8 comments/ 24160 views/ 24 favorites Those Eyes Ch. 02 By: dreamsofbirds Thanks for the feedback! I hope you like the next installment. I'm introducing characters here and attempting to expose personalities. The story also switches point of views. SRB -Santana- It had been ridiculously sunny and blazing hot the day that I allowed myself to remember the single most traumatizing moment of my life and it had rained since. That's DC weather for you. I was stuck inside with my own thoughts and I hated it. I had been Googling mutations, and altered senses for days and I decided to give my MacBook and my brain a rest. "Get over it, Santana! You have enhanced senses and ethereal looks. Poor. Fucking. You!" I chastised myself as I pushed my laptop away but I knew it was much more than that. What I had done to those men in the clearing wasn't humanly possible. The way that I had tracked them, the way that I tore into the one's throat and nearly taken the other's head off with my nails wasn't humanly possible. I stared down at my hands. I had always had healthy, strong nails but they didn't appear capable of what I had done that day. I slid two fingers into my mouth and felt every ridge and point of my teeth for perhaps the hundredth time since I had woken up. My canines had always been a little sharp but surely incapable of doing much damage. Sometimes I would wonder if I had suffered a psychotic break that day. Could have been some variation of post-traumatic stress disorder. I would imagine that I had witnessed my father being murdered, and maybe a circuit crossed, a synapse broke. It had become my favorite daydream and I was hoping that if I thought about it enough, I would believe it was the truth. How sad when contemplating insanity was a better option than reality. I sighed as I ran my fingers through my silky raven hair and groaned as my fingers became entangled in knots. I knew I must have looked atrocious, I hadn't brushed my hair yet and judging from the disgusting taste in my mouth, I had also forgotten to brush my teeth. "Poor hygiene and insane..." I said out loud to myself as stripped out of my clothes. I slipped on a pair of running shorts, a sports bra, and an old t-shirt. It was raining but the temperature outside was still in the high eighties. I had only left my apartment to go to class and I had been reluctant to do even that. I was becoming stir crazy and I knew that probably wasn't the best way to deal with everything I was experiencing. I needed to run. Since I biked regularly, I never ran for exercise related reasons. I ran because it was sometimes the only time that I found something resembling peace and peace was exactly what I needed right now. I secured my hair in a messy bun and quickly put on my tennis shoes. I always felt antsy before I ran and today was no different. I had been fighting the compulsion to run for days now and I felt like I was going to explode if I didn't feel my feet pounding against the pavement soon. I left my apartment and set off. I didn't want to stop. I had been running for over an hour. My shirt clung to my form. My bangs were plastered to my forehead with rain but I tasted salt on my tongue as a bead of what must have been sweat slipped between my lips. Good. I'm breaking a sweat. Gotta keep going. The catchy pop songs playing on my iPod were long forgotten and all I had been concentrating on after the first half hour was the sound of my feet hitting the sidewalk and the way the wind and rain felt as it glided over my over sensitized skin. Peace. I closed my eyes and continued on my steady pace down the sidewalk; I had no intention of stopping until my lungs gave out. I had attempted pushing myself before but only the sirens, honking horns, and cat calls of the DC nightlife were enough to cause me to return home. Tonight, I was going to ignore those things. I began counting the steps I was taking, eyes still closed. I had reached 137 when what felt like a brick wall crashed into my body. The impact caused me to stumble back and collide with the hard pavement. I groaned slightly before opening my eyes to see if I had actually ran into a brick wall. No, not a wall... I was staring at a pair of tanned, toned, hairy legs. Fuck! I ran into an actual person. Why couldn't it have been a wall? Without looking up to see who the legs belonged to, I scrambled to my feet. My eyes remained downcast. "I'm sorry..." I said as I dusted the back of my shorts off. Muffled words were his reply. I realized then that my iPod was still playing explaining why I hadn't heard his words. I tugged on the cord, removing one earbud. "Excuse me?" "I said, no problem. Are you alright? It looked like you went down pretty hard." His voice had a melodic quality to it yet was still very masculine. His words caused me to blush. Despite his obvious concern, I could tell he was trying hard not to laugh. I couldn't bring myself to look past his knee caps. My natural awkwardness was never meant to be mixed with humiliation. "I thought I ran into a brick wall" I mumbled. The sound of his laughter caused me to look up and my breath caught in my throat. "I'll take that as a compliment, I think. I'm really sorry. I really should have been paying more attention. Let me make it up to you." Said the ridiculously attractive man that I had ran into. He was wearing a sideways grin on his face, watching me intently. "No, it's not necessary. I was running with my eyes closed. This is obviously my fault." I admitted, blushing once more. "Hm, you're right it is your fault then. You should make it up to me." He said with the same suave grin. "Come out with me tonight. My older siblings own a club on M street. It's pretty tight." "Oh..I..um..I don't go out with...strangers who try to pick me up on the side of the road," I replied and immediately regretted my words. I looked down once more and stared at his obviously expensive running shoes. He was laughing. "Oh, you're gorgeous for sure but you're not my type, honey. You're missing a certain piece of equipment that I'm quite fond of. So you see, I'm not a stranger hitting on you. I'm just a friendly stranger and that's rare around these parts, sweetie." He said with chuckle. I looked back up and couldn't help but smile. I had to agree with him. People weren't generally the friendliest here. "I'm Santana." I said as I stuck out my hand. He shook it enthusiastically. At that moment, the wind picked up and as it blew over his body, I caught a glimpse of something that smelled like home. Not my actual home but absolution, completion and ...peace. Tingles immediately graced my skin and it was like every nerve ending came to life. Every nerve ending. I felt my heart quicken and between my legs quivered with a feeling that I wasn't used to having. I only realized that I had zoned out when I saw his fingers snap in front of my face. I blinked and looked up into his deep brown eyes. "I'm Ash." He gave me a contemplative look. "So, what do you think of accompanying me tonight now that you know I'm not some creeper trying to take you home?" His easy smile returning. "Well, you're assuming that I believe that you're actually batting for the other team" I said, shaking off the feelings that that brief scent had triggered. He laughed again. "You have an awkward bluntness about you, I like it. How about you just come out tonight? Free drinks all night. Bring anyone you want. I'll put you on the guest list and just have the bouncer inform me that you're there and I can show you around..." He said with a hopeful tone. His smile was infectious and before I knew it, I was nodding. "Yeah, sure. I'll try my best." "Awesome. Well, I need to get going but I will see you tonight. Oh, and Miss. Santana..." I looked up with a questioning expression. He smiled, "Look fabulous." I returned home. Thoughts of an actual night out were distracting me from my earlier problems. The only issue hindering my excitement was that Ash had told me to bring friends. I frowned. I didn't have many of those. Being alienated and ostracized for 12 years of my life had left me unprepared socially for college. I had made a few friends but my awkwardness and reluctance to trust people prevented me from forming deep friendships with multiple individuals. I was, for lack of a better word, a loner. Maybe Ash could be a new friend, I hoped. I looked over at my vintage wall clock. "8:30! Whatttt! Fuck you daylights savings time!" I screamed as I stripped off my running clothes on the way to the shower. I stripped down to nothing while I waited for the water to become hot and steamy. I stared at myself in the mirror admiring my reflection. Sometimes I mentally thanked my biological parents for how I looked. I smiled at myself then turned to step into the now steaming shower. I hated showers and found them boring usually but tonight, the water flowing over my body created an intriguing sensation. I closed my eyes and tilted my head back as I ran my hands down the front of my body avoiding contact with my breasts. I tickled fingers lightly across my firm stomach then down my rounded hips. I let my mind go blank as I enjoyed the sensations of the pounding water on my body. Suddenly my nostrils flared and my nose became filled with the same scent that I had smelled earlier that day. I knew it was just my memory recalling the event but the same reaction occurred. My skin tingled and I was forced to squeeze my thighs together as my nerve endings vibrated. The pace of my heart increased as what felt like millions of microscopic balls of energy exited and reentered every pore of my body. My eyes fluttered shut and soulful cyan eyes flashed in the darkness. I gasped and my eyes flew open. I was shivering and having trouble breathing. I looked down and noticed that I was lightly running my fingers up and down my soaking wet slit. My pussy walls were quaking and I pressed harder against my tender flesh allowing a finger to dip inside of my lower lips to find my clit. I circled it slightly at first but then began pressing harder and faster. I had closed my eyes again and was looking straight into those cyan eyes imagining that they were looking down at me while the owner of those eyes slid deeply inside of me. I was no longer just touching my clit but was sliding a singer finger into my core, panting. "Oh yes..." I moaned. I increased my efforts, rubbing my clit vigorously while my finger slid in faster and faster.I felt the familiar tightness in my stomach and felt as if my body was becoming lighter and lighter. "Oh my....Oh my...Oh my...Ahhhhhhh!" I shattered against my hand falling back the short distance until my back hit the shower wall. I waited until my harsh breathing abated. I didn't understand what had just happened. I couldn't comprehend how a simple smell could affect me the way that this one was and why I was seeing eyes in my mind that I had never seen before in reality. I washed quickly and dried off even quicker. I didn't want to think about things that I couldn't explain. Tonight, I just wanted to have fun. -Alex- I stared at the clock. Where is she? I had been waiting for my sister for over half an hour. Of course she'd be late. I had spent the last 45 minutes doing push-ups to pass the time and had barely broken a sweat. I groaned and let my arms slip from beneath me, falling to the ground. She was here. I listened as she parked her car in the garage and played with a piece of fuzz on the carpet as I waited for her to make her way up to my penthouse suite. "You better be dressed and ready!" She yelled as she entered. "Fuck off!" I yelled back. "Hello to you too, Baby Brother," She cooed as she turned the corner. It always amazed me that she and I were related. She had a fierce beauty, one both foreboding and entrancing. From my vantage point I watched her black stilettos as they clicked across my hardwood floors. "Of course you're not ready." She said with an annoyed tone. "Well, I was ready almost an hour ago when you said you'd be here but now I've sweated through my shirt so, be right back..." I said as I climbed off of the floor and strolled towards my bedroom. She followed. "Well, I needed shoes to match this dress and you know I can't go out without looking my absolute best. If making you wait for a few minutes is the price for looking like this, so be it." She said as she perched on the edge of my bed. "Hm, when's the last time you cleaned these sheets?" She asked making blatant sniffing sounds. I looked over my shoulder and couldn't help but smile at her. She really did look good. The teal of the dress set off her deep auburn hair and made her jade eyes glow. She never wore much makeup, she didn't need it. She used mascara to play up her dramatic eye lashes and a nude glass on her pouty lips. "A few minutes is ten at the most, Aslyn, not 45. And the sheets are clean, no worries. But don't touch the comforter." I said as I scanned through my closet. I could almost hear her look of disgust and I secretly smiled to myself. "How's this?" I exited my walk in closet holding up a light blue v-neck. "That with some dark jeans and your cream canvas shoes would look god, now let's go!" She replied as she got up and exited my room. I dressed quickly, ran my hands through my naturally messy hair and met her out in the living room. We planned on meeting our older siblings at a nightclub that the family owned and I was pumped. I always looked forward to our Friday night dates. We were all pretty busy so, these weekly get togethers had come to mean a lot to us. As we neared the door, I heard her say, "Ash invited some random girl to meet up with us. Think he's gone and turned straight on us?" She asked. The clicking of her oh so important heels paused as she pivoted and regarded me for a moment. We both laughed. The thought was preposterous; our brother was the token boy for gay pride but I was intrigued at the thought of a new player joining us tonight. "He was here earlier, didn't mention anything about bringing someone. I guess we'll see tonight. You look nice by the way," I said as I opened the door for her. "Stop checking me out and get your butt to the garage, little brother." She said as she passed me, giving me a sideways glance. I laughed and shook my head as I locked my door behind us. Once inside of the underground garage, she paused to peruse our favorite toys. "Eeny. Meeny. Miny. Mo." She said while moving her perfectly manicured finger around. "I call purple Jag." She said sternly. I laughed again. "Take it, Aslyn. You know I never drive that car. I'll take the black beamer. Suits me much better." We walked our separate ways to the cars that we had chosen and sped out of the garage. I plugged in my iPod and was listening to something acoustic when I was accosted by the sound of pubescence. Aslyn had pulled up beside me at the stop light with Justin Bieber playing in her car. "You know Sister, you'd think someone your age wouldn't listen to the music of a sixteen year old." I teased without looking in her directon knowing that she had heard me. "We don't mention my age, Alexander" She retorted as she rolled up her window. I couldn't help but laugh. We rode side by side to our brothers' club, Rouge. I followed her to the private lot behind the club and we both parked our cars, getting out and walking in together. I shoved her a little and watched amused as she teetered in her 4 inch heels. "Oh Aslyn, so ungraceful for our kind." I badgered as we made our way to the doors. The club wasn't yet in full swing but the guests were streaming in steadily. Aslyn and I bypassed the bouncer and made our way up to the VIP suite reserved for the family. "Hey, the mistake is here!" I heard my brother, Aaron, call out as I held the door open for Aslyn. It was his nickname for me. He was certain that it was the only way to explain the huge age difference between me and my siblings but looking at us all, no one would think the difference was so great. "After you, I can't blame Mom and Dad for waiting so long to conceive again. They had to make sure they got it right the next time." I retorted in the fashion of our familiar banter. Aaron chuckled as he slapped me on the back in a loving gesture. "Now boys, we all know Mom and Dad had no aspirations of creating anything more flawless than myself. Can't outdo perfection." Aslyn said with an outrageous wink. We all laughed. I greeted my oldest brothers, Anthony and Aston, as I signaled the bartender for a drink. "Where's Ash?" Aslyn asked as she sipped her appletini. "Right behind you, flawless." We all turned to see our fourth born brother. Aslyn squealed and lanched herself into Ash's arms. "Why doesn't she greet us like that?" Anthony asked in an amused tone. "Because he's the sister she never had." Aston replied drolly. All of us including Ash broke into laughter. As I laughed, I took a sip of my gin and tonic and inhaled an ice cube down the wrong pipe and began to choke. I pounded my chest as I tried to dislodge the offending object from my throat but to no avail. I sputtered and coughed and felt relief as Ash, the doctor, rushed to my side and began pounding on my lower back. I coughed once more and the cube was freed from my esophagus. Out of relief, I inhaled deeply and I then I froze. "Immortal being killed by icecube. You would, Mistake." I vaguely heard Aaron say. My nostrils flared as warmth filled my senses. It smelled like cold nights, cuddling naked by the fireplace. It smelled like sensuality and kept promises. Every hair on my body stood on end. I held in a groan as my cock hardened in my slim fit jeans. What is that smell? Must find that smell. "Baby Brother, are you alright? You look flushed." I heard Aslyn voice in concern. Her delicate hand on my shoulder brought me back to the present. "Oh, nearly choking to death will do that to you." I replied. "Isn't the gay one supposed to be the dramatic one?" I heard Aston call. "Might as well be since the gay one is also the smart one, the successful one, the good looking o-" "Wait a minute! We're all pretty damn good looking!" Anthony said interrupting Ash. I forced a laugh as I tried to push whatever had just happened to me out of my head long enough to persuade my pounding cock to deflate. "Yo, I'm going to go check on the guests." I said as I stood to leave. "And by that, he means he's going to go check out the guests." Aslyn added. "Semantics." I called back as I made my way downstairs. Something inside of me was certain that what I had experienced upstairs would become clear once I stepped onto the dance floor. Those Eyes Ch. 03 Hey! I'm so sorry that It's taken me so long to post again. My hard drive crashed and I had to start over again using a jump drive at work, but then I lost the jump drive. So, his is the third time that I've written this installment. I hope you enjoy. I'll try to make them longer in the future. SRB * -Santana- I had gotten there pretty early for DC club time and now stood awkwardly by the bar, fidgeting with my skirt. I wanted to look around before I asked one of the employees to tell Ash that I was here. I felt like my skirt was riding up constantly and I once again shimmied and pulled it down. When I had moved to DC, I developed a little bit of a shopping addiction and I literally owned an outfit for any occasion. Unfortunately, those occasions seemed to never arise and I was left with a closet full of items with the price tags still intact. I often thought that if anyone had any opinion of me it would be that I was well-dressed, weird but well dressed. I would day dream of having friends who asked me to go bar hopping with them or go dancing with them but when you walk with your eyes downcast, rarely speak, or make eye contact, no one is too eager to be your friend. Who knew? I exhaled deeply and pulled my skirt down once more. Considering that this was my first time out, the high-waisted leather mini skirt, stark white off-the-shoulder top, and four-inch , peep-toe cage pumps were all making their debut tonight. I felt like I looked attractive enough, I just needed the confidence to match. Ugh, why are you here, Santana? I asked myself despite the feeling that being there just...felt right. I sighed and ran my fingers through my glossy black waves. You're here to have fun, damnit! And you are going to have fun! I mentally decided. Straightening up my shoulders and smoothing down my skirt, I leaned against the bar in the coolest, most unaffected pose I could muster and watched the scene before me. The bar must have been very popular. Patrons were filing in at a continuous rate and there were already several bodies on the dance floor. I watched a petite Asian girl wind and whip her body to the music. She looked as if the music was all that mattered in that moment. I envied her. A few writhing bodies over was a curvy black girl with a faux hawk, she was moving her hands and arms in sensual patterns above her head with her eyes closed and her head thrown back. I longed to move like these girls. I wanted nothing else to matter but the dub-step beat blaring through the speakers and the freedom that only dancing seemed to offer. Maybe a drink would help. I turned to face the bar and my eyes fell upon one of the most breath taking men that I had ever seen. I held my breath when his eyes locked with mine. He was the kind of pretty that could frighten people, I had to remind myself that I was that kind of pretty too and released the breath that I had been holding. His dark blue eyes shined under the flashing lights of the club and his full lips curved into a sly side smile. "What will it be, sweetheart?" He asked as he allowed his eyes to blatantly scan my body. I blushed when his eyes finally met mine once more. "I...I..um...I don't really know." I admitted with a sheepish smile that fit perfectly with my barely visable blush. I shuffled my weight from heel to heel as I looked down at the bar top. When I looked back up, his eyes had softened and his smile looked more sincere. "What kind of mood you in, doll?" He asked as he leaned his elbows on the bar top directly in front of me. His smiled widened and his white teeth gleamed. I didn't hesitate. "I need to have fun." I said, and was immediately embarrassed by my desperate honesty. "Well, I can do fun." He said easing off of the bar top. "One glass of fun coming right up." I watched him make my drink. He seemed to be putting an awful lot of alcohol into it and I was suddenly nervous. I looked away towards a girl on the dance floor. She was racially ambiguous with long blonde hair. She was beautiful to watch. Her blonde locks whipped around her face as she moved her generous hips to the beat. She was perfectly synchronized with the music and confidence literally oozed off of her. I was broken out of my reverie by the sound of my drink being placed in front of me. I turned to face an amused bar tender. "One order of fun." He said. I opened my clutch and he stopped me with a light hand on my shoulder. He pointed to my wrist band. "That means that you pay for nothing while you're here. How'd you come by that anyway?" He asked with a curious expression though the amusement was still there. "A guy that I met today invited me out. He said that his family owned the place." I said, taking my first sip of my free drink. It was delicious; I took a more generous sip. "Good girl," He said with a smile. "What was his name? The guy who asked you to come here..." He asked, once again leaning on the bar in front of me. "Ash, his name was Ash." I replied. "Well, sweetheart, I'm Adam. Co-owner of this place and Ash's older and much sexier brother." He reached out his hand. "Oh, and much straighter too." He added with an outrageous wink. I laughed. "Hi, Adam. I'm Santana. It's very nice to meet you." I shook his hand. "This drink is delicious by the way." To prove my point, I took another generous gulp. He chuckled lightly. "You know, I was going to ask you to join me for a dance but..." He cut of, I followed his gaze towards the blonde on the dance floor who I had been staring at moments before. "...maybe, I'm not your type." I nearly choked on my drink when I realized what he was implying. "No!...I mean...there's nothing wrong with that sort of thing...but no! I just liked how she dances. She's good. It's like she has all of the confidence in the world." I said, once again watching the girl. "That's Tressa. She is quite amazing but with those curves, I'm sure you could give her a run for her money. Why not go out there with me and show her up?" Turning to face him, I blushed. " You don't want to dance with me, Adam. I'd embarrass you." "Why do you say that, beautiful? Dancing is easy, everyone can dance. "He said with a soft smile. "The only dancing I have ever done has been in my bedroom mirror. In case you can't tell, I'm pretty new at this whole scene." I said becoming self-conscious again. "You need to relax, Satana. Be right back." He said, walking away from me. He returned with three shot glasses and placed two in front of me. "Take these. Don't question it, just take them." "How do I know that you're not trying to drug me?" I asked, suddenly getting nervous. He laughed. Like a real, head thrown back, belly laugh. Once he regained his composure, he leaned into me and I felt his warm breath against my ear. "Sweetheart, If I want a woman, she comes to me willingly." He whispered. I barely suppressed a shudder. "Now, for looking the gift horse in the mouth, you're going to take all three." I gulped and sat my drink down on the bar. I took the first one, expecting an acidic burn but was pleasantly surprised by the fruity smoothness. I took the second and then the third and looked at Adam expectantly. I jumped back when he suddenly hopped over the bar counter and grabbed my hand. "And as for dancing, there's a first time for everything, Santana." He said over his shoulder as he pulled me towards the sea of thrashing bodies. He moved so fast and before I had a chance to resist, I was standing in front of him in the center of the floor. "Welcome to Dance 101, Santana. We're going to start with the basic two step. Do as I do, Ok?" He asked and I nodded. I watched him rock from the side to side to the beat of the music and I imitated him awkwardly. "Ok, now since you've got all of the..." He openly perused my body."...equipment, use it. Add some hip movement into the two step." Thinking about all of the music videos that I had seen and the marathons of So, You Think You Can Dance, I did as he asked. I swayed my hips from side to side, occasionally adding a dip. "Is this OK?" "Perfect. Now I'm gonna point to some broad on the dance floor and I want you to imitate her." He looked around for a moment, never stopping his movements. "That one!" He called, pointing to a slim brunette who was grinding sensuously to the ground. I stared at her incredulously. "I can't do that!" I shrieked. He stepped in closer to me. "Yes, you can. Just think of nothing else but the music." I took a deep breath and watched the girl with a studious eye. I began to copy the way that she slashed her narrow hips through the air and when she once again slid her body to the floor, I did it too. I looked to Adam for his reaction. His eyes looked as if they had darkened. "Very nice. Now what about her?" He asked, my eyes followed his pointing finger. A Hispanic girl shook her hips at a break-neck speed while shimmying her breasts. She was magnificent. "Santana, dance like her." I heard Adam say. Watching her for a few seconds more, I began to move. In that moment, I didn't care if I was making a fool of myself or if I looked sexy. It was all about the whinding of my body and the music. I looked to Adam and laughed, I was having fun. He smiled and nodded his head towards a girl in a tight, white dress. I continued to move as I watched her pop her body and whip her hair. I popped my body, grinded down to the floor, and whipped my hair around on my way up. I looked towards my dance teacher who was smiling and clapping. "It appears the student has surpassed the teacher." He said with a smile, reaching out his hand. I accepted his hand and he spun me around. "Thank you, Sensei." I replied with a slight bow. He pulled me in closer. "Now, it's time to dance with me." He spun me once more and pulled me so that my back was against his hard chest. He began to move his hips slightly. I had never danced with a man before. The closeness was awkward but I didn't want to be awkward Santana tonight. I closed my eyes, took a deep sip of my drink, took a deep breath, and began moving. We stayed that way for a few moments, swaying against one another until the beat of the music started to pick up. The movement on the floor only intensified, and the crowd became livelier. Adam turned me to face him and spun me once more. "Party Rock" by LMFAO began to play and the floor went crazy. I looked around and couldn't help but smile. The music was literally taking over every single body on the floor and I wanted to be just as lost as they all were. I threw the straw out of my drink, chugged the remainder and dropped the plastic cup onto the floor. I looked at Adam who was laughing. "Good girl!" He screamed over the music as some swanky redhead slipped herself into his arms. He looked to me and I shrugged. I didn't care who he danced with, I just wanted to shuffle. I allowed my eyes to slip closed and I began to move to the party anthem. I had imagined being out and dancing to this song before. It was just that kind of song. I began doing all of the moves that I had imagined myself doing. I pictured myself as that girl, Tressa and pulled every ounce of confidence that I could out of my pretending. My eyes opened and I noticed there were people watching me. Awkward Santana would have stopped dancing, she would have shrunk inwardly and stumbled or simply walked away. I had no intention of being awkward me tonight. I closed my eyes once more and gave my audience a show. I felt something cold on my arm and opened my eyes. Adam was beside me holding out another drink. I mouthed thank you and took a long drink. He was once again in front of me, leaning in "You having a good time, princess?" He asked with a sincere smile. I nodded. "Ok, well I have to get back to the bar for a little bit and then I'm going up to the VIP suite with my siblings. You gonna be OK?" I stopped moving and started thinking about whether or not I was really going to be alright. Deciding that I could handle being alone on the dancefloor, I placed my hand on his arm and smiled. "I'll be fine. Thank you so much, Adam!" I exclaimed. "Ok, Sweetheart, if you need anything, come find me." He said, making his way back to his bar. I suddenly felt a little awkward but I was determined to keep having fun. I looked to the left and saw a girl who seemed to notice my hesitation. She reached out and grabbed my hand, pulling me towards her and her friends. "Dance with us!" She yelled over the music. I looked around at all of the pretty faces in her group of friends, each girl had a sincere smile plastered on her face. They looked like the type of girls that I wished were my friends my entire life. I smiled and once again started to dance. "Damn, girl!" a lithe girl with a short pixie cut said to me when I started to dance. I laughed and continued to move. A few songs had passed and I had finished my drink. I was having more fun than I had ever had and I didn't want the night to end. I inhaled deeply, wanting to take in my environment with all of my senses. There were so many smells in the room: perfume, cologne, sweat, body odor, alcohol and I couldn't pick out any one individual's specific scent. Then there it was. It was light but distinct and without a doubt, I knew that it belonged to HIM. I paused, how did I know it was a him? Suddenly the bluest of blue eyes flashed in my mind, they held sincerity and mischief and I couldn't help the smile that spread across my face. It felt as if the temperature in the club has risen drastically and the heat was shooting straight to the apex between my thighs. An intense strumming began at my core perfectly synchronized to my erratic heartbeat. This isn't how my night is supposed to go, I just wanted normal, I thought to myself. Attempting to cool down, I began taking slow even breaths through my mouth but it was almost like I could taste HIM. He was sweet and spicy and...I started to wound my body through the bodies of patrons towards the owner of those eyes. I moved with a grace I had never possessed, dipping under swinging arms, sidestepping spilling drinks. "No!" I said quietly to myself, stopping abruptly. I could feel it, a tug. Every cell in my body was acting like it was phototropic and HE was the light. I shook my entire body out, hoping to rid myself of the strange sensations but no such luck. Those eyes flashed in my mind again, they looked like they were smiling. Seeing HIS smile in those eyes nearly broke my heart and all of my resolve was gone. I needed to see HIS whole smile. I needed to find HIM, HE belonged to me. -Alex- I couldn't shake the feeling that I had experienced upstairs. My jeans still fit uncomfortably tight and my heartbeat hadn't slowed. I gazed around at all of the people on the dance floor and inhaled. Being what I was, I had experienced quite a few scents that go my blood boiling. Some scents smelled divine, others smelled irresistibly delicious but never had I ever experienced something of this nature. The scent that was now seared into my brain smelled like...everything that I was ever looking for and everything that I didn't know that I needed to find. I ran my hands through my naturally messy hair and closed my eye , letting out a tormented sigh. Behind my lids flashed the brightest pair of green eyes I had ever seen, set in a deep caramel face. There was a hint of uncertainty in those eyes, a vulnerability that stroked my primal nature. Without a doubt, I knew that the owner of those eyes and the owner of the scent that was currently tormenting me was the same person. I inhaled deeply and froze. I had known that I'd find her here. Through the haze of perfume and vodka, her sweet scent surrounded me, unique from all of the rest. Being of pure blood, I could easily pin point the scent of every being in the room but with her there, every other scent blurred into the background. Then it all blurred into the background as my skin prickled like every cell wanted to escape to be closer to her. I let my eyes drift close and just stared into those eyes, which were now imprinted in my brain, for a moment. If all I ever saw was those eyes when I closed my own, I don't think I'd ever have need to see the world again. I set off. I moved with predatory grace through the dance floor. I dodged drunk girls flailing their limbs and whipping their hair, an easy target any other night but not tonight. Tonight, I was going to have HER. It felt like the sea of writhing bodies was endless. I knew that I was getting closer to her but my patience was dwindling. I needed HER. Suddenly, it felt as if all of the energy in the world shifted. I was no longer surrounded by scent but I was surrounded by warmth, the most sensual of blankets, whispering light caresses across my skin. I paused to enjoy the sensations when suddenly, the warmth slid silkily inside of my body and a pleasant tingling began. I shuddered at the feeling that something in my body was realigning. Once the tingling subsided, I calmed down exponentially but it was too soon, the warmth that had unexpectedly entered my body suddenly burst back into the world, leaving my body on fire in the sweetest way. I was left motionless, unsure of what had just transpired. I bent down and placed my hands on my knees in an attempt to regain my composure. I inhaled deeply and my heart began to jump. SHE was close. I stood up abruptly and realized that I was standing on the side of a clearing for what appeared to be a dance battle. I searched the faces across the clearing but SHE wasn't there. My heart slowed a beat and I was about to continue my search when I saw a body slide smoothly to the front of the crowd. She looked up and my heart stopped. It completely stopped beating in that moment. I clenched my hand over my heart. What the fuck? I thought. I saw her reach for her chest and look around, a slightly confused expression on her face. The lights on the dance floor bounced off of her emerald eyes, giving them and ethereal glow. "Look at me, sweetheart." I whispered. "Look right in front of you." She looked up and my heart started beating again, though an unfamiliar rhythm. She tilted her head to the side and stared at me from across the clearing. I watched the way the movement caused her hair to move off her one exposed shoulder and grew harder with the exposure of her flawless sepia skin. I allowed myself a moment to really look at her before I went to her. The confusion in her eyes told me that she was wouldn't cross the clearing first, she was waiting for me. I started with her face, her crescent shaped eyes were encased in the longest ebony lashes I had ever seen and when she blinked, they caressed her high cheekbones just for a moment. Her lips were full and when she pursed them, the most charming dimples made an appearance. I couldn't have imagined a more perfect face than the one right in front of me. Her long graceful neck flowed into feminine shoulders and I once again allowed my eyes to glide over the one that was exposed. Her breasts were fully covered but I could tell that she was perfectly endowed. The skirt she wore accentuated her small waist and generous hips. I slowly took in her long, supple legs. They were thick but toned and I groaned as I imagined those legs wrapped around me. Her body reminded me Kim Kardashian's but more toned, it was perfection. I looked back to her face in time to catch her doing her own perusing and