What Now?

Dear Readers,

Sorry it's been so long but a problem with my iPad caused me to lose all the documents I had on it and I had to recreate from a backup (thank goodness for those).

Anyway, here is the last chapter of What Now? I've got the first few lines of a next storyline but not a good idea of the end. I usually write my way to the end I envision. We'll have to see if it forms into something worthwhile.

Enjoy,

KemMyst

**********

She was stopping, in the middle of nowhere.

She was out of the car, crossing the ditch.

It was hot, sunny. Her chestnut hair contrasted against the green. Mmmm. He remembered that hair, but it was longer now.

Hmmm. He could use it when he forced her to suck his dick.

Damn! He had to move or he'd lose her.

He closed the door quietly and followed her into the brush.

Once past the treeline he spotted her. She was wearing some purple thing.

Lyssa led him away from the road. She had worn a color that would be easier to follow. She didn't have a really good plan, but, then, a lot would depend on him.

She moved rather quickly, but certainly not as fast as she could. She didn't want to give him time to think.

She also didn't want to run into anyone else cuz things could go bad really quickly.

Ronnie was almost salivating, imagining her horror when she found out he was the one who'd killed her precious hubby. That she'd brought it on herself. That it was all her fault.

And he'd have her again, oh, yeah.

Oof!

He'd fallen.

She snorted. Well, they were a good 500 years from the road. Now, where?

Ah! Lyssa slid through a couple of pine trees and went down on one knee. She untied and re-tied the sneaker, hoping her Skechers wouldn't get too messed up. She heard the scratching as he pushed through the limbs of the trees.

As she pressed the switch, he pounced.

As she went to the ground, she suppressed a snarl. Had to appear weak.

"You fuckin' slut! You've been sending me messages, haven't you?"

She struggled to turn over and he grabbed her by the hair, hauling her up. He slapped her, "Huh? Didn't you?"

Spitting out a couple of pine needles, she glared at him. He shook her and she ground out, "Yes."

"Why? Why are you bugging me?"

Lyssa was sitting on her heels and Ronnie had her by the hair with his fingers digging into her shoulder. "Because you killed him."

"And what makes you say that, you fucking cunt?" His voice was getting louder, his face was getting red, and he shook her again. He hadn't denied it.

She took a deep breath as he pulled her upright. "You hated Emmett since you met him. You're the only one who wanted him dead."

"So. I'm the only one. There're a lot of people scared of you. You fuckin' werewolves." He spit the word. "It was probably one of them."

Lyssa swallowed. "But, you didn't kill Mercy."

She saw the change in his face then. He started to smirk. She was right; she had him. Now, she just had to get him to admit it.

*****

Lyssa's cellphone rang four times then rolled over to voice mail. She'd taken a car and gone into town. Said she'd be back soon.

Emmett strode to the Alphas' office and walked in without knocking. Randall was fastening his pants and Ariel was smoothing down her bright green skirt. Two sets of eyes snapped to him. "Oh, um, forgive me, Alpha." The scent of sex hung heavy in the air. Ariel growled.

"Something has our Beta worried, El, or he would not have entered this way."

"I, I, I..." Emmett stuttered.

"Obviously not an attack or emergency. Breathe, Emmett. What's wrong?"

Emmett closed his eyes and swallowed. "Apologizes, my Alphas. Madam Alpha, do you know where Lyssa went?"

The Madam Alpha of Wyeth looked more closely at their first Beta. She inhaled deeply; he was afraid. "She said she was going out to look for something for the Ross Alpha." Ariel glanced at her mate, looked back. "Emmett, you don't think she's run again? Where's Emmanuel?"

"He's with the other pups. She wouldn't leave without him. I can't get her; she's not answering her phone. She should be back by now." He grabbed fistfuls of grey hair. "What if she's been in an accident? What if something else happened?"

"Emmett, sit. What's been going on?"

The First Beta of Wyeth began pacing. "She said it was a surprise..."

*****

"Mercy? Who's Mercy?"

Unless he had it in the back of his pants, he didn't have a gun.

Good. She had the advantage. She was strong, fast, and was on her own range. If she needed to, she could call out and have several males, if not half the pack, here in minutes.

"You shot her, before you killed him."

"Ha! You're dreaming, bitch."

"I'll tell you what happened. Somehow you found out that wolves were crossing there. Then you sat. And waited. You knew what Emmett looked like. You'd seen him before as a wolf. You got a gun and waited. You waited for days until you saw him." [Lyssa?]

She ignored the send. "They were supposed to cross as human, to avoid trouble, but decided not to. It probably happened more than it should have. He poked his head out and you shot him, shot her, and killed him. Then you left."

