For Silence's Sae

Dear Readers,

I submit, for your reading pleasure, the next installment of Lyssa and Emmett's story.

KemMyst

*******

Rumors were rampant. Pack members looked at each other suspiciously. They all assumed one of the wolves came from Ross but there had to be another. Gates wolves knew the other had come from Foster. Family members, who were now part of other packs, spoke to each other. Many were unsure of what to do. But all had opinions.

Lyssa continued to get calls. How could she allow it? The resolution couldn't be allowed to pass. She had been human, she had brought this to them. It was an abomination. But she had also gotten a couple of hurried, whispered calls from wolves who thought it should pass.

Several unmated wolves, particularly those who had been unmated for a long time, were harassed. Sampson, whose status was now known to his pack, was challenged regularly, particularly at first. But, after beating up all of them, the tide slowed. And, finally, someone left a dead rat at his door. He couldn't smell who it had been, the smell of plastic meant someone had used a bag to move it.

And, since Sampson had outed himself, the word also spread that the Ross Beta was, well, a disgusting faggot. An ass-raper. And some began to wonder which young males might have been corrupted. After all, would the young ones be able to resist the status of a Beta? Would they feel compelled to perform whatever depraved act he commanded? Parents questioned their sons closely, but none came forward with any accusation.

The packs were in turmoil over it.

Calvin and Stephanie watched and worried. Sampson appeared regularly with new bruises and claw marks. Stephanie and Sharilyn asked as they sewed him up more than once, but he stoically refused to answer. Wolves that would have come to him for advice, assistance, prior to this, now went to the Alphas. His life had become hellish.

Calvin considered another pack meeting. To command that it all stop. But, that would only send the activities underground. It wouldn't solve a thing.

Only one thing had changed. His Beta had admitted his preference for his own sex. He was still the same werewolf he had been before but he had been transformed, at that statement, to something some deemed dangerous.

And, the association between Sampson and Phillip began to spread.

Phil then became a target. Females laughed and flirted. Males jostled him and apologized when they 'inadvertently' hit him. The equipment he used to clear snow was sabotaged. Nothing too difficult to fix, but enough to slow him down.

--

Emmanuel's testing was essentially complete; they had found no one who could send to him.

Emmaline was in a tizzy. So many people were upset. Emmanuel's mama was worried about him, his daddy was worried about his mama, and a bunch of adults were a bit mad at his mama. The Alphas were worried about everyone and so were the healers.

A couple of pack members were happy, though. Thomas was in better spirits and the healer female, Natalie, was going to have a pup.

Her mother, Cassie, saw how out of sorts her young daughter was and sent her off to find Emmanuel to play outside. [Manwell, where are you?]

Lyssa looked over as Emmanuel yipped and turned, looking around frantically. The whites of his eyes showed. "Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"Emleen."

Lyssa crouched. "OK. What about her?"

"Emleen talk."

"OK, Em. Go find her." She stood to go open the door and little fingers grabbed for her.

"No, mama. Emleen head talk me."

Lyssa's eyes widened and she picked him up. "You heard her? Here?" Lyssa put two fingers to his forehead. Emmanuel nodded vigorously.

She smiled and hugged him tightly, until he squirmed. She the tossed him into the air and laughed. And Emmanuel giggled in response. She hugged him again, twisting side to side. Relief flowed over her like cool water. [Can you head talk to Emmaline?]

Emmanuel looked at her and patted her cheek. "Mama happy?"

Her face fell. [Emmanuel, can you hear mama?]

"Mama not happy?"

Lyssa closed her eyes and swallowed. Opened them and offered him a smile. She sighed. "Sweetie, can you head talk to Emmaline?"

He scrunched up his face, eyes closed, and grunted.

Lyssa brushed his dark hair back from his face and he opened his dark eyes. "How 'bout you go find her, huh?"

Emmanuel smiled at her and started to squirm out of her arms. "Give mama a kiss and go." He gave her a smooch and she let him down and opened the door.

Lyssa sighed again. It was something. He couldn't hear her but he could hear someone. He wasn't completely deaf.

The pack had been told, of course. They had to know to watch out for him.

[Em, I'm going to the healers. Can you come?]

[What's wrong?]

[Nothing. Em heard Emmaline.]

[Coming.]

There was another talk with the healers, who felt positively but could give no assurances. A conversation with the Alphas, who were pleased to hear about it. Cassie and Samuel were called in. It would be impressed upon Emmaline that she would be responsible for relaying important messages to him; that he could hear her but couldn't answer. She was terribly young for such responsibility, but was the only one who could reach him that way.

