FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

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FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

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FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback’s A Bitch.
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DISCLAIMER: I don’t own ‘Moonlight’, or any of its wonderful characters. I’m just taking them out for a run! There are several original characters in this story that are mine, however, and one who is borrowed from another FanFic author.

SUMMARY: A multi-chapter, action-adventure featuring Mick, Beth, Josef, Guillermo, Talbot, Simone, Logan, and a few really big werewolves, among others. Rated PG-13 for mild language and violence.

SPOILERS: If I owned ‘Moonlight’, Warner Bros Studios, and CBS……this story would have been Season Two! My story follows on from all 16 episodes, as aired on CBS. I also follow on from Allegrita’s FanFic, ‘Presto Agitato’, Ch 1 & 2. (Mick and Beth ‘seal the deal’ and become lovers.) Alle’s ‘Presto Agitato’ would have been epi #1 of my Season Two. Follows on from Desdemona’s FanFic, ‘Silver’, Ch 1 thru 7 only. (Talbot finds out about vampires in general, and Mick in particular, the hard way! He also shares The List with Mick and Josef.) Desdemona’s ‘Silver’ would have been epi #2 of my Season Two. And finally, I’m borrowing Eris’ original character, ‘Karl’, with her kind permission, from her many completely wonderful FanFics.

Okay? Hold tight! This one’s gonna be a rough ride!

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“In touch with the ground……..I’m on the hunt…..I’m after you…….. Scent and a sound, I’m lost and I’m found….. And I’m hungry like the wolf…………”

From ‘Hungry Like The Wolf’, by Duran Duran.

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The elk-sized golden she-wolf plunged headlong down the embankment below Josef’s hillside mansion. The estate’s elaborate gardens and walking paths flew past her as she ran, heedless of them. Veering left, Beth angled back towards the driveway below the Terrace Room, on the other end of the massive house……back towards where the shooters had been.

Her breath came in quick snarling huffs. Her large paws thudded softly on the earth beneath her as she galloped along, weaving through the trees and shrubbery. Her large, almond-shaped, sapphire blue eyes glowed with fury. Beth could feel her self-control eroding rapidly as her territorial rage blazed brighter with each passing second. She did not care…… she was letting go….allowing it to happen. She had never known such raw anger….. She did not want to control herself. Let instinct reign….. Let the wolf come out to play……to do what needed to be done…………

She bounded across the paved driveway, where it wound its way through the gardens and up towards the mansion above. The waning moon shone down on her briefly, illuminating her pale golden fur. Beth’s galloping stride was so long that her paws impacted the asphalt only once, razor sharp talons clicking and scraping softly. Then she disappeared into the shadows of the weeping willows that lined the driveway.

Beth felt strong…..unstoppable. Her body had already replaced the blood she had fed to Mick and Josef, fueled by the steady stream of venison that was, in turn, fed to her by Chef Pierre. She ran smoothly….. silently…… to all ears but her own, and the vampires in the mansion on the hill.

Despite her boiling rage, she experienced a strange wild joy in the sensations of her own graceful movements. She could feel her muscles coiling and releasing as she raced along. She could feel the wind blowing through her thick golden coat. She felt free…….and invincible.

Reaching the perimeter of Josef’s grounds, Beth sailed easily over the tall fence, and landed running, continuing up the hillside above the estate’s front gate.

A moment later, and the huge golden she-wolf reached the dirt access road that over-looked Josef’s front gate. Here she trotted to a stop and dropped her head, inhaling the rich tapestry of scents that had been left behind on the ground in this place. She came across Roger’s scent, the human gatekeeper, where he had fallen when he was tossed from the van by the shooters. And then…..there they were……the scents of the shooters themselves…..the vampire-hunters……The Legion.

Beth’s lips drew back, revealing her enormous conical fangs. Her muzzle wrinkled as she snarled, and her sapphire eyes flashed. The scents of the two human assassins reeked of gun oil and silver. Their scents were committed to memory……they had tried to kill her Mick again…..her Mate! And they had tried to kill Josef……her Alpha-Leader, her Foster-Sire!

Her snarl deepened, and grew louder, as her gleaming sapphire eyes swept across the view of city lights below her…… The scents flowed like a river, winding down towards LA. Beth knew that following the scents would be easy.……the hard part would be to avoid being seen by the general public.

This thought caused her to hesitate briefly……as the last of her self-control warred with her burning territorial rage. The rage won.

Beth threw back her head and howled. It was not her normal howl, which was melodic, soft, and clear……a beautiful song. No……. the howl that exploded from her chest now was a course, baying battle-cry…..feral, and filled with murderous fury.

As the last notes of her howl echoed off the surrounding hillsides, the golden wolf launched herself down the dirt road……following the scents of the hated ones who had attacked her Pack.
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Inside the mansion, Simone’s head snapped up as the deep, baying howl rose and fell outside. She threw Heather a desperate, pleading, look.

“I’m trying!”, Heather snapped in response, holding her cell phone to her ear, “Damn! It went to voice mail! It rang several times first…..so it’s turned on….. but she’s not picking up!”

“Keep calling!”, Simone barked.

