by Jessica Snow
"In our case, we would not ever have to," Kim said, her regal upbringing showing through. "But if someone from our Clan ever does address you formally, then they should use the term Lady. Don’t worry about cross-clan politics and such yet, it’s complicated, and I will prepare you beforehand."
"I thank you for your kindness and wisdom.... Sister," Melanie replied, earning a beautiful smile from the Alpha Female. "I hope to earn that title in our hearts as well as in name."
"Thank you. Let's continue, before I get too emotional."
The lessons continued until Keith got home just after moonrise. Melanie greeted him at the door and felt her heart speed up as he gathered her in a warm embrace. "How were your lessons, my love?" he asked, kissing her lips softly. Even though the kiss was innocent, Melanie could feel her body respond to Keith's, and her breathing quickened.
Before she could get carried away, she broke the contact. "Very good. Our Sister is an excellent teacher, you know."
Keith smiled, knowing Kimberly had been eager to have Melanie learn the term. Growing up with only a brother had been hard on her. "I'm sure Kim would disagree, but I think she is excellent as well. Then again, she's spent the past two decades schooling me on various subjects, and I'm nowhere near as good a student as it seems you are."
Melanie hugged Keith again and captured his mouth in another kiss. She pulled him down, whispering in his ear. "I'm more than just a good student," she lusciously intoned, running her hands over his chest. "I'm a naughty student too. Would you like to find out?"
Keith growled in response, his hands stroking her back and face as he smiled. "I know you didn't learn that from Kimberly," he said, his right hand trailing down to trace her breast through her t-shirt. "And I would love to find out."
"Then take me to bed," she said. "We've ruined enough of Kimberly's sleeping places without us having sex in the foyer."
Keith nodded and picked Melanie up in his massive arms. She squealed, her hair streaming behind her, as he whisked her towards the bedroom. As they came through the living area, Kimberly called out from the couch. "Keith, I would like to talk to you about....."
"Not now," Keith growled back, his inner primal nature taking over. "Give me an hour."
Kimberly could see the sexual fire in Keith's eyes, and nodded, slumping back on the sofa. As Keith and Melanie disappeared toward the bedroom, she sighed to herself. It had been too long for her, she decided. She had to get out more, she was too young to be a chaste nun.
In the bedroom, Melanie grinned as Keith peeled his suit coat off and discarded his tie, flinging both towards the walk-in closet. She backed up slowly, teasing him with her fingertips on his stomach and chest until her knees hit the bed and she fell backward, her hair fanning out behind her. She waited, gazing hungrily as Keith shed the rest of his clothes, and she got to marvel again at the nude form of her mate. Six and a half feet of muscle, perfectly proportioned and strong, each muscle chiseled against his frame. His body hair was soft, light, yet clearly visible starting just below his neckline and continuing all the way to his toes, but still not blurring the image of his power or strength. His cock was already half erect, and she thrilled inside at seeing the shaft become longer and thicker. "Come to me, my love," she whispered, opening her arms and beckoning him.
"Yes, my beautiful Mate," Keith growled, his arousal blurring his nature. Melanie thrilled at the increased husk of his voice, knowing that she was responsible for bringing out the sexual animal inside him. Still, he was tender, laying next to her instead of crushing her under his massive frame. They kissed again, as Keith slid his hands under Melanie's shirt to free it from the waistband of her jeans. She sighed as she felt his hands on her skin, strong and sure, and she wiggled to allow him to pull it up and off of her. Since today had been casual, she wasn't wearing a bra, and her nipples immediately crinkled in the cool air of the bedroom.
"Beautiful," Keith whispered, taking her nipple into his mouth. Melanie sighed again, her hands tracing through Keith's hair, pulling him to her. She giggled when he playfully nipped at her skin, then cried out when he gently bit her sensitive nub, sending sparks through her body.
Keith’s right hand trailed down, finding the waistband of her jeans, and between the two of them, she found herself sliding them down and off until she was as nude as he was.
"Now, let me,” Keith said as he took his mouth from her breasts.
