Chapter 109: Chapter 109
Pressure.
All Dron could feel was pressure on his body.
He blinked a few times but could see nothing but darkness.
He tried to move his arms, then his legs, but it felt as if there were tons on top of him.
His heart ached, and his alpha raged deep inside of his chest. He was confused. His head banged with agony.
Deep in his subconscious, he could hear only one truth.
"Find her. Find Tempest."
His eyes flew open once again, and he realized that it wasn’t complete darkness. There were a few slivers of light. He pushed again and could feel the jagged material of wood all around him.
He was buried.
It took him a second to gather his wits. Then the intense need to find his mate rushed through him.
Dron let out a feral roar as he pushed against the things keeping him pinned down. Wood shifted, and finally he was able to move his legs.
He pushed again and again.
"Tempest! Answer me! Tempest!" He screamed for her, but there was no response.
He closed his eyes again, desperate to get a hint of where she could be. If he was buried under all this debris, then so was she. She was buried somewhere under here and hurt.
Thankfully, the connection between them, the one that seemed to be connected to his very soul, let him know that she was still alive. The only reason she wasn’t answering him must be because she couldn’t hear him or she couldn’t talk. Either way, he had to find her, and quickly.
Dron shoved with all his might, trying to get free. Splinters of wood and bits of gravel from the stone cut into his skin, but the slight pain meant nothing when it came to finding the woman that he loved.
There was a soft groan coming from the side of him.
Dron turned and narrowed his eyes.
It wasn’t the groan that he was looking for.
It was one of the other alphas that had come to hurt him and Tempest.
The man was broken and lying right next to him.
Dron didn’t want to have to deal with him. He had no patience for this alpha. Instead, Dron reached to his side and, with all the strength he could muster in this position, grabbed a stone and swung it down with all his force onto the other alpha’s head.
The man’s flesh squelched and cracked as the rock went straight through his skull and hit the bedrock underneath.
"Tempest!" Dron called out for her again and prayed that she would answer this time.
There was nothing. No other sounds.
Dron shoved once again and finally got his legs and the rest of his body out from under the rubble. He tried to stand but found that he couldn’t. The bottom of the house, the actual floor of the house, the parts that were still intact, kept him from standing all the way up. There were a few beams, but a majority of the floor had fallen in.
Dron stayed crouched and crawled through the rubble, taking care not to step on anything he couldn’t see clearly. He was sure this was the bottom of the foundation, but he wasn’t sure that there wasn’t another opening somewhere or that he might step on Tempest.
"Ughhh... Dron..." He heard another male voice call out.
Gerax.
He’d nearly forgotten the man was there with them.
"Gerax... are you with Tempest? Where are you?" Dron asked as he continued to try and make his way in the direction of the voice.
Gerax groaned again, and Dron could hear him trying to move. He must be stuck under the rubble as well. Dron was beginning to panic. How long had they been under there?
"She was right next to me... I can’t find her," Gerax muttered, but Dron could hear him clearly. He must be close by.
Dron narrowed his eyes and let his alpha senses focus on the little bits of light. He was able to see better in the dark than Gerax. Maybe Dron would be able to see where Tempest might have gone.
A hand reached out and grabbed hold of Dron’s ankle.
It was too big.
It wasn’t Tempest.
It was one of the other alphas.
Dron growled and turned slightly, using his other foot to stomp down on whoever it was that was trying to hold him back. The alpha underneath was probably just looking for someone to help him. Someone to save him.
Dron had no mercy in his heart for any of them.
They were the reason Tempest was in danger.
Dron kicked the man’s hand off his ankle after it stopped trying to grip him and continued on his way to where Gerax was.
Dron found the thin beta male. He was injured, but Dron couldn’t focus on that at the moment. He had to find Tempest.
"Tempest, please talk to me."
Dron quickly began moving pieces of wood and debris, trying to be careful but also trying to move fast. Her body was so frail. What if she couldn’t survive under the weight of all this? What if this was the last time he would be near her? In the middle of the blazing flames that took the good people of the poor class.
Dron could feel the panic growing inside of him. His hands shook and his heart squeezed.
