FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

It was a strange feeling that the young lady felt when she looked up and saw the man walk into her room. Was it her room, she thought. She supposed it was, no one else was going to use it, not with her in it and guards outside. It was her room and she had the small thought at the edge of her mind that it would be her last room. Those that had brought her here wanted her dead, she could see it in their eyes, the big man who had that smaller one at his heels the entire time. He had dared her with those eyes that were filled with a fire that she hadn't seen before. He had dared her to run so that he could run her down and tear her apart, literally. There was no doubt that he would have been able to do the feat with his own bare hands. The smaller one would have been able to as well. A good amount of people in the building with her could, they were werewolves after all and she was just a small human. No match for them.

Now there was this man who had a hobble in his step. He leaned, favoring one leg over the other and used a hand to brace himself against the wall while his other arm hung limply at his side with a slight bend at the elbow. He shuffled over to the chair that sat across from her, a plain metal table, cold and gray, separating them. He grunted as he pulled it back and lowered himself into hit. He sounded old and tired when he did it as if the weight of the world was pushing down on his shoulders and he was desperately trying to not collapse.

He didn't seem angry. His eyes were weary, but held a glimmer of hope in them. They twinkled each time the light from the bulb over head, bright and yellow with the hum of electricity going through it, caught them.

That strange feeling went through Erika again. It was alien, but so familiar and she was hit with a feeling of déjà vu. She couldn't put herfinger on what it was until he spoke.

“Is it true?" His voice was gruff, he hadn't drunk his morning cup of coffee. He was always like this, Sergei, her friend, companion, lover husband, he sounded gruff when he didn't have his cup of coffee to spruce him up for the day. He would be lethargic until he did.

“Is it true?" He asked again and looked at Erika who sat silently across from his. She was so close, he could reach out and touch her hand that was resting in front of her. He would feel her soft hand that she always kept smooth and moisturized with a bottle of lotion that she kept in her purse. Where was that purse? It wasn't here, Vasili must have taken it.

He waited for her to reply. He could wait as long as necessary. He had waited seventy years to come back to Germany, he could wait a few moments for his wife to either deny or confirm the horrible things that she was accused of doing.

Erika knew what she was feeling now. There was a tone in Sergei's voice, slight, but it was there. Having lived with him for some time now, she knew his speech patterns, how he spoke in all of his different moods. His tone was that of worry. Sergei worried a lot, he was afraid of losing that which he loved and that also mirrored the feelings that she had now.

She was worried about what he would think. It was all true. She had used him to get close to his friends so that she could kill them and she did her job. She was afraid, not because he may attack her, Sergei wasn't one to come to violence. She was afraid of what he would think of her, that he would leave her and let those that had survived her attack kill her. She deserved death, she really did, but the baby didn't.

She had known for about a week now, but she hadn't told him yet. She had been too busy with her plans, getting the bomb, watching cargo shipments to know exactly when to move. She had been caught up and had somehow forgotten to tell the baby's father that there was even a baby to expect.

She could lie. Deny everything. Convince him that she was being framed and that the others wanted to separate them, but Sergei wasn't an idiot. Sure, she had gotten him to fall in love with him, but that didn't make him an idiot. He was smart, intelligent, engaging, made her laugh and cry when he wanted, he was her husband and she couldn't lie to him, not about this.

Erika bowed her head, gazing down at her hands. No more secrets. “It's true." She confessed and choked back a tear that had been building up. She felt the sting just behind the bridge of her nose. “I did it. I planted the bomb, I detonated it. I did it all."

She didn't look up at Sergei, she couldn't get herself to look at him in the eyes. She could already imagine the rage, the anger that he would feel at this betrayal. She expected him to kill her himself and she was ready to throw out her only defense. The child, her trump card, the only thing that she knew would save her. She had studied the files on the werewolves, they wouldn't kill her if she was carrying the child of one of their pack members. The child didn't deserve to die.

“Would you do it again?" Sergei asked as all kinds of feelings swam through him. He was angry, outrages, absolutely livid that it was true. He had trusted her, held her and said his vows at the alter and she had spat on that. There was also sadness to see that he was going to lose one more thing that he loved. Many more feelings were felt, but hate was not one of them.

He didn't hate her, as much as he knew that he should. He had known some of those that had died in the blast, both those that died instantly and those that died days or hours later, writhing in a hospital. Some he had called friends and she had killed them, yet he didn't feel hate or a desire to kill her. He loved her. There was a reason why there was a ring on his finger and one on hers, there was a reason why he had smelled the change on her skin last week that signified that his seed had taken hold in her womb to create his child. It was those reasons why he didn't hate her.

