Moonlight Ch. 03

*As always, feedback is welcome and appreciated. Let me know what you think. ~AnyaLeena

*

"Good lord, Lena. What the hell was that about?"

At Sunny's exclamation, Selena sat down at the table and put her head in her hands. "I have no idea what just happened. It kinda came out of nowhere."

Rory grabbed one of the glasses Selena had taken out, filled it with some water and placed it before her. "Why don't you start at the beginning?"

"Well, the sheriff came in earlier today at the shop. Right after you left, Sunny. And I swear, my wolf wanted to sit up and beg. There's just some type of chemistry between us. But I wasn't planning on doing anything about it, I swear."

Sunny sat down next to her and took one of her hands. "Well, of course! You haven't wanted to do anything with anyone lately. Ow!" Sunny rubbed her side, where Rory had elbowed her. "Sorry... go ahead, Lena. What happened next?"

Lena took a deep breath. "Well, when I got home, there was a message on the machine from him, asking, no, telling me, that he was going to stop by to ask some questions. I got all riled up, thinking about how he was such a pompous ass, and how egotistical it was to stop by without checking if I had plans already. So I decided to get a little payback. I dressed up and when he came by, I said that I hoped it wouldn't take long, as I was planning on meeting the two of you at the Crescent Doll."

Rory started to giggle. "Oh dear, I can see where this is headed. Here you are looking all sexy, there's already some chemistry, and then you say you're going out to a strip club. Bet you didn't say we were your sisters huh?"

Lena moaned as she buried her head even further in her arms. "Oh man. No I didn't." At this, even Sunny started laughing. "So it's even worse. She's going to a strip club with 2 men while she's looking hot. I could almost forgive him for the comments then."

"Oh god, I didn't even thing of it that way... He still acted just like a typical man though." Lena blew out a breath as she sat back in her chair. "I will make a confession though." She looked around at her sisters. Her best friends. "I've gotta tell you. When he held me so close, I felt this fluttering in the pit of my stomach. My wolf even knew. He smelled different."

Sunny stopped laughing, and quietly took Lena's hands. "What do you mean?

Lena gave a short ironic laugh. "He smelled like home. Like my mate."

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Selena stood behind her counter, ringing up a purchase. As the woman left the store, she couldn't keep her mind from wandering. Back to that night. She's never felt such chemistry before, and in such a short time period. Not to mention the fact that he was still pretty much a stranger.

Lena glanced down at the palm of her hand. No, one touch had been enough. Even now, she could close her eyes and remember the sizzle from the feel of flesh on flesh. Lips crushing. Tongues gliding. She couldn't even imagine what that sizzle would have turned into had her sisters not walked into the room. She could see his face in her mind. That shaggy mahogany hair, in need of a trim. His face, all hard angles and strength. And his eyes. That had been the first thing she had noticed. That midnight blue. The color of the sky right after dusk.

"Excuse me..."

Selena looked up and found herself staring into that midnight sky once more. Jumping back a bit, she saw that Conor was standing in front of her, looking a tad more than uncomfortable.

"Sheriff Quinn. Well, it's a surprise to see you here. What can I do for you?" Lick you, take you in my mouth, jump you? Any or all of the above?

Unaware of her thoughts, the sheriff nervously shifted from foot to foot, 6 ft of boyish charm. "Well, actually Ms Murray, I came to apologize to you. I was completely out of line with the things I said and did. And I wanted to assure you that nothing like that will happen again. Thing is, my mama would have skinned me alive if she had seen me treat you with such disrespect." Conor glanced down to where Lena was absently rubbing her hand. He whipped up to look at her, as he remembered that spark he felt from the slightest of touches.

Slowly, as to avoid scaring her off, he reached across the counter, to hold her hand. And felt that spark of electricity shoot up his arm deep into his body. The night sky in his eyes darkened with the hint of storms and the boyish charm shifted into the deadly attention of a man.

"Truth is, Selena, I can't seem to get my mind off of you. And it's more than the outside packaging, gorgeous as it is. It's your quick mind, your affection for your family. That way you have of making a man drool with just a look. I'd like to get to know you a little more. And I'll admit, I was a little jealous at the thought of you heading up to a strip club with 2 other men. But that's what I get for making assumptions."

He reached across for the other hand now, wanting to make sure she wouldn't bolt. "I'm really hoping you'll take pity on me. At least let me take you out to dinner, coffee, anything. Just give us a chance to get to know one another. You might find that I'm actually a likeable guy."

"I...I..." Selena stammered as she was torn in two. The human part of her understood the need to protect the family. But that wolf part of her wanted to give in to the craving. It wanted to feel the passion, just waiting to ignite. She glanced out to the calendar, hoping for an answer. And found one.

"I'm sorry, Conor. Really I am. But I just don't think that I can give you an answer right now. I have a lot of things to work out, and I tend to do best when I'm on my own."

"I think maybe you are. A little sorry, that is. But at least tell me this, Selena. Tell me you're as attracted to me as I am to you."

"I won't deny it. But attraction isn't everything. I need more than just chemistry."

"I think what we've got is a little more than chemistry." Conor donned his hat and headed towards the door. Pausing for a moment, he turned back for one more picture of Selena. Her raven curls all piled up on top. That curvy body, hiding behind a serious business suit. And those storm gray eyes, lost and confused. Sad. "What we really have going on is more along the line of holiday fireworks. But that's alright. I'll give you a little time to think on things. Just don't expect me to quit on the first strike. I can wait you out."

As he headed out to the sunshine, Selena followed his retreating form. "That's what I'm afraid of."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"So. The sheriff asked me out today," uttered Lena, seemingly casually

Utter and complete silence met those words. Then, chaos. With screams, Rory and Sunny raced in from the living room, where they had been watching a little TV. "What? Where? What did he say? More important, what did you say?"