judging by the way she licked her lips, she liked what she saw. That tiny movement of her tongue snaking out to wet her full lips was all of the encouragement that I needed and I moved with purposeful strides across the clearing. She looked up when I made my first step and in her eyes was a mixture of alarm, confusion, and desire. Those Eyes Ch. 03 Stopping in front of her, I reached out and lightly touched her face. I couldn't help it. As I slid my fingertips gently down her cheek to her jaw, electricity sizzled between my fingertips and her face. I noticed the small fraction that she moved towards my hand. I set my flat palm against her cheek and glided my hand slowly from her face and back to her hair, allowing my hand to comb gently through her hair that was surely made of silk. We both let out a sigh of contentment but the confusion never left her eyes. After what seemed like an eternity, she spoke, "Those eyes. I-I mean...your eyes, I've seen them." She stammered out and looked down at the ground awkwardly. It was strange seeing a girl who possessed this sort of beauty also possessing this sort of awkwardness. I usually went for the hot girl with the world at her fingertips type but something about this girl called to me. I lifted my free hand and lightly ran my fingertips along her jaw to her chin, lifting her face to mine. "I've seen yours too. Please don't hide them from me." She looked up. " I'm Alex." I said, not wanting to remove my hands from her face or hair. She smiled slightly. "I'm Santana. It's nice to meet you, Alex." She held out her hand, and looked at me expectedly. I laughed. It seemed like a strange gesture considering the circumstances but I relinquished my contact with her face and hair and shook her hand. "Dance with me." I said pulling her closer to me. She gently pulled her hand away from mine. "Are you asking or telling me to?" She asked, looking up into my eyes. Confusion was still there, but something else was there too...independence. I placed each of my hands on her shoulders and slid them down to her hands, softly. She shuddered. "Please dance with me, Santana." I amended. She nodded and I used my grip on her hands to turn her around placing her back to my front. She seemed to melt into me and I suppressed a groan as I felt her round ass press against my hardness. She began to rock her hips slowly from side to side and then began rolling her hips in slow sensual circles. I hadn't thought it possibly for me to get any harder but I was so hard that it was painful. I had no idea how many songs had passed but I had no intention of letting her out of my arms until the last call and the lights came on. I wanted her in my bed tonight, doing those same sensual circles on my cock as she rode me and then I wanted her to stay the night so, I could wake up with those long, thick legs draped over my body. That thought surprised me. I had never let a woman stay the night, ever. Having her so close to me was beginning to be more than I could bear. That sweet caramel scent was wreaking havoc on my brain. I thought about having that scent always wrapped around me. I thought about having a bed that always smelled like her, a bed that always smelled like kept promises and home. Her silky hair tickled my neck and I imagined waking up with her hair spread out over my chest as she lay there, sound asleep. The way she was pressed against my body alerted me to how perfectly she fit me. What the fuck, man! I thought to myself. Just fuck her, and get it out of your system. But I knew that it was so much more than that. Pitbull's "Give Me Everything Tonight" began playing and I covered a moan with a cough as she began moving faster against me. She looked over her shoulder at me and smiled the sweetest smile that I had ever seen. The song was perfect for what I was feeling and I pulled her hair away from neck and ears. "Tonight, I want all of you tonight. Give me everything tonight. For all we know, we may not get tomorrow..." I sang into her ear. It was cheesy, I knew but it summed up what I was feeling so well. She shuddered against me and looked over her shoulder at me with another smile only this one was more of a "down boy" smile. I laughed and placed a soft, chaste kiss directly below her ear. I was going to have to work for her, I liked that. I stared down at the column of her long neck that was now exposed to me. I watched her vein jump erratically beneath her skin and licked my lips. I bent down and placed another chaste kiss over the vein. I heard her faint moan. It was the most amazing sound that I had heard and I suddenly wanted to make her make that sound over and over for forever. There goes those thoughts again, get a grip, Alex. I mentally chastised myself and inhaled deeply in hopes of calming myself. What the... I wasn't intentionally trying to scent her. I just inhaled too close to her neck but I had smelled it. Beneath the caramel and humanity, there was something else, something primal. I had never encountered any other smell like it. I placed my nose flush against her skin and inhaled once more. There it was. I brought my lips up against her ear and relished her small shudder as she felt my breath against the sensitive skin. "What are you, Santana?" -Santana- I stood in front of the clearing on the dance floor utterly confused. It had felt like my very soul had burst through me moments before. I couldn't explain it but all I knew was that I had to find HIM. The scent was so strong and I knew that he was close. I searched all of the faces, looking for those eyes. My heart had stopped, my heart had literally stopped and even that seemed less important than finding HIM. I searched one face at a time, green eyes, brown eyes, blue but not HIS blue. Then I heard it, a faint whisper, "Look right in front of you." I looked up and there HE was. My heart began again. Those eyes were suddenly the brightest thing in the entire club. I cocked my head to the side, how did I find him? Why did I find him? He stared into my eyes for a moment and then his gaze slid from my eyes to my lips. I blushed. His gaze continued on a path further down my body and it felt as if he were physically touching every inch of me that he laid eyes upon. I followed suit. His hair was a deep brown, and was in complete disarray as if he spent every moment of every day running his hands through it. I already knew that he eyes were spectacular and barely let my gaze linger there. His cheekbones were high and he had the straightest nose I had ever seen. His mouth was beautiful. His lips looked almost too full for his face. He had facial hair like he had forgone shaving all week and a small dimple in his chin which made me smile. His upper body was encased in a light blue v-neck, there was a light sprinkling of chest hair barely visible above the collar. The broadness of his shoulders made me literally swoon; as did his toned chest and midsection accentuated by his tapered waist and hips. His arms were thick and toned but not in an overly done way. He wore dark-washed, slim-fit jeans which show cased his thick muscular legs perfectly. I looked down at his shoes because I was a sucker for a well-dressed man, TOMS. It was official, this man was perfect, I couldn't help but lick my lips. His presence was bringing out feelings that I had never experienced before. He was perfect and he was coming right towards me. Holy shit! He touched me. He fucking touched me and it felt like his touch was shocking me back to life. I wanted more of his touch but a [very] small part of my brain kept reminding me that he was a stranger. The way he stroked my hair made me want to ensure that he wasn't a stranger for very long and I spoke, , "Those eyes. I-I mean...your eyes, I've seen them." Oh hell, really Santana, that's the best thing you could have said? I mentally reprimanded myself as I looked to the floor. His other hand reached up the stroke my face and I lifted my gaze once more to him as he told me he had seen my eyes too. I didn't understand how any of this was possible. We introduced ourselves. His name was Alex. I had always like that name and he was no longer a stranger. "Dance with me" He said. It was something in his tone, his sureness. Growing up with a controlling father, I had always hated being told what to do. "Are you asking or telling me to?" I shivered as I felt his hands travel down my arms. His touch was so sure, so gentle and I wanted to be closer to him. "Please dance with me, Santana." I nodded before I realized what I was doing and I was suddenly pressed flush against his body, my back to his front. My body seemed made for his. I instantly relaxed into his embrace. His strong arms were wrapped securely around me and I blushed when I felt his erection. It felt so big, so hard. I had never had this sort of an effect on a man before and I liked the feeling of control it gave me. I began to move. I had never considered myself sexy but every instinct in my body was screaming for me to be sexy for Alex. I alternated my full hips between moving from side to side and making sensual circles; grinding my ass into his hard on. This was so unlike me but I didn't mind. Being in his arms, that close to him felt right. It seemed as if I was meant to be in those arms, for much longer than tonight. I inhaled deeply and sighed contentedly. This man behind me smelled like peace; like an end to a tormented existence. "Tonight. I want all of you tonight!..." I grew excited. This was one of my favorite songs on the radio and it seemed appropriate for being there with Alex. I increased the tempo at which my hips were moving and looked over my shoulders at Alex. I gave him my most brilliant smile and the appreciation in his gaze caused all of the air to suddenly leave my lungs. I felt one of his hands move the hair away from my shoulder, exposing my neck to him. He leaned in and began singing the words of the song into my ear. He had the kind of voice that caused goose bumps to arise. It was masculine yet melodic and so soothing. I looked back over my shoulder and gave him my best "Not tonight" look but there was hardly any conviction in it. If he asked, I would have given him tonight, tomorrow, and the rest of my life. Whoa! Where did that come from? I asked myself. I wondered if it were possible to become inebriated by another person's scent because that was surely what was happening in that moment. He chuckled and his warm breath tickled my skin. I felt his lush lips press lightly below my ear and a scorching fire immediately broke out between my legs. I then felt lips press against my neck and I couldn't hold back the moan that escaped my lips. His grip on my body tightened slightly, pressing me further against his hardness. I waited for what he would do next. I heard him breathe deeply against my neck. I was slightly embarrassed, I surely smelled like alcohol and sweat but then I felt his nose press against my neck and he inhaled once more. He froze. Fuck! I must smell awful! I thought to myself. He glided his face up along my neck until his mouth was flush against my ear. The feeling of his moist, hot breath against my skin caused the fire inside of me to blaze out of control. What was he about to do? Please do it quickly, I can't wait any longer...and then he spoke. "What are you, Santana?" The spell was broken and I was suddenly frantic. It felt as if someone dumped a bucket of ice cold water over my head. I turned slowly in his arms. He was looking at me with sincere confusion. He knew something what wrong with me. He had sensed it. I bit my bottom lip in an attempt to hide the fact that it was beginning to tremble. He lifted his hand and placed his palm flat against the side of my face. I didn't want this to end. "Wh-what do you mean?" I whispered. "I smelled you, you're not human. It's ok. You can tell me." He leaned down and whispered into my ear. He was being so nice about. I was a freak and he was being so calm and nonchalant and that scared me. It scared the hell out of me. I clenched my hands into fists as a feeling I had only felt once before scorched through me. All of my senses sharpened causing everything around me to sharpen and intensify but still only he stood out. He was still gently stroking my face, staring at me with expectation in those bright eyes and then I pushed him. I pushed him with all of my strength and watched as he slid at least five feet away from me, knocking down several people on the way. He looked at me and his eyes flashed dangerously. Apart of me screamed for me to stay and fight and the other part screamed for me to run. My flight instinct won. I ran towards the closest exit. I teetered slightly on my four inch heels as I reached the heavy metal door. I threw the door open and collapsed to the ground as soon as I was outside. "What was that, Santana?" I heard a deep, melodic voice say. I gasped and looked up. Standing in the alleyway was Alex, leaning against a dingy brick wall. I pressed my body as tight as I could against the opposite brick wall. "H-how did you g-get out here?" I stammered. "I ran just like you did. Now are you going to tell me what the hell that was about?" He said moving closer to me. I put my arm out to stop him. "I'm sorry, Alex. I didn't mean to push you; I just needed to get away. Please just leave me alone." I said, weakly. His denim clad legs came into view and he stopped directly in front of me. "Santana, I don't understand why you won't just tell me what you a-" I was suddenly standing, my hands holding the collar of Alex's blue shirt in a death grip. "Stop asking me that!" I screamed as I threw him across the alley. I immediately brought my hands to my mouth and gasped. "Oh my ga-Alex, I'm so sorry. I-" He looked up and I was unable to speak. His eyes were now glowing an intense blue, they were literally glowing. "What the fu-" The air was abruptly pushed from my lungs as his hard body slammed me into the wall directly behind where I stood. He lifted me off the ground, holding my arms tight against my sides. "Calm down." He said with a very serious look. "What? No! Put me down, Alex!" I began struggling but he was too strong. There was a strange tingling in my mouth and at the tips of my fingers but my main concern was getting the fuck out of that alley. "Oh, no you don't." I heard Alex say and my confusion bled into heart stopping fear. His canines began to elongate and grow to sharp points. He had fangs! I began to struggle more but it was in vain. His grip on my arms and his body pressed against my legs made me immobile. "Now, I can hold you like this or you can sit still and talk to me, Santana." He said staring straight into my eyes. I could hear hissing and snarling inside my head and felt the tears prickling the back of my eyes. It's official, I've gone crazy. I slowly nodded and Alex moved back slightly, allowing my legs to move freely. Not entirely willing to give up, I kicked out. He moved his right hand to block my assault and I swung my newly freed left hand in his direction, leaving a deep gash down the side of his face. "Fuck! Santana," he roared. "Stay away from me, Alex!" I screamed and turned the run. I had only made it a few feet when he was suddenly standing in front of me. I stopped abruptly. "What are you?" I whispered, staring into his glowing blue eyes. The scratch that I had only seconds before placed on his face was completely gone. "Oh, the tables have turned." He said with a cocky smirk. "You have fangs, Alex!" I screamed still toying with the idea that I was suffering from a psychotic break. He looked at me with a perplexed expression and tilted his head to the side. "So do you, Santana." He said quietly. Those Eyes Ch. 04 Hi! I'm sorry that it has taken me so long to post another chapter. School, work, blah, blah, blah. Everyone knows how it goes. Anywho, I'm sorry that this story is moving at a slow pace. I promise things will heat up in the next installment. This chapter has a lot of dialogue as Santana and Alex get to know each other. I wanted to really develop characters as opposed to having another story where the female lead immediately jumps into bed with the male lead because of a mating pull. It just wouldn't fit with the personality type of Santana right now and Alex is a gentleman, he has no desire to take what he wants from her at this point. As usual, comments and feedback are always welcome and don't forget to vote. If anyone has any suggestions for the story, feel free to let me know. I already have an idea where I'm going with this but I'd love to see what people would like to see or where others see the story going. Enjoy! SRB -Santana- "What did you just say?" I whispered. It was official. I was schizophrenic, there was no other explanation and this, this was an hallucination. "I said that you have fangs." He said in a serious, matter of fact tone. "Santana, if you'd just calm down, we can talk about this. Just calm down, sweetheart." He said, hands in front of him in a non-threatening gesture. He stepped towards me. "You're lying!" I screamed and he paused in his advancement. "This isn't real. None of this is real." I said, as I allowed my tongue to peruse to new angles within my mouth. He was right, there were fangs. I started hyperventilating. I couldn't help it. This couldn't be happening. I balled my hands into fist and immediately cried out at the biting pain. Looking down I saw that my nails had grown into...claws. I had cut myself when I closed my hands. Without thinking, I ran my bloody hands down my front, over my bright white top and black skirt. I looked down at the mess that I had made on my shirt and growled. I began shredding at the jersey fabric, tearing through the blood stains and screaming. Once, all that covered me was a few strips of white fabric, I began kicking and punching at everything in sight. "One night!" I screamed as I kicked the large metal dumpster. "One night was all I wanted to not be a freak, to not feel different!" "Santana, calm down or I'll have to restrain you again. Someone might call the cops." I vaguely heard him say. I looked over at his handsome face. His fangs were gone and his eyes were a little less bright. "Awesome! They go away. Explains so fucking much." I said, snarling at an overturned trashcan. "Santana..." Alex pleaded and took a tentative step towards me. "Yours are gone now too" I held up my clawed hand to pause his movements. "No," It was all I could say. I was beginning to feel defeated, a part of me no longer wanted to fight this. I balled my fists once more, this time relishing the biting pain of my nails cutting into my flesh. The coppery smell of blood filled the alleyway. I found the scent almost pleasant. I looked up at Alex and I was suddenly less concerned with myself. His face looked strained and his blue eyes flashed dangerously. A shiver ran down my spine but I don't think it was in fear. He looked on edge, as if he were mere seconds away from losing control. I looked at my bloody hands and that day in the clearing flashed before my mind, the way that I had killed those men, the way that the blood had smelled... "Alex?" I said, stepping closer to him. I had no idea why I was moving closer, I should have been afraid of him. He knew that I was different, he had fangs! I should have been backing away but something inside of me was compelled to be closer to him, to nurture him, and...nourish him. I visibly gulped at that revelation. "Stop, Santana." He ground out. His voice was deep and husky causing me to shiver once more. I took one more step towards him. "Fuck!" he moaned. "Please stop. You smell so good." He was beginning to tremble slightly. I didn't feel like myself. Typical Santana would have been running away or trembling in a corner somewhere, not making her way towards an unstable...vampire. Vampire? That's what he is right? I mentally asked myself. I took another step and this time I held out my hands, palm up. He looked up at me with those eyes. The eerie glow only making them that much more beautiful. "Will you kiss it and make it better, Alex?" Whoa! Was that me? I was shocked; I would never say anything like that and that voice? I was sure that I didn't sound that...sultry. As if understanding my mental tangent, he stared intensely at me. "W-what?" He stammered out. "I said..." I paused and took a shaky breath. That brief moment of confidence had passed but the desire hadn't. I wanted this. 'No you need this' something inside of me whispered. "I want you to kiss it and ma-" Before I had a chance to finish my request, Alex was on me. He wrapped one strong arm around my waist and pulled me into him, the heat of his body engulfed me. My legs trembled as if my knees had suddenly become liquid. I could have melted from the heat of his body alone, became a puddle at his feet. My hands were trapped between our bodies, my bloodied palms mere centimeters away from my face. He stared into my eyes, as if asking for permission. I nodded. He eased back and I immediately felt cold and empty without his heat pressed against me. He gently lifted my right hand, making circles with his thumb on the back side."You're so soft, Santana." He whispered, his warm breath blowing over my wet palm. "And I bet you taste just as good as you smell." He said. I was mesmerized as his pink tongue snaked out and licked a slow, sensual trail from my wrist to my fingertips. I whimpered and bit my bottom lip to hold in my desperate moan. It was the most erotic thing that I had ever experienced. With each slow lick he took, my black lace boy shorts became wetter and wetter. I was so hungry, but it wasn't just for his body. I wanted something else. I watched as he cleaned my left hand. His moans of pleasure were making me envious. My gaze slid from his mouth and my palm to his jaw then further down to his neck. I watched a vein jump and I groaned. The warm, wet licks on my palm halted. I looked to his face, he was staring at me. "What is it, sweetheart?" He asked, placing a chaste kiss to the center of my palm. I shuddered. "I don't know." I admitted. "I need...something." I said, looking at the vein on his neck for a brief second. He dropped my hands to my side and wrapped both his arms around, pulling me flush against his hard body. I noticed his erection once more; I wandered if he had had it then entire time, even when we were fighting. More like you were fighting him, I mentally amended. "Would you like to taste me?" He asked, tilting his head to the side and looking directly into my eyes. I was disgusted, mortified even. "What? No! I...No!" I said, attempting to push him away. His hold only tightened. He leaned down and placed his lips on the shell of my ear. "Don't fight it." He whispered as I felt his wet tongue tentatively lick my ear lobe. That was it, I was seriously going to melt and he had barely touched me. I was torn between pulling away and slapping him for taking such liberties with me and staying there forever. A part of me screamed that this was right but the other part was scared, disgusted, and confused. "I...I don't...I...can't...I...ahhhh." I stuttered as I stared at the jumping vein on his strong, corded neck. I felt his large hand slide up my back and into my hair, he gently began pushing my head forward, closer to his neck. My mouth began to water. Just one taste, I told myself as I got closer and closer to that delicious looking vein. -Alex- The door slamming into the brick wall rang out in the silence and shattered the moment. I groaned, whipping my head in the direction of the noise. In the doorway stood Ash and Adam with expressions of shock on their faces. "What did you do to her?" Ash whispered between gritted teeth from his stance in front of the now closed alley door. In a blur, she was wretched from my gasp and I was pushed for the third time that night. Santana's scream rang out in the night air. I had only a moment to look in her direction before I was slammed into a wall by Adam. His right hand encircled my throat and I was hoisted up the wall "You know this is not how we do things, little brother," Adam growled as he pushed me further up the wall until my feet hung in the air. I didn't fight. I had to make my older brothers understand. " I didn't touch her. I swear to you both." I said between struggling for air. "Brother, Put. Me. Down." I looked to Santana and saw realization flash across her face. "Brother? You're both like him." She whispered as she began struggling in Ash's grip. "Santana, calm down. We're not going to hurt you, doll." Ash said in a soothing tone. I didn't want her to get worked up again. I didn't know how my brothers would react if they realized that she wasn't human. Her fangs and enlongated nails were no longer visible but I knew that it would be only a matter of moments before they'd once again make an appearance. Making eye contact with her, I realized she was about to make a move and was barely surprised as she stomped her stiletto covered foot down. I heard the sickening sound of bone breaking and punctured skin as Ash howled and released his hold of an agitated Santana. She looked emotionally and physically exhausted as she moved away from Ash and turned to face me. Her piercing green eyes met my blue ones. More emotions than I could decipher flashed in her gaze before she spoke. "Stay away from me." She whispered. She then turned to look at Adam the Ash. "All of you, stay the hell away from me." Then she ran. Over a week later... I hadn't been sleeping. I hated closing my eyes. Whenever I did, sad emerald eyes stared back at me. Somehow I knew that she was lonely and scared. Those eyes said it all. I didn't feel whole. As I lied in my bed, I sighed. I knew I wasn't going to fall asleep any time soon and if I was human, I knew that a week without sleep would have had harmful effects on my mental state. Still as a vampire, not sleeping for a week had made me feel ...not right. I considered calling one of my siblings and forcing them to talk to me but I didn't want to make anyone else as miserable as I was. I didn't understand what I was feeling. I knew her for less than an hour and I missed her. I actually missed her. I lifted my head slightly and slammed it back against the pillow. I needed to get up. Lying in bed, thinking about some stranger wasn't what I needed to be doing. I rolled and kicked my feet off the side of the bed, bringing myself to a sitting position. My stomach growled. On top of not sleeping as I should have, I hadn't been eating as often. " What did you do to me, Santana?" I wondered out loud. I growled and stood up quickly. My mind flashed back to that night in the alley way. If Adam and Ash hadn't shown up, everything would have been fine. I would have felt her full lips against my skin and I most likely would have ended up with her in my bed that night. No, I definitely would have ended up her in my bed, I mentally corrected myself. After I explained that I hadn't harmed her, they apologized profusely. Adam, being so charming, apologized for "cock blocking." I still hadn't spoken to either of them since that night. A part of me was so angry at the two of them for more than just...cock blocking. I got up and made my way to the adjoining bathroom. Using the control panel on the wall, I set my shower to a toasty 98 degrees and stripped out of my boxers. After testing the water out with my hand, I climbed into my large shower stall. The steaming water on my skin helped to sooth my nerves but not my restless mind. My mind once again drifted back to the alley. I thought of her teeth, they were like nothing I had ever seen before. Her canines had elongated much like a vampire but her other teeth also formed deadly sharp points. But what really invaded my thoughts was her face that night. She had looked so sad, confused, scared. My heart tightened in my chest and I couldn't help bringing my hand up, clenching at my chest.It was as if thinking of her hurting was breaking my heart. Hours later, I found myself sitting at my desk. I sighed and closed my laptop. I had a paper due in a few weeks and I hadn't made nearly as much progress on it as I should have. For over a week, all I could think about was a certain green eyed beauty with caramel skin. I exhaled dramatically as I ran my hands through my hair. Finding this girl was becoming more and more important. Somehow, I knew that my mind wouldn't settle until I had her near me again. I stood up abruptly, mind made up. I was going to find her. I grabbed my keys, slipped on my canvas shoes and headed towards my front door with purpose. As I threw the door open my practical side took over. I knew nothing about her, except her name and that she wasn't human. Cursing, I slid down the wall until I was sitting on the floor in the middle of the hallway. I slammed my fist against the wall behind me and groaned immediately. Not because it hurt but because my father was not going to be happy with having the now damaged wall prepared. I racked my brain, thinking of any and all possible ways to find her. I had sensed her in the club, that night. I wondered if I could again. I closed my eyes and focused on her. I thought about her perfect face, her smile, her sensual body, and her scent. I thought about home, peace, and completion and relished in the feeling of my body heating up. It was working and I could barely contain my excitement at the prospect of seeing her again. I stood and made my way outside. Once outside of the building, I smiled as I felt the familiar tug, without question, I headed right. -Santana- I struggled with feelings of excitement and loneliness for days. I didn't understand the reason for either emotion. Each and every time that I closed my eyes, I was accosted with stellar blue eyes staring back at me. Alex. Somehow I knew that he wasn't going to hurt me that night but still, I ran. It had been a week and the overwhelming frequency of my thoughts of him was intruding on my normal, boring life. I was barely sleeping and when I did manage to sleep, I dreamt of Alex doing the most wicked things to my body. The dreams and recollection of the dreams caused me to be in what i can only describe as a state of constant arousal. I had never experienced feelings of this nature before. That wasn't even the worst part. If I wasn't dreaming and day dreaming about Alex touching me, I was dreaming about Alex and me in other situations. Alex and I at the park, lying down and watching clouds, Alex and I going on long drives down 81 on lazy Sunday afternoons, Alex and I slow dancing. I had desperately tried convincing myself that these thoughts were insane considering the fact that he was a monster but I knew that wasn't true. If he was a monster, what did that make me? I had to admit that he called to me. He called to me on the most basic level and it scared the shit out of me. As I sat at a table in a secluded corner of the library, I remembered how he wasn't afraid of me. He had seemed more endeared to me after realizing my most well-kept secret. He had asked what I was and I had desperately wished that I had answers for him. Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I looked back down at my text book for the billionth time since I had gotten here. My brain didn't want to focus on anything but Alex and that was the biggest problem. I hated how his sudden introduction into my life would intruding upon my studies. I had spent the better part of the two days after our encounter crying in my bed. I couldn't help it, I suddenly felt lonelier than I ever had and studying was the last thing that I wanted to do. None of this made sense. My reaction to him was insane. I had let him taste my blood for goodness sake! No, it didn't make sense but it felt right. Meeting him had felt right and I had run away. I had run away from possibly the only person who would accept all of me. I bit down on my bottom lip. Since that night, my teeth and nails had begun elongating and sharpening whenever I was in a highly emotional state. Those two days crying had been accompanied by bloody, cut lips and shredded bedding. Once I realized what was triggering my change, I began to learn to master my emotions. I recognized the beginning of the change by the sharpening of my senses, when that would happen, I would take deep, long breaths. It had been helping. "The 3' end links to exon 2 and the 5' end links to exon 1." I read the sentence aloud from my molecular genetics text book. "Bah. Blah. Blah." I sighed and leaned back in the hard wooden chair. I had been at the library for 3 hours and I had read no more than a paragraph. I closed my eyes only to abruptly open them once more... He was close. My heart had begun to pound like its home was no longer within my chest but somewhere else. I groaned as my entire body heated up and my skin prickled. Gasping, I tried to breathe deeply and ignore the vibration of my cells. I fought the tug of my body, it knew exactly where he was. I could smell him, his masculine, spicy scent that tasted like sensual promises. I refused to turn around. I refused to seek him out. I stared straight ahead, breathing deeply; and when my soul erupted through my chest, I knew he was there, watching me. I knew he knew that I was aware of his presence. I couldn't look at him. My body's reaction to him was terrifying and so exhilarating that I feared what I would do if I looked into his eyes, saw all of his perfection. Neither of us made a move, neither spoke. Without looking at him, I could sense his restraint. He wanted something but was afraid to have it. We were alike in that respect. My body literally shook with anticipation. The tension in the room was palpable and I began squirming in my awkwardness. One of us needed to speak. Someone had to make the first move. Apart of me wanted my first move to be me running but the greater part of me begged me to stay. I licked my dry lips and cleared my throat. "Sit, please." I whispered. It felt like a whole minute passed before he moved. I looked down at the table as he seated himself directly across from me. I felt his intense gaze on me but I couldn't look up. I was afraid of what looking into those eyes would cause me to do. "How'd you find me?" I asked, still watching the table as if I expected the hard, dark wood to shift into something else. "I won't answer you until you look at me, Santana." Ugh, that voice. So deep and melodic slid over my skin like an intimate lover. I couldn't look up, not until I knew for sure that looking into those piercing blue eyes wouldn't cause me to melt into a puddle at his feet. "Santana..." I looked up then. The abruptness of our eye contact caused us both to gasp. It was just like the first time. I had no idea how much time passed with us just staring at one another. He was beautiful and I suddenly felt...insufficient. I began to fidget with the hair tie that I always kept around my right wrist but I never took my eyes away from his. He smiled and the world stopped. So beautiful, I thought. "Thank you." He said and I realized then that I had spoken out loud. My cheeks heated up and I looked back down at the table. "Please don't hide your eyes from me... they're all I've thought about in over a week." He whispered, his admission causing me to look up. I opened my mouth to ask my original question. "I felt you, just like you felt me when I got close." He said as if sensing my intent. Those Eyes Ch. 04 I squinted my eyes like I did when in deep thought. I looked around making sure that no one was close before I spoke again. "Is it because of...wh-...what...I am?" I asked timidly. "No, I think it's because of...who you are." He said with an expression that led me to believe that he barely understood what he just said. "I think I understand what you just said about as much as you do, Alex." I said with an awkward laugh. "Yeah, I don't know." He said on a laugh and ran his hand down his face. I followed every movement. "Why can we feel each other?" I asked as I studied his eyes. "No idea, Ana." I gave him a perplexed look. "Just a little nickname, I wanted to try out." He said with side grin that resembled the same look he had given me in my dreams. "Okay...Lex." I said with a smile. "How did you know that I'm not..." I found it hard to finish the question. "Not human?" He asked. I nodded and started to look back down. "No, Ana. Look at me." I chuckled nervously and looked back up. Pleased with my cooperation, he began speaking again."I didn't at first, you're very convincing as a human." Those words didn't settle well with me." When we were close, I smelled it then." "Smelled what exactly? I asked curiously, afraid that I possessed some unappealing scent that others could smell. "Something primal. It's hard to describe." He replied, as if in deep thought before his eyes met mine once more. The way he looked at me was too familiar. I stared at him for a moment, trying to get up nerve to ask him my next question. I exhaled deeply. "Do you know...what...I am, Alex? Am I like you?" I tried to hide the desperation from my voice. "You truly don't know do you?" I shook my head, staring at the one person that could possibly have answers for me. "I have no idea, Santana. I'm so sorry but I've never scented anything like you. Your scent was so human and yet it wasn't. And your teeth..." He said. "Unlike anything that I have ever seen." I tried to stop the tears from falling then but I couldn't help it. He couldn't help me; he didn't have the answers that desperately needed. He was beside me then, suddenly. His strong arms were wrapped around me and I cried into his chest. "Since I was 17, I have been so lost. " I sobbed. "I had thought, for a second, that you could tell me what I am but you can't help me. Fuck!. "He pulled away from me then and stared at me. Being away from his warmth felt wrong and I scrambled back into his arms. I hadn't cried in another person's arms in more than five years and I needed him to hold me. "Tell me what happened when you were 17, Santana." He whispered into my hair. Between broken sobs, I told him everything from that day in the field. I told him how the men killed my father and how I killed them. I told him how my senses had changed. "I hadn't thought about it until a week ago and then I met you and it happened again." I said between fragmented sobs. "And now it keeps happening and I can't stop thinking about you and sometimes thinking about you makes it happen!" I exclaimed before I realized what I was saying. He stiffened beneath me briefly before his hard body once again softened under mine. -Alex- I had seen the glimmer of hope in her eyes. She had hoped that I would be able to tell her what she was. It broke my heart that I couldn't. I inhaled deeply, her strange scent surrounding me. She sounded so broken as she cried in my arms. She seemed so lost and alone and my soul cried for me to help her. Even in her despair, I couldn't help but realize how her body felt against mine. Her generous breast were pressed against my torso and I groaned. I needed to get my mind off of my current train of thought. I listened intently to her story. "Santana?" She looked up with her tear strained face. "Where are you from?" It was the first question that came to mind. She laughed as she untangled her arms from around my body. "Southwest Virginia." She replied as she wiped away a few tears. That explained her slight southern accent, I thought. I wanted to keep her talking, anything to get my mind off how her lush curves felt against my body. Plus, I was finding that I liked her voice. "Will you tell me about it?" I asked. "It's in the mountains. There's always a nice breeze." She said as it appeared to finally dawn on her what a compromising position she was in. She groaned slightly as she slid off my lap and back into her own chair. I fought every fiber in my body to restrain from pulling her back into my embrace. She awkwardly laughed, refusing to make eye contact with me. I couldn't tell if I found that habit of hers to be annoying or adorable. I cleared my throat and she immediately understood what I wanted. She looked at me and smiled her usual awkward smile. "What else?" I asked as I stared into her olive colored eyes. She looked up as if thinking of what to tell me next and she smiled a secret smile. "There are stars." She nearly whispered. "Stars? There are stars everywhere." I said, confused. "Well, yes. You're right." She said looking at me seriously before smiling again. "But there, home, the stars are the brightest. The sky looks like it's blanketed in tiny diamonds." She laughed then and scrunched her perfect face. "Fuck that sounded cliché." I couldn't help but laugh. She had a dirty mouth. "Fuck" seeming like it was her favorite of all curse words. "Yes, that was pretty fucking cliché." I said and she chuckled. I liked the sound of her laugh, I got the feeling that she didn't laugh nearly enough. "You know, I've never told anyone this but...I am very fond of stars." I said. It was true; when I was younger, I used to sit outside for hours just staring at the sky during the night. "Well, you should see the ones in Southern Virginia, then." She said with a shy smile. Suddenly the sentence was leaving my lips before my brain had fully processed it. "Let's go then." "Ok, let's just hop into my Audi and take a little trip to the boons, shall we?" She said as she mimed packing up her backpack. I realized then that I was serious. "How about we take my X5 instead?" I asked looking expectantly at the perfect stranger. She paused in her pantomime and looked directly at me. "Alex..." She started. "Right now. Me, you and the Glee soundtrack. Four hour road trip." "You do not have the Glee soundtrack." Was all that she said as she stared at me with squinted eyes. "No. You're right. But that was the only thing that I was joking about." -Santana- I stared out of the car window as we drove down 81. What the fuck are you doing, Santana? I mentally chastised myself. I was sitting in the passenger seat of a BMW with a man who was a perfect stranger, driving me to my hometown. As much as I wanted to be disturbed by my behavior, I couldn't be. Alex didn't feel like a stranger and sitting beside him only continued to feel more right. I tried to sneak a look at the beautiful man sitting beside me using only my peripheral vision. "Yes?" He said in an amused tone, acknowledging my look. I quickly looked back to the window. "Are we really going to my hometown?" I asked, still staring as the passing scenery. "Santana..." Was all that he said and I knew that he wanted me to look at him but what I didn't understand was why. "I really don't appreciate you telling me to look at you." I said in a flat tone. "You never make eye contact. I've only seen you twice and this was definitely in the top ten first things that I noticed about you." He said with a smile. "What were the other 9?" I couldn't help but ask. "Number one, your skin tone. Number two, your eyes. Number three, your dimples. Number four, your lips." He paused then and cleared his throat. I couldn't help but laugh. My laughter seemed to snap him out of his reverie. 