Pure Moonlight Ch. 09

Hi everyone

The response from the last chapter was mixed to say the least! I am not sorry for what I wrote, but I understand that people are upset by it. Once again, everything that happens in the story happens for a reason!

I hope you enjoy this chapter

<3 Shadowsung

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Ally woke, feeling refreshed for the first time in days. She stretched leisurely in bed, listening to the morning call of the nesting birds from the tree in her front yard. She dimly remembered having a dream, but her memory was foggy. She shrugged; it was normal- she could never remember her dreams. All she could think about was it was different from her normal dreams. Since she couldn't bring up the details, she let it go.

She wandered around her house, doing little chores she had been neglecting. The day was bright with promise, and she felt herself smiling and humming.

~~~

"Keith!" Zac roared, almost smashing his fist through his second's office door, "If you're in there nursing a hangover, I'll rip you to shreds!" He launched himself into the room in hybrid form; ready to inflict serious pain. What he found stopped him dead in his tracks. There was nothing.

The air was stale and stuffy, the curtains drawn on the bright sun, the desk untouched. The note lay on the desk where he had placed it on top of the piles of paperwork. His stale scent from the night before was the freshest in the room. Confused, he went in search of his friend's secretary.

Amy was at her desk, looking completely frazzled, "No sir... No, I'm sorry, but he isn't here at the moment... Where he is doesn't matter- he is on important work for the Alpha and not here... Sir, threats are not going to make him magically appear. Fine call him at your own detriment, but the Alpha is very busy and does not wish to be disturbed... Look, I'm sorry but you will just have to try again lat-"

Zac took the phone, startling the secretary, "Who is this?" he growled into the receiver.

"Oh, um, Mr Keith? Hi, my name is Rick. Listen, I'm from the Braanan pack and I'm calling about a very important-"

"Not interested," Zac growled into the phone, "Whatever your Alpha has to say to me he can say it to me himself." He hung up the phone with a decisive click.

"Amy," he said, in his nicest possible tone, "Where is Keith?"

"Um, I, oh. I don't know Sir," she squeaked, "I haven't seen him since he took the human home. We thought maybe you had ordered him to stay and watch her?"

"No, Bart is watching her- Keith was to come straight back." He said, "Do you mean to tell me... That my second in command... has been missing for nearly two days and NO ONE THOUGHT TO TELL ME ABOUT IT?" Zac felt his control slip and his form start to shift. Amy cringed in her seat, showing her trembling neck in submission.

"Sorry my Alpha, we thought you had ordered him and he had forgotten to tell us. I didn't want to ask you because you have-" she paused.

"I have what? Spit it out, theta," Zac said in a calm and controlled tone that belied the manic look in his eyes.

"You've been... preoccupied... with the... human. We didn't think you wanted to be disturbed."

With a roar, Zac tore from the room his rage almost blinding him. He threw himself down the corridors, scattering frightened people in his wake. Blinded by rage he couldn't believe his friend's absence had not been noticed! He was young for an Alpha, but that was because he had proven himself clever and capable. His behaviour since meeting Ally had been less than stellar. Growling, he berated himself. The corridors whirled passed as he ran. He didn't stop until he reached the East gardens.

The smell of flowers and home poured through his system, burning away the rage like mud in the rain. The rage had been dampening the main emotion coursing through him. Feeling much calmer, Zac felt the guilt rise up within. The scene of his betrayal replayed itself in his head. He fell to his knees and was sick in the garden beds. Pain heaved itself through his shuddering form; his wolf howling silently.

"Ally," he cried into the flowers, "I'm so sorry!" His rage returned in a flash; he pounded his fist into a patch of untainted dirt, "What the hell is wrong with me?"

~~~

Caitlin heard her alpha sick in the bushes and knew she was the cause. The little red vial was heavy in the chest pocket of her uniform. She had slipped him two drops when she first got back to the den; eager to test its results. Already in two days from a distance, she could see the effects snowballing.

She hadn't been able to observe him as closely as she would have liked; the Alpha was constantly locking himself away. She had only just been able to slip him two drops before he locked himself in the attic with the elders. The ones in his breakfast that morning had been much easier.

