Chapter Seven:

Truth Searching

It was a while before Michael finally managed to leave Selene. Even after she had drifted off to a light sleep, her hold on his hand had been strong enough to keep him beside her. It gave him a chance to watch her sleep, to think on recent events, and perhaps most dangerously, to develop dark scenarios in his head.

Selene whimpered in her sleep. This, Michael had come to accept as normal, at least during her pregnancy. He understood to an extent. She had lost too much in her life, suffered so much hurt; it was only natural that she was afraid that something would happen to their baby as well.

It's happened before.

Those words returned to his mind like an echo, a broken record that repeated the line over and over. It's happened before. What had happened before? Selene never spoke of having children; she had never even spoken of having lovers in the past. He knew little of her life in the coven, except that it was dedicated to destroying lycans. He knew even less about her life before the coven.

Had she suffered the loss of her own child? A miscarriage or murder?

Of course she may have been referring to the loss in general. She had lost her parents, her sister and her nieces. And, as it turned out, her brother-in-law had disappeared.

Now Matthias was back. It could have been coincidental that the return of Selene's brother in law occurred at the same time that her stress levels hit their highest point. Michael doubted it.

She had missed her weekly appointment yesterday. This Michael only found out from Coran himself. When she hadn't showed up and could not be located, Coran had contacted Michael. It was unlike Selene to not show up for her appointments.

But she did not show up. It was an hour past the appointment when Michael was informed. He had been in the gym at the time, slowly improving his aim on the firing range. The phone system was connected to every room in the compound. When it rang, Michael practically pounced on it, always prepared.

Selene had not shown up, and could not be located. Michael went into panic mode instantly. He pictured her in labour, unable to get to a phone, crying out for help that would never come. He had hurried to their room on the top floor, thrown open the door, and heaved an enormous sigh of relief when he found her upon the bed.

She appeared fine, sitting propped up by pillows. The only thing that appeared odd to Michael was her eyes. Rather than the chocolate orbs he was used to, Michael was greeted by a pair of crystal blue eyes, almost silver in their shine.

He crossed to the bed slowly. Something in her posture, in her face, in the very vibe that she radiated suggested she was like an animal, poised ready to pounce.

Michael sat on the end of the bed, watching her warily. "You missed your appointment," he said softly. "Coran was worried. He couldn't find you."

She blinked at him, once, twice, but said nothing.

"Is everything okay?" he asked hesitantly.

There were almost visible sparks in the air between then. He saw evidence in her face that she had been crying, but whatever had upset her she was now settled.

No, settled was the wrong word.

Coiled was more accurate. Coiled and waiting to spring.

And she was silent. For what felt like an eternity, all they did was stare at each other.

Then it broke.

"I love you, Michael," she whispered. He was sure if it weren't for his super-human hearing, he would not have caught the words. They were so soft, yet there was fierceness to them, a certainty. They could not have been clearer even if she had shouted them at him.

He reached out toward her, stroking her ankle, which was the closest part he could reach.

"I love you too," he replied, mimicking her softness. "And I'm worried about you."

Selene's face softened, her eyes slowly returning to brown. "I'm sorry I missed my appointment."

"It's okay." He smiled. "As long as you're okay. Both of you."

Michael moved closer, sitting beside her on the bed. Selene's eyes held his the entire time, never looking away. When he had pressed his hand to her stomach, hers covered it in an instant.

"We're okay," she whispered in response, a shadow of a smile playing on her lips.

It was a feeble response to an issue that Michael feared was becoming more and more serious by the day. Her sleepless nights were getting worse. He knew that she had not slept at all following that episode, which explained why she had fallen asleep in the clinic.

One thing was certain. From Selene, he could draw no answers.

As soon as the iron grip on his hand eased, he slid away from the bedside, bound for Matthias.

When Michael found the lycan's quarters were empty, he proceeded hastily to the gymnasium.

That was where they had been when this started.

Matthias was there, not training, not practising, and not even moving. He sat on the floor, his back pressed against the metal cage that enclosed the weapons hold. He had his knees up, his arms wrapped around them, and his face hidden.

He truly looked fragile sitting there. Michael could easily have killed him, tearing him apart limb from limb. He could so easily have ripped the lycan's heart from his chest and drank his blood.

Michael felt proud of himself that he did not do this. Instead, he stood at Matthias' feet, looking down on him.

"I figured you'd come looking for me eventually," Matthias muttered, his voice smothered by his arms. "It was only a matter of time."

"If it was only a matter of time, why didn't you come to me?" Michael asked. He masked the growl that rumbled in his chest as best he could, but was sure that it sounded in his voice.

The lycan gave a slow laugh, raising his head to look Michael in the eyes. "I haven't the access to reach you. I cannot access most of this place." He indicated the wide room, referring more to the restricted areas beyond. "If I had been, I would have come looking for you."

Michael moved, walking to Matthias' side. If nothing more, it gave him time to think of the proper words to use. It gave him the seconds needed to restrain his inner beast, to prevent attacking the one that was feeling more and more like the enemy rather than a comrade.

"What has she told you?" Matthias asked. "I'm gathering it's not the whole truth."

Michael glared as he answered. "You abandoned your family. You left your wife and your children without a word of warning or as much as a goodbye letter."

Lowering his gaze, Matthias nodded. "That much is true." When he lifted his eyes to Michael's face, he seemed to be scrutinizing him. "But you think there's more to it than that."

