Shadows of the Moon

His eyes fell again on the plastic card in his hand and he held it up for her. "Natalie Bryant I presume?"

**

Natalie stared at the card still holding tight to her weapon. Of course it was her. Did he see any other women the card could belong to? His eyes were beautiful though even if he seemed a bit daft. She had seen him face down Tomas without as much as a flinch and now he was standing there smelling the sewers like he had a bouquet of flowers under his nose.

He was dressed in worn jeans and a baggy black hoodie which didn't seem to fit him at all. He really did look like the street thugs that usually loitered this part of town.

"Look now. I don't want any more trouble. All I want to do is go home. What I want you to do, is pick up my stuff, put it back in the bag and hand it over." She tried to sound commanding.

Bemused he looked at her but did as requested and knelt to gather her stuff. "Let me walk you home at least." He offered and held the purse out to her when he was done.

"Oh no you don't." She shook her head at him. "You will turn around and walk away. That's what you will do." She answered reaching out for the offered item.

Liam held onto it as she tugged at it and turned his face to catch her eyes. "Please." He said softly.

Natalie's hand rested on the purse next to his and she found herself staring into those mesmerizing green eyes again. His voice was smooth and dark and she shivered with pleasure.

"I... Uh... What? No." was all she managed. Annoyed at her reaction.

His eyes drifted down to the hand still holding the pipe and saw blood dripping from a long gash on her arm. "You're hurt." He said releasing his grip on the purse.

"Yeah, there was some glass on the ground." She turned the arm to inspect the wound. There hadn't been time for her to inspect it earlier and now when she looked at it now, it looked horrible. It would likely leave a scar.

"Look. Lets get you back home and have that looked at." He grabbed the pipe carefully and eased it out of her hand. Strangely she didn't feel compelled to resist him. Letting the pipe fall to the ground he put a gentle hand on her elbow and guided her down the street. "So where are we going?"

"Err... I thought I told you no?" She stumbled over the unconscious Tomas as they started towards the corner.

Liam stopped and looked at her again from the now dirty sneakers to the short skirt and jacket. Damn... She was good looking. "You really want to go alone looking like that?"

Natalie squirmed at his scrutiny and tried to pull her skirt down to cover more skin with her uninjured hand. "Look. I'm very grateful for your help and all but you're a stranger and I'm not in the habit of taking strange men home."

"I get that. Smart woman, but how about this." He stepped out in front of her, lowered the hood of his hoodie to expose short blond almost white hair. "My name is Liam. Liam Wyard. And there is no way I'm letting you go alone. That wound needs be attended to-" he lifted her hand, angling it to expose the wound. "-and you, as fierce fighter as you seem to be, is in no shape for another battle. Just let me be the good guy here and make sure you get home safe."

Natalie stared into those beautiful green eyes until the silence turned awkward. Hesitantly she nodded. He seemed pleasant enough but there was something dangerous about him. Dangerous and handsome. To her own surprise her eyes wandered down and she caught herself wondering what he hid under those baggy, ill-fitting clothes.

Accepting the nod he turned back and looked up and down the street. "Which way?"

"That way." She pointed him in the direction of her apartment.

**

With the adrenaline leaving her body the shock of her injuries caught up to her. By the time they made it to her door her hands were shaking and she had trouble aiming for the lock. Liam held his hand out without a word until she gave up and handed him the key.

Once they got the door open to her small one room apartment Natalie immediately regretted her decision to let him follow her in. It was a total mess. The building was a rundown wreck and wall was in desperate need of new paint or wallpaper. She hadn't planned to stay here more than a few months and pouring any money into it had seemed like a total waste of time.

On top of that her clothes were scattered around the room and old takeout boxes were stacked in a corner. She hadn't cleaned since moving in, since she hadn't planned on anyone ever seeing it that too had felt redundant. Now she wished she had. And she should have made her bed before she left. The bed and covers she had bought at second hand and they looked well used.

They made it to the bathroom and he eased her down on the seat of the toilet. "You have anything to clean this with?"

