Escaping Wildfire
Chapter 33: Final Step

NoahF

Gema has called nearly every day to talk to us for just a few minutes. I was starting to live for those phone calls, even if I only got to hear her voice for a few short minutes. A few days ago, she had told us about her new friend and their idea to have her help get Gema out. We then told Alpha about Gema’s idea, but he wanted us to wait until we met with Olivia to put anything into motion. She planned to come up on the weekend, as she said she had been working on some things, so we wouldn't have to wait long.

The rest of the week was uneventful, but Cosmo was in a much better mood with Gema calling more often. I had also taken the opportunity to make my relationship with my brothers better. I’ve always liked them, but in the last few years, I cared more about being with friends than with family. It was nice getting to hang out with them again.

Alpha called us to his apartment for dinner on Saturday, and we were surprised to see Olivia had already arrived as we hadn’t expected her until tomorrow.

“Come on in guys. We’re up here today as Olivia’s son traveled with her again. It’s easier to keep an eye on the two boys when we’re up here with them.

Olivia said she had something she’d like to discuss with us, but she wanted to see if you’d be able to put your sister and Alpha Marek’s children on the line.” He directed his last words to Cristian.

“Yeah, she usually has her phone hidden, but let me see if she’ll answer.” Cristian dialed her number, but there was no response, so he immediately called her again, but again there was no response.

“It’s okay, guys. Maybe she’ll call back when she sees the missed calls. Let’s just get started eating for now.”

We all sat down, and I prayed Gema would call us back soon.

“Alpha Kedrick told me your sister helped orchestrate the return of some of your other siblings. She sounds like a very resourceful young woman. I’d love to meet her when she arrives.”

“She is resourceful. We’re all very proud of how she’s handled the whole situation with being at Wildfire” Cristian smiled over at Olivia.

“Well, it’s my hope that she won’t be at Wildfire for much longer. Unfortunately, if we decide to go with my proposed plan, it will be a few weeks before we can execute the plan as it is contingent on the wedding.”

“The wedding? What’s your plan?” I asked a little too eagerly as I didn't like her mentioning Gema along with the word wedding.

She chuckled and turned to me, “I was hoping we could wait for Wildfire to be on the phone as the plan depends on the resources at hand for them, but if you’re ready now, we can get started.”

“No, you’re right. I can wait, I’m just anxious to get Gema back.”

Olivia gave me a pointed look, “Is she your mate?”

I cleared my throat and smiled a little sheepishly, “We don’t know yet…but hopefully.”

Olivia nodded knowingly at me. “My mate and I were high school sweethearts. Sometimes your animal just knows.”

Cristian’s phone suddenly rang, startling all of us. “Hello, Gema?”

“Yeah, it's me, you called? Did something happen?” We could all hear with our shifter hearing, but Cristian went ahead and put her on speaker.

“Nothing to worry about, but we have Olivia here, and she'd like to explain her plan to you. Can you get the others on the line right now?" He gave her a minute to get settled. "My sister said she’s on speaker on her end with her friends Larkin and Rory.

“Wonderful. Now, the plan my team and I have designed is contingent on a few things. I was told you have a trusted friend that you believe would help, but you’d like to get her out as well?”

“Yes, Ma’am. She’s one of the warriors here.”

“Please, just call me Olivia…so, is there anyone else in the pack that you’ve befriended? Or that you think would be willing to help? A warrior or maybe one of the other girls?”

“Possibly, there’s a warrior who helped us get Nora out. He might be willing to help again.”

“Good, now this wedding they’re planning, is it to take place outdoors or somewhere else?”

“Yes, it will be outside, behind the pack house.”

“Perfect,” Olivia smiled a little deviously, “Now, here’s what I propose. On the day of your wedding, we will launch an attack right as the ceremony is starting. Two cougar shifters have agreed to take part in this attack. The cougars will target you, the blushing bride, who will then run into the forest and escape. As you escape, my shifters will take off, and another will be waiting in the forest to lead you out and bring you to Harvest Moon.

Here’s where we need your friends. Wildfire security is pretty tight, so we’ll need the male warrior to help us get inside. It would be great if we could somehow have him on patrol during the wedding. He could fake an injury so that no suspicion falls on him as to having let anyone inside. As for your other friend, it would be perfect if she were a bridesmaid so that she could be close by and help you into the forest for protection. From there, the two of you can run until you hit neutral territory where we’ll be waiting for you.

If we can get the two warriors on board, then no blame will fall on Alpha Marek’s children and both you and your friend can be freed.”

“Wow,” Gema commented in surprise on the other end of the line. “That sounds great to me, but what about the two cougars? What if they get caught or worse?”

“We know the risk, but they are both excellent climbers and plan on escaping through the trees and mountains. Cougars are better climbers than wolves, so as long as they get out quickly, it shouldn’t be a problem.”

