Jasyn pulled out of Emily for, like, the umpteenth time that night, they were both sweaty and exhausted by the endless bouts of love-making and in desperate need of a shower. Jasyn inched himself out slowly, he felt Emily's body tighten around him and laughed, kissing her stomach lightly before falling to her side with a satisfied, if not tired, smile on his puss.

"I should definitely go for a shower now," Emily groaned, with her eyes closed she turned on her side so she was facing Jasyn.

"Yeah, you are kind of a mess," he teased and loved the answering grin forming on her mouth.

"Courtesy of you," she reminded him and Jasyn felt like doing a bit of a He-man, beating on his chest kind of thing.

"Which I take pride in."

Emily opened her eyes and as she opened her mouth to speak her stomach growled, she laughed with embarrassment and hid her face in the sheet.

"Oh my God, that was shameful," she said laughing, "how do you feel having a slob as a girlfriend?"

"Fine. If you can handle a psychotic manic with a fetish for your body as a boyfriend," Jasyn replied.

He got out of the bed and held out his hand to her, Emily took it and he pulled her up so quickly she hit his chest. Jasyn wrapped his thick, strong arms around her and held her there, leaning down so he could affectionately kiss her forehead.

"Come on," he yawned, "let's go scavenge for food."

Emily followed him out into her living room where she picked up his t-shirt that had been left there earlier in the evening and put it on. It was huge on her, falling to her knees and it was cold but it was still soaked in Jasyn's scent which she loved.

"I don't think there's going to be a lot in the fridge," Emily called out to Jasyn, she declined to mention that since coming back from New Orleans she had lived on take out food and all the sweet things she could get her hands on that would substitute for chocolate.

Jasyn looked around the wall into the living room and became still when he saw Emily picking up their clothes and folding them while wearing his t-shirt. It caused his heart to idiotically melt in his chest; Jasyn cursed himself for being such a nancy. He went to the fridge and looked inside, she was right, there was hardly anything there. Jasyn frowned, what the hell was she living on?

"Eggs, milk, one onion, small lump of cheese and some mushrooms," Jasyn frowned and looked in the cupboard, he found some flour and a little bit of syrup.

"Well it's either omelettes or pan … cakes," Jasyn trailed off as he sniffed at the milk which had curdled, he shook his head.

"We're having omelettes," he called out and began set about making something for them to eat, Emily came up behind him.

"Need help?"

"No, that's okay," Jasyn said whisking up the eggs, "your milk has turned though."

"Yeah, I have to go shopping at some point this week." Emily twitched her head and watched his single minded concentration on his task.

"You like cooking, don't you?" she asked and Jasyn stopped whisking to look at her, he glanced down at the bowl then at her again and shrugged.

"Well, you look like you do," Emily commented and Jasyn frowned as if confused.

"Do I?"

Emily chuckled, "don't you know whether you like it? What do you like, Jasyn?"

Jasyn chuckled then but it was edged with sadness, "I can hardly remember. I've lived so long just existing that I never really had anything I liked to do or eat or …"

Emily came up beside him and placed her hand comfortingly against his hip; she leant up and kissed him on the cheek.

"Then we'll find something. We can find out together."

Jasyn put the bowl down on the table so he could turn to her and instead of kissing, he lowered his face to hers so he could rub against it and nuzzle. Taking her hand in his he brought it up so he could brush a kiss over it.

"I'd like that," he murmured holding her hand over his heart, "I don't think I'll ever be easy to live with, but -"

"I'm not asking you to be," Emily interrupted him quickly, she brushed at his hair, "just borrow parts of my life and see if between the two of us we can make it all work out."

Jasyn's smile was slow to come but when it did there was a touch of mischief in it, "well, I know I like sex," he said matter of factly.

"Oh yeah?" Emily chuckled, "I never would have guessed."

She pulled some plates and glasses out the cupboard and then went to the living room so she could make room on her small table for their food.

Jasyn reached for the kettle to move it off the stove and found it scalding hot, he drew his hand back sharply shaking it.

"Fuck it!" he hissed to himself, frowning when he heard something drop in the living room, "did you stub your toe?" he called out when he heard Emily curse.

"No, my damn hand!" she grumbled back and Jasyn froze, he glanced at the kettle.

"It's not boiling!"

He rushed to the arch that led through to the living room and smacked into Emily.

"Ow! What's wrong with you?" she said shaking her head, then held up her right hand, palm up, "this just happened."

Jasyn clenched his own fist that was hanging down at his side and lowered his eyes to her palm; in the centre was a symbol of unity. An emblem of their two ancient lineages that had been combined and boldly told them that they were now tied to each other until the end of time. Emily felt worry bubbling in her stomach at the look on Jasyn's face, she made her hand into a fist and Jasyn abruptly took hold of it. She watched his face that was nothing short of loving as he smoothed back her fingers so he could stare in silent wonder at the symbol again.

