Disclaimer: Laurell K. Hamilton and the Berkley Publishing Group do not authorize this author. All characters that you recognize belong to Laurell K. Hamilton except for the ones created by the people in this group. This is solely for entertainment purposes.

Rating: R just to be on the safe side

Author's Notes: This has been a long time in coming.  For those of you who have stuck with me through all of my incarnations this is just tying up some loose ends.  I do believe after all this time that this will be the final chapter in the Luna/Shang-Da era. (Not the end of this series just the end of them as a couple.  Got it?  Good!) Well without further ado...

Hard Days Night

Part Four

I made arrangements with Anita to have the rest of the Pard at her house in less than two hours.  It was going to be tough but we could pull it off.  Turning to Lilli I met her troubled gaze.  "Call Richard and let him know what *really* happened.  Shang-Da's already told him one version of events.  I need for him to hear my side from someone other than me."

"You know it's not going to make a difference.  You and Richard have never seen eye to eye.  This isn't going to be an exception."

"I'm aware of that Lilli.  But if *I* try to explain it to him he's going to think I'm trying to persuade him to see things my way.  I just want him to have both versions of what happened.  If he's as fair as everyone loves to think he is, he'll have the truth right there in front of him," I sighed and rubbed my forehead.

Lilli came over and ran her fingers through my tousled hair.  She pressed her forehead to mine.  "Be careful," she whispered.

I cupped the back of her neck.  "You too," I murmured.

"Always," she replied as she stepped back.  With one last lingering look she walked out of my room.

Hopefully Richard would listen to what she had to say.  I wasn't going to hold my breath, but it would have made for a nice change of pace.  I opened the dresser drawer and pulled out a pair of cut off jean shorts and a baby doll tee shirt, which read "The Next Big Thing."  I figured it was kind of apropos.

You didn't grab the tiger, or in this case a leopard, by the tail and think to come away unscathed.  Shang-Da had unknowingly opened the door to all the darker things in me.  He was going to get what was coming to him, and I was just the kitty cat to give it to him.

I dressed quickly, mindful of the still healing wounds on my shoulder.  Taking a last look around the room I made sure everything was in its place.  With the exception of my unmade bed everything was good to go.  I headed out of the room and down the hall.

Lilli's voice carried down to me.  Her voice was strained and I could tell it was taking quite a bit of effort to not yell.  I scratched on her door.  She whipped around and visibly relaxed when she saw it was me.  I mouthed, "I'm going to Anita's."  She nodded her blonde head and waved me away.

Taking the hint I went down the stairs. I grabbed my keys and sunglasses off the entryway table and made my way out to my truck.  As I started Igor Disturbed was playing.  It seemed fitting somehow.  I turned it up as I made a u-turn and headed for the highway and Anita's.

By the time I arrived it seemed everyone else had made it.  Good, I was only going to have to do this once.  I strode across the lawn and up to the front door.  Nathaniel opened it just as I was reaching for the handle.  I gave him a small smile and let him pull me in for a hug.

I rested my forehead in the crook of his neck.  He seemed surprised that I would do that, and to be honest I was a little shocked myself.  I tried not to lean on the others too much, but everyone has their breaking point, even me.  I had used up all my reserves and needed to refill them with the touch and comfort of my Pard.

Next came Elizabeth.  I whispered an apology into her ear.  She gave me an extra squeeze, and I knew that she had forgiven me.  The others just stared at me.  I usually wasn't one for the more formal greetings, and even by lycanthrope standards this was mild.  However I needed this, needed them more than I ever had before.

Micah came over and wrapped his arms around me.  We leaned into each other.  His smell, his strength, his dependability surrounded me.  It broke through my well-constructed defenses.  My eyes watered and before I could stop them tears fell from my eyes.

I could feel the others coming toward us.  They had felt my need and had responded accordingly.  I never moved as each member of the Pard held me or touched me.  It was a blur of sight and scents.  Just knowing that they cared was enough to help me recover a bit of my shaken faith.

Anita surprisingly was the last one holding me as I looked up.  She and I may not have always gotten along but we respected each other.  Her small hands cupped my face.  "You going to be okay," she asked.

I took a deep breath.  "Yeah, we need to talk about this.  It's not going to go away."

She nodded and stepped away from me and led us back into the living room.  Her and Micah took the loveseat as the rest of us scattered around the room.  I found myself sandwiched between Caleb and Gregory.  Their restless fingers wandering over my skin would have been irritating any other time, but now it was a small comfort.

I waited until everyone was comfortable before I started.  The last thing I needed right now was to get snippy with the people most important to me.

All eyes turned to me.  They weren't stupid.  They knew that this had to be something major to call the entire Pard together.   I took a deep breath.  This was the hard part, putting into words what had actually happened.