She knew it was these drops that had made him susceptible to her advances, if only briefly. The events of the morning had been a test. She was honestly surprised that he had let her do what she did, and she began planning on having him fucking her mercilessly by the end of the week, but when she finished she saw the hatred and guilt flash across his face, making her think twice. Listening to him in the solitude of his garden, she felt her heart break.

She hadn't wanted this; she had wanted him to notice her, and love her; not some human. It hurt her so much that he looked straight through her for months since she brought his breakfast every morning. She thought if she could just make him notice her, she could make him forget about some pathetic little human. The deal she had made with the Shadow creature had seemed so tempting at the time.

She had started rumours that had spread like wildfire, just as she had promised. With them twisting and distorting as it passed from ear to ear, unrest among the ranks grew; A human stole the heart of the most eligible Were in the pack? A human to rule over them all? A human to bear the sons of a long and proud line? There were whispers of sorcery and trickery; A spy within the pack, starting at the top. No one could ever trace it back to the one source; she had made sure of that.

Eventually the whisperings would reach the Alpha, but at the moment he was too busy being wrapped up in his guilt. Keith would have noticed these to begin with and put a stop to them, but he had been mysteriously absent. Must be guarding the precious human, the whisperings were saying.

Caitlin heard Zac's cries and apologies and felt sick with guilt herself. I'm what's wrong with you, my poor Alpha, she thought to herself miserably, this is not the way to earn love.

Making up her mind, she pulled the disgusting little vial from her pocket; she knew she was unable to bear the weight of it and her guilt anymore. She summoned up all of the force she could muster and threw it, wanting it as far away from her as possible.

Excruciating pain almost made her scream. Blinding hot heat seared the flesh on her hand. She dropped to her knees and pulled her hand to her chest, but the pain continued. The tiny vial was seared into the palm of her hand. "You made a deal," a deadly voice whispered silkily in her ear, "You will keep your end of the bargain, or you will wish you had never been born."

She felt a shiver run down her spine as a tear leaked from the corner of her eye. The searing stopped and she was able to pull the now cool vial from her hand and put it back in her pocket. Her palm was a horrible red and covered in blisters, it looked as though she had held it in naked flames. With a sob she rushed back to her room.

She gently smeared burn cream all over her burns and waited. Nothing happened. The burning pain continued, causing her to cry out every so often. It should have healed by now, she thought, sobbing quietly. She lathered it in more burn cream, and curled up around it as heart wrenching sobs tore from her chest. She promised herself that she wouldn't ever touch her Alpha again. Tears fell down her cheeks and she wished she had never accepted the deal in the first place.

~~~

"Hello? Hello? Mr Keith? Damnit!" Rick growled, hanging up his line. He ran his fingers through his hair. "How long until Curt and Scott get back?" he asked.

Lance, lounging in a chair across the desk shrugged, "Curt is out looking for Scott, who never came home. Take this as practice for being a beta, Rick."

Rick sighed, "I was never even trained to be a beta- my entire family has been a long line of thetas and I was perfectly happy with that. If it weren't for Katie, I wouldn't even be here. Upon your suggestion, I rang all of the packs in the local area- The Kings aren't missing any males and Coleman's man is 'indisposed' apparently. Curt took all of his betas who travel with him to other packs, so there is no one here who recognises him. What do we do with him now?"

Lance shrugged again, "I guess that makes him a rogue, especially since he didn't have an Iydam. We now have to play the waiting game until Curt gets back and makes an alpha's ruling, or we wait until he wakes up and we can assess who he is, what he was doing on our lands, and possibly integrate him into our pack."

Rick nodded, "How is he doing?"

Concern crossed Lance's face, "He is still unconscious, which is worrying. Most of his wounds have healed, yet he isn't waking up. Hell; his wounds shouldn't have incapacitated him. I don't like those points on his temples; they bother me. It is almost like there is an infection there, but it's not one I have seen before. I still can't touch or inspect the wound site, which is barely healing. It's currently unknown when he will wake up."

Rick and Lance stared into space, both their minds occupied with their own problems.

Down the hall, the stranger lay still in his bed, surrounded by beeps and the whirring of machines. A nurse checked his heart rate then put up another drip bag before leaving him once more. Anyone looking at him would think he was sleeping. Inside, he was going through his own personal hell.