"Oh God, this isn't a sign that I got the Were version of an STD, is it?"

Jasyn burst out laughing and he raised his own hand so she could see that he too had the exact same markings on his hand, it reminded Emily of a henna tattoo.

"It means we're mated," Jasyn said finally in a would-be casual voice that didn't completely conceal his joy. With the merest trace of a shrug he let her hand go and turned back to his eggs with a stupid smile on his face in spite of him trying not to look like such a nancy.

"Mated?" Emily rubbed at her palm and tried to think of something intelligent, if not logical to say. Damn it, she was a doctor! She was a reasonable, logical creature - Emily let out a small excited giggle, logical her ass!

"Oh my God, I can't believe I'm mated to you," she whispered and Jasyn looked over his shoulder at her, Emily looked up at him and frowned. Jasyn set aside his task aside and turned down the flames under the pan, he leant against the counter with his arms folded over his chest, waiting for the questions.

"Did you know this was going to happen?" she asked almost as if she were accusing him, Jasyn laughed at her.

"You're blaming me that we got mated?" he laughed both shocked and defensive.

"No, no, of course not," Emily assured him quickly, "it's just that … I mean, I completely forgot everything to do with mating and what not. But I mean -"

Emily grabbed her hair looking a little disorientated, Jasyn quickly pushed her into the living room and on to a couch, he knelt in front of her, his hands on her knees.

"What's the problem?" he asked, hoping that it was simply shock and not regret.

"I … I, I'm … not sure," she said finally and Jasyn nodded sombrely before speaking.

"Are you upset about it?" he asked and Emily immediately threw her arms around his neck. "Absolutely not!" she protested, "I love you and I want to be mated with you. I just …"

"What?" Jasyn asked eagerly, needing to know.

"This is going to sound -"

"Just say it."

"I kind of feel like I've trapped you," she said lamely and a little apologetically, Jasyn blinked before beginning to howl with laughter. He laughed so much that he had to hold a cramp that had started in his side; he lowered his head onto her knees trying to master his persistent giggles.

"You slay me sometimes, girl!" he said and gave a breathless chuckle, he looked up to see her giving him a disgruntled glare and he found he just had to kiss it off her face.

"Emily, you're still thinking like a human," he told her, "you can't trap a Were into a relationship that way, you have no control over the way the Fates will mate you, it just happens."

Jasyn let out a burst of laughter again and shook his head, "I'm just glad that we are."

"What would happen if we weren't mates?" Emily wondered out loud and Jasyn shrugged, "I mean, is there some kind of organisation that says you can be with a person you're not mated with?"

"Emily, listen to me," Jasyn said slowly, "we are not human. We don't have organisations … or many rules for that matter. We live in a harsh and lawless world … but nothing, and I mean nothing, can part us, especially now."

Emily's face softened so angelically that Jasyn felt his breath catch, "This mark doesn't tell us that we belong together … we did that on our own, or you did, shall I say."

Emily smiled, "yes, you were stubborn," she whispered, brushing his hair back.

"The mating mark just tells us who the fates think we should be with. Had it not appeared my love for you wouldn't have dimmed or been any less. Being mated doesn't guarantee love, we were just very lucky."

Emily sighed happily, she cupped Jasyn's neck and smiled at him, "what would I do without you?"

"Probably have a nice, easy life," Jasyn muttered in a self-deprecating way, Emily let him go so he could stand up.

"Good thing I'm down for the wild side then, huh?" she muttered and watched his ass muscles move and he walked back to the kitchen.

Arion kept his eyes fixed on the car below him as it rolled to a stop, he circled and watched as one of the men got out, he waved to the driver and jogged up the steps to an ordinary house. The car took off and Arion swooped down, aiming for a windowsill, he landed neatly and silently and peered through what appeared to be a kitchen window above the sink. From this vantage point he saw the fridge and a table and chairs and an open door that led into a varnished floored hallway. He could hear talking but just so he didn't miss anything Arion took human form and moved around the house's exterior, coming to a stop where the voices were loudest and peering in through that window. The living room, there were two men in there. One was fiddling about with the remote for the TV, while the other sat on the arm of a chair and talked.

"Do you think I should have followed her?" Aaron worried his bottom lip.

"Who?" Jay asked distractedly and Aaron snorted with disgust.

"Emily, of course," he grumbled, "don't you ever listen to me? I called her and she said she was fine, that everything had been 'sorted out'. But … I don't know …"

Jay threw the remote on to the couch and let the batteries scatter and roll, his frustration with them had boiled over, he took a fortifying breath and turned to his boyfriend.

