Moth to a Flame
#7 of Mother Mulda (Dead Story)
Lunar Blood Feud - 07 - Moth to a Flame
"You're engaged!?" Sara shouted, drawing stares and smiles from other patrons in the dinner. Jennifer fanned out her fingers to show off the ring, causing her friends to whistle.
"I know it's a little sudden... but-"
"Sudden... yeah," Meghan interrupted. "So what aren't you telling us?"
"Nothing," Jennifer defended but both of her friends leaned forward and caused her to cringe. "Alright... alright... *mumble*"
"What?"
"I'm pregnant."
Both friends hugged each other and screamed in ways that made Jennifer to want to crawl under the table and hide.
"When?" asked Sara excitedly.
"How long?" asked Meghan as she leaned forward with sharp probing eyes.
"Uhm... about a month..." Jennifer admitted as her face turned the color of her hair.
"He must be really something," Sara said as she shook her head.
"Jen, you've never been like this," Meghan said with concern in her eyes. "You're always the practical one. What's going on? Are you alright? I mean... aside... from..."
"I'm fine," she told them and her smile became real. "John's... just..."
"Oooh," Meghan almost gasped, "you've got it bad."
"Does he have a brother?" Sara wanted to know.
"No," Jennifer said and then she looked down.
"What?" both friends asked.
"Uhm..." Jennifer was still not sure about bringing her best friends into this mess. The werewolves, the fighting, her Granny's plan. It was a good plan, but these were her friends. They loved and trusted each other... she didn't want to hurt them.
"Come on," Sara said.
"No," Meghan intervened, "she doesn't have to tell us if she doesn't want to. We'll just stay single and lonely." She changed her voice to mock a stereotype who had no teeth. "Hey dere, girly, yuu shoore look purdy! Hyuk Hyuk Hyuk!"
"Well... he has a rival," Jennifer finally gave in.
"Pass," Meghan said.
"Is he cute?" Sara asked with begging eyes.
"Cute? Well..." Jennifer did not think cute would be the word she would use to describe Dark Hawk. Truth was the man terrified her with his hard, almost-black, eyes, and his sharp predatory features. But she remembered John had those features too, whenever he got serious about something, and Sara had a thing for the bad boys. "Well... he is your type, Sara."
"That means he's a bad boy," Meghan said as she shook her head.
"Very bad," Jennifer mumbled.
"How bad?" Sara asked. "Like... running from the cops bad, or likes to go huntin' with the boys bad?"
"Well... I don't think he's got a record," Jennifer said and she watched her friend begin to pump up the fantasy in her mind. "No, forget it," she said and stood to leave.
"Oh hell no," Sara said, as she jumped up, moved her friend back into the booth and flopped down next to her to keep her there. "You can't just dangle the bait in my face like that then walk away."
"Sara," Jennifer admitted, "Hawk scares me."
"Hawk?" Sara blinked. "Dark Hawk? Oh... yeah... he's scary sexy. All muscly and dark and... well..."
"Dangerous," Meghan finished. Sara nodded but Meghan continued. "Sara, I can think of a dozen reasons why you should stay away from him."
"Name one," Sara challenged.
"He's John's rival, for one. You date him and you'll have to deal with your best friend's boyfriend clashing with your boyfriend."
"Fiance," Jennifer reminded them.
"Even worse," Meghan said. "Everyone knows there's bad blood between those two. Do you really want to get in the middle of that?" Both women looked at their friend, but Sara's eyes were already far away. The two stable friends looked at each other. Meghan's crystal blue eyes bored angrily into Jenny's.
*****
The twang of country music carried through the honky-tonk causing Meghan to sway to the sound. Sara's voice sang clearly over the crowd, one of the few girls who sounded good on open mic night. Jennifer was sweating, drinking water, and trying not to think about the terrible thing she had started.
'I don't want them to get hurt,' she thought as she watched a couple of the Bales boys watch them from across the room. 'Please... don't let them get hurt.' The music ended and wolf whistles joined applauds as the beautiful brunette shook her jean-short covered ass, drawing more howls and cheers from the crowd. Sara swayed her well practiced hips as she stepped off the stage and moved back to her friends.
"How did I do?" she asked, as she tried not to glance at her target.
"Well..." Meghan grinned.
"Oh my God, here they come," Jennifer gasped as she took another drink of water and almost choked.
"Geeze, Jen," Sara said, putting her hand on her friend's shoulder, "if your condition's getting you that bad you should have stayed home."
"And leave you with these wolves?" Jennifer said, then she went pale.
"Nice pipes," came the menacing voice of Dark Hawk. "You know how to work it."
"Thanks," Sara said with a little wink to Jen.
"You girls wanna come sit with us?"
