Fulfillment 07

"No. Um, yes."

"Which?" Madeline cocks her head, looking confused.

"One of his brothers' mates is having her birthday today. And he just went, without inviting me."

"Do you wanna go?"

"Well, no, probably not. But he didn't even ask."

"He probably figured you didn't want to and that it would be silly to ask."

Joanna huffs, her body language showing plainly what she thought of that.

Madeline looks for something to cheer her up. "Hey, I've been talking to Simon and going over seed catalogs. My eyes are going funny. I was figuring on a run. It's really pretty outside. Wanna come?"

Jo looks into Madeline's eyes and sees excitement there. Madeline was new enough that she hadn't seen a lot of the Wyeth range. "Sure. OK."

Emmett looks across the table at his mate. She didn't look mad anymore, actually, she looks more sad. "I couldn't believe the way you just took care of me like that. Most humans would have called animal control, you just started cleaning me up, when you had no idea what I might do."

"I don't know why. You were hurt and I just, well, I didn't think they'd help you so much at the shelter and then, if you were there long enough they'd kill you and, well, it just seemed like a good idea at the time." Lyssa sighs and takes another drink of the beer in her hand. "You really hated Ronnie, didn't you?"

"Yeah, I did. A male in the way, your male. He didn't treat you very well. And he challenged me the first time I saw him." Emmett chuckles. "His biggest problem with that was that he was afraid of me."

"What did you do to his jacket, anyway?"

"Just ripped it apart with claws and teeth and pissed on it. It was what he deserved."

"I'm glad you were there, Em. He ended up being a real psycho."

Emmett sighs. "He's still got a year left on his sentence."

"Whatever did he think he was going to accomplish by burning my house down? Did he think I'd take him back? Move in with him?"

Emmett runs his fingers through the hair at the side of her face. "You kept him from hurting me." He smiles at her. "Did I ever thank you?"

Emmett nods. "I was a wolf at the time but, yes, you did."

She stares off into space for a bit. "I have a question to ask you, since we're talking about this." She turns to look at him. She doesn't disagree. He lets out a big breath. "You didn't love me when you agreed to mate me, did you? Did you just think of me as a better choice than Thomas?"

"I do love you, Em."

"I know, Lys. And I love you."

"Does it make a difference?" He sees tears start to well up in her eyes. He grasps her hand again and gives it a squeeze.

"No. I suppose not."

She looks down at the table top, chews on her lip, then her eyes flick back up to him. "I was stuck. My house gone. People thinking I was dead. And you told me I couldn't leave. I didn't have a whole lot of choice. You were the only one I really knew. You got me into the mess I was.."

Another squeeze. "We were."

"...we were in but you'd also tried to get me, get us, out of it. I couldn't understand why you would do that. All I could think was that you felt responsible."

"I was."

A sigh. "Yeah. And you'd been telling me you wanted me. And you'd been around me for days. And, except for leaving me alone once we got here, you'd never done anything I didn't want. I felt safe around you. I, it felt good to have you around and you made me feel good. And, and, you got things from my house before Ronnie burned it down. And you went back for Mom's necklace after they brought us back here. And, and.." She swallows and her voice gets rough. "Nobody's ever done anything like that for me. It wasn't that you were a better choice than Thomas. It's that you were a better choice than any guy I'd ever met."

Tears slip down her cheeks and he brushes them away with his thumbs. "Hungry?"

"Starving!"

"OK. Simon sent a couple of good meals already made. I've got one to pop in the oven. Shouldn't take more than half an hour."

"Have we got any chips?"

"Uh, sure."

Lyssa finds and dives into the Doritos, scooping up salsa, and stuffing her face while Emmett heats up lunch. She inhales deeply; it smells good.

"Oh, really? Roast beef and potatoes?" She's practically drooling.

She puts away the chips and salsa as he pulls the pan out of the oven. She sits as he brings the platter to the table and licks her lips, inhaling the scents of the meal. Lyssa carves off a large chunk of the roast, shovels some potatoes on her plate. She groans around the first mouthful as Emmett serves himself.

She was eating well, which he was glad for. She had lost weight and her next heat should be coming soon.

Now, he'd got a start, getting her to talk. Now he needed to keep going.

They polish off the food, all of it, together. They carry the dirty dishes to the sink. "Why did you run this morning?"

"I was...going home."

Damn. She shut down again. What the hell? "We're hours from home. Why didn't you take the car?"

"Would it have worked?"