--

Emmett went to his Alphas on the morning following the full moon. They looked puzzled as he stood before them. He looked unsure.

"What do you want of us, my friend?"

Emmett closed his eyes and inhaled. "I come with a petition, my Alphas."

"Petitions were yesterday, Emmett, as you well know."

Ariel walked toward their first Beta. "Emmett, you seem distressed."

"I wish to petition on behalf of my mate."

"Why isn't she here with you? Why didn't you bring this up yesterday?"

"I want to keep this quiet. I don't want Lyssa to know."

--

On the day following the full moon, Joanna brought her mate and daughter to visit.

Nathan looked to be proud of himself and Joanna was fairly bursting with news.

Emmett realized they had arrived when Lyria ran under his feet looking for playmates.

Emmanuel and Emmaline were in the kitchen looking for snacks. Hannah had given each of them a cookie and a glass of milk.

Emmett leaned against the doorjamb as Joanna told Nathan to tell her parents their news.

"They're your parents, Jo. I told mine." They were both smiling broadly, excited.

Ariel's eyes flicked between the two. Joanna caught Nathan's hand. "You're having another pup."

They stopped, startled. It took a couple of seconds before they recovered enough to answer, in unison. "No."

Randall spoke up then. "Would one of you, then, be so kind as to tell us the good news?"

"Nathan's been promoted to the motorcycle division!" Joanna bounced and kissed her mate, throwing her arms around his neck.

"Congratulations!" came from three throats. Emmett walked in and clapped Nathan on the back. He shook his hand and said, "Good for you."

Lyssa found out Jo had come for a visit when Lyria found Emmanuel and barked at him. She had been downstairs in the dining room, at one of the big tables, opposite the windows, working on a list of wolves that had called her and their arguments about the same sex mating resolution. She was trying to figure out who was in favor and who was against, and how she might counter those points. It seemed to her that she was probably going to have to mediate the discussions. Probably yelling and arguing. Sigh.

Jo was here. She'd go see her friend and forget about this for a few minutes.

Lyssa found them and walked in, smiling. Jo and Nathan looked happy and the Alphas, and Emmett, were talking with them.

Jo looked over as Lyssa entered. Her friend looked tired, worried. She offered a smile. "Hey, Lys, how're you?"

"OK, Jo. Nice to see you."

They talked about Nathan's promotion and other things going on in the packs. After a while, Emmett got up, kissed his mate, and begged duties outside. Lyssa watched him go.

A bit longer and Jo pulled Lyssa aside. "What's going on, Lys? You look tired."

Lyssa looked at her young friend and swallowed. She closed her eyes and felt herself starting to tear up. "C'mon, Lys. Tell me."

It then all came out in a rush. "Everyone's driving me nuts over the new resolution. Emmanuel's deaf and Emmett's started disappearing."

Jo quickly filtered through the responses. "Deaf? Little Em's deaf?"

Lyssa kindof waved her hand. "Wolf-deaf. He can't hear anybody." Lyssa sighed. "Except Emmaline."

Jo took a drink, thinking. How would she feel if Lyria couldn't hear her? Youngsters tended to run around as cubs since it gave them much more autonomy than in their human forms. "No one else?"

Lyssa shook her head. "Well, that's weird. That's really weird. But he can hear Emmaline?"

Lyssa nodded. "Well, that's something, isn't it?" A pause. "Does he send?" Lyssa shook her head again. "Wow."

Lyssa's voice was kindof quiet. "He got bit by a snake during the warm spell we had and when the healers were looking at him they figured out he couldn't hear." She sniffled. "My baby can't hear me."

Jo put a hand on Lyssa's arm. "He's OK, isn't he?" Lyssa looked at her, confused. "The snake?"

"Oh, uh, yeah. He was sick for a day or two but he's good now."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Um. I don't know. I'm getting sick of getting calls from everyone about the resolution."

Jo sighed. "Yeah. OK, I get it. But he can hear Emmaline."

"Yeah."

"Well, that's good, isn't it?" Jo rubbed her arm. "Hey, Lys. He's healthy. He can project and Emmaline can send to him. So. It's pretty good. Right?"

Lyssa inhaled, exhaled. "Yeah. I guess."

"What's Em say?"

"Pretty much the same things."

"But you're not believing it."

"How would you feel? Your baby gets hurt, has something wrong with him, and your mate starts being," a shuddering breath, "away."

"You said that before. What do you mean by that?"

"He's been gone a lot lately. The past four or five days."