"Aaron, Emily is a smart woman," he said trying to placate his anxiety ridden lover, "she knows not to get into things she can't handle. Plus, she's a Were-hawk now, if she can't handle it, I'm not sure what we can do that she can't."

"True," Aaron hedged and Jay put his hands on his hips sighing.

"Stop being such a worry guts, you'll give yourself wrinkles," Jay said and Aaron smiled reluctantly, "what did this guy say he wanted anyway?"

"The tape."

"She told us there was nothing on it," Jay muttered, he and Aaron's eyes connected and he suddenly looked worried, he held his chin.

"You don't think she's do something stupid, do you?" Jay said slowly, Aaron narrowed his eyes.

"Like what?"

Jay made a how-should-I-know gesture with his hands and then let his arms drop to his side in a flap.

"You don't think she'd deliberately expose herself, do you?"

"No way!"

"I mean, to get even with this Jasyn guy?" Jay held his chin tighter and began to pace, he stopped and spun to Aaron wringing his hands.

"What if -"

Aaron got up immediately and went to Jay, he put his hands on his shoulders and looked into his eyes.

"Breathe, Jay, breathe," Aaron instructed before pulling him into a hug, "she's not stupid, she wouldn't be so foolish as to take on this guy by herself. Let's just … we'll call her first thing tomorrow morning. Better yet we'll go round to see her."

"Yes," Jay said with relief, he burrowed into Aaron's shirt, "yes, that's what we'll do."

Jay hugged Aaron back but found that, for all his reasonable talk, his shoulder and back were stiff with tension.

Arion backed away slowly, not wanting to witness them kiss, and took off into the air.

Emily shut the door behind her and followed swiftly after Jasyn, he was trying to avoid this conversation at all costs and she was not going to let him.

"Well, why not?" Emily demanded, "what's the big deal about having a wedding?"

"We're not human, Emily," Jasyn said in a weird sing song way that had a bite of impatient in it, he tried to escape her by fussing with the coffee pot but she just followed him around the kitchen.

"So what?" she scoffed, dumping her bag of groceries on the countertop, "does that actually matter? You said there were practically no laws in our world, so what says we can't have a human wedding because we're not human?"

"I'm half the wedding party and I refuse to be a participant," he said defiantly and saw her face darken. As sick as it was he rather liked not giving Emily her own way just to see her temper. If he wound her up enough so that she tried to hit him, Jasyn thought he was likely to go up like a Roman candle. Jasyn grabbed the milk while she threw the bread into the breadbin.

"So this is all about you?" she said, passing him the eggs then sticking her hands on her hips.

"Emily, you have no family. I have no friends or family and most people hate me! Can you imagine what a wedding of ours will be like?"

He shoved the eggs in the fridge, probably breaking two at least.

"There is no rule that says you have to have a certain quota of people in one place before you can get hitched!"

"The Were-Hunter mating ritual is more meaningful and more binding then anything we could do in a church, before a human priest!"

"I was raised human and Catholic and I want a human wedding," Emily said stubbornly, she ended the discussion by walking out of the kitchen and calling over her shoulder, "no wedding, no mating."

Jasyn was about to pour milk into a mug while shaking his head, he couldn't believe he was arguing with her and was actually making her coffee at the same time. Then her words registered, Jasyn left everything on the counter and rushed into the living room, catching her before she could traipse into the bathroom to get away from him.

"Oh no you don't!" he said and swung her around, "what's all this? We are mating!"

"Not before I get my wedding," Emily said, poking her face into his, thrilled when she saw his eyes flash dangerously, she adored it when he got all worked up.

"It could take weeks to organise a wedding!" Jasyn snapped angrily and getting even worse when he realised she thought it was funny, "we only have three before I become Sir Limp-a-lot and you the Barren Lady!"

"Well, I suggest you get cracking on finding us a church!"

"Mating is more important then that!"

"Oh, so what about the fact that we are living in sin?" Emily crossed her fingers and hoped Jasyn didn't know enough about Christianity to know that sex before marriage was also forbidden. Jasyn grabbed his temples in frustration.

"Are you listening to yourself?" he demanded and grabbed her by her upper arms and shaking her, Emily felt her sex bloom for him and recognised, by the look on his face, the moment he noticed.

His eyes burnt green fire the moment before he crashed his lips down on hers and propelled her back towards the couch.

"Mating," he persisted, unbuckling his belt.

"Marriage," Emily argued breathlessly, pulling her jacket off, Jasyn took her hard down on the couch and pushed his hands between her legs. Her panties were damp under her skirt and it was all Jasyn needed to add fuel to his flames, he flashed them both naked, earning him an awe-inspired gasp from Emily which got him friskier then he could have imagined.

