Pure Moonlight Ch. 04

Hi everyone!

I've finally gotten the ball rolling now that I have time. I am sorry it has taken so long.

Thank you all for waiting so patiently.

Hope you enjoy!

<3 Shadowsung

---------------------

Chapter 4

~~~~

Ally blurted out her favourite coffee shop and a time before putting the phone down and taking a deep breath. He had said a single word of acceptance at her terms, but her heart still leapt at the sound of his voice. So much for not thinking about him, came a tiny sarcastic voice from the back of her head.

"And now I'm having internal arguments with myself!" she cried out loud. Her voice broke the silence that had fallen over the house. She took a deep breath and felt much calmer than she had in days.

The calm lasted a single breath before the clock's ticking seemed to increase in sound. Each tick came as if a gunshot was firing through her house. The birds screamed outside and a lawnmower down the street was a tank on a rampage. With a scream of frustration she launched herself through the house.

After taking two valiums, she collapsed on the couch with a sigh. Taking deep breaths, she felt her heart beat slow down and breathing grow deeper. Soon she was in a trance and just let her mind drift. She had been so high strung, she felt like a bow pulled to full capacity. Humming with tension at all times had drained her energy more than she had realised. Slowly her mind drifted, like an idle breeze flowing through a forest.

Her mind inevitably came to a shuddering halt as it focused on the object of her frustrations. Zac Coleman had whirled into her life and she had not been the same since. Looking at the clock, Ally realised she had over an hour before she was to meet with him. Her nerves spiked at the thought. She spent a long time picking out her outfit very carefully. She wanted to send all the right messages.

~~~

Sitting in a booth and sipping her third fresh caramel latte, Ally felt nervous. She had been quite early after all her indecisiveness. Time seemed as though it had slowed down and stopped. She sat there impatiently, fidgeting in her seat. Every time the bell at the front door rang, she would look up expectantly.

"Looking for someone?" asked a sultry voice in ear. The most arousing aroma engulfed her as she spun around to face him. Her memory had done him no justice. He was even more gorgeous than her imaginings. He was looking at her reverently, a smile on his lips as he took all of her in. He looked like a man standing in the rain after a drought.

All of her primping and worry about her dress seemed suddenly trivial. Somewhere deep inside her, she knew he would love her and think her a beauty in any scrap of material.

Ally got up and hugged him, as he planted a chaste kiss on her cheek. His nostrils flared as he lowered his head to her neck. He stayed that way for a second, breathing in deeply through his nose as she had done with her roses. He pulled away, his eyes closed and smiling.

"I missed you." She blurted out. His eyes snapped open and he looked at her just as surprised as she felt.

She quickly sat down in the booth blushing. She felt his warmth envelope her as he slid in next to her. The couple sat entranced, both trying desperately to think of anything to say. Ally memorised every feature of his face, taking in every little detail.

He had a little mole underneath his earlobe on the right side. His nose was slightly crooked, probably from a break. There was a small length to his stubble; she surmised it must be at least a few days worth of growth. It all suited him, as though each little detail was added like a deliberate stoke of a paintbrush to create a perfect painting.

His eyes were pools of molten emerald as he surveyed her with the same look on his face. Although he stared at her, Ally noticed his eyes were slightly glazed over and almost distant.

She was correct in this observation. Zac's wolf was almost dancing in happiness as they basked in their mate's scent. The week had been hard on both of them- his wolf in particular, who did not understand the silliness of human behaviour.

He had done his best all week to keep his distance. He sat on her porch each night, content to guard her, he followed her discretely, just to make sure she was safe at all times. His human sensibility argued that he was being creepy and stalking, but his wolf countered with the circumstances of their meeting. Unfortunately, both sides of Zac agreed with the fact their mate had more going on than she was telling.

Sitting there, basking in his warmth, Ally felt all of the muscles in her shoulders relax. It felt like plunging into a hot mud bubble bath. She felt her mouth pull at the sides in a bright smile that she just couldn't help. Zac looked down at his mate's pretty face and saw her light up, and his heart leapt as he knew she had embraced the Attraction at last.

They sat beside each other, talking about their weeks, and general chitchat. The waitress snapped them out of their little world.

"Can I get you anything gorgeous," she simpered to Zac, batting her eyelids. She tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulder and threw her hips, inviting him to look at her body.

Ally rolled her eyes and gritted her teeth. She hated girls like that; clearly they were... something, but clearly they were spending time together, and this rude girl had no business in flirting outrageously as she was.

Zac tried to keep his rage internalised. His stare hardened at the silly chit who dared to act so despicably in front of his obvious date.

