Shadows of the Moon Ch. 07

So here we go again. Took some time to get this in order but finally it's done.

A big thanks to Mandarabe and LiterKnight for editing. You guys do an awesome job!

**

The shrill sound of the generic ring tone filled the dirty motel room. The phone's display lit up where it lay on the bed but Anthony could do nothing but stare at it, too stunned to remember how to answer. He'd been waiting for days for the phone to ring. Now on the eve of his surrender it chimed as if sent from the heavens.

The gun he had been clinging to for hours while trying to gather enough courage to end it slipped out of his limp hands and fell to the floor with a dull thud. Climbing to his feet he staggered over to the bed and gripped the phone with his shaking hands. It was a disposable phone with an untraceable number and the only one who had the number was Josh. Pressing the 'answer call' button he put the phone to his ear.

"Josh? I had given up hope."

There was a long stretched silence before a voice answered on the other side. "No professor... I've missed you. Have you missed me?" The husky female voice seeped through the phone like a seducing smoke. Filling his senses.

"Jessica?"

"Mmmm... You've been a bad boy running away from me."

"Just please. Let me be. I can't give you what you want." He sobbed into the receiver.

Her twinkling laughter spilled from the speaker. "Tsk. Tsk. Anthony. That's a lie and you know it."

"No. No. NO!" he screamed into the receiver.

"You know that's not a word I accept."

"Then I will end it! I will never give you what you want!"

"Ah. The coward way out. You are so predictable sweetheart."

"I have a gun! I will do it right now!"

"Mmm... Do it. But first..." Silence followed her and when he removed the device from his ear he saw that the call had been disconnected. Confusion left him standing there staring at the phone dumbfounded until it pinged and a 'message received' symbol popped up. Dreading what he might find he pressed the icon and an image popped up on the screen.

Shocked Anthony fell to his knees clutching the phone until his knuckles went white. "No. No. No." He mumbled in a repeating litany as tears streamed down his face.

The phone pinged again. Pressing the icon once more he read the message.One down, one to go. Come find me and we'll make it all right again. Remember the first time we met? Remember what you told me? I can make that real for you. But first you need to do something for me.

**

The rain pattered against the window of Liam's suite; the drops merging on their way down the glass pane creating mesmerizing rivulets and patterns. He was leaning against the wall, his head resting against the window frame, listening to the two women talk. They had been at it for hours now, trying to sort out the papers that were Project Moonlight. Despite the dark subject there was something soothing about the scene, they were here within the walls of his sanctuary and it soothed him, calming his aggression to a more manageable level.

The three of them had shared a nice, if a bit awkward, meal. Lucy was obviously still not convinced he was suitable company for her daughter but considering what she had discovered recently he could understand why it would take some time to adjust. Admittedly he might not make the best impression either, being social wasn't his forte. But despite that he welcomed her. Lucy and Natalie was not Aarik's pack. They were his.

His eyes left the darkness of the outside world and traveled across the room to where his mate and her mother sat. Natalie was on her knees next to the coffee table, all the papers and pictures of the project spread out before her, and Lucy was in the couch staring at the same papers in despair. This little part of his life had quickly become a haven from all the terrors that usually haunted him. Something inside of him was healing and he reveled in the feeling.

But while his world looked a lot brighter hers became steadily darker. What had been revealed to them in the small nondescript folder was a horror hard to fathom. The purpose of Project Moonlight had been to develop a virus that targeted the shifter gene, and judging from the pictures it wasn't a very pleasant way to die.

The fronts of the animals depicted were covered in blood, originating from their mouths as if they had been throwing it up. There were dogs, wolves, monkeys and most disturbing of all was the last three pictures of humans; humans whose teeth and mouth looked bloody, their hands were covered in it and the white in their eyes had gone completely blood red.

They clearly lacked some of the data but if you put the pictures in the right order to form a time line it seemed to indicate that they had succeeded around two years ago. What had happened since then? Aarik had managed to get his hands on the financial records from the laboratory and even though Dr. Jessica Miller no longer worked there and the project had been finished her father had still received anonymous donations to keep the rest of his work going.

