Escaping Wildfire

Gema

“Gema, I think we’re lost.” Hadley looked at the trees surrounding us. “They said to go left, but we kept going straight and then we went right. I’ve never been this far off territory.” She rubbed her forehead.

“It’s okay, maybe we can retrace our steps?”

“Yeah, let’s try. What if we follow our scent?”

“Do you think we’ll run into those bears again?”

“I don’t think so, but we’ll just be extra careful.”

“Alright, let’s go this way then.” I pointed back in the direction we came from. The two of us walked on silently. I had lost my shoes as I ran away from the bears, but I didn’t care much anyway as the heels would have been uncomfortable. Even with me tearing off some of my dress to give to Hadley, there was still too much fabric, so I tore off more of the skirt to help me walk better. Luckily, the night was clear and warm.

“I’m starting to lose our scent. It’s really faint right here. I’m sorry, I’m a shit tracker.” She sighed.

“I’m not too great either, but there’s a cougar out here looking for us. We just have to get within their range, and maybe they’ll find us.” If only Noah were here with me, his tracking skills were great, and he had the most amazing sense of direction. I had brought my phone, but when I checked it earlier, I had no reception. I pulled it out again, just in case, but still no reception.”

“Would it be crazy if we climbed a tree to see if we can get cell reception higher up?” I looked over at Hadley with a shrug.

“Yes, actually, it would be.” She looked at me with a bit of a frown, and I chuckled.

“I just thought I’d ask, I wasn’t sure if we were desperate enough yet for that to sound like a good idea.”

“Not yet, but ask again in a few hours once I’m starving, and I might agree to climb a tree.”

We continued to walk towards the more mountainous region. Olivia said the cougars would escape through the mountains, so we thought maybe we’d luck out and run into them up here. I suddenly heard some rustling and got scared.

“What do you suppose that rustling sound is?”

“A mouse maybe?” Hadley shrugged, ” It might also be a snake, though.”

“Snakes!? There are snakes here? Oh, great…I was hoping I left those behind in Texas.” I shuddered at the thought of snakes.

“A wolf shifter that’s afraid of snakes? That’s new for me,” she teased.

“Yeah, well, those things get scary back home…and they look gross. At least the rustling stopped now.”

We walked on for a few more minutes before we decided to rest. The ground was starting to tear up our bare feet.

“Are you regretting helping out with this yet?” I said with a chuckle.

“Almost, but you can make up for it once we make it back to civilization.”

“Alright, I'll be sure to do that." I started to rub at my sore feet as we rested. "Hey, can I ask what all that was earlier with your sister?”

Hadley stayed quiet, seeming to contemplate my question.

“It’s okay if you’d rather not say. I’m sorry I brought it up.”

“No…it’s not that. I was scared to say yes to coming because I didn’t want to upset my sister. As you’ve seen, she’s not the most pleasant of people.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed.”

“She didn’t used to be that way, but she changed after her first attack. She came back different from the battle. Can you believe she used to be the sweetest person ever?”

“Not even a little,” I shook my head.

“She was.” Hadley had a faraway look in her eyes as she remembered how her sister used to be. “She’s a great fighter, but I don’t think she was actually cut out to be a warrior. War changed her.” She took a long pause before continuing. “I was scared to leave, but I also knew I had to think about myself in all of this, so I said yes…but then I got scared and thought maybe I should stay. When Scarlett came upon us, I mind-linked her my plan, and well, you saw the rest.” She shrugged one shoulder.

“She was the one who told you to go, though.”

"Yeah,” Hadley nodded as a single tear rolled down her cheek.

“Don’t worry, Hadley, we’ll find our way out of this forest, and once we do, we’ll help Larkin take over as alpha. Then, you can help your sister.”

“I hope so.” She looked around again. “How long have we been out here?”

I looked at my phone, “A little over an hour.”

“That’s it? I’m starting to get hungry, so I thought for sure we had been out here for a few hours.”

“Unfortunately not…or maybe fortunately as we're still alive?” I fluffed my dress out around me in frustration. “Are we desperate enough to climb that tree yet?”

“You know what? Let’s find a good tree.” She stood up and dusted herself off, looking around for a tree. “This one,” she hiked up her makeshift dress and pulled up on a branch. “Let me see the phone, and give me a lift.”

I handed her the phone, which she placed inside the top of her dress, and then laced my hands together for her to use as a step. I pushed her up, and as I moved up, she hoisted herself into the tree and started climbing. I was surprised to see how swiftly she moved towards the top.

“I’m not getting any signal.” She called down.

I hadn’t expected we’d get anything out here, but we had to try. Hadley landed by my side as she jumped down from the tree.

“So, no signal, but I saw where the mountains are from here. I think we should head that way.”

“Okay, lead the way.” I gestured with my hand for her to go before me.

“Have you ever been to Harvest Moon?” Hadley asked.

“Once, it was nice. They’re a really big pack with lots of resources. I love Cobalt Falls, but Harvest Moon would be a good second if I ever had to live somewhere else.”

Hadley grimaced, “I guess it’s sort of ironic that you do have to live somewhere else for now.”

“True,” I grimaced back, “I’m hoping it won’t be for long, though. I really miss home. I was supposed to be just a happy college student right about now.”

“That sounds nice…not having to worry about fighting and training…just worrying about family, friends, and homework.”

“Yeah, just add in a mate, and that sounds perfect.”

