Fulfillment 09

The airbags deflate and the acrid smell of the explosive chemicals fill her nose. She shakes her head, closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. Then coughs. "Em? You OK?"

"Emmett?"

She opens her eyes and looks over to the other side of the car, where Emmett is hanging from the seatbelt, unconscious. "Em?" She starts to scrabble toward him. "Em? Em? Wake up!"

She barely gets a look at the mangled door as she reaches him. "Oh, God, Em."

Through the shattered window on the other side of him, she glimpses two figures. "You fucking maniac! Call 911!"

Her only response is a laugh from the figure standing on the edge of the road above her.

The laugh chills her to the bone. She blinks. It's Michael Ross.

"Em, Em, Em, EM?!" The volume of her voice rises with each syllable, until she's almost screaming at him.

Nothing. He was breathing. His heart was beating. She smells his blood, sees it running around his chin, down his arm.

They had to get out. Had to get away.

She wants him to wake, but he wasn't, so she thought quickly as to how she would get him out of the car.

A change to intermediate form gave her claws and she rips the seatbelt apart, only to have Emmett's dead weight fall onto her.

UUFF!

She's waiting for Michael Ross to come down and get to them. With Emmett incapacitated she figures he'd kill her first and then him.

Get out! She had to get them out and away. She struggles out from under him and climbs out of the window. She splashes into icy, muddy water.

How? How was she gonna get him out of the car?

She had to get him away. Had to get them away. The thought keeps repeating itself in her brain. Get away. Had to get away.

Fight or flight. Her brain, at present, had chosen flight.

She'd have a hell of a time pulling him out the window. Actually, she didn't think he'd fit. Looking up, watching for Michael, she grabs ahold of the door frame. Lyssa yanks on it, and it gives. Putting her hands and claws around the back edge, she yanks on it again. The door pulls open slightly and the bottom of the door wedges in the mud of the ditch. She screams in frustration and fear and grabs the top of the door again. She folds the doorframe down and grabs Emmett's arm and head.

As she braces against the door with her feet and starts to heave she hears a cold and somewhat familiar voice command, "Kill them."

***

Sampson was shocked. His Alpha had just purposely crashed into another car, sending it off the road and into the ditch.

The Range Rover was damaged, and would never move again under its own power, but the car was mangled. He fears for the occupants.

As he steps forward to assist the victims of his Alpha's ire, Michael stops him. He hears Lyssa's yell for a call to 911 and reaches for his cellphone.

Michael Ross laughs, a cold, cruel laugh, and shakes his head at Sampson, indicating that he should put away his phone.

And he watches Lyssa change, claw through the seatbelt, and pull herself out from under him and climb out of the window. Then, aching to aid her, watches her desperately work at the door and grab her unconscious mate.

Michael Ross then issues a command. "Kill them."

Sampson turns, appalled. "Excuse me?"

Michael turns and cuffs him. "I said, 'Kill them.'" His tone was matter of fact.

Sampson tastes blood and spits. Breathing heavily, he turns to his Alpha and, deciding Michael Ross was no longer worthy of being his Alpha, says, "No."

***

He'd finally gotten them. He was going to get the Wyeth bitch and send her straight to hell. The car was a mess and her mate was either badly hurt or dead. The bitch was working on getting him out, so he was probably still alive.

His dream scenario would be to slowly kill her mate while she watched and then kill her but conditions were far from ideal. Although this road got little travel a car could come by at any time and humans were notorious for helping each other out in such situations. And so. He told Sampson to kill them and was astounded when he refused.

"You're refusing me?"

Sampson nods. "I will not help you kill innocents. I've heard the rumors of what you did. Your father said Wyeth killed two of our packmates. And all because of your misguided ideas. I'll be your Beta no longer. And I'm ashamed to be of Ross."

"Don't get in my way."

Michael goes back into the Range Rover, rummages around briefly, and gets back out. Then he starts down the side of the road, towards the mangled car.

He feels pressure in his skull and, having felt similar effects when the bitch had sent her long range contacts before, assumes she was calling for help.

Ha. Even if help were to come, it would arrive too late.

Now, to dispatch the bitch and her mate.

***

Lyssa's pulling Emmett out of the car when Michael starts heading in their direction. Em was still out, and she had no idea how badly he was injured.

[HELP! RANDALL, CALVIN, HELP US!]

He was coming. He had a gun. What could she do? He wanted them dead. He wanted her dead. Emmett couldn't help her now. She had to take care of it. She had to protect herself and her mate.

From the top of the bank, he looks down at her, desperately trying to pull her mate out of the ruined car.

