in the midnight sun - act II, scenes xiii-xiv
It’s midday when you wake up to Jack frantically knocking on the bedroom door. You roll out of bed and pull on some pants sleepily. “What’s up?” you yawn, supporting yourself on the door frame as you stretch your back. Alex makes a vague, sleepy noise and pulls his pillow over his head. He’s not so good at being woken up.
“Jeff Maker called,” says Jack. He’s gone all pale and he looks worried. “He says that Rian wants to meet and set terms and, um, territory and stuff. It sounds serious… I don’t, I don’t know. I fucked up, didn’t I?”
You shake your head. “This is not your fault. There was always a possibility that this would happen, as much as I hoped it wouldn’t. Alex never stood a chance. He’s just… you know.” Both of you look at him sprawled out on the bed, half-awake and staring at the ceiling. Jack sighs. “I’m telling the truth, it’s not your fault.” If it’s anyone’s fault, honestly it’s yours. You didn’t do enough to protect him - to protect them, when all is said and done - so it’s basically your responsibility at this point to figure out how to fix this.
Jack starts crying. For the first time in your life, you hug him willingly. Alex gets dressed quickly, wraps an arm around both of you and murmurs, “It’ll be okay.” You’re not so sure it will be. He kisses you on the lips and Jack on the forehead. “I love you guys. It’ll be okay. We can do this.” Well, at least someone is optimistic. You wonder if this is what the condemned on Death Row feel like as they march to their untimely demise. That’s sure as hell what it feels like. You have all been condemned.
*
The meeting is held at Jeff’s house - you assume that he’s been declared neutral territory, then - and you, Alex and Jack arrive first. It’s barely five minutes before the other pack shows up, Rian in the lead with his girlfriend at his side, heavily pregnant. You figure she must be almost due by now; you can still remember the day they announced the pregnancy, the concerns that were raised, the worries about the baby and what would happen if Cass changed while she was pregnant. You don’t know how they did it, but you haven’t seen her around during the full moon for months. It has to be some kind of magic - or maybe it’s the magic of being a werewolf, maybe you just don’t change while pregnant. But you’re not supposed to worry about it right now. Alex squeezes your hand tight and shifts his weight beside you.
“It’s okay,” you whisper. “It’ll be okay.” You kiss him on the cheek for luck.
Rian looks Alex in the eye and says without a trace of emotion showing on his face, “Give him back.” You don’t know what he’s talking about, and from the way Alex’s fingers tense, you can tell that he doesn’t either. “You fuck,” Rian growls, “He was supposed to be mine. Jack was supposed to be mine. He was supposed to join my pack, he’s my progeny, he is supposed to be my fucking successor and you stole him.”
Alex looks about ten seconds away from punching him out, so you squeeze his hand and mutter, “Alex, don’t.” He growls, but does not react when Rian steps closer. On his other side, you can see Jack shaking.
“You bit him,” Alex says coldly. “You’re the bastard that bit my best fucking friend.”
The vein in Rian’s forehead pops out. “I made him what he is,” he hisses.
You’re watching the rest of Rian’s pack - no longer your friends, no longer your almost-pack; it’s an ‘us vs. them’ thing now - closely. Evan’s mouth twitches. Beside him, Dan grinds his teeth. Only Matt and Danny look unaffected by this turn of events. You’re really not surprised. Made werewolves often have drastically different concepts of what lycanthropy is than those who are born to it. Alex’s hand is sweaty.
“It was supposed to be me,” Evan says. “You promised no more after me, Ri, so what the fuck is that?” He looks ready to put a bullet in his pack leader.
“I didn’t think you were going to work out after you got involved with Dan so I had to take matters into my own hands,” Rian growls. “I had to do this for the safety of my child, for the future of the pack I have worked so fucking hard to cultivate and expand. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh, I understand perfectly,” Evan retorts. “I understand that you didn’t like my priorities so you decided to replace me. And there’s not a fucking thing I can do about it now, is there? I’m tied to you. Your blood is my blood. I see how little I mean in the grand scheme of things.”
Before Jeff can intervene, Dan explodes in a rage you’ve only seen a handful of times during the months you have known him. He has a hot temper. “This isn’t what I signed up for,” he seethes. “You told me that everyone who joins the pack has a choice, you bastard. I didn’t sign up for turning innocent kids. I didn’t sign up for this. You bit him. You fucking bit him and then when he didn’t turn out to be what you expected, you turned your back on him and replaced him. Well, fuck you,” Dan shouts. “Evan is twice the man you can ever hope to be.” His fist connects solidly with Rian’s jaw and then he storms across Jeff’s front lawn to stand with Jack. “Fuck you and fuck your goddamn pack, I’m leaving.”
