Page 55 of Escaping Wildfire

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 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.” 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 that it wouldn’t be long before we were all back together again.

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?”