Animal Lover

Dear Readers,

Thank you for your continued encouragement and comments. I've had fun with this. Here is the final chapter of Animal Lover.

KemMyst

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Emmett rises with the sun, sounds of the waking den comes in through the broken door. Faces are occasionally seen, looking in briefly.

Lyssa yawns and looks at him as he leans over her. "Good morning."

She checks her breath and winces, pushing at him. "I should brush my teeth and take a shower."

"You smell good. You took a shower last night."

"I feel gross, Em. Let me take a shower." He reluctantly releases her and inhales deeply. "Breakfast is ready. Don't take too long."

Ten minutes later, she comes out, toweling off. At the closet, she drops the towel and pulls on a sweater. Turning to pull on her jeans, she squeaks when she realizes the door is still partway open and others can see her.

"God, Emmett." He's been watching her dress, smiling, and doesn't understand why she's concerned. "The door."

"In case it's escaped you, nudity is not an issue with us."

"Then why do you even have doors?"

"We do like privacy, at times. We do, occasionally, have human visitors. I'll have it fixed today. Come." He holds out a hand.

They walk together to breakfast and Lyssa sits beside Emmett this morning, signaling a change to the other wolves. Lyssa eats a generous breakfast and Emmett eats like a starving man. Lyssa laughs at him.

"What? I've been on half rations for a week."

As the meal ends, he stands and kisses her. "Where are you going?"

"Gotta catch up on work. I'll come see you as soon as I can."

Joanna walks up with a fairly young-looking couple. "This is Anna and Jeremy. Anna is the last human brought into the pack. They'll answer your questions and tell you what's involved."

Lyssa colors thinking of the only times she's ever seen them.

Anna takes her hand. "Come along, where we can talk. And, believe me, after a while, you won't even notice such things."

They walk into what looks like a family entertainment room. Joanna, Stephanie, Lyssa, Anna, and Jeremy sit down on comfortable seating. "Now, Lyssa, it's been a while but I remember being embarrassed about everyone walking around naked. But, for us, it isn't unusual to be seen that way, natural. Clothes tend to get in the way if you need or want to shift into another form."

"Aren't you cold?"

"No. We get that from the wolf."

"Didn't someone way you were changed 20 years ago? You only look like you're in your thirties. You must have been a child." Lyssa frowns in disgust. "Emmett told me how.."

"I was 25. Another gift from the wolf."

"But, that would make you 45, you don't look that old."

"I'm 47, not that we really keep track. Here." Anna hands over an old driver's license.

Lyssa looks at the license, looks at Anna, and back at the license. "47?" Anna nods. "How old are you?" She looks to Jeremy.

"62."

"Stephanie?"

Stephanie looks perplexed. "Let's see, what year is it? Oh, right. That would make me 76."

Lyssa's eyes bug out. "No. Way." She turns to Joanna. "Don't tell me you're 30 or something."

Joanna smiles. "Nope. Fifteen. Roland is 47. Dad is 82 and Mom is, um, 84."

"Wait. That would mean she was about 70 when she had you." Joanna nods.

"How long do you live? How long can you have kids?" A pause.

"A long time, Lyssa. Wolves don't have menopause."

"OK. How old is he?"

Anna squeezes her mate's hand. "Lyssa, you should ask him. Most of us don't keep track."

"But. But." An exhale and she lays the driver's license aside. "It can't all be 'gifts.'"

"There are restrictions. Keeping our secret. Keeping within pack range. Working to provide for or support the pack in some manner. Accepting the leadership of the Alpha pair. Understanding that much of what you use, or work with, or live in, is community property. We have few individual possessions."

Lyssa's hands suddenly go to her throat and she searches around her neck for the chain. Gone. She closes her eyes.

Joanna looks at her with concern. "Lyssa, what is it?"

"It's gone."

"What? What is it?"

Lyssa sniffles. "Just a stupid blue glass heart my father gave my mother, and her engagement ring. It was on a silver chain. I had it yesterday."

Joanna takes her hand. "We'll look for it, Lyssa. We'll find it." [Anton. Check the car Erich and Samuel came back in yesterday. Looking for jewelry. Silver chain. Blue glass heart. Ring.] [Certainly, I'll let you know.] [Maggie..] The requests are repeated.

"OK. We're checking the car, the laundry, no one's seen it in the house. We'll check Emmett's room." She rises, pulling Lyssa up. "Anna, Jeremy, thank you, we may ask more of you later."

