

“I need a refill.” Jordan loudly pushed back his chair and walked off with his still-full cup. I guess he didn't want to hear this conversation any more than I did.

“I’ll text you later.” Cristian didn’t even look at her as he spoke.

“Okay.” She smiled and waved as she took off.

I scoffed and shook my head at him.

“Not gonna say anything?” Cristian asked.

“What’s there to say? You’re gonna do what you’re gonna do. At least it gets her off my back.”

Jordan came back and pretty much had the same reaction I had. “So, is she not a mistake anymore?” He raised his eyebrows in question.

Cristian tossed down his fork and shook his head. “I don’t have to justify anything, but she gets my mind off of things, so it’s what works for now. Don’t worry, she’ll move on to the next best thing once she gets bored with me.” He shrugged his shoulders and none of us said anything as we knew what he meant.

We all wanted a distraction. It was just different for me and Jordan as I had Gema and Jordan was too good of a man to let his mate feel the bond betrayal, even if she didn’t want him. Instead, we focused more on training and letting out our pain through work, which reminded me that I actually had a training to get to.

“I signed up for an extra training session, so I’ll see you guys later. I left, leaving the two guys still talking about Evie.

Gema

It was already getting dark, but I hadn’t been able to contact the guys yet. Larkin was discharged from the clinic and was nearly completely healed. His body flushed out the poison faster than expected so all that was left to heal were his ribs but that would take a bit longer than the bruises. Alpha Marek hadn’t even asked about his son or called him to see where he was these last two days since returning home.

Nora and I laid Larkin down in the bed in our shared room, and Nora had brought him dinner now that he felt well enough to eat.

“My brother sent me a text message last night. He wants me to call him as soon as I can. He says they have a plan.”

Larkin’s eyes widened. “Can you call them now?” I nodded as I went over to check that the door was locked and dialed the number. Like last time, Cristian answered after the first ring.

“Gema! Finally! I was afraid you had missed my text.”

“No, I’m sorry, I saw it just now. You said you have a plan?”

“Yes, tomorrow, a cat shifter will be meeting with Alpha Marek at 2 pm. You need to get your friend in the back of his trunk, and he’ll drive her off territory. Then, a Harvest Moon wolf will pick her up and drive her the rest of the way to Harvest Moon.”

“Okay, 2 pm, I can do that.” My voice hitched at how easy everything sounded.

“What’s your friend’s name?”

“Nora, her name is Nora…thank you, Cristian.”

“There’s no need to thank me, you’re my little sister, it’s my job to help you and protect you…I just wish I could do more. Now I know you don’t have long, so here’s Noah.”

“Gem.” Noah's deep voice came from the other end of the line.

“Noah!” I called out as he answered the phone. Amora pranced around in my head at the sound of his voice.

“Are you still okay? We’re still working hard to get you out, Gem.”

“I’m okay, we’ll all be okay." I paused, hoping he believed my words.

“I love you, Gem, and it won’t be long now before we’re back together.”

"I love you, too, Noah. I wish I could talk longer, but I have to go now." We said our goodbyes, and I hung up to let Larkin and Nora in on the plan.

“Your father has a meeting tomorrow at 2 pm with a cat shifter. That’s when we’ll get Nora out. The cat will drive her off territory and drop her off with a Harvest Moon wolf.”

“So, they actually came through?” He looked at me incredulously.

“Yes, I told you they’d help.”

“Yeah, you did..." He nodded slowly. "So, then we’ll all be on the lookout for the cat then.” He picked up Nora’s hand and squeezed tightly. “You’ll be safe now.” He smiled at her and pulled her into a hug. I stepped into the living room to give them a bit of privacy as they said their goodbyes.

I looked around the room and turned on the TV as a distraction. Even though I hadn’t done much today, I felt tired down to my bones. Noah was right though, I had to hold on to hope, and I knew he was right. We’d all be together again soon.

Rory came to eat lunch with us in our suite, and we had taken the time to fill her in on the plan. She was as surprised as Larkin had been that my brother pulled through. They must not be used to people keeping their word, and that made me sad for them.

Larkin had woken up fully healed now, and he had gone out this morning to check his father’s schedule for the afternoon. “He has a few phone calls to make after the meeting, so he should be occupied for a while.”

“That’s good.” I nodded my head feeling confident this would work.

We discussed things and decided we would place Nora outside the pack house by having her take out some trash, then we would sneak her into the car on her way back. Rory would serve as a lookout by the car, and Larkin would keep watch on his father.

Now all that was left was to wait for the cat to arrive, which was easier said than done as time seemed to slow down.

At five to two, Nora and I headed out front for a walk, but really we were checking to see if anyone had arrived. We weren’t disappointed as we saw an inconspicuous sedan pull up, and a tall man with sandy hair stepped out. “That has to be him, right?” I whispered to Rory.

The man walked up to the front door followed by one of the warriors. “Ladies,” He acknowledged us and winked as he walked away. ‘That’s definitely him.’ Amora confirmed, ‘I can smell the cougar on him.’ I thanked the Goddess for Amora and her scenting ability as I had never been around a cat shifter before.

I mind-linked Nora to bring the trash out, and we waited for her return. I went to the car and opened the door to pop the trunk. As Nora walked back our way, Rory nudged her in my direction, and I was about to help her into the trunk when we heard footsteps coming our way. Rory froze, as she looked at the warrior that had walked up the pathway. I recognized him as James, the warrior who helped us carry Larkin to the clinic.

Apparently, the three of us were really bad at hiding our guilty expressions as he looked between us and asked, “Are you three okay?”

“Ye…yes. Gema and I were on a walk around the house, and Nora was just taking out some trash.” she fluttered her hands nervously as she talked.

James narrowed his eyes at us, then looked towards the packhouse doors before walking over to us. “Let me help.” He blocked us from view with his large frame and helped Nora climb inside before we covered her up and closed the trunk. I quickly mind-linked Larkin to let him know she was inside the car.

James and I walked back over to Rory, and my heart was pounding hard. “Why are you helping us?”

He looked around again, and lowered his voice, “We don’t all agree with the Wildfire way, and some of us know she’s our rightful Luna and that it’s Alpha Larkin’s time to step up.” With that, he walked away leaving me and Rory speechless.

The two of us quickly headed back upstairs and went to the library as its windows faced the parking area. “Did you know about what James said?”

She shook her head. “No, I thought everyone was on my father’s side, but I guess I was wrong.”

“It seems you guys have more allies here than expected.”

“I guess so…” she trailed off.

“Look, he’s coming out!” The man quickly got in his car and drove away. We headed to my room where Larkin was already waiting, but none of us said anything to one another. I pulled out the phone and dialed my brother’s number. “They’re heading out now, has he called?”

“Yes, Alpha Kedrick is on the phone with him now, he has Nora. I’ll text you when they leave the border and then again when they make the switch. We're several hours away, so don’t panic if it takes a while. She might not be here until morning.”

“Thank you, Cristian.”

“Stop thanking me, Gema. This is just what family does.”

“Okay, I’ll wait for your texts then.”

The rest of the day passed by slowly. Rory stayed in our room, and we watched movies for the rest of the evening. As promised, I got a text when they left the border and then another text around 9 pm that they had made the switch. Nora was now with a wolf on her way to Harvest Moon. We had gotten her out. I couldn’t help but cheer on the inside, and Amora cheered right along with me.