Disclaimer: See chapter one

Chap. XV

After being with Selene in silence for a couple of minutes, Michael decided to go see how Sisera was doing. At first, he didn't want to leave Selene alone. Leaving a vampire alone in a lycan's den felt like leaving a cat with a pack of dogs. A few lycans gave her menacing gazes, but instantly stopped when they saw Michael's terrifying ones. Selene noticed this and it seemed to annoy her further and only then did Michael leave, guessing that Selene can more than take care of herself. But he still didn't want to leave her. He had this overwhelming urge to protect her. It was this same feeling that drove him to rescue her tonight. But he couldn't understand why. He felt like a puppy loyally following his master.

A darkly beautiful master...

Where did that came from?

Michael shook his head. Sure, there was an attraction there, but from his view, it was one-sided. Selene felt for him, but it seemed that it was only in the sense of a guardian. She protected him and saved him so many times, even going up against her own to do so. He thought it was love, but her actions as of late didn't show that. But that didn't change what he felt about her. Which was now becoming worse. His instincts were becoming inflamed with each passing minute and they were becoming worse in Selene's presence.

His protection of her was just the tip of the iceberg. It started the night he became a hybrid. After they left the scene, two Death Dealers fired at them. It was this that made him cover over Selene, shielding her and injuring him. But it was more than instinct. He truly felt for her. Her memories had surfaced within him and he knew what she was, what she had become and what she had done. Pity at seeing her family destroyed, rage at seeing what Viktor had made her, and a longing for all the rare times when she felt alone. He wished he could just have been there for her, but that was irrational since he wasn't even born at the time. Still, the feelings remained...

"Michael."

Michael looked up to see that he had already arrived at the medical room. Ethan and Sisera were still there and from the looks of it, they had just finished a conversation, most likely about the coming of the vampires.

"I wanted to see how you were."

"Better, thanks to you." Sisera answered him, moving her shoulder around. "You're quite the medic."

"Well, I was only an intern." Michael responded shyly. "But thank you."

Sisera smiled and moved to the door, "I better go. I have to talk to the others if we are to start moving."

Sisera left the room, leaving the two men alone. Michael gazed around the room as the scents of the medical equipment literally attacked his nose. Normally strong under human conditions, Michael's face consorted somewhat. Ethan noticed this and gave a light smile.

"I know the feeling. It'll take some getting used to."

However, the lycan's smile seemed hollow and soon disappeared, "Michael, I feel I must owe you an apology. A minute ago, I felt like I pressured you and I'm sorry. I shouldn't have done that."

Michael didn't respond right away. It was true what Ethan said, but that didn't make it wrong.

"No. The lycans need a leader and I was chosen for it." He then added somberly, "Whether I like it or not, these people need my help."

"I should have..."

"Huh?"

Ethan turned away from Michael, "I should have been here. Or at least, I should have said something. Spoken out or something." His voice then became angry, "But instead, I cowered into the shadows. Offering gifts, but never actually stepping in. Perhaps it was being around Lucian for so long or more likely..." His tone lowered.

"Me being alone for just as long."

Silence overtook the room, because Ethan was trying to regain his composure and Michael didn't want to disturb him yet. He understood that the lycan had just poured himself out right there and he needed time to get over that. After a good minute, Ethan turned back around to face him.

"Michael, they asked for you to be the leader. But you do not have to take it. You have a place in all of this, but it doesn't necessarily have to be the head."

"Who else is there?" the hybrid asked softly.

Ethan faced away again, as if trying to recollect himself, "Don't get me wrong. I have no desire for it at all. But the bottom line is that we need someone who can do what is best for our people. If you feel that you can, then I will help you any way I can. If not...then you can leave with Selene and get out of here."

Michael blinked and was about to reply when Ethan cut him off, "You don't have to worry about it. Either way, I can't abandon them anymore."

Michael realized what was happening. Ethan was giving him...giving them a way out of this. He also saw that Ethan was willing to take the burden of leadership off his shoulders and onto his. But to just leave them all behind? No. A part of him was lycan and within that part, Lucian. Though the memories had begun to fade, they were still alive in him.

Ethan noticed the depressed look on his face, "I'm sorry again. It seems that I've placed another burden on you." He placed a hand on his shoulder, "Perhaps you should go and rest."

Michael looked over and shook his head, "I'd rather stay here." His face wrinkled a bit more but settled. "I should try to get used to this."

Ethan gave another smile, a genuine one this time.