'Oh! Where was I? Oh yes, number five..." He had already listed everything from the neck up, I could only imagine what five through nine were. "You don't have to continue," I said while blushing. "I can...guess where your list was headed." He chuckled. "Have you always been like this?" "Like what, awesome?" I asked, finally loosening up a bit. He laughed. It was a deep, happy sound. "Well, yes. But I meant..how do I put this gently?" He paused. "Awkward. I believe that's the correct term for it." I interjected. "Well, yes. I'm going to be straight with you." He said while shuffling through songs on his iTouch. "You're beautiful." He said, giving me a side glance and an appreciative look. Blushing, I attempted a smile. "Thanks." "But I have never known anyone who looks like you, act the way you do." He said with a cautious smile. I was fidgeting with my hands in my lap, refusing to make eye contact with him. I hated being called out on my suffocating awkwardness. I began thinking back to my middle school years when everyone was expected to be clumsy, shy, and socially inept and how I outshined all of my classmates in all of those respects. I could remember their teasing like it was yesterday. "Santana?" I heard his melodious voice break through my haze of memories. I blinked, looking up into his bright blue eyes. The eyes that had haunted my dreams for over a week and I visibly gulped as those eyes seemed to scream, "it's okay" "I had to start wearing glasses when I was two, hearing aids when I was four. Wearing glasses as a kid wasn't the fashion statement that it is now. The kids on the playground used to push me down and steal my glasses. They'd toss them around, break them." I paused, thinking about my childhood was always painful. "There was one girl whose favorite game was to sneak up behind me and turn down my hearing aids, literally rendering me deaf until I would catch on to what she had done. 'Kids will be kids' that's what the teachers would always say." "Santana, you don't have to...why are you telling me this?" He asked, peaking at me with a side glance. His expression was so odd. He looked like he was hurting. I shook that thought from my head, it made no sense. "You asked me if I were always like this. I wasn't. It was worse because of my race. People in small towns with closed minds have this desire to put everything into a box and they couldn't do that with me. I'm black, I'm part Asian. My..." I paused looking for the right word. "Ambiguity made them hate me. They also didn't understand my skin condition. I couldn't 't go into direct sunlight without prescription sunblock. My skin would burn." I winced thinking about a particularly painful memory." Brandon Walker, a boy who I was convinced was the spawn of Satan, pushed me out into the sunlight and locked the doors so, that I couldn't get back inside the classroom once. 'N words don't burn!', he screamed as he shut the door. I had forgotten my sunscreen that day. I stood outside for twenty minutes before the teacher realized that I was missing. I had to be rushed to the hospital once they found me." I looked at Alex. A single tear was sliding down his right cheek. His fist were so tight on the steering wheel that his knuckles were now white. I knew that I should have stopped my story but I had never told anyone these things and getting it all out felt good so, I continued. "I was adopted...by a Vietnamese couple. That was more fuel for them. It was different and closed minds don't really appreciate different. They would use their fingers to pull out the corners of their eyes into slants and say that they were my parents." It hurt talking about my parents but I could tell that Alex was listening to every word and talking to him felt so good. I exhaled deeply, getting all of this off my chest was freeing. "My Papa, he was brilliant. A scientist. It's why I'm a biology major. I want to make him and Mama proud. But like most brilliant people, Papa was...eccentric. He was always paranoid. He and Mama were so protective of me. I never told them how I was treated at school. I think...I was embarrassed of them. I didn't want my eccentric Asian parents showing up at school, causing a scene. The kids would have had a field day with that. They already made fun of my race, my eyesight, my hearing, my eating issues, my skin issues and my parents. They didn't need anything else." "Eating issues?" It was the first thing that he had said since I began my recount. "I couldn't eat many things. Physicians could never figure it out. I don't know." "Hm." was his reply. I took it as my cue to wrap up the tragedy that was my life. "It got to the point where, not making eye contact with people was my only defense in keeping them from attacking me verbally and sometimes physically, throwing things. And I always preferred not actually seeing people talk about me. So, to wrap things up, I'm neurotic, anxious, socially inept, and awkward but I wasn't always like this." I said, returning my gaze to the window. I didn't want to see his reaction. I was afraid that I would see disgust in his eyes and the mere thought of that was almost crippling. I tried to will my body to stop trembling as I began fidgeting with my hands in my lap. Suddenly the wringing of my hands was halted by a larger hand. His hands were soft and warm. I looked back towards him and my breath caught as we made eye contact. Those eyes would be the death of me. The atmosphere was so intense. Thirty minutes passed before a single word was spoken. I cleared my throat. I wanted to hear his voice. "Question game?" I nearly whispered. His laughter broke the tension. "The question game just happens to be my favorite game." I had never really played before, never having anyone to play with." I'll start. What's your whole name?" He asked. I was glad that he had asked the first question. It was then that I was once again reminded that I had gotten into a car with a person whose last name I did not know. I was surprised that the realization didn't bother me. "Santana Olivia Nguyen. My mother's American name was Sandra and my papa's was Oliver. What's yours?" "Alexander Fernando Carlisle. All of our initials are AFC. 'A' for my father Allisar and 'F' for my mother, Francesca." He replied easily. "All?" I asked. "Yeah, all of my siblings, there's seven of us." "Are you all so...pretty?" I asked, curiously. "Did...you just call me pretty?" He said with mock astonishment. I laughed. "Which adjective would you prefer, Alexander Fernando? Handsome? Sexy as sin? Epitome of masculine perfection?" I tried keeping a straight face but it was impossible. "Oh, look at you, Ms. Santana Oliva, pulling out the government names. And sexy as sin will do." He said with an outrageous wink. I laughed. "Your turn to ask a question." He said with a smile. "I believe that I did ask one. Are all of your siblings sexy as sin?" I asked, amending my original question earning me a brilliant smile. "Hm, well you met Ash and Adam. There's Aston and Anthony, the twins, and Aaron, and Aislyn. I do suppose that we're all...lookers." As I listened to him name his siblings, I realized that I had heard those names before. "Alex?" "Yeah?" He said as he changed lanes. "You're not the son of Allisar Carlisle, the bagillionaire are you?" "Just so we're clear, how many zeroes is there in a bagillion?" He asked, barely containing a laugh. I blushed and slapped his arm playfully as I let a laugh escape. "Answer the question, smart ass." "I would but it wasn't your turn to ask one, oh zealous one." He replied. Our banter was so easy. Too easy. "What's your favorite color?" The simplicity of the question startled me. "Creative." I said with a smirk. "Hey! Don't make fun of questions. That's definitely in the question game rule guide." "You're right. My apologies, Keeper of the Rules. My favorite color is purple. What's yours?" "It's-" He started. " And no, you can't say blue." I added He laughed. "But what if it is blue?" "Then lie." I said, simply. "Wow, starting off our relationship with lies." He said and I could tell that he was just as surprised by what he said as I was. With one look, we both silently decided to ignore the comment. "It's green." He said. "is that a lie?" "No." He said with a slow smile. I fought to keep myself from blushing. He was just so attractive and every smile that crossed his perfect lips felt like it was just for my enjoyment. His smiles spoke of promises and it was too much to look at him sometimes but at the same time, it was hard to look away. We went on like this for a little over an hour. I had learned that Alex was 25, working on his PhD at Georgetown, his favorite food was hotdogs, and he hated Justin Bieber with an odd amount of passion. Our time together felt so normal but I couldn't delude myself into thinking that this was actually normal. We had both avoided asking questions about what we were, concentrating more on who we were. I liked that but I was so new to this world and there was so much that I didn't know. "Alex?" I said after five minutes of comfortable silence. "Go ahead, ask me anything," was his response. It was obvious that he had been expecting this. I decided to get the biggest question out of the way first. "How does the...blood drinking work?" I stared at him as I waited for his reply. "Well, we can live without it. Human food can...sustain us. But that's like being a meat lover and having to become a vegetarian for health reasons. It essentially, for lack of better term, sucks. Drinking human blood keeps us at peak strength and agility." "Do you feed from people?" I asked, becoming a little nervous. "Yes," was his quick reply. "Do you ki- kill them?" I had to ask. "No, it's not necessary It's also illegal." His wording seemed odd to me. "You mean because murder is illegal?" I asked, hoping that I wasn't annoying him with my line of questioning. He chuckled. "No, I mean in the vampire community. The murder of a human is punishable by..." He paused. "How are you about hearing gross things?" He asked, looking at me. I thought for a moment. "I can handle most things. So, what's the punishment for murdering a human?" "Fang removal. It essentially renders the vampire incapable of ever feeding from a human again." "I see. It's sort of like cutting off the hands of a thief" "Exactly." He said with a laugh. "It's archaic, I know but it's pretty effective." "So, does your entire family...share this...condition?" His laugh was so loud in cabin of the vehicle that it caused me to jump. I became uncomfortable. "I'm sorry if I'm asking dumb questions." "No. No, it was your wording. 'Condition' just sounds so...clinical." He said, sensing my uneasiness. "I never claimed to be the master of wording. Awkward. Remember?" I stated with a small smile. "Maybe they have a treatment for your...condition." He bantered. I couldn't help but laugh. "Awkward Anonymous." "Hi, my name is Santana and I'm awkward." "Hi, Santana." We said at the exact same time, immediately laughing after. When the laughter died down, he spoke. "We're all vampires." "So, is your family like the Cullens and Hales, your parents adopted you all?" I said, immediately regretting my analogy. "Did you just make a Twilight reference?" "Nope." I said immediately. "The Cullens and the Hales were... a family that I knew when I was younger. The parents adopted all these gorgeous kids from all over the world, everyone thought that they had such big hearts. It was discovered later that the parents were running a sweatshop in the wine cellar. Tragic really." I said, barely containing my laughter at my inability to come up with a better cover up. "No, it's not a... Cullen/ Hale situation. Though that really is tragic," He looked at me. "We also don't sparkle in the sun." He said with the brightest, most brilliant smile I had ever seen and I could only stare in awe for a moment. If this man glittered in the sunlight, it would be game over. I had always had a weakness for pretty, sparkly things. Those Eyes Ch. 04 "We are all biologically related. We were born vampires." "So, vampires can reproduce?" I asked. "Yep." "But I thought that vampires were essentially...dead?" There was so much information to be learned. There was so much that the world had wrong. "Nope, not dead. We also don't sleep in coffins, garlic has no effects, a stake to the heart would kill anything, we regenerate much faster but can be killed by most human means, and sunlight has no real effect anymore. We can see our reflections, which is a good thing considering the narcissistic nature of the vampire. Oh, and we don't turn into bats. But that would be pretty cool. Vampire 101." "Hm." Was all that I could say as I processed the information. "What did you mean that sunlight doesn't affect you any longer?" "When we're younger, up until age five, the sun can be pretty deadly but we grow out of it." "Oh," I said as my stomach growled. We hadn't eaten since we set out. We were so ill prepared for this trip, the only thing that I had with me was my MacBook and my molecular genetics text book. I had driven Alex to his apartment where we parked my car and got his. "There are some blood bags in the center console." He said, looking at me tentatively. I blanched at the idea of drinking blood. "I would prefer...human food, if you don't mind." I said, hoping that I hadn't offended him. He laughed. "I meant for me. I'm hungry also. I just saw a sign for a food exit. No worries, sweetheart." -Alex- I watched as she opened the center console as I parked. "A freezer?!" She exclaimed. I laughed, "Yeah, it's pretty necessary," I said as she handed me the bag of O negative. I was starving and the sound of her blood running through her bodies was driving me insane. As I tore into the bag, I prayed that I would get to taste her again soon. She was obviously as drawn to me as I was to her. It was obvious in the way she appraised me when she thought that I wasn't paying attention. It was a miracle that we hadn't crashed. I had barely taken my eyes off her the entire three hours that we had been in the car. I was still so surprised that she had agreed to go with me but if she was feeling for me a fraction of what I was feeling for her, I knew she felt like going with me was something that she had to do. Being this close to her in the car settled my soul. I watched her every move as she exited the car and walked into the fast food restaurant. Her skinny jeans fit her curves like they were painted on. Her hair was in a long, thick braid and her plain black tank top rode up a little as she walked, revealing her golden skin. I groaned. I had never wanted someone as much as I wanted her. I realized that I liked everything about this girl even her awkwardness. I thought back to her recalling her childhood in the very place that were now heading to and figured that I should bring it up. She had told me in the library that she hadn't been back home since she left for school. She seemed strangely ok with going back which made me curious. I finished my second bag as she walked out munching on what smelled like a grilled chicken sandwich. She climbed back in and we sat in companionable silence as she ate her meal. When she returned from throwing the garbage away, I decided to ask her about her relaxed demeanor. "I'm kind of hoping that going home will give me some answers. I can't shake the feeling that Papa knew something." "So, you're using me?" I asked, only slightly serious. "No, you've just given me the means to do this. I couldn't go alone. With you here...I don't know...your presence is comforting. With you, I can do this." She said as she sipped her drink. "With you, it feels like...it will all be okay." Her words struck something inside of me and I was filled with warmth. I didn't understand why her simple statement affected me so. I didn't understand why this girl, in general, affected me. All I wanted in that moment was to help her and I sent up a silent prayer that going home would give her the answers that she needed. Those Eyes Ch. 05 Hi! Here's the latest installment. I hope you all enjoy! SRB -Alex- "This is it." She whispered as we pulled up to a large gate. She handed me a card, that I assumed was some sort of key, and I swiped it tentatively. The impressive gate creaked open, obvious that we were the only visitors that this place had seen in quite some time. "Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked as we drove down an impossibly long driveway. There were trees everywhere and I could imagine a younger Santana playing for hours our here behind the safety of that iron gate. "Yes, I need to get some answers. I've been running from this for five years." I nodded, I agreed that she needed to find answers but I had this sinking feeling that the truth was going to rock her to her core. I sighed as we came upon yet another large gate, this one requiring a pass code. "6161988," She whispered. "It's my birthday. I told you that Papa was a little paranoid. I guess it didn't matter in the end." I could hear the pain in her voice. I quickly punched in the pass code. As the gate creaked open, I reached over and took her hand in mine. "We don't have t-" "No. I'm OK. You're here." She said, looking out the window toward the woods. The comfort she seemed to draw from me made me feel a sort of male pride that I had never experienced before. I could feel that she was now looking at me with a contemplative stare. "You know what I feel when you're close?" She asked suddenly. "I imagine it's something like what I feel with you close." I said, thoughtfully. "It feels like...my...soul is bursting through my body but at peace at the same time. I feel warm inside and my skin prickles like there is a small amount of electricity running over my body. Then there's your scent. I had never paid much attention to scents before but yours is like absolution and everything that I want and had no idea that I needed." She looked up at me, her cheeks had the sweetest red flush to them. "It makes no sense and it scares the shit out of me." She said with a nervous laugh. "You just learned that vampires exists and this is what scares you?" I asked, trying to ease her embarrassment. "Is that what you feel?" She asked, still looking at me. I took a deep breath, my eloquence escaping me. "Yes. Everything about you calls to me, like I was made to..." I couldn't go on, it suddenly hit me why I was feeling like this, why she felt like this. I didn't know why I hadn't seen it sooner, when I first felt her. I needed to call my parents, they were the only people that I knew that might be able to confirm what I already knew was true. "Like you were made to what?" Her sweet voice broke into my thoughts. "Oh," I cleared my throat. "Let's have this conversation after we look through your place ok?" I said as normally as I could but what I was felt was anything but normal. "Fine." She said, turning back to look out the window. Shit, I thought. "We will talk about this later, Ana. I promise." I said, using my thumb to trace light circles in her palm. Her breathe caught and she coughed to cover up a groan. I couldn't help the smile the crossed my lips. After one more gate and an impossibly long driveway, we reached the house. The house was surprisingly average considering the lead up. "Home, sweet home." She said as she opened her car door. The house was a cobalt blue with once pristine white shutters. There were two wrap around porches, one on the first floor and the other on the second floor. It was a beautiful home, I told her so. "Yeah, my mom's dream home. I loved it here. This is the first time that I've been back since...I couldn't bring myself to come back after that day." She said as she ascended the large stairs. She turned back to look at me, "Remember to take your shoes off. This is an oriental household." She said with a sad smile. I was beside her in less than a second, her hand in mine. "We'll go in together." She nodded as she reached into her bag and pulled out her key chain. She sighed deeply as she unlocked the door and the scent of neglect accosted us as she began pushing open the door. I paused her advancement into the house. Considering the circumstances in which she left the house, it was best that I went in first. My assumption had been correct. -Santana- It was all destroyed. The furniture was turned over, pictures were thrown from the walls. I fought the urge to collapse to the floor; I knew that if I had I would have never touched the floor. He would have caught me. I felt my vision began to sharpen, only making the disarray so much clearer. The heartbeat of the man beside me, the very sound that I had relished in during ride, was now a crippling pounding in my ears. I didn't even bother taking deep breaths. I just wanted to free whatever it was inside of me and saturate myself in my anger and fear. As if sensing my intent, Alex caught my fist just before it could connect with the drywall of the foyer. "No," was all that he said. I stared up into those eyes, searching for the peace that only they could offer me. Our eyes remained connected long after I had calmed down. He released my wrist and walked into the living room. I watched him with curiosity from the foyer as he picked up a picture of me and my parents and placed it back on the wall. I watched, dumfounded, as he set the couch upright and then the loveseat and coffee table. "What are you doing?" I asked as my eyes watched his every movement. "I'm fixing it. You shouldn't have had to see it this way." He whispered as he picked up a large painting. "Alex..." I began to say but the words were caught in my throat. I swallowed the lump and wandered into the living room. My heightened emotional state allowed me to tap into my strength and speed and it only took us a few hours to have the entire downstairs back as it should have been. Tears streamed down my face the entire time. Every once in a while, Alex would stop what he was doing to hold me. Once down stairs was finished, we went upstairs. I was sure what we were looking for was in my parent's room. I had always referred to it as my parent's room even after it became only my father's room. "Can we go to my room now? I can't go into his room yet." I asked, staring at his closed door. "Anything you want, Ana." He said as he took my hand. "Which is yours?" He asked. "The one at the end of hall. It'll probably be the worst." I said as we made our way down the hall. I was right. My room was beyond recognizable. Nothing was in the place that I had left it. "We don't have to fix this. Whatever they wanted wasn't in here. I just wanted to see it." I said as I walked into the place that was once my haven. "I used to spend so much time in here." I said as I picked up a picture of my parents and me. I slid it into my bag. "I can't see my parent's room like this. I just can't." I turned to look at a very lost looking Alex and couldn't help the slight smile. "in their room, there's a space in the closet, I've never been in there. I had no reason to before but if Papa was hiding anything, it'd be there." I described how to find the secret space and went back downstairs into the living room. I waited there, looking through old pictures until Alex returned holding a medium sized box. He sat the box down in front of me. "I need to make a phone call, I'm sure my family is worried about me." I nodded. "I'll be right outside, if you need me just call my name." He looked at me as if he was afraid to leave me alone but I could tell that something was on his mind. "If you want to wait to go through the box when I get back or we could do it now and I'll call home after..." "No, it's OK. Go call your family." I said trying to assure him, yet not being so sure myself. "I'll be right outside." He said as he left, closing the door behind him. I took a deep breath as I lifted the lid off the box. I'm not sure how much time passed with me staring at its contents, several manila folders and filing folders. I lifted the folder that was on top and sifted through its pages, everything was a Xerox copy. I peeked through the remaining folders, they were the same as the first, and everything was a copy. "Where are the originals?" I whispered to myself as I settled down to go through the first folder more in depth. It appeared to be a case study of some sort. It was something Papa was working on but I found that strange. Papa never bought his wok home, it was a rule that Mama has put in place before they had even adopted me. I was particularly intrigued because I never had any real idea what Papa did. The file held contents of study on a man named Adam. There were several pictures at each stage of , what I can only assume was, Adam's life. Every once in a while, there was a picture of a large black wolf. I paused on what appeared to be the latest picture of Adam taken. He was an attractive man. He had jet black hair, olive toned skin, and appeared to be some mix of Native American and Asian but the first thing I had noticed were his eyes, an eerie shade of green. The look in those eyes was wild, and feral. I shuddered. He looked like he was barely in control. I set the pictures aside and started looking through the other documents, all written in my father's handwriting. On, November 7, 1976, he wrote, "It's appearing impossible to splice the genes together. I need more time." On January 4, 1977, he wrote, "I've figured it out. I've figured out how to link the genes together but the cost may be too high. Despite my concerns, the experiment will proceed into the next stage." I was confused but I continued to skim through the notes and read aloud. August 10, 1977: "Adam was 'born' at 5:34am this morning. Everything appears to be in order; however, he is aging at a rate much quicker than predicted. If this keeps up, we begin testing in three days." October 15, 1977:" Adam now appears to look like a typical human five year old. He's beginning the early stages of transformation. He cannot fully transform yet but it's only a matter of time. His other nature is showing itself in his eating habits. Overall, Adam is progressing as expected." December 12, 1977: "Adam transformed today." I paused then and picked up one of the photos of the black wolf. I ran my finger over the photo. "Adam?" I skimmed through the other notes, only detailing Adam's progress. I didn't stop to really read until I had reached June 8, 1985. "Adam refuses to speak. He insists on staying in his other form until he is persuaded to change. The feral look in his eyes increases daily. His temper is beginning to flare and due to the volatile turn of his nature, we have been forced to decrease his contact with the staff. It's becoming unsafe. We made a mistake." July 20, 1985:" The order has been sent. Adam is scheduled for termination. Today, Adam broke free of his confines and attacked a staff member. She died. " July 22, 1985: "Adam has been terminated. It feels wrong, people don't get 'terminated.' It was murder. We made a mistake. The order has been sent, we begin phase 2 immediately." I was shocked. I had no idea what Papa did and now that I did...I wiped a tear away as it ran down my cheek. I couldn't figure out for whom I was crying. My father or Adam. I still didn't understand what my father had done to Adam. I searched through the file until I came across something that looked far beyond the scope of my biology knowledge. I looked through the page trying to pick out words that I could understand. I began to form a conclusion when I saw a small equation in the bottom corner of the page. I laughed. It was just like my father to simplify things to a condescending degree. "Lycanthrope+Vampyre-Human=Adam" It dawned on me what my father had done. To splice together the two genes, vampyre and whatever a lycanthrope is, he had to remove some degree of humanity. "The cost may be too high..." I whispered my father's written words. I picked up the next file; it held information about a woman named, Melanie Johnson. I sifted through the pictures attached to the back of the file. Melanie Johnson was a very pretty woman. The pictures were of her going through various stages of pregnancy. She was beautiful while pregnant, her milk chocolate skin glowed and her eyes twinkled. I read her bio. She was 23 years old, from New Orleans, and in medical school. The page after her bio was the copy of some sort of contract. I read through the document, she had agreed to be a surrogate mother. I started getting a sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach but proceeded going through the file. As in Adam's file, there were notes written by my father. September 20, 1987:"We performed the procedure. Today, at 10:15am, Melanie Johnson was inseminated with Adam's sperm." I looked back at the contract, something didn't seem right. Melanie had agreed to be the surrogate for a Mr. and Mrs. Jasper. She had been lied to. All of the notes until the birth date just chronicled the pregnancy and my father's apparently growing guilt. June 16, 1988: "Baby Girl Eve was born, 12:14pm. Melanie did not survive the birth." This was the last passage in her file. My hands trembled as I picked up the last file, Eve. There were only two pictures in this file. They were both of a light skinned baby with black hair and green eyes. June 20, 1988: "The child appears to have sensory issues. She is slow to respond to both audio and visual stimuli. There have also been issues concerning the child's diet. It has yet to be discovered what food items the child can digest. She seems to like blood but it appears that blood isn't wholly nourishing to her. The child also suffers from sensitivity to UV rays. It is hoxped that in time, the child will no longer have these issues. Hopefully, sooner than later." December 16, 1988: "The child is six months old. There has been no improvements in her condition. The order has been sent. The child has until her first year to show improvement." I skipped to the last update. June 10, 1989: "The child has made no improvement. The status of the experiment has been determined as 'Failed'." I flipped through the remainder of the documents in the file, medical records, test results, and a...letter from Papa. Tears were continuously streaming down my face now. This was too much to take. My vision was blurry and I wiped my eyes so, that I could read the letter written in my father's native language. "My Dearest Santana, if you're reading this now then I am no longer with you and you've found a need to seek answers. You have surely seen the other contents of the box. Please do not think less of me, My Love. There is not a day that passes that I don't hurt for what I did. I was young and it was the opportunity of a lifetime. The Organization was on the cutting edge of genetic testing and I was, at one point, proud to be a part of it. Learning the existence of vampires and lycans was shocking to say the least but I adjusted. I was convinced that I was doing good work and that the combination of the two creatures could lead to several breakthroughs in medicine. As I am sure you have figured out, to combine the two genes, the human aspects were compromised. I have only cried four times as a grown man, when your mother died, when Adam was killed, when your birth mother died, and when I was supposed to kill you. I could not go through with it, with the help of some morally conscious colleagues, we got you out. I meant to hide you, to get you as far away from me and The Organization as possible but when my wife laid eyes on you, I knew there was no way we could give you up. The contacts that I still had in The Organization informed me of any developments pertaining to you, for years there were none, failed experiments were irrelevant. When you were about 14, I was informed that the Organization was going to begin searching for you. They had continued conducting experiments of the same nature that had created you, there were various results. One child, a boy, was born with similar issues to the ones you exhibited, at age 10, he began showing signs of his multifaceted nature. The Organization wanted you back, to see if this was also the case with you. I had managed to evade them for years and I'm sorry that my efforts were in vain, my princess. I hope that you have begun reaching your full potential for you will need all of your strength to face what's ahead. I know your life has never been easy. Though, you never complained, your mother and I knew the hardships you faced living here but know that we stayed to keep you safe. Be strong, my love and please forgive me .Love you with everything that I am, Papa" I stared at the