“I don't know." Erika answered truthfully. She felt her loyalties split. She wanted to be with Sergei, it was why she didn't leave the city once her job was done. She had stayed to be with him for as long as she could before they discovered what she had done. There was also loyalty to the Coordinator who had taken her in years ago when she had nothing. He had been a father figure to her, caring and always making time for her. She had been no one once, bankrupt, no home, no family. He had found her on the street and taken her in, fed her and given her a home and a seat at his table. She learned from him as he taught her the art of espionage and told her tale of the secret war between the KGB and the CIA during the Cold War and he taught her the tactics that both sides used.

When he had come to her with a mission that he told her may end up in her death, she took it without a second thought. Those second thoughts were only delayed because she was having many now. They swarmed her mind. Had he just used her like how she had used Sergei initially. Sure, he had shown her compassion, but she had done the same to Sergei with malicious intent and the Coordinator was a planner. He was willing to pour time and effort into an investment for year and years to see it pay off. She had seen him do it with others, shown them love only to send them off to die in some bomb, a firefight, or at the claws and fangs of a werewolf and he didn't bat an eye as long as they finished their mission. It was a investment and Erika had told herself that she was different, that she wasn't more than a one time investment, but now that she thought about it, she realized that she wasn't any more special in the eyes of the Coordinator than anyone else. She knew where her loyalties lay now.

“No." She quickly changed her answer, still truthful. She looked up, expecting to see a snarl across her lover's face, but there was only sadness and it tore her down faster than any werewolf could. “I wouldn't be able to betray you like that again."

Sergei didn't know if she was telling the truth. His gut said that it was, but his gut had been telling him that for a long time now and she had been lying to him for a long time, he didn't know if he should trust the words coming out of her mouth anymore.

“They want to interrogate and then execute you." Sergei said. He hadn't heard it straight from anyone's mouth, but it was obvious. They hadn't killed her outright because she had information, but once they beat it out of her, they would have no use to keep her alive. Vasili would be the one to do it, but even if Sergei didn't know what to believe, he knew that he had a child he needed to protect.

The Alpha had been understanding and would delay anything drastic until the child was born, but Sergei never worried about the Alpha. He was worried about Vasili. He had been there when Vasili was exposed to the light of the blood moon. He had watched the rage take him and twist him into a wild animal that wouldn't hesitate to murder those that he no longer recognized as friend. Even though Vasili had recovered, he hadn't healed fully. Sergei saw the bloodlust in those eyes, he was still wild inside, hidden behind a layer of benign and harmless looking skin. Sergei would need to guard Erika from him because the amount of anger in Vasili was great and Sergei believed that the rage would take him and awaken the feral beast that was slumbering within. Even in his crippled state with one arm and one leg, Sergei would fight to defend his child.

Erika bit her lip. He knew how to resist interrogation, it was something that was taught to all agents heading into the field. She had spent days locked in a cell, beaten an tortured at the hands of other Inquisition agents, learning how to keep her lips shut and had come away strong, but now she had no oath, no bond to keep them shut.

“There won't be any need for that. I'll tell them everything." Erika spoke softly. “But, I need something in return."

“I can't promise anything."

“But will you try?" She asked and reached out to touch Sergei's hand. He didn't pull back. It was warm and dry. He didn't like lotion, said it smelled too strong.

“Yes." Sergei nodded. Her hands were cold and smooth, a stark contrast to his won.

“If they are going to kill me…"

“They won't" Sergei rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb. His were so much larger than hers and made her hands seem like that of a child's compared to his. “I already know about the child."

Her hands pulled back to cover her mouth. She hadn't told him yet.

Sergei grinned. “You can't keep much away from the nose of a wolf." Her tapped the side of his nose. His smile faded as quickly as it appeared. “I don't know if I should trust you or your word. You've betrayed me." His words were like daggers, stabbing straight into Erika's vulnerable body. “But, you are carrying my child and I won't let them harm you because of that."

There wasn't much more talking after that and Sergei soon left Erika alone in that room and dismissed the guards who left without a fight. He took his position outside the door. He was crippled with one arm and one leg. He would be no match for Vasili, not if, but when he came, but he would fight tooth and nail to protect his child for as long as he could.