Bound by Pride Ch. 07

Author's note: All characters and companies mentioned in this story have no existence outside the imagination of the author, and have no relation whatsoever to anyone or anything bearing the same name or names. Events portrayed in this story are pure invention and have not been based on any events that have happen in real life. All the characters involved in any sexual acts if their ages are not mentioned before hand; are over 18 years of age. Enjoy.

Hi everyone,

Yay new chapter and sorry about the delay, life does like to throw spanners. Sadly there are only two chapters to Bound by Pride left but don't worry, Guarded Hearts (Maria's story) is ready and awaiting editing.

As normal all feedback is welcome and a big thankyou always goes to my editor, who manages to find the time to edit even if it means cutting into her sleep time.

Have fun

A week later Mayhem jerked awake and glanced around a little disorientated, Electra yawned and rolled onto her stomach, she shuffled until she was closer to her mate. When she was close enough she rested her face against Electra's shoulder and wrapped an arm around her body. She pressed her face to Electra's back and took a deep breath, letting her scent saturate her mind, calming both her mind and her cats'.

"Bad dream?" Electra asked sleepily as she knew Mayhem was awake.

"Yes."

Electra nodded and stretched. "What time is it?"

Mayhem glanced to the clock, "A little before midnight."

Electra pushed herself up and grabbed her visor cramming it onto her face. "Come on, lets go for a run." Mayhem was up and right behind her, putting her own visor on before Electra opened the door and they left the room. They meet Bastion in the hallway.

"Going for a run." Bastion asked. They both nodded. "Amy and Wolfgang are out there as is almost everyone else, Anna and I are staying back to watch the cubs."

They smiled, Electra popped into Maddie's room, she was asleep on a mattress next to the door, the furthest she could be away from Electra when she tried to sleep. Electra gave her a gentle shake; she woke and yawned.

"Want to go for a run?" Electra asked knowing that Maddie loved to spend, as much time as she could in her were form. Maddie yawned again and shook her head putting it back down to sleep. Electra kissed her temple and quietly left the room, partially closing the door behind her.

"Didn't she want to run?" Mayhem asked.

"No she's interested in sleep," Electra answered, "race you," she taunted and ran off with Mayhem following behind her as they raced down stairs and outside. They stripped, leaving their clothes in neat piles. Electra put her visor on top and took a deep breath. Her wolf surged forward filling her body as it shifted. Mayhem shifted beside her. Electra stretched as she finished shifting. Mayhem stretched for a moment then pounced on Electra, they wrestled for a few moments until Ghan joined them, nipping at their rumps to get them to move on. They broke apart and ran into the forest with Ghan hot on their heels.

Mayhem felt joy, she couldn't remember running free anymore, yet here she was, free and safe and it was all because of the wolf beside her. She felt a body slam into her side; she turned and growled at Sage a paw ready to swipe at her. Sage lifted a paw playfully; she hadn't meant to startle Mayhem.

Mayhem growled playfully and retracted her claws to bat at Sage. Sage sneezed in amusement before throwing herself at Mayhem in a playful tussle. Electra and Ghan watched their playful game with silent smiles. Amy and Wolfgang joined them, as did Shia in his panther form. Mayhem and Sage continued to wrestle playfully.

Are we going to play or are we going to hunt.Wolfgang asked as he scratched at an itch.

Mayhem and Sage came apart. Mayhem's ears went down as Wolfgang's power as an Alpha washed over her, it was so powerful it even managed to drown out her own power as an Alpha and made her want to cower before him. It had been so long since she had been in a pack or pride situation, she had forgotten everything she had been taught as a child but she remembered one thing, don't piss off the Alpha. In the pride she would have just tried to make herself get as low as possible to the ground, but packs were different they showed their belly in submission. She crouched down making herself as low to the ground as possible then on second thoughts she rolled over to show her belly and throat, hoping he wouldn't attack her like her father had a tendency to do at the drop of a hat. She quivered waiting for him to do something. Amy approached and rubbed her face against Mayhem's body trying to calm her down.

You are scaring her Wolfgang turn it off.Amy demanded.

Oops sorry.He apologised, he forgot that it was natural for him to exude his Alpha influence when he shifted and that it affected other Alphas more deeply than lower ranked Were. As an Alpha they had un-learnt the behaviours taught to them as children, they were confident and used to being in control, having that stripped away left them vulnerable and completely confused as to what they were meant to do.

