For Silence's Sake Ch. 03

Joanna closed her eyes and rubbed small circles on his back as he drew on her breast. Samuel put his arms around his mate and smiled at the sight. They all relaxed as Emmanuel's upset dissipated. In fact, they all began to feel sleepy.

[Jo.]

Ariel noted a tiredness to the reply. [A few more minutes, Mom.] She checked to make sure there was a spare room ready if Jo was too tired to drive home as well as someone available to drive her home if she would not stay.

--

Calvin lay on his side on their bed and slid his hand over his mate's stomach.

Frost laid white lace on the window and her nipples were perked because of the cool air in the room. The one was twisted sideways, one of the injuries she'd sustained during her captivity. He knew the basics of what had happened to her. Brutalized by five rogue werewolves over a number of years, he had shown her the pleasures that a male could provide.

"So, mate," he said quietly, "would you tell me what prompted this?" He put his hand gently over the breast with the damaged nipple.

She didn't know why he would ask about some of her specific scars but apparently he thought he could learn more about her.

She thought not to answer but there was no real reason not to. She answered in a flat, detached voice. The ordeal could still wrest emotional responses from her, usually when he inadvertently surprised her. She sighed, and spoke.

"I screamed and struggled early on." He nodded and kissed her shoulder. "After fighting and clawing time after time, for weeks, months, I finally figured it wouldn't do me any good to keep fighting. So I stopped. I couldn't get away and they were going to do whatever they were going to do to me. So, I stopped, and just lay there. Mostly, they didn't care. But one of them would slap me, beat me, sometimes, to hear me scream or cry. And I thought that, if I could just stay quiet, he'd stop."

Calvin closed his eyes and shook his head sadly. That type wouldn't stop until they got their scream.

"So he hit me, a few times, and I clamped my mouth shut. He glared at me as he rammed inside then gave me an evil look. And, as you can guess, leaned down, took my nipple, and bit down."

"And I screamed for him. He lifted his head and smiled at me, my blood on his lips. He did it three different times."

The sick bastard, Calvin thought. And while he, as a male, could never understand all she had endured, it told him more about her than she realized.

And she had endured so much.

There were, he believed, a large percentage of females who would have succumbed.

"Calvin?"

"Yes, little one?"

"We need to discuss our Beta's condition."

"Sampson or Amanda?" Amanda, who had taken on some of the Alpha female's responsibilities when his first mate got sick, had been made Beta shortly after Stephanie had come into her first estrus.

She huffed and turned to look at him. "Sampson, of course." He smiled indulgently at her and she growled, "What?"

"You've observed something new?"

"We were sparring. He wasn't paying attention. I put him down a few times. Then I pinned him down and asked him what the matter was. He didn't answer. When I told him to answer he said he was too old."

"The other male was from Foster pack. I think we can assume that the male was much younger and that this may have been his first unmated gathering."

"I agree."

"I believe he had," a sigh, "a pleasant interlude with the other male." Calvin paused.

"Alright, old man," she growled, "spit it out." She got up on her elbows and glared at him. He had a tendency to dole out wisdom in small pieces, leading to a conclusion. She believed it was a teaching technique, to allow whomever he was speaking with to follow his train of thought and catch up. It was damned annoying sometimes.

"Sampson has lived his entire life hiding what he feels. Perhaps he showed some attraction to another male as a youth and was rebuffed. Possibly violently."

"OK. I understand, but why too old? Why would he not call to bring him here? If he made a connection why wouldn't he pursue it?"

"He gave you the answer, little one. He feels too old to pursue a relationship with a younger male."

"But if he found another male, found someone attractive, why would he stop?"

Calvin kissed his mate and said, quietly, "I would be surprised if Sampson initiated the contact." He yawned and lay back down on the bed, thinking the conversation wasn't over. Their male Beta was not himself and it was impacting his work. If it would not get better something would have to be done.

--

Emmanuel slept well that night and Cassie and Samuel were relieved to get a good night's sleep. He had curled up with Emmaline on the pallet and did not wake until dawn.

Samuel had crept out on early morning sweep.

Joanna had elected to go home as she would not sleep well without her mate. Justin and Paul had made sure she and Lyria got home.

--

Lorelei woke, warm, surrounded by skin. Male. Strong. Breathing heavily. Smelling of sweat and maybe a little wild.

Thomas was part of that odd group. Some sort of commune or cult or something. She worked for an accounting firm who did their taxes. He had seen her, contacted her, and they had started a relationship. It had rapidly progressed to hours of rough sex. And, while he was most comfortable being the dominant half, she had finally gotten him to agree to the swing.

It was harder than she thought to get him up in it. He was heavy.

And very, very not sure he wanted to be in that position.

She circled him, smiled, and licked her lips. "Easy, baby, you're going to enjoy this." She ran her hand down the outside of his thigh, briefly caressed his right buttock. Standing next to him, she ran her hand over his chest. He picked his head up and watched her and twisted slightly in the straps. He jerked when she pinched a nipple. Lorelei walked around to his head, grabbed his hair, and yanked it down. She bent down and kissed him forcefully, feeding on his mouth. Probing, bruising. He growled as he tasted blood.

She wrenched his mouth away from hers and looked into his eyes.

Two heartbeats and she walked to the dresser. He turned and watched her walk away. Her hair was piled on her head, tendrils sweeping down the side. She was wearing a black leather choker, a red corsetlet that nipped in her waist, a red thong, red thigh-high fishnets, and red shoes with 4 inch black heels. He admired the wobble in her walk as she moved away.

Lorelei bent slightly and he focused on the globes of her ass.

As she turned around his eyes snapped to her palm as she slapped a riding crop against it. She slapped it again as she stepped toward him. His eyes rose to the top of the corsetlet. The way the tops of her tits were pushed together, the cleavage. He had, a couple of times, fucked her tits. As his mind went back he heard the click of her heels, heard the rate of her breathing increase, her heart.