The girl noticed the chill and the change in colour emanating from the gorgeous guy's eyes and promptly dropped the act. As quickly as she could she took his order and almost ran behind the counter. In less than two minutes shouting could be heard from the kitchen. A plump man, sweaty and in a stained apron came out and bowed.

"Mr. Coleman, I did not realise you had graced this fine establishment with your presence.
I wish to deeply apologise for Kate's shameful behaviour. I hope I have not offended you or your guest. Assurances, Sir that she will be punished for her conduct." He bowed deeply to the couple before waving forward another waitress, who placed a cup of coffee on the table before the pair backed away slowly.

Ally was wide eyed in shock at the behaviour. Zac sighed, and looked down at his human beside him. He wished LeFarius hadn't made such a show, when his guest was clearly human. Ally felt Zac's hand tighten, she looked down and dimly realised that they had been holding hands the entire time. She couldn't remember who went for it first, but her hand fit in his so perfectly, it was as if they had been carved from the same stone.

She looked up to see his emerald pools staring down at her, "I'm sorry about that, Ally."

She swallowed, "It's ok; you can't help the way other people act. The bowing was... interesting. What was it about?"

Zac sighed and studied his mate carefully, "I come from a very wealthy and old fashioned family. My father used to require the people below his station to bow. They forget that he is no longer in charge."

"In charge of what?" Ally asked curiously, he always seemed so aloof; she wanted to get to know him so much better.

"I'll tell you later. How about we go for a walk around the pond?"

"Sure, I'd love to" smiled Ally; she loved walking.

~

Falling into step beside Zac, Ally felt perfectly at home. Being with him felt so natural and she couldn't figure out why. Normally she was guarded and reserved around people, but she felt like she had known him for lifetimes.

They walked around the lake, taking in the beautiful, sunny day, the perfect greenery and each other's company. They laughed and they joked, sharing stories and playing silly games with each other.

Zac was having the time of his life. He had never felt so at ease with anyone else. He was purely himself as he wanted to be; not an alpha, not responsible, not a best friend... just himself, for the first time in his life.

His attention was so focused on her luscious lips that he leant in, breaking off what she was saying, so he could kiss her. It started as a simple peck. Her lips moulded to his as their kiss deepened. Slowly, Ally fell into his arms, kissing him back. She had been thinking about his kisses for an entire week and her imaginings once again had done the real thing absolutely no justice.

Zac was so distracted by his armful of Ally that he almost missed the rustle of the bushes nearby. Instantly his head snapped up. His wolf paced as it caught the scent of 6 – no 8 – hostiles approaching. Growls echoed around the lake that suddenly seemed very deserted and dangerous.

Ally froze up, Zac's reactions making her cautious. Men sprouted from around the bushes near them, surrounding them in a neat circle. Ally counted 8 in total, and they all looked like hulking menaces. "Are these more friends of yours, my dear?" asked Zac dryly.

Ally looked up at Zac surprised, "No, darling, I can't say they are," her tone matching his.

One of them took a step closer to the couple, he was a little bit shorted than Zac but he was much burlier.

"We're here to take the girl to our boss. We have no issue with you. Be on your way and we won't hurt you," said the leader.

A growl tore itself from deep in Zac's throat. They were in the city, which had always been neutral and no-battle zone for Weres. These men were way out of line, but he gathered they didn't care. He stared down the leader and growled, "This woman is my date and you may not have an issue with me but I have an issue with you. If you value your livelihood and family you will leave us in peace and I will forget this breach."

With that the thugs descended on the couple, growls echoing along the lake's surface. Ally was completely bewildered at what was happening, but there was no time to think about such things. She ducked out of the clutching hands of one of the men. She dodged the fists flying, while landing a few glancing ones of her own. With a growl she was grabbed from behind in a bear hug. She kicked back as hard as she could, but she felt as though she were kicking a brick wall.

Zac was not faring so well either. He couldn't phase in front of Ally because he didn't want to scare her. Instead he poured as much of his hybrid strength into his frame as he could without altering his outward appearance. The hair on his arms and legs had gone thicker and darker, and his eyes had melted into a mix between his normal green and gold, but no one noticed.

The attacking Weres had no such qualms; they had morphed into their hybrid forms, increasing their strength to amazing lengths compared to a weak human. Their faces contorted into snouts and their legs morphed into wolf-like structure. Their nails turned to sharp claws as they tried to take the lone man down.

