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Rating: R just to be on the safe side

Hard Days Night

Part  Two

The house smelled faintly of blood.  But over that was the smell of sex.  Great!  Just great.  Lilli was upstairs having a good old time.  While I was down here wounded and alone.  I would not under any circumstances call out.  I wouldn't give Shang-Da the pleasure of knowing that I was as hurt as I was.  But if I didn't do something soon then it was going to be a moot point anyway.  Living with weres always had their drawbacks.  For one they could smell the blood pouring off me.

Speaking of which.  I turned my neck to try and glimpse my wounds.  My shoulder and back were on fire.  I needed help and I needed it now.  But who could I call at this time of the night?  I thought of calling some of my pard and rejected that, as most of them that would be up were guys.  And Shang-Da had said they're watching the house.  I wouldn't do that to any of them.

To be honest I didn't really know if they were watching the house but I was not about to take that chance.  I closed my eyes and said a prayer.  I made the usual amount of noise that I normally would as I worked my way towards the phone.  Picking it up with my uninjured arm I dialed the number from memory.  People laughingly called me a walking phone book.  I generally just shrugged why argue with the truth.  The truth was any numerical code was easy for me to remember.  Maybe it was my love of music that had started it, and then later it had been my excellence in math.  Whatever the case it made memorizing phone numbers something I did automatically.

The phone rang endlessly.  I feared that it wasn't going to be answered at all when breathless voice spoke.  I didn't waste time explaining why I was calling so late my statement would make it clear.  "I'm hurt."

There was a long pause before a female voice asked. "How bad?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly.  "Claw marks to the left shoulder and part of the back.  Some of them feel like they're pretty deep."

"Who did this," She asked.

"Not important," I said brusquely.

"It damn well is if you're dragging me out of bed in the middle of the night."  Knowing her like I did I doubted that she'd been alone.

"Elizabeth," I said angrily.  "We don't have time for this."

"Well I'm not the one bleeding so I'd say we do have time for this," she answered smugly.

In that moment I saw why Gabriel had been so attracted to her.  She was a royal bitch second only to Raina.  Heaving a sigh, that instantly turned into a hiss of pain.  "Shang-Da."

"Oh-ho so the pup has become a wolf after all,"  She said with barely contained glee.

"Are you quite finished," my choked voice asked.

I guess she heard something in my voice to let her know the time for games was over.  "Yes," she said somewhat meekly.  "What do you need?"

"I need you to come over here and patch me up.  But I need you to be careful.  Shang-Da said something about him having people watching the house.  And I don't want you to let on why you're really here.  I'm not about to give that bastard the satisfaction."

She seemed to be considering that for a long moment before she said anything.  "Okay I think I know a way.  Do you at least have a first aid kit in the house?"

Being on other end of the phone I felt safe enough to roll my eyes.  Elizabeth hated when I did that to her.  "Yes, Liz, we do.  Maggie made sure we had one in all the bathrooms of the house.  I even have an army issued triage kit too."  She made a disgusted noise in her throat at the mention of Maggie.  She felt that Noah should have stayed within the pard, or even another were, rather than seeking a human girlfriend.  At first I had agreed with her.  I mean humans and weres didn't mix, it was like oil and water, or so I'd thought.  But after having met Maggie I could not hold the same opinion.

I pushed those thoughts aside as they weren't helpful to the current situation.  I managed to catch the last part of Elizabeth's statement.  "I think I've got something.  I'll be there as quick as I can."  Then the line went dead.

Hanging up the phone feeling a little stunned I stood there a moment.  I thought I heard one of the doors upstairs open, I couldn't be sure though, not unless I went to investigate.  I wasn't going to do that.  I did NOT want to leave a trail of blood all over the house.

So I kept to the kitchen as much as I could.  It would be easier to clean the blood up off the tile rather than the carpeting.  Just as I was beginning to wonder what was taking Elizabeth so long I heard someone pounding on the door.  Her voice reached me moments later.  She sounded annoyed.  "Luna, open this god damned door right now.  I know you're in there I can smell you."

Trust Liz to go over the top.  I rolled my eyes for the second time that night as I made my way to the door.  I jerked it opened and she glared at me.  I glared right back.  "What do you want Liz, it's too late for a fucking social call."  She brushed past me and into the house.  Her voice carrying in case we had an audience.  "This isn't a social call, so shut the damn door."

I closed it with enough force to make her jump.  She spun around and shot me a venomous look.  "Convincing aren't I?" I asked grinning at her.  She didn't look amused.  She motioned for me to sit at the bar that connected our dining room to our kitchen.

Elizabeth grabbed the first aid kit that I hadn't noticed sitting there while I gingerly got up on one of the barstools.  First she helped me remove what was left of my bra then began the tedious task of examining the wound.  I sat as still as I could but it wasn't easy as it seemed every nerve ending I had was centered around that particular spot.