Ronnie licked his lips, looking at her breasts. She ignored it; she needed a confession.

"If it was somebody who hated us for being wolves, they'd have killed both of them."

*****

Mercy was off to a less visited part of the range; she wanted to be alone.

Voices. Rats, she'd have to find somewhere else.

Sigh.

Sounded like the Madam Beta but the male's voice...

*****

This wasn't working. He wasn't admitting anything.

She had to get him mad. It shouldn't be hard.

"That's the only thing you could think of, huh? Did you think if he was gone I'd come back to you?"

"Why would I want you back after you'd been with a fucking dog? And a fucking kid? No way."

"Seriously, Ronnie? Like you're anything great? What have you got going for you? A crappy car, crappy job, crappy apartment." She leaned forward, into his face. Her voice was low as she asked, "Got a crappy girlfriend to go with the rest of your crappy life?"

He let go of her hair and belted her, knocking her to the ground. "It's all your fault! Prison! They sent me to fucking prison! You're the reason I lost my job, my truck, everything! You needed to pay for that, you bitch!" He stood over her, fists clenched. As she held a hand to the side of her face, he got down and wrapped his hands around her throat.

——-

Mercy had moved around the side of the bunch of trees and frozen when she hit the scent trail. A stream of urine ran down her leg.

She knew that scent, a human.

[If anyone has any information on the location of the First Beta's mate, report.]

——-

Relax. Let him think he had the upper hand.

He squeezed and she grabbed his hands, pulled lightly. Her voice was constricted in her throat. "You ruined your own life, idiot."

His face got redder, a vein throbbed in his forehead. He was practically frothing at the mouth. "You did. You ruined my life, you fucking cunt. You did. Things were great before I went out with you."

Her voice was still slightly tortured. While she pulled again at his hands, she looked him in the eye. "Nah, you're too much of a pussy."

"Fuck you. 'Course I did it. You thought you could do better than me? How do you feel now that your fuckin' dog is gone?"

Lyssa heard the sounds of a wolf on the run and a shift in the breeze told her who it was. [Mercy, NO. Stay out of the trees.]

Mercy veered to the left, before hitting the trees. She had reported the Madam Beta's location and the presence of the male but the command confused her. Even so, she did as the Madam Beta said, circling the trees they were in.

"So that's it? You killed Emmett to get back at me?" She sniffed.

"Fuckin' A, bitch. I killed him. And I'm glad." He shifted his grip. "Now it's your turn. I'll mess you up so bad your own mother wouldn't recognize you and fuck your dead ass. And laugh while I do it."

Lyssa whimpered. [Mercy, get ready to come in and keep him from getting away. Can you do that?]

[Yes, Madam Beta.] She sounded hesitant, a little afraid, but resolute.

[Don't kill him.] Lyssa sucked in air, as much as she could, and got ready. Mercy was no more than 20 feet away.

"Fuck you, Ronnie." She ripped his hands from her throat [Mercy, now.] and kicked him in the balls.

Ronnie sucked in a deep breath and fell forward. His hands moved to cup his aching balls. Before he could register what had happened, he was knocked sideways, bowled over and, suddenly, had a big fucking dog on his chest, snarling at him.

Lyssa stood and brushed off her skirt. "That's him, isn't it, Mercy?"

"Get this fuckin' thing off me! What? Mercy?"

[Yes. He killed Jamie.] With a growl, she lunged toward his throat.

Lyssa's hand shot out and she grabbed Mercy by the scruff of her neck, hauling her backwards. Mercy snarled and struggled. Ronnie scooted backwards and sat up, the front of his shirt was shredded.

Lyssa squatted, still holding the struggling wolf at bay. "I know you want to kill him. I wish I could let you, but I can't." Mercy stopped and whimpered, then lifted her head, and howled.

Ronnie struggled to get his feet under him and bolted. Mercy looked up and nodded. "Keep him from leaving but don't hurt him much. He can't take what we can."

[Lyssa!] Emmett.

Mercy bounced from side to side, growling, to keep Ronnie from getting back to the road. Lyssa walked over. "Goddammit! Lemme go!" He kicked at Mercy, missing, of course.

"You're pissing off the 15 year old girl you shot, Ronnie. I'd sit down if I were you."

"Why? Waitin' for someone else to kill me?"

"Ronnie, there's probably a lot of people who want a piece of you but we won't kill you. Where's the gun?"

"Huh?"

"The gun. The one you used to kill him? Is it in the car? At home?"

"Not that stupid."

"Tossed it in a field? A ditch? A lake?"

A shuffle from the wolf. "You hear it, don't you?" Lyssa asked of the wolf.