"I'm sure it's his duties, Lys. He must have told you what he's up to."

"New security measures."

"Is he the only one gone?"

"No."

"Alright, then. Hey, you're tired. Tired of everybody after you about the same sex thing. And you found something out about Little Em that wasn't so good. And Em's sometimes gone more, sometimes less. Sounds like everything just kinda came together at once."

Lyssa took a breath. "I guess."

"It's a rough patch. The resolution will be decided. Little Em will be fine." Joanna leaned forward, taking her hands. "Emmett loves you Lyssa. He does."

Lyssa shook herself. "So, things goin' good with you guys, huh?"

Joanna brightened. "Yeah. Nathan's really excited."

--

The next morning, at breakfast, the pups were running around the tables, as usual. The adults were talking, eating, discussing the resolution, the weather.

Emmett was looking at Lyssa, who wasn't eating much of anything. He took her hand. "Mate, are you alright?"

"I'm not hungry."

Emmett looked at her with concern. "Sweetheart, are you feeling alright?"

"I'm fine."

"Lyssa, dear heart..."

She stood, crying, and yelled, "I said, I'm fine!"

Everyone looked at her. Everyone in the vicinity smelled it then. Blood.

"Healers!"

Lyssa was in a bed, crying. Emmett was holding her hand. "I'm sorry, Em, I'm sorry."

"Sh, sweetheart. You didn't do anything wrong."

Ariel had consulted with the healers and now looked in at the Beta pair. She heard Lyssa's statement and Emmett's response. She took a deep breath. [Emmett, I know you're both mourning the loss of a pup. Don't pull away from your mate in your grief.]

Emmett drew a shuddering breath, looked up at Ariel, then back down to Lyssa.

Emmaline whined outside.

Emmett remained with Lyssa for two days, curling up with her in the bed. He periodically coaxed her into eating something.

Emmaline snuggled with Emmanuel again. It wasn't until Lyssa woke to him whimpering in her arms that she started to pull herself together. She had to take care of her little boy.

--

The Ross Alphas requested the privilege of a visit to the Foster pack.

It was a couple of days later that Calvin and Stephanie drove to the Foster den. Mary and Claude greeted the Ross Alphas in the foyer of the den and brought them to a small room just around the corner from the front door. A few curious wolves watched the arrival. The information rippled through the pack.

After offering seats and refreshments, Claude sat. Mary stood behind his chair, a hand on his shoulder. He took a deep breath. "I assume this has to do with your resolution?"

"Indeed, Alpha Foster. Since wolves from our packs are affected, I thought it best if we spoke."

"And, what would you like to discuss?"

"How fares your pack member? Ours is experiencing regular challenges since he identified himself."

Claude looked up at his mate. "We have heard nothing of the sort."

Mary looked thoughtful. "It has been taking him longer to perform his duties lately."

[Phillip.] [Yes, Alpha Foster.] [Please come to the Yellow Room.] [Yes, my Alpha.]

"Do you have any problem with his..inclination?"

"He is my pack, Ross. He has harmed no one."

Calvin closed his eyes and took a breath. Stephanie tensed. It was almost a challenge. Calvin put a hand on his mate's arm. "We meant no disrespect, Alpha Foster. The issue, as you well know, is stirring up a lot of emotion on both sides. I am only trying to gauge the welfare of my own pack member if he were to come here, if you would allow it, if you would vote for..."

A knock at the door interrupted them. Claude looked at Calvin, who gave a slight nod, "Come."

Phillip entered the room, eyes down. "You called for me, Alpha Foster?"

The Ross Alphas looked him over. About average size, maybe a bit taller. Blonde hair with curls. They couldn't see his eyes.

"These are the Ross Alphas."

Phil's eyes flicked to them, then back down. "Alpha Ross."

"Has anyone been challenging you, harming you in any way?"

He shook his head. "No, my Alpha." His stance showed his discomfort.

"What are you not saying?" Phil swallowed. "Speak."

"There have been problems with the equipment lately."

"What do you mean? Be explicit."

Another knock. Two young wolves came in, carrying trays. Coffee and water was served and a tray of pastries placed on a small table.

"Thank you, Brian. Angela."

As the door clicked closed the Foster Alpha prompted, "Phillip?"

"Yes, Alpha." A pause. "There have been instances of flattened tires, missing spark plugs and belts."

"You didn't report this."

"No, Alpha."

Claude looked at his pack member, considering. "Thank you, Phillip."

As Phil turned to leave, Calvin said, "Alpha Foster, may I ask a question?"

