Chapter 12: Working it Out

"So you failed the mission."

"I didn't know what to except exactly."

"But you still failed."

" . . . Yes."

The Alpha sat in a wobbly old chair in the dimly lit office. In the room, a small window looked out at the goings on in downtown Budapest. Standing by the window, looking out it with intense gray eyes, was the person he had to report to; the one charge of the Alpha.

Of course this did not go over well with him at all.

A few hours ago he had left the forest, loping back to civilization. It was dark out now, night had fallen long ago. The city lights had illuminated the way, but he didn't need their help; he knew the way back to the hideout well enough.

In human form, the Alpha was a big, six-foot tall man with a crew cut. Steel bands of muscles flexed through his arms, and rippled through his torso. He wore a leather jacket and jeans now, simple attire. His big hands were clenched into fists, though he knew that he should not be angry, not with being in the same room with this person.

At the window, that person sighed. "It should have been simple," they stated. "How difficult is it to capture one person?"

"You didn't state the specifics of the mission, if I do say so myself," the Alpha grumbled.

"So you blame me, is that it?" Their was voice icy.

"No," The Alpha said clearly, his voice thick with an accent. "I do not blame you. But my men didn't know that a vampire would be there. And that thing! He wasn't even one of us!"

"Precisely why I needed him captured, Lance," Colleen said, whirling around, gray eyes blazing fiercely. "I still need him captured. As soon as you round up another pack, you go out to those woods, you capture the boy, and you bring him back. Is that in anyway unclear?"

The Alpha glared at the floor, repressing the growl building in his throat. "No, ma'am."

Yes, a female lycan. A female lycan who was in charge of the recent affairs now. After Lucian's body had been found in the bunker, the lycan horde had been in chaos; who would lead them now? Raze was dead as well, and Lance had stepped up to take his place, briefly being in charge. But Colleen, she had always been cool, calm and collected. She could always deal with things with a clear head, and she hardly ever lost her temper and changed form; only on rare occasion and that was when you were seriously screwed. It had been decided that she would be in charge of the pack, and thus she was their leader.

Though Lance thought she was not worth following.

Lance stood and glanced at his superior; she was gazing out the window once more. She was dressed in clothes similar to his, though more formfitting. Her midnight black hair blended in almost perfectly with her jacket, hanging down her back in a tangled mess. She was a beautiful lycan, one many males panted after, but they didn't have the balls to approach her in that way. It was just as well, Colleen was almost as coldhearted as a vampire.

Lance opened his mouth to speak. "If we are successful in bringing back this guy, what are you going to do with him? Why is he so important?"

"Ask not and I tell you not," Colleen replied breezily. She turned and gave him an evil grin. "Just know that it will be all clear very shortly. Now go. Do not fail me, Lance."

"Of course, milady," he said, and turned and left the room.

Selene's undead heart beat wildly as her and Michael's kiss exited the bounds of just chaste and innocent. She pressed herself against him, almost melting into him, his skin was so warm against her own icy skin. She was faintly surprised that her fangs didn't knick his lips, but realized he was being careful.

His hands were like iron clasps on her waist, allowing no escape, at least an easy one. She was glad that the need for breathing was not so drastic for her as it was for humans, else she would have passed out a while ago due to lack of oxygen. They hadn't broken apart yet.

Why do I feel like this? she wondered. Never before have I ever experienced this. But I've never known anyone like him.

It was true. Over the course of six hundred years, Selene had the occasional carnal encounter with another vampire. She was no virgin. Six hundred years was guaranteed to make her lonely, and curious. She had made love with others, but that had been a no-strings-attached, curiosity sating encounter.

She had shared her body . . . but never her heart.

Was she willing to share both with Michael?

As if he sensed her uncertainty, Michael finally broke their kiss and pressed his forehead to hers, breathing heavily.

"Selene," he breathed, huskily, his eyes boring into hers.

"Michael, I don't know about this," she murmured. She could tell that they had been heading to something, and she knew perfectly well what. It wasn't hard to tell that he was ready, what with his arousal pressing against her. "I think we should just . . . think about it."

She saw him blink, and then he took a step back. "Right," he ran a hand through his now-messy hair; her hands had done a nice job of making it disheveled. "I just . . . damn, guess I got carried away."

"In your defense, it could be seen as a heat of the moment thing," she said, and saw him grin.

"Guess you're right," he muttered, then sighed. "Sorry. It got out of control."

"It's not your fault."

"Yeah, it kind of is. I was mad, and we were arguing . . . and then that happened." Michael shook his head. "I lost it, kind of. But it was kind of is your fault, too."

Selene raised an eyebrow and folded her arms. "And how is that, exactly?" She asked through clenched teeth.

He stepped forward and placed his hands on her shoulders. "I'm not trying to set the blame on you, honest. It's" he looked away, not knowing how to phrase his words exactly it seemed. "Ah, how can I explain it? Well," he fixed his gaze on her again. "It's your scent."

