Page 44 of Escaping Wildfire

“Why? Where are we going?”

“Just get dressed and follow me.”

I put on my shirt and grabbed my shoes, heading out the door with him. He walked me outside to a fire pit set up with three chairs around it. Jordan was already sitting and getting the fire going.

“What’s this?” I said, taking the empty seat.

“We know tonight’s going to be rough for you…for all of us…so we wanted to do something special.”

Jordan pulled out a six-pack from behind his chair, and Cristian pulled out a cardboard box.

“How did you even score that…” I asked Jordan, “And what exactly is in there? I pointed at the box.

Cristian popped off the lid before tipping the container for me and Jordan to see inside. “Strawberry cupcakes.” He smiled, looking proud of himself.

“Her favorite.” I smiled, and he nodded back at me. “Yeah, her favorite.”

“So…did you bake those…cause last time you tried baking it didn’t go so well. I almost chipped a tooth on those fucking rocks you made.” Jordan eyed the box.

I laughed as I remembered Cristian’s attempt at making brownies…and Jordan’s attempt at eating them.

“These are safe, one of the pack girls made them for me.”

“Bro, are these sex cupcakes from one of your skanks? Gema would be so disappointed in you right now.” I shook my head at him trying not to laugh.

“Fuck off.” He shoved me with his foot. “That happened one time, and she was just thanking me for the good time…but these, I actually got these the honest way. I asked one of the cooks where I could get cupcakes, and she told me her daughter had a little side business selling them, so I ordered and paid for them. Now, both of you better be nice or I won’t share.”

Jordan passed us each a beer, and we sat quietly for a moment just drinking. “What do you think they’re all doing right now? You think Gema’s excited about her first shift?”

“I hope so, I always thought I’d be there to help her and run with her.” My voice started to shake, and I wiped a hand over my face to keep myself from tearing up.

“I know it’s rough, man.” Cristian slapped my back softly. “You were supposed to find your mate tonight.” I looked up at him with my mouth agape. “What? Let’s not pretend the whole pack didn’t think you and Gema were end game.”

“Alright then, no pretending.” I nodded at Cristian and raised my beer in his direction before taking a drink.

“It’s two to midnight,” Jordan said, checking his watch. Cristian pulled out the cupcakes again and passed them around. As the clock struck midnight, he held his cupcake up, peeling the paper, “Happy Birthday, Gema.” Jordan and I followed suit, sending our well wishes up into the night, hoping Gema would feel them wherever she was.

After we ate our cupcakes, Cristian stood up and yanked off his shirt. “Let’s run.” He called out before continuing to strip as he made his way out to the forest line. We caught up to him and once we had all shifted, Ax and Cosmo fell in line behind Neo. We may not have had our pack right now, but our wolves still recognized their Alpha.

The three of us ran until we couldn’t anymore, and with how exhausted I was after the run, I passed out as soon as my head hit the pillow.

GEMA

I laid in bed later than usual this morning. It was my day off, and I was still sore from my shift last night. Nora hadn’t stopped by this morning with food, so I didn’t know if I’d be expected to go down to the dining hall now that Larkin shared the apartment with me.

I got dressed and made my way downstairs, but it was in between meals, so no one seemed to be around to ask for food. I tried a few doors looking for the pantry or kitchen, but no luck so far. Rory and I had never made it inside during our tour, so I didn’t know where anything was yet. My fourth door ended up being an entrance to a stairwell, and I was going to turn around until I heard voices. Is that Larkin? The male voice sounded familiar, but I couldn’t make out the female voice.

“How can you say last night meant nothing to you?” He sounded really upset, and my nosy self was not about to turn back now, even though I couldn’t hear what the other person was saying.

“No matter how many times you tell me to, I’m not going to reject you. We love each other, how can you not see that this is worth fighting for?”

Reject you? He has a mate! ‘Amora, are you hearing this?’

‘I’m as shocked as you are, now get closer so that I can try to hear who he’s with.’ I took a very small step towards the staircase in an attempt to be quiet.

“Run away with me, I don’t need this pack, I just need you. We all know my father will never step down anyway.”

“Even if we ran away, he’d find us. Don’t you get it? He’ll never let us be happy.”