Pursuit of Happiness 09

Michael was warm, relaxed, a soft female beside him.

He reaches over, cups a soft breast, grabs a nipple, and twists.

A sharp intake of breath and brown eyes snap open. He puts his face to her dark hair. "Hands and knees, E."

Erica rolled and got up on her hands and knees, smiling. He was going to do it.

Michael slid his early morning erection into her well-fucked pussy and shoved her face into the bedcovers. He thrust roughly, hard, balls slapping against her sticky thighs. He digs into her hips, pounding to his own orgasm, howling when he ties with her and fills her, yet again. Her eyes open, he hadn't bitten her.

Michael pulls out, dripping onto the sheets as Erica turns to look at him, frustrated and surprised. "I thought you were gonna...?"

"Bite you? Mate you?" He snorts. "Got other plans, E. Wouldn't mind a mistress, though."

Erica lays there, stunned, as he wanders into the bathroom of the Alpha suite to shower. It had been a couple of days. Maybe he should drive over to take another look at his prize.

No. No. Stick to the plan. Best to stay away, just in case. He'd collect her just before he mated her.

Against all convention, Sampson had sought out and spoken to Calvin. None of the Omegas dared. Calvin had been resettled into a small room in the house.

He had been told he would be replaced in a couple of days by Michael's second, but hadn't been told who it was. How was he supposed to transfer the controls and information needed?

"You shouldn't be bringing me your concerns, Sam. You should speak to your Alpha."

"Cal, something's wrong. I can smell it."

"Do you have any evidence?"

"Purely circumstantial. Unresolved disputes. Pack members absent. Others upset. No evidence of any serious look into who crossed pack land with the Wyeth females. The Wyeth pack barred from performing their own investigation. There's no reason for most of this."

Calvin closes his eyes. "These are not decisions I would have made but Michael is Alpha now. It's up to him to learn his way. I can't help you."

Sampson sighs and clasps Calvin by the shoulder. "You wouldn't be helping me, Cal, but your pack."

Another pair of males drive out, searching for their stolen females.

Emmett, exhausted, finally falls asleep.

Joanna wakes, curled up behind her friend. She yawns, stretches, and looks around.

Nothing has changed in the Wyeth pack. Security was still increased although the perimeter sweeps had been stopped. Pack members were reminded to be wary.

The vehicular searches continue, three males now, in ever widening circles.

Randall, Ariel, Roland, Emmett, Erich, and Samuel were running on coffee and little sleep.

Nathan had requested a half day at work and was watching the slow crawl of the clock. He had a listing of half a dozen properties owned by the Ross pack that stood outside the compound. He was itching to check then out.

Thomas had settled himself outside the Ross den, watching the comings and goings.

The gathering of unmated, which was supposed to start that day, had been canceled, to the disappointment of all the attendees.

Joanna gets something to eat as her guard was changing again. They were laughing hysterically over the portrayal of the werewolf in Buffy, the Vampire Slayer.

She sits next to Lyssa, stroking her fur lightly and trying to untangle her dark hair.

Lyssa wakes this time to pain.

There was a searing pain in her arm. But, she wasn't supposed to move. She wasn't sure why.

She tries to keep her breathing even and not to move. She feels awful, smelly.

[Jo?], very quiet.

[Lyssa? Oh, Luna, are you alright?]

[Joanna. Try not to react. Where are we?]

[I don't know. Basement of some house.]

[How many are there?]

[Three males now. Unless Michael comes back.]

[Ross?]

[Yes. He said he'd kill you unless I came. He's gonna make me mate with him.]

Lyssa is quiet for a bit, thinking, or trying to. Her head was fuzzy and she was so tired. It takes a bit for her to understand what it all means.

[Lyssa?]

"She should be coming to again sometime soon."

"Don't know what the big deal is."

"Just keep an eye on her, you nitwit."

[What day is it?]

[Monday.]

Monday. She'd been knocked out for a couple of days. Joanna's birthday was Wednesday. [Do you have clothes?]

[Sort of.]

[Is it day or night?]

[Day, about noon.]

[Can you shield from me?]

[Lyssa, I can't get you out of here.]

[Yes or no, Jo?]

[OK. Yeah.]

[Listen to me very carefully, Joanna. They're looking for us. You know they haven't stopped. I'm going to ask you to do something very... difficult.]

[OK.] Lyssa hears the fear and uncertainty.

[Promise me. It's the only way to save us.]

[But...]

[Promise!]

[OK.], a small, quiet acquiescence.

[When I tell you to, block me. I'll move, get their attention, and hit them with everything I have. Run. Get as far away as you can. Stay on the road.]