I was so busy concentrating on being still that I never saw Elizabeth reach for the alcohol.  All I felt was a cool splash followed quickly by an intense burning pain that had me hollering before I'd even thought about it.  "Son of a bitch!"  Each word was louder than the last.  I knew that if we'd had interfering neighbors they'd most assuredly be calling the police right now.

Now I was sure that I heard a door open.  I also heard what sounded like a stampede coming down the stairs.  Turning my head slightly I could make out Lilli and Nahla, and it looked like Dante but I knew it wasn't.  Without thought I picked up the Browning and swung it in the new comer's direction.  All three of them froze.

Lilli was the first one to speak, "Luna, sweetie, please put the gun down."

Ignoring her for the moment.  My eyes were trained on the dark haired man.  He looked familiar and yet I couldn't place him.  It was damn irritating; I blamed it on the pain.  "Who are you," my voice steady and somehow menacing despite the screaming pain in my shoulder.

His eyes flicked to Lilli then to me then back to Lil.  My instincts were telling me that he was asking her to do the talking.  Which given my current frame of mind wasn't a bad idea at all.  She stepped in front of him her eyes trained on me.  Her voice was the kind that was used to talk jumpers down, "Luna, please.  I promise he's not a threat.  You can put the gun down."

I stared at her blankly for a moment then lowered the gun.  It was a couple more heartbeats before I dropped it onto the bar counter.  Elizabeth touched my uninjured shoulder and said quietly, "You really should have a couple of stitches put in to keep the scaring to a minimum."

That subtle reminder was all I needed to bring the anger I'd buried back to the surface.  Part of me wondered how Shang-Da could do something like this to me.  The other part was amused at my shock.  "Do it," I said flatly.

"Do you have the supplies needed for this?"  Elizabeth wasn't trying anything funny now.  I think she knew how Lilli felt about her and to be honest, I think Lil scared the hell out of her.  I couldn't say I blamed her.  When Lil chose to be she could be frightening.

Again I turned slightly and looked at Nahla.  "Do you know where I keep that medical bag?"  She shook her head.  "It's in my closet on the shelf on the right hand side.  Can you bring it down for me?"

She looked undecided for a moment then nodded.  "But I want to know what's going on too, so you better not start the story with out me."

I managed a small smile before replying.  "On my honor Lala, no explanations until you're back down here."

She nodded again then turned and started up the stairs at a quick pace.  I watched her go, and could feel the smile on my face getting bigger.  She may have been younger than I was but she acted more like an older sister.  The sound of a throat being cleared swung my gaze back to Lil and the man that looked like Dante but wasn't.  My gaze traveled over Lilli to meet his eyes.  "My question still stands.  Who are you?"  Despite the pain, and now the fatigue I was feeling, my voice was strong leaving no doubt that if I didn't get an answer soon somebody was going to get hurt.  The way my night was going it was probably going to be me again.

"A friend," he said with a smile.  "A very close personal friend."  If he was trying to be cute it wasn't working at least not tonight.

At my raised eyebrow Lilli cut in.  "Luna, I'd like for you to meet Dominick Aurelia.  Dom, this is Luna, one of my roommates."

Aurelia?  Aurelia why did that sound so familiar?  Then it hit me and I if I'd had the extra energy I would have laughed.  I'd been making the comparison since I'd first laid eyes on him.  This had to be Dante's older brother.  Oh I knew that Dante had a brother but I hadn't been able to drag much out of him other than to know that he had an older sibling.  My gaze traveled over him, starting with his face ending with his feet, and back to his face.  I met his burning brown eyes.

"See something you like," he drawled.

I didn't try to hide the derision, "Not really.  You're not really my type."

"Oh, and just who exactly is your type," his tone mildly curious.

I shot Lil a look all I got in response was a shoulder shrug.  It looked like I was on my own here.  Just as I was going to reply Lala came back down the stairs with what looked like an oversized gym bag.  Saved by the bringer of medical supplies.  Lala's green eyes met mine and she gestured with the bag.  "Give it to Liz," I said.

She handed the bag to Elizabeth warily.  Almost as if she didn't trust the other woman and maybe she didn't.  Elizabeth touched my uninjured shoulder pressing on it so that she could have a better view of her coming work.  I stared blankly ahead at the stove and microwave.  Faint sounds of Elizabeth rummaging through the bag reached my ears.  I tried to tune it out.

Lilli made a disgusted noise as I felt Liz touch one of the wounds on my shoulder.  "Impatient aren't we Lil," I asked a hint of amusement coloring my words.

"You would be too if you'd been woken up in the middle of the night to find me bleeding all over.  Now stop stalling and make with the story already."

I could tell that she was in no mood to let me draw this out.  Heaving a sigh I tried to tune out everyone and everything happening around me.  I couldn't help the fact that my voice was flat unemotional.  It was a trick learned early on.  It was also necessary to drown out the pain of having stitches done without an anesthetic.

