Luna
Warrick, Ethan, Callan, Axel, and I sit around Axel’s kitchen table, drinking beer and talking, trying to ignore the storm gathering strength outside and hoping it won’t be a big one.
Warrick and Axel are already talking pack strategy, Axel filling in the new Second about pack laws. Even though Warrick can’t officially start until we’re sworn in, Axel sharing the details is a sign of trust that goes a long way. Instead of growling and snapping, Warrick is soaking it up like a sea sponge. It’s good to see them working together instead of tearing at each other’s throats.
Callan nudges me under the table with his feet, bringing my attention to him. He gives me a smile and a wink that makes my heart flip, then takes a swig of his beer. My whole belly fills up with warmth. Ethan squeezes my hand on the other side. I want to stay this way forever, but a loud banging on the front door interrupts.
“That doesn’t sound good,” Axel said, pushing up to his feet. “Must be an emergency for someone to leave their house in this.”
As soon as he opens it, a male voice starts speaking like he’s hopped up on six cups of coffee. I catch snatches of the conversation like, “…the baby is sick,” and “water pouring in.”
“Slow down, Borris. Take a breath. We’ll be right there to help. Come in out of the rain while we get our weather gear on,” Axel says calmly.
“You’ve got to hurry, man. My baby…” says Borris, a small, nervous- looking guy I vaguely recognize from around pack territory. His raincoat is sopping, and the hat on his head flops around his skull so he has to keep pushing it up.
“Borris, meet our new pack members, Warrick, Ethan, and Callan. And, you know Luna, right?”
Borris freezes in the foyer, eyeing the brothers like they’re bog beasts. “Aren’t they…?”
“Probably,” Axel says, cutting him off. “But now they’re allies, so let’s get you some help.”
“And she’s the one you brought to the barbecue?” Borris says, looking utterly confused. “Your mate.”
“Yes, that’s her,” Axel says after pulling on a raincoat. “Boys, let’s go save Borris’s baby. She and her mama are trapped, and they’ve got a leak flooding the house.”
“On it,” says Warrick, rising.
Callan and Ethan stand, too, heading for the closet where Axel is pulling out rain gear.
“There’s a rowboat in the back, next to the shed. You go get it, Warrick. Callan and Ethan, gather some buckets from the shed. Luna, you’ll be in the rowboat as we head to their house, down the street a few blocks. The boys and I will wade.”
“But…” I protest, not wanting to be babied.
“No, buts. We need to keep you safe,” Axel says, yanking on waders and heavy rubber boots. He tosses me one of the orange life vests I saw earlier. “Get that on, too.”
“Just do it,” Callan says, zipping up his raincoat. “You’re important.”
I flush with cozy feelings at their care. And I’m so damn proud of them for working together. But I hate to be treated like a wolf pup.
I hustle to get all my rain gear on, too.
And then we all exit into the howling storm.
The water’s up to the men’s knees as they wade down the street, and cars are pushed sideways on the road. The streetlights are still flickering intermittently. The men keep the rowboat steady as the wind whips spray across the top of the once-street, now more like an inlet.
I grip the sides of the rowboat with one hand and use the other hand to keep my hat on my head. The gusts want to whisk it away.
Finally, we reach Borris’s house.
Warrick pulls the rowboat up to their front porch, where water sloshes between the cracks in the boards. He ties off the boat and helps me out of the rocking vessel onto the porch. “See? You still get to use your waders. We just can’t have you drowning on us.”
“Wife’s in the dining room,” Borris says, hurrying inside, babbling all the way. “The water pushed our credenza in front of the door. It’s a heavy piece filled with dishes. Now it’s jammed against the door. I tried to get her out. We had to board up the windows before the storm, or I would have helped her out the window.”
“It’s okay,” Axel says, clapping him on the shoulder. “Shit happens in these storms, and this one is definitely stirring the shit.”
As we clamber into the house, the electricity goes out, plunging us into near darkness..
“Shit,” Warrick mutters.
“When it rains, it pours,” Callan says.
“Anyone bring a light? A lantern? Anything?” Ethan says.
“Fuck,” Axel mutters. “I gave them all out earlier, except for a couple I keep in my truck. Borris, can you get to yours?”
“It’s, uh… It’s in the dining room with my emergency light. At least my wife’s got ’em.”
I can practically hear the shame and regret dripping from his words.
We stumble in the dim interior, since the hurricane’s made it nearly dark as night out, and the windows are boarded up. The baby’s wails compete with the whistling wind as we feel our way through the house, relying on touch and instinct to find our way. My eyes adjust to the absence of light, and I make out shapes and use my wolf senses to find my way. Despite my instincts, the whole black-out thing combined with this howling hurricane gives me the heebie-jeebies. Every slosh of water against the walls outside, every creak in the floor, each exhalation has me jumpy.
“The room’s over here,” Borris says from somewhere to my right. “Let’s get her out of there,” Axel says.
“Honey?” Borris calls through the door. “I brought help.”
“Hurry!” his wife yells. “I’m scared. We’re sitting on top of the dining room table.”
The baby’s screams grow louder.
“You think if we work together, we can push the credenza out of the way?” Axel says to Warrick.
“Piece of cake,” Warrick says, cracking his knuckles. “Callan and Ethan, you go low. Axel and I will go high. Let’s move this motherfucker.” He stands before the door, places his palms flat, and widens his legs. Axel stands next to him, matching his position.