[But, he'll kill you if I leave.]

[He'll kill me anyway when he's got you. You have to get help. You have to leave me.]

A pause. Joanna stares at the wall, biting her lip and trying not to cry.

Lyssa says a quick prayer and, before she can change her mind, says [OK, here we go, block me.] Lyssa whines and moves.

"There!" Alan snatches a syringe off the table and approaches her.

[BASTARDS!!!]

It's as if a small bomb goes off in each of their brains.

Alan topples onto her like a fallen tree, senseless.

Jason and Gerry wince and crumple.

Joanna stumbles, bolts for the door, wrenches it open, and shoots up the stairs. She dives through an open window, rolls on the porch, and heads for the road. The driveway isn't particularly short, but fear of being caught spurs her.

Just as she turns the corner and starts running down the road she hears a pained yell. "Come back here, you little bitch, or she's dead!"

All of the Ross pack, the Gates pack, and the Wyeth pack hear Lyssa's send. Even a couple of sensitive humans pick up on it and wonder.

However, while all of them may have heard it, only the Wyeth pack and a few in Ross understand who and what it was.

"What the hell was that?"

"Where did it come from?"

"It sounded female."

"Selene. What power."

Everyone stops to speculate.

Michael continues his conversation with Sampson for a bit, checks his watch, and says, "I have an appointment. We'll continue this later."

"Of course, Alpha."

Emmett races from a self-imposed perimeter sweep to the house. She was alive. And near enough to be heard.

Ariel clutches Randall's hand. [Lyssa! She's alive. Do you think Jo is with her?]

[Let's pray that was a diversion.]

Lunch dissolves into chaos as the males head for Randall, expecting orders.

Samuel and Thomas were out, driving around, looking for Joanna and Lyssa.

Thomas continued doing near sweeps of the area where the trail had been lost. He had a feeling they'd be close by.

He heard the call, loud, very loud, and clear. He jammed on the brakes. They were close.

Ruth was on the way to the hairdresser. Her daughter complained that it was a waste of money, since she rarely went anywhere, but she felt so much better with her hair done.

She sees a young woman running down the road, barefoot, in a dress two sizes too big for her. She's waving her arms. A man appeared to be chasing her.

A car! Oh, Luna, she had to get it to stop.

She stands in the middle of the road, waving her arms.

The car stops. "Help me! Please!"

The woman inside rolls down the window; Jason is closing.

"Please. I need to get home."

"C'mon, dear." Joanna jumps in the car.

"Lock the doors. Please, drive away."

Jason stands in the middle of the road and she slows. "No. Go around him. He'll hurt us."

"I don't want to hit him."

Jason smiles and stalks toward them. His voice drips sugar. "Jo. Sweetie. I'm not gonna hurt you."

He looks at Ruth. "Sorry, ma'am, she's gone off her medication again."

Joanna clutches at her arm. "No. He's lying. Please, we have to go."

Jason stands in front of the car, looking surprisingly normal. Ruth looks into his eyes, and shudders. Something in her recognizes the predator.

She tries to keep her voice from shaking. "All right, young man. I tell you what. I'm gonna take her to the police station. You can sort it out from there."

Jason's expression turns hard. "She belongs to me. Come out, Jo."

Ruth is almost paralyzed, looking at him through the windshield.

Joanna slams the car into reverse and shoves the accelerator down.

The tires squeal as the car reverses quickly.

Jason curses, then runs back for the garage and the truck.

"Stop! Stop!" Ruth is yelling and clutching her chest. Joanna is breathing hard.

She pulls her foot off the accelerator and the car slows, coming to rest sideways in the road.

"Please. Can we just turn around and get away from him? He's going to come after us."

Ruth, shaky, looks at her. "What's going on?"

"Can we just go to the police station, like you said?"

Ruth closes her eyes and tries to stop her heart from pounding. "I think that would be best."

She puts the car in drive and begins to turn around. "Oh. Thank you. Thank you."

Joanna turns back towards the house and sees a vehicle pulling out of the driveway. "Oh, no."

"What?"

"He's coming after us."

Nathan barely kept the bike upright when the scream hit him. "What in Luna's name?"

He had no idea what was said, what it meant, or where it came from, but someone sounded like they needed help.

He stopped for a couple of minutes to clear his mind and then decided to run around the block to see if he could find them.

It was a powerful send but it could have been either Joanna or the Beta female. And, since he had heard it, they couldn't be too far away.

Lyssa was unconscious again. When Alan had dropped onto her, he had knocked the breath out of her and fallen on her arm. The pain had caused her to black out.

Gerry crawls over, his head pounding, and shakes Alan. "Alan. Alan. Wake up. We're in deep shit. Alan!"

