For Silence's Sake Ch. 04

Emmett pulled her head to his shoulder and kissed it. "Anything's possible, mate."

They heard noises outside the door and looked toward it. "Emmett. Lyssa. May I come in?"

Emmett looked into Lyssa's dark eyes and responded, "Of course, Ariel. Come in."

The Madam Alpha of Wyeth entered the Beta suite, her red hair swinging lightly as she walked. "How is your pup?"

Lyssa looked down at Emmanuel. "He seems OK, right now."

"The healers think he'll be fine."

"I'm pleased to hear it." Ariel sat in a chair nearby. "So, you can't recall ever hearing a send from him?" The Betas shook their heads sadly. "And you can't be sure he's ever heard one?" Lyssa pressed her lips together and swallowed.

Emmett said. "No."

She looked at the two of them. "As the healers suggested, we will check his responses. A few of us will try sending to him. We'll wait until he recovers first and talk to the pack about how to watch out for him if we find he is, indeed, wolf-deaf."

"Madam Alpha, Lyssa has brought up an interesting question. Has a wolf ever grown out of the deafness?"

"I'm not aware of it. However, we will inquire of the other packs later."

"Thank you, Ariel."

"I hope to see our youngest member running around soon." She got up, touched Emmanuel's head lightly, and left.

"Alright, sweetheart, he's sleeping and doing OK. I should get back to work, unless you want me to stay."

"OK, yeah, Em. We'll be good."

Lyssa cuddled her little boy while he slept. She hummed, and stroked his back, and thought about what it all meant. And she worried about him. Bitten by a snake, he was only a little boy. The healers thought he would be OK so she had to believe it.

She closed her eyes. Oh, Thomas. He wanted to talk to her.

Well. Emmanuel was sleeping and dinner was some time off, so [Thomas, is this a good time to talk?]

[Madam Beta? Yes, please.]

There was enough of a pause that she prompted him. [Well?]

[I am sorry, Madam Beta. How is your pup?]

[Sleeping. That's not what you wanted to talk about.] Irritation began to pervade her sending.

[It's Lorelei, she... I...] Lyssa waited. [I broke one of the rules and she threw me out.]

Threw him out? Rules? She had no idea what his relationship with Lorelei was but he'd been seeing her for several months. It was really none of her business, except that she was Beta, and Lorelei was human.

[Did she tell you not to come back?]

[No.]

[Have you called her? Apologized? Checked her Facebook page?]

[No.]

[How long ago was it?] Emmanuel began squirming, whimpering.

[During your heat.]

[Em's waking. I gotta go. If you want to see her again you have to call her.]

There was a sense of weariness and acceptance in his reply. [Thank you, Madam Beta.]

Lyssa cradled her little boy as he started to wake. She hummed and rocked him and blinked back tears. Her poor baby. Bitten. Deaf. Why him? Why them?

[How bad does it hurt, Em?]

Nothing. He didn't look at her, send to her, respond. They'd have to try the others, other forms. There had to be something.

[Healers, how often should I dose Emmanuel?]

[How does his shoulder look?]

She looked at Emmanuel's shoulder. [Worse. More red.]

Emmanuel was worse, fevered, as the night wore on. Emmett and the healers checked in regularly.

The next morning, however, he began to improve.

Everyone was relieved to hear it.

And Lyssa and Emmett, who had been keeping watch over their sick pup, curled up with him on the bed to get some sleep.

He began chafing at his confinement the next evening and began limping around. Lyssa was reluctant to let him go but Emmett told her that, if he wanted out, he had to be feeling better. Many of the wolves he passed rolled or rubbed their shoulder. Emmaline bounced around him, yipping happily. Although not eating much and still uncomfortable, their young Beta heir would heal. Lyssa was so relieved she broke down in tears.

Ariel gave her an additional day of watching her son get better, then reminded the pack council chairwoman of the upcoming meeting.

Lyssa swallowed, and nodded, and got back to work.

-------

It took two days for Thomas to screw up his courage, swallow his pride, and call Lorelei. He felt an almost leg-buckling sense of relief when she answered to phone. After she breathed 'Thomas' into the phone, he rushed forward. "Lorelei, I want to see you."

He heard her exhale. His heart thundered in his ears. "Friday. 7." The connection broke.

Two days. She had agreed to see him again in two days.

-------

Sampson's sleep was fractured and he looked tired. And, while his Alpha realized what the issue was, Sampson could not be ordered to resolve the situation. In matters of the heart, he could not be forced.

Both of his Alphas were concerned, he knew, but what was he to do? How was he to call to have a male brought into the pack? Would Phil's Alpha even allow it?

Sampson's wants and objections warred with each other in the evenings when his duties ended. Reading did not distract him. He went to the training room and looked around. A couple of the other males were here, lifting weights. He stalked over to the bag and began pummeling it.

As he started to sweat his mind began to wander. A male's body, glistening with exertion. A patch of blond hairs separating pink nipples.

His movements grew jerky, faltering.

The others looked at him.

Breaking off, he strode to his room, clenching his fists as he walked.

As he slammed his door he realized the smell of blood was in the air. He opened his clenched fists and saw the bloody half-moon marks on his palms. He raised his palms before his face and laughed, sardonically.

He threw himself on his bed and grimaced. With his hardened cock trapped under his body, it hurt. He rolled and it sprung up, away from his body. Mocking him.

Sampson rubbed his face and contemplated his condition. Well, he'd masturbated essentially all his life, what was another night?

He wrapped his hand around his straining erection and closed his eyes. A full mouth. Blond curls. Summer blue eyes. Oh, Luna.

Sampson let go, lay his head back and exhaled, gustily.

After a few moments, he laid hold of his throbbing manhood again. He used his thumb to move the foreskin away, gently rode over the sensitive head. Precum was just beginning to well up. He rubbed the pad of his thumb back and forth, tightened his grip.

At least he had a more concrete fantasy now.

So he visualized Phil and stroked himself, gripping tightly, speeding up. Thinking of a warm, wet mouth, a tongue. Considering the slipperiness of saliva, of being engulfed.

He was breathing heavily and felt his balls tighten before he shot his load onto his chest with a yell.

-------

Stephanie's duties kept her quite busy. She had numerous duties as Alpha female. She was training with their healer. She and Sharilyn were also looking for another in the pack who showed an affinity for healing among the adolescents. As a warrior, she was training the females in the pack to fight. She also had sparring sessions with the males, since she was better than almost all of them.

On top of that, Stephanie was also the Ross representative to the InterPack Council and, while that didn't normally take up a lot of her time, her mate had asked her to bring up an item for discussion that was sure to stir violent emotions. Since one of the affected wolves was in their pack, she owed it to him to uncover more so that she could make arguments.

[Trevor.]

[Yes, Madam Alpha?]

[I'd like to speak to you about the night you went to Gates to collect our Beta. I will be down shortly.]

[Yes, Madam Alpha.]

-------

Lyssa was arranging the information for the next council meeting, which would occur on the next dark moon. There would be a vote called at this meeting, which she expected to pass without a whole lot of trouble. This was one she had put before the council, as it was near to her heart. It had been Emmett who had brought her to the pack but the Alphas had been ready to give her to a male named Thomas in the mistaken thought that he had mated with her. Actually, he had meant to force her and she still carried the marks on her right breast from his teeth. They would vote that no female would be forcibly mated simply because she carried a mating mark.