A/N: Hee hee! Nearing the end! Mwah hah hah! What will happen to Elise and Christian ? Will Christian ever find his fathers murderer ? Will Selene finally clear her name ? Tune in next time ( or the time after that or the time after that. I still don't know) bat-fans ( sorry wrong fic) for the exciting two-part conclusion!
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Elise fell to her knees with a groan as her ribs heaved themselves upwards, pressing tightly against the skin.
Her normally milky white skin had already turned itself as black as the night sky above her and her long brown hair had changed to resemble a river of blood-red silk running over her shoulders.
A small moan that sounded more like a wolfen howl escaped her lips, as jagged fangs slid down from her gums to brush against her bottom lip.
Long claws, not unlike her own vampiric talons, spread from the nail bed to past her finger tips.
She looked at them in awe, before throwing her head back and letting out a long howl. Then, she was off and running again, further and deeper into the forest.
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Michael had slipped from Selene's side some few hours before. Normally he could resist the pull of the moon, but tonight it was too strong and he had left the safe house for the wild sanctity of the forest that was just behind the building.
He had shed his mortal image, along with his shirt and was now running through the woods, letting the moonlight caress him.
He stopped short though, when he heard a long rather mournful howl coming from another patch of trees.
Almost instantly, he jumped into one of the nearby trees and headed towards the sound, under the cover of darkness.
After carefully scouting the small clearing where the noise had come from, he dropped from his perch into the small glade. His sensitive nose picked up the smell of a like creature, but there was no one else around.
Suddenly, he was thrown off his feet, by someone tackling him from behind.
A hard weight landed upon his chest, but he threw it off and rolled into a crouch.
He was almost knocked back off his feet though, at the sight that met his eyes.
A female hybrid crouched on the ground in front of him, her lips pulled back in a sneer, growling softly.
One leg was drawn close to her body, while the other was stretched out to her side, giving her the chance to sweep him off his feet is need be.
He returned her growl with a warning growl of his own and then took a deep breath, ready to fight.
When her scent hit his nose though, he stood and let his face shift back to his normal form.
This wasn't any old hybrid. She was Selene's friend Elise, whom he had thought was a vampire.
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Elise gasped softly, when she saw the human face of the other hybrid. She too stood and willed her form to change. The bones complied after a momentary struggle and she fell to her knees from the pain of it all.
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Michael saw Elise fall, to the accompaniment of the harsh snap of bones. He remembered the first time he had changed and could almost still feel the pain of his bones pulling from their anchoring to shift and warp to his hybrid form.
He ran to her side and caught her before she hit the ground. She weakly tried to push him away, but he maintained a firm grip on her arms, helping her lean back against his chest and seat herself on the ground.
"Don't try to move," he whispered in her ear. "It just hurts even more."
She nodded slowly and then gasped as her ribs heaved upwards against the skin again and then snapped back into their respectful places.
Almost as suddenly as she had attacked him, she rolled over, pulling herself from his grip and heaved up the contents of her stomach.
He crouched beside her and rubbed her back, waiting until it was over. He wasn't sure why he felt so close to this girl who he had only met once before, but he felt the need to protect her and help her through what he knew was a very painful time.
Finally, she sat up with her back against one of the trees and let her head fall weakly against her chest.
"Are you all right ?" He asked.
She tried to speak, but her mouth still felt sore from where only moments before, sharp fangs had shoved through her gums. Finally, she nodded and slowly spoke.
"Yes, I'm fine Thank you."
"Is this your first time ?"
"Yes."
"How long since you were bit ?"
"A few days maybe. I don't know."
"Does anyone else know ?"
"No. No, no one else knows."
She frantically grabbed one of his arms and stared up at him. "Please don't tell anyone. Not even Selene. No one can know about me!"
He pulled his arm gently from her grasp and moved closer to her.
"Okay. I won't tell anyone. But might I ask why it is so important that nobody knows."
"Because with my coven, if a person is even a hybrid, let alone what I am, they will be killed."
Michael remembered how Viktor had tried to kill him and nodded.
"But, if you aren't a hybrid what are you ?"
"I don't even know if there is a word for it. I am a blending of three species. Vampire, Lycan and Mage."
"I've never heard of Mages before."
"That's because the only colony that existed in Budapest was wiped out by Lord Viktor. Did you ever meet him ?"
"Yeah. But, the first time we met he tried to kill me, so I can safely say that we definitely don't like each other."
She laughed and nodded. "Yes, I've only ever met him once too and I didn't like him either."
"Listen, you should get back to your home before anyone finds out that you're gone, okay ?"
"Yes."
She got to her feet and headed for the trees, but then turned and called back to him.
"Michael ?"
"Yeah ?"
"Thanks."
He smiled and turned back towards the way he had came. Finding his shirt where he had hidden it in a clump of bushes, he slipped it on and headed back to the safe house and Selene.
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