"I've wanted you dead for some time now, bitch, and now, now you'll get what you deserve. You've ruined my life! I was fucking that whore when you cursed at me the last time and I bit her. I never intended to mate her. And, you lost me the little playmate I really wanted. I hate you more than any other living thing on this planet and now I'm finally going to be rid of you."

He raises the gun and fires it at her. Shooting downwards is difficult, and the bullet whines off the hood of the car.

The whine of a bullet reaches her ears as the bullet ricochets off the hood of the car.

So, she hit him with a powerful send, knocking him out. He pitches forward, sliding facedown down the embankment.

She looks upward, at the other male, but he doesn't seem to be threatening them. He had simply pulled out a cell phone and was making a call, and watching her.

She braces herself and heaves, finally dragging the heavy weight that was her mate from the car. His body splashes into the bottom of the ditch and she pauses, breathing deeply with the exertion.

Now, she had to get him out of the water. Hypothermia in an injured individual could be quickly fatal.

So, she grabs him under the arms and hauls him out of the other side of the ditch towards the edge of the woods.

She leaves a trail, bloody drag marks through the snow.

A groan. Michael Ross moves and struggles to his feet. Panic shoots through Lyssa again. Who was close? They were near Severn's territory. [NATHAN, HELP ME. HELP US!]

With murder in his eyes, Michael Ross wipes mud and snow from his clothes and, after groping a bit, raises the gun. [NO!] She hits him again and he goes down for a second time.

More dragging. She finally gets Emmett against a tree, propping him upright so that she can check him out.

Lyssa glances back at Michael and then crouches beside Emmett. A badly bleeding head wound, since he was out he probably had a concussion. He was alive and she hoped he would recover. But, without knowing just how badly he was hurt, she couldn't be sure. Of course, while she knew werewolves healed quickly and would survive injuries that would kill a human, she really wasn't sure how much punishment they could take and live.

He was bleeding from numerous cuts and scrapes and the smell of his blood filled her nostrils.

"C'mon, Emmett, let me know you're OK. Wake up."

Michael gets to his hands and knees and starts pushing himself upright. He crosses the ditch. His voice is a bit rough as he says, "Damn bitch. I will kill you."

[STAY DOWN.] A little closer again, he falls on his face in the snow.

Lyssa's shivering with fear and frustration and she didn't know how she was going to get out of this situation. Michael was trying to murder them. The male on the top of the embankment could also be a threat, although he hadn't made a move as yet, either to help or to hurt.

No one could possibly get to them in time. And, human police or other humans might show up at any time. Oh, god, would he kill someone if they just happened by? And how would she explain her lack of clothing? Of course, that was the least of her worries.

Oh, geez, this was such a mess.

"Emmett. Wake up, please."

Michael moves again, starting to get up, moving towards them again. [STOP.] And, he's down again.

***

Calvin's phone rings and he answers. "Sampson. What's going on?"

Calvin's face darkens as he listens to his Beta, his former Beta. He had heard Lyssa's send, and believed she was in trouble. Now, he knew she was in trouble and that his son was the cause.

"Michael ran the Wyeth Betas off the road and he ordered me to kill them. I refused. He's been trying to get to them and keeps falling on his face. I've called our tow service and the Severns to help."

"So the Betas are alright?"

"The male is injured, unconscious. The female pulled him out of the car and towards the woods. Michael hasn't gotten to them."

"Sampson. Do not allow him to hurt them."

"Certainly, Alpha."

"Sampson, I'm not your.. I'm going to inform the Wyeths and we'll get this dealt with."

***

"Em. C'mon, Em."

Michael moans and moves again. Lyssa's head snaps up.

He stands and takes another step, the gun raised in their direction. [DOWN.]

She then looks up at the male on the embankment. [Who are you? What do you want?]

[My name is Sampson. I am Beta of the Ross pack. I've been dealing with the mess my Alpha has created. How is it that he has not gotten to you yet?]

[Somebody had to have said something about what I can do.]

[I know you can send for distances. I was in Calvin's presence during one of your tests.]

[Will you help us? Or do I have to worry about you, too?]

[Calvin has ordered that you not be harmed. Other than that, I've called for help.]

Lyssa hides as the sound of an approaching car is heard.

A car slows, stops. "Hey! Is everybody alright?"

Sampson answers them. "I've called for help. They're on their way. But thanks."

The car starts moving again, "OK. Hope things end up OK."

Michael gets up on hands and knees and starts crawling towards Emmett and Lyssa. Emmett is alive, and away from the car, and as safe as she could make him. But Michael was still coming for her, for them. She had to protect them. Had to stop him.