He stands at the counter and hangs his head. He picks up the beer and swallows the rest. The bottle hits the countertop and he starts to turn. Alcohol. It loosened both tongues and inhibitions.

They'd just eaten so he would need her to drink a couple more bottles. Opening them, he sets another in front of her. Now, how best to get her to keep drinking?

"Hey. I brought the Underworld trilogy. Wanna watch and laugh at all the crazy werewolf stuff?"

A movement of her shoulders, a non-committal shrug. Emmett sets up the player then takes her hand and leads her to the couch. As the opening credits roll, she drinks more of the beer.

He pulls her against him as they watch the movie, getting her another beer when she finishes hers. When he pulls her back over, she feels looser, more relaxed. Then, with the amount of alcohol she's had, comes the inevitable run to the bathroom. He pauses the movie until she returns.

The film comes to the point where Selene, the death dealer, is trying to wake Viktor, an elder vampire. He murmurs in her ear as he wraps his arm around her. "You keep going to wolf in your sleep. You seemed better after we went out for a run yesterday. Maybe we need to let your wolf out more. Were you asleep when you left this morning?"

It comes out as a strangled wail. "I tried to kill you this morning!"

"Did you think I would hurt you?"

"You said Ariel would kill me if she thought I was a threat. Randall would do it, if he thought so. Is that why we're here?"

He ignores the question, asking one of his own. "Is that what your nightmares have been about? Have you dreamed of killing me?"

"No. Yes. No. Um." He waits. "There was one night when you woke me. I remember seeing dead wolves. Wolves with their throats ripped open, blood. I smelled it. I saw grey fur."

"Lyssa. Mate. Something's going on in your head. Something's gotten confused. I want to see if we can work through it. You've gotten so angry all of a sudden, arguing, getting into fights. It isn't you. Can you tell me what you're feeling? What you're thinking? You've come out with these comments lately, about everyone wanting you to be a werewolf, about being all the werewolf you can be. What does that mean?"

"You all want me to fight, to kill. That's how you do things."

"You've taken so well to being a werewolf, Lys. Sometimes we forget you weren't born one. You've been sparring, learning how to fight. And you've already killed another werewolf."

Lyssa shoves away from Emmett and wails, "I didn't mean to! He was, he was going to rape me and kill me and I just wanted to stop him."

Emmett lowers his voice a bit, trying to sound calm, trying not to let things get out of hand. "OK. We know that but you weren't, well, you didn't really seem to be having any trouble with that. And it's... It was your right to kill the other wolf so we all thought... Randall set out his punishment as he would have with anyone else. He treated you as any other wolf in the pack with fighting skills."

"But, he wasn't trying to kill me. I hesitated when he asked me, told me. You saw it. You, of all people, should have known that I couldn't do it. And the other one? I think I was still in shock, just trying to heal, working on Jo's party. I didn't have time to think about it."

"That's why I talked to Randall. That's why I asked to take your place."

"But you never even talked to me about it. You just did it."

"You didn't want to."

"I had to try and you know it!"

"Lys..."

"What did Erich say?"

Emmett is taken aback by the abrupt turn in conversation, "Erich?"

"About the fight."

"Oh. That. Yeah, they were kindof disappointed."

"Sure. They wanted to see a spectacle. It wasn't any fun cuz it ended so quick."

Lyssa huffs. Emmett grabs a couple more beers and hands her another. "Alright. Can you explain to me why you got so mad? Why you insisted on doing it even when you didn't want to?"

She exhales, "I did it for you."

"What do you mean, you did it for me?"

Another long exhale. She looks down, grasping the beer. Another inhale, and exhale. "I know it's a werewolf thing, a pack thing. Better fighters tend to have higher status. Ariel fights and she's Alpha." A pause and he opens his mouth, but she continues. "They explained it to me when I first got here, the importance of status and that mating someone of lower status could bring you down. And I had no status."

"Lys.."

"There are ways to change things. You've done that. Erich. But I'm still a drag on you. I wasn't born a werewolf. I'm not as strong, not as fast, not as anything. So I've been trying. Trying to get better. Trying to fit in. Trying to do the things you do. Trying to make you, the pack, proud of me."

His heart thuds in his chest. "Mate, I.."

She talks over him. "After Thomas, after knowing Ariel fought, and being mated to a Beta, I knew it would be better if I learned how to fight. So, beyond the strength training, I started sparring. After all, a bunch of the women spar. But, I knew I had to be better."

