Escaping Wildfire
Chapter 32: Thoughts

Gema

Cristian texted me, asking me to call him today, so I waited for Hadley to head out this morning after our girl’s night to call.

“Hey!” I said cheerfully as he answered.

“Hey, Hermanita (little sis), how are you doing?”

“I’m okay, I made a few friends, so it’s bearable, even if I am in hell.”

“We’re still working on getting you out.”

“I know…” I did know, but it didn’t make the situation any easier.

“Actually, that’s why I was calling. Alpha Kedrick wants to know if anything has changed since the others left…anything that might help us get you out.”

“Yes...there is something new…so...in order to get the others out, I had to promise Alpha Marek that I would move the wedding and marking up. He wants it on the next full moon.”

“Fuck!” Cristian cursed loudly into the phone. “That’s less than a month away, Gema."

“Yeah, it is...but we got the others out less than a week apart. That should be enough time for us to think of something.”

Cristian sighed from the other end. “You’re right, I just hate knowing you’re there and there’s nothing I can do about it.”

“But you have done a lot. You helped get everyone out just as much as I did.”

“Nah, that’s all you, Gema.” I hated how dejected he sounded.

“Ay, hermano...you’ve never let me down, so I’m sure you won’t let me down this time either.”

He sighed again, “Let me know if anything changes. We’ll know more when Alpha Kedrick comes back, but text me a time for when you can talk next.

We said our goodbyes and hung up. I sat on the bed just staring at the wall. My brother had always been a bit of a cocky jerk, but I could tell all of this had hit him hard. I needed to get out of here as much for me as for my brother.

A knock at the door startled me out of my thoughts. “Hey,” Rory peeked her head inside. “My father sent someone up to get us. He says he has a surprise for you.” She fidgeted nervously with her hands as she stood there, so I put my phone back in its hiding spot and followed her out of the room.

“Hello, Miss, Alpha would like for both of you to follow me to the parlor.” She bowed her head and headed out intending for us to follow.

As we arrived at the parlor, I noticed racks of dresses around the room. All colors and styles of evening gowns hung on the racks.

“Gema,” I was so busy looking around the room that I missed my mother sitting on one of the couches.

“Mami!” I ran over to her and enveloped her in a big hug. I started ugly crying on the spot, but she just patted my back crying right along with me. She had lost so much weight since the last time I saw her.

“I hate to interrupt, but Alpha Marek brought us here to pick out dresses for your mothers and sister-in-law.”

‘Of course, he did. His surprise is just more of what he wants.’ Amora snapped in my head. ′At least our mother is here.′

I hadn’t noticed Luna Clarissa was also here with Sheila, and I warmly greeted them both. The dressmaker showed us where everything was before letting us look around.

“Let’s go this way, Mom. We can let Gema and her mom have a moment as they haven’t seen each other in weeks.” They went off to look through a rack of blue and red dresses.

“Estás bien? (Are you okay?),” My mom asked.

“Si, Mami…Jasmine, Jade, y los niños están bien. Lograron escaparse, y están con los chicos. (Jasmine, Jade, and the boys are good. They managed to escape and are with the guys.)

“Que?” She covered her mouth in surprise, as her eyes watered up again.

“No tengo tiempo de contártelo todo, pero los hijos del alfa son buenos y me dejaron llamarle a Cristian. El me va a sacar de aquí.” (I don’t have time to tell you everything, but the alpha’s kids are good people and let me call Cristian. He’s going to get me out.) I kept speaking in Spanish as no one else could understand what we said.

My mom understood the need for secrecy and just nodded at me smiling. She squeezed my hand. “Tu padre realmente siente lo que hizo.” (Your father really is sorry for what he did.)

“Puede sentirlo todo lo que quiera, pero no cambia lo que hizo.” (He can be sorry all he wants but it doesn’t change what he did.) She looked at me with a grim expression as she nodded at me, understanding that I was still hurt about everything.

“How are we doing over here? Did you replace anything you like?” The dressmaker came over to us with her overly cheerful expression.

“This one.” My mom yanked a random dress off the rack, which turned out to be the most hideous mustard yellow gown with ruffles in all the wrong places.

“Oh, a lovely choice, that one is quite avant-garde. Would you like to try it on?” The dressmaker clapped as she looked eagerly at my mother.

I stifled my laughter, “Yes, please. I’d also like her to try these.” I picked out two more dresses in more appealing styles, but I certainly wasn’t passing up the opportunity to see my mother try on the ruffled monstrosity.

My mother was a good sport and humored me by trying the dress on…and the look did not disappoint.

“Oh…your mother’s dress is…“Rory, who usually always had something nice to say, was at a loss for words. “It’s an interesting style choice.”

I wasn’t able to hold my laughter in this time. “Don’t worry, we don’t like it. I just wanted to see her in it.” I whispered to Rory as the dressmaker clapped her hands, fawning over my mother.

“It looks lovely on you.” She turned to me for confirmation. “Oh, yes it does…but I don’t feel it’s quite right for my wedding. I think something more subdued would fit her better. I wouldn’t want her upstaging me.”

