Chapter 13: The Confrontation

WARNING! This story contains homosexuality. Don't like? Don't read, I don't care.

AN: HOLY SHIT YOU GUYS, THAT WAS A NIGHTMARE! I never thought I would mess up that bad...but I was at school and I only had a half hour to copy, paste, reread, and edit and such and...yeah, that was terrible, especially when I was at home and had JUST discovered the mistake, and couldn't do shit about it. Woo, that was bad...Anyway, here's the next chapter! Hope you like it. I worked my ass off for you guys, so please review.

X

"I don't know what you mean." Ethan complained as Sylvan continued probing his temples and neck with warm fingers. "This isn't exactly something I'm familiar with."

"No, of course not." Sylvan said, sarcasm still fresh in his tone as he motioned for Ethan to open his eyes wider so he could examine them better. "I expected those friends of yours to at least have some sense...some idea of how to care for you, but apparently not. Turn around."

Ethan turned obediently and sighed as Sylvan's strong hands gripped first his shoulders, and ran down his spine. "You're sick, my man." Sylvan said quietly from behind him. "But you'll get better soon enough. The symptoms will stop after the first transformation." His hands ran across Ethan's sides and then over his hips, as though feeling for something under his skin. "And then we can get down to business."

"I'm not your man." Ethan grumbled, but had a hard time being mad at the man behind him. There was something clouding him that he could only describe as a sort of fog or haze, preventing him from feeling too much of anything. The bright side was that be could talk easily enough, whereas before he thought he would only freeze in fear. "And exactly what business are we talking about here?"

"Rescuing my idiot sister." Sylvan returned in a measured voice. "She got too comfortable in my territory, ENEMY territory...and now she's trapped. And within the next two days, she'll be driven to a little seaside town called Oaksville for questioning." Ethan vaguely wondered how Sylvan seemed to know so much about the whole thing.

"I've never met her, but I've heard a lot about Katee." Ethan protested. "She would never talk."

"She will." Sylvan murmured. "They'll ring it out of her with a generous amount of blood and wolfsbane if they have to." Ethan shuddered, and then groaned as Sylvan pushed against something that felt out of place. "Does that hurt?"

"Yeah." Ethan muttered, and then cried out as something seemed to move painfully in his back. "What is that?!"

"Sorry." The red-haired man apologized. "Look, this is going to go a lot faster and a lot less painfully if you're asleep." "What are you gonna do?" Ethan asked, but not finding it in himself to gather up much feelings of fear."I'm going to make you better." Sylvan replied. "Not exactly to the strength I was hoping for...but better. When you wake up, that sickness you feel will have gone."

"Why are you doing this?" Ethan asked suddenly, still facing away from the werewolf. "Hey, you almost killed me a few months ago!"

"That I did." Sylvan smiled humorlessly, and moves around Ethan until he could stare into his eyes, striking blue into warm brown. "But I didn't, and and never meant to. I tortured you, I'll admit. But please believe it was in my best intentions. Things would have turned out so much differently if your group of imbeciles wouldn't have interfered. That wasn't their call."

"But it was yours to take my life away?" Ethan asked, finally feeling some of his anger return. "Because of you, I have to lie to my family everyday! I'm losing my best friend!" He paused, the weight of his words sinking in on him more now than ever because it was the first time he'd ever said them out loud. "It's making my life hell. I'll never be normal again."

"You never were normal." Sylvan answered, and his calm tone infuriated Ethan even more. "That's why I chose you. Even if what happened that night never did, even if I wouldn't have bit you, you would still be right where you are, because you're NOT NORMAL."Sylvan continued to stare into Ethan's eyes as his words sunk in, and Ethan continued glaring until he actually allowed himself to process what the werewolf had said.

'He's right.' Ethan realized. 'I would've ended up looking for artifacts anyway...that's what Grandma and he rest are doing.' He didn't want to believe it, but it made sense. At least that part made sense. 'And if I think about it, in a weird way, he did give me a chance to be able to protect my family...but I'm still sick. Still miserable...'

"A mistake that will soon be corrected." Sylvan said, and smiled ruefully as Ethan realized what the werewolf had just done, and gasped.

"You just read my mind!" Ethan blurted, shocked, and suddenly embarrassed and angry.