The retelling of my run in took the better part of forty-five minutes.  I wasn't interrupted at least I don't think I was because I never remembered stopping.  When I was finished Elizabeth was just staring at me like I'd lost my mind.  Lilli and Nahla looked ready to kill.  It was Dom's reaction held my interest.  He looked at me consideringly for so long that it was starting to make me uncomfortable.  "What," I growled angrily.

"Nothing," he said noncommittally.

Ri-ight!  Next pigs would fly, I thought sourly.  I just wasn't in the mood to be very nice.  My shoulder was hurting and so was my ego.  I wanted to do something to make him feel as bad as I did.  I wanted Shang-Da to regret ever laying his hands on me in anger.

Rage and fury combined in me to create the beginnings of hate.  Not hate with a little h but capital H.  I would make him and his cronies pay for what had been done to me.  I would hear their screams and cries of pain.  It would be a sweet music to my tormented soul.

"Don't do anything stupid Luna," Lilli cautioned.

"Define stupid Lilli," I said crossly.

"How about anything that's going to cause a war between the pard and the pack!  Face it sweetie, as powerful as you may be you cannot take on the whole pack.  There are too many.  Luna, I know you want to get even but that's not the way to do it."

"Why don't you let us decide what we're going to do about that mongrel," Elizabeth snapped.

A low growl erupted from Lilli's throat.  It was a sure sign that Liz had gone too far.  The color left her face and her eyes widened.  Her hand shook as she touched my throbbing shoulder.  Without conscious thought I wrapped my left arm around her waist.

A small gasp escaped the group before us.  In that moment I realized what I'd done.  But I'd be damned if I was going to take it back.  I'd offered Elizabeth my protection against my roommate.  I had put myself directly between the proverbial rock and a hard place.  My voice was firm and steady, "I am Oya of the Blood Drinkers Pard, I have been defiled.  I will petition The Thronos Rokke Clan, for a first blood match against their Hati.  I will not stand by and watch the lukoi desecrate my pard.  Not again."

Lilli's blue eyes bored into mine.  I think she was trying to get me to take the statement back.  It was an official challenge made in the presence of a pack member it would have to be reported.  If I took it back we could all pretend that I'd never said it.  A slow shake of my head twisted Lilli's face.  Her voice hollow the words a mere formality.  "Is that the will of the Oya?"

I met that gaze and knew determination shone in my eyes.  "That is my will, Lilli."

"Then I will make it so."  Lilli heaved a sigh.  "I hope you know what you're doing Luna."  She turned to Dom and the two of them retreated up the staircase.  The soft click of the door latch catching sounded dramatically louder to my ears.  It was more like a gunshot.

"Are you sure this is what you want to do," Nahla asked softly.

The sound of her voice in the sudden silence startled me.  I shook my head.  "No, but I don't see any way around it.  He came here, HERE to our home.  He attacked me because he's got some wild hair up his ass.  I'm not going to put up with it any more.  I didn't make it personal Lala, he did."

"Well I guess I better be going.  Make sure you take those stitches out tomorrow night at the latest or you're really going to have some ugly scars."

I turned slowly to Elizabeth.  "Tell no one about this.  And I mean NO ONE!  If I find out that you breathed a word of this to any one I will make what Gabriel and Raina did to you look like a walk in the park."  I didn't need a mirror to know that my face was expressionless and my eyes empty of any sort of compassion.

Elizabeth blanched and took a step back.  "I-I-I promise not a word," she croaked.

With a nod from me she turned and fled the house.  I sighed.  I didn't want to have to do that. I wanted to be the one to tell Anita and Micah.  The last thing I needed was Elizabeth adding embellishments to the story.  They would hear it from my lips.  I would not sugar coat it.  God willing I would be able to give an unbiased accounting of what had transpired.

Like Lil had said I hoped I knew what I was doing.  I was not the only one that was going to be between a rock and a hard place.  Because I'd set things in motion I would be making Anita decide who got top billing.  Her pard or the pack.  She was not going to be pleased with me at all.  I could honestly say that the feeling was mutual.

It had been quiet so long that I figured that Lala had gone up to bed.  I was quickly relieved of that notion.  "Is there anything I can do to help," she asked timidly.

I held out my right arm to her. She slowly approached me.  When she was within arm's reach I wrapped my arm around her waist and buried my face in the crook of her neck.  The tears that I had been holding at bay broke their dam.  I sobbed my hurt, betrayal, confusion, and a little bit of loneliness out onto her shoulder.

The whole time Lala stroked my back being careful of the wounds and murmured words of comfort.  It had been so long since I had needed to be held.  There had been only one other time.  Funny enough it was the same man that caused this feeling again.  I wondered if God had a sense of humor.  Or maybe I was just that bad a judge of character.  Whatever the case I made a solemn vow that night.  I would never, ever, be with a man that thought that of me as property rather than a person.