Natalie shook her head. "No."

"Ok, anything to bandage it with?" He was kneeling next to her holding the arm.

She shook her head again. "No."

He looked up at her in astonishment. "Do you have anything that might be useful?"

She bit her lip and held back a smile, shaking her head for the third time.

"I guess not then." He muttered looking around the small dirty bathroom for anything they might use. "Got any tape?"

"Yeah, I do actually."

She rose to her feet to get it but he beat her to it and stopped her midway easing her down again. "I'll get it. You should wash that." Turning on the water so she could clean he stepped back out into the main room.

"It should be in the box next to the bed." She called after him, cheeks burning with embarrassment at the state of her apartment.

Washing off the blood and dirt from her arm she got a closer look at the wound. It wasn't quite as bad as it had looked before but it was still a nasty cut starting at her elbow and going half way down her arm. Cleaning out the wound carefully she grabbed a towel to dry her arm when he came back holding a big roll of silvery tape and one of her new unused socks. "Since you're somewhat lacking in supplies we will have to improvise."

She grunted with annoyance. "Hey, I was saving that."

Looking up at her with a smirk he pulled out a length of tape and secured one end of the sock at her elbow. "A good thing you did. Wouldn't want to tape a dirty one to you."

With a dry look his way she inspected the makeshift bandage. It was quite a primitive solution but it was better than getting blood all over her apartment. Nodding in approval she looked down into his green eyes and felt butterflies taking off in her stomach. "Thank you... Liam was it?"

He grinned back up at her. Her smell really was intoxicating and being this close to her in the small space she lived, her smell was everywhere. He couldn't take a breath without getting a lungful of it and it made the hair on his arms rise with pleasure. It wasn't the only thing awakening either. Her presence caused quite an embarrassing swelling in his pants and he was reluctant to move in case she noticed.

It took him a moment to realized she had spoken and he turned his eyes away from hers to break the spell. "You're welcome. It will do until we can get you some proper medical supplies." He said and patted her naked leg comfortingly just above the knee.

They both froze at the touch and an uncomfortable silence stretched between them. He removed his hand swiftly as if it burned and cleared his throat awkwardly. Natalie wasn't sure what she felt about his touch. The butterflies in her stomach went absolutely wild but the rational part of her brain warned her about the folly of what she was doing. Another thing snagged at her attention and she narrowed her eyes at him.

"We?" She asked suspiciously. Was the man assuming they would be together for that long? Would she object to that?

He held up his hands defensively opening his mouth to answer but nothing came out. In a sudden move he rose and left the bathroom. Natalie was left sitting there with her mouth open and a wave off annoyance swept through her. She wasn't sure if it was disappointment that he hadn't tried harder or if she was annoyed at her self for not wanting him to leave.

Hurriedly she cleaned up the bathroom and followed him out. He was leaning against the wall next to the outside door waiting for her. He raised his head to look at her chills went down her spine. There was something hungry and feral about them and she backed away in chock.

With short agitated movements he pushed himself off the wall and gave her a short curt nod. "It was a pleasure meeting you Natalie. I hope you have better luck in the future." His eyes drifted to her bandaged arm. "Bye Natalie." And just like that he opened the door and left.

His wolf was practically clawing at his mind to be let lose. Liam had no idea what was happening or why he was reacting so fiercely to that woman, all he knew was that he had to get away before he tore what little she had on off her and claimed her. Cursing his wolf every step of the way back to his motel he tried to convince himself that it was only because he had been without a woman for so long he reacted like this. It had nothing to do with Natalie.

Natalie. His mind purred back at him before he could stop it and again he felt his mouth salivating at the picture of her standing there with the pipe. He groaned as the the scene kept repeating itself over and over in his mind.

Getting back to the motel he fell down on the bed and stared up at the ceiling. The fan rotated slowly and he followed it around in circles trying to clear his mind. Frustrated at the situation he fished out his phone and looked at the time. 3 am. The perfect time to call his brother. Flipping through his contacts until he found the name Alfa Dick he pressed the call icon.