Alan groans and rolls over. "Luna. My head. What happened?"

"I dunno, man. But the girl is gone."

Alan comes bolt upright. "Luna! He's gonna kill us. What do we do?"

"We gotta run."

"What about Tracy, my boy? I can't just leave them."

"You won't be around if you're dead, either."

The both turn as they hear the roar of the truck as it pulls out.

"Alright, my pack. You heard the scream. That means Lyssa was alive a few minutes ago. And that Joanna was probably with her."

Emmett closes his eyes at Randall's wording. If it was a diversion, would Joanna have been able to get away? The scream affected everyone. Lyssa would have to be carrying her. They'd never get far that way. Could she get to a car?

"We will maintain a guard around the house. Emmett..."

"I'm not staying here, Randall."

Randall is not pleased with the interruption. "Pick. Four. Males. To guard. The rest of

you, three to a car. We're going to bring them home, along with anyone with them. Let's go!"

90

[Alex. Gordon. Justin. Jamie. Guard the house.]

[Yes, Emmett.]

The rest of the males, and Ariel, head for the garage. "Erich, you lead. Take us to the end of the trail. We'll fan out from there."

Jason throws open the garage door and leaps into the truck.

He'd run the old woman off the road, kill her, and get the bitch back. Gerry and Alan had better get the other one drugged again. There was no telling how far that send went.

This had to be done quickly or they'd really be screwed.

Tires squealing, he roars out of the driveway. The road was sparsely traveled and he expected no one in his way.

They were just down the road, sideways, maybe stalled. He grins. All he had to do was run them down.

"Hurry. Hurry. Please."

Ruth shakily puts the car in drive and turns the wheel. Moving forward, panicked, she stomps on the pedal but doesn't see the motorcycle.

With no place to go on the narrow road, Nathan dumps the bike.

Ruth screams and puts the car in the ditch.

Nathan picks up the bike, looks at the car, and sees the face of the Wyeth daughter he had met a few weeks prior. She was struggling to get out of the car.

"Joanna?"

She looks up, terror on her face, then, a flicker of recognition. "Nathan?"

"Come on!"

She levers the door open as the roar of the truck is heard and clambers up the bank.

He gets on the bike and revs the engine. "Get on!"

Joanna leaps onto the back of the bike and wraps her arms around his waist. At that, he takes off, the truck accelerating behind them. [Hold tight.]

He really didn't need to say anything as she had a deathgrip on him. Putting on a burst of speed, he takes a corner at 65.

With the truck receding, she takes a breath, adrenaline surging in her veins. [We have to help Lyssa.]

[Can you drive a bike?]

[No.]

[Then first we need to get you safe.]

[But they'll kill her.]

He didn't answer. They probably would, if she wasn't dead already, but he couldn't help her alone and Joanna would fall back into their hands. They had to get away.

Jason curses. Damn. She was gonna get away. No way he could keep up with a bike on twisting back roads.

He should go back and make sure the other one was dead.

No. Let the other two take care of her, he was gonna get his ass outta Dodge.

Joanna and Nathan come up on another car. [Stop.] He ignores her. [That's one of our cars! Stop.]

Nathan shifts down, slowing, as Joanna waves at the car.

Thomas is behind the wheel.

[Thomas! Back that way.], she points. [Lyssa's in a house, drugged, with two males. They're gonna kill her!] The car stops beside them.

"Rogues?"

"No. Ross pack. Hurry!"

Thomas looks at Nathan. "Get her home. Tell anyone who comes where I am."

"But.."

"Go! Now!"

The truck is behind them again and Nathan guns the accelerator, pulling the front wheel off the ground. [That's one of them!]

Thomas moves the car, trying to block the road. Jason takes the front bumper off as he goes after Joanna again. The motorcycle gets farther away.

Losing the motorcycle again, and, with the situation rapidly deteriorating and word spreading, he takes the next left towards freedom, of a sort. If Michael Ross was going to be pulled down, he wasn't going with him.

Alan and Gerry were on their own.

[Joanna!] [Lyssa!]

The Wyeth pack calls as they drive, searching for their missing members, hoping to find them, hoping they were still alive.

Four vehicles trailed Erich, on the way to the other side of the Ross range.

Emmett is in the second, impatient, frustrated. Had they gotten away? What would they find? Would they find them, even now?

Alan gets up. "He took the fuckin' truck! What're we gonna do?"

"Go home. Deny everything?"

"Michael knows, dammit. We're dead."

"Well, then, she is, too."

Gerry strides over and gives Lyssa a kick in the ribs.