Melanie could feel Keith's hand trace up the outside of her hip, caressing her buttocks before coming around to gently rub her stomach. She sighed as his hand trailed down, over her shaved crotch, before diverting to caress her right thigh. She giggled and slapped him gently across his massive chest. "Tease."
"All in good time," Keith said, grinning as Melanie spread her legs more, opening herself up to him. He slipped his hand across her inner thigh before gently starting to rub her pussy directly. Melanie could feel a rush of heat as his fingers played with her pussy lips, and her breath grew ragged. God, he was good.
"Please," Melanie whispered, urging Keith to penetrate her. He smiled, and gently slipped a finger inside her wet opening, thrusting inside carefully. Keith rubbed his finger in slow circles, causing Melanie to moan and her pussy to almost gush with fluids. She could feel her juices flowing down her thighs, and thrilled at the sensation. No man, no former lover of hers had ever aroused her as much as her Mate did.
Mel bit her lip to suppress the first cries of orgasm as Keith kept up his gentle assault until she could hold back no more. Moaning and wailing, she felt another gush of fluid coat her thighs as she came again, her body twitching in pleasure. Finally, she lay back, the wave over for now. "You are amazing," she whispered, reaching up and gently caressing Keith's strong jawline. "Thank you for saving me."
"Thank you for loving me," Keith said.
Keith grinned. "I want to look into your eyes as I cum tonight, it was so erotic for me last time."
Melanie nodded and spread her legs. She spread her legs, and watched as Keith climbed up the bed until his rock hard cock was positioned at her soaked opening, and he held himself above her in his arms. Melanie bit her lip and smiled, urging him on, and groaned as Keith buried himself inside her with a single thrust. She reveled in the feeling of his strong hips driving his hard shaft into her, and she could feel her body shake and shiver each time their hips met. Her breasts bounced on her chest, and she could feel her nipples send out small waves of pleasure as they brushed against Keith's thin chest hair. Her eyes locked with his, and her hands traced the outlines of his strong arms as he worked himself into a smooth, powerful rhythm. His breath was coming faster and faster, and she could feel the sweat from her body bead as his body broke out as well. She could smell her lover, and it was amazing, natural, primal.
Keith's hips sped up, going faster and faster until Melanie could barely tell when he was thrusting in, and when he was pulling out, yet he never became too rough, always keeping his force on just the right side of the line between pleasure and pain, and Melanie could feel his orgasm build. She could see the fire in his eyes as he tried to control himself to bring her to one last climax. In what little bit of her mind was not obliterated by sexual sensations, she marveled at how considerate a lover he was for someone so powerful.
"Now," she whispered, wrapping her legs around Keith's thighs and pulling him fully into her. With a now familiar lupine growl that bordered on a howl, Keith erupted in her, his final thrust triggering yet another orgasm for her, obliterating all rational thought as she clung desperately to her Mate, pulling him into her with all of her strength. Her climax seemed to last for minutes, and she could feel the blackness of unconsciousness creep into her vision as she was unable to breathe from the sensations. Finally, the waves subsided for the last time, and she could focus again. Keith was still perched above her, smiling down tenderly.
"I love you," she whispered again, kissing and caressing his face. Keith returned the kisses, before rolling to the side.
; "I love you too. Now, go get cleaned up, I have something I want to share with you and Kimberly." Keith rolled off of Melanie, walking to the shower, letting her recover at her leisure.
* * *
Thirty minutes later, Mel came out to the living room to see Kimberly and Keith talking. She felt warmth spread again through her body, but not a sexual warmth. This was the warmth of family love, and she felt at peace. "Sorry," she said, "I know I take a long time in the shower."
"It is not a problem, Sister," Kimberly replied. "It allowed Keith and I a chance to go over some mundane Clan business we had to take care of. He insisted on waiting on his big secret until you rejoined us."
Keith stood up, and Melanie sat down next to Kimberly. "Now that you're both here, I have some exciting news. Now, as Kimberly and I are both well aware, tomorrow is a new moon."
