Hunting Midnight

Chapter Twenty-One: We Come Back Twice As Vicious

    The fire rages as I drag Jelene back away from the burning shed. Anger flares in me as I inhale and smell Drakon's scent mixed with the strong chemicals.
    "Are you hurt, Jelene?" I ask quickly, coughing as the smoke fills the air.
    "No," she says with a shake of her head, staggering to her feet. "I'm all right."
    We both are coughing as we get back a safe distance and look on where the fire burns hot in the shed, part of the roof already caved in. Thick black smoke circles overhead, filling the sky.
    "We need to put out this fire before it spreads," I say quickly.
    "I'll grab the hose," Jelene says quickly, and takes off running back to the pack house. I look on at the fire with determination in my eyes.
    I know Ruhn's on patrol, so it's up to me to fix this. I can't let our weapons supply burn down.
    Immediately, I mindlink with the entire pack. "We've been attacked! Chief Gavriel's son, Drakon, has snuck onto our land and blown up the weapons shed. I need all available wolves to come to help put out the fire. Now!"
    A few wolves mindlink back saying they're on their way, but Ruhn mindlinks only me.
    "How do you know it was Drakon?" He asks.
   "I smelled his scent mixed with the chemicals near the shed right before it exploded, I reply. I feel Ruhn's anger ripple through me. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," I answer. "No one was hurt."
"I'm patrolling the east border heading back to you now, but I won't be able to reach you for at least ten minutes. Can you get the fire out on your own?"
"I'll take care of it," I say firmly.
"Then I'll hunt down Drakon."
"Be careful, Ruhn," I say quickly. "If he blew up our shed, he's out for blood."
"I'll be back home as soon as I find him."
As soon as Ruhn ends the mindlink, Marissa, Jelene, and Manteo appear at my side, a few other wolves behind them.
"Do you have a plan, Kenna?" Marissa asks, her eyes wide as she looks at the burning shed.
"Yes," I say quickly, turning to address the pack, "but I need you all to follow it without question."
"We'll do whatever you say, Kenna," Jelene nods.
"For starters, let's get the hose on," I say. "There are two fire extinguishers in the kitchen. Someone go grab those."
Manteo turns and runs into the house just as Jelene turns on the hose. She moves to the shed and begins trying to put out the fire, but it's not enough water.
"It's not working!" She cries out, looking to me for help.
The extinguishers won't be enough, either. We need another water supply. I know just the thing.
"What now, Kenna?" Jelene asks, her voice laced with panic.
Manteo comes back with the extinguishers and begins clearing a way in the back of the shed where the weapons are, but the fire still rages. As I move to help Manteo, the heat and smoke engulf me. Coughing as Manteo and I move back out into the front of the shed, I turn to Marissa and Jelene.
"There are two other hose tubes in the basement. Marissa, grab one and hook it up to the sink in the kitchen. Jelene, grab the other and hook it up to the old well behind the shed."
Nodding, Jelene and Marissa run off to grab the hoses. I instruct the other wolves to get buckets of water from the stream in the forest and throw them on the fire. Soon, there are three hoses putting out the fire.
"It's almost out," I call out as Jelene and Manteo extinguish the fire burning on the right side of the shed. "Keep going!"