The head of his sex touched her slickness but didn't penetrate, Emily groaned and arched her back, and it had Jasyn rolling his hips furiously against her, desperately seeking home.

"Mating," he panted, sweat beading on his skin, his stiff arousal, hard as iron, parted her slick flesh and moved in half way. Emily almost shredded his back with her nails, her mouth opening in a soundless gasp and she rolled her head back and forth.

"Marriage," she said, struggling for breath, Jasyn pushed in hard and began to pound, it was fast and furious and Emily loved it.

"Mating," he growled, pulling his hips back so far that only the head of his cock remained inside her just as she was about to climax, Emily screamed madly.

"I don't care," she screeched and Jasyn thrust hard into her, a wide grin of triumph on his face which turned into a look of ecstasy as he joined her release soon after.

Emily had her head turned to the side and resting on the arm of the couch, Jasyn was still on top of her and inside her. He was kissing at her throat, exactly where his face had fell when he had orgasmed, and he hadn't moved since. He just shifted every now and then so he could bring his hand up between them to cup and play with her breast, but other then that he seemed content to lie upon her all night, feasting on the flesh of her neck. Emily had her eyes closed for the most part but a breeze was floating in from somewhere and it touched her bare skin, drying the sweat and making her cold, she shivered and opened her eyes. They locked on to the wide open window behind the couch, her sleepy eyes didn't at once register what she was seeing then she frowned.

"Did you leave the window open?"

There was a muffled noise that caused ticklish vibrations against her skin, Jasyn raised his head.

"What?"

"I said, did you leave the window open?"

Jasyn shook his head with a frown then looked over to the window and she felt tension immediately tighten his shoulders. Jasyn got up off of her and Emily groaned, half because of the relief that his weight had lifted and half because she wanted him to stay exactly where he was. He stalked naked to the window and lent out, there was a sudden sound of wolf-whistling and female shrieking from below.

"Get away from the window!" Emily demanded jealously but Jasyn took no notice, he brought his face close to the frame and sniffed then backed up, bringing the window closed as he did. He turned to her, his face white with livid rage, Emily stood up frightened.

"What?" she demanded at once and Jasyn came back, he looked wired and murderous, like the first time she saw him.

"Arion," he whispered furiously, "his scent is on the pane."

"Oh, shit!" Emily hissed and went to walk over to it; Jasyn caught her arm before she got very far.

"I don't want you over there," he murmured, Emily watched Jasyn's face; she could tell he was thinking hard.

"What do you think he wanted?" she whispered and Jasyn pierced her with a look so intense that Emily felt her limbs get shaky, like a deer caught in the head lights.

"You."

"Me!"

"I'm sure of it," Jasyn hissed, he looked like he wanted to kill, "ever since he first laid eyes on you, he seemed to be taken with you."

"Are you sure?"

"As sure as I can be without torturing the bastard until he tells me!"

"What do we do?" Emily asked, her voice steady and low, Jasyn looked at her and was proud that she wasn't some ditz that went to pieces.

"Maybe I should go out and try to track him," Jasyn muttered, more to himself then her. He felt like he needed blood right then, the thought of Arion trespassing on his turf, trying to steal his woman was enough to make him go completely insane if he didn't have revenge some how.

"And if he comes back?" Emily asked reasonably, Jasyn went deep in thought.

"Well, I'll wait to track him, I'll take you to Sanctuary and -" Jasyn kicked the couch in frustration; Emily jumped then raised her brow at him.

"Quite finished, are you?" she said sweetly and Jasyn gave her a foul look along with a foul curse.

"I can't take you to Sanctuary because it's not a Limani anymore so he could just flash right in and get you! I can't leave you here because he would just come back and take you! Shit, shit, shit!"

Emily sighed with frustration, "stop being so pessimistic!"

"Well, how do you expect me to feel? I mean, what am I supposed to do with you?"

Emily punched him in the shoulder hard, enough to make Jasyn rub at it.

"I'm not a damned carpet bag that you can't find room for in your closet!" she cried indignantly, "we knew things like this would happen sooner or later with you no longer being at Sanctuary. We need to think this through calmly and rationally."

"Hmm," Jasyn sighed with irritation, "so what do we do?"

"Well, I think we should stay here," Emily said, "if anything we could try and set a trap for him."

"He'd see it coming," Jasyn said immediately and Emily clucked her tongue thoughtfully.

"Perhaps from you, but not from me," she said, Jasyn's eyes flashed with cunning, "if he thought you had left for whatever reason and I were alone, then it might work."

"Maybe …" Jasyn muttered thoughtfully, he looked at her suddenly, "where did you ever learn to be so conniving?"

"I have no idea; I'm guessing it may just be an innate characteristic."

Jasyn laughed evilly, "I like that."