"Have I only been here that long?" Melanie asked, surprised. Three weeks, and so much had changed for her.
"I know. What I meant was, that means that for us at least, our control of our wolf nature is at it's maximum. And, as I said before, I work with some people who are trying to clean up this corrupt city."
"Yes, and...?"
"I've found it easier to just let him ramble, Sister. He gets around to it eventually."
"Yes, but I'm hungry, and I don't want to wait until breakfast."
"I understand. Don't worry, we can raid the pantry later if need be."
Keith rolled his eyes as the two most important women in his life shared a bonding moment between them. Most Alphas would not tolerate such banter, even from family, but he had learned that it made his family stronger. "As I was saying, I have been in contact with some people who can help us. Tomorrow is a perfect opportunity for us to do some cleaning."
"Cleaning of what?" Melanie asked, excitement filling her veins as she anticipated what Keith was going to say next.
"How would you two like tomorrow night, to go hunting with me?"
"And what are we hunting, dear Brother?"
"The corrupt cops who almost killed Melanie here, and framed her for murder."
Kim and Keith fell silent, both turning their eyes to Melanie. She grinned her own feral grin, feeling for the first time her own primal nature coming to the forefront. She may not be a werewolf, but she could be a hunter. "I'm in."
"Then tomorrow night, we hunt."
Chapter 9
Melanie woke up early that morning, her eyes flashing open even before the sun had crested the horizon. Keith had told her, tonight was the night. Rolling over, she saw the still sleeping form of her Mate and smiled. It was the first time she had ever woken up earlier than him, and she relished in the chance to watch his sleeping face. When awake, Keith was handsome, powerful, and his face radiated intelligence to go with his power. But sleeping, he looked much more innocent, at peace with the entire world. While his powerful jawline and rugged features would never allow him to be termed "baby-faced," Melanie could see the younger man he once was.
Leaning over gently, Melanie kissed Keith's cheek softly before rolling out of bed. She never could sleep before a big operation, and knew that the only way she would be able to rest at all this afternoon would be to get up now, and stop fighting her body's call for action. Running her hand through her shoulder length hair, she rubbed briskly before shaking it out. She would bathe herself later, before going out that night. For now, it was time to get herself ready for the day.
Melanie went out into the central living room and was slightly surprised to find Kimberly there already, gazing into the remains of last night's fire. "Good morning, Sister," Mel said, intentionally choosing Kimberly's favorite form of address. "What are you doing up so early?"
Kimberly looked over at Melanie, and Melanie was immediately worried. She had never seen fear in Kim's eyes before, yet here she sat, obviously terrified. Melanie rushed over, vaulting the back of the couch in order to land right next to her. "Kimberly, what's wrong?"
Kimberly reached out and blindly grasped Melanie's hands, worry creasing her smooth, flawless features. "I'm scared, Sister."
"Why?" Melanie asked, squeezing Kimberly's hands reassuringly. "Keith intimated that you have gone into action before."
"Yes, but only solo hunts," Kimberly replied nervously. "I've never had to hunt while also caring to be part of a team or having other responsibilities."
Melanie sat back, suspicious. "Other responsibilities? Such as taking care of a poor simple human woman?"
Kimberly bit her lip, and Melanie could tell she was afraid of offending her. Finally, Kimberly nodded barely, confirming the question. Melanie felt a flash of anger but buried it. It was probably true, Kimberly and Keith both had physical strengths and abilities that far outstripped hers. But that didn't mean she couldn't carry her own share of whatever load happened tonight. Placing her fingers under Kimberly's chin, she lifted the beautiful face until Kim's amber eyes were staring into Melanie's own blues. "Kimberly, you don’t have to concern yourself with protecting me tonight."
"But your baby...."
"Is a week into gestation, if I even am pregnant. Now, considering how much Keith and I have made love over the past few days, I'd say it's a damn good chance, I know I'm in the right time frame of my cycle to become pregnant. But you don’t have to concern yourself about me. I'm a five-year cop, and I can handle myself."
