For Silence's Sake Ch. 08

--

"I was thinking you didn't want to be near me anymore. That you finally decided I was weak."

"Why would I think that?"

"The, the baby. Emmanuel. That I couldn't give you a healthy pup."

"Lyssa, you wouldn't be part of the pack if you weren't strong. Got away from the Ross wolves. Stood against Michael Ross. Things happen. Life's not perfect. And, I come home to you every night. Slept beside you. Brought you coffee."

That garnered a slight smile. "People can not like each other so much and still be civil. You could be nice to me and still never touch me again."

Emmett smiled. "I talked to Natalie and I'd hoped that we could christen the cottage."

Lyssa huffed. "So I was wrong."

"Yes."

She looked at him. He looked back. She rolled her eyes. "So you were wrong."

He lifted his brows. "Yes."

"Idiot."

He took a deep breath, let it out. "Shall we go back or do you want to talk some more?"

"No more big surprises?"

"Little ones?" Lyssa nodded.

"OK. Now, will you talk to me when you're upset, instead of brooding about it?"

Lyssa swallowed. "I'll try."

"I'll remind you. Because I think we've pretty much established we need to."

She blinked, sniffed, and swallowed. Emmett put a hand behind her head and pulled it gently forward to plant a kiss on her forehead. "I love you, mate."

Lyssa's throat got tight. "Me, too."

Emmett stood and extended his hand. "Let's take our young pup home."

Lyssa rose, holding Little Em, and looked around the cabin. She had straightened up while waiting for them so it looked OK. [Garbage.]

Emmett grabbed the small plastic bag and deposited it in the covered trash can outside. As she grabbed the bag and closed the door, she watched him look around. "The wolves came by last night. Looks like four of them."

"I saw them. Two big. Two smaller. I think our male may have found himself a mate."

Emmett smiled. "And I have mine, and my own pup. Let's go home."

She handed him the keys and he opened the passenger side doors before walking around the back to the driver's side. A gust of wind funneled up the drive carrying light snow. As it obscured his view of his mate and pup briefly a frisson of fear shot through him. He released a held breath when her head popped over the top of the car after she strapped Emmanuel in. She looked over at him. "What?"

Emmett dropped his head and shook it. "Nothing."

She gently closed the door and walked around the front of the car. Placing her hands on her hips, Lyssa looked at her mate. "What was that look for?"

"I just realized I'm always going to be afraid you'll leave me now."

Any sense of indignation she had deflated. "Yeah. I get it."

"You don't react like any of the other females in the pack."

"What should I have done?"

He ignored that question. "Most of the others would have come at me with claws if they were mad at me."

Lyssa blinked at him. "I can't beat you up. That would just hurt. Both of us. Probably me mostly."

Emmett walked over and wrapped his arm around her. "How often do you see any of the females injured by their mates? Disagreements happen. Mates get mad at each other. We spill more blood in the circle."

Emmanuel whined in the back seat. "We should go."

Lyssa nodded against his chest. "OK."

Emmett backed out and started back down the hill.

"How pissed off are Randall and Ariel?"

"They're not happy with what you did but they're glad we found you."

"I wonder what my punishment will be this time." Last time she had done something that the Alphas hadn't appreciated she had had to help with the pack's taxes.

"Mine will be as bad, maybe worse." She turned to look at him. He answered before she could ask. She would learn, soon enough, what he had done. "Ariel called up the healers because of the state I was in." Lyssa gasped. "I lashed out and injured Wade badly."

Lyssa breathed, "Natalie?"

"Knocked down. Apparently fine."

"I should probably do something for her, too."

On the way back, Emmett told her about his decision to build the cottage and things that had happened during the construction. They got quiet and Emmett reached over to take Lyssa's hand as they passed the spot where Michael Ross had run them off the road. He had wanted to kill her.

And she thought of the other male who had been there with the then Ross Alpha. The Ross Beta, Sampson. There was nothing at the site as evidence of the accident, but she remembered looking up at Sampson. While he hadn't done anything to help them, he hadn't followed his Alpha's order to kill them. Well, that was pretty helpful, in a way. And he had been the one who had identified himself as homosexual.

"You know, Sampson didn't try to kill us when Michael told him to."

"Hm?" Emmett had been musing in another direction. She had run away from him at the cabin. Had run after Brandon had cornered and kissed her in the garage. Had taken him to a park in Ross territory when she thought he was an injured dog after throwing her boyfriend, Ronnie, out. This was how she dealt with major conflicts. He would have to talk to the Alphas and the other Betas.