"I just don't get it." Natalie moaned dropping her head to the table with what looked like a painful bang, making Liam wince. "He's such a fucking bastard!"

"Hush Nat." Her mother prompted. "Don't speak like that."

"I think this situation calls for some colorful language mother." Sighing deeply she turned her head to the side until her cheek rested on the tabletop, her eyes connecting with his. There was a lot of pain and sorrow in them; it was affecting her a lot more than she let show.

Giving her a comforting smile he pushed away from the wall to join her on the floor, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her close to him. Surrendering to his presence she leaned into him with a relieved sigh, her head dropping back to rest on his shoulder. The warm fuzzy feeling of belonging enveloped him again, turning his lips up into a very content smile.

Lucy squirmed uncomfortable and pursed her lips. "So... How long have the two of you been together?" She queried trying her best to sound unperturbed by his claim on her daughter.

Natalie tensed in his arms and her eyelids fluttered open. "Umh... I..." Her mother cocked an eyebrow at her daughter's obvious hesitation. "Four days." A blush colored her cheeks.

"Four days!" Lucy stared at her daughter in disbelief. "Are you serious?"

"Oh come on, mother. You know I'm not a saint."

"But four days honey..." She pleaded. "Can you at least try to get to know a man before you jump into bed with him? Maybe we wouldn't be in this situation if you would just show a little better judgment."

"What?" Her jaw dropped and she stared at her mother. "How the fuck dare you!? This is not my fault!" She untangled herself from Liam's embrace and he let her, choosing to observe the interaction rather than intervene.

Shaking with rage Natalie climbed to her feet. "Is this how it's going to be? Hm? It's always someone else's fault isn't it? If I want to sleep with Liam that's my fucking choice, you have no say in the matter! You don't get to put dad's fuck up on me because of it!"

Her mother paled and looked away. "No. No. Nattie, please. That wasn't what I meant. Your father... He... I just meant that it is why we are here; at this place. I would never blame you for what he has done sweetie. I just don't like the fact that we can't go to the police and we are isolated out here in the middle of nowhere with..." She trailed off and her eyes drifted to Liam who studied her in silence. "... His kind." She finished weakly.

Shaking her head in disbelief Natalie looked away, unable to stomach her mother's judgment. "I feel more at home the few days I have been here atthisplace than I've ever done with you or dad. All the fighting. All the controlling... You don't get to question the choices I make when you were the one who abandoned me and Lily in his care. You waltzed out the front door to be with your new lover, leaving us fend for ourselves. Do you have any idea how extreme he became after you left?"

Lucy opened her mouth to protest but Natalie cut her off. "You got so caught up in your own happiness you forgot about us. You left us with a man who could do this." She waved a hand over the table, indicating the pictures and research papers. "He wouldn't let us leave the house. We were practically his prisoners!"

Liam heard the long pent up pain and anger in her voice. This confrontation had been long in the making and had very little to do with Lucy's comment. But taking this fight now when she was still reeling from the revelations about her father was not a good idea and Liam decided it was time to step in. He climbed to his feet and as she was about to open her mouth again to spew more anger at her mother he stepped between them and encased her in his arms. Cradling her cheek in his palm he rested his forehead against hers. She was shaking from rage and tried to push him away until he captured her gaze with his own and she stilled.

A shaky breath escaped her as they stood there looking into each other's eyes and he could see her well up with tears. The rage filled tremors turned to shivering and he stepped closer, wrapping her up even tighter in his embrace and letting her head drop down to rest on his shoulder.

"I think you should leave." He told the older woman, not bothering to look back at her.

There was a rustle of cloth as she got up from the couch and headed towards the door. Before leaving she looked back at them and Liam met her gaze calmly giving her a small reassuring nod. There was a deep sorrow in her eyes; Natalie was clearly not the only one hurting. Nodding back she left the room, closing the door behind her silently.