"Wait. How do you know the car's being looked at, or the laundry?"

"Emmett didn't tell you? We mindspeak."

"Is that what he meant?" Joanna looks to Lyssa. "When Emmett said he couldn't talk to me from a distance, when he asked if I called to him with my mind. Are you all in each others' heads? You read minds? Omigod."

"Calm down, Lyssa. It's not like that." They start taking the stairs to the third floor. "You can talk to individuals or a few people at a time, depending on your strength and control. Dad can talk to the entire pack at once, he has to be able to, as Alpha. Mom, too. Since the pack has accepted Emmett as Beta, he can call out to them, too. Roland, too, as Alpha heir. We can't talk as wolves, but we have to be able to communicate."

"We aren't in each others' heads all the time, or even listening. It's like a telephone call; they have to accept at the other end."

"You may also have some ability to sense feelings through the bond."

They reach the door to Emmett's room, which is being fixed.

"OK, but how did I do that? Can you call me?"

"Emmett and Stephanie tried when they were looking for you. So it looks like we can't connect to you."

"Then how did I call to Emmett?"

"You really, really wanted him to find you." Joanna looks around the room. "OK, couch, bathroom, bed. Anywhere else?"

"Um, no."

[There is no jewelry of any kind in the cars. The Escalade is being repaired, we will check it as soon as possible.]

"Damn, I hoped it was there."

"What?"

"It's not in either of the cars."

There's no evidence of ring, chain, or pendant in the bathroom.

The bed is pulled apart, nothing there either. Only a couple of dust bunnies under it.

Joanna's pulling couch cushions off when Lyssa notices a couple of photo albums on a table. She walks over and places her hand on the top one. She takes a deep breath, and opens the cover.

It was true, she hadn't lost everything. There were pictures of her, her parents, her brother and sister. "He said you told him to find the things I'd miss if I lost them." Joanna smiles and nods. Lyssa drops the cover. "Thank you." She gets a little teary.

"We'll find it, Lyssa. We're wolves, we hunt things down."

Emmett comes to get her for lunch as she and Joanna are reassembling the bed.

He walks up behind her and she shrieks when he snakes arms around her waist and kisses the top of her head.

Joanna grimaces, "Ow. That hurts." and shakes her head. "I guess she's got one defense."

"I snuck up on her, Jo. We should address that in her training."

"Standing right here," she elbows Emmett in the ribs and he chuckles.

"I've got an errand to run this afternoon. I've come to take you to lunch but I may be late for dinner." He nuzzles her neck.

"We're not alone."

"MMmm." He pulls her closer. "In case it's escaped your keen notice, sweetheart, wolves are a very passionate bunch." A noise startles both of them. Joanna laughs.

"Did you growl?"

"He's just hungry. C'mon."

After lunch he disappears again and Joanna and Stephanie take Lyssa to the training room. "I'm not in workout clothes."

"No one will ever wait for you to change. Besides, we won't be doing too much today. We need to show you some things, since you haven't grown up as a wolf. And there are other things you should know, since you aren't one."

Stephanie models the stances and body postures of a wolf in various emotional states. She's drilled until she knew them all, then a male wolf is called in and she is tested again.

Next comes discussions of standard wolf attack strategies against human form. And she is shown ways to guard against having her throat taken out, as well as some possible moves to fend off a bite.

She finishes that session with red marks on her neck, tired arms, and a sore butt.

As Lyssa dusts herself off, Joanna holds up a strip of cloth. "You're not gonna tie me up and ask me to do that?"

"What? Oh, no. We're going to blindfold you and see if you can figure out where we are."

A chair is placed in the middle of the room and Lyssa is settled in it and blindfolded. "Now. I will stand still and Stephanie will move. And you will tell me where she is."

"How?"

"Listen. Smell. Feel. Alright, Stephanie, let's get her range."

Lyssa hears the click of claws on the floor. A little more time passes and Joanna says, "Where?"

Lyssa points to where she last heard claws, to her left, [Stephanie?], and is startled by a soft woof in front of her.

"Again."

Joanna is amazed at how dull Lyssa's senses are, any wolf pup would not have this much trouble in a game of blind man's bluff. In a quiet room, she's only able to figure out where Stephanie is about one time out of eight, and only when she's relatively close by.

Tired, frustrated, Lyssa calls a halt. "I'm not any good at this. I'm not going to get any better. I'm only human." A pause. "I gotta pee." She unties the blindfold and stands.

Joanna looks at her, hands on her hips. "You're not trying."