Heather didn’t leave a message, hanging up and immediately redialing.
Simone alternated between watching Heather try to reach April and Phelan, and staring out at the night beyond the reach of the mansion’s lights. Her friend, Beth, was out there somewhere…. alone, not thinking straight…… and running towards an enemy that was armed with silver.

“April? My gosh!”, Heather gasped into her cell phone, “Why didn’t you pick up sooner?!” She ran a trembling hand across her face, and leaned against the wall. “Never mind…..just listen. We have an emergency at the mansion. We need Phelan’s help badly….. now! Hurry!”

Simone sighed with relief, as she listened to Heather’s side of the conversation, and dropped onto the couch in the freshie family room. She settled back, and tried to soothe her own jangled nerves. At least help would be on its way now, she told herself. Besides…..Beth is strong, and fast, and very smart….. She’ll be okay…..she’ll be okay…..

Simone jumped when downy-soft fur brushed against her hand. She looked down to see Heather’s cat, Smokey, sitting beside her on the couch. The little gray and rust calico blinked up at her and mewed softly, nudging Simone’s hand again with the side of her head……seeking attention.

Simone smiled and stroked the cat’s rabbit-soft fur. “Hey girl….”, she murmured, “When did you get off house-arrest? On the loose again, huh?”

Smokey purred happily and stretched out beside her. Simone continued to stroke the cat’s soft fur absent mindedly, but her eyes drifted back to the night beyond the patio doors.

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The intricate layers of scent would have been difficult to describe in English….or any other language, for that matter……if Beth had been so inclined to try. She could smell everything…..in incredible detail…..and yet, it did not overwhelm her.

As she loped silently through the back yard of one house, she caught the complex fragrance of homemade beef stew. To a human, beef stew smells like…..well, beef stew…....as a seamless whole. To Beth’s lupine nose, the beef stew smelled just as wonderful…..but she experienced it as a concert of ingredients…..a symphony of scents. She could pick out the individual scents of the beef, the carrots, the celery, the potatoes, the tomatoes, and all the spices……each one separate and delicate..…..each one layered in with the other scents in a rich harmony. It was similar to a person listening to a symphony ……the total composition is enjoyed…..but the listener can also pick out, and appreciate, the sounds of each instrument.

Beef stew was not what the golden wolf was seeking, however. Beth ignored it and ran on, jumping another small fence, and veering to avoid the pool of light thrown by a nearby street lamp.

She was following the river of scents left in the wake of the fleeing assassins. She could smell them, their vehicle, and their weapons……along with the sharp scent of their anxiety over having encountered an unexpected situation……. Her. She snarled softly to herself, and accelerated, reaching cheetah-speed. The ground flew by beneath her.

Occasionally, Beth lifted her muzzle into the breeze as she ran, sampling the air, and adjusting her course as needed, but keeping to the shadows as much as she possibly could. This grew increasingly difficult as she left the suburbs and entered the outskirts of LA proper. The night was clear, and the waning moon still threw a lot of light. She knew that her pale golden coat would be easily spotted if she wasn’t extremely careful. She had to avoid the open……lest she end up on the cover of the local paper.

For this reason, she could not follow the scent-river directly. That would have had her running down the middle of the street, and in plain sight. Instead, she kept track of the scent-river from its fringes….its banks, so to speak. Still following it, but trying to stay out of sight.
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A young couple sat at a small outdoor table in a sidewalk Bistro, enjoying the summer night. They were leaning towards one another, smiling and speaking in low tones. It was late, and they pretty much had the place to themselves. The young man leaned in further and whispered something in the girl’s ear. She giggled in response. He grinned at her playfully.

Suddenly, out of the corner of her eye, the young woman thought she saw something…… something big…..light colored…..and moving very fast. She turned to look just in time to get the impression of a very large, four-legged animal galloping along the length of a building across the street. Before she could focus on it, it was gone, disappearing into the blackness of an alley.

She blinked, “Did you see that?!”

Her partner followed her gaze, his brow furrowing, “See what?” He saw only the building across the street, and the alleyways on either side of it.

The young woman frowned, continuing to stare at the dark mouth of the alley where she had last seen the……whatever it was….. “Nothing, I guess.”, she said after several seconds. “I just thought…..huh……” She shook her head. “Must have been an optical illusion, or something.” She turned back to her date and smiled. “Never mind. Now….you were saying?”
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April took her bright green Porsche Boxster S into a sharp turn at twice the recommended speed. The tires protested, but the little convertible hugged the road.

Phelan sat in the passenger seat, leaning his tall frame into the turn, and glanced at the little redheaded freshie nervously. “Perhaps I should drive, lass?”, he offered.

April shot him a quick glance, and snorted. “When was the last time you drove anything? 1949??? Do you even have a license?” She shook her head. “I’ve got this…..you just hold on!” She floored it as they exited the turn and entered a straight stretch.

Next to her, Phelan did as he was told, and hung on……while at the same time, he was mentally calculating what he would have to do if the little human freshie ended up driving off the road. Let’s see…..he would have to snap her seatbelt, circle her in his arms, and jump clear of the vehicle while carrying her…..all before impact. It would be close…..but he was pretty sure he could get it done if he had to……. April was such a tiny thing, and he was so large……his sheer mass should protect her…….hopefully.