"I can't read your mind, Ethan." Sylvan rolled his eyes. "However, being your sire means that we're bonded, and THAT means I'm sensitive to your emotions and individual energy. It makes it easier for me to track you and keep tabs."

"Oh...well, what about me?" Ethan asked. "Why can't I feel you?"

"You can." Sylvan answered. "You just aren't strong enough yet...notice how you aren't freaking out right now? Despite your every reason to fear and hate me?"

"I wondered about that a lot." Ethan said honestly.

"It's not just because you're brave." Sylvan said, in that quiet voice of his. "It's because I allow you to. If I wanted you to feel fear right now, believe me, you WOULD be terrified." Ethan winced, wondering of the werewolf was telling the truth or not, but also knowing there was a reason behind the strange calm surrounding him. The redhead went on. "If I wanted you to feel sad, or angry, or joyous or brave or calm then my will alone would have the desired effect." Sylvan looked Ethan in the eyes for what seems like the thousandth time, and the seer could see how earnest he was. "That night in the forest, I marked you. I claimed you, and what that means is that I own you weather you like it or not."

"You don't-" Ethan began to protest hotly.

"Oh but I do." The werewolf smiled, showing white teeth, and Ethan shuddered visibly, remembering suddenly the feeling of razor canines sunk into his flesh. "Wanna see something cool?" Sylvan asked, and placed his hand on Ethan's shoulder, where the seer felt his skin begin to burn.

"Hey!" Ethan yelled in alarm at the light but surprisingly painful touch, as the skin began to turn a dark red, and then create what resembled a hollow circular shape as it turned from red to purple to white. The sensation was like being branded with a hot iron rod and Ethan cried out in pain as the mark took shape. When the shape had stopped changing, and the burning stopped, Ethan was left speechless. What it had left behind was two silvery-white, ragged half moons, and Ethan could see where the individual teeth had sunk into his skin. It was the bite, the mark.

"The mark." Sylvan was smiling, and Ethan, however shocked, could see the pride in his eyes. "You see? There it is." He reached over, and touched the scars, and the contact with the mark sent electricity dancing across Ethan's skin. The younger werewolf shivered. "There's my proof."

"...how am I supposed to hide this?!" Ethan asked, the question being the only thing he could think to say as he recovered. "How am I supposed to cover it up?!"

"Don't." Sylvan smirked. "I like it there."

X

"Idon't believe it." Cody said, finally. "I don't, and I can't believe you guys would." He shook his head at the blonde, and then at Evelyn and Tyson and laughed humorlessly.

"Cody..." Senna struggled for words. "I don't want to believe it. I really, really don't, but this guy fits your description-"

"We don't know that." Cody said, with refusal and something like desperation lurking behind his voice. "I don't know that. You know, maybe I imagined it or something...maybe that's just a friend from school."

"Maybe." Senna said quietly, doubtfully. "But I don't think so."

"I don't believe it either." Evelyn Weir chimed in. "I would never believe it. Whatever the reason, Ethan wouldn't betray us, least of all to someone who hurt you, Cody." She smiled at he tall, raven-haired man, who smiled back thankfully.

"I can follow him."' Tyson said suddenly. "I would have, but Senna insisted on coming back before we did anything. But I have a bad feeling about this."

"Don't be ridiculous." Evelyn waved her hands dismissively, though she did feel a strange wave of anxiety wash over her as she took the pictures from the table. The pictures that showed Ethan holding the hand of a red-haired man across a table in a mall, as the man appeared to be holding him by the neck. "I'm sure it's nothing. I've known Ethan since he was little."

"So what do we do about this?" Tyson asked. "From what I hear from Benny, Ethan hasn't been around much lately-"

"Don't tell Benny." Cody shot him a look. "He's stressed enough as it is. I'm sure when Ethan comes around he'll have an explanation."

"Yeah, let's count on that." Tyson said just a bit sarcastically.

"Well, let's get going Senna." Evelyn smiled. "Best not keep Walter waiting if we plan to retrieve dragon blossoms before dinner."

"Yeah, let's get going." Senna agreed, and as Tyson walked out of the room, Senna gave Cody a look, to which he grinned.