Ten minutes later, a hazy gray smoke filters through the air, but the fire is put out. Carefully, I lead the pack into the shed and retrieve the weapons. None of them were damaged, which is a relief.
"You did good, Kenna," Manteo says to me as pack members drag the weapons out onto the front lawn and make sure everything is accounted for. As Jelene and Marissa take care of the hoses, I mindlink with Ruhn. "The fire is out, and we saved all the weapons."
"I knew you'd be able to handle it," Ruhn says, his voice full of pride. "I still haven't found Drakon, but I'll let you know when I do."
"I'll let you know if I hear anything on my end."
I end the mindlink with Ruhn and tell Manteo he's in charge as I take a few steps into the woods, checking to see if Drakon might have been watching our attempts at saving the shed. I try to inhale his scent, but all I can smell is the smoke from the fire. As I look around the forest, Jelene walks up and stands next to me. She opens her mouth to speak, then thinks better of it.
"You look like you wanted to say something," I say pointedly.
Jelene turns to me with a watchful gaze. "You could have easily let me die today. I've been awful to you."
I turn to look at her with a small grin. "Let's be honest here. You've been a fucking menace."
The corners of Jelene's mouth turn up in a smile. "So why did you save me?"
"I'm your Luna," I say with a shrug. "It's my job to protect you. I would never just let you die if I had the ability to stop it."
Jelene nods. "Well... thank you. There are many wolves who would have had no problem with letting me die. You saved my life... so, I guess I owe you."
I open up my inner wolf, and my instincts tell me that Jelene is being sincere. "No. I'm not keeping score. If I were, Ruhn would be way ahead of me. I've lost count of how many times he's saved my life."
"You've saved him too," Jelene says. She says it so quietly that I almost miss it. I raise a brow, but she looks away as if embarrassed about her compliment. Then she changes the subject. "Why would Drakon blow up our shed?"
"I suspect he's working with the wolf hunters," I answer. "It's all about revenge and power for him."
"Did Drakon know your old Alpha?" Jelene asks.
"As far as I know, they only met a few times," I reply, "but it's entirely possible there was more going on behind my back that I didn't know about. You better believe I'm going to ask Drakon about everything when we catch him."
"Ruhn said that Drakon slapped you the night of the tournament reception," Jelene says slowly. I turn to her, not sure of how to respond.
"Yes," I nod slowly. "Drakon wanted me to marry him instead of Ruhn and then challenge the Chief and Chieftess."
"Son of a bitch," Jelene says with a shake of her head. "I hope Ruhn kills him."
Then, my inner wolf pulls my attention to my left. I look hard into the dense foliage, opening up my wolf senses. And then I see him– Drakon– far in the distance crouching behind a tree.
"There he is!" I roar, pointing for Jelene to see. "Drakon's still here!"
Drakon's eyes go wide, and he immediately jumps to his feet and takes off through the forest.
"We need to go after him!" Jelene says quickly.
    I nod and mindlink with Ruhn. "Drakon was here. Now he's running in the woods east of the pack house."
    "Perfect," Ruhn says quickly. "I'll catch him soon. Go back to the pack house and make sure the pack is safe. I'll return to you when I catch him."
   
    One hour later, Ruhn comes back to the pack house, anger rippling off of his massive form as he pulls Drakon forward and tosses him onto the ground. Manteo and Caleb enter the pack house behind him, their guns drawn just in case.
    "Let me go!" Drakon roars, leaping to his feet. Marissa, Jelene, and I circle around him. Between the six of us, Drakon is fully closed in.
    "Put him in the basement," Ruhn says, nodding to Maneto and Caleb. As the two of them rush forward and take hold of Drakon, Ruhn turns to me and takes my hand, pulling me to the side. "I've already mindlinked with Chief Gavriel. He wants us to bring Drakon with us to his estate as our prisoner. He wants Drakon kept alive, but he made it clear that Drakon is dangerous and should be treated as such."
    I nod and together we follow Manteo and Caleb down into the basement where they chain Drakon to the wall. Ruhn stands next to me, keeping a hand around my waist as he glares at Drakon.
    "What the hell are you doing on our land, Drakon?" Ruhn demands furiously. "I'll rip your arms off before I repeat the question, so you better answer quickly."
    "It's all Kenna's fault!" Drakon yells, glaring daggers at me. "If you would have just married me like you agreed to, I would already be Chief. Instead, I'm an outcast!"
    "That's all your fault," I shoot back. "The only reason you're an outcast is because you're greedy and selfish."
    "You literally turned against your own family," Ruhn adds.
    "Fuck you, Ruhn!" Drakon roars, thrashing against his bonds. "You don't know anything!"
    Ruhn takes an intimidating step toward Drakon, then punches him hard in the jaw. Drakon's head falls to the side, then he looks up at Ruhn with weary eyes.
    "I haven't told the Chief you're here yet," Ruhn says menacingly. "I could kill you right now and he'd never know."
    It's obvious by Drakon's shocked face that he believed Ruhn's lie.
    "Now tell me," Ruhn says firmly, "are you working with the wolf hunters?"
    Drakon's angry expression turns to disgust. "I'd never work with humans. They don't deserve to breathe the same air as us wolves."
    Ruhn mindlinks with me. "I believe him. What do you think?"
    "Ask him more challenging questions," I say. "Maybe he's telling the truth, but we should probe further just in case."
    "I have no problem forcing Drakon to talk more," Ruhn says, and even though his face is as hard as stone, there's an edge of excitement in his voice. He stalks forward, slamming his fist into Drakon's stomach, who doubles over in pain.
    "Stop!" Drakon roars. "I'm telling you everything!"
    "Why blow up our shed and try to kill us if you aren't working with the wolf hunters?" Ruhn demands.
    Drakon raises his head, meeting Ruhn's deadly gaze head-on. "You took away my future! If you had left Kenna alone during the tournament, I would already be Chief."
    "You're wrong," Ruhn says with a firm shake of his head. "Your father knew before the tournament that you would make a shitty leader."
    "Drakon," I say, taking a step forward, "did you have anything to do with the other wolf killings?"
    "No," Drakon says as he looks at me briefly. "I swear. Today was the first day I was on your territory."
    With a low growl, Ruhn turns to me and gestures with his head to go back upstairs.