After a long wait the very sleepy and angry voice of his brother growled into the phone. "What?"

"Why are you looking for a stripper?"

"What?" His brother sounded confused.

"The woman. Natalie. Why are you looking for a stripper?"

"You found her? Already?" There was an urgency to his voice now.

"Maybe."

"Fuck Liam. This isn't a good time to act like an ass. Have you found her?"

Liam frowned and briefly considered hanging up. "Why are you looking for her?"

"It's a long story. Can you bring her here? No wait. It's better if I send someone from the pack."

Inwardly the wolf growled in anger but Liam refused to let his brother get to him. To be fair no one knew if Liam was part of the pack or not. He hadn't officially left it, he was just never around. Liam didn't really consider himself a rogue but nor did he really consider himself as part of the pack. He was lost somewhere in between.

"Whatever." He answered his brother dryly.

"I'll call you tomorrow when they arrive, ok."

Liam disconnected the call and dropped the phone next to him on the bed. Sighing deeply he kicked off his shoes and crawled backwards until his head rested on the pillow. The phone slid off the bed and landed with a thud on the floor. He didn't care. Tomorrow after he gave them Natalie he would look into getting a woman to release some frustrations. Tomorrow.

**

Natalie blinked her eyes open. Had someone knocked? She looked over at her phone. It said 11 am, she must have slept through the alarm. With a curse she sat up looked around. Her plan had been to go up early, pack and be out of this shit hole before lunch. That would clearly not happen now.

Bang. Bang. Bang.

With a start she looked at the door. Someone had knocked, it hadn't been a dream. She raked her hands through her hair and tried to pull the large t-shirt further down over her small frame. Moving soundlessly to the door she peek through the peephole. Two guys in black suits were standing in the hallway looking slightly annoyed. They looked very out of place in the rundown building. Putting on the chain she slowly opened the door. "Can I help you, gentlemen?"

"Miss Natalie Bryant? I'm Brian Cox and this is Neil Fisher. We're from FBI. Mind if we have a word with you?"

"I do. What is this about?"

"We rather not speak about it out here ma'am."

Natalie frowned. "We'll I rather not have you in here without a good reason."

"Why? Are you hiding something?" He tried to peer above her into the apartment.

"What is this about?" She asked again sharper this time.

"It's about your father."

"Dad? What about him?"

"Have you had any contact with him recently?"

"No."

The men shared a look. "Mind if we have a look inside to make sure?"

"I believe I have already answered that."

"Now listen here girl..." The man who had introduced himself as Brian said, his voice dropping to a threatening timbre. "...The faster you cooperate the more painless this will be. If he's not here then you have nothing to hide. This is going to happen even if you want it to or not."

The frown on Natalie's face deepened. She was quite sure they were not allowed to threaten her. And they had no right to demand entry without a warrant. "Do you have identification?"

Brian's eyes surged with rage and Natalie barely had enough time to close the door before a heavy weight hit it from the other side, flinging her backward onto the floor. She heard wood creak threatening to break but still holding. She scrambled up and away to reach her phone when another thud hit the door and pieces of the lock and chain was sent flying across the room. The phone was yanked out of her hand as she was about to press the call button and she was thrown onto the bed.

"Now you stay there." Brian growled at her. "Watch her while I search the room." The last statement was directed at his partner. Neil, who hadn't said a word so far, nodded and calmy sat down on the bed next to her.

Natalie stayed on the bed glaring at them with anger. This was wrong! So very wrong! What the fuck did they want with her father? She hadn't seen the man in four years! This was all too unbelievable to be true. "Who the fuck are you!?" She hissed at the man called Neil.

With a condescending smirk he patted her naked leg and she kicked at his hand. "There, there now." His voice was dark and smooth and had she heard it in any other situation she would have said sexy. "Who we are is not really important. What we want is more interesting, and what will happen to you if we don't get it."