Still, he didn’t stop moving.
He finally moved a large beam and saw the very tip of Tempest’s hand.
She was buried.
"She’s here! Oh, Goddess, no. She’s here." Dron worried, his voice shaking as he raced to move things.
Gerax got to his knees and helped Dron dig Tempest out.
Seconds later, he was able to uncover most of her body.
He reached down and cradled her face.
She was covered in soot and dirt, but he couldn’t see much blood. There was some coming out of her mouth and from her nose, but besides that it wasn’t so bad.
"Tempest, can you hear me? Talk to me, Temptation."
She moaned, and her eyelids fluttered.
Dron could feel the relief washing over him.
She was still alive.
Still here with him.
"Dron? What are you... oh God... what happened?" Tempest questioned as she finally opened her eyes and looked around.
"I’m going to get you out of here. I promise you I will."
Dron looked over to Gerax, who was still digging her out. Soon enough, everything was off her, and Dron was able to pull her up. She hissed in pain, but that was the extent of it. He hoped.
"Are you in pain? Tell me how you feel." Gerax quickly pulled his wrist device up and started scanning Tempest.
"I’m okay. Just achy. I don’t think I’m hurt."
Tempest tried to get up, but Dron stopped her.
"No, let me. The rest of the foundation could come crumbling down."
Dron gently picked Tempest up from the rubble.
Calmness instantly washed over him as he felt her in his arms.
Dron didn’t know exactly who was responsible for the fire in the poor class, but he knew that it wasn’t a mistake. Based on what those three alphas had said to him, it would make sense that they were trying to make it seem as if this were Dron’s fault. As if he were responsible for this destruction. Both he and Tempest.
The more she and he tried to help, the worse things were going to get.
"No! Wait! We can’t just leave." Tempest wiggled in Dron’s arms.
"We need to get out of here." Dron held her tightly, but she wiggled harder and finally made her way out of his grasp. She stumbled slightly and put a hand to her head. She might be saying that she wasn’t hurt, but Dron knew that she wasn’t completely uninjured. He had to get her out of here. He fought against every last strand of will he had to not simply grab her again and throw her over his shoulder.
"Why? Why do we have to stay here?" Dron questioned, fisting his hands closed, trying to remain in control.
"They don’t deserve to be left like this. They did nothing wrong but trust us." Tempest looked up at Dron with tears in her eyes, and he instantly knew she wasn’t talking about the alphas that attacked them. Pinat and Aixen’s bodies were still in this rubble.
"They are over there." Gerax spoke softly. He pointed in the direction to the east, the one part of the home that still seemed to be standing. Aixen and Pinat’s bodies were still lying on the ground, the father still on top of the small child, protecting her even in death.
"We have to bury them. Show them the respect they deserve." Tempest said, looking up into Dron’s face.
The fire was still raging on the outskirts of town, and Dron knew there was nothing that he could do to stop it all. They would have to move fast, but Dron could do this for Tempest. He could do it for the crippled alpha who allowed him into his home.
"We have to move fast." Dron looked down at Tempest and then over to Gerax, making it clear that they didn’t really have a say in that part of the plan.
Tempest nodded, and Gerax gulped hard. It was clear that the beta male would rather just get out of danger instead of trying to give these two the burial they deserved. Still, at least he went along with the plan.
Dron used the rest of his strength to extract both Tempest and Gerax from under the floor and make sure nothing else toppled down on top of them. Once they were all out of the small hut, Tempest found an open area. The ground was hard, and the smoke was becoming oppressive, but Gerax and Dron moved fast to dig a hole big enough for the two fallen friends.
A few minutes later, they were lowering Pinat and Aixen into the hole while Tempest cried silently at the edge of the grave. Gerax and Dron covered the bodies with dirt.
Dron stared down at the shallow grave for a second.
He was never the person to get involved in other people’s affairs. He was too busy trying to live his life in peace.
He couldn’t ignore this.
Tempest wouldn’t allow him to, even if he wanted to.
Dron looked in Tempest’s direction one more time and could see the anger and grief in her eyes.
She would demand vengeance, and Dron was more than happy to help her on that quest.