"No thanks," Meghan said as she looked at Jen. "I don't think we're going to be staying much longer."
"Oh, come on," Dark Hawk's wing man set him up, "we don't bite."
"Not on the first date, anyway," he finished. Dark Hawk grabbed a bar stool and sat uncomfortably close.
"Yeah, right," Meghan said with a little scoff, "'cause what we need is to get felt up by the booze hounds."
"Would it make you feel better if I payed you for the night?" Dark Hawk shot at Meghan, his irritation clearly marked on his face. Before another word could be uttered, Sara's fist connected with the big man's jaw and tipped him over onto the ground. Everything went silent as several patrons stood and searched for the man they were going to hit should a fight break out. Tension hung thick until Dark Hawk began to laugh. "Now that's my kind of woman."
"Like your women rough?" Sara almost shouted as a feral look creased her features.
"Hell yeah," he said as he picked himself up off of the ground. "I don't like weak women." He reached into his pocket and pulled out his business card. "I'm gonna take you out," he told Sara and Jennifer flinched as her friend grinned.
"You better have some manners for where I like to eat," Sara told him.
"I clean up nicely," Dark Hawk told her.
Meghan looked over at Jennifer and scowled. The look said, "this is all your fault."
*****
"Sara, I don't want you to go on this date." Jennifer had been feeling miserable since the night her friend had knocked Dark Hawk on his ass. "I mean it. There's a lot going on here you don't know about."
"Like what?" Sara asked as she brushed her dark brown hair again and again. "I've got my credit card, condoms, and a black belt, you want me to bring my pistol too?"
"It won't help."
"Uh-huh."
"I mean it, Sara, he's dangerous."
"Uh-huh."
"Fine, you wanna know why he's so awful?"
"Uh-huh."
Jennifer looked around her friend's room and tried to remember the speech she had practiced. 'Sara, we're werewolves. Sara, we're werewolves. Sara, we're werewolves.'
"Sara..."
"Yes?"
"Sara, we..."
"Kinda sorta listening," Sara said musically as she continued brushing her hair.
"Oh... just turn away from that mirror and watch me." Sara glanced at her friend and noticed she was taking her top off.
"Are you about to show me bruises, cause if you are then-"
"Shut-up," Jennifer said sharply as she wiggled out of her bluejeans. A few moments of focus brought the beast into her mind. The moon, the wolf... claws... fur... howling... running with the pack... her mate...
"Holy shit!"
Jennifer opened her eyes and realized the room seemed smaller and her panties and bra were painfully stretched to their limit. The transformation was not complete, not wanting to shred her clothes, she held the rest of it.
"See?" Jennifer's gravelly wolf voice said through the muzzle of predatory teeth. Sara's mouth hung open as she tried to decide what the appropriate course of action would be. Then she reached forward, and grabbed Jennifer's right breast. "Ow!"
"Shit!" Sara said, stepping back and stumbling into her vanity. "Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit! Shit!"
The beast closed its eyes and returned to its lair. The tingling sensation of human frailties returned. When Jennifer opened her eyes, she was looking her friend in the eye once more.
"So... you see?"
"That... was... friggin' cool!" The friends looked at each other for a moment then both began laughing uncontrollably.
"Friggin' cool?" Jennifer managed to say once her laughter was almost under control.
"Well, what else would I say?"
"I don't know... how about, "oh shit you're a werewolf!" or "don't eat me!"."
"I thought about it," Sara said once she stopped laughing, "but that's what stupid horror movie girls say right before they get ripped to pieces."
"So you figured you'd be safe as long as you didn't say one of those magical death phrases?"
"Actually, I think I spoke my mind pretty thoroughly," Sara admitted and the two friends began to laugh again.
"So, you still want to go on your date?" Jennifer said as she began to put her cloths back on.
"What, and let you be the one who has to say, "don't worry I'll protect you," when the shit hits the fan? Please." Sara turned back to her mirror and looked at her reflection. "Maybe I should use stake sauce as perfume."
"Oh, you're terrible!"
"I can't help it," Sara said with a laugh. "It's too friggin' cool!"
"Sara," Jennifer said once she calmed down, "Dark Hawk and John are rivals... nasty rivals."
"So I'll charge him a no-sex toll if he fights John without my permission."
"Does... anything scare you?" Jennifer asked as she heard her grandmother's plans being spoken by one of her best friends.
"Well, I did consider shitting myself when you got all big and scary a moment ago," Sara admitted.
"And what are you going to do if Dark Hawk gets all big and scary?"
"Hmmm," Sara said as she visibly considered her friend's words, "good point. Maybe I should wear an outfit that I won't miss if it gets all torn up."