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Beth was getting closer……the scent of her enemies was getting stronger and fresher. Her hackles rose as she loped silently along, hugging the shadows.

The trail had gradually led into one of LA’s seedier areas.…..empty storefronts and warehouses for the most part. There were a few low-rent apartment buildings, and the occasional dilapidated old house. Everything was liberally peppered with gang tags.

The golden she-wolf slowed, gliding forward cautiously, listening, scenting……drifting from one pool of shadow to the next.

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April didn’t pull down into the underground garage, as she normally would, upon arriving back at the mansion. Instead, she screeched to a stop in front of the huge house……pulling in behind the black Hummer H2 that was already there.

Phelan threw her a desperate glance.

“Go!”, April shouted to him, “Don’t wait for me! Go! Go! I’ll catch up!”

Phelan launched himself out of the little convertible without bothering to open the door. He wind-sprinted past the black Hummer, its windows tinted black to match, and up the walkway to the mansion’s elaborate front door. This time, the Irish werewolf didn’t bother to knock…….. the door was ajar anyway. Barreling through the door and into the spacious entryway, he looked about frantically, scenting the air…… Where was Josef? His friend’s scent hung everywhere in his own house, so pinpointing his location would take a moment. What had happened? The distress call April had received was heavy on urgency and light on information.

Not far from the front entryway, Karl stood facing a woman who was wearing a skin-tight black leather body suit. She had long brown hair that was pulled back in a ponytail. Bangs hung just above her large dark eyes. She and Karl were conferring in quiet tones, while both Heather and Simone stood by, watching nervously. Two other black-clad woman also stood off to one side, but unlike Heather and Simone, their expressions and demeanor were calm.

At Phelan’s abrupt entry, all heads turned. Phelan’s nose told him that the black-body-suit women were all vampires. He saw all three of these females tense as they caught his scent…...all three clearly recognizing a large werewolf as a potential threat.

“Phelan!” Simone blurted, “Thank god!!!” She rushed to him. “You’ve got to find Beth! She went after them alone! You’ve got to help her! You’ve got to stop her! They have silver! They’ll kill her!”

April dashed in through the door breathlessly and skidded to a halt behind Phelan, almost slamming into his broad back.

Phelan glanced back at April, and then down at the frantic brunette attorney before him. “She went after who, lass!? Where’s Josef?! What happened?!” His anxiety caused his eyes to wobble from their normal human shade of green, to the brilliant emerald of his lupine form, and back again.

“He’s in his room upstairs, but……”

Before Simone could finish her sentence, the tall redheaded Irishman bolted past her and headed for the staircase in the nearest Great Room.

“Hey!”, Simone shouted, “Wait a minute! Damnit!!!” She ran after Phelan, with April hot on her heels.

Phelan reached the first Great Room, and turned, bounding up the elegant staircase, his long legs taking them three at a time. Reaching the second floor, he locked in on Josef’s scent and raced down the hall. He could hear April, and the other human female, in pursuit of him, but he remained focused on getting to his friend. How badly had Josef been hurt??? Was he going to be alright??? His gut tightened in fear for his old friend’s safety.

Phelan reached a large, intricately carved, solid mahogany door. Josef’s scent was heavy here…..this had to be his room. He tried the ornate brass door knob……locked….. Phelan growled in frustration and kept turning. The locking mechanism of the door knob shattered within..…..the knob turned….. the heavy door swung open with a gentle push.

Phelan stepped inside and glanced quickly around the room. It was a very large master bedroom, the center piece of which was a king size four-poster bed. The color scheme of the room was rich and dramatic, done in reds and blacks. The bed’s silk comforter was mostly black, trimmed and dotted with red accents, and heaping with matching throw pillows. In one corner of the room was a sitting area, black leather couches, red satiny pillows, and a coffee table. There was an entertainment center and a fireplace. All of the wood in the room was hand carved dark mahogany, polished to a warm shine.

He didn’t see what he was looking for……the freezer room, or case, that his friend was undoubtedly sleeping in. Phelan turned and strode into the adjoining master bathroom, just as Simone and April rushed into the room behind him.

There it was……on the other side of the spacious master bath…..there was another mahogany doorway. That had to be it.

Phelan crossed the master bathroom in two long strides and pushed on the closed door. It didn’t budge……and there was no door knob. The frame appeared to be lined with a rubberized gasket. He stepped back and prepared to ram the door open with his shoulder…….

Suddenly, Karl was in front of him, blocking his path…… The towering pale blond vampire had entered the room in a blur of motion.

“Stop!” Karl said, with uncharacteristic intensity, his eastern European accent sharp, “You’ll not disturb him! He needs rest!”

Phelan and Karl locked eyes. Phelan, in his human form, was almost as tall as Karl, but not quite.

A growl rumbled in Phelan’s chest, and his green eyes flashed into the deep emerald of his lupine form. “I need to see that my friend is alright.” He replied, his own Irish accent thickening with stress, “Now….. step aside, comrade,…..or I’ll be obliged to move ya!”

Karl answered him with a low growl of his own, and held Phelan’s gleaming emerald eyes, as his own eyes washed out to crystal white, and his fangs descended.

