Moon Read online

  “We had to do it for days before you arrived, Miss Know-It-All.” He shot a frustrated look at Tiger and ran his fingers through his white hair. “We need more blood from Moon to try to isolate what he was injected with. I need to examine him but I can’t do it when he’s ready to kill anyone who goes near him.”

  “Agreed.” Tiger sighed.

  Joy gave Tiger a murderous glare. “You don’t know if it’s making him worse. He’s confused enough without purposely doing that to him.”

  “We need samples.” Treadmont stared at her. “What do you suggest? We open up that door to take them and he’s going to attack. It’s not fair to ask the men to go in there to fight him so we can get him pinned.”

  “You want to take them every day. That’s too much for him to handle in his present condition. You can’t drug him every time.” Her fists clenched. “Aren’t you still in charge, Tiger? Think of another way.”

  “We don’t know what else to do,” Tiger admitted. “We have to test his blood and we need to take samples daily to check him. That can’t be avoided if we have any hope of finding a cure, if there is one.”

  “We’re hoping to nail down what was done to him by coming up with a drug to counteract the effects.” The nurse, Paul, spoke. “It might be his only chance of recovery.”

  “Adding tranquilizers into the system every day would harm a healthy person. Think of his mental state as well as his physical one.” Joy refused to back down. “There’s no point in testing him when it’s doing more damage than good.”

  The silent New Species male in the corner stepped out of the shadows. “Do you have another idea, Dr. Yards?”

  She was intimidated by Justice North—he was a daunting man who headed the NSO. She recognized him from television.

  “He’d be better off restrained without the drugs than to constantly have them added to his system. No other chemicals should be introduced into his body until we have some answers. It could hurt him more. Anyone subjected to those levels of sedatives on a daily basis would suffer harmful effects. He’s confused already and you make him lose whatever hold on reality he has every time you knock him out.”

  Tiger grumbled in obvious frustration. “I agree with her.”

  “Me too.” Justice addressed Dr. Treadmont. “Ted, I’m siding with the shrink on this matter. I want him well again but messing with his mind in the process isn’t acceptable. I’ll have our males go in and pin him down. We’ll restrain him for two days for you to do your tests but I have to let him up after that. That way we’re playing it safe.”

  “Two days?” Shock jolted through Joy. “That’s too long. I meant to restrain him only for the tests.”

  Justice faced her. “I’ve learned a lot about compromise, Dr. Yards. You should do the same.”

  “Call me Joy, please. Having him strapped down isn’t going to be good for his mental health either. Sure, it beats the drugs but that’s a long time to keep him immobile. I shouldn’t have to tell you how negatively any Species would react to that.”

  “I have the whole picture to consider. There’s the safety and emotional well-being of my other males. They hate to engage him and there have been injuries. We don’t play around when we fight. Moon is feral and could kill someone. Every Species in contact with the public at the gates could be attacked again by this unknown drug. More males are in danger. Do you understand?” Justice sighed. “Compromise. No drugs but he has to be restrained. I’ll give Ted two days to do whatever tests he thinks are relevant and then we’ll give Moon freedom from the restraints for a few days inside his cell, after which we’ll reevaluate the situation. Hopefully we’ll have answers by then and discover an effective way to heal whatever was done to him.”

  Joy hated it but nodded. “Okay.”

  “Thank you.” Justice grimly smiled.

  “I can be reasonable and I do understand. He is dangerous but I’m trying to do what is best for him.” She wanted him to understand her position.

  “That’s why you were brought here. You’re his mental-health advocate. My job is to think of the safety of everyone.” Justice turned to Tiger. “We need to go in there to strap him down. Double his restraints.”

  “Shit.” Tiger nodded. “We’re going to have to rig something.” Tears glittered in his eyes. “Something similar to what Mercile did to us so he has some ability to move to at least go to the bathroom. I think keeping him down twenty-four/seven would be the worst thing we could do.”

  The tension in the room increased tenfold. Justice nodded sharply. “I agree. Fuck. I want to kill the son of a bitch who shot him with that drug and whoever created it.”

  “Stand in line,” Tiger muttered. “I’ll handle whatever needs to be done. Go. You don’t want to see this and I highly suggest you restrict access to him even more. Everyone is going to be upset when they learn what we plan. Have Fury and Harley come. The three of us will work out the issue and set it in motion.”

  Justice unbuttoned his jacket and removed it to reveal broad shoulders and a white dress shirt. His tie came off next as he toed off his dress shoes. “I’m staying. I gave the order. I’ll help implement it.”

  “Justice…” Tiger frowned.

  “Enough.” Justice unbuttoned the top of his shirt. “I’m staying.” He stared at the cell. “We need him flat, not restrained against the wall. That would definitely remind him of Mercile. No automated pulley systems either. The sound of the motors might trigger flashbacks.”

  Tiger hesitated. “Agreed. I’m thinking ten-foot ankle chains to give him motion yet keep him clear of the door. We could hook them to the bars at the corners in the back of the cell so they would stop him short. The wrist chains can be longer and attached to the front corners, allowing him access to the back wall area. That will give him free movement in most of the area. Four of us could pull the chains taut and force him down spread-eagle on the floor when they need access to him.”

  “That should work.” Justice rolled up his sleeves. “Has he lost any of his strength?”

  “Nope. He’s eating plenty and doesn’t seem to feel much pain or he’s too angry to care. He’s tough as hell still.” Tiger pulled out a cell phone. “Let me make those calls.” He spun away, walking to a distant corner.

  Justice removed his belt. “I had to do a press conference an hour ago. I hate wearing all these layers of window dressing.”

  Joy was nervous around the NSO leader. “I don’t blame you. I hope everything is okay. I haven’t seen the news lately.”

  “It’s typical stuff we deal with on a daily basis.” He sighed. “I’m going closer to Moon.”

  “I wish you wouldn’t.”

  That comment earned her a scowl. “Why?”

  “He is calmly watching us but that is going to change if you approach him. I don’t want him to get hurt when he starts hitting things.”

  “I’m an alpha figure. I want to see if he responds to that in his current condition.”

  “He’s an alpha too.” Joy frowned. “It’s not a good idea but I can’t stop you.”

  “Moon is pretty mellow.”

  “The Moon you knew before he was drugged probably was but the one I knew wasn’t. He’s reverted completely.” Her gaze lingered on the big male crouched inside his cell, silently regarding them. “He’s relying on pure instinct. He’s not going to back down from you.”

  “How can you be so sure?”

  She glanced at him. “It’s an educated guess.”

  Justice slowly approached and Moon rose, snarling.

  “Please don’t,” she whispered, knowing Justice heard her.

  He paused but backed up. “Okay.”

  Tiger returned. “They are on their way and I called the supply department. They are sending chains and restraints once they locate them. We’ll have to make whatever they find work. It’s not as if we have this stuff lying around. It’s going to take a while. Maybe hours.”

  Dr. Treadmont sighed. “Why don’t we have lunch while