[Go to hell, You Fucking BASTARD!]

It seems to take forever, but Austin and Casey from the Severn pack show up in police cars. Sirens wailing, lights flashing.

Lyssa has knocked Michael down four more times in the interim.

The tow truck driver shows up while Casey and Austin are securing the roadway. He hooks up to the Range Rover and starts to haul it away as Nathan pulls up with Joanna on the back of his bike. Joanna jumps off and rushes down the bank, "Lyssa! Are you alright?"

[Clothes, Jo. Please get me some clothes from the car.]

"Uh, sure. What happened?"

[Bastard ran us off the road. He hurt Emmett. I don't know if he's alright. He won't wake up.] Jo hears the emotion in her send. Her mate was injured by a male she despised.

Joanna goes into the car and pulls out a shirt, a pair of pants, and a pair of shoes, then takes them over to Lyssa.

Lyssa is staring fixedly at Michael Ross, who's being loaded into a police car. Sampson gets into the back with him. Michael looks dazed, not really aware of his surroundings. He keeps mumbling, "Kill you bitch. Kill you bitch." His hand is twitching and he looks around. On spotting Lyssa, he starts screaming, "It's her!"

Austin gives Casey a look. "Get them out of here."

Casey replies. "Sure."

Joanna brings Lyssa the clothes and Lyssa changes back to human form and dresses quickly. With the threat gone, Lyssa crouches next to Emmett. "C'mon, Em. Wake up for me."

Joanna looks at him. "He doesn't look too bad."

"Did you see the car?! Emmett was driving! He should be dead. Hell, I should be really messed up."

"Lyssa. He's alive. He'll heal."

"How can you be so sure?"

Nathan and Austin come down to help. "We'll take him up to the car. Get you home."

"Should we move him? I don't know."

Nathan looks at her, then the car. "You pulled him out, didn't you?"

"Uh, yeah."

"We can't make him any worse. Let's get you home." Austin and Nathan get Emmett up, into a seated fireman's carry, and slowly and carefully haul him up to the other police car.

Joanna's been firing questions at Lyssa, who's been watching the males carry her mate. Lyssa's so concentrated on Emmett, she's ignoring Jo.

As they load Emmett into the car, Joanna lays a hand on Lyssa's arm. Lyssa's head whips around.

Joanna rocks back slightly as Lyssa bares her teeth. Lyssa stops, takes a deep breath, and looks at Jo, who asks, "Lyssa, are you hurt?"

Lyssa is pensive a moment. "Um. My shoulder hurts. My head. I don't know."

Joanna throws her arms around Lyssa. "Oh, thank Luna, you're OK."

Lyssa closes her eyes, tears threatening. [But Em may not be. Oh, Jo, what'll I do?]

Lyssa gets in, next to her mate and pulls him against her. "Emmett, you have to wake up. Wake up."

Joanna looks at Nathan. "I want to ride in the back with her."

Nathan looks at her, hurting for her friend. "Of course, Jo. I'll follow you, Austin."

"OK, Nate." He looks at Joanna. "Everybody in."

She tries to sit in the back, next to Lyssa, but it's a tight fit. She moves up front to ride shotgun as Austin starts the car. As they start to move off, Lyssa looks back at the wreck. "What about our things?"

"We'll get them. The tow truck will bring it to our den."

Emmett's head rests on her shoulder, blood still leaking slowly from the head wound. She cradles his head to her, whispering to him. "Come on, you've got to wake up."

"Madam Beta? Um, Lyssa?"

Lyssa looks forward at Austin's question. "Can you tell me how it happened?"

"We were just driving down the road. As we passed the side road I saw the truck come at us. Full speed. He didn't brake at all. He rammed us and we went into the ditch."

"And then?"

Lyssa strokes the side of Emmett's head as Joanna watches them. "They got out of the car. I cut Em out of the seatbelt and pulled him out of the car and away. As I was getting him out I heard Michael say 'Kill them'. The other male, isn't he the Beta?, said 'No.' So, Michael came down toward us. He had a gun. I kept him away." Austin looks at her in the rearview mirror, obviously skeptical of her claim.

"OK. Anything else you want to add?"

"No. The only thing I want is for Emmett to be OK."

Joanna looks at her packmates. "Dad and Calvin will be here soon."

Finally, Emmett moves slightly, and groans. "Em?"

In a voice filled with gravel, the reply comes, "Lys?"

"Oh, god, oh, god. Em!" She bursts into tears.

The chocolate eyes she loves open. "Oh, I feel like crap." He focuses on Lyssa. "Sweetheart, what's wrong?"

"You're alright!"