Clearly…..the big vampire had no intention of moving. He had bristled visibly at the ‘comrade’ remark…… Karl’s Russia had been the land of the Tsars. He was not a fan of the communist revolution that had overthrown that ruling class….. and ultimately slaughtered the last Tsar, along with the entire royal family…..even the children.

“Alright!!!”, Simone snapped, striding forward, “Enough with the supernatural pissing match! You guys want to borrow a tape measure!?” The angry brunette attorney stepped between Karl and Phelan, and placed a delicate palm on each of their chests, shoving hard.

The physical might of a small human female was as insignificant to Karl and Phelan as the brush of a butterfly’s wing……but both moved as she shoved them, never the less, stepping back away from her, and each other. Their eyes reverted quickly to their human shades….. and Karl retracted his fangs…… as both stood down from their aggressive postures.

Now, Simone seemed to be muttering to herself, “Shit! Men! Wasting precious time!” She glared up at first Phelan, and then at Karl, as she slapped the palm of her hand on to a reader panel beside the closed door. A laser flicked as it read her imprint.

Phelan and Karl alternated between watching Simone, and exchanging menacing glances with each other.

There was a soft hissing sound as the seal released, and the freezer room’s door swung open. Phelan was immediately struck by two strong scents……. a sleeping vampire…..and a dead werewolf. He ignored the later, and focused on his friend.

Josef was stretched out on a plush mattress in the refrigerated room, which was really more of a second bedroom. His youthful face was peaceful in his deep sleep. The mattress was covered with a red fitted sheet, silk by the look of it, and Josef was draped from the waist down with another red silk sheet. The opening of the door had not disturbed him. Like most vampires, Josef was a very heavy sleeper.

Phelan sighed with relief and sagged against the door jam, watching his own breath make frosty plumes in the air before him. Josef was clearly alright…… He was recovering from whatever had happened. It bothered him that the vampire was asleep in the middle of the night like this…… but given that he was apparently recuperating from some terribly traumatic injury, Phelan supposed that it was normal, and expected.

His attention then wandered to the next item on his sensory checklist……a dead werewolf???? Dropping his eyes to the floor of the refrigerated room between the bed and the door, Phelan saw an enormous black fur pelt…..stretched out in the classic bear-skin rug fashion. His nostrils flared…..yep…..dead werewolf. Huh……..

Phelan turned to look back at the others filling the now-too-small master bath. Simone was eyeing him with a mixture of anger and impatience, her arms folded, her fingers drumming on one elbow, as she glared up at him. Karl’s normally impassive expression was firmly back in place, tinged with a trace of annoyance. The three black-clad female vamps were a different story, however. He could smell anxiety rolling off of all three of them, even though their demeanor remained externally calm. The middle-aged human female slipped into the room. Her eyes flicked to the black pelt on the floor, and then up to Phelan’s face. Anxiety began to roll off of her as well. Lastly, April stood in the doorway that led back into the master bedroom. Her eyes also dropped to the black pelt on the floor of Josef’s freezer room. Surprise….. and confusion…… rolled off of her in waves. This was the first time she had seen the item, apparently.

Phelan snorted and bobbed his head towards the pelt on the floor. “Beth’s dearly departed Sire, I take it?” He looked back at the three ladies in black. The one who appeared to be the leader, the one with the very long pony-tail, nodded ever so slightly.

Simone’s jaw dropped and her large brown eyes widened, as she glanced quickly from the Cleaners, to Phelan, and then down at the glossy black fur rug on Josef’s floor. “What?!”, she gasped, “That’s a werewolf hide?!”

Phelan nodded.

“I…..I’m sorry…..I didn’t realize……I shouldn’t have opened the door……I…..”, Simone stammered, completely nonplussed. She had seen the huge pelt on the floor of Josef’s freezer room when she helped Karl and Heather put him to bed. She had recognized it as a new addition…..and thought it was odd….. because, other than being black, it didn’t match the suite’s décor, and Josef’s tastes didn’t run towards fur rugs. But, in her anxiety over his wellbeing, she hadn’t given the new rug any further thought.
Phelan smiled gently down at Simone, and then glanced back at the three nervous ladies in leather.

“Ah…..don’t fret girls.”, he replied softly, looking back down at the large black pelt, “While I’ve never seen one of my kind turned into a decorating accessory before…..if any wolf ever deserved to be a throw rug, it was this crazy bugger!” Phelan smirked. “I’d have put him there myself……if young Beth hadn’t beaten me to him.”

The three black-clad vampresses blinked, and their scents became more relaxed. Beside them, the middle-aged human female sighed softly, and her scent also became more relaxed.

“And speaking of Beth!”, Simone blurted, urgent purpose returning to her voice, “She went after the people who nearly killed Josef and Mick! She needs help! She means to take them on alone! Okay…..”, she nodded towards the sleeping vampire, “Now you’ve seen that Josef is safe…..but he’s only safe because of Beth! She protected him! She saved his life! Return the favor, Phelan!” She reached up and grabbed Phelan’s huge upper arms, turning him to face her, “Find her…..help her…..protect your friend’s Foster-daughter! Now! Get your wolf on, and go!!!!”