Selene was in the same spot she was after Michael had left. Initially, she wanted to keep an eye on him, but she was too engrossed with her own thoughts to follow him. Which was strange considering that before, he was the only thing that occupied her thoughts. 'Why?' she pondered. Why did this single man occupy her thoughts so much? Why did she feel as she did about him? What did she feel about him? Marcus had questioned her about that twice and then released them both. Although his reason for doing so was a complete mystery, the question itself wasn't. She had already admitted to herself that she did indeed care for the hybrid. But that wasn't enough. There was more, so much more. It had to be beyond a simple connection. She was sired by Viktor and she never felt like this toward him. And he was in a way, her father. But what did this mean?

You know what it means, Selene...

Selene blinked at this subconscious thought. Perhaps she was blind to it. Too blind to see something that everyone else saw. Or more likely, something she didn't want to admit. Something that went against her solitary nature and warrior instincts. Something that had become foreign for nearly a century.

Something almost...human…

'No!' she yelled inwardly. It couldn't be. She couldn't have those feelings. Not for him. Not for anyone. But despite this denial, they could not be ignored. She had initially thought it was a simple attraction. After all, Michael was a handsome young man and it would only make since for any woman, even her, to look twice. But Michael was the exact opposite of her. He was a doctor, an innocent to this world. She was a warrior, a battle-hardened soldier. If anything, this would make anything between them all, but impossible.

Opposites attract...

She now frowned within herself. This wasn't helping anything. Every attempt to ignore her fiercely awakening feelings was cut off. She was supposed to be in control of her emotions. She had to. It was the only way to protect him.

Him...or you?

'Or me?' Another wave of awareness now overcame her as she realized something. He didn't need protecting anymore. True, he still hadn't gotten a full grasp on things, but he knew more than enough to survive. With both Lucian's memories and her own, plus his growing hybrid strength and his now kinship with the lycans, her role in this seemed weak. But Michael wouldn't care about that. Not considering the way...he feels.

He...cares...about you.

Does he really? Of course. Ethan had made a few inquires and light jokes about it, but he was truthful as well. And Marcus had questioned her about it as well. But she didn't need a lycan or an Elder to tell her that. Michael's eyes told enough. That despite what she was and what she had done to him, he still showed those feelings in his eyes. Except when he changed...

Then he changed...

That was probably the worse part about it. He had only changed once that night, but that was an image she could not remove. Dark azure skin, long elongated fangs that shared both vampire and lycan characteristics, a heightened muscle structure, and finally...those eyes. Eyes that was as black as midnight and as deep as a well. She would have thought that such a sight would have repulsed her, but it seemed to have the opposite effect. It drew her. It was as though she felt that she was seeing the darkness that lay deep within his innocent soul. She knew it was irrational, but she couldn't help it. In that form, she felt that she could truly understand him.

And his scent was intoxicating.

Shaking her head, she tried one more attempt to stop these thoughts. 'Maybe it's just a crush.' She thought to Erika and her infatuation with Kraven, but that didn't seem the same. For one thing, Kraven never returned those feelings. That she knew for a fact from Kraven constant pursuit of her. And there were no hidden motives. Michael couldn't have any. And neither did she. Selene slumped back against the wall, with no choice but to admit to the undeniable fact that was presented before her.

'I...l...'

Octavia strode alone through the hallway of the mansion. She was dressed in a somewhat revealing scarlet dress. The dress clung to almost every curve on her body. With slow deliberate steps, she made her way into the throne crypt where Marcus stood alone and to the side. He seemed to be in thought about something, but she didn't know what. Marcus's head twitched slightly, indicating that he noticed her arrival.

"The sun is rising, my lord." she said in a low and husky voice.

Marcus seemed to take little note of her arrival, much less her dress. "I know."

"Will you not rest?" she continued. "You should gather your strength."

Marcus finally turned to her, but only matched her gaze, "My strength is well enough. I feel no need for sleep today."

"I insist..." she began, but was soon cut off by Marcus's penetrating glare

"Insist?" Marcus's eyes flashed slightly. "Watch yourself, Octavia. You're beginning to tread on dangerous waters."

The vampiress took a step back and her voice became unsteady, "My apologizes. I just wish for you to be ready for tonight."

Marcus closed his eyes lightly, "I appreciate your concern, Octavia. But I will be fine. But you should sleep now."

Octavia knew better than to argue with an Elder and she didn't want to rouse him anymore. At least not this way. Bowing her head, she replied. "Yes, sire."

Octavia left the crypt, her mood now darkened seriously.

'He loves her...even now.'