letter through my tear blurred eyes. I felt like I was barely in control and only a single thread away from breaking, I clutched the letter to my chest. I felt like I was orphaned all over again and I sought the comfort of the only person who could give it. "Alex..." I whispered. -Alex- I wanted to be by her side but I sensed that she needed to go through the box alone. As I stepped onto the front porch, I pulled my iPhone from my pocket. "Call Parents." I said into the phone. I waited as the phone line rang, staring up at the sky. The stars really were magnificent here. I was distracted from my perusal by the tinkling of my mother's voice. "Alex? Where are you, baby?" She was blatantly concerned and I mentally scolded myself for causing her to worry. "Hi, Mom. Don't worry, I'm perfectly fine." "Where are you? How come no one has heard from in more than a week, Alexander?" She said in a rush, her motherly concern obviously not decreasing. "Mom, seriously, I'm okay. I've had some things to figure out and I wanted to be alone." I paused, looking back towards the house. "I'm much better now." I smiled to myself. "I have some questions that I need to ask you and dad." "Okay, let me tell your father to pick up the other phone." I laughed to myself as I heard her screaming for Dad to pick up the phone. "Alexander? Where you been, my boy?" My father's deep voice boomed over the line. "Hey, Dad. I'm actually in Southwest, Virginia right now." "Well, what are you doing there?" My father inquired in his slightly Italian accent. "For a girl, that's actually what I'm calling about." I said, a bit sheepishly. "A girl?" Mom could barely contain her excitement. "What girl? Can we meet her soon?" She exclaimed. I laughed. "Calm down, Francesca." I said, teasingly. Both my parents laughed. "Franny, give the boy a chance to tell us what he needed before you start planning a wedding. Now, you said that you needed to speak with us, Alex?" I took a deep breath. "I need you to tell me how you..." I hadn't realized how awkward this conversation was going to be. "How what, son?" My mother said in her soothing tone. I steeled myself and decided to just press forward and get it out. "I need you to tell me how you knew that you had found your mate." I said in one breath. I braced myself for my mother's squeal of pleasure. "Your Maatteeeeeeee!" She screeched. I winced. "Al! Did you hear that? Alexander has found his mate!" "Franny! Franny, calm down." My father said with amusement in his tone. My mother continued to squeal her excitement. "Calm down, Francesca." She quieted then but I could almost hear her delight. "Tell us about this girl, Son." My father said, I could that tell he was smiling. I couldn't help but smile too, controlling my anticipation for Santana's sake was killing me. "I will later. I just need to know how you guys knew." I said, running a hand down my face. I could picture them smiling at each other the way that they did when they didn't think that anyone else was looking. I imagined sharing those secret looks with Santana and my heart clenched. Those Eyes Ch. 05 "Well, I first smelled her in the market place on some fabric that she had touched. As soon as I had scented her, I couldn't think of anything else. Her scent was so feminine, like vanilla and sunshine. It was like it held the promise of our long future together. I felt her, I tracked her down that day and found her by that night. She was a human so, she didn't feel the pull the way that I did." My father relayed with a wistful quality in his voice. "I may not have felt it the way that he did, but I felt something magical." My mother said, picking up where my father left off. "When I looked into those blue eyes, it felt like something inside of me was changing, making room for the other half of my soul. Being near your father caused my body to heat up, and my skin to vibrate. I would close my eyes and see his. Your father revealed his true nature to me that night and started wooing me immediately. I told him after we had officially mated that it was unnecessary, I knew that I was his and he was mine when we first locked eyes. " I had never been a romantic but I found myself suddenly wanting everything that my parents had. "I didn't realize it right away but from the moment that I sensed her, your mother was my everything. Every day was just another day to find a new way to make her smile. That's how I knew that I had found my mate." My father said. "Is that how you feel, baby?" My mother asked, her excitement only slightly controlled. I thought for a moment. I barely knew Santana but what she caused me to feel was a feeling that I could certainly live with for forever. Her smile triggered intense masculine pride and I only saw my fondness for her intensifying. "Yes." I said, thoughtfully. "Ahhhhhhhhhhhh!" My mother wailed. "When can we meet her? Is she beautiful? Oh, Al, I bet she's beautiful!" I pulled the phone away from my ear. "When can we meet her?" Once I was sure that the screaming had ended, I hesitantly placed the phone back against my ear. "I'm not sure Mom, it's a bit complicated. We only just met. And yes, she's probably the most beautiful thing that I ever seen, Mom." I said, smiling. "Ah! Tell us about her!" My mother said, I could almost hear the wheels turning in her head. "Dad..." I groaned. "Oh, Alex, humor your mother. It's not every day that your child finds his mate." My father said, clearly not taking my side. "But It'll happen six more time for you guys." I said, laughing. "Yes, but you're our first, now spill!" My mother said in her no-nonsense tone. "Fine..." I said, relenting. "Like I said, she's beautiful. She's a mix of black and Asian. She's about 5'7. She has a great figure, perfect green eyes and dimples. She's smart. She's pre-med at American. She seems witty and fun." "Ahhh! I can't wait to meet her! Is she a vampire or human?" My mother asked. I paused to answer and that's when I heard the faint whisper of my name from inside of the house. "I've got to go." I said as I hung up the phone and rushed inside. I found Santana, sitting on the floor with her back against the couch. Her head was leaned back as tears streamed down her face. She was clutching a sheet of paper tightly to her chest. "Sweetheart, what it is?" I asked as I slowly moved towards her. I sat down on the floor, my side flush against hers. She handed me a file. I looked at the pictures first then I read through the documents in the file. She sat quietly while I read as fast as I could, "What the fuck," was all that I could say when I finished. She handed me a second file. I looked at the pictures of Melanie Johnson. Once I saw her face, I knew immediately who this woman was. The resemblance was unmistakable. "Santana..." "Read," was all that she said. I read through the file, it only confirmed what I knew. Melanie was Santana's mother. The story just kept getting more and more impossible. She handed me the final file, Eve's file. I sat the file down when I was finished. She then relinquished her grip on the paper she was holding and handed it hesitantly to me. I read the letter that her father had written to her. I couldn't wrap my head around it. What she was didn't make any sense. It wasn't possible. I looked over at her shattered expression and stood. I reached for her hands and she reluctantly placed her hands in mine. I lifted her to her feet. "Alex?" She whispered as I pulled her against me. "Yes?" I asked, ignoring how good she felt against my body. "What's a lycanthrope?" She asked as I led her outside. "It's a werewolf, Ana." I said once we were on the porch. I led her to the large porch swing and sat down, pulling her down beside me. She immediately leaned against my side and I couldn't help my sigh of contentment as she curled up as close to my body as she could. I thought about how best to bring up what I needed to tell her. "You're special, you know." I said after several minutes of silence. She looked up at me and I fought my urge to say, "fuck it' to the conversation and kiss her senseless. "How?" she asked, looking into my eyes. "What you are, it's not naturally possible." I said. She cracked a small smile. "I guess that makes me super unnatural" "I guess you're right." I said with a chuckle. I pulled her closer to me. "Vampires can't reproduce with werewolves or humans." "That's why my father took out the human components of both species?" She asked. "I think so." I said, not fully understanding the science behind it. I thought for a moment. "I know someone who may be able to help. We can go there tomorrow if you want." I felt her nod against my chest. "So, vampires really can't reproduce with anything other than another vampire?" She asked. I was hoping that I didn't imagine the sad tone of her voice. She was obviously feeling the pull. "Well, it's a little more complicated than that. Both vampires and werewolves can only reproduce with their true mates." I said, looking for her reaction. Her eyes flickered up briefly before she was looking down once more. "So, a vampire can only find his or her true mate in another vampire?" Her shoulders slumped slightly. "Not at all. I said that we could only reproduce with one of our kind. During the mating process, one of the species must change to be like that of the other. For instance, if a vampire were to mate with a human, the human would become a vampire." I said, hoping she understood. "And what about a vampire and a werewolf?" she asked, once again looking up at me. I began praying that this conversation ended well. I had only one desire in that moment, to stare into those green eyes forever. "Well...hopefully after consent, the vampire will either become a werewolf or the werewolf will become a vampire. It's my understanding that the mating processes are a little different." "And what about me and you?" -Santana- I could see the shock in his eyes. I had easily understood where this conversation was headed. "Santana..." He began. " Alex, I could vaguely hear you out here on the phone. I just realized what it was that you were talking about." "Oh," was all that he said. I laid back against him and looked up at the sky. "I told you that the stars were the most beautiful here." "Hm," was his only reply. We stayed quiet for several minutes, both of us watching the sky and its diamond sprinkled blanket. I had been accosted with so much information in the last hour. I had learned that I was part werewolf and vampire and that I had found my soul mate. It was all too much. I couldn't deny my feelings for the blue eyed, brown haired man holding me. The thought of spending forever with him was the most appealing thing I had ever thought of. Looking into his eyes was like seeing a glimpse of my future and I knew that my soul had already made room for his within my body but I was scared. "Alex, I don't know if I can be your mate." I said. "I'm 23 and I don't know what it's like to love someone that way. What does being a mate even mean?" I asked, refusing to meet his eyes with my own. He sighed. "You don't know what mating with me means for you, Santana but let me tell you what it means for me. I promise that I will spend every day of eternity trying to make you happy. My only goal for forever will be to make you smile. I will never do anything to hurt you intentionally. It means that I will never find any other woman as beautiful as I find you and I will never want for a single thing as long as I get to wake up beside you every day of my long life. It means that one day, I'll want gorgeous little black haired, green eyed toddlers like the one in these pictures running around chasing a dog in a yard surrounded by a white picket fence or ya know, tall iron gates" I couldn't help but laugh softly." It means that I would die for you and those babies, Santana. That's what being your mate means to me. As long as you are you and I am me, we'll be meant for each other." "Wow," was all that I could say. A few minutes passed and I felt his anticipation growing. "Santana..." He said, his eyes burning into the side of my face. "I have two questions." I said, exhaling deeply. "Anything." He responded. "How will the...mating process work for us?" I asked, not even bothering to prevent my blush. He shot me a smoldering grin. "I don't have the slightest idea but we'll figure it out, Sweetheart." I gulped and nodded. Mating with Alex was now the most appealing idea I had ever thought of. "Ok, what's your second question?" He asked. "What about..." I began and then stopped, my awkwardness taking over. He stared at me expectantly. The heat still in eyes from my previous question. "What about blue eyed, brown eyes baby boys?" I asked with a shy smile. Before I knew it, his mouth was slammed against mine. He worked his lips against mine in the most sensual manner and when my initial shock wore off, I reciprocated his movements. His lips slid over mine and his tongue traced the seam of lips. Not entirely sure what to do, I opened my mouth, allowing his tongue entranced into my mouth. Our lips melded perfectly together as our tongues danced. Electricity erupted with each bit of contact and I was afraid that I would drown in this moment when he suddenly pulled back. "Did you hear that?" He asked, looking towards the driveway. I pulled back and focused on my sense of hearing. "The first gate just opened." I said, jumping up from my seat, our perfect moment ruined. "I don't think we should stick around to figure out who it is. Is there another way out?" "I-I..." I stammered. "Santana, baby, is there another way off the property?" He said, grabbing my shoulders firmly but gently I snapped back to my senses. "Yes, through the woods. Your X5 has four wheel drive, right?" I asked, staring at his white luxury vehicle "Yes. Let's go." He said, reaching for my hand. "No, hold on. I have to grab the box!' I screamed as I ran back inside. "Santana." He said, staring intensely at me. "One minute, ok?" I screamed back out, I knew that if anyone of the individuals on their way to my house was like me or Alex, they'd surely hear us. I grabbed the box and headed for the door before an idea hit me. I ran into the kitchen and located the hidden control panel for the house. I hit the red button, ultimate security, and ran as fast as I could. Alex was waiting in the car; I jumped in and buckled up. "We have two minutes to get off the property before it completely locks down." I screamed. I had never understood why my father was so adamant about this security precaution but I was definitely grateful for it now. I led Alex off the property as the house became impenetrable. As we made our way back to the highway in silence, my father's words rang in my mind, " I hope that you have begun reaching your full potential for you will need all of your strength to face what's ahead" Those Eyes Ch. 06 Happy New Year, all! I'm sorry that it took a while to get this out. I hope you all enjoy. As usual, feed back is welcome and encouraged. I'm sort of starting to regret using first person narrative. But it's too late, I suppose. SRB -Santana- I roused as we pulled into the underground parking garage. I was anxious to get out of the car and stretch. My body was tense and my head ached from the trying day that I had just had. I looked over at Alex as he sighed in relief at being home and couldn't help but once again be mesmerized by how beautiful he was. I wondered if I'd ever get used to it. I smiled to myself when I realized that I had all of eternity to get used to it. "What are you smiling at?" He asked with a slight grin. "Oh nothing." I said in a mirthful tone as I stepped out of the small SUV and closed the door behind me. I walked over to my Audi fully aware that he was following me. His eyes were glued to my every movement and I smirked in smugness. I wanted to have a little fun. My newly found confidence briefly surprised me but I liked the feeling of power Alex's attention gave me. Reaching into my satchel, I pulled out my car keys. I gripped them in my hand as I closed my eyes and went up on my tip toes and stretched my arms to the sky, relieving the tension that the four hour drive had caused in my body. I felt the hem of my shirt slide up slightly and knew that Alex was getting a nice view of my mid drift. His tortured groan made me want to open my eyes and see his reaction. I peeked through my eyelashes and was taken aback by the intensity of his gaze. I peeped down at my body and realized that not only was lower stomach showing but the hem of my lace boy shorts. My awkward embarrassment seeped back into the moment and I blushed as I pulled down my shirt and pulled up my pants. "Tease." He said as he advanced towards me. He stopped a foot in front of me and extended his right hand, palm up. I gave him a perplexed look. What was he reaching for? Confused, I placed my right hand in his. He smiled and shook his head as he pulled me closer to him. My front flush against his. "Other hand." He said, his tone serious. The fingers of my right hand tightened slightly and I remembered that I was holding my keys. "My keys?" I asked, extremely confused. "Yes, your keys, Ana." He leaned down, his lips barely brushed against my right ear. " Where do you think you're going?" His warm breath tickled the sensitive area. His attention was making it hard to think. He began kissing my jaw line and I shuddered, loving the effect he had on me. "I....I..hmmm. I have...class...in the mor-...ning." I stammered out as his lips got closer to mine. "You." Kiss. "Can." Kiss. "Leave." Kiss. "From." Kiss. "Here." I sighed into his lips and pulled back. His soft, warm lips made thinking much too difficult. I was suddenly aware that that was the point. "Alex, I need to go home. I get it. We're soul mates. But..." I looked up into those ocean blue eyes and was suddenly afraid of how he'd react to what I was about to say. "Alex, I have my own life. I've been alone for five years now and you can't expect me to just change my life for you." His eyes became visibly harder. "It's not about that Anna." He said in a serious tone. Confused, once more and a little disappointed. I tilted my head to the side. "Then what is it about?" "Have you thought once about what happened at your house or what you found or what your father's letter said?" I realized in that moment that I had in fact not given the situation much thought. Apparently my expression said as much. "I thought so." He said, stepping away from me. "Alex, it'll be fine." I said, attempting to regain the moment we just had. He stepped back once again. Just like me, he understood that all rational thought was at risk when he and I were touching. "I just found you. Maybe I haven't been looking nearly as long as some of the others of my kind but, I'm in no rush to lose you. There's some organization out there searching for you for God knows why and you think I'm just going to let you out of my sight?" He said, running a hand though his messy brown locks. Apart of me was angry that he thought that he could control me and he must of seen the defiance flash in my eyes because his expression seemed to be pleading with me to cooperate. I was angry but the bigger part of me, the 99%, was floored by the intensity of how much he cared about me. Despite being slightly angry, I knew that he was right. I was never one for foresight and I easily casted serious issues aside. Fear, anger, and sadness had always seemed like irrelevant emotions to me and considering that my emotions now triggered my transition, it didn't seem like such a bad thing. Stepping forward, I tried to show surrender in my eyes. Seeing my intent, he sighed in relief and stepped forward. I placed a hand softly on his cheek and sighed. "I'll stay." Wanting to lighten the mood, I added, "But no funny business, Mister! My goodies are off limits." He chuckled and pulled me closer. "Let's go. I assure you, as long as you say so, your...'goodies' are perfectly safe. But the moment that you submit, I'm going to be all up in your cookie jar, Santana." I could tell it took a lot of will power to say that with a straight face and he was soon laughing at his own comment. I joined him and we laughed all the way to elevator. As we waited for the elevator, I felt his eyes on me. Turning to face him, I gave him a curious look. He leaned down, his lips once again brushing my ear. "I bet your goodies taste amazing, Ana." He whispered. There was no way that I could hide the shiver that ran through my entire body. I held in a moan as I felt my boy shorts become moist. I looked away to hide my cherry colored cheeks. His arm snaked around my waist and my body temperature rose. -Alex- I couldn't help but laugh at how cute she was trying to hide her desire the entire way up to my floor. She nervously moved from one foot to the other and stole quick glances towards me through her front bangs. I needed to end her anxiety. "I just want to wake up near you. Stop being so anxious, Ana. I'll be a perfect gentleman." I said as I led her towards my apartment. As we neared the door, I froze. I sensed them, all of them. I considered turning around, telling her that I changed my mind and that it'd be best if she went home. "What is it, Alex?" She said, sensing my hesitation. I exhaled deeply as we stopped in front of my door. "Brace yourself." I said, sliding my key into the lock. "What are you-"she started before stopping abruptly, the look of mortification on her face was almost humorous. "Fuck." She whispered when the door was completely open. Staring back at her with expressions of amusement were all six of my siblings. I made a gesture for her to enter, chuckling at her wide eyed expression. "They won't bite Ana." I said with a smile. "Unless she'd like us to." Aaron called, letting his fangs elongate slightly. I hadn't thought it possible but Ana's eyes widened further. "He's joking, sweetheart. They're all harmless. The only thing they're dangerous with is a credit card with no limit. Aislyn could probably decapitate someone with one swipe of hers." They all laughed. I smiled at her, giving her hand an encouraging squeeze. She laughed and walked inside. I followed, closing the door behind us. "Santana, these are my brothers and sister." I said, making a hand gesture towards them. She waved and flashed a gorgeous, anxious smile. I felt my heart spasm and I stared at her for a moment. A cleared throat broke me out of my trance. "Don't be rude, baby brother." I heard Aston say with an amused tone. I briefly wondered if life with Santana would be anything more than moment upon moment of drowning in her beauty. I smiled as my gaze turned from her to the other loves of my life. "Santana, this is Aston." Aston stepped forward and shook her hand. She smiled, "HI, Aston." "Hi, doll." He replied. "That charmer there is Aaron." I said, nodding my head in Aaron's direction. He stepped forward and took her hand, placing a kiss on the backside. She smiled back at him, blushing. I rolled my eyes at the scene. "Aaron." I warned through clenched teeth. He laughed, stepping back and away from Ana. "Just showing her how charming I can be, Mistake." He said with a wink. "Mistake?" I heard Santana say. "It's what Aaron calls him. Alex is...a lot younger than us. Aaron's convinced that he was a mistake." Aislyn said, openly appraising Santana. She stepped forward, her lithe arm extended. "I'm Aislyn." She said, taking Santana's hand into her own. She tilted her head, her auburn hair tumbling to the side. "You really are quite exquisite. I'm excited to have another girl around. All of this...testosterone has been suffocating." She said, Santana laughed and flashed me another bright smile. "I like her." She said. Aislyn stepped back and Anthony moved forward. "I'm Anthony, the more attractive twin." He dodged as Aston threw a throw pillow at him. Santana laughed, catching the pillow. "It's nice to meet you, Anthony." She shook his hand then peeked over his shoulder. "if you'd excuse me, there are two fine gentlemen that I need to apologize to." She said, stepping around Anthony. She stopped in front of Ash and Adam. She hugged them both and stepped back. "I'm sorry, guys." She said, blushing. I could tell that she was fighting to keep herself from lowering her eyes. Good girl, I thought. Ash spoke first, "Don't worry about it, gorgeous." He chucked her chin and she blushed further. "How's your foot?" she asked, looking down at the foot that she had stumped a stiletto heel through the week before. He slipped off his canvas shoe. "Good as new, see?" He said, wiggling his foot around. "Good. I'm so so sorry about that. I was..." She stopped, thinking about the best word to use. "Scared." Adam interjected. "It's fine, princess. We understand. We're happy that you've had a change of heart about us since then." He tilted his head, staring thoughtfully at her. "I knew you were special when I met you. I never suspected you were my little brother's mate." She laughed nervously and looked back at me, smiling. "I have to get used to that word." "You better." I said, unable to keep myself from smiling back at her, my mate. "Anyone else pissed that Alex, the mistake, found his mate before any of us? Here I am, almost 84, and I have yet to even meet someone who I thought could possibly be my mate." Aaron said as he rummaged my fridge for a beer. He pulled out an Amber Woodchuck. Santana gasped slightly when he mentioned his age but she didn't say anything about it. She looked down at the ground, her perpetual blush deepening. "I'm sorry." she said in a bashful yet remorseful tone. I rushed to her side and lifted her chin with my right index finger. "Don't apologize for meeting me. Never apologize for us finding each other." she smiled and nodded. I glared at Aaron briefly. Fucking idiot, I thought to myself. "So, who did Mom call first?" I asked, looking back towards my horde of siblings. "Mass text." Aston said with a laugh. "I wasn't sure what surprised me more. The nature of the text or the fact that Franny was texting me." We all laughed. "Yeah, Fran is quite savvy with the tech these days. I'm ok with it as long as she doesn't start tweeting. Then we'll have a problem." Aislyn added. "Is...Franny your mother?" Santana asked. I could tell she was trying to loosen up. I was comforted by the effort she was making, I fell for her a little bit more in that moment. "Yep, the Fabulous Francesca Carlisle. You'll probably be meeting her and Al pretty soon." Adam said, smiling at Santana. His statement didn't strike me as strange but I felt Santana tense slightly at my side. "It's a bit soon for that. We only met a week ago." She said with a nervous laugh. "Oh, Honey. No." Aislyn said, stepping forward. "Normal human dating rules don't really apply here. You're God's answer to Alex's soul. Not such thing as too soon." "Hm." She said with a contemplative look on her perfect face. "Do you guys introduce all of your significant others to your parents?" They all laughed and I squeezed her shoulder lightly. "What?" she asked, looking around at the others. "We don't really date." Anthony answered. "There's no point." Her expression looked more confused. "From the time that we're old enough to understand, we're told about our mates. Our perfect other halves. We're told that we'll know almost immediately when we find them. Everyone else is...irrelevant." Ash said. "Isn't that lonely?" She asked. "How long do you have to wait until you find your mate?" "We've been waiting for 126 years." Anthony said. "You don't know when you'll find him or her." "I see." She said, I could tell that the idea of waiting that long made her a little sad. I bent down and kissed her forehead, hoping to take away the sadness that she felt. "That's why we're all excited about you, Princess." Adam said with a grin. She returned his smile with a confused one of her own and I suddenly understood what he meant. I had completely forgot. "It hasn't been proven but it seems that in families with multiple children, when one siblings finds his or her mate, that person will somehow lead the others to theirs." Aislyn said, moving forward and placing a small hand on Ana's shoulder. "Oh. How will I do that?" Santana asked, I could almost taste her rising anxiety. "Well it's not like we're asking you to be the Millionaire Matchmaker. You don't really actively do anything." Ash said with a laugh. We all laughed, even Santana. "Say, you get a craving for sweets one night and you invite me to go to Crepe Away with you. While there, I realize that the cute Hispanic girl with the great rack and ass behind the register is my mate. It's that simple." Aaron said. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at his crassness. "Or you and I go shopping in Georgetown and you pull me into Urban Outfitters because you see this great dress that is just made for you. I follow you in of course because you want my opinion on the dress. On the way in, I pass by a 6'4 caramel man with a nice fade and a well fitted suit and realize that he's my mate." Ash said with a mischievous glint in his light brown eyes. "Or you and I are walking down the street, you slip, bust your ass, and the Adonis with a heart of gold who stops to pick you off the ground is my mate." Aislyn said, making us all laugh. "Alright, alright, I get it!" Santana said, holding her hands up in an 'enough' gesture. "No pressure." she said leaning against me. The fact that she was getting along so well with my siblings was perfection but I couldn't help but become worried. If anything happened to Santana, it wouldn't just ruin my world but it would possibly ruin the world of the people that I loved most. She was an important key to their happiness and her life was in danger even if she refused to realize it. Every horrible scenario passed through my mind and before I knew it, the words were slipping past my lips. "I need help." -Santana- I leaned against Alex's side as he relayed the events of the day to his siblings. We all sat at the huge dining table. I zoned out as he told them of the incident in the meadow five years ago. They all remained quiet until he finished. I stared down at my hands in my lap, feeling six sets of eyes on me. "So, we need to get her out of here. Find somewhere safe." Adam said, speaking first. "I have some friends that can help. We can leave in the next hour." Aston said, pulling out his iPhone. I listened as they discussed me like I wasn't in the room. "No." I said quietly. I looked up to see each of them looking at me with an incredulous look on each face. "I...I'm not hiding. I'm going to class tomorrow, like I would any other day." "The hell you are!" Aaron all but screamed at me. I felt my anger building, my vision sharpening. "Excuse me?" I said, fixing Aaron with a glare. He stood, Alex standing a fraction of a second after. "You're going to get your sweet ass up, keep your pretty little mouth closed, and do whatever it is that we say to keep you safe." He said, anger flashing in his eyes. "Sit down, Aaron."Alex growled and apart of me relished in my mate's protective stance. "No! You sit down, Alexander! She has some secret agency after her and what does she want to do? Go to fucking Comm class!" I stood then, his last comment pissing me off more than his previous ones. "Biology." I said, trying to keep my anger in check. "What?" He said, looking at me with disbelief. "I'm a biology major, fucker. Not a communications major." "I don't believe you. Comm seems much more like something a stupid bitch would take because that's really what you're acting like right now." I felt the teeth within my mouth start to elongate, the change was underway. I placed my hands on Alex's back, seeking the comfort that only his touch gave me. I felt the muscles beneath his skin, taut and ready for battle. I peeked around Alex's back and made eye contact with his very angry older brother. I immediately realized my mistake. He saw my harmless gesture as a challenge. I cringed at the growl emitted from his chest and braced myself for the impact of his aggression but before Aaron could advance even a millimeter towards me, Alex moved with the swiftness. I opened my eyes, I hadn't realized that I had closed them. I looked down and saw Alex pinning Aaron to the floor, his fangs barred. "If you ever, EVER, threaten my mate again..." He growled into his brother's face. "You'll what, Mistake? Kill your brother for that dense bitch?" Aaron roared in response. "That is the last time you will call her out of her name." Alex said, emphasizing his point by slamming his brother's head into the floor. I looked up at the other five siblings. None made a move to stop the scene before us. While part of me loved the feeling of my mate protecting me, I wanted it to stop. "Alex, baby...it's ok. I understand why he got mad. Let him go." When Alex didn't immediately move away, I continued. "Baby, he didn't mean it. He was upset. Let me talk to him. Will you hold me while I talk to him?" I said, reaching forward and running my fingers through his silky chocolate tresses. He sighed and released his hold on Aaron. He stood and helped his brother to his feet. Alex walked over to me, pulled me close and breathed in my scent. I felt him relax. I looked up and my olive eyes met Aaron's icy blue pools. "I get it." I whispered. I looked around at all of them. "You all probably think that I'm being flippant with my life and...your happiness. I'm not. I understand that there's someone after me but they haven't found me in five years." "What about whoever showed up at your house?" Ash interjected. "We're not even sure who that was. And if it was this organization, there's no way that they could get into that house. It's completely fortified now and we didn't leave anything behind." I said, hoping they understood. "Are you sure?" Anthony or Aston added, I wasn't paying attention to which and they looked so much alike. "Yes. When the house is in ultimate lockdown, I can't even get in with my key. It's impenetrable." "Okay, we'll trust your confidence but we're still not letting you just do what it is that you do, any other day, all alone." Aaron said, appearing to have calmed down significantly. I thought about what he said. I knew that I couldn't win against their will power so, I relented. "Fine, if I'm not with Alex, I'll be with one of you. How about that?" I asked, hating that I had to give up my freedom but I knew it was the only way to pacify them. Sensing my feelings about the situation, I felt Alex press his lips against my temple. Those Eyes Ch. 06 The tension in the room went down significantly. "I know that Alex is busy with his doctorate so, I'll go to your classes with you." Aislyn said. "You bitch! You just want to see if you'll meet your mate in one of her classes, Aislyn." Ash said as he playfully slapped Aislyn on the shoulder. "Damn right!" She replied, causing us all to laugh. "And besides, Alex is the only one of us without a PhD. I'm working on getting my third. You have like seven. Even Aaron has one. He needs the time to himself before he's the only non doctor in the family. It'd break Franny's heart." She said, feigning sadness. "How altruistic of you, Lyn." Alex said, rolling his eyes. "Besides, Franny would probably take a couple of gorgeous grandkids over another doctor in the family anyday." he added, caressing my back. His words caused that feeling that I was fighting in the elevator to return with a vengeance. As if sensing the arrival of a different type of tension in the room, Adam cleared his throat getting everyone's attention. "It's late guys. How about we head out and figure this out tomorrow once Santana is out of class." I shot him an appreciative smile. Alex and I walked them all to the door. Each hugged him and then me, welcoming me to the family. Once Alex and I were alone in his apartment, I let out a breath that I hadn't been aware I was holding. I felt his strong arms wrap around me and I leaned into his warmth. Once again wondering at how comfortable I was with him this soon. Aislyn's words repeated in my head, "You're God's answer to Alex's soul." I smiled slightly. I liked the sound of that. "So, did I pass the test?" I asked as I turned to face him. "With flying colors. They all like you, I can tell." He said, placing a chaste kiss on my lips. I moaned and leaned in for more, he chuckled and pulled back. I glared at him, trying my best to seem mad but I couldn't be mad at the perfect man holding me. I faked a pout. "That's the second time you've pulled away from me today." I said, giving him my best puppy dog eyes. "You keeping count, Baby?" He asked with a smug grin. I wanted to kiss his smugness away but couldn't find the confidence. I realized as he leaned in and kissed me that his intuition rivaled any woman's. I moaned into his mouth as his tongue dueled with my own. His soft, warm lips moved rhythmically against mine. Feeling his tongue slide in and out of my mouth was causing a drumming sensation in the walls of my pussy and a needy whimper escaped my lips. "Alex." I moaned when he stopped kissing me only long enough for each of us to draw in much needed oxygen. We continued kissing in his foyer or a few minutes more before we reluctantly pulled away from each other. He smiled at me and kissed my temple. I decided that that gesture was now among my favorite things. I followed him into his kitchen where he checked his trashcan. I became curious as he reached in and pulled out two beer bottles. They were Aarons' from earlier. He rinsed both bottles in the sink and placed them in a separate bin. I felt my insides warm slightly when I realized what he had done. "You recycle?" I asked in astonishment. It was official. "You're perfection." I cringed at the wonderment and awe in my voice. I wanted to hate Alex for turning me into "that girl." My tone caused him to lightly chuckle. "Yes, I