Amy purred as she rubbed her face against Mayhem's.Relax Mayhem, he would never attack you without a real cause and even then, it would be more of a cuff than actual harm. It's not in him to hurt a woman... unless it's Jessa... she deserves everything that happens to her.She ended with a growl. Everyone chuckled, no one understood why Jessa still had it out for Amy, she just did.

Amy started to groom Mayhem until she calmed down; the rough repetitive actions of Amy's tongue quickly had her relaxed and purring.Let's just run,Amy suggested and everyone agreed. Mayhem got her feet beneath her and they ran off. Amy, Mayhem, Shia and Sage fell back, as Wolfgang, Alanna, Electra and Ghan surged forward, wolves could run for hours, days even; large cats however were not built for that; they could run quite fast but not for any long period of time.

Amy looked up and climbed the nearest tree, Mayhem stopped to sharpen her claws on the nearest tree. Sage stretched her wings, which she loved but didn't get to do often, as she was likely to knock people out, unlike when she was with her kind, where they looked out for wings. Amy yawned as she rested her body on a sturdy branch. Mayhem found a nice patch of leaves and rolled onto her back as Sage found a nice flat rock and lay down. Shia found another sturdy branch in a different tree; he lay down and rubbed his face against the branch.

Wolfgang walked into the little area they were in a few hours later, he panted and glanced around.Goddess of the moon you are a lazy bunch.

Amy growled as he had woken her from a delightful nap,We are not wolves, we are cats... we hunt... we sleep... we groom... that's it.

Besides,Mayhem joined in as she yawned,this IS my idea of a good night.She growled as she stretched her body to prove a point.

Amen, Sage seconded her view as she stretched her front legs out and changed position.

Electra joined them in the clearing having followed her father and flopped down next to Mayhem, she rested her head on Mayhem's body and sighed as it felt right to be with Mayhem like this. Alanna went and lay down next to Sage and rested her head across Sage's neck. Wolfgang wished he could roll his eyes in this form but he couldn't, he walked up to the tree Amy was in. Ghan was nowhere to be seen having decided to go off an explore on his own when Wolfgang decided it was time to find his mate.

Get down here.He demanded playfully.

Amy sighed and got up but instead of climbing down the tree, she jumped and landed on top of him.

HEY...He started to protest but was suddenly cut off by her paw playfully swatting him across the face. He growled and lunged only to get another playful swat for his effort. Everyone laughed and Shia laughed so hard he nearly fell from the branch he was draped over, becoming the object of amusement as Sage jeered him for his un-gracefulness.

He growled and went to pounce on her. They all jerked and went still as they heard the gentle fall of booted feet against leaf litter. They listened for long moments, trying to figure out what who the intruders were.

Twenty...Amy enlightened them.Heavily armed too...

Who on earth would be stupid enough to attack pack land.Shia asked.

Better yet what are they after it's not like we have money here?Sage asked, everyone agreed with her.

Amy thought, focusing on what she knew so far, heavily armed men, probably mercenaries who knew sweet fuck all about Were. Who had hired them, what they after were and if they were after a person it could be any one of them in the clearing.Let's head back and regroup.She suggested.

Wolfgang howled loudly to call out to those who were still out playing in the night, his voice holding a note of warning as he gave the order to regroup at the manor. They all raced back to get back the manor in order to organise both an offence and defence before the intruders got too close. Within fifteen minutes, they were back at the manor. Lupa stood with Vivian, Guinevere, Cleopatra, Mryddin and Rhiannon waiting for them, Lupa having heard the howl and knowing what it meant had warned the others.People are approaching the manor, they are heavily armed.

Lupa growled and shifted as Bastion put out a summons. Every Were close enough to the manor would front up for a fight. Electra shifted and squinted as she grabbed the phone; she dialled her boss and quickly informed him of what was happening. Ghan ran in followed by other bodyguards, they shifted into their hybrid forms and went to go and guard their charges.

Anna grabbed Bastion's master keys. "I'll take the cubs to the box." She told them as she ran up the stairs with Ghan and several others following her. The cubs were waiting, Thais had Maddie's hand and Keira was holding Temperance with Serenity between the older girls.