I told them, not just what had happened last night but the whole thing that had led us up to this point.  I met Anita's dark eyes and I pleaded with her to understand why I hadn't told her everything.  She didn't say anything, just sat back against the loveseat.

There wasn't a sound in the house, save for the dull hum of the air conditioner.  I had a brief moment before all hell broke loose.  Questions flew around like angry bees and I knew that some were concerned for me while others were concerned by how the lukoi were going to take this.

Anita held her hand up for silence and it descended instantly.  We all looked to her waiting for what she would say.  We wouldn't have to wait long.  "It's obvious that this is a personal problem that has escalated into something else entirely.  The best way to deal with this, I think, is to let them have their fight."  You could tell by the look on her face that she felt something other than what she was saying.

She let the meaning of her words sink in.  Some of them were definitely having trouble accepting this concept.  I'm not sure what their thoughts were but I'm sure some of us were thinking the same thing.  I shook my head.  Those thoughts were getting us nowhere.

"We should go in there as a united front, so that they're aware that if you hurt one of us you hurt all of us," Anita said, and you could hear the dark menace in her voice.

"Anita," I said, drawing her attention to me.  "I think that exactly what Shang-Da had in mind when he did this.  He's forcing you to pick which is more important to you."

She looked so divided that it reminded me of the conversation I'd had with Lilli.  We both seemed so hardened, so tough that you forgot you were dealing with a fragile heart.  She constantly surprised me, and not always in a good way.  You could see that one part of her really wanted to disagree with me, while another part knew that I was being brutally honest.

"What do you suggest," Anita finally asked wearily.

I took another deep breath and let it out slowly.  "Don't give him, or any of the others for that matter, the satisfaction of appearing divided."  I hedged, hoping she would understand what I was saying.

Micah's eyes were bright with understanding.  Anita shook her dark head.  It looked like I was going to have to spell it out for her.  "From here on out let Micah handle the situation.  This way you can appear to be unconcerned and fill your role as Bolverk."  I let that sink in for her.  "I think if we keep to the relative newcomers, and let's face it Anita, they consider Micah, his Pard, and I to be the new kids on the block, they won't think of it as you being divided.  They'll see their former Lupa and now their right hand doing her job."

She nodded but she didn't look happy with the decision.  Anita leaned forward her forearms resting on her knees, fingers laced tightly.  "I see what you're getting at but how does that let the others, not just the lukoi, know that we mean business," she asked.

I could feel a grim smile stretch across my features.  "We don't have to.  It may be first blood, but I'll make sure that Shang-Da is well and truly beaten."

"You could do that?  You could leave him broken and bloody," Merle asked.

I met his eyes and I could feel the darkness welling up in me.  "Of course.  Love, hate, they're two sides of the same coin.  You pervert love often enough it eventually becomes hate, a hate so burning bright that it blinds you to anything but the need for vengeance," I knew my voice held more than a little hint of the fury I was feeling.

Everyone was looking at me.  It wasn't a comfortable place to be, not with the way I was feeling right now.  I knew I had to be strong.  If not for myself then I needed to be for them.  Finally my eyes came to rest on Anita.  "We make Shang-Da the message to the others," my voice strangely solemn.

Anita laughed.  It wasn't a pleasant sound either.  I could tell the others didn't understand but I did.  My own sadistic grin widened.  She laughed until tears ran down her face.  I think something inside of her had just broken and she didn't know how to handle the loss.  True to her nature Anita quickly gained control of herself.  "I don't know whether to be proud of you or scared," she finally said.   "In either case its too late, much too late to worry now."

She turned her dark eyes to our Nimir-Raj.  "Call Richard.  You and him can discuss the particulars," she paused then turned to look at me.  "When do you want this done?"

I closed my eyes not only to escape everyone's gaze but also to give me a chance to examine how I truly felt.  I opened my eyes and stared at her.  "Saturday.  The sooner we get this done the sooner we can all move on," my voice leaving no room to argue.

"You're sure," Micah asked, his voice was curiously blank of any emotion.

I met his gaze.  "I'm sure," and my voice was hardened steel.

He nodded and moved away from the rest of us into the other room.  He was probably going to call Richard to set up the meeting.  Someone touched my knee and I turned my face to Elizabeth.  "Let me take a look at those stitches."

Standing up I made my way into the kitchen.  I could feel the others following us.  Grabbing a chair I turned so that I would sit straddling the seat.  Gingerly I took my shirt off and I could hear the others hiss as they got their first good look at my back.  I had known it wasn't going to be pretty but I had hoped that it wasn't as bad as that.

"Get out of the way.  Back up and give us some room to work," Cherry brusquely ordered.  I felt the others flow back but they didn't leave the room.  The petite blonde set a massive first aid kit on the table in front of me.  "How do you want to do this," she said quietly to Elizabeth.