He turns his face away before anyone else can see, but you do notice the tears streaming down his face. You’ve never seen Dan cry before. A painful thirty seconds of silence follows; Rian cracks his neck, knuckles, grinds his teeth. You can tell he’s pissed.
He bares his teeth and asks, “Anyone else planning to shit on me today? Anyone else feel like I’ve betrayed them and want to say their piece before we settle this thing?”
No one says a word. Dan looks like someone just ran over his puppy. He’s staring at Evan, who is in turn staring at the ground, clenching and unclenching his jaw. Something passes wordlessly between them; Evan looks at Rian, growls, and takes a running leap into Dan’s arms. And Dan catches him. They kiss for a very long moment and then, once Evan has pulled away and Dan has set him down, he turns back to look at Rian one last time and says, “I go where he goes, so if he’s choosing them, then… Sorry, bro. I ought to rip your throat out, but I won’t this time.” It is without a doubt the single most romantic thing you have ever seen.
You elbow Alex and ask him, “How come you never kiss me like that?”
“I kiss you like that all the time,” he answers. “You’re just so used to it you never notice.”
For the first time that you can remember, Jeff is pissed off. He steps between the two packs and growls. “You’re all acting like scared kids on the playground who don’t know how to share. Grow up a little.” He sighs. “I’m giving you a week to sort out whatever this is, and then we’re going to have another meeting to pick a new pack leader. One. Just one. I’m not going to tolerate this bullshit. We live in a small town, boys - no offense, Cass - and there isn’t room for this.”
Cassadee says, quietly, “I might not be there to vote. The baby’s due any day.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Jeff says. “Call us from the hospital if you have to, we’ll figure it out. I’m not standing for this shit. You guys need to stop before this gets ugly.”
As you pass by Jeff on your way back to the truck, you mutter, “I think it already is.” The five of you pile into the truck and no one says a word the whole drive home. There is nothing left to say. You’re going to have to dig the air mattress out of the garage for Dan and Evan to sleep on. You’re going to have to go to the
grocery store, too. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Next
“Jeff Maker called,” says Jack. He’s gone all pale and he looks worried. “He says that Rian wants to meet and set terms and, um, territory and stuff. It sounds serious… I don’t, I don’t know. I fucked up, didn’t I?”
You shake your head. “This is not your fault. There was always a possibility that this would happen, as much as I hoped it wouldn’t. Alex never stood a chance. He’s just… you know.” Both of you look at him sprawled out on the bed, half-awake and staring at the ceiling. Jack sighs. “I’m telling the truth, it’s not your fault.” If it’s anyone’s fault, honestly it’s yours. You didn’t do enough to protect him - to protect them, when all is said and done - so it’s basically your responsibility at this point to figure out how to fix this.
Jack starts crying. For the first time in your life, you hug him willingly. Alex gets dressed quickly, wraps an arm around both of you and murmurs, “It’ll be okay.” You’re not so sure it will be. He kisses you on the lips and Jack on the forehead. “I love you guys. It’ll be okay. We can do this.” Well, at least someone is optimistic. You wonder if this is what the condemned on Death Row feel like as they march to their untimely demise. That’s sure as hell what it feels like. You have all been condemned.
*
The meeting is held at Jeff’s house - you assume that he’s been declared neutral territory, then - and you, Alex and Jack arrive first. It’s barely five minutes before the other pack shows up, Rian in the lead with his girlfriend at his side, heavily pregnant. You figure she must be almost due by now; you can still remember the day they announced the pregnancy, the concerns that were raised, the worries about the baby and what would happen if Cass changed while she was pregnant. You don’t know how they did it, but you haven’t seen her around during the full moon for months. It has to be some kind of magic - or maybe it’s the magic of being a werewolf, maybe you just don’t change while pregnant. But you’re not supposed to worry about it right now. Alex squeezes your hand tight and shifts his weight beside you.
“It’s okay,” you whisper. “It’ll be okay.” You kiss him on the cheek for luck.
