Moonlight Desires

Chapter 1

Becky couldn't think of anyone who would call her a creature of habit. In the women's locker room, she was one of the most spontaneous ones, always up for a late movie or an evening out. On most nights, anyway. Every full moon night, the saying became very apt and she was very much a creature defined by habit—emphasis on creature. She would usually make an excuse a few other times in the month just so her friends didn't make any connection between her absences and the full moon, and thus far she hadn't had a problem.

Up to that point, though, WWE had never had to relocate a show on short notice, at least not as long as she had been working for them. But a tornado had almost torn the arena in half, so they quickly booked one in the next closest city and did their best to honour all the existing tickets. It sucked for the fans who couldn't make the extra journey, although they at least had the option of getting a refund. She was left scrambling to find another location where she could shift; the one she had meticulously researched was too far away for her to make it back to the hotel before the morning meeting. A shift was mentally and physically draining, and she usually had to spend at least an hour or so recovering in her car.

The prospect of shifting in an unknown place had her on edge all night, making her grateful she didn't have a match, only an interview and a brief altercation. She could already feel her control starting to wane, and if she'd had to fight Natalya for real, the Queen of Hearts might have found herself with her heart not on her sleeve but on the floor—or worse, in Becky's mouth. "Hey, Becks." As if on cue, Natalya came up and hugged her. "Are you okay? You're looking a little pale."

"Ha! Nice one, Nattie." Becky's last attempt at a spray tan hadn't gone so well, and while she wasn't as violently orange as she could be, the difference between her natural skin tone and the fake tan was glaringly evident around her armpits, so she had switched up her gear to cover her upper arms.

Natalya frowned a bit. "I'm serious. You're not looking so good. I mean, don't get me wrong, you're always beautiful, but you look a bit under the weather. Are you not feeling well? We can ask if you can film your bit backstage and I can just say you're a coward for not coming out to face me. We should be able to bump the confrontation to next week. . . ."

Becky shook her head. The bosses were finally starting to take her seriously, in large part due to the swell of fan support she had online. She couldn't afford to squander a single opportunity now. "I'll be fine," she promised. Natalya was someone she knew from her earliest wrestling days in Canada, and she trusted her implicitly in the ring, which made her feel a bit better. "Just maybe avoid gut shots if you can?"

"You got it." Smiling, Natalya kissed her cheek. "But if you need to switch things up, just let me know and we can go talk to someone. I'm sure we can think of a quick fix."

It was an utter slog and she was sweating by the end of it, which wasn't like her, but Becky got through it. After thanking Natalya quietly backstage, Becky headed to Paul Heyman's office. "Paul, I'm not—"

"Lynch. You look like shit." As Paul rose, he made an apologetic gesture. "You know what I mean. What's wrong?"

Wrapping an arm around her stomach, Becky drew on all her acting skills. "I'm not sure. I think it's just a flu. Maybe something I ate? But I'm not feeling great. If you don't need me for the rest of the night, do you mind if I take off?"

Paul shook his head. "You're done. Did you want to check in with the doctor first and get looked over?"

Becky shook her head so quickly it made her dizzy, and she had to brace herself against the door frame. "No. I'm sure it's nothing a hot shower and some extra sleep won't fix. If I'm not better by tomorrow, though, I'll see the doc. I promise."