Claude nodded.

"Phillip, would you like my pack member to come here or would you care to visit my pack?"

A small smile came to Phil's face. "Yes, Alpha Ross." He paused, and glanced at his Alpha. "May I ask a question?"

"Yes, Phillip."

He turned to the Ross Alphas. "Is he... is he OK? Is your female pack member OK?"

Calvin and Stephanie looked at the young male. He looked a strange combination of sad, upset, and hopeful. Calvin looked at his mate, so she answered. "Our pack members are both in good health. Our Beta is, however, undergoing more challenges than usual."

They could hear concern in his voice now. "He's been hurt?" Phil thought of Sampson's face, of him bleeding.

"Sampson can take care of himself."

Phillip inhaled and dipped his head. "Alphas."

After the door clicked shut, Calvin asked, "How old is Phillip?"

The Foster Alphas looked at each other. "Twenty two."

[He is very young, mate.]

"So, Claude, if they wanted to be together, would you allow them to be together here?"

"Would you?"

"I would be sorry to lose a good Beta and a good friend but, yes, I would let him come here. To be with his mate."

"You believe they are mates?"

"It's a distinct possibility. Sampson has been in a dismal mood since the gathering. Your Phillip has shown more than casual concern for him."

"Why has your Beta not called for him?"

"Sampson is currently experiencing multiple challenges simply as a result of revealing his nature. Can you imagine how it would be if he had called to have a male brought into the pack?"

"A resolution will not change that."

"No. But it will offer some protection." There was a pause as they looked at each other. "You would rather it were two females, wouldn't you?"

"I admit, the thought of two males..."

Calvin looked at the other Alpha. "So, will you vote for the resolution?"

Claude inhaled. "Although I'm not entirely pleased at the thought, I see no real reason to vote against it. Phillip has done nothing to warrant a negative vote."

"Gates is vehemently opposed. He called me, ranting about their overstaying and telling me to keep them apart."

Claude grunted.

"If we can make any arguments, and things will have to calm down so that we can vote, I ask permission to have two of your pack members make statements and be available to answer questions."

"Phillip?" Calvin nodded. "My healer?"

"No." Cal exhaled. "His mother."

--

Emmett continued to be absent a lot. He'd be up and gone about first light and would come home after dark. Some of the other males would be gone about the same time, usually three or four of them.

She couldn't point to anything in particular, but it just felt off to her. He didn't smell like anything strange, just like he had been working. But he also came home tired, and fell asleep early.

Lyssa was feeling kind of miserable. Emmett wasn't around much. Emmanuel could hear Emmaline but no one else and didn't seem to be able to send. They were getting her to understand that she was the only one he could hear and that she had to tell him if she heard anything important. Lyssa was also trying to get him to stop letting everyone know he had to pee.

The pack council, the resolution, was such a mess. Why had Stephanie brought it up now? OK, yeah, their Beta.

And she had to heal after the miscarriage, so she couldn't have sex, but she missed Em.

She had thought her life was everything she wanted but not so much now.

[Madam Beta?]

Sigh. [Yes, Thomas.]

[I'd like to ask you about Christmas presents.]

Oh. Lorelei. In dating a human woman, he was being introduced to human customs.

--

Madeline ran out to where Erich, her mate, was helping Emmett work on a project. She skidded to a a stop and looked over at what they were working on. [Emmett?]

[Hey, Madeline, Erich's right here.]

[Thanks, Emmett, but I want to talk to you.]

Emmett put down what he was doing and moved toward the small female. Madeline was much smaller than his own mate and he looked down at purply eyes framed by brown hair, tanned skin, breasts smaller than Lyssa's, and it looked like she had recently been shaved naked, an activity Lyssa had brought into the pack.

"What's up, Madeline?"

Madeline looked down and ran a toe back and forth in the snow. "Well, um, I think Lyssa needs to get out."

"O. K?"

"I wanna call Joanna and see about going out some night."

Emmett took a moment and put a hand on Madeline's shoulder. "I think that's a good idea."

A growl from behind him had him snatching his hand back and turning to face the wolf behind him. A brown wolf with two white socks. "Sorry, Erich."

Male wolves were very protective of their mates, possessive. "Has your mate spoken to you about her idea?"

Erich walked over, wrapped his arms around his mate, and spun her. Madeline giggled. He then nibbled under her ear. "What idea, Blossom?"

Her voice got a bit lower in the presence of her mate. "Going out with Lyssa and Joanna."

He sniffed along her shoulder, laid a light kiss there. "When?"