She grunts and whines. Another kick, another grunt. "Miserable bitch! I'll make you so fucking sorry before you die!" He starts kicking her viciously.

Pain. Hurt. A male yelling. She knows nothing else.

When she rolls over and tries to curl into a ball, he kicks her in the kidneys a couple of times.

Then he straddles her and starts punching.

"Gerry, if you're gonna do it, just kill her and get on with it. There's no telling when someone will get here."

The sound of a vehicle is heard, slowing.

"C'mon, dammit! Before someone finds us."

"Damn bitch!" He stops punching and grabs her by the throat.

She hurt, everywhere.

She knows there is a good reason why but is having trouble thinking of anything but the pain.

Joanna. That was it. She'd gotten away, it seemed.

Air. Suddenly she couldn't get air.

She brings her hands up to her throat and yelps as the broken bones in her arm grind together.

She opens her eyes to her attacker, throttling the life out of her.

She gets her legs under her and tries to buck him off, weakly. [EMMETT, I'm...]

A brown furred wolf man saunters down the steps.

"Ya know, you could at least have some fun with her, before you kill her."

"Who are you?"

"Bitch messed up my life a couple of years ago."

"So, you're Wyeth pack? You're here to save her."

Thomas notes the other male moving around behind him. He barks a laugh. "Seriously, I wouldn't mind seeing her dead. But I'd rather fuck her first." Thomas pulls off his sweatpants, revealing a semi-rigid dick.

Gerry grins briefly. "I think you might be right."

"I get first shot, since I came up with it. Get her over a chair."

A motorcycle slows as they approach. The male driving it waves at them.

A face peers out from behind the driver.

Pale, light hair, wide blue eyes. Joanna.

[Hurry! Lyssa! Back that way and take a left.]

There were two cars approaching since the searchers had split three ways. [Jo?]

As Nathan stops, Joanna jumps off the bike and runs over. Roland is driving the first car, Paul the second. Ariel is inside, fumbling for the doorhandle.

"Back that way, left. Hurry! They'll kill her."

"Where? How many?"

Nathan answers as Ariel throws her arms around her daughter and Joanna bursts into tears. "She said two males. On Alta, about 3/4 mile from Ridgefield, past a tan Buick in the ditch."

Ariel points. "Go get her." The two cars take off.

She smooths her daughter's hair down the side of her head and cradles her face. "Are you alright?"

Joanna bounces. "I'm good, Mom, but Lyssa.."

"They'll get her, sweetheart. Who's this?"

"Nathan Severn, Mom. He saved me."

[EMMETT, I'm sorry.]

The other wolves in the car look at him as he yells, "No!" He could hear how weak she was, hear the pain in her send. It pierced his heart.

"Hold on, Lyssa. We're coming." [Tell me where you are.]

Abruptly, they all get the broad send from Roland. [Alta Way, off of Ridgefield. Lyssa's there with two males. Joanna's safe. We're close.]

Emmett and Erich spin the wheels, turn around, and head back the other way.

[Hold on, mate. Fight. We're almost there.]

Randall guns the accelerator. He was farther out than the others.

[Where's Jo?]

[Moreland, near Ridgefield.] It is Ariel who answers.

[Is there a male with you?]

[Yes. One.]

[I'm on my way.]

Thomas hauls over a chair as Gerry grabs Lyssa and throws her over it.

It hurt. Everything hurt.

She smells the male behind her, smells arousal. Damn. They were gonna rape her. She whimpers.

Time. It was more time.

She caught the scent of a familiar male. Thomas. Oh, shit.

"Hey! I said, me first."

"Back off, asshole. I got her."

Quiet, no more than a whisper, Lyssa hears [... on... Fight.... almost..]

Mustering her strength, she twisted and clawed the male. And fell off the chair.

Lyssa lets out a yelp and a whine as the male drops onto her, straddling her, his dick hard and ready. "I'll fuck you now, bitch."

She forces her eyes open again and focuses on the point between his eyes.

[FUCK YOU!!!]

He crashes down onto her as Thomas launches himself at Alan.

[You can have her. I just wanna get out of here.]

[You're not going anywhere. You have to answer for this.]

[It wasn't me.] The plea goes out but conversation stops as they concentrate on the fight.

Thomas has blocked the route out and Alan is desperate to get away. They grapple. With a strength stemming from that desperation, Alan manages to get the upper hand quickly.

Lyssa is again out. Seriously injured, she's now crushed beneath 230 pounds of dead weight.

Michael Ross sees evidence of his plan unraveling.

He had only been to the house once, briefly, so his scent probably hadn't lingered.

Jason, Alan, Gerry would likely be killed.

So, Wyeth would only have the girl's word for what happened.