“So, your dark-haired, green-eyed boy?

“Exactly.” I smiled at our moment of levity on this crazy night.

We walked for a bit longer and then rested some more. We kept to our pattern of resting and walking for what felt like an eternity. My phone died a little after midnight, so we no longer knew what time it was. It was still dark, so I didn’t think it was quite nearing dawn yet. We were traveling upwards, so the steep terrain tired us out more quickly than the flat ground we encountered earlier. Amora and Hadley’s wolf, Quinn, were giving us as much strength as possible, but we were getting low on stamina.

“My feet are killing me. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep walking without shoes.” Hadley sat down and examined her feet. They were littered with cuts and bruises, and by the way, mine felt, I was certain they would look the same as hers.

“What if we shift from here for a bit?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll just wrap up the phone in my dress and carry it in my mouth.” I stripped off my dress, wrapped up the phone, and shifted. Hadley did the same, and we continued up the mountain. Our progress was slow as wolves weren’t exactly known for their climbing skills. I was also ridiculously exhausted.

Hadley continued to lead the way, but I could tell she was tired, too. We came upon more difficult terrain, and Hadley started to stumble, so we stopped for a bit again to get our bearings back.

‘Are you okay, Amora?’

‘Yes, I have a little energy left, I think I can get us over the mountain. What about you?’

‘I’ll be good. I’m really hungry and thirsty, but maybe we can hunt something later.’

“They’ll find us, Gema. The boys won’t stop looking until they find us. We already did the hard part by getting out of Wildfire.′

‘You’re right. Thanks, Amora, let’s keep at this together.’

Hadley and I continued on our way, but the terrain kept getting more difficult for us to traverse. We even circled back once because we didn’t feel confident in the path we were on.

We reached a part in the mountain that Quinn was having trouble going over, and Amora helped push her up with her head, but as Amora pushed up, she slipped. I felt us fall back and scrape our leg on a rock. Quinn quickly followed, and before either of us knew what was happening, we were tumbling down the mountain together. I felt rocks scraping at my body and one of my paws ached from where Hadley had landed on it from when we fell. We finally stopped rolling, and I heard a loud whine beside me as everything suddenly went dark.

Noah

“What do you mean you can’t find them?” I stood up from my seat from where we were all waiting for news in Alpha’s office. Cosmo growled at the messenger, and Jordan had to pull us back before he pounced on the man.

“We believe they went the wrong way and got lost. The cougar we had waiting for them picked up their scent briefly but hasn’t been able to find them.”

“Get me the contacts for all the cat shifters in the area. We need to make a few phone calls and get everyone out there on high alert.”

Olivia’s assistant pulled out her laptop and got to work pulling up the contacts as far as a 50-mile radius from where the girls were supposed to be picked up. From there, we found about 20 shifters and started calling. None had seen the girls, but they all agreed to keep an eye on them.

Cosmo was pacing inside my head, and it was giving me the worst headache. “You okay, man?” Jordan patted my back, and I just about jumped out of my skin.

“No, I feel useless right now. I can’t just sit here and do nothing for Gema. What if she’s out there hurt, or worse.”

I started pacing, mirroring Cosmo inside my head. The hours ticked by with no news, and Alpha had sent most of us away to sleep, but I couldn’t leave. There was no way I could sleep right now, and Cosmo was so agitated I could barely sit.

Around 3 am, we received a phone call from a female shifter who lived south of Wildfire. She had set out to search for the girls and had picked up on two unfamiliar wolf scents. She was calling to ask if there were any other shifters in the area that could help, and Olivia called up the three closest ones and sent them to the woman’s location.

Someone had brought up some coffee, and Cristian and Jordan returned around 4 am after their nap. We got them caught up, and they suggested I go get some sleep, but there would be no rest for me until my girl was found.

“Hey, just lay down on the couch here for a bit. Everyone else has at least had a nap. I know you’re worried about her, but she’s going to need you.” Jordan gestured toward the couch in Alpha’s office.

“It’s fine. I’ll just have some coffee, and I’ll sleep when we hear back from them.”

“Alright man, here, have a donut too while you’re at it.” I did as he said, and we continued to wait for news. I tried distracting myself with phone games, but it wasn’t quite working. Someone pulled out a deck of cards, and we distracted ourselves with that for a while.

Finally, when it was nearing 6 am, and you could see the sun on the horizon, another phone call came into the conference phone. It was the same female from before, but this time she had some good news for us.

“We found the girls.”

“Thank Goddess,” Alpha Kedrick exclaimed.

“How are they?”

The woman on the line exhaled before speaking again. “They were in pretty bad shape from walking all night, and it looks like they fell while trying to get up the mountain, as they were both unconscious when we found them. It doesn’t look like they sustained anything life-threatening, but I’m sure they’ll need plenty of rest in the next few days before they feel like themselves again. We patched them up as best we could, but your guy has them. They’re on their way to Harvest Moon right now, and if their wolves rest up, I’m sure they’ll be somewhat healed by the time they get to you.

“Thank you for all of your help, Sable. We’ll be in touch.”

With that, we hung up the call, and while Cosmo was still on edge, he relaxed enough to let me sleep. It would be hours until they arrived at Harvest Moon, and the guys promised to wake me as soon as they made it to the border. With that, I felt peace knowing my girl had finally escaped Wildfire and was on her way to me. Just a few more hours before Cosmo and I confirmed her as our mate.