Lyssa bristles. "I am. I'm not like you!" Stephanie begins dressing.

Joanna sighs. "OK. OK. It's almost dinner time. Is there something you want to do?"

"I've been pretty much stuck inside for days. I wanna go for a walk."

Joanna's face lights up. "Yeah. Cool. Let's go." Stephanie starts pulling her clothing back off.

Several minutes later, the three women are outside, two in wolven form and one cold human.

Snow blankets the area, three or four inches deep, and a light snow continues to fall. Numerous tracks crisscrossed the area, a number headed toward the circle. Lyssa catches a glimpse of a couple of dark shapes flying through the woods together.

The cream colored wolf beside her whines and noses her hand.

Lyssa pats her head and scratches her ears. Joanna groans, then licks her hand and takes off at a run. Lyssa follows, walking on a well worn trail with a brown wolf walking beside her.

With the enthusiasm and energy of youth, Joanna frolics in the snow, running around in circles, coming up to Lyssa and bolting away again.

Lyssa lifts her face to the sky, catching a couple of snowflakes on her tongue and is practically bowled over by three gamboling wolf pups. Stephanie growls at them and they scatter, heading for the house.

After about 20 minutes, Lyssa looks around her, at the wonder of a winter wood, and wolves. She turns back to the house. It was beginning to get dark.

At dinner, neither Emmett nor Erich were there.

Joanna coaxes her into a movie and, between the darkness of the room and the limited sleep she'd gotten the night before, she fell asleep.

As the movie ends, Joanna nudges her. "Emmett?"

"Not back yet. You should go to bed."

Lyssa trudges wearily up the stairs. Three flights seemed almost too much. "Where is he?"

"On a hunt. He'll be back before morning."

The door had been fixed and Stephanie stood beside it.

Lyssa is so tired she practically falls into the bed. Before giving in to sleep, however, she pulls on one of Emmett's t-shirts.

She nestles into bedclothes containing Emmett's comforting scent and quickly falls asleep.

Emmett slides into the bed beside her a little after midnight. He smiles to himself as she cuddles up to him in her sleep, noting she was wearing one of his t-shirts.

She stirs the next morning with light streaming in the windows and no Emmett beside her. The water was running in the bathroom. He must be washing up.

She walks around the room, looking at things. He didn't have a whole lot of possessions which made the few items he did have stand out more.

The jawbone of a large animal with flat teeth. A picture of a group of wolves. She runs her fingers across the computer keyboard, looks at some of the movie titles. Action movies, big surprise.

She turns to see what he has in the bookcase when she sees something familiar.

She walks over to the table and puts her hand on the top of a photo album.

He's come out to find her looking around his room. He stands quietly, watching her move.

The grey t-shirt she had pulled on was big on her but he can see the swell of her breasts. Her legs reach out below the hem, and he gets occasional glimpses of her ass and her pubic area, the hair there completely grown back.

His cock begins to stir as he watches her.

She saw the photo album and stopped, a hand on the cover.

He watches that hand tremble, as she opens the cover. Pictures of her, her parents, her brother and sister. All she had left of them.

He quietly greets her. "Good morning."

She turns. He's lounging against the doorjamb from the bathroom.

Naked. Tanned. Freshly shaven. Pink lines on his body from more recent wounds.

His cock, partly swollen.

Brown eyes. Those chocolate brown eyes, looking at her.

He enters the room and pulls something from the bedside table.

"I have something for you."

She gapes as he walks over to her, the silver chain dangling from his hand.

He gently takes her hand and turns it palm up, then slowly lowers the chain into her hand. He closes her fingers over her palm and lightly kisses the top of her head.

Emmett then turns to his dresser and pulls out a t-shirt and a pair of jeans.

[Emmett.]

[Coming, Randall. Give me 5 minutes.]

Lyssa opens her hand, staring in wonder at the blue-glass heart and the engagement band of her mother.

The image gets blurry as unbidden tears spill onto her cheeks. He'd found them. She thought they were lost forever. He'd gone out, searched, and found them. For her.

She turns toward Emmet, who's pulling on his jeans.

"Yes."

He turns to look at her, jeans over his hips, but undone. He takes a step toward her, his face a mask of confusion.

"Yes."

Tears are running down her face. He steps closer, unsure what she was agreeing to but wanting to comfort her. He wraps his arms around her and holds her tightly, using his hand to cradle her head against his chest. "I'm glad I found it."

Her breath hitches, she clears her throat, and says again. "Yes."