Making soothing sounds and brushing his lips against the top of her head he did his best to comfort her. After a while she stilled and while wrapping her arms around his neck she pushed away enough to look up into his face with her red rimmed eyes and tear streaked face. "I'm sorry you had to see that. I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay, baby. Don't worry about it. Maybe we should call it a night and get some rest. You're tired from last night and then this." He nodded towards the table. "Things will feel better in the morning. I promise."

Nodding she gave him a small smile and his heart lurched with love. Bending down he crooked an arm around her knees and one around her back, lifting her up in his arms. "To bed it is."

**

Natalie looked herself over in the mirror. She was an absolute mess. Her mascara made black lines down her face, her hair was disheveled and her eyes more red than white. The outburst towards her mother had come from nowhere. Sure there had been a time in her past when she had been angry with her. For a while in her teens she would even go as far as call it hate. Years of pent up anger and hurt had come bursting out.

Turning the tap she let the water flow and plunged her face into the warm water that pooled in her hands, washing away the tears and makeup that stained her cheeks. The past few days had been an emotional storm unlike anything she could have imagined. Her life before this had been a big mess of disappointments, fights and heartbreak but nothing quite like this. Looking back at the five days of chaos the only island to hold onto to keep her sane had been supplied by the stranger whom she had nothing short of moved in with.

Logic told her that this was insane. It was insane to stay with these people who could turn into monsters. It wasn't safe to throw herself into the arms of a man she knew nothing about... But here she was and there was no other place that she could think of where she rather wanted to be.

The thought of going through this alone was chilling. What would have happened had Liam not been there? If she had gotten away from her captors where would she have gone? What would she have done?

Slowly lowering the towel she used to dry her face she made another scan of her face. The makeup was gone and her eyes looked a bit better. They were still puffy and she felt raw and hurting which clearly shone through. Come morning she would have to apologize to her mother, not that Natalie believed she had necessarily done wrong because the hurt was very real, but because she did not feel like making an enemy out of the last family member she had. Putting the past away to be dealt with another time was preferable to going through this alone.

Sighing deeply she leaned forward to rest her elbows on the counter raking her fingers through her hair to hold her head up. "Get a grip girl." She whispered without any real conviction. "You can do this. Fight. I need you to fight." The chant was something she had picked up in her teens when her mother had moved out and conflict with her father had been daily.

Looking up once again to meet her gaze in the mirror she was pleased to see more anger and determination than the mind numbing despair. She wouldn't let them win. They wouldn't get away with this. She would sleep. She would eat. And then she would read every scrap of paper on the living room table until she could find her father and wring some truth from him. She would fight.

"Don't let the world get to you." She told herself sternly. "It's a shitty place but you are stronger."

Pushing herself up she straightened and did what little she could about her hair. When done with the cleanup she flipped the lock and pushed the door open. "Liam?"

Within seconds he slipped inside and encircled her waist with his arms as if he had been waiting for her. "Hmm?" He hummed in her ear.

There was something soothing in simply having him close and her anxiety eased considerably. Leaning back on him she let her head drop backwards on his shoulder. "Would it be okay if I use your bathtub?"

She could hear air rushing into his lungs as he inhaled deeply, his nose buried in her hair, before he answered. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine. It was a stupid outburst. I'm sorry."

"Don't be." His eyes met hers in the mirror and they both studied each other in silence.

"Five days is very sudden." Her whispered words were filled with worry. "Do you think this is going a bit fast?"

"No."

"You sound so certain."

"I am." He sighed happily. He wanted to tell her why, but she was exhausted and in emotional turmoil already, adding to her distress wouldn't do either of them any good. It would all just end up in confusion and more exhaustion. "Take that bath, it will relax you and then I suggest you get a good night's sleep. In the morning when you're rested everything will feel a lot better."

She nodded tiredly draping herself back against him, running a hand through his hair. "That tub looks big enough for two. Join me?"

He hummed his approval while kissing her neck softly, warm lingering kisses, each one making her breath just a little bit heavier. His hands were finding their way under her top, caressing it slowly upwards to rest just under her breasts. "Liam..." She whispered breathlessly as he slipped one hand under the cloth to continue his caress upwards, slowly stroking the area of her right nipple through the lace of her bra with his thumb.