Selena continued mixing the marinade for the steaks she planned. She looked out the window above the sink, seeing the lush green of the forest in the back. Tonight she'd have a good run. "Umm, where to start? He asked me out at the store, after squeezing out another apology for the asshole behavior. Then he saw me rubbing my hand and reached out to grab it." At her sister's squeal, she moved over to the fridge, hoping for a little space as she grabbed the steaks.

"So what happened next. Come on. Details" Rory snagged a cookie from the jar, then plopped on the bar stool.

"Well, not too much after that. He said how he couldn't keep his mind off of me. Wanted to give us a chance to get to know one another. He also wanted me to admit that I was attracted to him."

Sunny snorted. "Well duh, given the fireworks we saw last night,t hat one's a no-brainer. What did you tell him?"

"I said that, yes I was attracted, but attraction isn't everything."

"So...."

Lena looked up from where she had finished placing the steaks in the freezer bags to soak. "So what?"

"So... Do you have a date with him?"

Lena rolled her eyes at them. She grabbed a glass of water and sat next to her sisters. "Of course not. You know what night this is."

"It doesn't have to be tonight, you know." Rory said. She looked into her sister's eyes, seeing the fear and confusion.

"But we've got so much work yet, Rory. We still haven't tried the new combination of herbs, and you know how long that can take. And are we forgetting about one major obstacle??"

Sunny sighed. "Lena, just because he smelled like mate doesn't mean you have to drag him to a church for marriage that day. You can still enjoy spending time with him. Hell, just plain enjoy him."

"But I remember what Mother warned us about. Once we've slept with our mate, that's it. The world ceases to exist, time stops, and everything that you were doing grinds to a halt until you've produced cubs. And I have too much at stake to go through that right now."

Sunny came around the table and put her arm around Lena. "My darling sister. How out of touch you are with the current times. It's the new age my dear! These wonderful things called condoms now allow you to enjoy the pleasures of sex without the burden of cubs. So you can have your cake and eat it too. Or in this case, have your potions and eat Conor too!"

"Okay, okay, enough on this topic of eating Conor. We have a lot of preparing to do." Sunny rinsed her hands off, then led the way down to the basement. Flicking lights on as she went, she stopped at the bottom of the stairs to survey her lab. This was her domain, her sanctuary. Even perhaps her eventual salvation. The equipment stationed around were top of the line, allowing them to produce and test the various potions they've created to halt the change.

"Rory, we tried the wolfsbane and hemlock potion last. Obviously, that didn't work. What did you find at the library?"

Rory walked over to the center table and spread her notes out. Sunny and Lena gathered round to see what info she had gathered. "Okay, I found some old tomes about magicks." At Sunny's grunt, Rory looked up and stared at her. "Sunny, I know that they're full of nonsense. But they also tend to have a grain of truth. That's how we found out that the main compound has to be a mix of wolf blood, human blood, and dove feathers. This mentions use of daisies and baby's breath to increase purity of blood, yarrow for healing, violets to calm the wolf, and thyme to induce a healing sleep."

"But, Rory, we've tried all those before. They didn't work."

"True, but we never tried them together. We always mixed them with other ingredients, but we never tried this specific mix. It's worth a shot."

Sunny thought about it and looked at Lena. "What do you think, Lena?"

Lena sighed as she rose to look out the window. Already it was well after 5. It was decision time. "Okay, let's go for it. Rory, did you gather the flowers already?"

"I've got them right here." Rory pulled out a burlap sack stuffed with flowers.

"Okay, Sunny, go get the blood stored in the cooler. I'll start setting up here." As the sisters rushed off to gather the supplies, Lena looked once more out the window, watching as the night started to creep into the yard. "I hope this works.

~~~~~~~

After a couple hours of brewing, crushing, mixing, and looking like a gaggle of witches around a cauldron, the potion was prepared. Lena gathered the vials and stored them in the cupboard. "Okay it's too early to do a full trial. We still need to do some more tests. Head on out to the cages. I'll go grab the steaks from upstairs."

Sunny walked up to Lena, placing her hands on Lena's shoulders. "Are you sure we can't try it out tonight?"

"Absolutely not. The last time we did that, Rory almost died. We can't risk another miscalculation like that again. We'll try it tomorrow night."

Accepting her decision, the two sisters headed to the back of their lot, where an old log cabin stood. Lena grabbed the steaks she had left marinating, locked up the house, and followed after Sunny and Rory. As she opened the door to the cabin, she looked around the place where she would rest her head for the next three nights.

Three steel cages lined the back and several first aid kits were along the wall. Old hospital cots lay in the cages, and there were shackles on two of the corners. The chains on the shackles had enough slack to move around the cage, but kept them at least 3 feet from the sides of the cages. As Rory and Sunny undressed to avoid tearing the clothes, Lena placed a steak in each of the cages. She then removed her own clothing, revealing the lush body that Conor had imagined. She glanced around at her sisters, beautiful in their nakedness. Sunny with her streamlined athleticism and Rory with her waiflike form. So different, yet both beautiful. All that remained of her family stood in this musty room. They had already attached the manacles to their wrists.

Lena came in to each cage and gave her sister a hug and a kiss.

"See you guys in the morning," said Sunny.

"Good luck," whispered Rory. The change was hardest on her, the gentlest of them.

"Back at you both," said Lena. She closed the cage, and applied the shackles.

And as the sun continued to set, and the moon began to rise higher in the sky, screams filled the hidden cabin and steel crashed against stone. Then, for a moment, blessed silence before the howl of wolves filled the air.