Amy cursed as she hissed and spat, she didn't like the thought of her children in danger.

"Amy anyone in this room could be the focus of this." Rhiannon said as she buckled her sword to her waist, correctly guessing her daughter's anger. "They are going to be in for a rude shock. I think we should turn the lights off and pretend we've turned in for the night."

Anna don't forget to put half the guards in the box and half outside.Amy reminded her.Okay this is what we're going to do...she started to explain her plan.

****

Amy rolled her eyes at the intruders' stupidity. It was dawn by the time the men finally decided to attack, giving them over four hours to plan their own attack, and smuggle in the more than fifty Were - thirty of them enforcers - who had managed to reach the manor.

Are these men crazy or stupid?Wolfgang asked Amy.Do they know we have six ancients in this house?He said, referring to the fact that no one could sneak up on Ancients. The moment Amy heard them was the moment both she and Vivian had sensed them, even if they had been silent in their approach, they would not have fooled Amy for long. Vivian's senses were pushed out to a comfortable range of three miles; Amy, because she was still 'young' in comparison to Vivian, had a range of one to two miles, but at that range, she could trust her ears just as much as she could trust her senses.

They watched through darkened windows as the men approached carefully.They just cut the landlines, silly fools, we have satellite phones.Sage informed everyone.

What do you see Sage?Amy asked, Sage had become their scout again, wheeling over their heads with Mryddin keeping her hidden with a simple illusion.

Twenty-five men, heavily armed, A-K-47's mainly, handguns and shotguns, they have grenades...

Grenades... why grenades... I hate grenades,Wolfgang whined, he had grown a big dislike for the weapon on August the 3rd.

Bastion's growl was low and deadly,If so much as one of those things go off in this house I will murder the lot of them.

Amy snorted in amusement; she pressed her paw over her snout to keep the sound quiet.

Can I finish?Sage demanded, everyone went silent.All are humans and they are wearing Kevlar and what appears to be chain mail of some sort. They have split into two groups, one is scaling the walls, they will enter through the up stairs library. The others are coming through the front door.

Come back now Sage.Wolfgang demanded,Or you'll miss the fun.He added with a slightly evil edge to his voice.

Mayhem quivered next to Electra, Electra turned and licked her face,Just stick with me, I won't let them hurt you or take you.Mayhem rubbed her face against Electra's, she was truly frightened, this place was meant to be safe but now there was danger.

Rhiannon, Tarval, Vivian, Guinevere, Cleopatra, it's your job to keep a few of them alive for questioning. Amy informed them. Now everyone remember, they are intruding, under the law we have the right to kill. If you scratch, kill them we don't need them coming at us in full fury.

Everyone agreed with her sentiment, Bastion especially as a fury crazed Were could wreak havoc on the house, it would take him weeks to right that kind of damage!

Amy turned as the window creaked open near her, she padded silently into position.Get ready... here it comes.

*

Amy shifted back into human form, she wiped the blood from her face and spat, the men had put up little resistance and what they did was little more than a nuisance that will piss Bastion off. The priceless vase that had survived the cubs; including Temperance's repeated attempts of destruction, had been shot to pieces in the first hail of bullets. She was a little miffed when she remembered that Thais had been caught trying to move it but had not warned them of the attack.

She walked out of the room leaving the bodies where they had fallen.Sound off.She demanded, within moments she learned that Mayhem was missing. Sage, Tarval, in the air now, find her.

She was obeyed at once. She raced out of the room, Wolfgang sniffing around to pick up Mayhem's scent.

"Everyone stand still." Vivian ordered, she then sat and focused, stretching her senses out to their full range. Her mind brushed Sage and Tarval who were sweeping in a grid pattern to ensure nothing was missed. She opened her eyes and they went to Electra.

"She's in a cave about a mile and a half from here." Vivian told them.

"I know where, I'll go." Electra raced down the stairs just as her boss walked into the grand entrance hall. He blushed as she ran pass him naked. His eyes jerked up stairs but that was no better a view, with almost twenty naked men and women up the stairs. He jerked his head to the wall and waited for them to get dressed.

*

Electra panted as she approached the cave. She pushed her snout to the leaf litter and picked up Mayhem's scent. She approached the small cave and heard a throaty warning growl. She whimpered and got down until her body was on the ground; she crept forward, knowing she had to take this very slowly.