Well, whatever Selene had been expecting as an answer it was not that. She felt surprise flicker across her face and the stiffness leave her shoulders.

"My scent?" she asked, puzzled.

"Yeah," Michael muttered. Was it her, or was he blushing? "See, ever since . . . you bit me, and I became this hybrid thing, I can smell people's scents. It's weird, I know. But . . . yours Selene," Michael inhaled deeply. "God, you smell good."

"Out of all the things I thought you would have said, Michael Corvin, I would never expected you to say how I smell," Selene said, feeling a small bubble of amusement burst out of her.

Michael backed away again. "I can't help it."

"I'm not saying it as a bad thing, and I didn't mean to laugh. I am sorry." She stepped forward and reached out to touch his arm, offering solace. "I understand what you're saying. It's just that nobody told me that before."

Michael smiled and took her hand in his, raised it his lips and kissed it. "You do smell really good, you know."

"Is that what gets you turned on?" she couldn't help but ask.

"What does that mean?"

"It wasn't hard to tell," she said, her eyes flickering down up very quickly.

He exhaled in exasperation. "Again, not my fault! I can't help it that the male body is designed that way, and I know because I've studied anatomy. Desire is more obvious with guys, dammit."

Selene raised her arms and wrapped them around his neck. "Desire, eh?"

Again, he touched his forehead to hers, his anger melting, if there had been any. She thought maybe it was a touchy subject with him, something that he wasn't too eager to discuss. But, he couldn't deny the chemistry between them, she knew this, and she couldn't either.

"I feel something for you, Selene." Michael said softly. "I don't what it is. My body seems to know, but my mind doesn't seem up to speed. I mean, I don't care what you are, or what I am. So what if you're a vampire, and I'm a . . . freak, or hybrid. I just don't know if I'm ready yet."

Selene nodded when he was done, fully understanding what he meant. He was still possibly suffering from the loss of his previous love. It wasn't something hard to imagine. Hadn't she, Selene, killed lycans for centuries, to avenge her family's brutal slaughter? Losing one you love affects people in strange ways, whether it be revenge or unable to move on. But whichever it was, she would accept Michael's reason.

"I'm not rushing you," she said quietly. "What just happened was a spur of the moment thing. I can wait, I have much time."

"Same here." He smiled. "But I don't want to leave you alone."

She heard an undercurrent in those words. He wasn't just talking about their next . . . adventure. Did he mean . . .

"You're not going to latch onto me like a pup, are you?" Selene asked Michael teasingly.

"No," he laughed, wrapping his warm arms around her in a hug, which baffled Selene slightly. A hug? This was something she was not familiar with. But with Michael, it felt . . . nice. "I'm not that pathetic. But . . . being without you . . . I dunno, I don't like thinking about it. If anything happened to you . . . I don't know what I would do."

Selene pulled back and looked into his eyes, now troubled, hearing the pain in his voice.

"Michael, you would be fine without me," she said, knowing full well that he knew that he could go on if anything happened to her.

"I would be, but I'd be alone."

Alone. The simple word had much more meaning to her. She was all too familiar with loneliness; it was like her shadow, following her throughout the centuries. She had gotten used to it . . . but now, if she were to be away from Michael, if they were ever separated . . . and it happened to be irreversible . . .

I'd be alone all over again . . . she thought sadly. Just when I found him. And . . .

I'm tired of being alone.

Selene shook her head. "All right. You win . . . this time."

Michael grinned and kissed her briefly. "Never thought you'd be the one to give in."

"I didn't. I just don't want to get in another argument." she said quickly in defense. "I'd like to avoid those consequences. You know, you can be as stubborn as an ass."

"It's what I do."

She laughed, again, feeling her eyes widen. Never before had she felt such mirth, such a good sense of well-being.

"Cecil will be back some time tonight, and I want to tell him thank you for giving us shelter here, as sudden as it was. He was actually gracious, which is very odd for him." Selene said.

"Are we going soon, then?" asked Michael.

She nodded.

"We'll leave in the morning."

*A/N: A relatively light chapter, I imagine. (Hey no one got killed, yay!) Due to a request and personal interest, I threw in a female lycan. So, it should be interesting to see how that goes, huh?

Now Michael and Selene's part in this chapter, I wanted them to discuss things. I wanted Michael to voice his troubles, because he needs to stop thinking about them. And, the whole Selene-isn't-a-virgin stuff, well, I figured that she would indeed be curious. Why not?

Anyways, it's not my best, and I really am saying that because I wrote this while doing Physics homework. (Can you imagine how freaking hard that is? My brain hurts!) School is seemingly trying to kill me, but I'm wringing out the chapters slowly, so I apologize for the hold up, my dear readers. So, please, please, please review, and I hope you did enjoy it, thought it's not good . . . oh well!

Thanks~