“Oh, that’s a wonderful point. Let’s have you try the blue one then.”

I laughed again as my mother cringed before she stepped back behind the dressing partition. For a moment, things felt almost normal. Just a mother and daughter shopping for dresses. Even having Rory and Luna Clarissa here was nice. The next hour went by quickly and my mother selected a burgundy gown while Luna Clarissa chose a champagne gown. Rory chose a red dress to match the theme, as she would be serving as the maid of honor. It was almost fun…if it weren’t all fake.

"I have to go now, Gema. Te quiero, mi niña.” She hugged me tightly before the maid from earlier escorted her out the door. Luna Clarissa and Sheila said their goodbyes and followed while Rory and I headed back upstairs.

Rory wanted to take advantage of her Saturday swim time, so I joined her downstairs. We had invited Hadley to join us the night before, and she surprised us by showing up right on time.

“Hey!” She called out waving at us. “What have you two been up to?” Hadley dipped her feet into the pool as she talked.

“We picked out our mother’s dresses for Gema and Larkin’s wedding.”

“Sounds fun, I love getting all dressed up. If you two were allowed off pack, I’d totally have you two help me pick my dress out for the wedding.

“Really? You like us enough to help you pick out clothes.”

“Yeah, you two have been so nice to me, especially considering the circumstances. It’s a nice change from always being with Scarlett and her friends.” She shrugged and submerged the rest of her body into the pool.

“Do you not like it here?”

“Here as in the state, the city…this pack?” She asked seeming to stall the conversation by asking a question instead of answering.

“All of the above, I suppose.”

Hadley looked around as if scared someone would overhear the conversation. “Honestly, I would love to be able to leave. The state, the city…the pack. Wildfire pack members don't leave though…not unless we replace our mate in a different pack…but that’s going to be as easy as replaceing a needle in a haystack with how often I encounter new people.” She sighed heavily, before shaking her head. “It’s not that I don’t love the pack, it’s home…but–”

“I get it,” Rory interjected. “It’s home for me, too…but sometimes I wonder if there’s more out there for me…something better.

The two shared a wordless look, seeming to understand each other better than I ever could.

“Would you leave if you got the chance?”

“Yes–”

“In a heartbeat–”

The two said at the same time.

I found it interesting how open Hadley was about her feelings about the pack. I wanted to know more, but I also didn’t want her to get suspicious about my intentions, so I kept quiet. From there, we finished the rest of our swim and headed our separate ways to get cleaned up.

As we did most nights, Larkin, Rory, and I had dinner upstairs together. Larkin cleared his throat loudly as if he wanted to get my attention but didn’t know how.

“Has…has your brother said anything about Nora? Is she okay?”

“Yeah, he says she’s settling in really well, and Luna Ellis has taken her under her wing showing her everything she needs to know about being a Luna.”

Larkin’s eyes glowed gold with his wolf for a few seconds, and he smiled. They must like thinking of Nora as their Luna. I smiled back at him. It was nice seeing him happy, he was usually so somber. The only time he smiled was when we were talking about Nora. He must really love her a lot.

“That’s good, I’m glad she’s safe now.”

“Me, too.” Rory agreed, “We’ll work everything out, and she’ll be with you again soon, Lark.” She smiled at her brother, ever hopeful. The girl was a ray of sunshine in the darkest of times. I wished she'd give me her secret for being so sweet all the time.

We ate silently for a few minutes before I spoke up. “So, I’ve been thinking,” Both Rory and Larkin looked up at me, “Hadley wants out of the pack…and she’s allowed to come in and out of the territory…what if she helped get me out, kind of like we did with Nora, in exchange for a place at Harvest Moon?”

Rory’s eyes went wide as she nodded excitedly. “That might be good.”

“It could work, but what if our father blames me and Rory like he did with Nora? I can’t have my sister getting hurt again.”

“That’s a good point,” I thought for a minute, “What if we plan it during a time you won’t be here or are with your father, that way you have an alibi?”

“Maybe, but let me check my schedule and compare it to my dad’s. Let me figure that part out before you mention anything to your friend. Are you sure she’s on our side and not my dad’s?”

“She seems genuine.” I looked at Rory for support and she nodded along with me. “We’ll keep working on the friendship, and maybe by the time you have something, she’ll be up to helping us.”

“What if Rory went with you?” Larkin asked and waited to see what I thought.

“Yes, that would be amazing. Then we could ensure your safety.” I looked over at Rory who looked unsure of leaving with me.

“I don’t know, as much as I’d love to leave, if I go, then Father will know for sure Larkin was involved. I can’t…it’s just…it’s not my time to leave yet.” She shook her head looking at me and Larkin in turn. “If you plan to challenge our father’s position, then there are things we need to do here, and you’ll need help. I need to stay for now.”

“I understand," I gave her a small smile, "even if I hate leaving you behind." I then turned back to Larkin, "You’ll work on the schedule then, and we’ll keep getting to know Hadley. I have a good feeling about this.” I smiled enthusiastically as we went back to finishing our meal.