Mayhem's growl got louder and more menacing, she was going to attack whoever was encroaching on her hiding place. She wasn't thinking rationally, when the attack came she snapped, she couldn't... wouldn't go back to being a slave. She ran but since she wasn't all that fit her mad dash away had resulted in only getting to this cave, she crawled in and waited, resolved to fight now that she was backed into a corner.

Electra paused and waited, hoping her scent would wash over Mayhem and she would know that she wasn't out to hurt her. Mayhem's growl didn't abate; she was too wound up to think coherently. Electra whined, she wanted to comfort Mayhem, but she also didn't want to make her worse.

Mayhem... it's me Electra;she tried to reason with her.

Mayhem came from nowhere, all fangs, claws and fury. She bowled Electra over and went for the kill. Electra shifted back into her human form moments before Mayhem's teeth found her flesh, she waited for the bite, the sick crunching of teeth against living bone. She tried to keep the cry of pain from escaping her lips but failed as Mayhem's teeth tore through her right shoulder, she felt her wolf wanting to strike back but Electra shoved her back, Mayhem didn't need a brawl, she needed comfort.

Mayhem shook her head tearing Electra open further and breaking more bones in the process. Her claws dug deep into the soft body beneath her, the weight of her body from simply placing her paws were breaking more bones.

Amy and Wolfgang ran up to them, they paused for a moment to digest what they were witnessing. Wolfgang went to tear Mayhem from his daughter. Amy stilled him and shook her head, hoping that Mayhem would calm down now that she had sunk her teeth into something. She sent a mental command to get Nathanael back to the manor and to get the box ready.

Electra lifted her arms and wrapped them around Mayhem pulling her closer, into a hug. Mayhem snarled and released her shoulder and went for Electra's neck.

Wolfgang glanced to Amy, begging silently with his eyes, for her to let him break this up. Again, she shook her head; Electra didn't want them to interfere just yet. Both winced as they watched Mayhem's teeth wrap around Electra's neck and sink in.

Mayhem went to shake just a moment after Electra locked her arms and legs around her. The sickening snap of Electra's neck echoed in everyone's ears. Wolfgang gave Amy an imploring look, tears streaming down his face in complete unison with his wife's, like her he couldn't stand to see any of his children getting hurt, could he stop her now.

Amy nodded, what Electra had tried to do had failed. He sighed in relief and they both approached quickly. He grabbed Mayhem's scruff and pulled her head away, Amy used her hands to pry Mayhem's teeth loose using as little force as possible; she was strong enough to shatter Mayhem's jaw if she wasn't careful. Others had come by this time, Tarval and Alanna helped Wolfgang restrain Mayhem.

Nathanael knelt and was fumbling in his bag, he pulled out a monster syringe and filled it with a sedative, before he approached and stabbed the needle into Mayhem's neck, emptying it into her before pulling it free. He pulled away and went to Electra, her eyes locked with his, it was all she could do, she couldn't breathe because her neck was broken therefore she couldn't speak aloud. Amy tore off the long sleeves of her blouse and used one to steam the flow of Electra's thigh wound, she sighed and pulled the rest of her blouse off and screwed it up using it to help with the pressure.

Sage helped slide a spinal board under Electra's body.

"I need to get her back to the clinic; I have to set her bones before they heal wrong. If they heal wrong I have to re-break them causing her more pain." He explained quickly as Electra was tied to the spinal board. Amy and Sage lifted her up and carried her back to the manor and into the clinic. Amy wiped her bloody hands on her jeans then sighed as she realised she had ruined yet another pair of jeans.

She went to a sink and washed her hands knowing Nathanael would need her help on the bones which had already set. Director Farrington went pale as he walked into the room and watched Amy carefully re-break the neck fracture; Nathanael's hands took over for Amy as he used his gift to make sure he positioned the head and neck right. When he was happy Amy slid a collar onto her then used a strap to fix her head in place to the board.

They ignored her bleeding wounds, they were irrelevant, it wasn't as if she could bleed to death, setting her bones was the priority. They worked methodically, re-breaking bones which were fusing wrong, Electra was happy she couldn't move anything below her neck, it meant she couldn't feel them breaking her bones, she could only hear them being broken and the grinding noises as they were moved back into place.