"What? Whatcha talkin' about? Why you talkin' to it?"

Lyssa blew out an exaggerated breath and shook her head. He was such an idiot. "In case you haven't noticed, you idiot, she understands me perfectly well. And, what she heard, what I heard, was your heart speed up when I said lake. So we know you threw the gun you used in a lake or a pond."

[Lyssa?!]

"And, now, you fucking murdering asshole, I'm gonna show you just how stupid you are." [Here, Em. Do not kill him.]

[Who's him? What's going on?]

Lyssa heard the pounding of powerful paws as they approached.

Ronnie clenched his fists and yelled. "I'm not stupid, you bitch!"

A hitch in the steps of one of them indicated recognition of the voice, or scent.

[Please tell me you haven't brought Alex.]

[I did. Why? Are you alright?]

Four large wolves surrounded them, growling. One immediately began to change form. "Ronnie, you remember Emmett. You killed the wrong wolf, a 17 year old boy."

Alex began snarling, and charged. "STOP!" Lyssa's command kept him from attacking Ronnie. He veered but wasn't happy about it.

"Lyssa, what the fuck is going on? Why is HE here?" Emmett took a step forward and Lyssa interposed herself between them. She lifted up her shirt. "Lys?" She pulled out a small recorder and clicked it off. [Got it all on tape, Em.]

She turned to Ronnie, a smug smile on her face. "Gotcha, asshole."

Ronnie looked at her and his eyes went wide with realization. "You fuckin' bitch! I hate you!" He charged her.

She held a hand out to stop Emmett and tossed the recorder over her shoulder. Emmett caught it reflexively. She then grabbed Ronnie by the throat, shifting to intermediate form as she did so. Ronnie recoiled in horror. At least, as much as he could.

She shifted back before she ripped her clothes too badly. "No, Ronnie, you don't hate me. If you did, you'd want me dead, not him."

Emmett noticed the bruising on Lyssa's face as he moved to the side. "Did he hit you?," Emmett thundered, "I'll rip his..."

Ronnie quailed and Lyssa said, quietly. "Please, no." The wolves smiled and paced. "I know you all want him dead, I do. I want him to hurt for what he's done to Mercy, to Alex and Desiree, Justin, to us." More growling. "But, what happens if he disappears? Hm? Where would they look? Who would they blame?"

"Why would they think it was us?"

[We're paying him a lot of money.] The settlement for his emotional distress was large enough that they were making payments over time. It wasn't enough yet to have substantially altered his living situation. [And, the police and the humans would be suspicious. If it came to a trial, I don't like our chances.]

Emmett closed his eyes and exhaled. "What do you suggest we do with him?"

Ronnie had tried to edge away but Alex and Mercy were paying an inordinate amount of attention to him. The continuous growling and bared teeth were unnerving.

"We give him to the police. We have evidence."

[A human punishment? He killed my son! He deserves to die!]

"I know, Alex. We can't." Ronnie watched as she crouched by the angry wolf. "A year ago we could have. Not anymore." A snarl was the response. "He's human; he has to be punished by humans."

"She's right, Alex. I'm sorry." Emmett turned to her. "Lyssa, please inform the Alphas."

Lyssa got the faraway look that meant she was sending for distance. While she was able to send directly to the Alphas, no one was able to send directly back to her. It would take a short time for an answer.

In the meantime, Alex and Mercy appeared focused on each other. David was watching Ronnie.

Emmett's attention shifted from his mate as Mercy and Alex shifted form. Ronnie yelped and turned away from Alex who, in intermediate form, grabbed his upper arms. Mercy changed also to intermediate, stood before Ronnie, and snarled in his face. Her short snout and long teeth had him quailing.

"Alex! Mercy! What are you doing?"

Mercy ground out, "If he is wolf, he gets punished our way."

Alex sniffed. "Smells like prey."

Lyssa saw Ronnie's eyes widen, saw him tense. "Don't try to run Ronnie; you won't make it."

[The Alphas require you to bring the human to the den. Alive.]

Mercy growled, slumped, and returned to wolf form. She pissed on Ronnie's shoe, huffed, and ran off.

Alex' growl resonated deep in his chest. Ronnie whimpered.

Lyssa exhaled and said quietly, "We've got two cars."

"Alex, David, bring the human's car to the den." Lyssa stepped forward, reached into Ronnie's front pocket, and fished out his keys.. She handed them to Alex, who took them, still growling.

As Alex released him, Ronnie took two steps to the side. Unfortunately for him, Emmett quickly rounded his mate and grabbed him.

