Page 38 of Escaping Wildfire

“Your sister…that’s just great,” Jordan mumbled to himself, but I was sitting right next to him, so I heard. I nodded at him discreetly, but he just shook his head.

“What have you come up with?” I asked hoping to sound positive as Jordan and Cristian seemed to have given in to their skepticism.

“Well, we’ve contacted pretty much every bear, fox, and wolf pack in the area, but there is one avenue we haven’t exhausted yet.

“Please don’t say hunters.” Cristian swiped his hand over his face.

Beta Gabriel chuckled before Alpha gave him an annoyed look, effectively silencing him.

“No, not hunters.” Alpha leaned back in his chair, pausing for emphasis. “The cats.”

The three of us looked at Alpha with our mouths agape. “The cats?” Jordan spoke up first.

“Yes, the cats.”

“You’re joking, right?”

“No, I’m not. They’ve never wanted to be a part of The Council, but that’s because they don’t have packs. We looked at our territory maps, and a lot of the land Wildfire has destroyed and taken over is close to a few different cat territories. If I’m right, then some of their land has been destroyed in some of Alpha Marek’s massacres. The cats might just have a dog in this fight and be willing to help us…no pun intended.”

“That’s…” Jordan covered his mouth but nodded his head lost in thought.

“That just might work.” I looked over at the guys who looked back at me, and we all nodded.

“Have you contacted them yet?”

“No, I don’t have a contact, but I have my tech team locating a number for one of their leaders.”

“They have a leader? I thought you said they don’t have packs?” Cristian asked.

“No packs, but they still have a few leaders they go to for help settling disputes when necessary.”

“How many cats are there in the area?” I asked.

“Their numbers are small, but Wildfire won’t be expecting them. We’ll have the element of surprise on our side.”

“This just might work.” Cristian chuckled.

“Yeah…” Jordan smiled for the first time in days, and he raised his cup of coffee. “To the cats then.”

Cristian and I followed suit raising our cups together before the three others raised theirs “To the cats!” We clinked our cups and drank. All feeling a little more hopeful than before.

17 Step One

GEMA

As promised, Rory asked her father about going swimming. Surprisingly, he not only let me go with Rory, but he also allowed Jasmine, Jade, and the twins to join us.

We were only allowed outside from one to four as Rory had told me, but it was everyone’s first time outside in weeks, and it was the first time I saw the boys smile since we got here. We had yet to see their parents, so I knew they must be worried about them. They withdrew more with each passing day. I hated seeing them this way, but I was glad they at least had each other.

Jasmine came outside with us, but she refused to get more than just her feet wet. She usually loved swimming, but I could tell she was still hurting from the loss of her parents.

I, on the other hand, took the time to pretend we were in a better place, recalling all the times we had gone to the waterfall back home. My last memory of the waterfall was the night Noah and I gave ourselves to each other. What I wouldn’t give to be back there right now.

I stayed underwater for as long as I could. Here, I could pretend I was anywhere else surrounded by just the water. When I could no longer hold my breath, I swam back to the surface and lay on my back floating. I looked up at the sky and shut out the sounds around me.

All too soon, though, I was brought back to reality. Our time was up, and we were expected back inside. I showered off the chlorine, and Nora showed up as I was getting out of the shower to let me know I was expected for dinner with the Alpha tonight. She brought me another dress handpicked by Alpha Marek himself. This one was a simple black dress that came to mid-thigh with thin straps and a sweetheart neckline. Nora did my makeup and hair as usual, before walking me upstairs to the dining room.

As the days passed, I noticed Nora talked to me less each day. She continued to look paler with each day, and I was worried about her, but I knew nothing I said would help her situation. I couldn’t even help myself, I don’t know how I expected to help Nora.