The Hunt for Freedom

Chapter Twenty Three

    The grin on Maggie's face matched the crazed one on Daniel's friend. He looked like he had just been hit over the head with a hammer, and liked it.

As he started to make his way towards her the others started to clue in.

"Not another mate bond?" Abe spoke in disgust. "She doesn't even know his name."

Daniel spoke for the first time, "This is my best mate, Geoff."

Geoff muttered hello to all of us, but never let his gaze leave Maggie. They were only separated by the long dining table but for them it seemed to be a great chasm.

"I am Maggie. Dakari is my older brother." Maggie's voice was low and sultry. I raised my eyebrows at that sexy voice, where did that come from?

"Why don't you two go have a walk on the beach? You are going to be useless to us right now anyway." I giggled.

Both seemed a little shy to move first, but they could do nothing else, the werecat bond is so strong.

It was an awkward situation with all of us around openly gawking at them but I doubt if they noticed. They only had eyes for each other. They left, and I was glad Maggie had her mind off Dakari for at least a few moments. I wondered how he would feel when he got back and his sister was mated...

"That was a joy to watch for an old man. It has been many a day since we have seen that here." His face looked like it might split he was grinning so much. "I think I want to go find my mate." He said, wiggling his eyes.

"Grandmother? " I thought. "Ewwww, I just couldn't think of them that way."

So much for not being alone with Abe, with Grandfather gone to look for Grandmother, and Jade and Daniel staring at each other with puppy love in their eyes and nothing else. Daniel's other friend had suddenly left in search of his mate. We were the only two not being ruled by our basic instincts at the moment. I could tell Abe wasn't happy about this either.

"Let at least the two of us try to make some progress," he said.

"Agreed. I had a thought earlier. Did they ever figure out where the rock from the drone attack came from? I mean, I know it was from somewhere north of here, but if it is lava rock, is it possible to trace it to a specific volcano?" I wondered.

"Good thinking. I think we should take your questions to the war room, and get the latest updates." He finished his drink and we left together.

As he walked, he grabbed my hand. For the last year it has been so comfortable to walk hand in hand with him. Now I wanted nothing more than to pull away, but I kept my cool. I would give him the benefit of the doubt for now.

As we reached the war room I could see maps scattered everywhere. I think we had all assumed Dakari wouldn't be returning to us by midnight. I walked over and asked for the topography map.

"Where are the active volcanoes?" I asked.

"There are two active volcanoes in the region. Princess, what are you thinking?" Farsi asked.

I explained my questions to them and I saw looks exchanged around the room. I was glad to come up with something they had not thought of.

"Do we have a drone that can take samples while it's exploring the area?" I asked, relatively sure this wouldn't be a hard task. "If Dalya leads this mission just after midnight I want reports before breakfast." I said firmly. No one was questioning my command so I continued, " What are the latest reports from the mainland?"