For Silence's Sake Ch. 06

"Soon, I think Lyssa should get away for a bit."

"Nice thought, Madeline. I think you should do it."

She squirmed against him, trying to worm her way out of his arms. "OK. Good." She wiggled some more. "OK, Erich, lemme go."

He growled, low. "Do that again."

Emmett made himself scarce.

Having run across the range to talk to Emmett, Madeline was naked. Having just changed from wolf himself, so was Erich.

Madeline ran both hands in to his hair, pulled herself more tightly to him, and kissed him fiercely.

Erich cupped her buttocks with his hands and she wrapped her legs around his waist. He mumbled against her neck, "Haveta help Em."

Madeline reached between their bodies to caress the growing hardness beneath her buttocks. [Really? How 'bout a little break?]

Erich tipped her backwards and latched onto one of her breasts. Madeline moaned at the feeling as she pulled his head more closely to her. [Feeling a little cold, Blossom. I need someplace warm to put this.]

She could feel his turgid member against her bottom. "Mmmm. Yeah."

Erich shifted her weight and positioned her entrance over him. It took a little maneuvering for him to penetrate her depths. They both gave satisfied sounds.

Lavender eyes looked up into blue, both sets slightly lidded with desire. And she smiled, shifting upwards on his body and his cock. Erich inhaled and took hold of her ass more firmly. And he lifted her, up and down, as she clutched his shoulders. Her bare breasts rubbed against his chest. Tight nipples meant a delicious sensation ran from her boobs to her core. She started panting as he pressed his knot inside her. Madeline's toes curled as her breath began to hitch. Her breath left her lungs in an explosion. "OOooooaaa."

Erich felt the ripples of her muscles around him and his movements became somewhat jerky. It was several more pumps of his mate's body before his spilled his seed inside her with a howl.

--

Emmett had returned, late, again. Dinner was essentially over so he slid in and ate quickly with the few remaining wolves.

Afterward, he went to clean up then went to their suite. Lyssa was sitting at the worktable, looking over some lists. Emmett walked over, wrapped his arms around her and kissed the side of her head. "Where's Em?"

Lyssa kindof shrugged him off. "Decided to sleep with the other pups. We should think about a Christmas present for him."

"We don't celebrate Christmas, Lys. It would be strange. You've never worried about it before."

"A little boy should have Christmas. A tree. Presents."

He was about to object when he thought better of it. "OK, Lys. What do you want to get him?"

Lyssa stopped. He could see her mulling it over. Finally, she said. "I don't know. Something."

Within the den, they had everything they needed, and much of what they wanted. He wrapped his arms back around her upper body and put his lips close to her ear. "And what would you like for Christmas, sweetheart?"

He felt her body slump. Bad question. Bad timing.

"Can I help you with something?"

She inhaled, exhaled. "No. I don't think so."

Her voice was even. There was no trace of sarcasm or annoyance. She just sounded tired.

"OK. I'm gonna watch some TV, if it's OK."

"Yeah. Sure."

Emmett sat on the couch, wanting her to come sit with him. But, she had work to do and was being very responsible about it. It was for the good of all the packs. It had been her idea.

He flipped through a number of channels, trying to find something to interest him. He finally settled on a show he'd seen before and decided a beer would taste good. Emmett crouched to get one out of the mini-fridge and turned to his mate, "Would you like anything, sweetheart?"

She was crying, silently.

He put the beer back, closed the door, and slowly approached her. She was kindof curled in on herself. He picked her up, even as she pushed against his chest in protest. He sat in a chair and held her tightly. He thought to ask what was wrong, then thought better of it.

She struggled to speak. "Turn it off. Please, just ... turn it off."

He leaned forward, snagged the remote, and turned the TV off. Was that what had set her off? It wasn't like they hadn't watched Underworld before. The last time was... oh. Yeah. The cabin. Where he had taken her away from the pack to see if he could bring her back. After she had been kidnapped and beaten and had gotten moody and irrational. The Alphas' daughter, and her friend, had called it PTSD. From what she had told them, something similar had gone on after her family had been killed in a car wreck.

He debated if her recent emotional hits were spurring another episode. And, while he grieved the lost pup, the healers had assured him Lyssa was OK, physically. And Emmanuel, though wolfdeaf to all but one, was healthy and happy.

Last time he had had to take her out of the den, since she had become a danger to others.

This made his current project even more important.

As she began to settle, he sent, quietly [I love you, mate.]

The tears started again.

He held her until she stopped, then whispered a question. "How 'bout a bath and bed?"

She nodded against his chest. "Yeah."

So, he picked her up and took her to the bathroom. He started the bath and, after checking the water temperature, proceeded to strip her.

Lyssa moaned in appreciation as he lowered her into the warm water. He took some bath gel and a washcloth and bathed her. He felt the tension leave her body as he washed an arm then kissed it. Other arm, shoulders. Back, neck. And on.

He used a big towel to dry her and laid her in their bed. Emmett shucked his clothes and crawled in with her and curled her into the curve of his body.

-

The new moon came; time for the next council meeting.

Lyssa wasn't sure how things were going to go but she expected more yelling and screaming. She took a deep breath and opened the meeting. Thankfully, it started quietly enough, although she heard voices in offside discussions. On this night, many of the representatives had their Alphas beside them.

"Welcome, everyone. At our last meeting we passed a resolution that no female would be forcibly mated. The vote was carried six to one."

"We have a new resolution to debate," the noise of voices began to increase, and she raised her voice, "and I don't think we'll be ready to vote on it for a couple of months because I think everyone's gonna wanna have their say. This is only gonna work if we take turns. And I have asked the Foster's healer to attend to answer any questions you might have for him."

"But, before we start, I wanna remind you of what we agreed to during our first meetings. That anything involved in revealing the packs to humans or presenting an immediate danger would require a unanimous decision. Those things that don't make it likely that we're all gonna die or be hunted down we agreed would only need a majority." Mumbling and objections began again. "STOP IT!" she yelled. "If we can't get through this you better all give it up as a bad idea and fight your own battles."

There were gasps at her audacity.

Randall smiled. [Well said, Madam Beta.]

"Alright then. Alphabetical order's as good as anything else. So, you'll all get a chance to ask him questions, then each of the packs will make an argument. Does that sound good?"

Everyone agreed. "OK, Dr. Worthy?"

"Yes, Madam Beta."

"Do you agree? Are you ready?"

"Yes, Madam Beta."

"Foster first. Then Gates, Macy, Ross, Severn, Tucker, and Wyeth. Um, go ahead Alpha Foster."

The questions began and, by the time they got to Tucker, their Alphas had nothing that they thought had gone unasked. Wyeth was the same.

"OK, I think that's enough for tonight. Does anyone have new business or anything which should be reported to the packs?"

No one had anyone else so the meeting was adjourned for the month.