Rian looks Alex in the eye and says without a trace of emotion showing on his face, “Give him back.” You don’t know what he’s talking about, and from the way Alex’s fingers tense, you can tell that he doesn’t either. “You fuck,” Rian growls, “He was supposed to be mine. Jack was supposed to be mine. He was supposed to join my pack, he’s my progeny, he is supposed to be my fucking successor and you stole him.”
Alex looks about ten seconds away from punching him out, so you squeeze his hand and mutter, “Alex, don’t.” He growls, but does not react when Rian steps closer. On his other side, you can see Jack shaking.
“You bit him,” Alex says coldly. “You’re the bastard that bit my best fucking friend.”
The vein in Rian’s forehead pops out. “I made him what he is,” he hisses.
You’re watching the rest of Rian’s pack - no longer your friends, no longer your almost-pack; it’s an ‘us vs. them’ thing now - closely. Evan’s mouth twitches. Beside him, Dan grinds his teeth. Only Matt and Danny look unaffected by this turn of events. You’re really not surprised. Made werewolves often have drastically different concepts of what lycanthropy is than those who are born to it. Alex’s hand is sweaty.
“It was supposed to be me,” Evan says. “You promised no more after me, Ri, so what the fuck is that?” He looks ready to put a bullet in his pack leader.
“I didn’t think you were going to work out after you got involved with Dan so I had to take matters into my own hands,” Rian growls. “I had to do this for the safety of my child, for the future of the pack I have worked so fucking hard to cultivate and expand. You wouldn’t understand.”
“Oh, I understand perfectly,” Evan retorts. “I understand that you didn’t like my priorities so you decided to replace me. And there’s not a fucking thing I can do about it now, is there? I’m tied to you. Your blood is my blood. I see how little I mean in the grand scheme of things.”
Before Jeff can intervene, Dan explodes in a rage you’ve only seen a handful of times during the months you have known him. He has a hot temper. “This isn’t what I signed up for,” he seethes. “You told me that everyone who joins the pack has a choice, you bastard. I didn’t sign up for turning innocent kids. I didn’t sign up for this. You bit him. You fucking bit him and then when he didn’t turn out to be what you expected, you turned your back on him and replaced him. Well, fuck you,” Dan shouts. “Evan is twice the man you can ever hope to be.” His fist connects solidly with Rian’s jaw and then he storms across Jeff’s front lawn to stand with Jack. “Fuck you and fuck your goddamn pack, I’m leaving.”
He turns his face away before anyone else can see, but you do notice the tears streaming down his face. You’ve never seen Dan cry before. A painful thirty seconds of silence follows; Rian cracks his neck, knuckles, grinds his teeth. You can tell he’s pissed.
He bares his teeth and asks, “Anyone else planning to shit on me today? Anyone else feel like I’ve betrayed them and want to say their piece before we settle this thing?”
No one says a word. Dan looks like someone just ran over his puppy. He’s staring at Evan, who is in turn staring at the ground, clenching and unclenching his jaw. Something passes wordlessly between them; Evan looks at Rian, growls, and takes a running leap into Dan’s arms. And Dan catches him. They kiss for a very long moment and then, once Evan has pulled away and Dan has set him down, he turns back to look at Rian one last time and says, “I go where he goes, so if he’s choosing them, then… Sorry, bro. I ought to rip your throat out, but I won’t this time.” It is without a doubt the single most romantic thing you have ever seen.
You elbow Alex and ask him, “How come you never kiss me like that?”
“I kiss you like that all the time,” he answers. “You’re just so used to it you never notice.”
For the first time that you can remember, Jeff is pissed off. He steps between the two packs and growls. “You’re all acting like scared kids on the playground who don’t know how to share. Grow up a little.” He sighs. “I’m giving you a week to sort out whatever this is, and then we’re going to have another meeting to pick a new pack leader. One. Just one. I’m not going to tolerate this bullshit. We live in a small town, boys - no offense, Cass - and there isn’t room for this.”
Cassadee says, quietly, “I might not be there to vote. The baby’s due any day.”
“We’ll figure it out,” Jeff says. “Call us from the hospital if you have to, we’ll figure it out. I’m not standing for this shit. You guys need to stop before this gets ugly.”
As you pass by Jeff on your way back to the truck, you mutter, “I think it already is.” The five of you pile into the truck and no one says a word the whole drive home. There is nothing left to say. You’re going to have to dig the air mattress out of the garage for Dan and Evan to sleep on. You’re going to have to go to the
grocery store, too. It’s going to get worse before it gets better.
Next