do. I hate that Aaron refuses to." I wanted to express my feelings about Aaron, mainly that he was a douche but I held my tongue. "He's not so bad." Alex said, smiling. "How do you fucking do that? Can you read my mind or something?" I asked. He laughed. "No. You just have the most expressive face. You could never play poker." He reached up, moving a strand of hair away from my face. "But when we mate, I'll be able to sense your emotions completely, and vice versa. It's a part of the bond." Thinking about him and me mating made my most intimate area throb once more and I felt my nipples harden under my bra. "I can smell you, you know." He said with a new kind of smugness. His statement confused me. "You can smell what?" I asked, becoming self conscious. "That I'm not fully human? We've already been over that." He chuckled and pulled me into his hard body. "I can smell your wetness. I can smell your pussy creaming for me." I blushed and tried to pull away but he only pulled me closer. I blushed and looked down as he sniffed the air. "Vanilla and Caramel. That's what you smell like. Is that what your pussy tastes like?" I expected to feel even more awkward because of his words but my arousal amplified. I attempted to hold in a moan when I felt his erection rub against my stomach. It was so big. He chuckled and bent down, kissed my temple, and released me. He stepped back slowly, smugness still on his face. He turned and walked into the living room area. It was the first time that I had taken the chance to look around the apartment. It was nice, well decorated and cozy. There was a large beige suede couch, loveseat, and Lazyboy. They looked incredibly comfortable. There were red throw pillows strategically placed on each sofa, a low set deep brown coffee table, and an unnecessarily large television situated on the wall. Each row of the built in book shelves was packed with CDs, DVDs, books, and photos. My attention went back to Alex as he stared at me expectantly. He sat on the large, plush couch and patted the spot next to him. My inherent awkwardness now rivaled my arousal. "Is this you being a perfect gentleman, Alex?" I asked as I slowly approached him. "This is about as gentleman like as it gets for me right now, Ana. You're my mate. Every fiber of my being is screaming for me to take you, to make you mine. Make that sweet body of yours purr for me. But I'll settle for you sitting next to me." he said with an outrageous wink. I don't know if I can just *sit* beside you, I thought with a groan. -Alex- I couldn't help but laugh as she slowly approached the couch. I knew I shouldn't have said those things to her but I needed her to see how much I wanted her. I wanted to see her reaction. After what felt like eternity, she made her way in front of me. I quirked an eye brow as she stood there, looking down at me. I reached up, grabbed her hand and gently pulled her down to sit beside me. Her body was so tense. "It's not so bad is it?" I asked when she tentatively looked at me. She smiled and leaned into me. I lifted my arm, allowing her to settle into my side. We sat that way for a few minutes. She lifted her legs and adjusted them beneath her body as I softly stroked her arm and shoulder with the arm draped around her. She made a noise like a purr and I felt myself become harder, the confines of my jeans becoming increasingly more uncomfortable. We didn't speak. Both of us were content to just be close to the other. I wondered what she was thinking. For a moment, I thought about the people after her but I pushed those thoughts aside. It was my first night with my mate, no need to concentrate on the negative. I felt her turn slightly beside me, her right breast was now pressed against my chest. I suppressed a groan and started thinking about my assignments due to distract myself from the beauty in my arms. I wanted to keep my earlier promise to her. I nearly jumped when I felt her lips press softly against my neck. She shifted once more and placed another soft kiss a little lower than the last. I turned towards her and she halted in her movement to place another sweet kiss on my overly sensitive neck. I pushed her bangs away from her eyes so, that I could look completely into them. Fuck those eyes. "What are you doing?" She moved in once more and placed a quick kiss to my lips. "Am I doing it wrong? Do you not like it?" I saw vulnerability flash in her green eyes. "It was perfect, baby." I said as I leaned in and kissed her like she had kissed me a moment before. "I just don't want to start this if we can't finish it. I want you too badly and I can smell your sweet cunt getting wet for me. Maybe we should stop and go to sleep." I said, standing and pulling her to her feet. She pulled her hands away and placed them on my shoulder. "Alex..." She began but looked down at an unknown spot on my shirt. "What, baby?" I said, lifting her face to look at mine. She took a deep breath and I could tell she was fighting urge to look away. "I...This is hard saying. Fuck my awkwardness." She looked up at me with the cutest smile. She exhaled deeply once again. "Ok. I....I've never done anything before. You were even my first kiss. And I don't think we can go through with completely...mating tonight. But my body... is... begging for something and... I'm not quite sure what." She looked back to the ground then. She was afraid of my reaction, I could tell. I lifted her face once more to look at me and I did the only thing that I could to let her know how much I wanted her. I smashed my lips against hers and kissed her with more passion than I had known I had. She moaned into my mouth and my already hard dick began to ache. "God, I want you." I groaned between kisses. "What do you want, Santana? What do you want from me?" "I want you to make me feel good." I smiled against her lips. Her answer was so vague and yet all the encouragement that I needed. I moved my lips away from hers and planted light kisses along her jaw line. She never stopped moaning and whimpering and I couldn't help but wonder what she'd sound like when I was finally sliding into her wet heat. I loved the idea that I was the first person to touch her. The first person to make her feel like this. I moved down, placing kisses on her neck and alternating between light nips and sucking. The scent of vanilla and caramel filled the air. She was soaking wet, I could smell it and I further hardened in my jeans. I wanted to undo my jeans, take some of the pressure off of my aching dick but decided against it. "Ohhhh, Alex." she moaned as I began sucking on her neck. -Santana- I don't know what possessed me to start kissing his neck but I never needed anything like I needed Alex in that moment. I could feel his hands creeping under the hem of my shirt. I gasped as I felt his large hands and my bare skin. Every skin cell of his that touched one of mine created a static sensation that almost stole my breath away. I didn't know how far I was willing to let him go but I had started this and I was willing to let him wreak havoc on my virgin body. I wanted to touch him but I didn't know how. I decided mimicking him was a good start so, I slid my small hands to the hem of his shirt. The sucking of my neck was making it hard to think but I was determined to give just as good as I got. I slid my hand up his hard torso, over the ridges and valleys of his hard body. He groaned at the contact and I was pleased to know that I effected him. He was kissing my collar bones now, placing barely there pecks on each. I shivered and moved my hands further up. I lightly brushed my pinky against his nipple and he bucked slightly. "Fuck, Santana. You're driving me crazy." He was driving me crazy also and suddenly his slow pace was no longer appealing. I raked my fingers over his nipples once more. "More, Lex. I want more. Please." I said, removing my hands from beneath his shirt and placing them at the hem. I began pulling his shirt up, I wanted it off immediately. He placed his large hands over mine and stilled my frantic movements. He leaned in and placed the sweetest kiss I could ever imagine on my lips. "Bedroom." He whispered. I nodded and followed him to what I assumed was his bedroom. The lights were off so, I didn't have a chance to look around but I doubt I would have it they were on. I followed him to the bed where he sat and pulled me to straddle him. I was uncomfortable in the position at first but I quickly got over it. I could feel his thick erection pressed against my soaked jean clad pussy. I was certain that with a couple more kisses, I'd surely soak through the denim. His hands returned once more to the hem of my shirt but this time it was to take it off. I raised my arms as he removed my tank top. He groaned when my lace covered breasts were revealed to him. "They're beautiful" he said as he placed light kisses on the tops of each. It felt wonderful. It all felt so good and I suddenly wished that I had found him sooner. I wanted to feel his skin against mine and I all but ripped his shirt away from his gorgeous body. With my supernatural sight, I saw his beautiful upper body clearly in the dark. I felt myself creaming more and knew that I had definitely started soaking through my jeans. I leaned in and placed a tentative kiss to his chest. The slightly salty taste exploded on my tongue and I wanted more. I grew wetter as I listened to his groans and moans while I licked, and sucked every square inch of his chest. His dick throbbed below my covered crotch and I contemplated taking back what I said about not fully mating tonight. I paused in my attention to his chest to kiss his soft, full lips once more and groaned when he bit my bottom lip. "Mmmm, Alex. You like to bite huh?" I asked before I leaned down and bit his shoulder with slight pressure. He moaned and I was suddenly flipped onto my back, his imposing body above mine. My heart began beating even faster and I was panting. I had no idea what he was about to do and the anticipation was killing me. He softly guided his long, thick middle finger across my bare sternum, between my breasts, and down my stomach. The sensation was almost magical. "My mate is so soft." He said as he moved his finger back up towards my breasts. "Fuck, Alex." I said , the tickling sensation almost too much to take. My words caused something in him to snap and his gentle teasing ended there. I gasped as he abruptly ripped my bra from my body, baring my breasts to his gaze. "I'll buy you a new one." He said, covering my left breasts with his large hand. I nearly lost my mind when he began kneading the flesh. "My mate is so beautiful." He leaned forward and took my left nipple into his mouth and began sucking like a hungry infant. I cried out. I couldn't have held in my moans and pleas for him to continue even if I wanted to. "So good, Alex. Don't ever fucking stop." If I hadn't been in such a state of ecstasy, my boldness would have surprised me. He lifted his head up slightly, replacing his sucking motions with flicks of his pliant tongue. "Tell me how good it feels, Santana. Use that pretty, dirty mouth of yours and tell me how good my mouth on your tits feel." I groaned as I felt his words go straight to the juncture between my thighs. "Those weren't words, Ana. Tell me how good it is." and with that he went back to sucking on my tits with more intensity. My hips began moving in a rhyth I couldn't control. "Alex ahhhhh it feels ohhhahhh fucking ammmmazing." I managed to get out. I was in heaven, I couldn't imagine anything feeling better than this. "You like that baby?" He asked as he switched his attention to my other breast. My hips began arching off the bed, winding and humping against the air. I was moaning a combination of incoherent sounds and dirty words. "You love my mouth, don't you?" I nodded wildly, words not coming to me. "My mate is so responsive." He cooed as he moved from my breasts and down my stomach. I whimpered as he dipped his tongue into my navel. I couldn't help myself. Every time that his hands or tongue touched my bare skin, electricity happened. "Can I taste you, Ana?" He asked as he continued worshiping my torso. "Can I taste that sweet cream that's been dripping out of your pussy all day?" He asked, coming back up to once again lave my breasts with his magical tongue. I nodded, it was all I could do. All language skills had escaped me. "Say it, Ana." he was sucking on my right nipple with such ferocity that I didn't think I'd ever speak again. "Tell me you want me to lick your pussy. Pretty please, I've been thinking about your pussy since I met you last week." "Please" It was all I could manage. "Say it." he said between licks. "Please lick me." "Not like that. Use that dirty mouth of yours, Santana." I groaned. I just wanted some kind of release. "Lick my fucking pussy, Alex. I want you to taste how wet you make me." Once again, it was not the time for my boldness to shock me. I needed his lips there and I needed it right away. He laughed the laugh of a smug male and began removing my jeans. I lifted to allow him to slide them down over my ass and down my legs. Once they were gone, he looked down at my almost naked form. "My mate is perfect." He whispered. He kissed me with a gentleness I thought he had abandoned and I felt myself falling for him even more. He pulled away and smiled at me. "I've heard you purr, I've heard you moan, I've heard you curse, but now Ana, I want to hear you scream." "Oh my Gah-" was all I could get out as he situated himself between my thighs. "You smell so good, so sweet. I bet you taste just as sweet." "Ahhaahooohhhhhhhh!" He licked from opening to my clit. One long, slow lick over my lace covered pussy. One lick was all it took for him to accomplish his goal. I screamed out, the pleasure almost too much. "My mate tastes so good." And with that he ripped my underwear, pushed the scraps aside and dove right in. He started with long , slow licks like the first one. I could feel my juices sliding down my crack. He began swirling his talented tongue all over my pussy, and I trembled at the feeling. I couldn't imagine anything feeling more wonderful than his mouth on my cunt. I felt him shift on the bed and rose to my elbows, curious as to what he was doing. What I saw was nearly my undoing. He unzipped his jeans and pulled out his long, thick cock. I felt my body temperature rise even more as he began stroking his perfect dick and moaning into my pussy. I shivered slightly, imagining that thing inside of me. Tearing my eyes away from the sight of him pleasuring himself, I looked towards his head between my legs surprised to find him staring right at me. Our eyes met and I knew he had seen me watching him touch himself. I couldn't tell what was turning me on more, him watching me, him licking me, him touching himself, or the vibrations of him moaning into my core. I could see the smile in the eyes as he continued licking me everywhere but the hard button begging for attention. I felt a tremble within my body, a feeling I had only felt while alone. The feeling of his mouth on my cunt intensified and I was soon panting, throwing out profanties moaning, and rambling incoherent encouragement. "Don't ever stop. This is perfect. Oh. My. God." I groaned. He laughed and the vibrations made me buck my hips off the bed. Then he did it, the most wonderful thing in the history of the word. Ever. He placed his almost too full lips over my hard clit and began sucking. I feel back onto the bed. No longer able to support myself on my elbows. I grabbed a hold of his sheets with my fist and my legs tensed up, kicking out slightly as the trembling began the wrack my body. "Perfect. Perfect. Perfect." I chanted over and over again. It was all I could say because it was the only way to describe what he was doing to my inexperienced pussy. I felt the bed shake slightly as a result of what I assumed was him picking up the pace as he stroked himself. He groaned, moaned, and sucked and then it got better than perfect. I felt his tongue begin to stroke my clit while his mouth still sucked. I was so close, right on the edge of paradise just waiting to tipped over. He was close too, I could tell and his moans growing in volume was just what I needed to send me over. I came hard knowing that he felt good also. My body bowed off the bed and my toes were curled. My sweet nectar gushed from my pussy all over his face and he sucked harder as his body shook with the force of his own orgasm. He growled into my pussy and continued eating and licking me till every last drop was gone. I wanted to push him away, I wanted to beg him to stop but I couldn't move, couldn't speak. Those Eyes Ch. 06 Finally, he stopped. And lifted his head, the biggest grin I had ever seen on his face. He laid on my thigh as he caught his breath. It was quiet for a moment, the only sound being our heart beats and fast, shallow breathing. He broke the silence, I still didn't think I could speak. "You taste better then vanilla and caramel by the way. So much better." His words made my pussy spasm once more. He rolled over and climbed off the bed. "Get up for a second, baby. I want to take off this bedspread." I groaned and rolled to the side of the bed, almost throwing myself to the floor. I placed my hand on the headboard for support, not trusting my legs. I watched as he removed the bedspread and retrieved another. "Go on, climb back in." he said with a smile. I obeyed him with little resistance. My eyes feeling suddenly heavy. From the bed, I watched him pick up our clothes and place them on a settee in the corner of the room. When he got to his jeans, he reached into the pockets, feeling around for a while before making a confused sound. "What is it?" I asked through the haze of orgasm induced fatigue. I was happy to see that my language skills had returned. "I don't have my wallet. Hm, it's probably in the living room or down in the car. Whatever." "Hm, " was all I could manage as I felt his warm, naked body slide into bed behind me. He pulled me into him and draped his arm over my body. I snuggled further into his warmth, signing contently. "If I wasn't falling for you before. I certainly am now." I whispered. "I think I fell for you the second I looked into those eyes." Those Eyes Ch. 07 Here's another installment. I hope you all enjoy it. As usual, leave me feedback and rate it. It's really what makes this worthwhile, that and seeing all of people who read the story.I just finished school (Yay!) and I'm not waiting to start my new job so, I have more free time to dedicate to the story. I'll be writing a story in the interracial section soon so, please be on the look out for that! SRB ** "Alexander Francisco Carlisle, twenty-five years old. Born on August 2, 1868. Son of Alisar and Francesca Carlisle. Net worth 8.2 bi-" Audrienne relayed before being cut off. "Enough with the bio. Why was he at the house?" Dr. Madden growled, slamming his first down on the top of Audrienne's desk causing the various assortment of knick knacks she kept there to shake slightly. "We're not sure, sir. He wasn't alone." She added. Audrienne had essentially drawn the short stick and was forced to relay their findings to the doctor, their creator. "What do you mean he wasn't alone?" He said staring intently at her, his cool grey eyes meeting her green ones. "She was there, sir. We scented her. There's something else..." She said, trying to hide her uneasiness at being in his presence. "He's a vampire." She watched as he rubbed his thin, ashy hands together as if plotting something. "Interesting. This could mean that she's aware of what she is." He looked at her as if asking for confirmation. She used all of her willpower not to squirm in her seat and decided to just lay out everything that they knew. "We are unsure, sir. They were gone before we got to the house. The house was locked completely, some of the others are still working on trying to get in. All that we found was the wallet on the porch, beneath a swing, sir." "Well find out." He said in his gravelly voice. "Find out what, sir?" She asked, slightly unsure. "Her favorite color, her hobbies, what kinds of music she likes." He growled as he stared into her confused face and once more slammed his fist on her desk. "Find out if she knows what she is, you idiot! If she exhibits any traits, where the fuck she is!" He screamed. She nodded. "Ok, sir but how do we do that?" She willed herself not to recoil as he leaned over her body, staring at the contents of her computer screen and the items she had laid out on her desk. "Start with him." He said as he turned on his heels and exited the room. She breathed a sign of a relief. She was always relieved when she wasn't in his presence. Leaning back in her chair, she picked up the picture that they had stolen five years ago. It was of Santana and her family outside of their house in Virginia. She ran her thumb over the girl's image, stared at the green eyes that matched her own. "Santana Olivia Nugyen." She whispered out loud to herself, her oldest sister. She had often found herself looking at the photograph. She envied the girl. She envied her with every passion of her being. Audrienne knew she wasn't the only one who felt that way, nearly all of them did. Santana was free, out in the world, and had a family that loved her enough to protect her for all of those years. And now, they were going to bring her back, back to the fate that they all shared. The thought of that didn't sit well with Audrienne but she had little choice. She sighed once more and dropped the picture, picking up the drivers license that they had found the night before. "It looks like we're going to DC." She whispered to herself. She bristled at the squeal that sounded behind her. She knew it was Carmendi without looking, the youngest. "I'm gonna meet Obama!" -Alex- The week had passed quickly. It was now Thursday. The week had been filled with classes, paper writing, and getting to know my mate. I was ecstatic that I could now think of other things besides her, able to concentrate on other aspects of my life. I felt so settled knowing that she was now mine. Aislyn had taken her by her place to get clothes and other necessities and It warmed me inside whenever I saw her toothbrush on my bathroom counter or a pair of her shoes in the corner of a room. I paused in wring my paper and smiled as I thought about the previous night in this room. She had come home from school, feeling stressed. Ash had dropped her off. She was concerned about a lab project, one that required her to be on campus often. She was anxious about my siblings resenting her for having to be at her beck and call. The experiment had something to do with culturing fruit flies and genetic mapping. I wasn't sure of the details. I had concentrated more on her sexy pout than the actual words she was speaking. "I think we should convince them that I'm fine to be alone sometimes." That caught my attention. "Ana, it's nonnegotiable." I said, sternly. I watched the defiance flare in her green eyes. "Alex, I am not your ward." She said, her voice raising a few octaves. "And you are not my daddy. I had one father who liked to tell me what to do and you, friend, are not him." I had my arms wrapped around her before she could blink. "Friend?" I asked, tightening my embrace. "Am I just your friend, Ana?" I watched the defiance drain from her eyes, slowly being replaced with...lust. She shook her head in the negative. "Mate." she whispered. I leaned in her closer to her. "You are my mate and I am yours." Bringing my lips close to her I hear, "As for being your daddy. I'm sure I could get you to call me that with one well placed move of my tongue...or another appendage. " She shivered in my arms and playfully pushed herself out of my embrace. "Daddy? That's creepy, Alex." She said, giggling softly. I could tell that even if she had aversions to calling me "daddy" I had still turned her own. She moved to turn away and I pulled her back into my body. With a small smile on her face, she lifted up and placed a chaste kiss on my lips. "I know you're concerned, baby. I know you just want me safe." "Exactly, I want you safe." I said, leaning in for more sweet kisses. She smiled and complied, placing three more light kisses on my mouth. "If anything happened to you, I wouldn't be able to do this..." Before she had time to react, I had her hoisted on top of my desk, my MacBook and printer pushed aside. Air rushed out of her lungs as I yanked her pretty yellow sundress over her waist and tore her black panties away from her body. Spreading her creamy sepia thighs, I situated myself in my desk chair and feasted on her vanilla and caramel core. I didn't let up until she agreed to always have someone with her. Honeslty, I wasn't really sure if she agreed. I simply took her screams of "YES!" repeatedly as her consent. The phone ringing snapped me back to the present and I lifted up a book to locate the cause of the noise. I recognized the number and answered quickly. "Hello? Dr. Otto?" "Alexander, how are you?" The older man responded. "I'm well. Very well, actually. Did you get my message?" I asked, leaning back in my desk chair. "Yes, I'd love to meet her, run some tests, and hopefully get you two some answers. When are you free?" I thought about that. I knew she had class until about 4:30. She'd be home before five. "Is tonight okay?" I asked, crossing my fingers. "It's perfect. How about 6pm?" The man said. I blew out a sigh of relief. "Perfect. We'll see you then. " I ended the call and immediately texted Santana. I knew she was in class right now. [The geneticist that I told you about contacted me. He'd like to meet you tonight.] I waited only a minute before she replied. [Okay. Thank you for setting this up.] I smiled to myself. [Of course. I hope you're having a good day at school. I miss you.] [I miss you too, Alex. -Santana- School had been particularly exhausting that day and I tried perking myself up as Aislyn drove me home. "I hate that you have to do this, you know." I said, seemingly out of nowhere. "Don't worry about it. I didn't have any important client meetings this week so, I'm glad to be of use. Besides, it's nice to be around a girl for once and your classes are kind of interesting." She said with a smile as she shuffled through her iTouch. Her assurance worked perfectly. "So, any prospects in any of my classes?" I asked, smiling at the auburn haired beauty. I could tell that she was related to Alex, something about the way she smiled. She had an air about her that screamed sensuality and confidence. It was humourous to watch all of the men in my classes drool over her all week even the professors. It was even more amusing to watch her intently listening to each lecture, taking notes at times and even answering questions. When I inquired about it, she made some remark about keeping up appearances. "No, there are some cute boys though. Some that I'd like to have fun with." She winked at me and it caused me to blush. I shook my head at her antics. When we pulled up outside of the building, I had a strange feeling. I felt as if someone was watching me but more than that. I couldn't explain it. I had had the feeling several times that week. I felt it again when Alex and I were heading out of his building. I looked around discreetly, trying not to draw attention to myself. "What is it?" Alex asked. Of course, he had noticed. I tried to give him my most reassuring smile. "It's nothing. Just thought I saw someone I knew." He smiled down at me. "Liar." ** It didn't take them long to organize and head to Washington DC. It was worked out in a way that none of the watchers came. This was a test to prove their competence. Audrienne, the oldest at 22 was in charge. Zachary, Carmendi, and Aara came along. Together, they made the best possible team. Audrienne was the fastest, Carmendi possesed a ghost like stealth and could break any security code, Zachary was the strongest, and Aara possesed the most heightened senses. They were all so different in appearance and temperament but they shared two common traits, their father's DNA and their ethereal green eyes. She had wanted to bring along Rain, her "cousin" but the doctor was never comfortable with mixing his "children." Rain was the child of another hybrid, she had seven siblings. They all seemed more were than vampire in their demeanors but they were great hunters. Rain would have been useful for this mission, Audrienne thought. Once her request was denied, she had relented and decided to do the best with the remarkable team she already had. She had secretly had an ulterior motive for requesting Rain. Rain had never seen the outside of the compound, this would have been a great experience for her. The trip from the compound in Rhode Island had provided the group with a sense of freedom they rarely felt when at the compound. For the several hours it took to reach the Capital, it had almost felt like they were just on a family road trip. They cranked the radio, sang off key, and munched on snacks they were never allowed to have. Only Aara required a mostly blood diet and even she enjoyed the french-fries and carbonated drinks along the way. Audrienne wished she could have brought along Stephen, the youngest brother but that request had also been denied. Stephen had shown little progress in his 18 years of life and was denied allowance to attend missions. A very bored Audrienne sat in the back of a lecture on epidemiology staring at the back of an ebony colored head. Once they had located Alex, they had found Santana. It had been incredibly convenient. She couldn't understand why her sister would optionally take such boring classes with all college had to offer, or what she had heard college had to offer. Her intense training and the fear of being found out was the only thing that kept her in the back of that classroom. She desperately wanted to leave, wander around but knew that that wasn't an option. She breathed a sigh of relief, stood up and stretched when the class finally ended. She feigned packing her backpack as Santana moved past her, walking with a girl with deep red hair. Audrienne scented the air, the other woman was a vampire. She looked up and briefly made eye contact with a boy with freckles and blonde hair. He smiled but she looked down immediately, feeling awkward. She listened as he spoke to the male walking next to him. "Damn, that's two hot girls that are new to the class. First that red head and now that girl. Epidemiology just got slightly more interesting." She ignored his compliment and paid attention to the other thing he had said. The vampire wasn't in the class, she was just there with Santana. It took less than a day for the siblings to discern their oldest sister was never alone. There was always a vampire with her. It was Aara who had realized that they were the siblings of Alexander Carlisle. "We need to get closer to her. We can't figure anything out by just watching her from a far." Zachary proposed that first night. He was sitting in a rental car, a non descript black civic. The tinted windows helped to hide his imposing muscle filled form from those passing by. His mother had been Hispanic with a golden complexion. His own was slightly darker, but a little lighter than his father, Adam's. He had thin but soft lips and deep dimples. His nose was perfectly straight which complimented his handsome face which was toped off with up turned sparkling olive green eyes. "I agree, but how? There's always a vampire with her, like always always. She's never alone." Carmindy said into her ear piece. She was leaning against a street pole, a few blocks away from the apartment building that Santana was staying in. The DC hat she purchased from a street vendor sat on top of her head that was covered in flaming red hair. At 17, Carmendi was a knock out. The combination of her deep olive skin and red hair was striking. She was 5'7 with a lithe form and a sassy attitude that made life on the strict compound a living hell. She had a tiny pixie like nose and cupid's bow lips, high cheekbones and eyes that gleamed with the mischief that she wasn't allowed to create. Audrienne bent down, pretending to tie her shoe. "You can tell that being babysat annoys her, if she's our sibling, she'll want to rebel soon. We'll wait til then. It shouldn't be long." The wind picked up, whipping her white blond hair around her heart shaped face. Her mother had been Norwegian, passing on her hair and Aryan features to her daughter, everything but those eyes. Her skin looked slightly tan, and her exotic Asian like eyes only added to her appeal. Her body was toned from the training they were all forced to go through but it couldn't hide her slight womanly curves. Aara walked by then, walking past Audrienne as if she didn't know her. "We'll wait then." was all she said. She snickered as man passed and openly appraised her form. Aara was petite, like her Filipina mother. Her body was as curvy as Santana's only proportional to her small form. She looked the most like their father, and just as beautiful as her other siblings. Her quiet demeanor was a facade for her observing nature, she was always looking, listening, scenting. Three days later and they still waited. It was now Thursday. Audrienne sat at a coffee shop near the apartment building, listening for any information her siblings had to offer. She had just finished attending classes for the day and had trailed the pretty red head home as she dropped off her sister. She stopped short of apartment building and let Aara take over. Aara watched Santana from across the street. She had known about her sister for nine years and it was still strange seeing her in person. She sat and thought about the kind of life she would have had if she had been the first, the one declared a failed experiment. Instead, Aara had shown abilities almost immediately. She hated Santana for having something she desperately wanted but hated the doctor for creating her even more. "Anything Aara?" she heard in her earpiece. It was Zachary. "They just pulled up. The woman is dropping her off at the front entrance. Santana is alone but the vampire is waiting for her to get inside. I can't make a move." Aara replied. Santana and the man that Aara knew was Alexander Carlisle exited the building together ten minutes later. Aara noticed Santana looking around and got an uneasy feeling. "She's back. She's with Alexander and I think she senses me." -Santana- "You caught me. Why aren't we getting a car from the garage?" I asked, once more looking around. I just couldn't shake the feeling. He laced his fingers with mine and once more smiled down at me. "I figured the doctor would just want some blood and the information that we have from your father. It should be quick and I thought we could go out after. Like a ... date." He said, blushing slightly. I warmed instantly. My first date. "Alex..." I said in awe. He nudged me playfully. "Before you tell me how awesome I am, let me tell your our itinerary for the evening. After the doctor, we're going to have a picnic on the mall, followed by a night visit to the zoo, and finish the night up at the planetarium with wine and dessert." I was amazed that he had planned all of that for me. "Alex...I...You're..." I started but couldn't find the words to finish. "Awesome?" He offered with a cheeky grin as a town car pulled up to the curb. "You read my mind." While sitting in the back seat on our way to the doctor, I couldn't resist teasing him. "You do know that I'm already yours forever right?" "What part of spending every day of my entire life to make you smile did you not understand?" ** Audrienne waited in the coffee shop for her siblings to meet her. They filed in together and took a seat at the booth that she had been sitting at for more than an hour. "She knows." was the first words spoken by Aara. "I overheard them talking about a doctor and some information that her father left behind." "I followed them to Chantilly, Virginia. They went to a genetic lab." Zachary interjected. Audrienne leaned back and thought about what she had just heard. "So, she knows. I think it's time to see what she can do." Those Eyes Ch. 08 Ok guys, here's chapter 8. I hope that it's enjoyable. Thank you all for the feedback. Keep it coming. I do proofread my work but sometimes things escape my attention so, I apologize for the errors. I hope they're not terribly distracting. I'm sorry that the last chapter was so short. I was sick while writing it and just wanted to give you all something to read until I was able to write something more substantial. Here it goes. SRB ** Staring out the window at the passing scenery, Carmendi sighed loudly. She turned slightly and met eyes that matched her own. "You know the plan right?" Zach asked, staring at his baby sister. She nodded. They were heading back to the lab in Chantilly. "It's nice here, this area. Lots of people." She whispered, still looking out the window. "Hm." was Zach's non committal reply. "I wonder if she likes it here. She seems happy. She's so pretty too. Do you think she's pretty?" Zach let out an exasperated sigh as his sister's topic of conversation. "Carmendi..." He said, his tone warning. "Geeze, I was just saying." A few minutes passed in silence. "She's...beautiful. You've got her eyes, you know." Carmendi looked over at her big brother and couldn't help but laugh, he joined in a second later. Suddenly the laughing ended and the atmosphere became serious. "You need to get your head in the game, kid." Zach said quietly but stern. "I wish I could just say...fuck it to the game." Carmendi replied, crossing her arms over her chest, her attention once more returning to the window. "We don't belong out here, kid. It's not what we were made for." "That's bullshit and you know it." Carmendi said, starting