Phelan nodded briskly, and with one last glance back at the still-sleeping Josef, he turned and strode from the master bathroom, shouldering past those who had gathered behind him.

Watching Phelan go, Karl gently pulled Simone out of the doorway, and then reached in and grasped the edge of the heavy freezer room door. With a light tug, the door swung shut again, and there was a soft hiss as the room resealed.

Phelan glanced down at April as he passed her. “Go!”, the little redhead urged, “Hurry!” He smiled and nodded, peeling off, and tossing, his designer shirt as he headed for the doorway back out into the hallway. The shirt hit the floor in front of the large four-poster bed.

Phelan was dressed in what he called ‘dandy-boy’ clothing, picked out by April, for their night out on the town. He looked wonderful…..but he was never comfortable in anything other than jeans and flannel shirts. Next to go were the costly leather loafers…..he simply toed them off and left them lay where they fell, just outside Josef’s bedroom door.

As he strode down the hallway, in his stocking feet and bare-chested, the apparent leader of the black-clad female vamps arrived at his side in a blur, and was then matching his stride. The other two vampresses zoomed up, and fell into step behind them, an instant later. Phelan glanced down at the one beside him, unbuckling his belt as he strode rapidly down the long hallway.

“So….”, Phelan asked, “Who are these people that Beth has gone after? And why did they try to kill Josef?”

“They’re called The Legion.”, Claudia, the Lead Cleaner, answered grimly, “It’s complicated…..but suffice to say they are a powerful, and secretive, group of well-armed human vampire-hunters.”

“Hmmm. Well….I’d say they tried to kill the wrong vampires tonight…..a very bad move on their part.” Phelan snorted and unzipped his fly, letting his trousers drop, and then stepping out of them. Now, wearing only socks, and his briefs, Phelan’s eyes deepened to the bright emerald shade of his lupine form, and, when he spoke next, lengthening fangs flashed where human teeth had been a second earlier. “Ya lovelies might want to give me a wee bit ‘o room.”

Claudia and her assistants stepped back just in time, as Phelan exploded into his massive lupine form, nearly filling the hallway, and dropping forward onto all fours. The shredded remains of his socks and briefs lay strewn on the floor beneath him. He shook himself vigorously, his coppery-red fur gleaming under the hallway’s warm lighting.

Claudia’s arm shot out like a piston, and her black-gloved hand clutched a hank of Phelan’s ruff. “Wait!”

Phelan turned his massive head and looked down at the Cleaner, his tall triangular ears pricking forward, orienting on her. “Wait for what, my dear? I thought time was of the essence…..Beth has a substantial head start, ya know.”

Without releasing her hold on Phelan’s coppery ruff, Claudia answered grimly, “Of course we must hurry….. But we also have to clean up after whatever happens tonight. When Beth catches up with The Legion’s assassins, there is likely to be a very messy battle.”

Phelan nodded, “Aye……territorial rage is a powerful thing. It can warp a wolf’s judgment…..especially a young one, like Beth.”, he cocked his great head to one side as his gazed flicked from one black-clad vampress to the other, “So? You lovelies are volunteering to clean up this inevitable mess?”

“It’s what we do.”, The Lead Cleaner replied, nodding back at her two counterparts, “It’s our role in vampire society……cleaning up scenes to protect the secrecy of our kind…… and we’re very good at it, but, we need you to lead us to Beth.”

“Why?”

“So we can help in the battle, if needed….. and to clean up the aftermath. We can’t track her scent ourselves, because of the damnable sensory camouflage of your kind. We tried. Her scent….to us…… has already faded into the background.”

The horse-sized red wolf eyed the vampress. “Why didn’t ya just follow the assassins’ scents, as Beth obviously did?”

The Lead Cleaner’s expression shifted briefly towards discomfort. “We considered doing that……”, she replied, dropping her eyes, “but we decided it would be more….. prudent ……to wait for you lead the way.” She lifted her dark eyes to meet his again, raising her chin slightly, her haughty demeanor returning. “There’s strength in numbers.”

Phelan’s large emerald eyes glittered, and the hint of a smile touched the corners of his elegant muzzle. “Aye…..of course…… how silly of me. Well and good then.” He flipped his nose back towards his massive shoulders. “Hop on, lass. I’ll take you with me.”

The Lead Cleaner’s eyes widened, and she shook her head. “No….that won’t work! I need my assistants…… and I need my equipment!”

Phelan snorted. “Well then…..I hope your rig is fast…..cause you’ll have to keep up with me.”

“We can’t risk losing sight of you off-road…… or on the city streets.”

Phelan rolled his eyes and sighed. “What do you want from me then, girl? Do you want to hitch me to your rig, like some plow horse, and have me pull you along behind me?”

“GPS.”

The huge red wolf blinked. “What?”

“We can put a GPS on you…..have you carry that……”, the Lead Cleaner seemed to be thinking out loud, “We’ll be able to follow its signal wherever you lead…. We won’t need to keep you within visual.”

Phelan cocked his massive head, eyeing the Cleaner. “What the hell is a GPS?”

“A small transmitter.”