"Play nice." She ordered and left, leaving the two men alone. Cody sighed, and dug his phone from his pocket, wondering where Benny'd gotten off to. The last he'd sen of him was before he went into the woods to he treehouse Ethan had described around a month ago. He hadn't found it, but instead came across some footprints-human, thankfully, and not huge monster tracks- and followed them for a while before they disappeared.

"Hey, wanna go somewhere?" Tyson asked suddenly from the other room.

"No thanks." Cody replied absently, scrolling through the pictures Senna had sent to him. The same pictures they had been looking at on the table just a few minutes ago. The thing that made Cody's skin crawl was that the guy really DID look like his attacker. But he hadn't been lying before...he didn't actually know if he'd been attacked. Maybe it had been a really vivid vision or something-one he'll of a vision, but it was possible. Or maybe he'd just been hit by...something.

Maybe he'd fallen and hit his head? It was possible. Yet he felt it wasn't the truth. It had seemed like a dream, but the cut on his leg hadn't been imaginary. Still, he refused to think Ethan would side with the people who would hurt his friends. Even if he and Ethan weren't so close, he thought at least, Ethan wouldn't do that to Benny or Evelyn. It just didn't seem like him. Ethan was GOOD and he felt it.

"Not even out to eat?" Tyson asked, walking into the room with a laptop case slung around his shoulder. "We can go bowling or something?"

"I just don't really feel like doing anything right now." Cody smiled but it was cold and didn't reach his eyes. 'Least of all with you.' He sneered in his mind but didn't voice his thoughts. 'Anyway, what the hell? Do I look like somebody who bowls?'

"Okay...what's up?" Tyson asked, and Cody was surprised to see him looking very sheepish when he looked up from his phone.

"What?" Cody asked. "Standing here, that's what's up." "Why are you so...snappy?" Tyson asked uncomfortably.

"Sorry I didn't notice." Cody shrugged but again, the apology was stale.

" Really." Tyson sighed. "I said I was sorry, dude."

"For what?" Cody asked incredulously. "For HIGH SCHOOL? That's old news, kid, I told you."

"Then why don't you talk to me?" Tyson asked.

"Why don't YOU quit bothering me?" Cody glared. "Seriously. It's one thing to apologize, but it's something else to be on my ass every second of the day trying to make small talk. It gets irritating after a few weeks."

"That's how I am with everyone!" Tyson objected, but Cody saw through it. Every time the sandy-haired man spoke to HIM, there seemed to be a bit more teasing in his voice than when he spoke to everyone else. There was just a hint of taunting, and Cody didn't like it. He'd left that bullshit behind when he ditched his hometown, and wasn't eager for it to come around a second time. He had enough problems as it was. "And how you treat ME isn't how you treat everyone else." Tyson went on. "If I were anyone else, you'd be chatting me up and out the door the minute I asked. But no, not me."

"Yeah." Cody smiled as he walked past Tyson to his room upstairs. Suddenly he was feeling very tired. "That's about right."

"Why?" Tyson asked. "What can I do to make up for it?"

"Nothing." Cody shrugged. "I'm not mad, Tyson, but I won't forget. You can't just make someone's life miserable and then say "Oops, my bad" and expect them to like you. Not me, in any case."

Tyson watched the raven-haired man walk up to his room, and in his felt a chest longing he hadn't in a while. When that door closed, he sighed and sat on the sofa for a long time, just thinking. He would make it up to Cody, the man who didn't deserve his bullying as a teen...and Tyson really had been horrible. He knew that...but he still made Cody a personal victim. Now, he just had to figure out how to amend for his mistakes.

X

It took a minute or two for Ethan to surface from the comforting embrace of the sire-induced slumber, and several minutes more to realize there was something...off. Opening his eyes, he knew something was definitely off. Like the fact that he could see, smell and hear everything even more clearly than he could before. Everything was so crisp and clear, and at the same time every color sort of blended...but didn't at the same time.

More startling was the fact that he had a tail.

'What the hell!?' Ethan panicked, overwhelmed by all these senses coming to him at once. His body felt too different, alarmingly so, and when he tried to jump up, he found himself scrambling on foreign limbs that seems to be both arms and legs. His alarmed exclamation came out much more animalistic than it should have, and so did the sound of surprise when Sylvan leapt down from a high treetop.

"You're awake." Sylvan smiled, with a weird gleam in his eye. "Good. You sure are a deep sleeper, kid."

