Page 59 of Escaping Wildfire

“Thank you, Doctor.” I held open the door for her but stayed with Rory as the doctor walked out.

“Rory, do you know who attacked you?” I sat back down next to her, and she looked down avoiding eye contact.

Gema walked into the room and sat down in one of the armchairs. Rory looked back up and shifted her gaze between the two of us.

“Father called me to his office. He found out about Nora leaving. He was mad, so he…he said he was going to show you that you couldn’t cross him.” She was sobbing, and I wrapped my arms around her again. “He hit me a few times…but then…then he told Beta Griffin to finish me off…he…he.” By this point, she was sobbing too hard to finish.

I smoothed down her hair and rubbed her back. “Don’t worry, Rory. We have you now. You’re safe. Just lay down and try to get some sleep. Gema and I will be here the whole time. I promise I won’t leave your side.”

Rory nodded and lay down. It wasn’t long before she fell back asleep, likely still exhausted from her ordeal.

“Your father did this,” Gema said as her voice hitched in pain for my sister.

“This is my punishment for getting Nora out.” I slowly nodded in realization.

Gema scoffed in disgust as she wiped at her face. “We have to get Rory out. We have to get everyone out…Jasmine, Jade, the twins…he won’t stop, will he?!” Her voice rose at the end, and she sounded almost hysterical.

“No…he won’t stop.” I looked down at my sister and then back up at Gema. “He won’t stop unless we stop him…so we need to find a way to stop him before this happens again.”

26 Brown Claw

GEMA

I went out into the living room as Larkin continued to sit with Rory as she slept. I had lost track of time with everything that happened, but I realized I was starting to get hungry.

I heard a knock at the door, and I wondered who it could be before opening the door.

“Jade! Is everything okay?” I let her inside and locked the door before joining her on the couch.

“It’s Jasmine.” Jade looked like she had already been crying, but she let more tears fall as she spoke. “She’s refusing to eat now…it’s been two days, and I don’t know what to do anymore. The only time she leaves the room is for mandatory training, but even at training she’s more of a zombie than anything…and the panic attacks have been getting worse. She needs help, Gema. I’m really scared for her.”

I embraced Jade as she continued to cry. Larkin must have heard us as he came out of the room. He looked at me as if to ask if she was okay, and I shook my head to indicate that she wasn’t.

“I’m sorry.” Jade was startled as she realized Larkin was here. “I didn’t know you were here, I’ll go now.” She rushed up to leave, scared of Larkin, but I held onto her hand.

“Wait, Jade. You don’t have to worry, he’s on our side.” I gently pulled her back down to sit, and her eyes widened at what I said. “What?”

“He’s not like his father, he’s helping us.” I looked over at Larkin to make sure what I was saying was okay with him.

“I want to help you get back to your brother.” Larkin did me one better by speaking up for himself.

“You do?” Jade looked up at him before turning back to me, “You trust him?”

“Yes, he helped me call the boys. They know we aren’t hurt, and they are working with Harvest Moon on a plan to get us out.”

“You talked to Jordan? How is he? Can I talk to him?” For a brief moment, her eyes lit up.

“Yes, he’s good but misses you and Jasmine. I talked to my brother earlier today, but we won’t be able to call again today.”

She looked down at her hands disappointed but nodded anyway. “Can they help Jasmine? I can handle it here a little longer, but Jasmine needs help.” She looked back up at me with pleading, watery eyes.

I didn’t have any answers for her, but I wanted to help. I wanted to wave a magic wand around and make it all better for her.

We sat in silence for a few minutes, and I wasn’t expecting anyone to say anything else, but Larkin spoke up, “I have an idea.”

NOAH

Gema’s friend, Nora, had arrived early this morning and was given one of the rooms on our floor to rest and recuperate. The doctor had been sent to examine her, and Alpha said she had been underweight and malnourished. It sounded like Gema was right about Alpha Marek’s treatment of her, so while I wished it was Gema we got out, I was glad to have been able to at least help her friend.