Chapter Two: Where There's Smoke...

I met Draenan in our usual place. He was alone, but something was wrong. What it was I couldn't tell yet. At first I kept my distance, but when I knew there wasn't any danger, I went up to him and nudged him.

"You okay Draenan?" I asked.

"I guess so. My grandfather passed away last night." He said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry." 

I sat next to him, hoping to comfort him a little, and for a while we just stayed there. Draenan talked about how just before his grandfather died, he told him the story of how my grandmother got her power, and how she never would've discovered it had she not been in a pack. He also said that it was his grandfather who had caused Ralphen, the injured wolf, to become so badly inured. So, in a way, it was his grandfather who helped my grandmother discover her power.

"That's... impressive." I said for lack of a better word.

"Yeah, it kind of is." Draenan agreed. "We should get going." 

***

We started walking to the river; I wondered why we were going there, but when I looked at Draenan, I knew. He was staring toward the water, at the reflection of the night sky and the stars. It was one of the most amazing things I had ever seen. 

"Draenan, this is..." I was so amazed I couldn't finish my sentence, but Draenan finished it for me.

"Beautiful? Yeah. This is also the spot where Ralphen, the injured wolf from my grandfather's pack, got hurt; and where your grandmother discovered her power." He said.

We sat there in silence for a while. 

 Why did he bring me here? I kept thinking. Does he know about my family's bloodline? Does he know I have a power? 

Then Draenan spoke up. 

"Let's go for a swim." He said.

It was a little odd, I'll admit, for Draenan to want to go swimming. I knew he was a good swimmer as a human, but, he always complained about swimming as a wolf. So why did he suddenly want to now? Regardless, I jumped in the river after him.

And for a few hours we swam around and just had fun. No worrying about fighting, no talk of getting more members of the clan, just fun between Draenan and I. It was peaceful. But when Draenan pointed out that the water was suddenly warmer, both of us rushed out.

"Something wrong, Drae?" I asked. 

"No, just... That wolf I met the other night, she could control the temperature of the water. She may be nearby." He said.

And we waited, but no one ever showed up. That's when we noticed, my body was smoking.

Reviews

[Natersby]

Another great chapter, and a nice cliffhanger ending! I look forward to continuing the story.