Disclaimer: See chapter one

Sorry this took so long to upload. Getting used to the new formatting.

Chap. XVIII

"Shhhhhrrrraaaaaaarrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!!!!!"

The battered lycan dove off from the top of the stair and tackled Ethan. Both lycans rolled over on the ground until Ethan managed to push Zhan off of him. Rising up, Ethan stood back a foot away from Zhan as he began to rise.

"What are you doing?!"

Zhan's response was another howl as he leapt up and lunged at Ethan once again. But this time, Ethan managed to grab his arms in mid-lunge and twisted back, hurling Zhan across and toward the bottom of the stairs. The other lycans heard the conflict and began to gather, forming a circle around the two. Zhan arose once again, more slowly this time.

"Zhan. Cut this out."

Zhan finally answered, but his response was partly growls.

"You...will...pay!"

His eyes narrowed in inward, showing the first signs of the Change. Zhan's hands were began the stretch and sharpen as his muscles and face bulged greatly. The others watched anxiously as Zhan completed his transformation, now a towering wolf of great size and ferocity. His fangs bristled in the dim light as he advanced on Ethan, who hadn't moved. The others were waiting for him to change as well, but Ethan did no such thing, causing them to howl at him.

"Zhan, stop this. I will not fight you."

With a howl, Zhan charged with inhuman speed, bearing down on Ethan. Ethan's knees bent slightly and as soon as Zhan came close, he shot his palm on Zhan incoming head and bounded over, flipping over to his back. The lycan roared in annoyance and turned back to him.

"Zhan. There were more important things to worry about then. Change..."

Another lunge cut Ethan off. This time, he wasn't fast enough to avoid the charge and Zhan slashed him across the chest. Ethan was hurled back against the circle, which pushed him back in. Zhan growled and prepare to strike when Sisera pushed through the crowd and stood in between them.

"Zhan, stop now. We can't deal with this now."

The lycan stood over, seeming to be indecision as to what to do. His gaze shifted from Sisera to Ethan and back again. Then with another enraged howl, Zhan turned tail and leapt over the other lycans, running away and disappearing into one of the tunnels.

"Zhan!"

Sisera called out to him, but Zhan was long gone now. Looking back on the floor, she saw Ethan struggling to rise, but failing due to the nasty gashes on his chest. Sisera moved over to him and helped him up.

"Get out of the way now!"

-"I suggest you two take the side exit."-

-"You're…letting us go?"-

-"For now, kinsman. For now. But know this. I will find you both again. This I vow."-

-"Let's go."-

'Oh this is too good to be true.' This was the thought that ran through Octavia's mind as she watched the hidden surveillance tape brought to her by Lucas. The tape soon cut off and the two watching it stood in a brief silence.

"Have you shown this to anyone else?" Octavia asked.

Lucas shook his head, "No, my lady. I thought it best that you see it first."

"That was wise of you. But the implications of this must be discrete, you understand?" She curved a finger around his chin, causing him to become stiff as he responded.

"Of course. I understand."

The Death Dealer soon departed, leaving the vampiress with a solid grin on her face. This was more than what she could have hoped for. The Elder was not only aiding potential rebels and enemies, hiding it from the coven no less, but it seemed that he wasn't even a pure vampire anymore. It was just too sweet for her, but she had to focus in on her task now. Still, she couldn't help but feel glee by the situation.

'You were careless, Marcus. I have you now.'

Wasting no time, she went to the phone and began dialing. It was answered shortly on the end.

-"Octavia?"-

"Wait until you hear this."

The eyes of Michael slowly opened into the dim lighting. He automatically knew that night had just fallen. His eyes closed slightly and reopened. He still felt a little weak from earlier. Selene had practically drained him dry. Not that he didn't do any less. He still couldn't believe what he had done. What they had done. It was…powerful, to say the least. Vastly more so from Selene's second kiss. This was… Michael sighed, realizing that no words can describe it. To think, such actions would have sickened and repulsed him just four days ago. Now, he wondered if he would be able to do it again. With her. Only with her. He didn't need to know about the lycan or vampires traits of attachment to know that he would be with her for his entire life. And he couldn't think of anything better. Well, one thing…

She loves me…

Closing his eyes to take in the sense of warmth, he soon lowered them to look at the beautiful vampiress that lay in his arms. Her cold body was still as her back was pressed against his body. Michael half-grinned, noticing that this was perhaps only the third time he had actually seen her asleep. Slowly, he raised his hand and brushed a few of her bangs across, trying to determine if she was still asleep or not. Seeing her eyes, they were still closed. Her lips still held traces of the blood she drank on. As he looked at her over, he couldn't help but be astounded by her beauty. Now, more than ever. His hand continued to drift over her hair, brushing it gently through his fingers. But when he reached her neck, he stopped and his eyes narrowed in confusion.

"Selene?"

Brushing the hair back further, his eyes soon widened in shock. On her neck were two black marks, both traced with blacked lines around like sprayed ink marks. He shook her more, trying to get her to move, but her eyes remained closed. Michael began to panic until an even darker realization dawned on him.

Those were his bite marks…

"Selene? Selene! SELENE!!!!!!!!!!"