A scream broke the noise of the fray, making Zac look around for his mate. She had been grabbed from the behind and it looked like she was being crushed. He took a step toward her when a claw came out of nowhere and landed a score on his cheek. Zac whirled around, grabbing the offending hand and breaking it at the wrist.

The pressure around Ally had grown to very uncomfortable levels. She screamed at the pain as her still repairing rib cracked again. She kicked harder and found his sensitive manhood.

With a howl she was dropped to the ground. She landed with a thud and got to her feet as quickly as possible. She came face to face with the leader. Her eyes grew wide in fear and shock at the changes that had taken over his form. He grabbed her arms and clutched her tight as she tried to fight back. She kicked out again and landed a blow to his sensitive parts. Unlike the man who had grabbed her before, this one didn't let go. With a growl, the man-beast backhanded her to the ground, her head making a sickening crunch as it made contact with the cemented path.

Zac heard the hit and the sound of his mate hitting the ground. A roar erupted from the alpha as he fully morphed, giving in to his beast's power. In his hybrid form he stood taller than them all by a foot, and outmatched them all by a long shot. Pure rage built up within him and blinded him.

Had anyone been watching, it would have been a blur. Zac saw it all in crystal clear slow-motion as he struck and blocked with perfect precision. It took less than minutes before all of the men lay at his feet, severely wounded and mostly unconscious. He stepped over bodies as he leapt over to his unconscious mate. Fear replaced his anger as he pulled her up from a small pool of blood. She had a nasty gash on her head and she had a black eye swelling. Zac's lips pulled back in a snarl. He howled to the skies, calling to those from his pack nearby.

Zac ripped off his shirt and used it to try and stop the bleeding from his mate's head. He held her in his lap gently; his ears open for anyone approaching.

"Zac, what happened?" panted Keith, running down the path in hybrid form. He stopped dead at the sight of the bloodied bodies and his alpha, bloodied and clutching his mate.

"I don't know. The men aren't dead, just knocked out. Search them. I want to know who the hell they are and what the hell they wanted with my mate." Zac growled.

A few minutes of silence followed as more of the pack's betas showed up. They searched the men, confiscating their pack emblems from their necks. Keith dropped one into his alpha's hand. "I never thought I'd see the day when Carl Braanan would order a kidnap on a human woman."

"I don't think he did-" started Zac

"Zac," interrupted Keith, "I know he used to be part of the treaty, but-"

"No, they said they were bringing her to their boss, not their alpha. I believe these men had gone merc."

"But why keep on their insignia?"

"I don't know," said Zac, "but I intend to find out. Bring the car around."

"What are we going to do with her?" asked Keith, pointing to the unconscious Ally.

"We're going to bring her home. I have a feeling she will like it better this time," replied Zac with a smile.

And with that, he slowly stood up, holding his unconscious mate in his arms. He turned from the lake and headed to the waiting black four-wheel drive.

~~~

Dim light faded through the tiny, barred window high in the wall as the men stood in a miserable huddle, trying to ward of the impeding cold. It was a dank and depressing place, and smelt of old blood. Ken, the leader of the little group, didn't know why the boss insisted on meeting them in the dungeon. His arm throbbed, probably still broken, despite their species' fast healing abilities. He observed his arm in the flickering light of the few candles scattered around the room. Thankfully his bruises over his eyes had subsided and he could see clearly. A cold voice came from the shadowed corner, breaking his train of thought.

"Let me get this straight." It said quietly, "all eight of you were thoroughly beaten by one Were and a little human girl?"

"You never told us she would be with Zac Coleman, alpha of the Coleman Pack! We had our insignias on! We may have started a war!"

"I have no concern for you or your pathetic kinds' actions," came the reply, "I do have a concern that I paid you handsomely for a small errand, and yet, here you stand, without the delivery you promised me. Not only did you fail to deliver, but you failed to follow my orders that the girl not be harmed."

"That was an accident! She-"

"Was I not clear in that instruction?" yelled the shadow, "Did I stutter? There is no excuse for disobeying a direct order, you insolent creature."

"Listen, you creep," Snarled Ken, "We went in there without knowing and you dare tell us it's our fault, you-"

A clawed hand swiped out of the shadows, almost too fast to track, taking the Were's head from the jaw up. Blood splattered across the dead Were's shocked comrades. The semi-headless corpse swayed before falling in a heap with a sickening sound.

"You are all pathetic. Get out of my sight" said the voice quietly, "before I change my mind."

Two of them stooped to pick up their leader's body when red eyes flashed in the shadows, "Leave it" the voice hissed, "it belongs to me now."

With a yelp, the Weres ran from the dungeon without a backwards glance as devouring sounds filled the dungeon.