to pout like the 17 year old girl she was. "They'd find us." Zach said, making a turn. "You know they wouldn't just let us go. Is that how you want to live?" "Either option sucks." "You're right about that kiddo. " It wasn't that Zach never thought about leaving, he just hadn't thought of a smart way to do so, a way that ensured the safety of each and every one of his siblings. He parked the car and sighed deeply. "You know what to do." He said, not looking in the direction of the girl. He watched her for a moment before he pulled away from the side of the road and headed back to DC. Carmendi was in the building in no time, moving along the corridors unnoticed.Her footsteps made no sound as she moved. Hearing someone approaching, she leapt up, crouching in a corner. A buxom nurse with a pretty face walked by, none the wiser that she wasn't alone in the hall. It was after six, the building was nearly empty. She pulled back her scent and moved through the halls until she sensed her sister, moving closer to the door she scaled the wall, perched in the corner, and listened in. -Santana- I watched the needle as the blood was extracted from my arm. It was the only way that I could get blood drawn, I had to watch. The doctor moved with swiftness, I had barely felt the needle penetrate my sensitive skin. We had already been there for a while talking about me and the things in the files. "How much do you need?" I heard Alex ask. "I'm going to take a pint. I know that seems like a lot but I'd rather have more than enough than not enough." I looked up at the face of Dr. Otto. Alex had told me was a were but I couldn't sense that, he just looked like an attractive middle aged man. I appraised his dark blonde curly locks and light green eyes. His nose seemed a little big but it fit his face nicely. "Okay, all done." He said with a smile as he pulled the needle away from my skin and placed a band aid over the area. Alex, who had backed away to a corner during the process was once again at my side, the pained expression on his face no longer there. "Is it that bad?" I asked, referring to the presence of my blood. "Yes." He said through gritted teeth. "I have never smelled anything as divine as your blood. It calls to me just like everything else about you does." He smiled down at me and reached a hand out to stroke my cheek lightly. I leaned into his hand and sighed contently. I loved his touch. A cleared throat brought our attention back to the other man in the room. We both looked in his direction without relinquishing our physical contact. "Not many people know this but weres, vampires, and humans used to be able to reproduce without changing." That caught our attention. The doctor smiled slightly at our changed demeanors. "What happened?" I asked, staring intently at the attractive man. "Evolution. Natural Selection. Darwinism. Whichever term you prefer." "So, each has evolved to prevent such offspring?" I asked, not sure if I understood. "The offspring would die after a few years. They were unstable, mentally. Many were executed but most just died.None actually survived puberty. Hybridism was like a lethal genetic disease." "What about Adam?" I asked, feeling uneasy. "Well, as your father's notes say, Adam was little more than an animal. He naturally wouldn't have occurred in nature and if he had, he would have died early. That appears to have been the problem with the earlier experiments." I nodded my head in understanding but another thing was wearing on my mind. "What about the mate thing? Alex said that only mates can reproduce." The doctor nodded while opening the file on my birth mother. "It appears that they have cracked the code behind soul mates. Not only are mates essentially perfectly compatible but there's another chemistry involved. It's the biology of attraction, scents, oxytocin levels, brain patterns, major histocompatibility complexes... immune systems." He added at Alex's confused face. "Essentially Adam and your birth mother's bodies were tricked into recognizing their mates in each other. It's brilliant, really. Bloody brilliant." Doctor Otto said with awe in his voice and a clear appreciation for the science involved. My inner scientist was silent as I thought about what I had just learned. "Wow." was all I could say. "Wow, is right." Alex said, once again stroking my cheek. It was quiet for a while as the information sunk in. "Can...I make a suggestion?" The doctor said with hesitance in his voice. We both nodded, unsure of what his next words were going to be. "Santana, you can't control your abilities." He said more as a statement than a question. "From what I've gathered from the letter your father left, you're not as far along as the others may be." I looked at him unsure of what he was getting at other than pointing out all of my deficiencies. "What are you getting at Dr. Otto?" Alex said, obviously getting as annoyed as I was. The doctor seemed a little more uncomfortable as he rubbed his hands together and cleared his throat. "I...I don't know if this would work exactly as I imagine it and I know that this may be uncomfortable to hear but...I believe that mating would ground you, Santana. It'd...decrease your humanity, make you less unstable." The room was silent for what seemed like hours. In the past week, mating with Alex had been at the front of my mind but now that it was being suggested, it lost some of its magic. I didn't know what to think. I looked over at my mate, he seemed as unsure as I was. Aware of our apprehension, Dr. Otto broke the silence. "There was a young couple in my pack. The girl, she had issues changing. The parents even resorted to cognitive behavioral therapy to help her overcome this issue. She had basically accepted never being in control of her wolf and figured that because she was 'weak' no male would ever want her. Well, she found her mate. A young man from another pack and the strangest thing happened. After the two mated, the girl gained full control over her wolf and to this day can change at will." "So you're using an example with wolves to justify what you just told us?" I asked, my vision sharpening, my anger rising. "Well, you are part were, Santana and as I said, it's merely a suggestion." Alex and I left the lab hand in hand, no words passed between us. It gave me time to think about what we had just been told. As we exited the lab, I got that strange feeling again but shook it off. I already had enough on my mind. There was no doubt that I wanted to mate with Alex. I couldn't wait to be his and I couldn't wait for him to be mine. I had just figured that we'd have more time to get to know each other. I almost laughed at that thought. As I had told him earlier, I was already his forever and I had forever to get to know him. I stopped walking and pulled his hand back towards me. He stopped and looked at me with a confused expression. "What is it? Did what he said upset you?" I was instantly in his arms, a shiver passed through me as he kissed my temple. "Baby, we don't have to mate anytime soon. I'll wait for when you're ready. Please don't feel like we have to rush things now." His words further made up my mind. I leaned back in his embrace and looked up at his gorgeous face. There was so much adoration in his eyes and something else, something that looked like...love. "Tonight." was all that I could say and it escaped my breath on a whisper. "Tonight? Tonight what?" He responded. I could tell that he had an idea of what I meant but wanted to get confirmation. He needed me to say it. "Tonight..." I paused. Saying this was going to be hard. I took a few deep breaths and smiled up at him. He gave me a look that said "take your time." After one more deep breath, I was ready. "Tonight...I want you to make me yours." I fought my immediate urge to look at the ground and watched the emotions flicker across his face. He smiled at me and kissed me once more on the temple. "Geeze, Ana. I had no idea that you were the type of girl who gave it up on the first date." ** She knew that she should have left. She knew that she should have just gone back and reported to her siblings everything that she had heard but she couldn't. Maybe it was her young age, maybe it was her rebellious nature but she couldn't leave. She didn't understand what she had just heard, she didn't understand what they meant when they spoke of mates. She didn't understand how copulating would help her sister be more stable. She had watched her sister and who she had ascertained to be her sister's significant other exit the building and saw the expressions that they wore. With all of the stealth that she had been born with, Carmendi dropped from her perch and walked into the lab that her sister had just left from. She watched the man for a while as he worked, completely unaware of her presence. After a few minutes passed, she reached over and knocked on the edge of the door. "What the..." the doctor began as he turned around suddenly. "Excuse ma'am but we're closed." The doctor said, once more turning his back on the pretty girl in the doorway. He was slightly shook that he hadn't heard her approach. Shaking it off, he blamed it on being distracted. "I..." Carmendi began. She should have left. She should have turned around and left but she needed her questions answered. She walked into the room and stopped a few feet from where he stood, working. "I...have a question." Without looking at her, he spoke. "If you're here for an internship or for a school project, come back in the morning. The receptionist will be able to assist you, sweetheart. " She sighed, slightly peeved that he was ignoring her. This was one of her first encounters with someone outside of the compound and it wasn't going well. Maybe her brother was right, they didn't belong out here. "Sir..." She began. Why didn't she just leave. "Sweetheart, as I said before, we are closed." He said, finally turning around to face her, his gasp causing her to step back slightly in alarm. The doctor stared at her for a moment before he spoke. "What can I help you with?" He said, studying her face. The action made her feel uneasy, she knew what he saw there. She knew she should have left. "I know you've probably figured it out. I know my eyes gave it away but please, before you tell them, answer my questions." She pleaded, approaching him slowly. "I'm not here to hurt her...or you." Seeing the sincerity in her eyes, the doctor nodded and gestured for her to have a seat. She complied with an uneasy smile and looked at the man a moment before speaking. "I just want to know...what a mate is." -Alex- On the drive back into DC, I discreetly texted out orders for the night. I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted it to be everything that my beautiful mate had dreamed about. I loved the little looks that she would give me when she thought I wasn't paying attention. I looked up from my phone and was met with a particularly heated gaze. I covered up my groan with a cough, the promise in that look was enough to make me start hardening in my jeans. It was a brief look and was soon replaced by adoration. I smiled at her and my stomach flipped as she smiled back before blushing and looking at the floor of the vehicle. I took that opportunity to really look at her. She wasn't what I thought my mate would be like. She wasn't even close. Before I met Ana, I had an affinity for leggy blondes. I liked the all American girl. Large eyes, long hair, large breasts, slim hips. I liked girls who knew they were attractive and used it to their advantage. Ana was nothing like that and not just physically. She was awkward and didn't fully understand how beautiful she was. She had no idea that her beauty was worthy of praise, she had no idea that she was worthy of praise. I felt a lump in my throat at that moment and my heartbeat quickened. When this night was over, Ana would be mine completely. She looked up then and her shining green eyes looked as if she had known exactly what I was thinking about. In case she didn't, I decided to fill her in. "You're beautiful, you know. Absolutely perfect." She smiled an uneasy smile and stared at me intently. "I love that you think that." She said, her smile broadening. "I don't think that. I know it to be a fact." She moved until her side was flush against mine. "I'm nervous." She whispered. I pulled her into my arms and laid my head on top of hers. "Don't be." was all that I said. I felt her body relax slightly and knew that that was all that I needed to say. ** "Did you find out anything?" Zach asked as soon as Carmendi got into the car. She shook her head. "No, not much." She lied. "All that I learned was that she's unstable. She isn't in control of her abilities." "What do you mean by that?" He asked, keeping his eyes on the road. "They're apparently linked to her emotions, strong emotions. She has no real control of them. She also only started exhibiting her abilities a few years ago and it was only once. They didn't make an appearance again until a couple of weeks ago." "Hm, that all?" He asked. "Yes, that's all." Carmendi had never lied to her siblings. She had never lied, period before today but inside she felt it was necessary. She secretly hoped that after tonight, Santana would be stronger, that she'd be able to fight back, that she'd fight to stay and win. The doctor's word's were ever present in her head. A mate. A soul mate. The other half of your soul. Santana had that and they were there to take it away from her. The doctor, their creator, had never educated them in the ways of vampires and weres. He simply trained them, pushed them to the limit in their abilities. They barely knew anything outside of the compound and what they were allowed to know. How could he not tell them that they had mates out there somewhere. She mentally scoffed. She knew why. He was afraid that they'd leave. He was afraid that there'd be an uproar. Maybe she should tell. "You okay little sister?" Zach said, looking in her direction. "Yeah...just thinking is all." -Alex- I was lying on the blanket watching Santana stare up into the sky. It was nine but still fairly light out. "I love warm fall nights." She said with a small smile. I couldn't help but smile at her expression. We had finished out picnic half an hour ago but had been lying on the ground, holding hands enjoying being in the company of the other.I leaned up on my elbow and stared down at her, she smiled at me and blushed slightly. "What?" "Just enjoying the view." I said with a grin. She rolled her eyes but didn't break eye contact with me. "You ready to go to see some animals?"She nodded and I stood, helping her up after. We packed up everything and made our way back to the car. "So how is it exactly that we're able to go to the zoo at this time of night?" She asked as we climbed into the car. "I know a guy." I said with a cheeky wink. We walked through the zoo hand in hand with our own personal guide. We were even allowed in the enclosures. I enjoyed listening to Ana's squeals of delight at all of animals. She especially liked the larger animals like the hippos and elephants. We had almost seen the entire zoo and all of its inhabitants and I tried to contain my excitement at how the night would end. All she wore was a simple black and white striped maxi dress with a low slung belt and gladiator sandals. I adjusted myself in my jeans as I imagined how she'd look completely naked and underneath me. I only prayed that she liked my surprise. We thanked our guide, a fellow vampire as we climbed back into the car, heading to the National Air and Space Museum. I could tell that she was anxious but there was also excitement in her expression. "Thank you for all of this." She said quietly, leaning into my body. I couldn't help but smile. "Don't think me just yet. Our night is far from over." She simply nodded. "You still nervous?" I asked, looking into her eyes for any signs of hesitation. "Yes but I'm more excited than anything. It's all I've been thinking about since I met you." She responded, looking up into my face. I leaned in and pressed my lips lightly to hers. She returned my kiss with an intensity I hadn't expected and we were soon fully making out in the backseat of the car. Her moans as our tongues dueled made me want to take her right then and there but I knew she deserved more than that. I pulled back, her sweet whimper at my actions almost broke my resolve. "We're here, baby." I said taking a deep breath. She nodded and I climbed out of the car, helping her out after. She gasped and I couldn't help but smile at her reaction as she noticed the small candles lighting the way into the museum. I nodded in acknowledgement at the man at the door, another vampire who I now owed a huge favor. "Really?" was all that she said and I couldn't help but laugh. "Yes, really. Come on." I said, reaching for her hand. We followed the candles through the building and to the entrance of the planetarium. "Close your eyes." I whispered into her ear. I waited until she complied before I opened the door. "No peaking." I admonished when I saw her eyelids flutter. "Ok. You can open them now." I stared at her face, eager to see every flicker of emotion pass thorough her expression. "Oh. My. God." She said looking around at the scene before her. I watched shock, disbelief, amazement, appreciation, and adoration transition on her beautiful face. She looked up and gasped once more, a single tear falling from her glistening eyes. I leaned over and kissed that tear away. "The stars...Alex..." "I wanted to make love to you beneath the stars." I said, leading her over towards the bed that I had set up. The screens held a scene of the brightest, stars imaginable and the bed was draped in white silk. There were two glasses of wine and a bottle of champagne cooling by the bed. What she didn't see was the blue box with white ribbon hidden beneath the pillows. Those Eyes Ch. 08 We stopped by the bed and I pulled her to sit. She was now fully crying. "Alex...really?" She asked, laughing through her tears. "Yes, really. I wanted this to be perfect for you." "But this is so much. It's too much." She said, sniffling. "No, it's not enough." I said, rubbing my thumb over her knuckles. "It's so..." She paused and began looking around once more. "Perfect. Thank you." "I'm glad you like it, but there's more." I said, reaching under the pillow discreetly until my fingers came into contact with the small box."Ana...I think you're amazing and beautiful and I've thanked God multiple times a day for giving me you. I had no idea that I would meet my mate so soon but If I could go back and change things, I would meet you sooner. I know this is happening so fast but when you've met the other half of your soul, there's no such thing as 'too fast'." I moved once more, making the box visible to her and smiled as she gasped for what seemed like the millionth time tonight. "This can be an engagement ring or a promise ring, whichever you want as long as you realize that this means forever." I opened the box and the tears intensified. "Forever, Santana?" -Santana- The sight before me was breathtaking. The shining white bed shone brightly in the dark room as did the stars above. I couldn't have imagined a more beautiful scene if I tried. I just couldn't grasp the fact that Alex had done this all for me and as the tears began to fall, I realized that I was no longer nervous. Alex deserved the be the first and last man to ever have me. I felt silly for crying at something so beautiful but I couldn't help it. As he led me to the bed, my heart began beating wildly. This is it, I thought but then he paused. He began speaking and his words caused my throat to close. I knew that Alex cared for me but hearing him say it was almost too much. A movement caught my eye and a second later, the Tiffany blue box was revealed. My vision blurred from the tears and I feared that I wouldn't even be able to see what was in the box. When he opened it, a platinum band with a large solitary diamond rested in the box. I didn't know much about rings but I could tell that this one had cost my mate a pretty penny. "Forever, Santana?" I heard him ask and it took me a moment to realize that he was still speaking to me. The glistening rock had hypnotized me. Once I realized that he had spoke, I looked up into his cyan blue eyes and saw more love than I had ever imagined existing. I couldn't find my voice, and all I could do was open and close my mouth repeatedly. I saw uncertainty flash briefly in his gaze and my voice instantaneously returned to alleviate that feeling within him. "Forever." I said, and I began to laugh like a giddy little girl as the biggest smile I had ever seen spread across his perfect face. I lifted my left hand and held it out to him to place the ring on. He pulled the ring on the box and I waited to feel the cool weight on my finger but he paused once more. "Read the engraving." He said, handing me the ring. I held the ring up and spun it until I saw what I was looking for. "The second that I looked into those eyes." I read aloud. "I love you." I said before I could stop myself. It was soon, I had known him less than a month but I couldn't deny what I had just said. It was true. I loved the messy haired, blue eyed boy in front of me with every fiber of my being. The look on his face was enough to make me want to say those three words over and over and over again. He leaned in and before I could realize what he was doing, his lips were smashed against mine. He kissed me with an intensity that took my breath away and I pulled back to inhale deeply before crushing my body into his and kissing him once more. He leaned against my body, pushing me to lie down on the bed which felt like a cloud. "I love you so much, Ana." He said quickly before descending once more on my lips. Our lips moved in perfect harmony against one another and our tongues danced a dance as old as time. His lips were so soft and full and I couldn't get enough of them. He began sliding his tongue sensually in and out of my mouth and my body heated up to an uncomfortable inferno. "Alex..." I gasped as I moved one hand around his neck and another into his silky hair to deepen the kiss. "Ahhhhhlex." I moaned once more. I needed more and I moved my hands frantically down to the first button of dress shirt. His kisses prevented me from thinking straight and I struggled to undo the buttons. I was getting frustrated and let out a growl as I ripped his shirt apart, buttons flying everywhere. "I'll buy you a new one." I said, borrowing his line he used after ripping several pairs of underwear the days before. He grabbed my hands and pulled them away from the torn remnants of his shirt. "Slow, baby..." He said, groaning at my loss of inhibitions. "I don't want slow. I want you!" I gasped out, jerking my hands away from his grip and placing them on his hard chest. -Alex- I couldn't imagine a time when I was happier than I was in that moment. The beauty beneath me had agreed to be mine forever and I was floating on cloud nine as her sexy lips played with mine. Her moans and mewls were driving me insane. I repeatedly drove the desire to pull up her dress, rip her underwear and slam into her away from my mind as she moved beneath me. Her body was so hot and her skin both burned and sent electric shocks through mine. I felt her frustration as her hands pulled me harder into the kiss. The sounds of my shirt ripping filled the room as the buttons flew in every direction. The urge to slam into her and pound away once more came into my head and I knew that I had to get her to slow down before her magical experience was no longer magical. "I don't want slow. I want you!" She nearly screamed as she caressed my chest and pushed the remains of my torn shirt away. I growled, unable to contain myself and roughly gripped her neck and thigh, pulling her up fully on the bed. I covered her body completely with mine and began kissing her once more. We kissed until we were once again breathless. I had never been more turned on than I was in that moment. "Tell me that you want me." I said, moving down to lavish her graceful neck with kisses, licks, and slight bites. "I want you so fucking bad!" She gasped out as I began sucking on the spot where her neck met her shoulder. I shuddered at her words and began using my hand on her thigh to pull up her dress. She moaned as the soft fabric slid along her thighs and up to her waist. From the waist down, the only thing covering her was a sheer pair of boyfriends in white. I groaned. I had never seen her in any other color underwear other than black and took a moment to appreciate the stark white against her golden skin. Her hips began to move slightly, my gaze turning her on. She whimpered at the absence of my physical attention and not wanting to leave her wanting, I slowly slid my hand inside of her underwear, her juices already seeping through. We both moaned as my hand came into contact with her perfectly shaven cunt. I couldn't believe how hot and wet she was and wasted little time in beginning my play. I watched the lust consume her expression as I moved my thick middle finger along her slit repeatedly. She moaned over and over again, humping herself against my hand to increase the pressure. I intentionally ignored her engorged clit, loving to see her go crazy under my ministrations. "Alex, pleaseeee." She begged. I chuckled and paused in my movements. "Say it." I said, waiting to hear the words. "Please make me cum." She said, squirming on the bed. "Is that what you want?" I asked, removing my hand from her panties and wrapping it around the crotch. "Yesss! God Yes!" She wailed, rolling her hips to the sexiest rhythm I had ever witnessed. "I want you to make me cum and then I want you to slam your dick into me and fuck me. Gahhhhlex I want you fuck me!" She screamed, her hips bucking wildly. Her words caused my restraint to snap and I ripped away her underwear. With a growl, I lowered my body and positioned myself between her legs, my mouth less than an inch away from her dripping wet pussy. I inhaled deeply, taking in her sweet scent. Without further teasing, I dove right in. Not in the mood to prolong sliding inside of her, I immediately wrapped my lips around her clit and began sucking. Her body began thrashing and her hips being bucking forward as if trying to dislodge me. Firmly, I placed my hands on both of her hips and held her down as I continued my assault on her deliciously wet pussy. I moved my right hand over to splay across her flat stomach, feeling the muscles rippling beneath. "Fuck. So. Good. So fucking good." She whispered repeatedly between moans and whimpers. Laughing into her core, I moved my left hand down and began tracing light circles around her dripping entrance with my middle finger. If she thought this was good, I couldn't wait to hear her reaction when it got better. I increased my efforts on her clit and slid my long, thick finger in slowly. I almost busted a nut right then and there. She was so tight, tighter than I thought possible. I couldn't wait to be inside of her. My dick became harder than it had ever been before as the walls of her virginal pussy pulsed and gripped my finger. It sounded as if she had stopped breathing and her body had tensed. I waited a moment, not sure if I needed to check on her but then she let out the sexiest noise I had ever heard. It was a cross between a moan and a wail and it was magnificent. It didn't take long before she started rocking her hips against the single digit inside of her, trying to create friction. I chuckled and began moving my finger in and out of her, stopping before I met the resistance that was her maidenhood. Pulling out slightly, I added a second finger and slowly began working up to the same tempo I was using moments before. She was so pliant beneath my hands, loving everything that I was doing to her. As I continued sucking her clit, I felt her walls spasming quickly and gripping my fingers tighter. She was about to cum. An idea suddenly popped into my head. Apart of me wanted to ask her for permission but the other part wanted to just do it. I doubled my efforts as she got closer and closer to climaxing all over my fingers and face. I began moving my tongue against her hard clit as her gorgeous body started bucking against my face. "Alex. Alex. Alex Oh my gah. Oh my gah." That's it. She was almost there. "Alex! OH MY GAHHHHHHHHHHHHHH" She screamed as her entire body bowed off of the bed and seemed suspended in air. I sucked harder on her clit, enhancing her orgasm. I made up my mind then and slammed my fingers roughly and deeply into her velvety canal, tearing through her innocence. I heard her breath catch in her lungs as she slammed abruptly to the bed. I slid my fingers out of her and began drinking of her essence, the blood mixed with her juices. I had never tasted anything more addicting. I drank deeply, not stopping until no more blood remained only the continually flowing cream. I lapped at her entrance, shoving my tongue as deep as I could inside of her, using my saliva to ease her pain. Not being able to take anymore, I felt her fingers shakily thread themselves in my hair and pull. Taking the hint, I pulled away from her core and moved until I was up on my knees, looking down at her trembling form. Making sure that she was watching me, I took the fingers that had been inside of her moments before and slid them into my mouth, removing every last bit of her essence and enjoying it. -Santana- I watched him through hooded eyes as he licked my juices and traces of blood from his fingers. I had never seen anything more erotic. My pussy spasmed at the sight. I laid there and stared at the man I loved as I waited until I could move and speak again. Every orgasm Alex had ever given me would put me in a state of catatonia. It was pure bliss to experience so much pleasure that you couldn't move afterwards, couldn't form words afterwards. I realized then that I had never given Alex that kind of pleasure and I wanted to immediately amend that. "Take your clothes off, Alex." I said in a voice that didn't sound like my own. Not hesitating, he immediately jumped up from the bed and began stripping. I stood then too and pulled my dress away, then slipped off my sandals. We both stood there staring at each other, the only thing either of us was wearing was the diamond ring on my finger. I stared down at the beautiful, long, thick piece of meat between his legs. It looked painfully hard, I watched as a drop of pre cum formed at the tip and slid down the shaft. I unconsciously licked my lips. "Like what you see?" He asked, his hand snaking down and wrapping firmly around the appendage. "I love what I see." I responded as he began stroking his perfect cock. For a moment I feared that it wouldn't fit but the fear was quickly replaced with excitement. Licking my lips once more, I moved forward but stopped abruptly when Alex took a step back. I tilted my head in confusion. He sighed and a concerned look was suddenly on his face. "Are you mad at me?" He asked out of no where. I racked my brain for anything that I should have been mad about. "For what I did. You know, When you were orgasming." I couldn't help but smile at his worrying. I shook my head and began moving towards him again. "No. I'm not mad at all. I thought it was actually quite brilliant. It only hurt for a moment." I said , reaching out to him. He let out a sigh of relief and closed the distance between us. Reaching down, I placed my smaller hand over his as he stroked himself. He moaned and leaned down to kiss me. I touched my lips quickly to his and pulled away. I had other plans for my mouth and with a brief thought of apprehension, I dropped to my knees and tentatively licked the head of his member. "Santanaaaa." He groaned as I engulfed half of his thick length. I didn't want to tease him. That first taste was heaven and I wanted more. I had never done this before but I let my instincts guide me. Making sure to keep his dick away from my teeth, I moved my head up and down, bobbing while I used my tongue to stimulate the head. My instincts must have been right because I had Alex moaning in no time. Removing his hand from his shaft, he tangled it into my long tresses, followed by the other and used them to quicken my tempo. I brought my hand up and picked up where he left off. I stroked the half of his dick that I couldn't fit in my mouth. I moved my head back and forth, enjoying the sexy moans and words of encouragement that escaped my mate's lips. "Just like that, baby. You're so amazing." He groaned. Pre cum was now leaking continuously from the head and I wandered if his cum would be as intoxicating. Bringing up my other hand, I used it to massage his medium sized testicles. He bucked into my mouth. I smiled, knowing that he liked that. "Okay, baby, stop. I'm so close." He said, tugging lightly on my hair. I began moving my hands faster and sucked in my cheeks, intensifying my efforts. "Baby, stop. Ahhhhh I'm so close, it's so good. " He said, once more tugging on my hair. I refused to stop until I got my prize. I felt his body tense and his balls tighten. "Baby, sto-" He began before the first spurt hit the back of my throat. He began moaning and growling as he emptied himself into my throat. His cum tasted so good and I didn't let up until I was sure that I had consumed every last drop. As I pulled away, I noticed that Alex was still impossibly hard. "What the..." He started when he noticed what had my attention but couldn't continue due to his lack of breath. Once he regained his ability to breathe properly, he moved before I had a chance to anticipate his actions. I was on the bed now, his hard body on top of mine. I looked up into his eyes, his love obvious in the ocean blue orbs. He leaned in and placed a chaste kiss on my lips before pulling back. "Forever?" He whispered. "Forever." I replied right before he slammed his full length into my silky depths. -Alex- It was more amazing than I had ever imagined. I knew then that she was made just for me, her pussy fitting me like a glove. I was glad that she had made me cum before, otherwise, I could have erupted immediately upon entering her. As soon as I had penetrated her, her head was thrown back and she was groaning. I paused into her hot, tight heat, appraising her beauty. "Look at me, baby." I said in a strained tone. It took a moment but our eyes soon met. "Are you okay?" I asked, fighting the urges within me that begged me to move. She smiled slightly and nodded. "I'm more than okay. I feel so full. It's amazing." She whispered. It was all the encouragement that I needed. I moved back, pulling myself out of her until only the head remained and slammed back in, hard and deep. I paused once more, watching her reaction. She grunted and rolled her hips. "You like that?" I asked as I pulled out once more. "I love it!" She screamed. That was it, enough conversation. I wrapped my arms around her back, placing my hands on her shoulder and began fucking my mate. I alternated between hard, deep strokes and slow, deep strokes, grinding my hips into hers. Her whimpers, moans, groans, and screams filled the air around us as I made love to her beneath the stars. "It's so good. Oh. My. God. It's so good." She said as she began fucking me back, lifting her hips and slamming them into mine. I moved in and out of her, varying my tempo and intensity. She responded so well to all of it, loving the way I played her perfect body. I felt her walls spasm around my hard dick and knew that she was approaching her second orgasm of the night. "You gonna cum for me, baby?" I asked as I slammed into her in a staccato pace. All she could do is nod as she got closer and closer to her climax. Her body tensed and I leaned down, slamming my mouth onto hers as she fell apart in my arms, me swallowing her screams and moans. I kissed her as she came down, the walls of her cunt gripping my cock painfully. It was the most exquisite pain I had ever felt. As her walls rippled, I felt my balls tighten slightly and knew that my climax was impending. "Baby, look at me." I said, trying to get her to focus. Two dreamy looking green eyes looked up at me. "I'm getting close. I need you to bite me, okay?" I said, seriously as I continued stroking in and out of her. She started to shake her head and decline but I stopped her with a strong, hard, stroke. She moaned and threw her head back once more. "Look at me, Ana." Her dazed gaze once again met mine. "Bite me." I said, slamming into her. I moved my hand from her shoulder to the back of her head and pushed her face towards my neck. She resisted slightly but I soon felt her relent as she placed a soft kiss on my vein. I braced myself as I felt her mouth widen. As her teeth sunk into my skin, lights flashed behind my eyelids. -Santana- "Drink, Santana." He screamed as he pounded my pussy. I couldn't decide which was more pleasurable, his dick stroking in and out of me or the taste of his blood in my mouth. I began to pull on the vein and the blood gushed faster. It was hot and tangy and so delicious. I had thought about what it'd be like to taste him this way all week and now that I was doing it, my thoughts could never have equated to this. Alex inside me and his blood flowing into my mouth was perfection. I never wanted it to end. I rocked my hips up on every down stroke of his and groaned as his life force oozed down my throat. I pulled harder and moaned my content. I vaguely heard Alex's moans turn into words as I swallowed. I opened my eyes, my vision had sharpened, every star was more detailed than it had been a moment before. This was perfection. Absolute perfection. Those Eyes Ch. 08 Suddenly Alex's words broke through my haze. "Stop, Santana. That's enough." He said. I knew that I needed to pull away and