Page 76 of Escaping Wildfire

“My schedule keeps me busy, but I plan to make it back to Harvest Moon that day to make sure everything goes smoothly.”

Cristian picked up the phone and took it off speaker to say his goodbyes to Gema. The rest of us just smiled as we went back to eating. This could really work, and I’ll have her back in my arms in just three more weeks.

GEMA

We invited Hadley and James over for dinner tonight. We told them it would be a little get-together, and Rory thought it would be good to tell anyone who asked that we were just trying to set our friends up together. She was good at thinking on her feet like that.

“Is everything ready?”

“Yeah, I asked the kitchen staff to send up a nice dinner with salad and dessert. It should be arriving soon.”

The doorbell rang a few minutes later to reveal both Hadley and the food. “Whatever we’re having smells amazing.”

“It’s rosemary chicken with vegetables,” Rory told her. “I also asked for cheesecake for dessert.

“Strawberry, I hope. It’s my favorite.” Hadley’s eyes went wide with delight.

“That’s my favorite too,” I spoke up, lifting the lid on the cheesecake to see. “Looks like we’re in luck.” I turned, showing Hadley the strawberries.

As we looked at the food, there was another knock at the door, and Larkin went to let James inside.” We made introductions and sat down at the table with James and Hadley on one side, me and Rory at the other, and Larkin at the head of the table. We started serving dinner, and Larkin spoke up almost immediately.

“We called the two of you here because we’d like your help with something, and you have both proven trustworthy over the last few weeks.”

They both made a confused face before James spoke up, “What is it you need help with?”

“We want to get Gema back to her family. We both have mates out there, but we aren’t each other’s mates, and we don’t want to marry each other. We need your help to get Gema out and back with her brother.” Larkin took a big chance with just telling them what we wanted.

Hadley’s mouth was agape, but James’s expression didn’t give away his thoughts.

“How?” He looked at Larkin urging him to say more.

“We have a contact in another pack who came up with a plan of escape, but we need you two to be key players in this plan.” He proceeded to explain everything Olivia had told us, and to our delight and surprise both James and Hadley agreed to help.

“I’ll definitely help, but I’m not sure I can go, too. I know I said I wanted out, but if I leave this way, I won’t be able to see my parents and sister.”

“Well, just think about it. If you want to stay, we’ll let them know, and we’ll figure out a way to keep you here safely…but if you do end up wanting to leave, we can make it happen.”

Hadley was quiet for the rest of the dinner, but James seemed more comfortable with us as the dinner progressed. I hadn’t interacted much with him before, but it turned out he was actually a really funny and easygoing guy.

“I’ll look at the patrol schedule and see what I can do about making sure you’re set to patrol for the wedding.” Larkin directed his statement at James. He was good at knowing what his father might think or do, so his knowledge and experience would be invaluable for helping us set things up from our end.

Larkin had already agreed to procure a map for us to send to Olivia and to speak to his father about making Hadley a bridesmaid. Over the last few weeks, I had noticed he had also been putting extra time into training. I was sure Larkin was preparing to challenge his father, but I really hoped it didn’t have to come to that for him. Even if he was his father, Alpha Marek wouldn’t go easy on him or spare his life if it came down to that.

“Thank you for dinner. I’ll think about what you said and let you know my response by the end of the week if that’s okay.” Hadley grabbed her bag off the couch and made to leave.

“Yes, that’s okay, let me know if you have any questions…but just so you know, we’re working on improving things for all packs, so if you leave, there’s a good chance you can still see your family.”

Hadley looked down and nodded, but she was still more serious than I had ever seen her. “I’ll let you know.” She gave us a small wave and headed out.

“I’m sure she’ll say, yes.” James nodded confidently, “She just needs a bit of time. I’ve known Hadley and her sister since we were all kids, and the two have always been close…but I know she’s not happy here. Just give her a few days to come around. As for the rest, just keep me updated.” He then shook all our hands before heading out.

“That went well.” Rory let out a relieved giggle.

“Yeah, it really did. I think this is going to work.”

The weeks went by quickly. We all stuck to our normal schedule while getting everything else ready. Larkin got the map, and we were able to email a picture to Olivia. He also got James on the schedule and permission for Hadley to be a bridesmaid.

I had my final dress fitting this week, and Alpha Marek let my mother come up for it. I let her know the plan for the wedding so she wouldn’t worry about the cougars. To be honest, I was worried about Alpha Marek retaliating by hurting my parents, but Amora kept reminding me that he wouldn’t be able to pin this on us since it would be made to look like an outside attack.