It was like a line from a bad gangster movie and Natalie felt more offended about the fact that they thought they could intimidate her with such a cheap line than she was afraid of them, which her mind somewhere in the back of her head kept telling her was insanity. She should be absolutely terrified.

"Really? That's the best you got?! Fuck off!" She spat at him and screamed for help at the top of her lungs. The walls were thin and her scream would probably be heard by the whole block. Hopefully someone would call the police.

Neil scrambled to climb on top of her on the bed and pressed a hand to her mouth to quiet her. He was so forceful her whole head was shoved deeply into the mattress. "Fuck woman. What the hell is wrong with you? Your sister was such a demure and meek little thing. One would think you shared some traits at least."

Natalie fell instantly quiet and still, looking up at him questioningly. What had they done to her sister? Lily was the good girl of the family. Lily was polite, well mannered, sweet looking and successful, everything Natalie was not and Natalie loved her to death. With trepidation she stared up into the mans face looking for an answer.

"Sorry love." He gave her a sheepishly apologetic look and pulled his phone out of his back pocket. "We didn't mean for it to happen but..." He turned the screen of the phone towards her and there was a picture of her sister sitting tied to a chair. She was slumped to the side against the rope, her head back in an awkward angle and there was a red dot oozing blood from her forehead. Empty dead eyes stared up at her from the picture and Natalie felt her heart break into a million pieces. Not just her heart, her life, her being. She would have gladly died for Lily if it would have given her life back. Sweet beautiful Lily. Tears streamed down her face and she sobbed helplessly.

The man studied the picture for a second and shrugged, the same sheepish expression on his face. "We told the new kid to take care of her and he sort of misunderstood. Sorry 'bout that."

A rage like nothing she had ever felt manifested within her. She was going to kill them. One day. It might take a week or a hundred years but she would find them and avenge her sister.

"Now be a good girl and we wont have any more misunderstandings." He smiled down at her.

"Neil." His partner was poised next to the bed frowning down at them. "We're out of here, I found nothing. We're taking her with us."

Natalie was hoisted off the bed by Neil and with a painful grip on her arm her dragged her out of the apartment. The man called Brian lead the way downstairs and when curious neighbors stopped to stare he wold urge them to move a long with his agent persona. Natalie still in chock and with the picture of her dead sister seared into her mind didn't fight. She just let Neil pull her along down to the bottom floor and out of the door.

Outside, parked in front of the building, was a black van. Of all the things wrong with this scenario the look of the very ordinary black van was the last straw. Unable to stop herself she grabbed the handrail to the stair and burst out laughing. A hysterical manic laugh. Clutching the rail she crouched on the stair, one hand covering her mouth.

"What the fuck is wrong with her!?" Brian called back over his shoulder while he pushed the side-door open.

Neil yanked her arm trying to get her back on her feet but to no avail. "Be damned if I knew. Think she's having a breakdown."

"Well pick her up and bring her then."

Still laughing Natalie looked up at Neil. "You got to be kidding me! I'm being kidnapped by two guys who got their whole act from the movies. The van! It's a fucking van!"

"What?" Neil looked from her to the van in confusion. "What's wrong with the van?"

Brian moved around the car and paused before seating himself in the drivers seat. "Neil. Stop mucking about. Get her in. Now."

Neil reached down to pick her up but Natalie had been waiting for him. Grabbing the stone they used to hold open the door in the summer she slammed it into his temple as he was bent over her. He staggered back with a roar and fell as his feet lost purchase on the stairs.

Natalie didn't stick around to find out how much damage she had done. Jumping up over the rail she landed painfully with her bare feet on the pavement and tried to run. Brian was out of the car in a second and took up pursuit.

Natalie didn't make it far before the pain in her feet became excruciating, something was wrong but she didn't dare stop. Limping down the street she heard Brian closing in and slowing his step, walking towards her with caution. She whirled to face him still backing down the street. "Call the police!" She screamed at the neighborhood hoping that someone would comply.

Scared, hunted and in pain her brain registered blood on the ground. She must have stepped on something.