"What are you talking about?' Ethan tried to ask, but it came out as something deep and guttural, and it made the teen flinch, which made Sylvan smirk. That was weird. Ethan's voice also FELT wrong, like his vocal chords were different-which he guessed they WERE, but it was strange. His whole body composition felt taken apart and pieced back together in odd ways, with new parts added on.

"It'll be new." Sylvan seemed to be making an attempt to reassure him. "But before long, you won't be able to get enough of it. Especially the strength and speed." He smiled, the gleam in his eyes getting ever more intense. "You'll LOVE the speed, pup."

"You're bigger than I thought you would be." Sylvan continued, tilting his head to the side as he circled him slowly. "It'll do you good." Something told Ethan to stay still, and so he did, as his sire examined him like a new car. "Send thoughts to me." Sylvan said suddenly. "I should be able to hear you just as clearly."

'That's disturbing.' Ethan thought, and to his displeasure, Sylvan smirked.

"Don't worry. You'll learn to create a wall soon enough." Sylvan shrugged. "Now stretch out a little. I want to see you."As odd as it was, Ethan ended up doing all he stretches Sylvan wanted, trying out new muscles that were foreign to human anatomy. When Sylvan had him do a few basic exercises, he was surprised with how much raw power there seemed to be behind these new muscles. When he ran-at a marvelous speed, he hardly made any noise, and could see exactly where he was going with each powerful stride.

"Excellent." Sylvan approved. "You'll do well in a fight, and your transformation genes are strong, as is your natural magic."

'That feeling's back again.' Ethan realized. 'It wasn't there at first, but now it is. That numbing fog thing. It must be him.' Ethan though as he watched Sylvan watch him. It occurred to him just then how much more shocked he should be, and how he just WASN'T. Sylvan was using the connection again. Sometime later, the redhead had Ethan sit down-quite differently than a wolf or a human would, and crouched in front of him in the dirt.

'This is too weird.' Ethan thought for around the tenth time, becoming distracted. 'But this is so COOL.'

"You can marvel at your new abilities later, pup." Sylvan's eyes now held something like pride. He pulled something from his pocket that looked like a thin, black piece of rope. "But for now, I need you to run a few more practices for me. Then, there's a few things you need to know about the nature of werewolves..."

X

"I don't think I understand." Ethan said dumbly as he trudged along beside Sylvan, looking rather ungraceful next to his sire. "What's going to happen after this?"

"You'll take Katee home in the car provided for you." Sylvan sighed, but at least he was being patient. "Ethan, I don't believe you need me to spell all the steps out for you. Your a smart pup."

"You don't need to spell out everything for me! I'm not stupid." Ethan blushed in spite of himself, and scowled at the feeling of his newly acquired anklet rubbing against his skin as he walked. "But...that's it? What're you going to do?"

"I'm heading home myself." Sylvan stopped suddenly, almost making Ethan run into him. "To settle in and pretend none of this ever happened."

"That's it?" Ethan couldn't deny that he was surprised. He thought the werewolf had at least planned to stick around and...what? Help him? He'd helped him already, taking his sickness away...but was he just going to leave?

"This is a one time agreement, Ethan." Sylvan turned to face him, with a slight scowl, though there was something odd in his eyes, again. "One time, because this is my sister. She's a stupid, frustrating pain in the ass who doesn't know what's good for her, but she's still my sister. Afterwards, we're still enemies, fighting on opposite sides of a coming war."

"Then why are we attacking?" Ethan asked, confused. "I mean, why are YOU? He guys who took Katee...won't they just tell the others?"

"Not if they're all dead." The redhead smiled a startling sort of grin, that made Ethan flinch. It reminded the teen just why he'd been so afraid of him before they'd met. No matter how comfortable Ethan was around him now, that didn't mean much. The feeling was forced on him. Sylvan was still the fierce, dangerous monster he'd been in the woods that night. There was a pause, as Ethan let the news sink in, trying not to feel disappointed, and then trying not to feel embarrassed as he remembered that the werewolf could feel everything be was feeling. Instead he nodded and busied himself by bending over to tie his shoelaces, which had come loose. When he was done with the left, he checked to make sure his anklet was secure-though he knew it was. He heard Sylvan sigh, and then crouch down next to him.