“And where am I supposed to carry this…… small transmitter?” Phelan flipped his muzzle towards where his trousers lay on the floor, several feet down the hall behind them. “In case you haven’t noticed, lass, I no longer have pockets.” His emerald eyes narrowed slightly as he turned back to gaze down at her, giving the distinct impression that the Cleaner had better be very careful in how she answered this question.

“I’ll rig up a collar…..” the Lead Cleaner replied, “Yes…..that will work perfectly! Meet us downstairs at the Hummer before you leave. I’ll have it ready to go.”

All three black-clad vampresses went to hummingbird speed abruptly, disappearing in a blur ..……leaving the enormous red wolf standing alone in the broad hallway.

“I take it that your ……Hummer….. is that big black tank of a thing out front?”, Phelan called after them, but they were already gone. He snorted and shook his head once, before beginning to trot after them. The trot rapidly broke into a lope, as the huge red wolf ran towards the staircase at the end of the hall.

As he emerged from the hallway onto the large landing above the Great Room below, Phelan threw a quick glance to make sure the way was clear, and then sprang over the banister, bypassing the stairs altogether.

His curved talons clicked on the Italian marble tiles of the Great Room as he landed, and galloped on towards the front entryway. As it turned out, no one had closed the grand front door….perhaps on purpose. It stood open, and the huge red wolf shot threw it and bolted down the walkway towards that big black four-wheel drive vehicle, which was parked in front of April’s little green sports car.

Phelan trotted to a stop beside the Hummer H2, watching impatiently as the Lead Cleaner assembled her ‘tracking collar’ for him. She strode towards him with purpose, and draped a length of white nylon cord around his shaggy ruff, pulling the ends together in front of his massive chest. The cord was of a sort, and size, that would make a good line for hanging laundry out to dry. Although it was white, it would drift quickly under the coppery fur of his dense ruff, and disappear.

“There……that should do it.”, she said quietly, apparently to herself.

Satisfied with the length, the Lead Cleaner knotted the ends into a loop and stepped away from Phelan, returning, with the cord, to the back of her Hummer, leaning inside. While she rummaged for what she needed next, her two nervous assistants alternated between watching her work, and glancing at the enormous red wolf standing only a few feet away. He could smell their anxiety.

Catching one of their eyes, Phelan winked at the pretty vampress. Her eyes widened in surprise at first……but then she smiled at him, and he could feel her relaxing. Mission accomplished. The vampress elbowed her co-worker, and they whispered together. Phelan politely ignored this exchange.

His belly rumbled…….transforming to his lupine form had consumed a great deal more energy than his human form had consumed at dinner tonight. He now had a metabolic debt to pay off……and no time to stop and eat.

“Okay…..here we go….”, the Lead Cleaner said, stepping away from the back of the Hummer, and heading for Phelan. Her hands were still working as she walked, securing the knot in the collar with black duct tape, and affixing the GPS transmitter to the collar with another thin round of duct tape. “This should work fine. It’s durable, but lightweight…..waterproof….should stand up fairly well…..at least long enough for us to find you and Beth.”

Phelan dipped his muzzle as the Lead Cleaner held his ‘tracking collar’ up. She dropped it over his head. As he raised his head, the nylon cord slid back and fell into place just in front of his powerful shoulders. The GPS unit hung in front of his broad chest…..like a dog tag. Phelan forced that comparison out of his mind.

Raising his muzzle into the air, Phelan inhaled, allowing the rich mixture of scent molecules to flood his senses. He could feel the three Cleaners watching him. So much information flooded his mind…….he filtered it instinctively……searching for what he needed to find……..Beth.

There…..there she was……. The young she-wolf’s scent floated on the wind…..too faint for the noses of the vampires now, but still vivid to Phelan’s much keener sense of smell.

“Right then….” Phelan said, “I’m off!” Pivoting on his powerful haunches, the enormous red wolf wheeled away and bolted across driveway, bounding into the surrounding weeping willows and disappearing rapidly.

The Cleaners climbed into the Hummer with inhuman speed, and Claudia, the Lead Cleaner, fired up the engine. Beside her, one of her assistants switched on the specialized GPS receiver screen that had been built into the dashboard. She keyed in the instructions for the unit to follow the outbound transmitter, rather than just displaying their own vehicle’s position.

Claudia glanced at the screen quickly as she hit the gas and the black Hummer sped away from the front of Josef’s palatial home and down the winding driveway towards the front gate. The dashboard screen glowed softly in the darkened vehicle. On it, all the surrounding streets were displayed, as though viewed from a great height. Most of the streets were named……a few were not. In the center of the screen, moving rapidly past un-named side roads, and heading for town, a red dot represented their transmitter’s position…… Phelan’s position.

The Hummer turned onto the street in front of Josef’s main gate, its engine roaring, as Claudia accelerated in pursuit of the GPS signal.

********************************************************


The elk-sized golden she-wolf crouched silently in a shadowy alleyway between two small warehouses. She had been here for only a few minutes. Many of the surrounding windows were broken out, and the walls of both buildings were covered with gang tags. The alley reeked of trash…..and of things not spoken of in polite company.

It struck Beth as funny……momentarily…..that this was a part of town she would have been reluctant to enter before…..back when she had been only human. Now…..everything was different. Now, she was the thing that went bump in the night…… Now….she was the thing to be feared…….