He now holds her away from him, by the shoulders, and looks at her. "Excuse me?"

"Yes, I'll be your, your mate."

Emmett gusts out a breath and kisses the top of her head. "OK. I'll tell Randall."

He turns to finish dressing.

She pads after him and clutches his arm, forcing him to turn back to her. Grabbing his shoulders, she pulls him down and kisses him.

He pulls away slightly and looks at her. "Lyssa, I.."

She kisses him again and her hands go to his jeans, pushing them down.

As they hit the floor she wraps her arms around his waist and pulls him more tightly to her. She can feel the swelling of him between their bodies.

When he gasps for breath she takes a step back and peels the t-shirt over her head.

He growls at the mark Thomas has left on her, then sweeps her up into his arms. He carries her over to the bed.

[Randall. I'll need at least an hour.]

[Understood.]

He lays her out on the bed then stands there, looking at her.

She puts the necklace on the nightstand and she reaches an arm out to him. "Please."

He gets into the bed beside her and, putting his nose to her neck, inhales deeply. "What are you doing?"

"Getting your scent. And covering you in mine."

"Haven't you already done that?

He then takes her face in his hands and kisses away her tears.

He finds her lips and kisses her gently, as if he's still afraid of her. And they spend time exploring each others' mouths.

He then kisses her chin, nips along her jaw, and traces his tongue along her collarbone. Lower, he licks around her right breast, finds the nipple peaked and suckles on it, lavishing attention on the breast that Thomas had mauled. He kneads the other, flicking the nipple on that one with a fingernail, then pinching and rolling it.

Finally, he drops his head lower, tasting her skin as he went.

He concentrates on her navel, while his hand strokes her inner thighs, her labia.

His mouth drops to her mound, and his tongue flicks against her clitoris. She grabs his hair. "No. Emmett. I want to feel the rest of you there."

He comes back up. "Sweetheart, are you sure you want to do this now? Once I start..."

She puts a hand to his face. "I know. I want you to."

He looks into her dark brown eyes, searching for any evidence of hesitation or distaste. "Alright, then. I will mark you during our mating."

That scares her a little, but she nods. "OK."

Decided now, he positions the head of his cock at her entrance and begins his first push in.

He groans, moving slowly, allowing her to adjust to him, and assuring himself he wasn't hurting her in any way. He had to be careful, as strong as he was, not to lose himself completely. Once he had fit his crotch to hers he waits briefly, then begins the rhythmic dance of the sexes.

He had waited long for this day and he could barely believe it. His manhood was snugly sheathed in the warmth of his mate.

The bite would hurt, of that he had no doubt, but, if she were on the pinnacle, the pain would mix with pleasure. And, although it was true he had been with other females, it had been some time. He hoped to help her rise to that level of pleasure.

He starts moving slowly and she sighs at the feeling. Then she opens her eyes, looks into his, and smiles.

Grabbing his head, she pulls it down to kiss him. He continues to pump into her, long strokes, shorter ones, and begins to increase the tempo. He nips at her ear, laves the hollow of her throat, nibbles along the edge of her jaw.

Oh, she felt delightfully full. It felt so good to have him inside her.

As he moved, she felt a rubbing against her clitoris. And she groans at that.

She could feel the heat of him, radiating, keeping her warm. She could feel the sweat begin to rise on her body. So, she opens her eyes and smiles, watching him move above her, as he was watching her.

She takes his head and pulls him down for a kiss. Then she lifts her knees and wraps her legs around him, pulling him deeper, closer, so she could feel every inch of him.

He groans; she moans.

Deeper. She was taking him deeper.

He was fully enveloped in her warm, wet tunnel. And he would gladly have continued on that way until they both peaked.

But, in order to do this properly, he had to get her in another position. And soon.

So, he pulls out, to a sound of dismay from her, and flips her over.

He pulls her hips back and plunges back into her inviting pussy.

"MMmmm." A sound of pleasure from her.

He snakes an arm around her waist to stroke her clit. He feels the muscles in her lower abdomen start to tense.

Almost there. She was almost there. Just a little bit more.

And then, he leans down to her ear and says the three words guaranteed to frighten anyone. "Don't be afraid."

She opens her eyes, and they go wide, seeing grey fur sprout on his arms, feeling fur against her back, a claw, a claw?, flicking her clit. She half-considers trying to crawl out from under him.

He kept moving, kept flicking her clit, nothing hurt. Trust. She had to trust him. So, she went with it.