"You can keep that." The redhead said, surprising Ethan. It wasn't what the seer had expected him to say. "And hey." Sylvan's lips twisted into something that almost resembled a smile. "Try not to be too disappointed, pup. I'm no good to be around anyway...you know that. And besides, your illness shouldn't get any worse-I've healed you for the most part. Still, I strongly suggest spending some time with my sister." The redhead reached out and took the laces of the right shoe from Ethan's trembling fingers.

"Why?" Ethan asked with some effort. He found himself fighting to control the panic suddenly welling up in his chest. It wasn't as though he liked Sylvan...so why did he feel such anxiety at the thought of leaving him?

"She'll show you the ropes that I didn't get around to." Sylvan shrugged, pulling the laces into a tight bow. "And to answer your question, it's the sire bond, again. You're feeling anxious about leaving my side, but I'll take care of that a little later, and also rid you of your jittery nerves. It's important we don't have any screw-ups right now."

"That still creeps me out a little." Ethan said, referring to the way Sylvan always seemed to know what he was thinking. But then the teen breathe a sigh of relief when the anxiety let up a bit.

"It's alright." Sylvan shrugged. "We're not gonna be seeing much of each other for a while after today anyway. Let that bring you some comfort."

The thing was, it didn't give Ethan much comfort, and at that moment, he hated himself for taking so easily to the monster beside him. He didn't WANT to like him-which he DIDN'T, but he felt more at ease around him than he had in the past few weeks. Before that day, he'd felt the werewolf-illness stirring inside him constantly, usually dormant, but still there. Now, it was all but gone. Though, at the same time there was a weird aura coming from Sylvan...which, he guessed, was only to be expected from someone like him. He was just confused. And he knew when he and this man parted he'd feel both relieved and strangely disappointed.

'Maybe it's curiosity.' Ethan thought. 'After all, this is the first werewolf I met, AND he's my sire. That's the reason I feel all weird, it has to be. Plus, he almost killed me a few months ago...'

"It'll let up." Sylvan shrugged from next to him, and Ethan found himself blushing. "Once we separate, the bond will be lessened considerably."

"That wasn't meant for you to hear." Ethan grumbled.

"Ah well." Sylvan smiled. "I did...and it looks like our ride's here." At first, the teen didn't know what Sylvan was talking about. Then he heard it-the faint sound of an engine roaring down the highway. It must've been over a mile away, but it was clear to Ethan's werewolf ears. "Let's go." Sylvan helped him up by the arm and Ethan scowled. "Do us both a favor and try not to screw this up, pup. If we're caught, this won't look good for either of our alliances, and if we fail, there won't be another opportunity like this." He studied Ethan with his cool blue eyes.

"I get it. I'll try not to mess up." Ethan nodded, taking an anxious breath as the vehicle got closer.

"If you can't bring yourself to kill them, cripple them or knock them unconscious. Remember, there may be a few creatures that look normal, but none of them are truly human, and all of them pose a threat-especially if they manage to escape." His sire smiled at him, teeth gleaming and his eyes flashing with an odd excitement. Then they began to run.

X

A N: I know the werewolf descriptions were brief, but were-Ethan will be around later as well. I feel disappointed...like I could've done much better, but I've put this off long enough. I still don't know if I can update, but I may be able to with my dads tablet. Maybe. Hopefully. Reviews are love! I LOVE the reviews I've been getting, but I'd love to receive even more feedback. If you're a writer, you know how I feel.

And if you have a samsung tablet, you'll feel me even more (yeesh, so many feels) but seriously, this fucking tablet is like impossible to operate. I couldnt even highlight more than one word at a time to italicize or bold them. The arrow-bar thing would skip all over, and when I copy and pasted to a doc it bunched everything together, so I had to respace everything, and...lets just say it wasnt good.

Sorry for the rant. Sorry for the lack of Bethan. Sorry for any errors. Sorry I didnt have the will or patience to edit lines word for word. Ethans thoughts and the capitol words are supposed to be italicized and the AN's are supposed to be bold but you know how that goes.I'll fix the mistakes when I get my hands on reasonable technology. REVIEWS are the best and THANK YOU to all who have been reviewing, it means a lot and it feeks good. (x Tell me what you think and sorry again for the crappy quality.