Feeling the heat build she rolled her hips against him, rubbing her butt subtly against his crotch in a circular motion, almost as if she was dancing. The soft rumble in his chest as he again hummed his approval spurred her on.

Raising her arms above her head she rolled her hips even more, accentuating the seductive dance while he continued to explore. His hands lifted the top above her shoulders and slowly caressed it up along her arms until he could remove it completely.

"You are too good to be true." She moaned softly. Turning while she slid down his body until her face was level with his hips but her hands still lingered on his torso, slowly she caressed her way down his stomach towards the hidden prize. Her fingers brushed by the button to his jeans and hungrily she sucked her lip between her teeth looking up at him teasingly. "Is this what you want?" Her fingers worked the zipper down leaving the button to hold the clothing in place, while she slipped her hand inside, her fingers squeezing his hard flesh.

"Ugh." A sound somewhere between a grunt and a sigh. He grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it above his head, dropping it on the floor once he was free of it.

"Say it." She teased, reaching out with her tongue to brush the course cloth with a lick.

"I don't beg." He growled, his eyes heavy lidded and looking down at her.

Giving him one last squeeze she extracted her hand, letting it rest outside. With one hand still on his erection and one holding his hip she lifted herself up a bit until she could run her tongue across his abs, mimicking what he had done to her on their first night together and making his cock twitch. "Say it."

His fingers buried in her hair and his hand clenched in to a fist. "Is this how you want to play it?"

Tilting her head upwards while parting her lips wantonly she let him pull her head backwards. "Mmmm... I love to play."

"Undo the button."

She grinned up at him wickedly. "Beg for it."

"Undo it."

She squeezed his erection again. Still grinning.

"Oh fuck." He muttered. "Natalie."

"You know what I want." Sliding one finger into her mouth, one of the fingers that she just a few seconds ago used to massage him with, she made an 'mmmm...' sound.

There was a battle of wills as he looked down at her. He clearly wanted to be the dominant one but she would not let him. Breathing heavily he let out a frustrated sigh and leaned forward on his arm against the counter top. "Please. I...needyou."

With a flick of her fingers the button opened and she eased the pants down. His cock jumped out at her and she encircled it with her hand, caressing it lovingly. "Is this what you want?" She whispered, her hot breath against the head making it jerk. Then she leaned in closer and licked him from the base to the tip. Stopping with her tongue still connected to the swollen head to look up at him innocently as if asking for affirmation.

He gasped at her treatment and another strangled moan passed his lips. "Ugh... Yes. Please." The last word he added after half a second's hesitation.

Smiling triumphantly she opened her mouth completely to engulf him. The moan was one of pure pleasure this time and he leaned in heavier on his arms, standing there hunched over her kneeling form.

With her eyes closed she enjoyed the feeling of him sliding between her lips. He tasted so good. With one hand she encircled his girth and helped rub the base while her mouth tended to the rest.

"You're so good." He whispered above her and with her eyes still closed she could feel his fingers lovingly caress her chin, winding their way into her hair.

How she adored this man. She wasn't exactly sure what was so different about him than all the other men in her life but he was unlike anyone she knew. Maybe it was the way he touched her or the feeling of safety he projected. Whatever it was she loved to hear him moan with pleasure. Her eyes fluttered open and with a last lingering kiss to the head of his cock she let him slip from her mouth's embrace.

She gazed up at him until he opened his eyes to meet hers questioningly, wondering why she stopped. Understanding dawned in his eyes and the hand buried in her hair closed, taking a firm grip and pulling her up. Before she even made it all the way his lips were pressed to hers in a searing passionate kiss. Demanding entrance with his tongue and dominating her with his towering stance.

Natalie didn't mind. She had gone past the point of control and he could dominate her all he wanted if she got release. While he held her face locked to his she fiddled with the buttons to her own pants and slid them down her thighs, stepping out of them gracefully.