"Sampson? The Ross Beta? The one who likes males? Ignored his Alpha's command to kill us."

"Yeah. OK. So?"

"The resolution. Calvin introduced it for him."

"Yeah. OK. I wouldn't be too surprised if it doesn't pass, though."

"Don't you want it to?"

Emmett was quiet for a bit. "Not my place to decide."

Lyssa turned in her seat, which Emmanuel took as an invitation to climb into her lap. "Would you have a problem with it? If it does pass?"

"I don't get the point. Why bother?"

Lyssa sighed. She had thought Em would be a bit more openminded. "Do you love me?"

"You know I do."

"What would you do for me?"

Emmett exhaled. "Anything. Everything."

"If you couldn't be near me?"

"I'd do everything I could to be with you."

"And I wanna be with you. Emmett, they want that too."

Emmett grunted.

Lyssa pulled out her cellphone when it started ringing, looked at it, and put it back. Emmett shot her a questioning look. "Jo."

"You're not gonna talk to her? Are you mad at her or something?"

"Yeah. I am."

"She couldn't have done anything different."

Lyssa really didn't want to talk about it anymore. An odd question came to her. "Hey, Em, what did you do at my house while I was at the store?"

Emmett looked at her, thoroughly confused. "How did we get there?"

"Just realized I have no idea what you were doing when we were there."

"When you went to the store. Hmmm. I was hurt. You'd locked me outside. I just, went back to the porch and laid down on the blanket and slept, healing."

She laid her head back against the headrest. "What else? What don't I know?"

"The beer was good, even if he did it to try and make me sick. You said Ronnie's name the first night, when I crawled on the bed with you, but you snuggled right up to me."

"You changed, didn't you?"

"Yes. It felt good, to hold you. You smelled good. Fit there so nice. Still do." There was a pause. "Oh, yeah, the couple in the park. They were Ross pack."

"Seems like forever ago."

Emmett paused at the gate for the den. "Ready?" Lyssa took a deep breath and nodded.

Emmanuel went to find the other pups as soon as he was allowed out of the car.

Paul gave Lyssa a bit of a dirty look as they returned the keys. The First Beta pair linked hands and walked upstairs. The Alphas looked up as the Betas walked in.

There was little talking as the males and females had separate discussions.

Lyssa blinked at Ariel, surprised at what she was told.

Emmett's eyes, however, were downcast and his stance showed dejection. Lyssa went over and put her arms around him as the conversation continued. She felt the warmth of him, the strength of his body, and wondered what they were talking about. Finally, Emmett patted her hands and turned out of her arms. "See to your duties."

"Yes, Alpha."

Erich and the Alphas watched then leave the office area.

Emmett looked at his mate. "So?"

Lyssa swallowed. "I'm not allowed to tell you."

"What?" He stopped and looked at her. "But..." She shook her head.

"You?"

"Do any heavy work Wade needs until his arm heals. Clean the medical area for the next three weeks. Help Natalie with any of the injured."

"Mmm," Lyssa responded.

After a few steps, "You can't tell me?"

"No."

This was annoying. He didn't understand why she couldn't tell him. "I'll be starting after lunch."

"How long?"

"Not long."

He stopped and turned her to look at her. She looked at him, a little embarrassed, a little... was it smug?

Lyssa disappeared after lunch while Emmett went to speak to the healers. Wade was touchy, growling whenever Emmett got too near his mate. Emmett gritted his teeth and polished counters, swept the floor.

Lyssa returned at the tail end of supper and Emmanuel was happy to see his mother. Emmett came by and kissed her. She smelled of the outdoors.

The next day she was gone again at first light. It bothered him; what did the Alphas have her doing?

She didn't come back for dinner. He'd had enough and went to Ariel. "Where is my mate? What do you have her doing?"

Ariel looked to him and smiled. "Frustrating, isn't it?"

Emmett looked at the Alpha female and realization dawned. He closed his eyes and snorted, lightly. "So, she's there?"

Ariel nodded.

"Can I...? Am I allowed to go to her?"

Randall stepped over. "We are not preventing you from being with your mate, my friend."

He took off out one of the back doors. The days were at their shortest so it was quite dark. The air was cold and crisp; the sky was clear and starry. The trail was contrasted against the snow's expanse. His heavy coat kept him warm and his breath fogged out as he loped across the range to get to his mate.