"OK, so why're you crying?"

"You're alright."

"And you think males are weird." He looks around. "Severn. Jo. What'd I miss?"

Joanna lets out a rather shaky laugh. "Apparently, you missed Michael Ross' attempt to kill the both of you."

Emmett pulls away a little, sitting more upright, and looks at him mate. "Ross? He did this?"

Lyssa sniffs. "Yeah."

"Where is he?"

Austin answers, "Casey is taking him and the Beta home."

"This time, I'm going to kill him." Emmett growls. "I'm going straight to their den and kill the son of a bitch."

Joanna replies, "You can't. Emmett, the pack'll take you apart."

"I don't care."

"I do, Em." He looks at his mate. "You can't leave me, you brought me into this mess."

He looks at her. "Besides, it's really hard for you to have pups if you're dead."

Joanna zeroes in on that one word. "Pups? Lyssa are you...?"

Lyssa shakes her head. "No, Jo. But we want them. I hope we can have some sometime soon. I just came out of heat." She smiles at her mate and he pulls her to him, his nose in her hair.

She tenses briefly, then relaxes. "Em, don't let me hurt you."

"You could never hurt me, dear heart."

"But, your head, you said you felt like crap. Don't you have broken ribs or something?"

"Oh, Lys, some things are sore but I'll be OK."

It's a short drive later that Austin pulls into a big parking lot. Emmett growls, "What are you doing?"

"Your Alpha and Calvin Ross are meeting us here. They'll be here shortly."

Lyssa takes her mate's face in her hands and kisses him tenderly. [Oh, god, Em, I thought I'd lost you.]

He pulls her into his lap and he looks at her more closely. "Lys, are you injured? You weren't belted in."

"Bruised up some, but I'm OK."

He wraps his arms around her and kisses her back. "Good."

***

"Don't you want to know what happened?"

"You'll just have to go through it again when Randall arrives. I can wait."

The blue Buick pulls into the parking lot and parks beside the police car. Nathan's bike is parked nearby and he lounges against the front door of the car, looking at Joanna.

The two men get out of the car and approach the back of the police car. Randall opens the rear door and looks in at the Beta pair.

"So, Emmett, how do you feel? You don't appear too badly injured."

"No, Randall, nothing too horrible. A good knock on the head and sore on the side from the door but I'll live."

"Lyssa, how are you?"

"Same thing, Randall, without the knock on the head."

"Good. Now, I think we should allow Austin to return to work before there is trouble. Jo, why don't you and Nathan continue your visit and we'll take these two back to the den."

Joanna slides out of the car. "OK, Dad." She gives him a quick kiss. "See you later." She looks back at Lyssa and Emmett. "You two take it easy, OK?"

"Sure, Jo. See you later."

Joanna turns to Nathan and, arm in arm, they walk over to the bike and get on. The motorcycle revs to life and the young couple take off.

Emmett and Lyssa climb out of the squad car with a thank you to Austin. They then get in to the back of the Buick. Randall slides behind the wheel and Calvin slides in the other side.

Austin leaves, returning to his duties.

As the four werewolves head for the Wyeth den, Randall looks in the rearview mirror and, focusing on Lyssa, asks, "What exactly happened?"

Emmett looks at his mate. Lyssa takes a deep breath and sighs. "I saw the SUV through Em's window just before it hit us. He t-boned us. Just rammed into the drivers' side door." She takes another breath. "We ended up in the ditch, windows smashed out, my mate unconscious, bleeding." This time she swallows and closes her eyes. Then, she looks back up. "I saw two males on the top of the embankment. I heard Michael Ross say 'Kill them.'"

Calvin interjects, "What did Sampson do?" He had been told, of course, that Sampson was there. Sampson had told him, briefly, what had occurred but Calvin wanted to hear the story from the victim's viewpoint.

"I was trying to figure out how to get us out of there, so I wasn't watching, but I heard him say 'No.' I shifted to intermediate and started clawing through the seatbelt so I didn't hear anything else. Emmett was hanging there cuz we were tipped sideways in the ditch. The blood was running down his face, down his arm. Anyway, I got him loose and he fell on me." She looks at Emmett and smiles a little. "You are heavy, mate." He smiles back at her and squeezes her hand. "So, my brain was still screaming at me to get us out and away. I got out from under Em and out the busted window. But I wasn't gonna be able to get him out the window. So, I yanked on the door, but it wedged in the ditch. I grabbed the top of the door and, don't ask me how I did it, folded the top of the door down and grabbed him. Michael was coming down the embankment, and I saw a gun in his hand, and he shot at me, so I hit him." Emmett inhales and stops her.