"I know there's more to it than that. I know that Selene loved her family, but seeing you shouldn't have this great effect on her. She's hardly the same woman I fell in love with."

"And you believe that I'm the reason she's behaving like this?"

Michael smiled. "I know you're the reason she's behaving like this. What I want to know is why. She's hiding something, something big enough to keep her up at night and make her anxious all the time. And it's ever since you arrived here. She's afraid. You make her afraid, and I want to know why."

"What makes you think I know why she's scared of me?"

Michael snapped. There was something in Matthias' voice, in his eyes, that was challenging him. It seemed to mock him, and it was making Michael mad.

He had Matthias by the throat, his hybrid claws digging into the skin of the lycan's neck, its feet dangling a good metre from the floor. Matthias snarled in response, his hands darting to his throat, trying to pry the talons loose. His attempts were futile.

"Tell me what I need to know," Michael growled, emphasising each word by pounding the lycan into the cage again and again. "I love that woman up there, and if you're hurting her in any way-"

But Michael's words were interrupted. "I loved her too," Matthias choked through the hold.

Michael loosened his hold, his face freezing. "You what?"

Those crystalline pools that were the lycan's eyes rose to meet Michael's. "I loved her. I fell in love with her long before you ever met her; even long before you were born."

The lycan fell to the ground as Michael released his grip completely. Sounds of coughing and spluttering filled the gym.

Michael took two steps back from Matthias. "You loved her," he fought for the right words. "As a sister?"

Matthias laughed through his spluttering. He was rubbing his throat, his eyes narrowed as he looked up at his attacker. "No, not like a sister." His voice now emerged as a rasping growl, suddenly making him more threatening. "I loved her like a lover."

Shock split Michael's mind. Selene and Matthias were lovers? He couldn't believe it. And yet, it made sense. It seemed to answer so many questions…

His anger dissipated.

"When?" he stammered, still backing away from Matthias. "Before you were married?"

Again that sinister laugh, that almost evil grin. "After I was married. Even after the twins were born."

They had slept together, slept together behind Celeste's back. Obviously, the family never knew.

"And that was why you left." Michael didn't pose it as a question. It already made sense. The guilt that Selene felt, the shock of finding Matthias alive after so long, the hatred that came flooding back when she saw his face. It was all too much for her to bear.

"That was one of the reasons."

Frowning, still trying to take in the rest of the information, Michael asked, "What else?"

Matthias was silent, a grin still playing on his lips. He held the moment in silence that felt almost like eternity. Then finally he spoke.

"Selene fell pregnant with my child." He said the words so casually. A twinkle in his eyes hinted that he was satisfied that he was dropping shrapnel into Michael's festering wound.

Michael's back met a wall, and he slumped down it. "Selene was pregnant?" His words were a whisper, almost silent. He was too lost in disbelief to make sense of them. She had been pregnant before?

Matthias climbed his way up the metal cage into a standing position, still holding his neck. "I did her a favour in leaving," he gasped. The tide had turned, for even though he was hunched over slightly, Matthias towered over Michael, who was almost cowered on the floor. "You didn't know her father. He would have sent her to a convent, assuming he didn't kill her."

Michael was still grasping the words, grasping the meaning of all of this. 'It's happened before'. It made sense. She was pregnant now, having dreams about the past, of being pregnant before.

"He wouldn't even allow his youngest daughter to marry before his eldest," Matthias continued, Michael now only half listening to the story. "It was Selene I loved even before we started sleeping together. But their father wanted Celeste married off first." He sighed.

Matthias offered a hand to the dazed Michael. When they stood head to head, Matthias spoke again.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry that I hurt Selene. I didn't mean for her to get hurt in any way. What I did was selfish, but it was what I thought was best for everyone."

It happened in a flash.

One moment, Michael was staring off in the distance, his mind ringing with all that he had heard. His position changed when Matthias helped him up, but still he gazed at nothing, lost in thought.

But when he met the lycan's eyes, a terrible urge to hurt, to kill, to protect those that he loved, overcame him. From a normal human, the punch would have swung the victim's head, maybe dazzled them for a second or two. With Michael's strength, Michael's hatred, Matthias was thrown two metres, back to the metal gate where he crashed to the floor.

"Stay away from me," Michael snarled, pointing a finger at the cur before him. "Stay away from both of us, or I swear I will fucking kill you."

He spun around, his temper flaring. He was at the double doors to the gym when Matthias words rang out behind him.

"She kissed me," he taunted, his voice ringing with unexpressed laugher. Blood poured from his nose, and he spat out a mouthful of blood before continuing. "Yesterday when she should have been with her doctor, she visited me. We talked, and she kissed me." The laughter flew from the hateful mouth once more. "I would reassess your status in her life if I were you."

Michael's grip on the door was tight enough to buckle the steel. Cracks sounded as he let go. He should have walked away, should have avoided the temptation, but he couldn't.

Towering over Matthias once more, Michael's eyes made their fade to black. His talons returned, and his teeth grew to razor points in his mouth. It was with wavering control that he kept the full transformation at bay. He kicked the lycan, causing it to cry out in pain, doubling over. Michael heard the satisfying crunch of ribs breaking and smiled.

"If you touch her, if you look at her, if you so much as think of her," Michael began, his voice eerily calm despite the growl of his beast. "I will make your death as long and torturous as possible. Leave her alone."

And with that, he stormed from the gym, leaving Matthias in his wake.