put all of my energy into persuading the part of me that wanted to keep drinking to pull back. Reluctantly, I pulled back, licking any traces of his blood away from my lips then licking the many wounds that I had created. They closed instantly but before I had time to understand what had happened, I felt my head being pushed aside and Alex plunge his fangs deep into the spot where my shoulders met my neck. He began slamming into me harder and before I knew it I was climaxing once more, my body convulsing uncontrollably. As I came down, I concentrated on the erotic feel of his lips on my neck. His tempo increased and I felt his body tense, he let out a series of curse words and sounds as he came inside of me. I moaned as his hot seed coated my inner walls setting off another orgasm before my world went black; neither of us aware of the ringing phone on the floor. Those Eyes Ch. 09 Hi all, Sorry that it's taken me so long to update. Once more, life got in the way of my hobbies. I hope that this chapter was worth the wait. Remember to comment and vote. It makes this process so much more fun. Thank you to Archangel for his editing skills and enjoyable commentary =) SRB * -Alex- I held my breath as I stared down at her. She hadn't stirred for at least four minutes and my mind raced with the most horrible thoughts. What if she never woke up? I shook my head to clear those thoughts away. I couldn't allow myself to think like that. She was going to wake up. She had to wake up. There. I felt it. A tiny flutter of hidden muscles. It was then that I noticed that I was still seated deeply inside of her heat. I groaned at the realization as the memories of what we had just done replayed in my mind. She had been perfect, everything that I had ever imagined. She gave as good as she took, and she was all mine. I felt my cock twitch inside of her impossibly tight sheathe and I groaned once more. I felt slightly ashamed that I was allowing my unconscious mate to affect me so, but I couldn't remove myself from the heaven that lay between her legs. "Mmm, Alex," I heard her moan, so softly that I barely caught it. It was then that I was suddenly hit with appreciation, adoration, and love. I was in awe as I realized where that feeling was coming from: it was from her, from our bond. That moment was by far the happiest of my life, and I desperately wanted her to wake up. As if reading my mind, her eyes begin to flutter open slowly. I watched intently as her eyes opened completely and her vision focused. "Alex," she said once more in a breathy moan. I couldn't help it as my hard member twitched once more. "Hi, Baby," I said, staring down at her gorgeous face. The widest smiles were spread across both of our faces as we just stared into each other's eyes. I concentrated on sending all the love I could down our bond, and chuckled when she blushed deeply. "What is that?" she asked, looking back at me with a slightly confused expression. "You don't like it?" "It's wonderful," she said, looking away from my eyes. "Look at me, Ana," I said, placing a soft kiss on her cheek. Slowly, she turned her head to look at me and I couldn't help but gasp. Her once olive-green eyes now had a ring of cyan wrapped tightly around their pupils. It was different; they weren't the eyes that I had planned on looking into the rest of my life, but they were beyond beautiful none the less. "Your eyes!" she gasped, staring back at me with wide eyes. "They have green in the middle! What the—" I cut her off, slamming my lips against hers. I couldn't help it—knowing that she was mine and that our bond was complete made me want to claim her once more. I needed to show her that she was mine, now that everyone was going to see it: she was going to feel it, every time she walked, every time she closed her legs. I moved slightly, reminding her that I was still inside of her, and she moaned, low and long. She was still wet from our earlier encounter. I pulled back slowly and slid back into her heat even more slowly. She threw her head back and closed her eyes, her long, raven tresses fanned out around her. She was utter perfection in that moment, her back arched off the bed as I paused within her depths. "Alex, please," she begged, opening her eyes and staring deeply into mine. Seeing the blue ring in her once-green irises was my breaking point; knowing that she now possessed a part of me caused me to pull back and surge deeply into her body. I continued moving, her soft gasps and moans all the encouragement that I needed. On a particularly deep thrust, she attempted to close her eyes, but I wouldn't allow it. "Look at me, Santana," I said, using a hard thrust to punctuate each word. "It's sooo good," she whispered, straining to keep her eyes open. I growled when I felt her short nails digging into my shoulder, nearly drawing blood. I stared down into her eyes, straining just as hard as she was to keep my eyes open through the onslaught of pleasure. I moved in and out of her, varying my speed according to her responses—and she was nothing if not responsive. She moved her hips up, matching my tempo no matter how much it changed. Giving back and asking for more in return. I felt the walls of tight sheath flutter and gritted my teeth as I concentrated on not finishing before she found her pleasure. My concentration was broken when the small ring of blue in her eyes glowed suddenly for a brief moment. I paused in confusion, not understanding what had just happened. My confusion was just the opening she needed as I suddenly found myself on my back, looking up at a very pleased Ana. "What the—" I began to say before I was cut off by the vision above me. Ana looked down at me with glowing eyes and a wide smile, her canines elongated. Her other teeth were still sharp points, but her canines were what caught my attention. They appeared much deadlier than they had been before. She looked so dangerous and so... sexy. Straightening her back, she began to ride me at an excruciatingly slow pace. Up and down. I watched my hard cock disappear inside of her with every move she made. Her pace made it possible for me to feel every inch of her velvety center, and the feeling was exquisite. She was so tight and fit me like glove, further affirming that she was made just for me. That thought made me love her even more, and she smiled as she must have felt my affection through our new bond. Her wavy ebony hair was wild around her face, making her look every bit the sexual goddess that she was. Bracing one hand on my chest for balance, she used the other to push her hair away from her face, once again revealing her perfection to me. The only sounds in the planetarium were our collective moans, groans, and gasps as we rejoiced in the continual joining of our bodies. Pushing down as deep as she could, she ground her pussy in a sexy hip roll. Her head was thrown back as a string of expletives escaped her full lips. "Fuck, Alex. Shit! It's so fucking good, baby!" she screamed. "You have no idea," I groaned, gripping the sheets as I continued to let her set the pace of our lovemaking. Her head snapped forward, and she looked down at me, her hair once again wild and tangled around her face. She was biting her bottom lip and before I could see what she had done, I smelled the metallic scent of blood in the air. I watched the crimson pearl make its way over her plump bottom lip and down her chin before I reacted. I was suddenly sitting up, crushing her body to mine as I sucked on her bottom lip. I would never tire of tasting her this way. I didn't think I'd ever tire of tasting her in any way. She was like my drug. "Alex!" she gasped. Wrapping her arms around my neck, she clung to me desperately as I pounded into her from below. I could feel the slick walls surrounding me began to flutter erratically as I picked up my pace, slamming into her as fast as I could. She was close, and I knew that her climax would send me tumbling into my own. "Cum for me," I begged through gritted teeth and between soul searing kisses. "Now!" -Santana- I felt the heat rise up my neck and across my cheeks as I watched him watch me. I could feel it all through our bond, the love... the lust. It was so much, and yet not enough at the same time. I couldn't believe that the beautiful man sitting across from me was mine. I'd do anything for him; I knew that to be true. I'd love him with everything that I was. I'd be the best person that I could be for him. I'd fight for him. I'd kill for him Kill for him? I mentally asked myself. Yes, I would kill for him. I'd destroy anything and anyone that dared to make his eyes shine a little less brightly, dared to make his smile less easy. I wanted to be shocked by this new revelation, but I wasn't. These feelings seemed so natural, so basic and so primal, and I saw the same feelings reflected back at me in his eyes. For the second time in 24 hours, we were headed back to Chantilly. After round 3 and a nap, Alex had checked his phone. His brows knitted together as he listened to the several voicemails left by Dr. Otto. "We have to go, baby," was all that he had said. I stood, immediately feeling the evidence of our lovemaking running down the inside of my legs. I cringed, catching my mate's attention. He chuckled. "I should ask you to leave it," he said with a smug, male grin. "And I should ask you to buy the biggest bottle of lotion ever, because you sure as hell wouldn't be touching me again," was my immediate reply. More quickly than I thought possible, he was behind me, pressing hard into my body. I felt something warm and wet touching the apex of my thighs and looked down to see him cleaning me with a damp towel. "You'd die if I never touched you again," he whispered into my ear. "You crave it now. You're probably thinking of the next time that I'm going to be inside of you, right now. Aren't you?" My body gave me away as I shuddered at his words and feeling his warm breath against my ear and neck. I bit my lip to hold back a moan. "Thought so," he said with mirth in his voice as he finished cleaning my most intimate parts. I hated that he was right. I couldn't even concentrate on whatever news Dr. Otto had for us. I just kept looking at him and wondering when he and I would have another chance to explore each other's bodies. I noticed his expression change; there was that look of male satisfaction again. Stupid mating bond. I noticed the doctor pacing outside of the lab before we even pulled up. He looked anxious, bewildered, and stressed, and I felt my stomach drop at seeing his expression, no longer concerned with my sex drive. There was no way that this was even remotely good news. I gripped Alex's hand in a death hold as he helped me out of the car. He looked back at me and gave me his most reassuring smile. It seemed to say: whatever this is, we'll get through it together. Without saying a word, Dr. Otto began moving swiftly through the building; we assumed we were meant to follow. His brisk walk finally ended at the door of a room marked "Security." We followed him inside. "I don't know how we missed her. She had to have been here the whole time," he said with a sigh as he pushed buttons on the advanced surveillance equipment in front of him. "There are times when the camera doesn't even pick her up. I don't know how that's possible." He was shaking his head now, his brows tightly knitted. "Who are you talking about?" Alex asked, staring at the Doctor's fast moving fingers. He looked up and pointed at one of the screens. "Her." On the screen was a girl with olive skin and flaming red hair. She had a lean body with less than subtle curves and a very young-looking face. But all of this was irrelevant; what caught my attention were her eyes. They were that same unique green that mine had been up until mere hours ago. Even the shape was identical. "Is she..." Alex began. "My sister," I said with a broken sob. I covered my mouth to prevent more restrained cries from being heard. I wasn't sure if I crying tears of joy at learning that I wasn't alone, or tears of fright at knowing that they had found me. "She's lovely, isn't she?" The Doctor said, breaking the silence. "A real sweetheart, too." I looked at him with disbelief. Was he seriously standing there complimenting a key player in the end of my freedom? Ignoring my anger, he proceeded: "She said she didn't want to hurt you. You saw how she got in without being detected! That girl could have grabbed you before either of us has realized what had happened, Santana," he said, running his hands down his tired-looking face. "She asked me the strangest questions. She didn't ask about you at all." "What did she want?" I asked, barely above a whisper. "She was curious about Alex," The Doctor said, still watching the red-haired girl on the camera. I immediately bristled at hearing this. "What did she want to know about my mate?" I responded, in barely contained anger. "Not him specifically. She was curious as to what he was to you. She was curious about mates. Asked a lot of questions about the subject. I guess wherever they kept her, she wasn't educated on the topic." He said with a sad smile. "The most interesting scent clung to her, but I could tell it wasn't her own." His tone was wistful now. I nodded, giving Alex's hand a quick squeeze to remind myself that he was still there, quietly supporting me. My head was spinning. I wasn't sure what to think, but I knew not to let my guard down. I'd kill my half-sister if she dared to threaten what Alex and I had just found. *** Carmendi lay silently on her back, staring up at the pristine ceiling of the W Hotel suite she and her siblings had rented. The strategic planning going on around her was nothing more than background noise as she thought about everything she had learned the night before. Growing up in the compound, romantic ideals were not something that she could afford. She had never seen a romantic comedy, never read Twilight, hell, she hadn't even been allowed to watch Disney movies. Everyone in the compound outside of the scientists, doctors, and soldiers had been related to her in some way. She had never experienced romantic feelings towards another soul, and never thought to before now. She wondered what he would be like, her mate. Would he be as blatantly attractive as Alex and that geneticist were, or would his allure be more subtle? Would love be reflected in his eyes whenever he looked her way as it was in Alex's? She sighed. It was one more reason to hate her half-sister. Not only did she have the freedom that Carmendi's wild spirit desperately craved, she also had unconditional love for as long as she lived from a man surely as beautiful as the gods. "Are you listening to us, Carmendi?" Aara's serious tone ripped away the strands of her little sister's daydreaming. She watched as her sister's green eyes blinked rapidly before meeting her own. "I apologize, Aara. I was distracted." "Yes, you were. This is important, Carmen. We have a mission to complete. The sooner we finish, the sooner we can get back to our world," said Aara in her deadpan voice. Aara had seemed off all week, but her words still struck a chord within Carmendi. Immediately, Carmendi sat up and looked around the room at each of her older siblings, all staring back at her. "Our world?" she repeated incredulously. "Our world! That is not our world! That is a prison!" she said, pointing in no particular direction. "How could you want to go back there? How could you want to take all of this," Carmdendi screamed, pointing out the large window, "away from our sister?" "We have a mission," Zach responded, standing up, ready to deescalate the rising tension if he was needed. "You know what..." the youngest sister huffed before picking up her bag, ignoring the strange way Audrienne was staring at her. "Fuck this mission." She made her way to the door, only to be shoved across the room by the smallest of her siblings. She flew through the air, hitting the wall, all the air knocked from her lungs. Before she could gauge what had happened, Aara was on top of her, her tiny forearms pressed hard against her throat. "You will do as you are told, little girl. We don't have time for this," Aara said through tight lips only a second before she was bodily removed from a very scared Carmendi by their brother. He shook her roughly before setting her down on the ground. "You will never touch her like that again." "Or what? You'll tell our father?" "We have to stick together, Aara," said Audrienne, finally breaking her silence. Her expression still peculiar. "You know what... while you all are sticking together, I'm going to go find our sister and bring her back for a little family reunion. I don't have time for this," Aara said in a deadly tone, closing the door behind her. Carmendi watched her leave, purposely neglecting to mention that the Santana she would find wouldn't be the same Santana as before. *** Aaron watched Santana play with her hands at Alex's side. He thought over what they all had just been told. He tried desperately to contain his fear and anger. He had been waiting so long—not nearly as long as some of his other siblings, but long enough. He had always wanted to find his mate, but had never given it much thought until Santana came into their lives. After seeing her and his brother together, he needed this. Santana's fidgeting ceased and she stood up abruptly. She could sense the anxiety in the room, mainly from her mate, and she couldn't take it. "I'll be right back," she said, walking in the direction of the door. She turned before Alex could follow her. "No. Stay, talk to your brothers and sister. I won't leave the building, I promise." They all watched as she left the penthouse. Alex could sense her nearby, pacing the long hallway outside of his apartment. Her emotions were all over the place. He felt anxiety, fear, a fierce possessiveness, and sadness. He hated that she was feeling that way, but he needed to figure out how to protect before he could comfort her. Though, he desperately wanted to be holding her and kissing all of her anxiety away. He sighed as he closed their bond, so, that he could focus on his siblings and what they were saying, but before doing so, he sent as much love as he could to her, hoping to ease even a fraction of her distress. -Santana- I leaned against the cool wall and slid to the floor. I stared at my feet splayed in front of me. Something inside of me was different. I could feel it. There was something possessive and deadly lurking inside of my once muted soul. The only explanation that I could think of was the mating. The doctor had said that it'd settle me, but I didn't feel settled. I felt riled. I felt like fighting tooth and nail for my mate and the life we were just starting together. For a while, I listened in on what was being said inside, but I just continued to become more anxious and angry at the fact that they were all here discussing my life. I thought back to the young red-haired girl who shared my eyes. The one who threatened everything that I had come to love. I was so curious about her. She seemed so innocent, and I felt myself forming some sort of attachment to the girl who was a stranger to me. I contemplated if that new attachment would be enough to spare her. I sat in that position for what felt like hours but was surely only minutes thinking about the dramatic turn my life had taken. A month ago, I was alone and trying to figure out who I was, completely disregarding what I was. Now I had a family, friends, and a mate. I had a sibling that I hadn't known existed, and I'd learned that I was a mix of species that I didn't know were real. Rubbing my fingers on my temples, I sighed. My head felt like it was about to explode. I needed fresh air like I needed my next breath. I needed it almost like I needed Alex. I stood up carefully, trying to ignore the way everything seemed to spin. "Focus, Santana." I whispered to myself as I made my way out of the building. The closer that I got to the door, the more everything seemed to clear. "You're almost there." As my fingers wrapped around the cool metal of the doorknob, I breathed out a sigh of relief only to pause before opening the door. There it was again, that feeling, the same one that I had been feeling randomly throughout the week. Looking through the glass windows, I watched the people move through the streets. Nothing seemed off, nothing seemed suspicious, but if I had learned one thing these past couple of weeks, it was that nothing was always as it seemed. Those Eyes Ch. 09 I don't know what possessed me to do it but I unlocked the door and disabled the key pad. "Bring it." I whispered to myself, knowing that something was about to happen. No more than a minute passed before I noticed a small, dark-skinned girl approach the building. Her head was bowed but I could tell she was on alert, sensing for something. As if all of my common sense returned, I reached to lock the door but was frozen to the spot when she lifted her head and our eyes met. Staring back at me was yet another set of eyes nearly identical to my own. Everything slowed down around me as I watched her eyes harden dramatically as she reached for the door. She was standing directly in front of me, staring at me with those cold eyes as if she was waiting for something. I took a moment to appraise her, this girl who was surely my sister. She had skin the color of peanut butter with a golden hue to it. Her face was graced with full lips, and high cheekbones, and she had what I'd call a button nose. Her hair was black and glossy and set on her head in a high ponytail that caressed her lean shoulders. She couldn't have been more than 5 feet, 3 inches tall but her lack of height did nothing to make her less intimidating. Her eyes, yes they were like mine, but hers were so cold and unforgiving. "I didn't think you'd make this so easy for me," she said. Her voice was deep and raspy, but still pleasing in a strange way. It was the lengthening of her teeth and claws that helped to snap me out of my reverie and I felt that newly primal part of my being rejoice with the anticipation of battle. "Maybe I'll get you riled up, so, it'll be a fair fight. I'd hate to fight someone as weak as you, someone who can't even control her abilities," the petite, exotic girl spat at me in disgust. I was shocked at her words, but then it hit me: the red-haired girl. She must have told her what she'd heard at the lab. I briefly wondered how many more of them there were. Either way, I was determined that there'd be one less after today. "Where's your vampire lover and his siblings? No one here to protect you now, Santana?" I listened to her taunts, not saying a single word. It was her use of my name that caused me to speak. "It seems unfair that you know my name and I don't know yours. Especially considering who you are to me." My curiosity for the girl in front of me warred with the part of me that wanted her dead for threatening my new life. My question seemed to throw her off and she visibly faltered in her fighter's stance. For a brief moment, I saw her eyes soften, only to harden once more. "Aara," she said with far more uncertainty than she had displayed merely seconds before. "And I am nothing to you as you are to me." "And the redhead...what's her name?" I asked, ignoring her last comment and the part of my being that was thirsty for bloodshed. Her stance once again weakened and she shot me a look that I couldn't quite place. "Carmendi," she whispered. I could tell that my line of questioning had shaken her. She regained her posture, but her eyes weren't quite as cold as they had been before. "Don't make this harder than it has to be, Princess. You make this difficult and the doctor may decide that you're not our only target on this mission." She saw the realization in my eyes and smirked. "That's right, your little lover too." With those words, she sealed her fate. *** Aara was shaken at seeing her so close up. It seemed to make the situation more real, but the mission was still there. She would be bringing her oldest sister back with her. Since they had arrived in DC, she'd been on edge. There was too much stimulation in this city, too much to block from her heightened senses. There seemed to be too much oxygen, too much noise, too much pollution, and too many people. Then there was that feeling, that unsettling feeling that made her feel as if the air was saturated with static electricity. They needed to complete this mission and get back home, she needed to escape that feeling. The dreams had also started once she'd gotten here. She'd close her eyes, in need of a good night's sleep, and she'd be accosted by the iciest blue eyes staring back at her. There was always mischief and humor in those eyes, two things she couldn't afford in her life. Those eyes reminded her of the same spark she always saw in Carmen's eyes. It was why being in her baby sister's company as of late had grated on her nerves; it was why she had attacked her earlier that day. She could see the conflict within Santana, how her sister couldn't decide whether to fight her or hug her. She couldn't allow Santana to see the same uncertainty within her own demeanor. She fought the lump that threatened to form in her throat at Santana's words. Complete the mission and go home, she said over and over in her head. When her oldest sister mentioned Carmendi, Aara was hit with immediate feelings of guilt. Her youngest sister hadn't deserved the physical abuse she had suffered today. Concentrate; I'll apologize to her when I return with Santana, she thought to herself. She needed to bait the woman in front of her; she needed to end this line of conversation before her determination cracked, before she walked out of that building empty handed. "That's right, your little lover too." Bingo. Aara watched Santana's face harden, she watched her green eyes with the blue ring become cold, and she braced herself for what was to come. Faster than Aara could anticipate with her senses, Santana had launched herself across the few feet separating them, claws and teeth ready. Aara only managed to turn her body slightly in the short span of time, and Santana managed to place three deep gashes spanning the length of Aara's side. Aara hadn't been expecting that, but she was ready now, excited for what was sure to be a fun fight. Not once did she contemplate the odds being in her sister's favor. The metallic scent of blood filled the foyer of the building and baser side of Santana reveled in it. With more strength than someone her size should have possessed, Santana was thrown away from her sister only to land in crouched stance less than a second before she felt one of Aara's tiny feet connect with the side of her face with a jaw-breaking crunch. Before her head had a chance to snap fully to the side, another kick was placed on the other cheek, sending Santana's head in the opposite direction. More than slightly dazed by the impact, Santana grabbed a hold on the leg still suspended in midair and pulled with all of her might, causing her younger sister to lose her footing and hit the floor, her head slamming into the marble with a sickening smack. Not giving her a chance to recover, Santana was on her immediately, landing blow after blow to the perfect face of her little sister as the smaller woman beneath her clawed at her back and sides, drawing copious amounts of blood. She knew it was time to finish this before she bled out. Leaning over the abused body, Santana fought the slight shiver of despair at what she was about to do. An errant tear ran from her eye, falling to land on the bruised cheek of her sister's face. She was doing this for Alex, but it still hurt. All her life she had wanted siblings, longed for that deep sense of companionship, and here she was, about to take the life of an answer to those long-forgotten prayers. Aara stopped flailing her limps and closed her eyes as she felt tears that weren't her own grace her stinging skin. She should have been frightened; this had not gone how she had expected it to, but she couldn't bring herself to feel fear. A part of her welcomed this. What she had been subjected to since birth wasn't living. She quickly thought through her regrets. There weren't many, only two. She regretted not being able to say goodbye to her siblings who she loved more than life itself. The other she was surprised by. She regretted never knowing the reason behind that magical, unsettling feeling. As Santana opened her mouth wide, ready to rip out the throat of her baby sister, Aara's voice caused her to pause. "I am so sorry, Santana." *** That was how Alex and his siblings found them: Santana straddling the body of the small girl, raven hair tangled together, angelic faces bloodied and mere inches apart. They had been in his suite, discussing a solution to the new problem at hand. The only solution being to track down the strange girl with hair the color of blood. Calls were made. Favors were asked. And once Alex felt somewhat relieved he opened the connection between himself and his mate to check on her. She was close but not nearly as close as she had been when he last checked. Fear, anxiety, anger, bloodlust, pain, and despair flooded their bond, bringing tears to his eyes. He leapt up immediately, running towards the door without any explanation to the people around him. It was unnecessary; they followed without words. As soon as the door was open, the smell of blood streamed into the apartment, causing everyone to pause in their retreat. Alex felt his fangs elongate as he recognized the sweet scent of his mate's blood. But before he could move once more, he was nearly thrown to the ground as Aaron pushed past him, running for the stairs. Adam helped him to regain his footing and they were all off, running towards a scent that made all of them want to tear something apart. Alex had never wished for teleportation more than he did in that moment. The trek from his penthouse suite to the front foyer took much too long, and his anxiety climbed to the new heights with each step he took towards the love of his life. Finally turning the corner of the first floor towards the front door a second behind Aaron, they all froze at the scene before them. There was so much blood, its scent polluting the air around them along with the salty scent of tears. Before the scene could be fully taken in, Aaron moved in a blur, Alex right behind him. Without having the chance to be stopped, Aaron ripped Santana away from the other body and threw her back carelessly. With supernatural reflexes, Alex caught his injured mate in his arms, falling to his knees at the sight of her. Her broken bones, bruises, and cuts were already healing, but it was the miserable look on her face that brought him to tears. "I was about to do it," she whispered and began sobbing in his arms. He cradled her tightly against his body, not caring that the blood was staining his designer clothes. She muttered against his chest, shaking with her sorrow. "Shhh. It's okay," he whispered into her hair. Aaron couldn't believe it. That scent, it was so spicy yet sweet, and called him on a level he had never realized before. She was close. She was his. She was bleeding! He had rushed from the room, not caring who was in his path. He had only one need, to get to her. He had nearly fallen down the stairs three times before he finally reached the first floor. Not slowing in his pace, he rounded the corner and he saw her. Not caring about the consequences, he rushed forward, throwing a weakened Santana away from the small body haphazardly. Deep down, he knew his brother would never let her touch the floor, but that was only a brief thought as his mind was now consumed with the girl in front of him. With gentle hands, he picked up her broken body and rested her head against his chest. She was so small and even through the already-fading bruises, he could tell that she was beyond stunning. He checked her over, ensuring that everything was healing properly, then put his cool hand against her cheek, silently begging her to open her eyes. She turned towards his warmth and whimpered slightly. He watched with bated breath as her eyelids fluttered several times before finally revealing pools of emerald green heaven. "Mine," he whispered. Those Eyes Ch. 10 Thank you once again, Archangel for editing! *** "That's your mate?" Adam asked incredulously, watching the sleeping beauty laid out in Aaron's bed. "Yes," Aaron said, stroking the still tender skin on Aara's cheek. He couldn't believe that the tiny beauty lying in his bed belonged to him. She was flawless. "She's really something isn't she? So small, but she held her own with Santana out there," Adam interjected, attempting to hide his envy at the fact that his two youngest brothers had both found their mates before him. "Did you sense her? You know, the way that Santana and Alex felt each other?" "No, I don't think so. I mean, I've had this weird feeling all week but I just chocked it up to anxiety over this whole mess. But now that I'm really looking at her... I've seen her before, around the apartment." Adam's head snapped up. "Are you serious? You're sure it was her?" "Dude, yes. She was wearing sunglasses, but look at her; she's a little hard to miss," Aaron said, suppressing a groan as his eyes slid from the delicate features of her face down to her sensuous curves. It was hard to ignore the way his heart pounded as he sat near her. "It was her. I checked her out one day when I had come to take Santana to class. I looked for her every day after. I'm not really sure why I did, but she was there a few other times." "So, the redhead isn't the only one that's been watching Ana." Adam sighed, running his hand through his chocolate locks. "Apparently not." Though she was asleep, Aara was very aware of one thing: the electricity racing through her veins. Her body struggled to regain consciousness, fighting through the fog to be near the source of that electricity. It craved the nearness, and the intensity of the feeling made a part of her never want to wake up. That small part lost as consciousness slammed into her. She wanted to keep her eyes closed, wanted to pretend to be asleep a little longer, but she needed to see him. She needed to see the owner of the warmth she'd felt as his strong body carried her to wherever she was now. She needed to see the ownerof the scent that surrounded her, and she needed to see the owner of those icy blue eyes that had haunted her for nearly a week. Slowly, she opened one eye, fighting against the way the intruding light made her head pound. There were two men in the room. Her foggy mind couldn't quite make out their words but she knew they were about her. She blinked a few times, trying to make her vision clear. She bit her lip to suppress the gasp that desperately wanted to escape. Both men were absolutely gorgeous and, from their profiles, she could tell that they shared similar features. They had the same nose and the same full lips. Both of their bodies were built and their jeans and t-shirts did little to hide that fact. One had his light chocolate hair cut in a short faux-hawk while the other kept his dark blonde slightly buzzed on the side and a bit longer on top. From the angle, she couldn't quite make out their eyes, but she did notice that the one with shorter hair had the deepest dimples she had ever seen. She decided that she liked them immensely. The conversation that she had tuned out around her seemed to cease and the boy... man... with the dimples suddenly tensed up. She watched in slow motion as his head turned in her direction, and she gasped. Staring back at her were those icy blue eyes. She squealed in the most undignified way and immediately closed her eyes, feigning sleep but knew that she was more than caught. "Umm, can you give us a minute, Adam?" she heard a deep voice say, the words immediately followed by the opening and closing of a door. "I know that you're awake, Aara. Open your eyes, gorgeous." She shook her head rapidly and bit the inside of her cheek as she felt the bed dip. "Please." She sighed and opened her eyes slowly, looking directly into his. "Who are you?" she asked, keeping all emotion from her voice. She fought the part of her being that wanted to move closer to him, that wanted to be enveloped in his warmth. He smiled and looked down at her. "I'm Aaron. Hm, Aaron and Aara... that has a nice ring to it." She was shocked. Had he just claimed in her some offhanded way? She resisted the part of her that relished his words. "Why am I here, Aaron?" She purposely ignored his last statement. "Well, you were hurt." It all came rushing back to her, the fight in the foyer with Santana. She sat up abruptly, and paused as her head swam. Wavering slightly, she reached up placed both palms against her forehead. "Whoa, whoa. Settle down, sweetness," he said, pushing on her shoulder gently so she'd lie back down. "Okay, so I was hurt. Why am I here and not at an infirmary? Where is here, anyway?" she asked, her moss-colored eyes darting around the large bedroom. She nearly moaned when she noticed the soft blush creep up his neck and onto his cheeks. He chuckled, sheepishly and ran his large hands through his neat hair. "You're in my apartment, in my bed." She leapt up at his words, ready to race from the bed. It was then that she noticed the oversized t-shirt that she was wearing. "What— What is this?" she asked, gesturing towards her body. He gulped, audibly. Her gesture causing him to once more take inventory of her beautiful body. He was lost in the sight of her. He had never imagined anyone could be so beautiful, so delicate and sexy at the same time. He discreetly sniffed the air around them, unaware that her sensitive senses picked up on the gesture. His system was immediately flooded with warmth. Her scent