He stopped at the front door, a little nervously. The lights inside were small and dim.

Ah, candles.

[Lys?]

Nothing.

He opened the door and stepped inside. "Lys?"

Emmett smelled the melted wax of the candles, their scents - vanilla, cinnamon, apple. He also smelled his mate, but she wasn't answering him.

Wolf eyes could see clearly in the low light and he moved confidently the few steps across the small living room to the bedroom. As he stood in the doorway, the sight took his breath away.

Her eyes were open and she was watching him, silently. She was lying on the bed, her dark hair spread out behind her. She was wearing a deep dark green gown. The sleeves came down to just above her elbows. The neckline came straight down from her shoulders, then two curves came together in a point between her breasts. The skirt flared out from her hips and didn't stop until it brushed the tops of her feet.

He inhaled, "Lovely."

She smiled but said nothing.

He sat on the side of the bed and leaned over to kiss her. She put a hand in his way and he pulled back, confused. After a minute or so, "There's something I have to do, isn't there?" She nodded. He looked at her, brow furrowed in thought.

Ariel had given her very specific instructions. She was to spend the bulk of her time here, until Emmett came to her. She was not to tell him what she was doing or where she was spending her time.

Once he came she was to keep silent, wasn't to allow him to touch her in an intimate way until...

She watched as his puzzled expression, waiting for him to figure it out.

He closed his eyes and exhaled. "OK. I understand. It distracted me, wondering where you were, what Ariel had you doing. I get it. I'm sor..."

Lyssa reached up to stop that last word. "Thank you for this. For some quiet. Some silence."

Emmett grinned as he traced from her shoulder down her arm. "Maybe not so quiet, huh?"

--

Ariel, nude, walked around the chair her mate was seated in, trailing fingers across his shoulders, his chest, his chin, were Randall nipped at her finger. He was fully clothed.

She leaned back against his desk. And he took in the look of her, his mate of just over 50 years. Red hair that fell below her shoulder blades in waves. Blue eyes in an oval face of pale skin. A face that currently held a knowing, bemused look.

Shoulders, strong enough to carry many of the pack's cares, to fend off the strikes of opponents in the circle. Her breasts were on the small side, compared to some of the other females, but fit well in his hands. They were topped with taut nipples the color of rose petals.

Her hips swelled somewhat from her waist and her navel, an outie, sat above the curled red hairs of her mound. The slight swelling was covered with those short, curled hairs, which also ran between her legs, sprinkled over her lower lips, and led toward her asshole.

Ariel licked two fingers and stroked across one nipple, while two fingers of the other hand traced between her legs. [See anything you like?]

"Always, mate."

[Take off the shirt. Slowly.]

Randall's control was costing him; he was sweating. He forced himself to take his hands off the chair's arms and grabbed the hem of the polo shirt he had on. He began lifting the shirt, slowly, as she'd asked, when all he wanted to do was pounce on her and ravish her.

After he'd gotten the shirt over his head he was a bit miffed to see she wasn't even watching. Her head was tipped back and she was flicking that nipple while stroking herself and breathing deeply. He took a deep breath and her scent had him gripping the arms of the chair again.

She had won the bet; he had thought it would be a couple more days before Emmett broke and asked where Lyssa was going.

So, he sat, watching as his flame-haired temptress touched herself. He smelled the rich scent of her arousal, saw the glistening juices on her fingertips, heard the depth of her breathing. She was a wonderful sight to behold. Randall didn't dare shift in his seat for fear he'd hurt worse.

He watched, as her breasts heaved and she stroked herself to a shuddering orgasm.

Ariel swallowed, eyes closed. Her head tipped forward; she slitted them open and smiled at him. The smallest gesture had him between her legs in a flash, hands in her hair, drawing her to him. He kissed her deeply, ferociously.

Her hands went to his waist and she undid his pants, loosing the turgid member inside. He breathed in relief and his hands dropped to her waist. He lifted her to the desk and, without further preamble, plunged into her warm, wet depths.

Her fingernails dug in to his arms as she wrapped her legs around his waist. Her head slid back and forth on her hair, mouth open, making sounds of delight. Her breasts bounced in time with each thrust.

His hands were planted on either side of her hips, bracing against the desk top to control his movements. She was wet, slippery silk and he filled all of her.