"I know. I saw what you did in The War Zone."
"You were observing me?"
"Part of my duties as Alpha Female would be to protect Keith's Mates, werewolf or human. When you left the other night I followed you on the rooftop, making sure to stay hidden. I wanted to respect your privacy as much as possible."
"How did you keep up? I took a taxi from the Towers to The War Zone."
"Werewolves can run very fast, especially in wolf form. I partially changed, and could keep up pretty easily."
Mel sat back, her mind whirling with images of Kim running like some comic book super-heroine. Finally, she shrugged, accepting Kimberly's self-appointed role as her guardian. "I guess, but still, I don't need you worrying about tonight. I will wear body armor, and can take care of myself. Besides, I have something new to look forward to."
"What?"
"I want to see you change tonight if you don't mind. I bet you are one beautiful wolf."
Kimberly blushed, and then hugged Melanie. "Thank you, Sister. Now, let's get our day started before Keith wakes up. He will still go into his work this morning, so we can have all day to prepare ourselves."
The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent in preparation. First, Melanie and Kimberly used Kim's tablet to access the police database, which earned a glance from Mel. "You know, this is highly illegal that you have a password to this."
"You'd be surprised what pies I have my fingers in," Kimberly said, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "You'll understand why later."
After hacking in, Kim sent a bogus e-mail to all four surviving members of the hit squad that had been on Melanie's trail, pretending to be an informant who had information about a Triad operation that the group would be interested in. Next, Kimberly backed into the personnel files of each of the four men, while Melanie briefed her.
"Lieutenant Brandon Yankowitz," Mel began, as the man's face came up on the tablet screen. Kim squinted at the low-resolution image for a moment, before shaking her head.
"Hold on. I want to use a bigger screen for this."
Melanie looked around, perplexed. She had never seen anything that looked like a television in the central living room before and had actually grown used to the lack of electronic geegaws in her daily life. She was surprised when Kim punched a few well-concealed buttons next to one of the bookshelves, and an entire section of wall retracted to reveal a large flat panel screen. "I only use it when Keith isn't around," Kimberly said, smiling. "He's totally into the organic, as you probably figured out, but I love my computer gadgets, and this makes things so much easier."
"All right, so where wa
s I?" Melanie said as Kim tapped her tablet a few times. The images from the tablet transferred up to the screen, and the Lieutenant's face became much larger. "Lieutenant Brandon Yankowitz. Second in charge of the precinct, really an old school cop. For a while, I suspected he was taking orders from the Captain in charge, but in the end, I thought different. He reports to someone, I just never figured out who."
"He's a silberjager," Kim interjected. "He reports to a whole different chain of command."
"Keith used that word before," Mel said, recalling her first morning she awoke in the Lockwood Towers. "What does it mean?"
"I've told you that Clan politics are complex," Kimberly said, her eyes burning with hatred towards the image on the screen. "Part of it is that in addition to normal inter-werewolf conflicts, our kind has been hunted since the dawn of recorded history by various fanatical groups of humans. One such group is known as the Silver Bringers. Your more conspiracy minded humans called them the Illuminati. It made sense really since Silver is a very shiny, light reflecting metal."
"You mean they aren't just fodder for the tin-foil hat wearing nut cases?"
"Yes and no," Kim continued. "They do exist, just not to take over the world or form one world government or the typical stories. Founded by the Roman Church shortly after the fall of Rome, the Silver Bringers believe that it was our kind who betrayed the Western Roman Empire to barbarism and have led a holy war against us ever since. Their agents are involved in many areas of government, politics, and power, not for world domination, but to find and eradicate us. One of the types of field agents is called a silberjager, or Silver Hunter. He's a field assassin, and often we find them working in law enforcement and military in order to use the legal firepower granted these groups for their own aims.
Keith and I have known about Yankowitz's role for a while. We were hesitant to move against him, however, knowing that if he died under suspicious circumstances it might alert the rest of the Silver Bringer hierarchy."