The area was pretty deserted. Once, a pair of apparent gang members had swaggered past her position, walking a turf patrol of sorts. One of them noticed her outline crouched in the shadows of the alley, and paused, peering in at her. She had snarled softly in warning, her triangular ears flattening against her head. The gang banger’s eyes had widened, and the pair had hurried on without a word. Soon, Beth was alone again.

She had found them……there…..across the street in a run-down, two-story office building. It had an attached garage, and the assassins’ black van was parked inside it…..its engine still hot. All the windows in the building were covered with blinds…… Lights glowed around the fringes. The scents and voices of several people issued from the office building…..Beth cocked her head, listening…..her nostrils flared as she scented the air. The scent of silver was strong and acrid, burning......her muzzle crinkled in distaste. But the duller scent of lead was also present. That was a good thing.....

She had read somewhere that a human being's sense of smell is a lot keener than they realize...... that they pick up on scents which they aren't consciously aware of..... It seemed that this was true. Beth now remembered the scent of lead ammunition from Mick's semiautomatic pistol....the one she had handled, and fired, before she had even known he was a vampire.....and long before she had become a werewolf. She hadn't been aware of the scent of lead then..... but she recognized it now. Huh......... The pungent odors of gunpowder and gun old finished out the bouquet of fragrances wafting from inside the office building.

She recognized the voices of the shooters…..and she recognized their scents….. They were in there…..along with a dozen others. Her hackles rose and a deep growl rumbled in her chest, but she forced herself to hold her ground…..keep assessing the situation……who were the others inside with the assassins? Legion members? Or innocent bystanders?

She listened as one of the shooters reported to someone…… Talking about successfully ‘bringing down’ both targets……only to have them carried off by a werewolf who had been in their company.

A rough male voice inquired about the werewolf……was it the one that had climbed Kostan’s Office building? No…..it was a blond female. What happened to the ‘targets’? Don’t know……the yellow wolf carried them to the mansion. Did this werewolf see them? Yes….roared at us……

The sound of a fist thumping on a desk top….. Idiots! And they had come back here?! …….That yellow wolf is clearly allied with the vampires! The fools may have led her right to them! The facility must evacuated now!!!

That was enough for Beth….. Clearly, the ratty office building was a Legion base. She had been struggling to restrain herself……holding back the fierce drive to attack her enemies…..until she was sure there were no innocents in the way. Now she was sure….. she let herself go…..exploding out of the alleyway and galloping across the street in great bounding strides..…..heading straight for the two-story office building.

The golden she-wolf crashed through the blind-covered picture window closest to the voices, and scents, of the two assassins. Shattered glass flew, and the cheap metal blinds momentarily decorated Beth’s neck like a shawl, before being grabbed, and torn away, by a massive hand-like forepaw. Scythe-like ivory talons flashed in the room’s dim lighting.

The two startled assassins, as well as their equally startled superior, grabbed for their side-arms, as the huge golden wolf turned and launched herself at them…..snarling, jaws agape, sapphire eyes blazing.

******************************************************


Outside…….. the sound of several gunshots echoed off the sides of surrounding buildings, quickly followed by men’s guttural screaming. Then more gunshots, and more screams………..

A few blocks up the street, the two gang bangers stood on a curb under the glow of a streetlight, watching the office building. They listened to the gunfire…..and the screams. They were not surprised…… They had seen the large animal crouched in the shadows….. and they had watched as it sprinted across the street and plunged through the window, invading the office building.

There was no love loss for the occupants of that office building…… They were like a rival gang, as far as any of the locals were concerned. They had moved in, and set up shop, without paying tribute to the gang who controlled this part of LA. When tribute was demanded…..the gang’s messengers had been killed. The occupants of the office building were heavily armed bad-asses…..and a very uneasy truce had settled in. Leave us alone…..and we will leave you alone…..bother us, and we will kill you….. We don’t care about your drugs and your hookers….. We have our own business to attend to. The mysterious occupants of that office building had street-cred….. But there were also rumors of who they were….. and who they were really at war with…… Some believed those rumors…..some did not………….

The two gang sentries smiled as more screams pealed from the office building. It seemed that one of the office building’s enemies had brought the fight to their doorstep……and the office building was unprepared….. too bad………. Payback’s a real bitch. Another burst of gunfire echoed up and down the street.

In the surrounding low-rent apartments, and aging houses, residents hunkered down in closets and bath tubs to wait it out…… just like they always did. They covered their ears as more gunfire erupted, and more screams split the night air. They shielded their frightened children with their own bodies.