“This is way better than what I had planned. We’ll do it, but what if the others don't agree to help?”

“Then we’ll modify the plan, but for now just talk to them, and let us know as soon as possible if the plan is a go. That way I can start putting my people in place.”

“Yes, thank you. We’ll talk to them as soon as possible.”

“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 mate, 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 at 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 about 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 in 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 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. 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.

I looked at myself in the mirror and my mother pinned the veil on my head. I felt like a little girl playing dress up in her mother’s dress…beautiful but not at all myself.

Rory and Hadley had also come up to my suite while I got ready. They looked beautiful in their matching dresses. Hadley's short brown hair had been left down in ’50s style ringlets, while Rory's blonde hair was in an elaborate updo.

A knock at the door startled me, and Rory went to answer it. She stepped aside as a man in a dark suit entered the room.

“Papi.” I looked over at my father, who stared at me with tears in his eyes.

“Mi Niña…you look beautiful.” I stayed rooted to my spot, not knowing how to handle the situation. I was mad at him, or at least I wanted to be mad at him…but seeing him for the first time since my birthday was hard. Despite his expensive new suit, he looked gaunt and tired. I walked over to him and let him hug me.

“I’m sorry.” He whispered to me as he held me. “I’m sorry for everything, but I am glad you’ll be safe soon. Don’t worry about me and your mother, we’ll be fine.” He pulled back, and my mother came over to us as it was now time to head downstairs.

One of the omegas handed me a large bouquet of red roses, and we waited for our cue as the music started. Hadley walked down the aisle first followed by Rory. My parents both escorted me down the aisle next, and I was handed off to Larkin when we reached the front. He smiled and winked at me. His wink was the signal he decided to give as a way of letting me know James had let the cougars through. My heart started pounding like crazy as Larkin led me to our spots at the front. The song ended, and the elder asked everyone to sit back down for the ceremony. I swear my heart was about to beat out of my chest. The elder asked me and Larkin to face each other and hold hands, so I handed off the bouquet to Rory, and just as I turned back to place my hands in Larkin’s, a loud growl sounded out from the left. I looked around for the source of the noise, but we didn’t see anything until the two cougars were nearly upon us.

Rory loudly screamed, “Cougars!” Before looking at her parents.

One of the cougars pounced in my direction, but just slightly missed me, landing instead on my voluminous skirt. Larkin looked at the crowd and yelled out, “Get to the pack house, everyone.”

Hadley came up beside me and yanked me towards the forest line. “Come on.” Chaos ensued as the cougars attempted to rile up the crowd. I tripped over my dress, and Hadley helped me up, but not before her sister Scarlett showed up. “We have to get inside, come on.”

“No, we’re going this way.” After much deliberation, Hadley had agreed to come with me, so having her sister here was going to make things difficult. I hope she didn’t bail at the last minute.

“Hadley, come on, we need to keep everyone safe.”

“Scarlett, I know that, but Gema and I have to go this way.” She stopped and it looked like she was mind-linking her sister. The two were silent for a while before Hadley turned to me, “I’ll take you to the border, then I’ll come back with Scarlett.

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“No…please…let’s just go.” She said with one last look to her sister.

“Wait, Hadley….” Scarlett reached out to her. "You have to go...I’ll miss you, but please go." Her voice cracked at the end.

Hadley stood with her mouth agape, not believing her sister’s words.

“Go, Hadley,” Scarlett whispered to her sister before she took off in the direction of the packhouse, leaving us to keep heading our way.

We made it to the forest and kept going. “Hurry, they said to turn left at the pack border.” It felt like we had been running a while, and I was certain the dress was ruined by the forest floor, but we kept up our pace. The darkness didn't help, but at least we had our night vision and some light from the full moon.

“The border is close.” Hadley led the way as she knew where to go. As we approached the border, we saw something black and shadowy moving up ahead. We were too late to stop running as we realized it was a bear cub. It let out a scared cry, alerting its mother to our presence, and before we knew it, an angry mama bear was heading our way.

“Run,” Hadley yelled out as she shifted. I didn’t wait for her as I took off past the border and just ran. I could hear her growls as the bear huffed at her. I turned back to look and saw Hadley snarling at the bear, who quickly gathered her cubs and turned to leave. I continued to run knowing Hadley would catch up using my scent. Before long, Hadley had caught up to me. She had lost her clothes in the shift, so I grabbed the bottom of my dress and gleefully ripped off a giant chunk, I hated this dress anyway. It was already torn in some places, so it came off easily. As she shifted, I handed her the piece of dress, and she wrapped it around her like a tube dress. She then looked around at our surroundings trying to make sense of where we were. She suddenly turned to me with a worried expression.

“Gema, I think we’re lost.”

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