~~~

Zac slowly made his way to his office. Since that fateful night he had met Ally, it felt like he hadn't spent as much time here as he used to. He sifted through the piles of reports, requests and other meaningless files. He picked up the phone and called his tracking team.

Within minutes he had a group of his five best trackers standing to attention in front of him. He sat there, evaluating every one of them for a minute before he chose to speak.

"Keith never made it home two nights ago," he said softly, "I know people thought I had ordered this, and he had not passed on his orders. This is not true. His orders were to come straight home. Now I think something has happened to him. A few days ago, Curt Braanan warned me to keep my people off his territory. Ally's home is most unfortunately situated within his lines, so Keith had no choice. I suspect foul play, which is why you are here. We are going to find him or find out what happened."

~~~

The tracking team were very efficient and brisk. Within two hours of combing the darkening country roads they had found the cleaned up scene of an accident. Noses to the ground in wolf form; they picked up bits and pieces and together read the accident.

Across the road the leader chuffed to Zac, who was still in human form. He walked over the road, his heart beating furiously for fear for his best friend. The wolf nudged something in the grass, using his snout to loop around the silver chain and pull it from its grave. Zac knelt down in front of him and pulled it from his nose. It was a necklace covered in clumps of dirt. He used his water bottle and washed it clean.

Looking at the shiny jewellery, he felt sick all over again. It was Keith's Iydam. Before he had time to think about it, a howl from the other side of the road had him up and sprinting. The wolves howled as they led him through the trees until they came to a clearing. Lying in the middle of the glade was the crumpled corpse of black car that was Keith's favourite and the one he had taken the night he drove Ally home.

The leader of the tracker team shifted, completely at ease despite his nudity, "Sir, there was an accident, the car rolled four times and skidded for a short distance on the roof. There is a small amount of Keith's blood, but nowhere near enough to indicate serious injury. We caught the scent of --"

"Ally?" Zac asked, she had seemed alright in their dream, but he had to know for sure.

The man shook his head, "She wasn't in the car at the time of the accident. Keith was heading in the direction of home when it happened. We did catch the scent of Weres, who cleaned up the scene; probably Braanan."

"Are they the ones that caused the accident?"

"Negative Sir; their scents appear after." He paused and frowned slightly, "Sir, there is also an underlying scent that none of us have ever smelt before," he shuddered, "we cannot place it, but it was here at the time of the accident."

"What was it?"

"We don't know, Sir... it's nothing we have ever come across, but it is worse than... anything I have ever smelt. It almost smelt like... pure evil." He shuddered again, as his comrades did too.

A warning bell went off in Zac's head. "I got a call from a Braanan underling before," he said quietly, "I bet they have him. They were probably calling with a ransom for him!" he growled angrily, rage building again. His meeting with Curt replayed, From now on you make sure that none of your pack venture within a hair of my territory or I may see fit to take my own prisoners!

"We cannot be sure of that, my Alpha. The scene indicates he was picked up by humans, possibly emergency crews by the scent. The Braanan cleared up the accident, probably to avoid questions and keep the Secret."

"No," he growled furiously, "They have taken my second in command, and have announced war on my pack. Let's go. I want border details doubled. I want no inch of our border to be unmanned. Scour our territory. Take any trespassers prisoner!"

He launched himself into the car, the others scrambling to follow wide-eyed. This was not like their alpha- he was normally the last to jump to conclusions and always remained cool. They exchanged looks but chose wisely to say nothing to him.

~~~

Zac fell into his bed; his body still in physical pain like someone had punched him in the gut. Emotions whirled uncontrollably through his body. He violently thrashed around under his sheets, trying to find a comfortable position.

