Free The Siege of Kadenburg by T. E. Ridener

voice sounded from the living room. “I think your power’s out.”
    “No shit, Dick Tracy.” Dimitri grumbled as he fumbled to find the drawer nearest to the sink. He pulled it open, listening to various odds and ends as they rolled from the front to the back. He withdrew a flashlight and turned it on, blinding Rutley in the process.
    “Can you please just try to be nice?” Rutley asked as he carefully moved towards the doorway. “It won’t kill you.”
    Dimitri snarled in response, directing the bright beam of light towards the hallway as his heavy boots hit against the wooden floor.
    “You don’t seem to understand the dangers of having her here,” he whispered as he grabbed Rutley by the shoulder, stopping him midway down the hall. “We don’t know her. She could be one of his.”
    “Look, I get it,” Rutley whirled around to face him. “I get that we have to be cautious and paranoid and the whole shebang, but you’re absolutely right. We don’t know her, which means she might be a harmless wolf without a pack. Maybe she really does need our help. Maybe that’s why she’s here. We could smell her…who’s to say she couldn’t smell us, too?”
    “You are a pain in my ass,” Dimitri exhaled loudly. “I’m just saying, the chances of a wolf being in Kadenburg without any ties to Breslin are one in a million.”
    “I guess we’ll find out, won’t we?” Rutley replied stubbornly. “Now let’s go be courteous hosts and see how we can help her.”
    “I’ll help her all right,” Dimitri growled. “Send her ass right out the door.”
    If he had his way, that’s exactly what he would’ve done, too. But Rutley-the-hospitable-heroic-pain-in-his-ass-lycanthrope wasn’t going to let that happen. Yet.

Eight
    H e couldn’t sleep. He had to be back at the hospital for his shift in three hours, and he hadn’t managed to get a solid five minutes of sleep since his head hit the pillow. Louisa was sleeping contently. He could hear her even breathing from down the hallway, and he envied her.
    He usually didn’t have issues with sleeping. Even with everything he’d witnessed and everything he’d done-Beau never lost a wink of sleep over it. So what was the difference now? What had his mind racing at the speed of light?
    The mixture of snow and ice hitting against the window pane made it sound like a hurricane was roaring through. He wasn’t really a fan of snow-at all. Why couldn’t the hometown of the ursithropes be in Hawaii or Florida? He grunted, smacking his palm against the pillow before pushing himself out of bed. Oh well, sleep was a nice thought.
    Beau found himself in the kitchen before long, listening to the gradually growing squeal of the teapot as the stove heated it up. With the honey in hand, he was preparing to fix a cup of much needed tea when the power went out. The only sound he was left with was the dying wail of the teapot.
    “What the hell?” He muttered softly, blinking rapidly in an attempt to adjust his vision.
    His tea was soon forgotten as the wind outside picked up. It was stronger than only a few minutes ago, and the windows were literally rattling from the force.
    He checked on Louisa first, popping his head into her bedroom to make sure she was still sleeping. She was. Her breathing was just as steady as before, deep and calm. Good.
    He wandered back into the kitchen, deciding that he still needed the tea whether he had power or not. Work would still be there, and they’d probably call him in earlier now that this chaos was happening.
    The hour passed by fairly quickly, and within those sixty minutes of darkness, Beau had managed to drink two cups of tea and successfully retrieved his cellphone from his bedroom. The illumination from the small screen didn’t do much in regards to helping him see, but it sure made it easier for him to keep up with the time.
    “Two more hours.” He sighed, sinking down onto the couch and rubbing the back of his neck. Would the