They were both in medical mode now.  They were in their element.  Too bad I had to be injured for the two of them to get along.  I wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth however.  Elizabeth spoke so softly that even with my enhanced hearing I couldn't understand what she said.  I saw Cherry's distorted shadow nod brokenly.

"We're going to have to do this without anesthetics," Elizabeth reminded me as I watched Cherry open the first aid kit.  She handed the other leopard a pair of latex gloves.  The sound of the material stretching and snapping in place was a kind of shock.

The little blonde pulled a slim pair of scissors out and handed them over to Elizabeth.  The pair worked quickly and quietly.  The others had filtered back toward us.  Their curiosity got the best of them.  Several butterfly bandages were then placed over the healing wounds.

Elizabeth hooked my bra and patted the uninjured shoulder.  "We should take a look at this tomorrow to make sure everything is healing correctly," she said in a surprisingly good bedside manner.

I nodded my head and slipped my shirt back over my head. It hadn't hurt, per say, but it damn sure wasn't comfortable.  Sighing I pushed myself up off the chair.  The others flowed back out of the room.  As if by some unspoken command they knew to just leave me alone for a minute.

Going to the refrigerator I opened it and pulled out a Pepsi.  The snap and hiss of the carbonated drink was strangely soothing.  I took a long drink from the can before returning to the living room with the others.

Cherry and Elizabeth were busy cleaning both the utensils used and making sure that the kit would be ready for the next time it was needed.  They soon joined the rest of us.  We were waiting on Micah.

Our Nimir-Raj soon joined us.  He didn't look happy.  I guess Richard was none too thrilled with having to deal with Anita's lover.  I couldn't say I blamed the wolf but he had brought it on himself.  He sat with Anita and seemed to collect himself before speaking.

"I've spoken to Richard"? he said at last.  "He wants to meet tomorrow night.  I'm allowed one guard and you're allowed a second.  Merle is already going as my guard.  I need to know who your second is going to be."

I sat back and let my eyes roam over the room.  In my mind I had already chosen.  I wouldn't take any of Anita's Pard not because I didn't think they were capable of handling themselves but because they were part of the status quo.  My eyes finally came to rest on the only other man I would trust at my back.  I raised a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at him.  He gave an almost imperceptible shoulder shrug.  A small smile spread across my face.

Turning back to Micah.  "Noah will act as my second," I said after a long pause.

There was a large hue and cry from the rest of them.  This time I held my hand up for silence.  When they had settled down albeit grumpily I said, "This way there is NO way they can use one of you against Anita.  Noah is used to having to watch someone's back and I'm comfortable letting him watch mine."

"Are you sure you want to do this," Micah asked.

Was I totally one hundred percent sure?  No!  There was no other way though.  It had taken me too long to finally open my eyes and see Shang-Da for what he truly was.  I wasn't about to go back to playing ignorant again.  "Yes, I'm sure."  Even to my own ears it sounded tired.

Micah searched my face.  I don't know what he was looking for and I'm not sure I showed him what he wanted to see.  Eventually he leaned back against the loveseat, his arms stretched across its back.  "Then we'll meet her tomorrow night about seven.  Richard wants to meet at eight."  He must have seen something in my face, or maybe he just knew me that well.  "It's going to be at a neutral location.  They wanted a mediator but we couldn't come up with someone that wouldn't seem like they were favoring one or the other."

I nodded.  It was tough, especially in this town, to find someone that wouldn't lean either towards the lukoi or the pard.  We would meet on middle ground.  Somewhere where neither of us would have the upper hand and to me that was all that mattered.  "So tomorrow night," I asked.

"Yeah, but you better make that six.  The girls are going to want to check you over before we leave."

I looked at everyone's expectant faces.  "I know you guys are wondering why we called you all here."  Some of them nodded while other just gave the "well duh" face.  "I thought it would be best if you found out what was happening from us, rather than hearing it second hand from someone that doesn't know the whole deal."

This was my family.  It might not be much of one but it was the only one I had and I was not going to lose it.  "From the beginning I have tried to be as honest and up front with you guys as you'd let me.  I've not always been easy to get along with but you guys are very important to me.  We may lose sight of that in our day-to-day activities.  But in a crunch you guys have always come through for me."  I looked away.  There was a lump in my throat that made it hard to speak.

"We know Luna," Anita said softly.

My eyes met hers and strangely there was understanding there.  When I gazed around the room the look was reflected in every face.  For the first time in a long time, I felt really sorry for the other groups out there that didn't have this.  You could knock us down but don't for a minute think that we're out.  It would be a mistake, a fatal mistake.  Let's hope that Shang-Da would make that mistake.