Gang battles were common here……. No one called 911…… and, if asked later, no one saw, or heard, anything. It was just another night in one of the poorer sections of LA.
Last edited by lionsonleashes on Wed Jan 13, 2010 2:18 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

Post by AussieJo »

Hi Lions, this was excellent, thank goodness you post over here as well, cos I've been shut out of VLF.
I get Pm's, but I can't log in. If any one out there can help me, please PM me here. Thanks.
I'm sorry Lions for highjacking, but I've sent emails and there's been no response.
Now, back to the story......
Thank goodness they got hold of Phelan, I hope Mick's okay, you didn't mention him.
Is that something to worry about? :fingerscrossed:
Us Mickaholics are very protective you know! :snicker:
Already want more please Miss. :hug:
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Re: FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

Post by mitzie »

This is an awesome, wicked cool chapter!!! :yahoo: I hope none of those gunshots hit Beth??!! :gasp: :fingerscrossed: I think Phelan is going to be a little late to the party!! :whistle: I love this story and can't wait for the next chapter... :yahoo: :yahoo: :yahoo: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :hyper2: :hyper2: :gasp: :eek2: :fingerscrossed: :slappy: :bash: :bash: :poke: :evillaugh: :clover: :yahoo: :yahoo: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :rainbow: :nosee: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :clapping: :notworthy: :heart: :flowers:


mitzie :mooncat:
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Re: FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

Post by lionsonleashes »

Hi Jo! :hug:
Thanks! :notworthy:
I'm so sorry to hear about the problems with VLF! That's soooo odd. I sometimes have trouble posting Updates on that Board....it's tempermental....but I've never been locked out. Very strange.
And no.....Don't worry. Mick is fine. :comfort: I didn't mention him in this Chapter because he's just not in these scenes. He's asleep downstairs, recuperating like Josef, right where Beth left him, with faithful Logan watching over him. And, like Josef, he is blissfully unaware that Beth has gone charging off on yet another 'Leroy Jenkins' attack! :snicker:

Hey Mitzie! :hug:
Thanks soooo much! :hyper: I'm so glad you enjoyed it! :curtesy:
Has Beth been shot....???? :o We'll see! :chin: Will Phelan be 'late for the party'???? Probably! ;)
I'll try to get Chap 27 posted as soon as possible. :type:
Stay tuned!
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Re: FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

Post by allegrita »

Eeek--Lions, your chapters are just so gripping! :yahoo: I love kick-ass Beth...because despite her instincts, her intelligence kicks in. She forces herself to rein in her urges and pay attention, think, be smart. What a role model Beth is! You go, girl!!

Phelan had better hurry. I'm a bit worried about our golden she-wolf. And Mick is gonna have a word or two to say to her when he wakes up! :gasp: :grumble: :witsend: But how can he stay mad at her for long? :heart:

Your last paragraphs, about life in the worst parts of LA, made me sad. You don't need werewolves and vampires to find monsters anymore, do you? I feel so bad for those people. They are real people and they suffer through crime and violence every day. I wish they had Beth, :comfort: Mick, Josef, and Phelan on their side.
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Re: FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

Post by lionsonleashes »

Thanks Alle! :hug: :rose:
Yeah.... Mick is going to be upset with Beth when he wakes to discover she went hunting the enemy alone! Josef isn't going to be too happy about it either....for that matter! :grumble:
But, as you say..... It will be hard for either of them to stay angry at her for long! :heart:
And yeah.... Reality really does bite...... For far too many people, real monsters are far worse than any werewolf or vampire that we could dream up. Real people suffer crime and violence in silence everyday....invisible to most of society in "developed" countries. I also wish they had a Beth or a Mick on their side!
Thanks again for your feedback! :notworthy:
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Re: FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

Post by jen »

Beth is in full vengance mode now. Perhaps not thinking as clearly as she needs to. I hope Phelan finds her soon. The location and surroundings of the Legion headquarters will work in her favor, if those assasins don't get lucky and bring down a very young wolf

Brilliant, Lions.

This story has launched so bravely into totally new territory, but the relationships are strong and vibrant.

I'm in!

Thanks

Jenna

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Re: FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

Post by tucutecats »

I so love this story. I 've read every chapter and am waiting for whats next.
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Re: FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

Post by lionsonleashes »

Thanks Jen & Tucute! :ghug: :notworthy:
I'm trying to get Chap 28 finished ASAP. :type: I hope to post it within the next day or two. :fingerscrossed:
Thanks for your valuable feedback, and your patience with my often stubborn muse! :quill:
Lions :twothumbs:
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Re: FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

Post by jen »

We love that muse!!!

Good muse! Niiice muse!

pat, pat, pat
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Re: FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

Post by lionsonleashes »

Thanks Jen! :hug:
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Re: FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

Post by jen »

bump

:bump: :bump: :bump:
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Re: FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

Post by lionsonleashes »

Thanks, Jen! :hug:
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Re: FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

Post by jen »

Love Simone in this chapter, stepping between Karl and Phelan when both are being protective of Josef. She thinks on her feet and certainly does not lack courage to referee a fight between a large vampire and a werewolf.

Beth is reveling in her nature and is out for blood. The Legion is so in a bad place.

Thanks!

Jenna

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Re: FULL MOONLIGHT---Ch 26---Payback's A Bitch. (PG-13)

Post by jen »

This is just wonderful! The personalities of the characters we are familiar with are so in tact, yet they are dealing with entirely new issues here.

Love the section about Beth entering a part of town she would be afraid to go into before, but now she is the thing to be feared. She has surrendered to her nature here and it is a beautiful thing to see.

Really, really anxious to read the next few chapters and the conversations with Mick and Josef.

Thank you!

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