Page 63 of Freed

Gage starts to mumble to himself about different vessels for what he’s calling the B-Serum. When Chase and Bain rejoin us, now fully dressed, we fill them in.

“That’s amazing, bro,” Chase says as he grabs a couple bottles of water and starts to pass them out.

Someone's phone starts to ring, and we glance around trying to figure out who it is.

“It’s coming from there,” Cherry says, pointing to Chase’s shredded pants.

“Oh, that must be mine!” Chase says, grabbing his ripped jeans and fishing his phone out of his pocket. “Hello?” he answers. Then, immediately, his eyebrows raise in surprise as a look of worry covers his face. “Yeah, we’ll help. We’ll be right there.”

He presses the end button as I ask, “What is it?”

“Apparently, the animal sanctuary is on fire.”

Cherry gasps, “Oh no! Those poor animals.”

“Cherry, you stay here with Gage and Bain. The three of us will go help,” Maddox instructs.

She shakes her head, turning to face him as she argues, “I’m coming too! I want to help.”

“It’s too dangerous, sweetheart.”

“Not for me.” She points to her chest as she adds, “Phoenix, remember?” When Maddox just purses his lips, she adds, “I promise to never leave your side. Pleeeaase alpha?”

He groans a little before taking a deep breath and closing his eyes. When he opens them again he looks slightly more composed. “Fine, you don’t leave my side, not for anything, you understand?”

She nods her head quickly, then we move to leave.

It’s a little strange driving out of Starfall Haven, although we recently did it when going to rescue Cherry. I was getting used to our new home, and I liked that humans weren’t around. I felt more like I could be myself.

“Look at that smoke,” Gage says, leaning forward to point out the front windshield. Sure enough, above the canopy of trees is a large amount of smoke rising high into the sky.

“How are we going to help?” Cherry asks. “Don’t they need water, like from a firetruck?”

“There is water inside the sanctuary,” Chase tells her. “I think they wanted our help using buckets to try and douse it.”

We all stare at the smoke as worry fills me. “It might be too late for that.”

And as the sanctuary comes into sight, I realize I’m right. Thankfully, there are multiple firetrucks along the front of the building, hoses out as the firemen fight the flames.

“Over there,” Bain says, pointing to the side. As Maddox pulls over, I see our friends standing at the side, looking heartbroken.

Finn, Alaric, Philip, and Jon stand at the side, black smudges of ash covering them as they stare at the building in dismay.

I grab Cherry’s hand, making sure she stays close, as we climb out of the vehicle.

“Hey!” Chase yells, jogging up to them. “What happened? Are you guys okay?”

“It just happened so fast,” Jon says, shaking his head.

I glance around the parking lot, realizing who’s missing. “Where’s Dante?” I ask in worry, since he’s the only one I know who works here.

“We don’t know,” Finn says, narrowing his eyes as he stares at the flames. “We couldn’t find him or Zane.”

“Zane?” I ask.

“He was the security guard. Everyone else got out, but we couldn’t find them before the fire got out of control.”

“What about the animals?” Cherry asks, gripping my hand tightly.