He started panting lightly, increasing his pace, feeling the telltale signs of his impending explosion within his mate's waiting channel. His movements grew jerky, until he pressed deeply into her, dropping down to set his teeth at her neck.

As he bit down and ground against her sweet spot, he howled his release as he unloaded inside her.

--

Lyssa inhaled deeply and looked up at her own mate. The expression on his face was on the serious side, a smile on his lips, something else in his eyes.

Emmett leaned down. His hand ran down from her forehead to the top of her head and he kissed her lightly.

He pulled away as she began to reach for him. Lyssa swallowed and pressed her lips together, confused.

But, he walked to the bottom of the bed and took hold of her feet. He rubbed them, pressed circles into the soles with his thumbs. Lyssa rolled her head to one side and groaned. He continued, for a while, then grabbed her ankles. Emmett slid his hands up her legs as she gasped. [What's under the dress?]

Lyssa exhaled. [Me.]

Emmett closed his eyes as he slid his hands upward, under the dress, and considered a couple possible undergarments he would like to see beneath it. However, his hands contacted nothing but her skin as he came to her hips. He would take care not to damage this dress.

For later.

He was up to his elbows in a somewhat shiny, somewhat stiff fabric as his hands skimmed upwards. As he grasped her hips, thumbs rubbing into the hollows beside her hip bones, she tensed. He looked up to her dark eyes and watched as she forced herself to relax. Quietly, he asked, "Sweetheart, are you afraid of me?"

She turned her head, looking away. "Lyssa. Look at me." She swallowed. "Please."

She turned her head back. "You are, aren't you?" She didn't answer. "Can you tell me why?"

He barely caught her answer. "Punishment."

Emmett blinked at her. She looked a little teary. "Alphas didn't do anything so I figured they left it to you."

He stood still, though his thumbs continued their stroking, "Was it Ronnie?"

"Huh?"

"Did he grab you like this and hurt you?" Emmett growled.

Lyssa sounded small. "No. Not Ronnie."

Emmett inhaled and closed his eyes. They were off track. Punishment. She thought he would punish her. She expected it. "Lyssa, think back. We don't delay punishment. We aren't cruel that way." He inhaled, exhaled. "What I want to do is love my mate and show her how much I love her."

She sniffed. "Really?"

Emmett was a good deal older than his mate and realized that, while Ariel was trying to give him a taste of how Lyssa had felt, it had also managed to ratchet up her level of anxiety. Already leaning over, he continued downward and, through the dress, placed a kiss between his hands. [You are a complex creature, dear heart. We're still learning about you, how you'll react to things. You gave us quite a scare but no real harm was done.] He pulled back and stood upright. He went back to rubbing her feet.

He watched as she examined his face intently, as if looking for any sign of deception.

She blew out a breath and said, "OK."

He smiled at her, went to his knees, and kissed her foot. "My plan, for tonight, is to reacquaint myself with my mate's body and to reacquaint her with my touch." That got him a smile. Good. "And, Lyssa, I've got an idea of things I'd like to find under that dress, other than you. So, how 'bout we take it off and save it for another time?" That got him a chuckle. Even better.

In short order the dress was laid aside and her body was laid bare. His mate. His pup's mother. He would be careful and gentle with her, their first time since the loss of their second pup. He wanted her to be comfortable, happy. He wanted her to feel good. And, well, him, too.

Emmett took her shoulders and kissed her. Her hands went to his arms and she kissed back. He then laid her back down on the bed. He massaged her left calf and pressed kisses to it. He repeated it with her right calf, then the thighs, hands, arms.

Lyssa closed her eyes and focused on what he was doing. His hands were warm and strong, and gentle. The kisses were alternately light and firm. He rolled her over, rubbed her neck, then her back, ending on her butt.

She relaxed completely, letting all her cares and worries fall away. Little Em was almost a year old and doing pretty good. She grew up without being able to send telepathic messages. She was really sad about the other baby but, well, she swallowed, they had time. Although she didn't think she'd ever really get over the loss. The resolution would go away. It would be decided. All she had to do was keep control at the meetings. She'd done it before. And Em. They'd been together more than 4 years now. They had their little boy and she was happy to be with him. He was kind, considerate, loving, unlike a lot of the guys she'd been with. She started thinking of all he'd done for her. As he rolled her to her back, she opened her eyes and really smiled at him.

He stopped. "What?"