In The Shadow of The Moon Ch. 04

The shift in conversation brought him up short. Addyson had the voice of a storyteller. He was wrapped up in the images in her mind and the emotion in her voice. It took him a moment to pull himself out of the swamp of emotions.

"She doesn't trust me." But even as he said it, he knew that wasn't true.

Addyson laughed. "Bullshit. For Victoria, touch and trust equate the same thing. She doesn't let anyone close enough to touch her if she doesn't trust them. She keeps fighting, distance at all times. When I walked in to her room last night to find her curled up in your arms, asleep no less, I knew you had won that battle. Whether it is the kind of trust you are used to or not, you have it. Victoria is a strong woman on the outside, but inside she is the same scared little girl looking for protection. You are going to have to take different steps with her. Try different avenues." She leaned in close, her voice serious and all business. Antony welcomed the advice. "Don't go with experience on this; go with you gut. Your instincts will help you more than you past. But you be careful with my little girl, Antony. It may have been some years ago, but I am still Addyson Parks. I will not hesitate to take you down should you harm her in any way." She stood up put her empty tea cup on the sink and walked out as if she hadn't just threatened Antony's life.

********

The scar looked like something out of a movie. Four jagged furrows, from her neck to her right hip, were covered in smooth scared skin. The discoloration and shape she knew well from her own body. Carlie had been attacked by a werewolf; more than likely when she was young, judging by how the scar had stretched smooth. Victoria reached out to touch it, but quickly pulled her hand back.

"What happened?"

"Well, if you grab me a chair, I will tell you the whole story. I'm not even big yet and my back is already killing me. The healer says this means you're having multiples. I am trying to see that as a positive thing."

Victoria lifted two beanbags from a side wall. They were large red plush things, way more comfortable to sit in than the hard dance chair. As they both sat down, Carlie groaned. Victoria knew how she felt sitting on these things; it was heavenly. She would have to get some for their suite. Maybe not in that color...

"Oh, these are nice. Kick-ass power by the way. Not one you really see in our blood line. More the fae's cup of tea."

"Yeah, there is some interesting blood on my mom's side of the family."

There was another long silence as Carlie swizzled in the bean bag, trying to find the right position.

"Hmm, interesting. Well, I will have to talk family trees with you sometime. It's a little hobby of mine. Tracking everything back. That, however, is something for a later date." She sighed, "the story of my scar...How much do you know about my brother?"

Victoria shrugged. She hadn't really been interested in learning about him until very recently. Carlie's eyes sparkled with understanding. "You guys should talk; he is a bundle of stories. Well, let's see. Antony is the third youngest of nine, but everyone knew he was destined to be Alpha. Our parents started procreating as soon as they could manage it. Our older brothers were prepared to take the job whenever father decided to retire. When Antony came along, there was no need. I guess I am just repeating myself, but to be honest, there is no other way to describe it. As he grew up, he just exuded this power. He was always fair-minded and strong-willed. The only fault was his temper, or at least his main faul. Even before his powers settled in, he was constantly picking fights and going berserker. I was only three when he was 11, but I can remember it clearly."

She turned and smiled. "I have a spectacular memory."

"One time, some older wolf bowled into me when I was outside playing. Antony lost it. I mean this kid had to have been three or four years older than him and he just went crazy. Beat the kid unconscious. At the time he was my hero, but my father was furious with him.

"My father gave him the spanking of the century and then started Antony on this whole regimen that was supposed to contain his anger. Teach him how to control himself, because he couldn't be Alpha if this was the way he was going to behave. Hell, that threat alone probably would have done it. Antony wanted to lead the pack so bad by that point, he did anything and everything that Dad put before him. Trust me, Dad was a real hard-ass about it. During this training, Antony's powers came..."

"Yeah you mentioned that before, but what's his power? I didn't even know he had one."

"Figures he wouldn't tell you. It makes his advantage harder to use if people are always on their guard around him. Anyway, Antony is a scary telepath. I mean there isn't anybody who can keep him out and once he is in, very few people can hide things from him. That's how he was always able to know when someone was lying. Once he had his power, we couldn't get away with anything. The bastard always used to say he was practicing his power whenever he told on us. I punched him in his lip one time he did. Oh, it used to drive me insane. Needless to say, Father went even harder on the training after that. He didn't want his son to ever manipulate his power. It didn't take too long for Dad to start to use Antony's power. He had him sit in on meetings and let him know when people were lying or withholding the truth.

"People never knew when Antony had been in there minds. He was Mission Impossible, 007, telepath style. Oh and by the way, he hates it when you call him a telepath; he thinks it sounds frou-frou. I told him to give me something else to call him and I will. Seeing as he hasn't come up with something that doesn't sound like it belongs in a comic book, I continue to call him a telepath. Anyway, back to the story."

Victoria chuckled.

