Pearl above

Chandler POV

SMUT WARNING

Alistair is hooked to many strange machines. He lost lots of blood along his leg, so he went into shock and is now in a coma. His state is still fragile, but he is still breathing, and as long as he is still breathing, there is still a chance that he will wake up, although Carson is somewhat skeptical about this. He mentions that Alistair has some blood infection he is unsure how to cure.

I've spent the last three days in the Black Moon's Infirmary; Alistair has been lying here for almost a week.

We have followed Tania's trail but have turned a dead end. Officially, she was transferred from one of Damon's ally packs, but the photos her parents showed to our envoy was a different girl. So, some have switched the real Tania with the creature on the way to Twilight Pack.

As much as I don't trust Damon completely, he seems pure as snow in this. Tania convinced him to take her to the meeting with Tonya. His secretary chose the place and was responsible for all the arrangements, and he killed himself soon after the incident, so we didn't have an occasion to interrogate him. At least Damon cleaned everything in the city, and officially, the gas leak destroyed the Italian restaurant.

Additionally, Damon almost got killed during the fight with Tania; she wasn't interested in saving his life. Our enemy can't get closer to the Black Moon, so it seems he chose to target the Black Moon's allies.

At least the vaccine was completed, and its first amount has already been delivered to my mother and my clan; she will start cleansing very soon. And yet my friend is lying here, disabled, because his leg above his knee is gone, at the brink of death.

It's late; I should be in my room sleeping, and yet I can't. Rage and anger are pulsing in my veins because someone is so close to us and yet still not within our reach. That my friend got mutilated, that someone was torturing so many beings in the North, that Pearl...

My legs stop as I notice two things. They bring me into the main hall of the packhouse corridor, and Pearl is standing in front of me. I don't dare to move because I'm scared she will bolt away from me, what she's been doing since the rejection. Separation didn't help; I still lust for her the same as always. I wonder what she thinks looking at me. Has she finally stopped feeling the pull to me, and I'm just indifferent to her?

"Pearl ate ice cream," she whispers gently, making me smile.

"In the middle of the night? You should sleep."

Her eyes start darting around the hall as if, I'm sure of it, she is trying to make a decision. Her face is determined as she walks fast in my direction, taking my hand in hers. I walk after her without protest as she guides me upstairs and into her room.

For the moment, I think that I shouldn't be here, but when she closes the door behind us and starts undressing herself from her pajama shorts and shirt, I no longer care about anything.

In complete silence, I get rid of my clothes and reach my hands in her direction. In a moment, I have her pressed to the wall, lifting her and wrapping her legs around myself. No foreplay, just primal instinct. I enter her quite roughly and start pounding into her; I feel her biting her teeth into my shoulders; that way, there is no moaning or screaming. Only the sounds of our panting and skin slapping skin are present, but silence has never screamed that much. That silence is complete of desperation, desire, and longing. Her arms are wrapped around my neck. I nudge her breasts with my naked skin and clench my hands on her bottom, pounding into her for I don't know how long. I know the tears are going down my face. Tears of joy and ecstasy because, once again, she is mine.

I vowed to stay away from her as far as possible, but I think there is no chance for me ever to keep that vow, no matter what. Because I love her.

We reach our height and let her go slowly. Her legs shake a bit, and I dare look into her face. Honestly, I don't know what I expect to see, but her gentle smile of satisfaction takes me totally by surprise. She pushes me in the direction of the bed, making me fall on my back as she straddles me and reaches for my lips. We kiss, and I let her dominate my mouth as my hands caress her back and buttocks. Very quickly, I'm hard and ready again; very soon, she is on her back, and I thrust into her again. This time, she cups my face with her palms, forcing both of us to look into each other eyes all the time. I don't mind; I feel connected, and I feel loved.

With the morning dusk, which, truth be told, wasn't that far away when I met Pearl in the hall, I leave her arms and walk back to my room. It's quiet in the house as I take a shower and carefully inspect my body, maybe hoping to find her mark on me, but in vain.

As I walk to the kitchen, I see one of my men. And we talk; he seems actually to have the same view on this as I do. That maybe we had bitten into more than we can chew. I ask him if we should give up, but he shakes his head. The trouble won't leave us even if we choose to ignore them. Plus, our clan is located close to where everything started, so it will also be the first to attack.

"How would the Clan feel if I mated with a werewolf?" I ask him out of nowhere.

My mother is a leader of the Murrow Clan, but a leader in the clan needs to have the support of clan members, and all of them are not fond of werewolves. Mating with Pearl would probably mean treason for them, but still...

"Clan trusts you, Chandler; mating with a werewolf would probably surprise everybody; some may be hostile, but I doubt anybody would undermine your credibility. Murrow Clan is so strong because we have perfect discipline, but we also don't act based on our emotions. When we started that alliance, many weren't and still aren't happy, but they follow logical arguments. The same would be with you. Before judging you, the clan will first listen to your reason. Is it about Terry's daughter?"

"You've noticed?"

"It was difficult not to, plus we all talk with pack members, and we can connect the strings."

"She rejected me, and yet she welcomed me once again with open arms, and I wonder why; the bond is gone. She shouldn't feel anything to me anymore."

"Pearl may be a bit different, but I think she is very smart in her own way," Anne says, walking unexpectedly into the kitchen. "When you were gone, I had many opportunities to talk with her. She loves you, but she understands what separates you. And honestly, Chandler, we are not even sure if things will ever be how they were before the creature. But don't treat Pearl as a mindless little girl because she is not."