He stared at his glowing clock. It was midnight and he couldn't sleep. With a growl, he got up and retrieved sleeping pills from his cabinet. Taking two, he waited impatiently for them to kick in.

~~~

He felt wobbly in the dream, and everything felt funny to him. It was as though he was drunk. The edges of his vision blurred and the room spun a little. Must be the sleeping pills, he thought to himself. He had made up his mind that he would tell Ally about his transgression and beg for her forgiveness. It was a matter of how. He wandered the house and grounds, looking for his mate, his heart heavy in his chest.

He eventually found Ally in the East Gardens, kneeling in a flower bed, pulling out weeds. He coughed gently behind her, making her whirl around and smile happily. "Zac," she cried out, jumping up and giving him a hug. She smelled of earth and flowers, which he found alluring. He tottered a little bit, feeling off-balance.

"What's wrong with you?" asked Ally appraising him, "You look drunk."

"I know," he slurred, "I couldn't sleep, so I took some sleeping pills. I think they must be causing this."

"Why couldn't you sleep? Is something bothering you?"

Guilt stabbed at him as he stepped out of her embrace. "Ally," he said seriously, swaying slightly, "There's something I need to tell you."

She waved her hand, "I remember the dream last night, though I didn't when I woke up. Somehow tonight, when I realised where I was, I knew it was a dream, and I completely remember last night." She hugged him again, "I know who you are, I know what you are, and I don't care. It doesn't matter to me. I love you." She smiled brightly; "I have never said that to anyone except my parents and my pets, but I can say it to you and it just feels, so right! I love you, I love you, I love you!" she giggled, stepping up to give him a kiss.

Zac felt a tear slip from his eye. Ally's smile dropped, "Zac? What's wrong?"

"I-I'm sorry. When I disappeared last night I was woken up... It was one of the women from my pack... I don't know. Since a couple of days ago I have felt... weird. Like, I'm not in control of myself."

Ally froze, watching him, "I don't understand."

Zac felt the guilt stab harder, "She... touched me, then she... well, she took me in her mouth," he made a face, feeling disgusted, "I was so surprised; I don't know what happened. It was like the sane part of me was locked away and unable to react. I feel so guilty and disgusting. I'm so sorry. I am going to reassign her somewhere else, far, far away from me. I didn't mean to hurt you; I didn't want this. She is assigned because she was trusted to maintain a professional distance."

Ally felt numb, "I... I don't know what to say... I guess... We never really had any exclusive deal going- we never spoke of commitment, I guess... I mean, I'm not your girlfriend or anything..." she felt a tear roll down her cheek.

Zac grabbed her face with his hands, cupping her cheeks gently. He wiped away her tear, "You are so much more than that to me. You know what I am; then you should know that we mate for life. You are my mate. I knew since I first laid eyes on you. I love you so much it hurts me. I would do anything for you."

"Then how could you do this to me?" she whispered, pulling herself from his embrace. "After what you just told me, how can you say those things?"

"Because I want to make it right. I didn't want to sweep it under the rug and pretend it didn't happen." He got down on his knees, "I want to beg for your forgiveness. I am so sorry and it will never happen again."

Ally felt her heart aching as she pictured him enjoying another woman, "I need time. I don't want to see you right now. Please just... let me out." She started moving around agitatedly, looking for an exit from the horrible dream, "Let me out right now, Zac. Let me go back to sleep and wake up and forget this. Let me go!"

Zac knelt there, his heart hurling across waves of guilt and pain. He could barely hear her. The Attraction is still on your side, the elders had said. He got up, desperate. Moving over to Ally, he grabbed her tight. He hugged her then brought his mouth down to hers. Their lips touched gently, Zac praying it would work, "Please, I am so sorry. I love you." He whispered.

Ally pushed him with all her might and slapped him across the cheek. The unmistakable sound echoed across the space. Without a word she turned around and marched away from him. Out of his sight she ran into the woods as fast as her feet could carry her, tears blinding her way.

Zac called out to her, but she kept running until she disappeared from sight. He fell to his knees with a broken sob. Pounding the ground with his fists, Zac accepted the pain in his hands better than the tidal wave threatening to consume his soul.

~~~

Ally woke up to the sun shining through her window, but her mood was a black storm on the horizon. Her pillow was wet where her eyes had been. She tried to remember her bad dream, but all she felt was pain and hurt with no specifics.