And, while he expected it, he was distracted enough that the slap of the crop against his flesh came as a surprise. He jerked, the straps bit, and she glared. "Your mind is not here."

He shifted his attention back to her. "It is."

"Hm." She dug nails into his left pectoral then pinched his nipple again. The riding crop stroked down his arm, down his side. He reached for it, and her.

She grabbed his arm, digging in, and snapped the crop against his chin. "No!"

Thomas snarled.

"You know the rules. No touching until I say so."

He started to struggle. "I don't like this. Let me down." He twisted, yanking. Something gave and his left shoulder dropped.

Lorelei stepped back and put down the crop. She turned back, a sad look on her face. "Fine. Then you can go."

Hands around the straps, hanging sideways, he looked at her. "What do you mean?"

She put her hands on her hips and he admired her out-thrust breasts. "I've explained to you. You need to experience what your partner does, to recognize the effects of what you do. You know the rules, agreed to them. If you won't go along with them, you leave." She exhaled. "It's been fun."

She turned, brooking no argument, and went to the apparatus that allowed her to haul him up. "Wait, Lor..." She stopped but did not turn around. "What are you saying?"

She turned, confident, looking him in the eye. Dangling sideways, he looked back at her. She said nothing. "All those months and, and, that's it? You're done? You've enjoyed it all." A pause. "Haven't you?"

He was doubting himself. She had him by the balls.

What was he doing? The sex was great, but... But. Other than the fact that she was saying it was over, why did he care? He could find another female.

Lorelei turned back to the wall and lowered Thomas to the floor. He ripped the straps off and got up. She walked out of the room as he watched. He heard the refrigerator door open as he looked at his fading erection. What the hell had just happened? All he did was...

He looked at the doorway, then looked for his clothes. He closed his eyes, shook his head, and started pulling on his clothes. He heard her sit on the couch and pop the tab on a can. A slight fizz. Beer.

As he pulled on his shoes he heard other noises. He walked into the other room to the sounds of moaning and squishing.

She was laying on the couch, her eyes glued to the television. Her breasts had slid out of the top of the corsetlet. She had propped a leg up on the couch, had pushed the thin strip of fabric to one side and was fingering herself. She was pumping three fingers in and out of her sopping pussy and was tugging on a nipple.

He inhaled, taking in her scent, the smell of her juices. He took a step towards her. "Lorelei..."

She didn't look at him, didn't stop what she was doing. "Go home, Thomas."

His head dropped and he exhaled, then brought it back up. He would not leave her house hanging his head. And, so, he walked to the front door, listening to her, smelling her. He opened the door and, without another word, got into the car and drove home.

--

Emmanuel was still upset the next day because he still wasn't allowed to see his parents. There was a snowstorm blowing and several of the pack, particularly the young ones, were out in it. Romping. Playing.

Mercy, as well as the rest of the pack, was aware of Emmanuel's sadness at being unable to be with his parents. Anyone in range felt his longing for them. She figured that, if she got him tracking her, he would be thinking about that, not them. Emmaline, of course, was with him.

She bowed down in front of them and yipped, her tail wagging slowly. She bounced to the right and the left and the light snow fluffed out around her in a white cloud. Emmaline jumped sideways with Mercy, managing to bowl over Emmanuel in the process. Emmanuel yipped, then growled. He lunged at Emmaline, who skipped away. Mercy ran around them, nipping, pouncing. Emmanuel got annoyed and started chasing Mercy, as much as he could. Mercy was was much older, much larger than the two pups. [Catch me.]

She headed away from the den, into the woods. Emmanuel doggedly pursued her. Emmaline went with them. The little ones had some trouble with the depth of the snow. It was not heavy enough to impede travel but it was light enough to obscure sight.

Mercy got some distance away and Emmanuel cast about, trying to find her. Emmanuel found a dip in the snow and shook out his coat. Snow glinted on his sliver-tipped, dark fur. Emmaline's was fur was also dark but, with the light dusting of snow, looked like a slightly larger version of the Beta's pup.

Mercy ran back, racing around the pair, and took off again, leaving a white cloud of snow and masking her departure. Emmaline sneezed and Emmanuel growled and took off after her again. He was getting tired of being the smallest, of not being able to keep up with the others. He wanted to find Mercy, catch her. The snow was disturbed, so he took off that way. But he couldn't smell her, couldn't see her. He came across a little trickle of water that ran into their small lake and took a drink. Emmaline came up beside him, licked his ear, and got a drink, too.

Mercy did another drive-by, springing at them from around a tree. Emmaline yipped in surprise.

Emmanuel had had enough and started working his way back to the den.

Emmaline felt kindof grumpy herself and followed him.

The powder was deep for the two youngest pups in the pack and, while they had a sense of which direction was home, they didn't move in a straight line. They broke into the open beside the little lake, a light breeze blew the open area clear of snow.

Mercy was almost opposite them. He growled at her and started onto the ice. It was early in the season and the ice was thin. Another step and Emmaline barked at him. His foreleg broke through and he yipped. Emmaline grabbed him by the tail and dragged him backwards as a spike of fear shot through everyone in the vicinity.

The Alpha sent out a command. [Report. What's going on?]

Mercy replied. [Emmanuel got scared. He's OK, Alpha.]

[Thank you, Mercy.]

"Strong emotions, just like his mother. Power related to the strength of that emotion."

"Ah, mate, I told you life would be interesting with our Madam Beta."

Emmanuel spent another night with Cassie, Samuel, and Emmaline. He still whimpered at bedtime and twitched and whined in his sleep.

[I hope she's done tomorrow.]

[Me, too, mate. Me, too.]