"And about the creature?" I ask because she and Carson have examined Tania's body.

"Her DNA is not in the database, so she wasn't stolen from the third territory; no one like her has been reported missing, we have no idea who she was before. What happened with Alistair seems to be similar to sepsis but extremely strong and inflicted because of Tania's bite. You and Blackwood were lucky the creature hadn't bitten into any of you during your encounter. For now, we know for sure that the break of the spinal cord causes fatal damage. And that Tania had the ability to shift into it on her own will, but her brain showed some permanent damage, which Carson is sure was caused by shifting."

"In other words, when she shifted, she sacrificed herself." I finish, and Anne nods.

"Tonya told me that Rosie has checked many photos of Professor John Witt, the owner of the land where we found the warehouse. He was quite a popular person in the scientific environment and, by the way, Tonya's professor when she was studying biochemistry. She said he would never hurt a fly and was a genius, but the world wasn't ready for most of his ideas." Saying this, Anne puts in front of me a printed photo from a newspaper.

I study it, it's a picture from some conference attended by John Witt, many people surround him. Anne points to one person, a young man standing among them but looking very average. Slim, blond, plain and boring.

"According to Tonya, that guy's name was Liam Brixton, and he was a personal assistant of John Witt during his time at the university when Tonya was a student there. She remembers him very vaguely; he was handling things like calendar, laundry, and bills for the professor. But Rosie is sure he is the guy she keeps seeing in her visions."

Tonya POV

I'm still sore after what happened last week. There is an extremely painful wound consisting of five claws scratches in my belly, which heals very slowly. Worse than the muscles in my hand, it's painful, but at least I can move it. Carson forced me into bedrest, which hasn't stopped me from managing our investigation.

Chandler stomached somehow that I endangered his people, Rosie told me about everything that happened in the North, and my father took it upon himself to handle Damon and all his questions.

Questions Noah also asked, so I told both my mates the truth.

That's why Noah seems to be so diligent with his training recently. He took it hard that he couldn't be the better help to me during the fight. He also turned out to be an excellent nurse, taking care of both Charlie and me. Charlie's pregnancy is finally out of danger, primarily because of the return of his wolf. Noah also seems to take extreme pleasure in pampering both me and Charlie.

All my family and friends also seem to accept that this marking will happen sooner or later finally.

"Someone has bowed to me right now and called me Luna," Charlie says, giving me my tea.

I sit comfortably on my couch in the living room as Kathy and I go through some papers.

I smile, hearing him say that as he sits beside me, rubbing his stomach. Carson probably can tell us the child's gender, but all of us are in the mood for surprise.

"My parents will be here in two weeks to officially meet you two. My father must wrap up all things at the North."

"Has he got any plan for what to do next?" Kathy asks, and I shake a head.

Except for the warehouse, nothing more was found, and his search slowly reached a dead end. The only trial we have for now is John Witt and his assistance, and only because my sister has visions, visions that torture her. She came back from the North very... agonized. That's a good word to describe her; she spends most of her time in her room.

Despite Kathy forbidding her to get close to her children, Sonya and Hank throw every tantrum possible to defy their mother. Especially Sonya keeps sneaking into Rosie's room and openly arguing with her mother. The problem is that the atmosphere between my sister and my Beta should become lighter because of all that has recently happened. But it hasn't; they both seem to be more hostile with each other, especially Kathy. And I have no more strength to ask both of them to talk with each other honestly.

Speaking of the devils, Celia enters the living room alongside Kathy's children.

"They will sit with you. I will cook for Rosie her favorite stew," she says, and Kathy snaps.

"Why the hell do all of you keep running around her as if she was some princess? Just because she is a Spirit Catcher doesn't mean we have to spoil her."

"I'm just trying to be nice; you should be too. She is tired," Celia says with a scolding tone.

"So all of us are, and yet..." Kathy screams, but she is interrupted by a very small voice.

"Why are you so mean to Rosie!" Sonya yells angrily, "She is always nice to you and loves us! She was tired when she was taking care of you and still had time to play with me!"

"What are you talking about?" Kathy asks dangerously, but Sonya has her mother's temper and doesn't seem intimidated.

"When you were sleeping for so long after grandpa death! Rosie was sitting with you all the time, cleaning you and doing everything, and even sleeping on the floor in your room! She was singing to me and hugging me when I was crying!"

"Fuck no!" Kathy yells, surprised, well, I'm too. I had no idea my sister was in the packhouse after my friend had rejected Curtis and went into a coma.

I look at aunt Celia, who smiles sadly as she nods:

"Everything was such a mess that time. I was in a mess, you girls, Alpha Mikkeli. Rosie came to help us, only I and your parents Tonya knew. She was nursing Kathy and taking care of Sonya because I couldn't do it; my mate was killed, and my daughter was dying. She left the next day you had opened your eyes, Kathy."

And that's when my friend storms out of the room, and I follow her as fast as I can despite my wounds. I'm fast enough to pull her out of my sister when she has barraged into her room and grabbed her!

"You fucking bitch, why did you come! To celebrate your victory over me! Did seeing me in a coma give you some satisfaction because none of us could have Curtis? Tell me bitch, why he was so important that I didn't matter to you anymore! Why the fuck was it always about him!" Kathy shouts, trashing in my firm grip. I bite my teeth in pain; my wounds are killing me.

"It was never about him; it was always about you!" Rosie screams with tears in her eyes, " I love you, Kathy! All this happened because I love you!"