"A lot of good it did me."

His voice remains quiet. "Lyssa. No one can fight a bullet or a tranquilizer."

"Yeah. There's that. But it also put me in the position where Jo and I were sent into the circle. And Jo was ready for it. She wanted to do it."

"I gave you an out."

"No. You went behind my back."

He takes a deep breath, releases it. "Alright, I did. It's in my nature to protect you, or to try, anyway." She's started to get angry again, he could see the tenseness in her body. Time to change the subject. "So. You ran from me this morning because you thought I might kill you?"

She takes a deep draught of the beer before answering. "No. I didn't think you would."

"You ran because you thought you might kill me?"

"Yes. I thought I might."

"You learned to fight because you thought it was the right thing to do?"

"Mostly. But, surrounded by a bunch of werewolves that are stronger and faster, maybe I wanted to level the playing field."

"That's a better reason, at least. And you wanted to fight, agreed to kill, the Ross wolf for me, for the pack."

Lyssa has the bottle raised to her lips. She stops and brings it back down. "Yes."

Emmett shakes his head. "And you're upset that you killed the other one, even though he was about to kill you."

"Yes."

"Don't get mad at me. I'm just trying to get it all straight in my head, trying to understand. I'm trying to figure out your motivations."

Another drink. "Just trying to be a good werewolf, dammit."

"Lys, sweetheart. You've been a good werewolf. You are a good werewolf."

Lyssa looks down into the neck of the beer. "Woof."

"Stop it." She glances at him, looks away. "The thing is, you took to being a werewolf so well. You didn't seem to have any trouble adjusting to our lifestyle. You became one of us. And you've done it so well, we never thought there would be any problem with what is normal for us. You need to talk to us, tell us, tell me what bothers you. What you can and can't do. I'm your mate, for Selene's sake."

Her voice goes quiet and tired. "I'm the weakest member of the pack."

"Other than the pups, Anna is weakest and she's never had these sorts of problems. You, sweetheart, are anything but weak."

"Anna isn't Beta. She hasn't had to do what I have to."

Emmett reaches over and pulls her tightly to him. "Dear heart. I never meant to make this so hard for you. I never meant to have you do things you didn't want to do. I wanted you with me. I wanted you happy. And it seems you got mad every time I tried to make it easier on you."

"Easier? Not one of you gets it." He looks at her, waiting for her explanation. "I've been dropped into an alien society." He looks to object. "Not saying I didn't go willingly but I asked for it without understanding everything that was involved. I've had time to learn. The weak don't do well in a wolf pack. They're either destroyed or dominated."

Emmett turns his face into her hair. "Lyssa. Lyssa. We are not that way, not like the pure animals, or haven't you noticed? A couple of hundred years ago that may have been the case but we've ... evolved since then."

"And Michael Ross is a prime example. Not to mention Thomas."

"Alright, some more than others. Has anyone in the pack been bothering you? Saying things? Challenging you, formally?"

"No."

He gives her a squeeze. "Then what is this?"

Lyssa releases a big exhale. "I thought I was doing the right thing but it didn't help. It just made things worse."

Emmett kisses the side of her head. "Now, sweetheart, I'll start by saying you contribute to the pack. Randall and Ariel agree. It's good that you've learned how to spar since that's practically a form of play for us. But, all the training in the world won't help against overwhelming odds, a threatened hostage, or a tranquilizer and chains. That's how they brought me back to the den, remember?" Lyssa smiles slightly at the memory and nods, once. Emmett cups her chin. "You did the brave thing, the right thing, when they had you and Jo and I'm so glad you weren't killed. It's the reason you're still here with me. But, we were wrong to push you into the circle with the Ross wolf. We thought you were up to it. I'm sorry."

"So, tell me. Why the fights with Ariel and Stephanie?"

"She made me mad, giving me a dressing down like that in front of the others and, I guess I thought if I could stand up to the Alpha.." Emmett sighs and shakes his head. "And Stephanie, well, even as an Omega she fights with you guys, so if I could hold my own with her, I'd be stronger. After all, I'd failed in the circle."

"So that's it? Trying to make up for not killing the wolf in the circle?"

"Mostly."

Another squeeze. "You know they both held back." Lyssa closes her eyes and huffs. "The fight with Stephanie, at least, would have been over much more quickly if she'd pushed. They both have decades of experience. Everyone knows how new you are to sparring even though you've gotten pretty good. And you showed your inexperience when you tried that move against an opponent in intermediate form."

