Page 117 of Awakened
Jada Wright, a gamma from a western pack, followed me back. Hope was waiting and quickly threw open the window.
“Hope, Jada and I need to climb in. Take a step back.”
Jada gracefully pushed herself through the window. I, on the other hand, awkwardly propelled myself through, trying desperately to spare my bum shoulder. I was basically healed, but the joint was still tender, and any extra weight sent pins and needles to my fingertips.
The women watched but kept up their small talk. Hope circled the room, encouraging them to continue.
I took a piece of paper off the coffee table and jotted down my instructions. Hope took it around, and slowly, the women moved toward the window, the first climbing out.
I tried to come up with some small talk to help keep the volume of the room up. Jada frowned at me. She was clearly having the same trouble. After three women had made it out thewindow, there was a noise at the door. It was time for us to win our Oscar.
“It’s so inconvenient to meet your mate during that time of the month. I’m so unlucky.” I realized then I might have laid it on a little thick when Jada’s eyes widened, and she choked back a laugh.
“Uh, yeah, but at least you have a mate. I didn’t find mine.” Jada’s fake pout just about sent me over the edge.
“You will. I just know it.”
The eighth woman’s head dipped under the window.
“Thanks. This tea is wonderful, Hope. What’s your secret?”
Hope looked between us, stifling her laughter. “I steep it for an extra couple of minutes.”
I smiled at her. It was good to keep her calm and sounding natural, although it seemed like she was built for this kind of subterfuge.
“Ah, that’ll do it.”
The last of the women climbed out the window, leaving Hope, Jada, and me grinning in success. Perhaps we should have been more focused on keeping up the asinine conversation because there was a knock at the door.
“You ladies okay?”
“Um, er . . . Yep! We were having a moment of silence for all the wolves lost in this week’s fighting.” I cringed at my terrible cover, hoping the meathead was just that.
He didn’t respond. All the levity from our little play-acting was long gone. Fear sent me into overdrive, and I shoved Hope toward the window. As her leg cleared the sill, the door swung open. Standing there in all his beefed-up glory, the goon glared at us.
Shoving Jada out of the window, I dove through with little regard for my body. Landing roughly on my good shoulder, I jumped to my feet and scanned the tree line, looking for Aiden and Seth. Large men poured out of the cabin I had just run from, so I booked it to the trees.
As I hit the underbrush, Seth grabbed my hand, pulling me behind him.
“The girls?”
“Already halfway to base. You fucking did it, Les!”
“Was there ever a doubt?” I laughed.
Pushing through the forest, the Cornerstone losers trampled loudly behind us. About a mile from our base, they stopped following, but we didn’t slow down.
The rest of the way back, I wondered why they stopped, why it was so easy to get the women out. Nothing was adding up. When we reached the cabin, I had to put all those thoughts on the back burner. Our rag-tag group was waiting.
Aiden ran to us, crushing us both against him. “Fuck, you made it.” He let go, his eyes wild, his mouth split in a huge grin. “This seems too easy.”
I shrugged. “Maybe. I mean, we didn’t get all the women out, and we ruined the element of surprise. I don’t think we can get the rest of them, at least not right now.”
Aiden kept smiling, shaking his head. “We did what we could and made it back. Now that we have the path, we have to get out of here and get the Regional Powers involved.”
It took everything I had in me not to gag. “What about Perkins?”
Seth tensed beside me.
