Page 11 of Escaping Wildfire
“Okay, I’ll talk to you later.” After answering all the same questions three more times for each of my brothers and dad, they finally passed the phone back to Gema.
“I’m so sorry, next time you call, I’ll make sure to go somewhere more private.”
“It’s okay, don’t worry about it. We both know how our families are. I’m surprised they didn’t get any of my Tías in on that call.”
“Yeah,” Gema laughed, and I yawned, just now realizing how much the drive took out of me.
“You’re tired, I’ll let you get some rest.”
“Yeah, I’ll call you later then. Maybe we can video chat next time.”
“Sounds great, I love you.”
“I love you, too, Gem.”
“Wake up! Wake up! Jordan barged into my room clapping loudly and shouting. “It’s dinner time, get your shoes on, I’m starving.”
“I can’t say I appreciate your wake-up call.” I stood up groggily and picked up my shoes. “Did you sleep any?”
“Naw, I called my parents, and then I laid around for a bit, but I couldn’t sleep.” I could tell he was still agitated.
“Has Neo told you what’s up with him yet?”
“No, he’s still quiet.”
“That sucks, but maybe we can ask Alpha Kedrick about it, see if he knows what’s up?”
“Yeah, that might be good.” He nodded slowly. “Let’s go then, Cristian’s already waiting for us downstairs.”
We made it to the first floor just as Luna Ellis and Oren joined us.
As soon as Oren stepped beside us, Jordan’s eyes widened and turned blue showing me that Neo was taking over. His nostrils flared and he narrowed his eyes at the little boy. I clamped my hand over his shoulder. “You okay, man?” He snapped out of it, and his eyes returned to their normal brown. “Yeah…yeah, Neo just took over for a sec. It’s all good now. I’ll just make sure to go for a run with him tonight. The full moon’s close, so maybe he’s just reacting to that or to being in a new pack.” He rubbed his forehead.
“Looks like everyone beat me downstairs.” Alpha Kedrick said as he climbed down the staircase. “Come on, I’ll show you to our table.”
We walked outside to an already packed backyard. The crowd stopped talking and looked our way as the Alpha introduced us. They clapped to welcome us and led us to a table already set with plates.
“Here, let’s sit, it looks like some of the ladies took the liberty of setting out the plates for you.”
“This looks amazing, thank you.” Jordan rubbed his hands together and picked up his fork.
“I don’t know if you two have noticed, but there are a lot of thirsty females here looking our way,” Cristian whispers to us conspiratorially.
“Nope, haven’t noticed.”
Cristian turned to me and nodded, “That’s right, you only have eyes for my sister, as it should be.”
“I didn’t notice either.” Jordan shrugs as he picks up a forkful of brisket and begins eating.
A girl with dyed blonde hair and brown eyes looked our way, and Cristian smiled at her, causing her to smile and twirl her hair around her finger.
“You might want to steer clear of Evie.” Alpha Kedrick looked over at us.
“Evie? The blonde over there.” Cristian nodded his head in her direction.
“Yeah, that's Evie. Evie is…well, she’s–"
“The pack slut.” Luna Ellis cut in nonchalantly.