"I know. I guess. I wish I was better."

"Like anything else, Lys, it's practice and experience. Bet you could beat Madeline without breaking a sweat."

Lyssa laughs, yawns. "She'd probably wipe the floor with me." A pause. "I'm kinda tired."

"I believe a nap is in order, mate, for both of us."

Calvin arrives at Wyeth that afternoon and seeks out Ariel.

He talks to her about Erica and her Alpha duties. "I'm not sure she's up to it, Ariel."

"Is it that she's incapable? Or that she doesn't want to?"

He looks at her. "I'm not certain. I don't understand why he mated her. She's not suited to be Alpha. and he's, well, Michael doesn't seem particularly pleased to have a mate."

Ariel looks at him. "The taking of a mate is a conscious decision, Cal. I can't imagine how it could have been done accidentally."

"No. It's crazy. But I don't know what to do."

"Surely, Cal, you've had someone take over when Sabine got sick. They'll just have to keep doing that."

"It isn't fair to have Amanda continue in those duties. My pack," he pauses, swallows, "the pack is unsettled as it is."

"It is the Alpha's responsibility to deal with these things."

Calvin runs a hand through his hair. "I don't know what to do."

"What you can, Cal, only what you can."

There is a silence between them for a time. "I need to get to the warehouse for our monthly meeting. I think I saw Stephanie going into the sitting room."

As he looks up she sees a light in his eyes and a smile start on his face.

"Thank you, Ariel."

Randall greets Calvin along the way, congratulating him on his new daughter-in-law and bringing up the possibility of grandpups. Calvin winces slightly and gives a noncommittal answer before heading off to find Stephanie.

She looks up and greets him as he enters and he watches her play checkers with Anna.

Anna makes motions to leave after she wins the game and Stephanie asks, "What about the third game?"

Anna looks a bit confused. "Oh. Sorry. I thought you'd like to talk to Alph..Calvin."

Stephanie practically grunts, "Calvin can wait." Embarrassed, Anna glances between the two of them and re-takes her seat.

Calvin watches, wondering exactly what she had meant by that. Checkers was a game of strategy, however limited, and Stephanie apparently kept thinking 3 or 4 moves ahead. She wins this game. Anna thanks her and leaves.

Calvin sits in the newly vacant seat. "Favor me with a game? Or three?"

Stephanie nods, they reset the pieces, and the game begins. He wins, then she wins, the board almost void of pieces at the end of each game. They finally stop after Stephanie has won her 4th of the seven games. "Do you play chess, Stephanie?"

She gives him a rather feral grin and they trade pieces. As the game begins, he tries to get her to talk about something other than the game. "So, did Alex give you the new scar?"

The mark was still a bright healing pick. "No. It was the Beta female."

He's a bit surprised by that. "You and Lyssa have been sparring? Well, that's ambitious of her. I would think you are far better than she is."

Stephanie sniffs. "I am. I would beat her blindfolded and on one leg. But I had asked her a question and the only way she would answer me was after a match. I wouldn't have done it, otherwise."

He stops. "Really? And what question did you ask?"

She drops her head. "I won't say."

Alright, whatever it was was a sore subject with her. "So, you won't be sparring with her again?"

"Only if they return and her skills improve."

Intrigued, Cal asks. "They return?"

"The Beta pair, the first Beta pair, has gone away to see if they can get her head on straight. The Beta has taken his mate to see if he can get her settled down." She suddenly realizes she's revealed sensitive information to someone who was not Wyeth pack. She drops her head, staring at the board. "I shouldn't have said anything."

Calvin looks at her. "Are you worried about them?"

"He is a fine Beta. It would be trouble if we lost him."

"Lost him? What about her?"

"She's been acting strangely." Stephanie moves her rook. "I really shouldn't say."

"Alright, Stephanie. So tell me," as he takes her rook with his bishop, "do you like flowers?"

Joanna gets a text from Nathan, "Y don't U cum over?"

She replies. "No, 2 late."

"M said U should cum."

"Got stuff 2 do."

"Pls?"

"Busy. TTFN."

Ariel looks at her daughter as Joanna slides the keyboard back and pushes the phone away. The unhappy look on Jo's face prompts her to ask, "Is everything alright?"

Joanna blows out a breath in exasperation. "He thinks he can ask me to come over to the party now."

"Excuse me?"

A huff. "It's his brother's mate's birthday and they're having a party. He left to go to it and now he's asking me to come."