Moon Read online

  Chapter Five

  Justice North sat behind his desk while Tiger and Fury had taken seats perched on the sides of the massive piece of furniture. Joy swallowed, waiting for the last person to arrive. Dr. Treadmont finally showed up for the meeting Joy had asked for. He closed the door behind him.

  “What did you wish to speak about?”

  “Moon believes he is at site four.”

  Silence greeted that statement until Dr. Treadmont asked a question.

  “What the hell is that?”

  “There were remote sites we were relocated to after we were freed from Mercile,” Fury answered. “We were hidden from the press and given time to assimilate into life outside of Mercile.”

  “They were motels,” Tiger added. “Out in bum-fuck nowhere that the government was easily able to buy or gain access to because they were abandoned. They sent in crews to clean them up, do repairs, and that’s where we were housed. They put guards around the area to keep anyone from seeing us in case stray humans happened along.”

  Justice spoke next. “That’s where Moon met Dr. Yards. She was his shrink. The ones put in charge of us after our release not only wanted us to adjust to life outside Mercile but they wanted us to learn modern technology while giving us mental-health care.”

  “I was Moon’s therapist,” she corrected, though she knew she’d always be a “shrink” to Species. “From what I could tell by our conversation, he believes that he’s still living at the motel. He’s come a long way though. He remembers me.” And he remembers that I left him. She decided to keep that part out. “He had a normal conversation with me. That’s a huge improvement from him saying one or two words. I think he’s slowly recovering. I’m hoping more memories will come back and he won’t have a huge gap of missing time.”

  Harley growled. “Fuck.”

  “That’s good.” Justice didn’t look convinced though. “Isn’t it?”

  “I think so. I’m hoping his full memory will return. We need to allow him to ease into it. I don’t want to risk big shocks setting back his recovery. It’s a possibility. The chains and the cell distress him. I called this meeting to ask if we could upgrade his living conditions.”

  “I will need to assess him,” Treadmont stated, shooting Joy a frown. “We don’t know her well enough to trust her judgment. I want Dr. Kregkor to talk to him.”

  “Not that asshole,” Harley grumbled.

  “I agree.” Fury shook his head. “That’s the last human you want to put in close quarters with Moon. I’m completely stable and I want to knock that jerk on his ass half the time I deal with him.”

  “Who is Dr. Kregkor?” Joy didn’t like the sound of the guy.

  “He is a shrink assigned to us by the US government.” Justice answered, not sounding happy about it. “We’ve stalled him from visiting Moon. That’s why we called you in.”

  “I read that the NSO was totally under Species control.” She was confused. “That’s not true?”

  “It is.” Justice leaned back in his chair. “It was a concession I made. It was easier to agree than argue. He has no real power here, and though he rubs a lot of our people the wrong way these days, it’s good publicity if the public knows we have a head shrink on staff. Otherwise I’d have him permanently escorted to the gates and banned entry.”

  “Why would anyone care?” She didn’t understand.

  “It makes a lot of humans feel safer if they believe we are all getting therapy.” Justice sighed. “We do what we can to minimize negative feelings directed toward Species and our publicity team thought someone sanctioned by the government would alleviate some of their fear of us.”

  “As if we’re regulated in some way.” Fury snorted.

  “Kregkor is annoying, but manageable. He has a confidentiality clause in his contract.” Justice stared at Joy. “We didn’t want him near Moon after how he dealt with Obsidian.”

  “Who?”

  “Another Species male with issues,” Tiger informed her. “The shrink would have suggested we put Moon down.”

  “Kill him?” That shocked her. The logical part of her dismissed that assessment of the doctor. It was no secret that New Species disliked and distrusted most of her colleagues. No professional therapist would ever disregard a client’s right to life or fight to safeguard them. He was more than likely a bit pompous and arrogant, hence their aversion to him.

  “Yes. The guy is a prick,” Harley stated. “What do you think we should do, Joy?”

  She decided to be honest. “There are so many unknown factors. Species and humans are virtually alike yet the altered DNA introduces many variables.”

  “I resent that.” Harley glared. “I’m nothing like humans.”

  “You have human genetics too,” she reminded him, taking off the kid gloves. “You might not want to admit it after what was done to you but it’s true. A mirror will assure you of that.” She stood, too antsy to sit, focusing her attention on Justice. He was in charge. “Do you want to know what I think? That’s why we’re here, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Fine. I’m not sure what to do. We could tell him the truth and hope it triggers memories. It could backfire though and hurt his recovery if the shock is too great. The Moon I knew might not have handled it well, perhaps gone into a rage, but the Moon I saw in a video isn’t the same as he used to be. He seemed better adjusted. I want to believe he could process the truth but I’m not sure.”

  “What video?” Tiger stood, worry on his features. “Was there something on the news we missed?”

  “I showed her a video on my phone,” Harley admitted. “I wanted her to see how he was prior to the attack. I videoed him before he left for Reservation last time.”

  Tiger sat. “Okay.”

  “We could also ease him back into reality.” Joy hugged her waist. “That’s a safer step to take, in my opinion.”

  “How do you suggest we do that?”

  She’d had time to think while she waited for the meeting. “Remove the chains and unlock the cell but keep him secluded in the basement.” She glanced at Tiger. “Do you have any women, um, female human guards working at Homeland? I’d change out his current guards with them since he believes he’s still at site four.”

  “No.” Tiger shook his head.

  Justice softly cursed. “Jessie could do it.” He looked angry.

  “Who?” Joy peered at him.

  “My mate. She worked with the human task force. She still has the uniforms. She refuses to throw them out. They aren’t the same as what Moon will remember but we’ll say she’s a medical guard.”

  Fury growled. “You’re not talking my Ellie into it.”

  “Slade won’t go for it either if you want to put Trisha in a uniform to pretend to be a guard,” Tiger warned. “Don’t even think about my Zandy. Obsidian won’t allow Allison to do it either. We had to send Destiny to work at Reservation to avoid issues when she started working part time at Medical again. Obsidian didn’t trust the male not to approach her for sex, knowing how Destiny felt about his mate.”

  “Do you think I want to risk my mate being in danger?” Justice growled, looking anything but civilized with his lip curled up, sharp canines showing. “But I know my mate and she’d want to do this. I’m protective but I’m not stupid. Jessie doesn’t enjoy being coddled and I tell her everything. The only reason she isn’t here at this meeting is because she’s having a phone conference with her brother and his team about their efforts in Afghanistan.”

  Joy opened her mouth but then closed it, not really wanting to know what they were talking about. Their expressions were all closed, angry glances flying around the room. She was good at judging undercurrents. It was very curious why the NSO had any interest about something going on across the world but it was one of those things she would let pass. Her priority was Moon.

  “Besides,” Justice smiled, “do you think I’d allow my mate to do it alone?” He looked at Joy. “I’ll dress in jeans and a tan