Emmett began marching him toward the road. Ronnie dragged his feet and Em grumbled, shifted his grip, and began dragging him. He could have thrown him over his shoulder and hauled him bodily away, but didn't.

Alex had Ronnie's car started and was pulling away as the other three came within sight of the road. A howl of anger punctuated the evening air which Emmett identified as Justin.

Lyssa watched Ronnie's eyes widen at the sound. "Jamie's twin brother. You're lucky he didn't get here any earlier. Between his father, his brother, and his girlfriend, we may not have been able to keep them from hurting you."

"I say we give him to Desiree."

"Jamie's mother, Ronnie. Do you have any idea how inventive women can be? I bet she'd like a shot at you."

They could hear his heart hammering, smell the stink of fear. "I,.. I thought you were taking me to the cops."

"Oh, we will. But we didn't say what shape you'd be in."

Lyssa fished out the keys to the car. "You drive."

[Me? Why? What if he tries to get away?]

[You don't think I can hold him?]

Emmett growled and shoved Ronnie in, coming close to breaking his arm to get him inside. Ronnie yelled and, cradling his injured arm, Lyssa slid in next to him.

Grumbling, Emmett took the driver's seat, started the car and angled the rearview mirror so that he could stare at Ronnie.

They drove in silence, though Ronnie whimpered from time to time, particularly when they went over a bump. Lyssa was in intermediate form and had a clawed hand around his leg.

Lyssa knew, by watching Emmett, that he was ruminating over the events of the last hour or so. So, she wasn't particularly surprised when he stopped the car just after they turned into the den. He looked firmly ahead as he asked the question, "Mate, how did the human come to be on our range, with you?"

She could hear the little trickle of anger in his voice. "I told you I was working on a surprise." She paused, smiling weakly. "Surprise."

"You... you..." He stopped, swallowed. She had never seen him in this state. "Selene, Lyssa, what did you do?"

[Beta. Now.] It was Randall, his voice stern, authoritative.

Emmett exhaled and Lyssa saw the tension in his body. Lyssa knew it was directed at her; he was thinking up all sorts of things she'd probably done to lure her prey.

The Alphas were waiting, however. He put the car back in gear and approached the den. He was going to have to have a frank discussion with his mate.

There was a decided lack of faces at the windows as Emmett pulled to the back and into the garage. The Alphas stood there, arms crossed, waiting.

[My Alphas, we shouldn't delay calling the police.]

[We are certain this is human who killed Jamie?]

[Mercy confirmed it.]

[I will have difficulty from the pack if we allow a human punishment.]

[You are Alpha.] Emmett gasped at her impertinence. [We have to let him go through the human justice system. We have to show them we aren't vigilantes, that we won't kill without proof..]

Ariel walked over and peered into the vehicle. [You said Mercy confirmed.]

[They won't...] "What the fuck is going on!?" Ronnie yelled.

Emmett turned, caught Lyssa's eyes and looked at Ronnie. "Deciding your fate, human."

[I have a tape. He admitted it. He'll go to prison.]

Randall closed his eyes. [I don't like it but you're right, Madam Beta.] He pulled out a cellphone and made a call.

"Fuck's going on?!"

"He's calling the cops, idiot."

"I ain't going to jail. I haven't..." The beginning of his tirade deteriorated to a scream as the back of the car dipped down with a thump. The sound of rending metal was heard. Ronnie shrieked as claws penetrated the roof and scraped his skull.

Lyssa pulled him sideways as the snarl of an enraged werewoman filled the air.

"Desiree! Stand down!"

She snarled and punched through the back window, trying to grab Ronnie's head. Lyssa tried to fend off the groping claw and was relieved as it disappeared. Looking out the back window, she saw a russet wolf grappling with another with dark hair.

Lyssa and Emmett's nostrils flared at the scent of blood, Ronnie's, and urine. He'd pissed himself.

"Fuck, man. I'm bleeding. Get me a doctor."

Lyssa grabbed his head, looked at it, and shoved his head away. "It's a scalp wound. You'll live."

Desiree ran off, howling with rage and disappointment, and Ariel came over to look at their 'prisoner.' Ronnie backed away, though he couldn't go far.

"Are you certain of this course of action, Madam Beta?"

"It will show the humans we'll abide by their rules, with a human criminal." Lyssa looked at Ronnie in disgust. "We should probably have the healer see to him."

"I will not allow him in my den."

"Of course, Alpha." Lyssa took a breath. [Thomas, bring bandages.]

——-

The police cars arrived 20 minutes later. Three men stepped out almost bristling with weapons.

Ronnie was on the front stoop, a bandage on his head. Emmett stood watch over him, with Lyssa nearby. The Alphas came out to meet the officers.