Page 79 of Escaping Wildfire

“You know what? Let’s find a good tree.” She stood up and dusted herself off, looking around for a tree. “This one,” she hiked up her makeshift dress and pulled up on a branch. “Let me see the phone and give me a lift.”

I handed her the phone, which she placed inside the top of her dress, and then laced my hands together for her to use as a step. I pushed her up, and as I moved up, she hoisted herself into the tree and started climbing. I was surprised to see how swiftly she moved towards the top.

“I’m not getting any signal.” She called down.

I hadn’t expected we’d get anything out here, but we had to try. Hadley landed by my side as she jumped down from the tree.

“So, no signal, but I saw where the mountains are from here. I think we should head that way.”

“Okay, lead the way.” I gestured with my hand for her to go before me.

“Have you ever been to Harvest Moon?” Hadley asked.

“Once, it was nice. They’re a really big pack with lots of resources. I love Cobalt Falls, but Harvest Moon would be a good second if I ever had to live somewhere else.”

Hadley grimaced, “I guess it’s sort of ironic that you do have to live somewhere else for now.”

“True,” I grimaced back, “I’m hoping it won’t be for long, though. I really miss home. I was supposed to be just a happy college student right about now.”

“That sounds nice…not having to worry about fighting and training…just worrying about family, friends, and homework.”

“Yeah, just add in a mate, and that sounds perfect.”

“So, your brown-haired, green-eyed boy?

“Exactly.” I smiled at our moment of levity on this crazy night.

We walked for a bit longer and then rested some more. We kept to our pattern of resting and walking for what felt like an eternity. My phone died a little after midnight, so we no longer knew what time it was. It was still dark, so I didn’t think it was quite nearing dawn yet. We were traveling upwards, and the steep terrain tired us out more quickly than the flat ground we encountered earlier. Amora and Hadley’s wolf, Quinn, were giving us as much strength as possible, but we were getting low on stamina.

“My feet are killing me. I’m not sure how much longer I can keep walking without shoes.” Hadley sat down and examined her feet. They were littered with cuts and bruises, and by the way mine felt, I was certain they would look the same as hers.

“What if we shift from here for a bit?”

“Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll just wrap up the phone in my dress and carry it in my mouth.” I stripped off my dress, wrapped up the phone, and shifted. Hadley did the same, and we continued up the mountain. Our progress was slow as wolves weren’t exactly known for their climbing skills. I was also ridiculously exhausted.

Hadley continued to lead the way, but I could tell she was tired, too. We came upon more difficult terrain, and Hadley started to stumble, so we stopped for a bit again to get our bearings back.

‘Are you okay, Amora?’

‘Yes, I have a little energy left, I think I can get us over the mountain. What about you?’

‘I’ll be good. I’m really hungry and thirsty, but maybe we can hunt something later.’

“They’ll find us, Gema. The boys won’t stop looking until they find us. We already did the hard part by getting out of Wildfire.′

‘You’re right. Thanks, Amora, let’s keep at this together.’

Hadley and I continued on our way, but the terrain kept getting more difficult for us to traverse. We even circled back once because we didn’t feel confident in the path we were on.

We reached a part in the mountain that Quinn, Hadley’s wolf, was having trouble going over, and Amora helped push her up with her head, but as Amora pushed up, she slipped. I felt us fall back and scrape our leg on a rock. Quinn quickly followed, and before either of us knew what was happening, we were tumbling down the mountain together. I felt rocks scraping at my body and one of my paws ached from where Hadley had landed on it from when we fell. We finally stopped rolling, and I heard a loud whine beside me as everything suddenly went dark.

NOAH

“What do you mean you can’t find them?” I stood up from my seat from where we were all waiting for news in Alpha’s office. Cosmo growled at the messenger, and Jordan had to pull us back before he pounced on the man.

“We believe they went the wrong way and got lost. The cougar we had waiting for them picked up their scent briefly but hasn’t been able to find them.”

“Get me the contacts for all the cat shifters in the area. We need to make a few phone calls and get everyone out there on high alert.”

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