*****
"Unprotected werewolf sex makes me a werewolf," Sara muttered to herself as she a big black pick-up truck pulled into a space in front of her apartment and shut off its engine. "So... I gotta keep it AIDS friendly." Jennifer's confession of the lunar blood feud and Granny Mulda's plan mixed with Sara's ideas of what might be as she watched her dark haired date walk toward her front door of the apartment then stop and look up at her. A pair of mischievous grins were exchanged by the lights of their locations and a moment later she pulled her head in and performed a last minute purse check. A deep breath gave her courage and scant moments found her looking up into his dark eyes.
"Nice outfit," he commented on her choice of black leather with a heart-shaped peek-a-boo patch over her bosom.
"You too," she commented at his blue-jeans and collared shirt. "Are those your good jeans?"
"You know they are."
"Then I'll be sure to cross my legs and be all lady-like." The flirtatious banter saw her into the truck, which she noted had been recently cleaned and vacuumed. "So what are we eating?"
"Steak," Dark Hawk answered when he got into the driver's seat.
"Is that all?"
"That depends on what you're hungry for later."
"Hmmm... that's an interesting answer," Sara noted out loud.
"Interesting and-"
"Stop talking, wolf-boy," she said cutting him off and drawing a raised brow. "I'm hungry."
His intense gaze was leveled directly onto her and Sara had to turn her whole body to face it. A few anxious seconds passed by then Dark Hawk smiled. "Alright," he said, "lets get this party started."
Sudden movements caused Sara to lurch forward then back as her host showed off the power of his big black truck. A curse was followed by laughter as she grinned at how reckless he was. 'This just might work,' she thought as they crossed town.
"So, where you wanna go?" Dark Hawk asked as he slowed down for the speed trap.
"Lets go to Slab Dog over on Vernon."
"You sure about that?" Dark Hawk asked after a moment of silence. "The owner doesn't like me much."
"Well, he likes me just fine," Sara stated, knowing full well the place was owned by rivals in the feud.
"I guess going with you might get me a good steak, for once."
"Just might."
*****
Dark Hawk looked around nervously as he got out of his truck and began casing the place. Sara could tell he was afraid of getting into a fight here with her watching. The danger made things more fun and put him at a disadvantage. Also, Sara knew some of the guys here and if her date ended up going south she could have him beat and still get a ride home. The power was in her corner and she was just fine with that.
Her date was not the holding doors type, but his cautious steps got her in through the door ahead of him.
"Good evening, Sara."
"Hey, Everette."
"Where's the others?"
"Waiting to hear all about my date." When Dark Hawk entered, the host's muscles all tensed. "It's alright," Sara said, stepping back to take his arm, "he's treating me tonight."
"Alright," Everette said as he and Dark Hawk sized each other up. There were more than a few odd looks as they took their seats. Sara pointed to the booth in the corner and let her date face the door.
"It really is good food here," she said after a few minutes with her menu.
"Uh-huh," Dark Hawk muttered as he glanced up every few seconds.
"The T-bones kick-ass but the chicken's good too. I've been meaning to try their beer batter."
"Uh-huh."
"You know if someone tried to mess with you here I'll kick their ass."
"Uh-huh."
"You know if you keep being such a wonderful conversationalist I might just tell Everette you've been rude to me."
"You're enjoying this, ain't ya?"
"Little bit," Sara said with a grin that let him know her intent.
"I doubt I'll like it."
"Why?"
"'Cause I'll likely get something extra in mine."
"Wanna make 'em guess?"
Dark Hawk raised his brow and eyes her grin for a moment. "What do you have in mind?"
"What type of steak do you want?"
"T-Bone."
"How?"
"Medium-Rare."
"Alright," Sara told him, "let me do the talking and you'll get the best steak you ever had."
"Uh-huh."
"Hey, Sara," the waiter said as he ignored Sara's date.
"Hey Curt, can we get water and a pair of medium-rare T-Bones."
"Sure," Curt said as he made a note on his pad.
"We'll have fries and a veggie and if you do anything bad to the food I'll be kicking your ass."
"Promise?"
"I brought my taser," she threatened and Curt laughed.
"Alright," he said, "I won't tell the cooks who your date is."
"What the fuck are you doing?" Dark Hawk hissed when Curt left.
"I'm treating you to food you normally couldn't get on your own," Sara told him with a smug smile.
"If I wanted to get in a fight I could have found one on my own."
"Awe, what's wrong?" she asked with a patronizing tone. "I thought you liked thrills."
"Hmph... crazy-"
"I have a taser."
"I heard."
"But I think what you need is a good spanking." Dark Hawk opened his mouth but held his tongue. Comments and possibilities danced across his face. Confusion... aggression... fear... he was turned on and had no idea what to expect. "Don't worry, Hawk, if you make me happy... I'll make you happy."
"Promise?"
"I brought handcuffs."