"So it was a couple of months before my thirteenth birthday. A small group of emissaries from a neighboring pack came to make some request for visits and trades. Traveling on pack lands, stuff like that, the usual. Only when Antony took a little swim through there minds, he found out it was a group of rogues, scouting the pack for an attack in a few days. Dad was quick to have them thrown out. The pack was on high alert for weeks, but when searches showed neither hide nor hair of them, Dad thought it was all over." Her voice grew quickly somber.

"My birthday came and went. One day, a little before dusk, I had taken a walk through the pack gardens to a pond. I was in love with the colorful fish that were kept there. It wasn't unusual for me to go there by myself. Well, that night, as darkness fell, the rogues attacked. There was little I could do, but hide behind one of the statues. As my father and brothers and the rest of the warriors of our pack fought them back, I stayed hidden in the garden. I had felt so grown up when my 13th birthday came around. I had grown extremely. I was pretty tall, but there tucked behind the statue, I felt eight again. I felt like a little kid and I squeezed my eyes shut tight. All I could hear was the sounds of snarls and breaking glass, I could hear the screams of some of my pack, but I kept my eyes shut tight. I rocked myself gently and waited for it all to be over. Eventually the pounding of the blood in my ears was all I could hear. The snarls were gone and the howls had faded. I leapt from my hiding spot and darted for the house. I paid no attention to my surroundings and landed right in the arms of one of the rogues. His breath was hot on the top of my head and his mouth was bloody. There were red scratches on his body. He snarled and snatched me up before I could think about anything else. The minute he had me over his shoulder, I screamed."

Victoria's heart was racing with the story. Though she was perfectly able to protect herself now, she felt just as helpless as Carlie had felt then. She couldn't move with the fear of it all.

"Ever since I was three, my brother has always been my protector. He told me to scream for him if I ever needed help. He told me to scream as loud as I could. Then when he got his powers, he told me to scream with my mind to. Told me to use my training and find him with my mind and let him know where I was. That defense had become instinct. When I went to a human school for the first time and some idiot boy pushed me down, I screamed my little head off for him and he came running. He was always there for me. So the minute that wolf had me over his shoulder, I screamed with my voice and my mind. I reached out for Antony and begged. I told him exactly where I was and screamed for him to save me. I still remember the howl that ripped through this compound. I felt it in my heart. I knew he had torn off after me, and so did the wolf carrying me. He began to sprint as fast as he could with me on his shoulder. I fought, but a terrified thirteen-year old girl against a wounded, full-grown werewolf had no chance. I didn't have enough control over my wolf, and in my fear, I couldn't get to her. It was crazy. I was busy trying to worm my way out of his clutches and worried about how I was going to survive the daunting six or seven foot drop that was ahead of me should I get out his grasp. I never even formed a plan. Antony knocked into him from the side and I went flying. My back slammed into a tree and my head soon followed... Through clouded and confused eyes, I watched as Antony took down wolf after wolf. He didn't stop until there were none. I was extremely unsteady, but the sight of my older brother clouded my judgment, that and fear. I stood up and lurched towards him, he attacked and I turned just in time to get the scars on my back.

"Antony told me it was my scream of pain that snapped him out of his rage. He carried me back and never left my side as the healers worked on me. The first couple of days in bed are a blur. Fading in and out of consciousness. I can remember Antony's tortured face and him begging for my forgiveness. I can remember him diligently taking care of me. He washed me down, changed the bandages. He read me stories and played games with me. He watched over me day and night, and every day he asked me to forgive him. The fact that he had done the worst damage to me has always haunted him. He keeps an iron grip on his anger now. Nobody ever sees the full breath of it. He refuses to let anyone else be hurt by it. He even told his father that he couldn't be Alpha because of what happened. It took a good slap from me and a stern talking to to help him realize that he was being a complete and utter moron."

Carlie laughed, but Victoria didn't feel like laughing. The story had left her with lots of questions, but even more answers. Antony's dark side, his temper, the pain he caused his sister. The thoughts chased after each other in a circle. Her CD had continued to play as the story progressed. Only now she noticed the disjointed levity of the pop song mixing with the remnants of emotions from the story. She slowly brought her attention back to the room and the extra person now in it.

Antony stood a few feet away watching the two of them. Or maybe watching her. A shiver went down her spine. The shift in her thoughts was weird. The idea of actually considering him. It was all so weird. Her thoughts drifted in a tizzy, swirling about with the hurried pace of leaves falling from trees. They had so much possibility. Possibility always comes laden with hope and disappointment. Possibility never told how it would leave you; it just settles down and waits. In quiet moments, its steals your breath. It tortures with time manipulations. Slow pulls to stretch it out as long as possible. Quick yanks that snap time out from under foot. Her thoughts trudged on in a whirlpool of madness. Antony, her dad, possibilities, too many possibilities. Possibility always gives one thing - a choice, but only one choice. One question with one simple answer. Either take a leap of faith and walk into the arms of something that gives you no guarantees, or stay huddled. Quietly hiding from anything and everything. One choice - yes or no.

Victoria looked up at her possibility. He stood in front of her, hand extended. Victoria looked down at her own hand and willed it to move.