was so intoxicating, so light and feminine. It reminded him of lemongrass and sunshine. He wanted to bottle it up and have it with him always. He desperately needed to take her in with all of his senses and before he knew it, he was reaching out for her. His touch was soft at first; he lightly stroked his fingertips down her exposed arms. The goosebumps sprang across her skin instantly but didn't take away from the softness beneath his fingertips. He had listened to her voice, stared at her perfection, smelled her wonderfully appealing scent, and touched her silky skin... there was only one thing left: he needed to taste her. The desire to do so was almost more than he could bear and he before he realized what he was doing, his mouth was mere centimeters away from her neck. He waited for her to pull away or stop him but she seemed frozen. When no resistance came, he placed a nearly non-existent kiss near her pulse. He chuckled when she slammed her palm against her mouth, a raspy moan. He touched her, and she nearly exploded. His touch had been so light, she feared she had imagined it, but there was no way she could imagine a feeling like that. She couldn't understand his appeal. No one had ever taken such liberties with her body, and she was torn between begging for him to continue and throwing him against the far wall. Only one man had touched her previously. He was a soldier at the compound and the second he had gotten too handsy, she had pushed his head through a wall. She had spent an entire month in confinement; he spent an entire month in the ICU. That was the last time that someone had touched her without her permission other than her family. And now here she was, letting this stranger send sensations through her body that she had never experienced before. When she felt his lips briefly touch her neck, the floodgates opened. Her body was so warm and she squeezed her thighs tightly together to appease the throbbing sensation she now felt. What was he doing to her? Why was she allowing him to be so closer to her, to touch her this way? She didn't understand it. She didn't understand how everything about this man called to her. If time had stopped then and there and she was forced to spend eternity with his full lips caressing her neck, surrounded by his masculine scent, she could have been content. Very content. She had never desired someone the way she desired Aaron. She had never needed someone so badly. It was so much more than the physical fires he was now igniting within her with each soft kiss he placed on her neck. It was as if her very soul cried out for him, as if he was the answer to some unknown question. Her body throbbed with a need that wasn't entirely sexual. Nearly every part of her being screamed for her to merge her soul with this stranger's. It screamed out that he belonged to her, that he was the key to her completion. As his attention turned from soft kisses to light bites and suckling, she reached out and grabbed for him. Clutching, his shirt in her small fingers, she pulled him closer. She sensed his intention before he made a move and braced herself. She began whimpering for it, begging him to do it, and when his teeth sank into her freckled flesh, it was like coming home for the first time. He didn't know why he did it. He knew it shouldn't have, but when she grabbed for him, he lost control. As her blood rushed into his mouth, he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her small body into his, loving the way her warmth seeped through their layers of clothing to burn his flesh in the most pleasurable way possible. Everything about her told him that she was his, especially the way she tasted. He had never experienced anything so sweet in his 80-plus years of existence. Her moans and whimpers spurred him, and the scent of her arousal in the air made it nearly impossible for him to pull away, but he did, with one final flick of his tongue to close the wounds. He pulled back and his darkened eyes met her darkened eyes. He saw so many emotions flicker through them and when they settled on anger, he tried to speak. "Aara, I-" SLAP! His head whipped to the side and he tasted what he knew was blood as it began to pool into his mouth. The haze of arousal had suddenly lifted and reality hit her like a ton of bricks. She had never been so angry in her life. She had also never been so confused and turned on in her life but she didn't want to focus on those emotions. She only wanted to focus on how indignant she felt that he thought that he could bite her and get away with it. The thought of it made her anger flare once more, and she raised her hand to slap him. To her surprise, he caught her hand before she had a chance to connect once more with his still-red cheek. "How dare you!" she screamed, trying to free her hand. Raising her left hand, she made to slap him with it, and was once more surprised when he caught that one also. They sat there staring at one another, her ample chest heaving with each breath. He watched her face flush a deep red and wondered if it was from arousal or anger. In that moment, he didn't care. "Mine!" he growled before he roughly crushed his lips to hers. Her lips were so soft and full. He held his against hers, not moving, simply waiting for her to stop fighting him. When the flailing of her small body ceased, he pulled back and stared into the eyes of the woman he was going to spend his entire life with. "You will never raise your hands to me again, Aara," he said, his tone serious. The humour and mischief she had once seen in his eyes were gone. "You have no right to tell me what I will and won't do, you pompous asshole." She began stuggling once more as he wrestled her into a supine position, his imposing body on top of hers. She briefly noticed that he didn't rest his full weight on her, just enough to keep her from kicking out at him. A part of her registered how thoughtful that was before she quickly dismissed it. "Get. Off. Of. Me." She hated feeling so small and helpless. If she was honest with herself, she would admit that she had a bit of a Napoleon complex. She could tell that the man on top of her, Aaron, could easily overpower her and that made her more aroused than scared. She hated feeling this way. "I will if you promise to sit still and talk to me. I just want to talk to you." The sincerity in his eyes and voice made her cease her struggling immediately. "Okay." she said, trying to fight the urge to get lost in his eyes. Very slowly, he began moving off of her but she could tell by the way his body tensed that he was prepared to restrain her again if the need arose. He was staring at her so intensely, and she fought the urge to look away. She didn't want him to know that he affected her so much. Tilting her chin up, she put on the most defiant face she could while lying on her back. "Why am I here? You knew that I would heal. Why not just leave me on some corner and let me be on my way? Or better yet, why am I not tied to a chair in some sort of interrogation room? I did attack your friend, after all." "You're here, in my room, because I want you here." His hand twitched as if he wanted to touch her. "I need you here." The words sent a shudder through her body and she once more schooled her expressions and responses to look like indifference. "Why?" "Don't you feel it?" he sighed at her confused expression. "Don't you feel the connection between us? The way your entire body tingles when I touch you? The way my scent begs for your attention? How leaving right now would break your heart in the most profound way?" She continued staring at him, not saying a word. "I know you feel it. You can pretend like you don't. You can keep up this hard-ass façade, but I felt the way that you needed me a few moments ago and I know you damn well felt my need for you. Don't fight it. It'll only hurt more." She blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. She wouldn't let him see her cry. "Maybe I feel something towards you, but it's surely just physical." He jumped up suddenly, his body looming over hers. "Damnit, Aara! This-" he gestured between the two of them, "is not purely physical. Yes, I want to be inside of your tight little body in the worst way right now—" she gasped at his words, clenching her thighs at the predatory way his eyes slid over her body, "—but I want so much more from you." "What is it that you want from me?" she couldn't help but ask. "Everything, Aara. I want everything." -Santana- I paced along the hallway in front of Alex's apartment. My emotions were all over the place. I knew that she was only a floor below me but I hadn't been able to see her. I had nearly begged Alex to let me go talk to her but he had denied my request by simply shaking his head. Aaron wouldn't let me near her. In the foyer, I had made an attempt to crawl towards her after we had been pulled apart and was met with a snarl and a growl from Aaron. I backed up into my mate's arms immediately, scared for my safety. I understood his reaction, it's exactly how I would have acted if someone had hurt my Alex, but the small girl cradled in Aaron's arms was my sister, my flesh and blood. I remembered the relief that I felt when Aaron threw me away from her body. I hadn't wanted to kill her, not entirely. That new entity in my soul had nearly begged for her death, craved the taste of her blood in my mouth. I had wanted to fight it, but it just kept repeating her threat to my mate. The beast seemed pacified now. Hurting her would hurt Aaron which would hurt Alex... I could never hurt Alex. Thinking of my mate made me want to seek him out. I felt him inside of the apartment. He was alone, his siblings dispersed throughout the complex. Through our bond, I could sense his emotions. He was happy that I was safe but displeased, confused, and frightened by my earlier actions. He was also happy for his brother, which caused me to think about my sister once more. I sighed and entered the apartment like a child waiting to be scolded and punished. I followed his scent to his office and hesitated in the doorway. "Come in, baby," he said without even looking back at me. I moved into the room and stood by his chair, watching him type furiously on his keyboard. In a blur of movement, I was suddenly straddling his lap, my front pressed tightly against his as he held me to him. "What's gotten into you, baby?" he asked, pressing a kiss to my hair. I bit my lip to hold back my tears. How was I supposed to explain to him that our mating had broken me somehow? "Alex, something's wrong." I pressed my face into his neck and inhaled his scent, instantly feeling calmer. "What do you mean?" His arms tightened around me. "I feel different. Like, there's something inside of me that wasn't there before." "Before when?" "Before we mated." I felt his body tense and placed a light kiss on his neck, silently asking him to relax. "I feel stronger. My senses feel sharper. But I also feel more possessive, more dangerous. I can't explain it, but I almost killed her, Alex. I almost killed my sister." My voice dropped to a whisper. "But you didn't, Ana." I felt his fingers lightly begin stroking my back. "Only 'cause Aaron stopped me. " He was silent at that statement, his fingers pausing on my back. "I don't believe that." I'm not so sure, I thought as his fingers resumed the leisurely pace. {I} "Can I see her?" I asked, pulling back and looking into his eyes as I chewed on my bottom lip. He sighed and ran his hand through his messy hair. "Let me text Aaron," he said, pulling out his phone. I held my breath as I waited for his phone to vibrate, signaling a reply. Though I was expecting the sound, the buzz caused me to jump slightly. I looked at my mate, hope and pleading in my eyes. I felt his chest vibrate as he growled slightly. "He said that's it's alright as long as I'm with you." Lie. "What did he really say?" I asked, placing my palm against his face. He moved into my touch and kissed the inside of my hand. Alex sighed deeply and growled once more. "He said that if you touched his mate, he wouldn't hesitate to kill you." He stood up abruptly, catching me before I fell to the floor and setting me down on my feet away from him. He began pacing. "I can't believe he would say something like that; she came here to our home and tried to take you!" I nodded sadly, "Yes, but I tried to kill her." Alex suddenly stopped pacing and was in front of me, his hands on either side of my face, staring deeply into my eyes. "Listen to me, Santana. You weren't going to kill her. Stop thinking that." I nodded mutely, still not quite believing him. *** Aara remained sitting on the bed, staring at Aaron. Several minutes had passed in silence after his declaration. She wasn't quite sure what to say and decided silence was the best option. The things that he was saying, what he was asking for weren't possible. She would return home once all of this was settled. At the thought of leaving, her heart seemed too big for her ribcage and her lungs seemed to constrict. She grabbed for her chest and willed herself to take slow breaths as her soul screamed out in agony. He is not yours! she screamed to herself inside of her head, knowing that it was a lie. The intensity of their meeting, of being in his company, was wearing on her. She needed to escape this feeling, she needed to escape him. The tone from his phone going off seemed to make a booming sound in the silence. And he finally looked away from her to the smartphone in his hand. She saw his body tense and wanted to reach out to soothe him, but balled her hands into fists instead. She couldn't make this harder on herself. "Santana and Alex are coming up. Is that alright?" They were the first words that he had spoken in what felt like hours. At the mention of her sister, the reason that she was there seemed to crash into her consciousness. The mission. Yes, things had taken and unexpected turn but there was still a task to be done, and Aara had never failed at a task. The wheels in her head immediately began turning. Those Eyes Ch. 10 Aaron, concerned for his mate took her silence as apprehension. "She doesn't have to come up. You don't have to see her. If you wanted, we could leave here. I've got another place in town... just tell me what want." His sincerity and concern for her well-being made her heart clench. Why did he have to make this so hard? He seemed so dead-set on making her a part of his world when there was no way that she could be. She would complete this mission, and then she'd be gone. It was how things had to be. She bit her tongue and trembled slightly as her very existence seemed to scream out. Looking away from the beautiful man standing in front of her, she whispered, "Let her come up." She listened as he typed a reply, each tone representing a letter. She knew what his response was, and his possessiveness towards her made the situation all the more confusing. This wasn't normal; people didn't feel this way after just meeting one another. The thought of a person that came into your life literally less than a day ago shouldn't cause your soul to cry out. It shouldn't cause a burning wake, threatening to destroy anything in the way of you and that person. She needed to leave. Aaron watched her. Her expression was like stone, but then every once in a while he'd see something that looked like pain cross her features. Her whole body would tense, her breathing would become labored, and she'd look at him like he was her salvation. Even in those moments when her brows were knitted and she seemed uncomfortable, he couldn't help but notice how lovely she was. He had waited nearly a century for her, and it pained him when he came to the realization that she didn't want to stay. He wanted to ask Alex what he would have done if Santana had been this resistant. It had seemed so easy for them; he wanted that. But as he studied his hellcat of a mate, he knew that he wouldn't be that lucky. Their approach was heard before their knock on the door. She had heard them exit the stairwell as they made their way towards the apartment that she and Aaron were in. She knew that they'd sense the tension in the room, and she felt almost embarrassed. Her eyes briefly met Aaron's as he made to leave to the room. Looking at the edge of the bed, she noticed his phone and her plan was suddenly set in motion. She sat up in bed as the door opened first seeing Aaron, then who she knew to be Alex Carlisle walk in. His eyes hardened immediately as they settled on her. He watched her as if to ensure that she wouldn't be a threat, and then made a small hand signal. At his beckoning, a very timid looking Santana filed in, reaching for her significant other. He took her small hand in his and pulled her tightly against his side. She had yet to make eye contact with her sister and she couldn't help but think how different this girl seemed to the girl she had met nearly two hours ago. She needed her older sister to trust her if this plan was going to work, so, she slowly stood and moved towards the apprehensive girl. Before she had even taken one step, Aaron had moved in front of her and Alex had pushed Santana behind his imposing body. No, this wouldn't do. "I just want to talk to her... she's my sister." She knew that referring to Santana as such would make the elder woman relax. The longing coming from the brown skinned girl was almost palpable. As she spoke, she leaned into Aaron's back, wrapping her arms around his body. She had never touched a man this way, so... intimately; she simply imitated the ways she had seen Santana act towards Alex. She loved the way that her body felt against his, her front flush against his hard back. She inhaled deeply, always wanting to remember this scent. She detested the fact that she couldn't keep him. Aaron's body visibly relaxed as he felt his mate's small arms wrap around him. Maybe he had been wrong about her. Aara stepped around Aaron, slipping her hand into his as she moved. She ignored the part of her being that both relished in the contact and screamed at her for her deceit. She needed everyone calm and off-guard if this was going to work. "Alex, we haven't properly met," she said, reaching for his hand. Hesitantly, he placed his hand in hers. Not many people were aware of all of Aara's gifts. The doctor, the guards, and even her siblings thought that her skills lay simply in her heightened senses. That wasn't the full truth. Aara could also control the senses of anyone she had physical contact with as long as that person was relaxed and unruffled. It was almost as if she took their senses away, into her own self. Her senses only heightened further while leaving the other person unaware of the world around them. It was temporary, lasting only a minute once she lost contact, and it drained her immensely. But using it now was her only chance at escape. With both of their hands in hers, she briefly glanced to make sure that Santana was still holding Alex's hand. Once sure of the contact, she closed her eyes and thought of nothing but emptiness, a blackness, free of all light, sound, scents, and tastes. It usually worked so easily, never taking her more than a second to create the void, but this time, the darkness wasn't alone. It was plagued by icy blue eyes promising her forever. Lacking the time to eradicate those eyes and not even sure if she could, she pushed the feeling of nothingness from her mind, through her body and out through her fingertips. She watched as the blank look overtook the three faces in the room. She turned towards Aaron, and quickly wiped away the tear that slipped down her face, a sob threatening to break through. There wasn't time for this; she had a mission. Pulling her hands away, lingering slightly longer in his, she moved towards her sister. Picking up her body as if it weighed nothing, Aara walked over towards the window and looked down. There it was, a non-descript black Honda Civic, Zach leaning against the hood. He looked up as she approached the already-open window, another step taken by Aara to ensure her plan would work. The street was nearly empty. Even if it hadn't been, there was nothing any human could have done to stop what was about to happen. Taking one last look back at Aaron, Aara tightened her grip on her sister, maneuvered both of their bodies onto the windowsill, and jumped, landing hard on her feet. Ignoring the gasps of a woman walking her dog, she climbed into the backseat, cradling Santana's much larger body against her own. Zach raced to the driver's side, and they were off. Leaning her head against the headrest, Aara forced herself not to look back. Those Eyes Ch. 11 Here it is! I hope you enjoy! Sorry for the long wait. I have to work on this at work and it's a little awkward writing erotic romance at the office. Anyway, let me know what you all think! SRB Thanks again to Archangel for editing! You're the best! -Alex- I blinked rapidly, trying to clear the fog from my head. The sounds around me seemed muddled and my skin felt numb. Everything felt numb. It was as if, for a moment, the world went black but in the distance, it seemed as if there were eyes looking back at me. I knew those eyes, but couldn't seem to remember who they belonged to. For a moment it seemed as if nothing existed except for those eyes, but they weren't the eyes that I was longing to see. I turned my head to where I knew Santana would be and as quickly as it had ascended, the numbing darkness was gone and so was she. Instantly on alert, I whipped my head around looking over the room. She wasn't there. I left Aaron's bedroom, yelling her name, and received no response. I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. My mate was gone. Running back into the room, I noticed Aaron looking around, an extremely confused look on his face. "Aaron!" I screamed, stepping closer to him. His response was dramatically slow as he turned towards my voice. "Aaron! Snap out of it!" I began frantically slapping his face with both hands. I watched as his eyes cleared. "Where is she?" was the first question out of his mouth. "Where's Aara?" My anger piqued at hearing that name and I snapped, grabbing his shirt roughly and hauling him up the nearest wall. "SHE TOOK HER! SHE FUCKING TOOK ANA!" I screamed in his face, breathing frantically. I wanted to hurt someone; I wanted to rip something apart at the thought that my Ana was gone. I looked into his eyes, hoping to see defiance there, hoping to see the fight that he was always ready for, but what I saw there made me pause. The look he gave was enough to clear my head. It was so full of pain and anguish. I watched as the spark that usually lit up his eyes dim, as if in slow motion. "She left me," he said, looking up at me, and it was then that I recognized the eyes from the darkness. They were his. I thought about when people talked about seeing car accidents in slow motion. It had to be something like what I was observing now. I watched my brother's heart break at an agonizingly slow pace that was surely only seconds in length. "We'll get them back. We'll get them both back." I said, placing his feet back on the floor and straightening his shirt. He ran a shaky hand through his short-cropped hair and looked up at me with a look that said, do you promise? I merely nodded. It was all I could do. There was no way that I could deal with both Aaron's turmoil and mine. I tried sensing Santana, but I felt nothing. It was as if she no longer existed, and I fought the urge to clench my chest at the realization. I couldn't fall apart right now, not with so much to be done. Looking over at my brother, I put my hand on his shoulder, silently begging him to pull it together. He nodded once and I saw a steely determination enter his eyes. Suddenly remembering how it was when I was searching for Santana, and idea popped into my head. I couldn't sense my mate, but maybe he could sense his. "Aaron, do you feel her?" I asked him. Aaron looked at me. His confusion was obvious. "Can you feel her? Can you sense Aara?" I then explained to him how I had sensed Ana and found her in the library that day. It felt like that day had been years ago, while in reality it had been only days. "Just concentrate on her. Think about her scent, her face, her eyes, everything. Think about your future together and how you're going to ensure that she never leaves you again." I threw that part in, acknowledging my brother's tastes for unconventional punishments. The corners of his lips lifted slightly and he chuckled. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply. His brows knitted together in concentration and his smile grew, his dimples showing. "I can find her, and her cute little ass better be ready," he said with a wink. I laughed, and we made to leave to room before a thought hit me. "We don't know how many there are. We don't know what they can do." He shrugged his shoulders in typical fashion. "We can take them." He made to leave again and I placed my hand on his chest, halting his movements. "No. We can't go in there guns-a-blazing." I nearly laughed at my own wording. "-fangs-a-blazing. We do this right. We get help. I'm not gonna risk losing her because we were unprepared." Aaron nodded. "You know who to call." He went back into his room and grabbed his phone, and I pulled out my own. We were about to ask some pretty big favors, but I knew that it was worth it. Aaron and I both had connections with a few local were packs as well as another vampire family. I couldn't help but feel as if we were overreacting, but making these calls felt right. I had meant what I told Aaron: I wouldn't risk losing Santana. I had only just found her. *** Carmendi watched in shock as her older sister carried in an unconscious Santana. It was the closest she had ever been to her, and she had to fight the urge to reach out and touch the sister she had never known. She watched as Aara laid the taller girl onto the bed with a gentleness she had never seen Aara possess. "We leave within the next two hours." Aara said before she walked briskly into the en suite bathroom and closed the door behind her. Aara had felt so unsettled the moment she had devised her plan to leave the apartment. She was always in control; every movement and every word was always well-calculated. But for the first time in her 22 years, she had no idea of what to do. She thought about the man with the blonde hair and clear eyes and fought the way her knees wanted to buckle in defeat and protest. Gripping the corner of the sink, Aara felt the marble crack beneath her hands as she battled the way every cell in her body pulled in the opposite direction, HIS direction. She wanted to cry, she wanted to scream out, to force her body and her heart to catch up with her mind. She had done the right thing. There was no other choice. She knew she should have told her siblings about the talk she had with the doctor the night before they set out on this mission. She knew they deserved to know, but she couldn't bring herself to say the words, she couldn't bring herself to admit how weak she felt that the doctor could use her loved ones against her. Turning the knobs of the faucet, she watched as the sink quickly filled with cold water. She scoffed in disgust at her reflection before plunging her face into the water-filled sink and screaming as loud as she could. Taking comfort in the fact that no one could bear witness to her weakness and slip of control. Audrienne had been uncharacteristically quiet for over a day. She couldn't help it. It had started when Carmendi returned from the lab. There was something about the way that she smelled. Her usual smell had always reminded everyone of clean linen but there was something else there, a spicy scent that clung to her until she had showered. The scent had burned itself into Audrienne's brain, making itself unforgettable. From the moment that her younger sister had returned the previous day, Audrienne had been on fire in the sweetest way. It was as if her body cried out for something, something without a name, something she didn't know. The worst were the eyes; they were green, so dark they were almost black. Those eyes floated in the blackness every time she closed her own, taunting her, teasing her like a phantom. Engrossed in her own thoughts, she had unknowingly tuned out the world around her. Sitting near the window, a distraught Carmendi watched the world go on through the glass. They were leaving. They had what they had come for and they were leaving. She hadn't found him yet, she hadn't found the one that she was made for, and they were leaving in less than two hours. No one hated the compound more than she did. From a young age, she'd had an affinity for pranks and laughter. She was mischievous and cunning in the most amusing way, and could brighten up the darkest day. When she had come into her abilities, she used them to her advantage to create as much trouble as possible. She moved through the compound like a ghost, stealing personal items from the other hybrids and hiding them in silly places. She'd turned furniture upside down, leaving the inhabitants of the room confused. On more than one occasion, she'd snuck into the showers and stolen towels, or poured cold water in over the person bathing. No one once complained or told on her to the soldiers or the doctor. She was a little bit of sunshine in a dark place; the hybrids couldn't afford to lose her to lengthy confinement. Although, the doctor was never informed of her playful pranks, they all knew that he despised her above the rest. He hated that sparkle in her green eyes, the willfulness and mischief that was always there. She wondered if her mate would like her playful nature. She wondered what his laugh would sound like, desperately wanting it to be deep and full of life. Sighing deeply, she looked over and watched her siblings. Audrienne appeared to be lost in her own thoughts. She had been like that for a couple of days now. Carmendi briefly wondered what had her sister's mind so occupied before looking over at her older brother. Zach was the one she was closest to. He was the epitome of the strong, silent type. She watched him watch Santana sleeping; his expression always so hard to read that she knew that there was no point in even trying. Lastly, she looked at Santana. They were about to take her away from everything that the girl knew. She knew that her oldest sister was in her last year of undergrad, pursuing a pre-med degree. She briefly wondered what other dreams they were stealing from her. Did Santana want to be a doctor? Did she want to heal people, cure diseases? Did she want to help sick, dying children? Did she want children of her own? Carmendi thought of the beautiful children that Santana and Alex would create, children born from an undying love. They were taking that all away. She couldn't decide which was worse: knowing that your mate was out there but never knowing him, or having your mate and being taken from him. Both seemed as if they would cause sorrow. She didn't want to feel that. She didn't want her siblings to feel that. She had to say something. She had to get them to understand that they couldn't go back there; they could never go back there, especially with Santana. Both Zach and Audrienne turned towards her as she cleared her throat. How could she explain? How did she make them understand? She had never been eloquent, she had never explained things well, but this was important. She stood, switching her gaze between her two siblings. She had to say something. "Um..." she started. They looked at her expectantly, waiting for whatever it was that she needed to say. She glanced at Santana once more, thinking of the pain that Alex was surely feeling with his mate missing. "This is wrong." It came out in a whisper. She sighed at the confused look on both of her siblings' faces. "This is wrong." she said once more, much louder. "What's wrong, Carmen?" Zach asked in his deep, even voice. "This!" she screamed, gesturing around the room. "That!" she yelled, pointing to their sleeping sister. "We have a mission." He said, growing tired of her outbursts. Growing exasperated, she glared at him. "Fuck. This. Mission. Do you know what we take from her if we go back?" "The same thing that was taken from all of us, Carmendi. Why should she be any different?" Audrienne said, no emotion in her voice, her control barely contained with the electricity racing through her system. "Because she has him!" She pointed to the window, frustrated that she couldn't get her point across. "When I went to the lab that day, to spy on Santana and Alex and to see what the doctor had to say... He kept using the words 'mates'. Obviously, I didn't understand what he meant, but he said that once she and he were fully mated, she'd be different somehow. I know I shouldn't have done it but I couldn't help it. I was sooo curious." She looked up at her siblings, begging them to understand. "After they left, I talked to him, the doctor." She flinched when Zach stood up abruptly. "You did what?!? You jeopardized this mission because you were... curious?" "Let me finish, please!" Carmendi begged. Audrienne, who had been silently watching the exchange, suddenly appeared interested. "How close were you to this doctor?" she asked, moving closer to her youngest sister. "What kind of question is that, Audri?!" Zach screamed, instantly frustrated with both of his sisters. Tilting her head in confusion, Carmendi looked over at her blonde sister. "Probably a foot apart, maybe less. We sat together while we talked on a lab bench. He shook my hand when we finished and I had to leave. Why?" she asked, watching her sister. "What did he tell you?" Audrienne asked , shooting Zach a look that quieted his impending protest. "He said that all supernatural individuals had mates. Mates could be human, were, vampire, or, as is the case with us, hybrids of the three. Your mate is someone who isn't related to you by blood, someone who is a perfect complement to you in every way, someone made just for you. They will love you unconditionally because from the moment that they meet you, you're their everything and they are yours. The attraction will be instant and uncontrollable. He said it's supposed to feel like the world is shifting and all there is is you and that other person. He said that a mate is exactly what your soul has been waiting for; that mate will give you peace and stability, and meeting them will feel like coming home for the first time." Everything was quiet for a moment. Everyone appeared to be in deep thought. "How do you know?" Audrienne said, breaking the silence with her whispered words. "He said that you sensed them somehow. He said that scent was a big factor to it, and eye contact." "Bullshit." Zach said, shaking his head at his sister's naiveté. Audrienne was literally dumbfounded. She wasn't sure what to believe. The scent that had covered her sister's body the day before had triggered a reaction within her that she couldn't explain. Was the doctor her... mate? "It's not!" Carmendi whined towards her brother. "Alexander Carlisle is Santana's mate! You've seen them together; you've seen how they look at each other! I haven't seen someone look at someone like that since..." She trailed off, suddenly accosted by a memory that she thought she had been too young to retain. "Do you all remember Sophie? Rain's older sister. She looked a lot like her, same dark brown eyes, same wavy blonde hair." She watched as recognition entered her sibling's eyes. "How do you remember that?" Audrienne asked. "You had to have only been ten years old and we tried our best to hide it from you." Zach interjected. "I thought that I had forgotten it, but it suddenly came back to me. It suddenly makes sense. Remember how she looked at that guard? Remember how he looked at her? She was going to leave with him. I remember overhearing her telling her siblings that they were running away together. I remember when he was being introduced to us all, the look on her face... he was her mate. She knew it right away. I remember being ten years old and knowing that something profound had happened when they looked at each other." Carmendi sighed as she recounted the memory to her siblings. "The doctor threatened to fire him if he didn't stay away from her. He didn't—he couldn't—and he was forced off of the compound. She seemed so distraught and lost when he left. The doctor told her that he had abandoned her, that he didn't love her. She cried on my shoulder one night, screaming that she was a freak and that there was no way that he could ever love a freak like her. When he left, she had no reason to live. She thought that he had rejected her and it broke her heart." Audrienne fought back tears as she remembered her friend. Zach felt a lump in his throat. He had loved Sophie like she was another sister. "She hung herself. I remember seeing the dangling body. The guards rushed to cut her down, but most of us had already seen. A couple of days later he came back, that young guard. It was nighttime and he was screaming and yelling for her to come out, to come be with him. The fucking doctor just threw her body out to him, not even bothering to speak to the kid. We heard the shot a moment later." "I remember that sound. That's how intense it was. For Sophie, he became everything." Carmen looked down at a still sleeping Santana. "She has that. She has the other half of her soul, and there's a possibility that we could find that also, but not there. Not at that compound." "We're going back." The voice startled each of them out of their thoughts and in unison they looked the open bathroom door. Aara stood there, the edges of her hair wet, her eyes slightly red. "We are going back," she repeated. She had heard everything that Carmendi said. Every single word. She had screamed under the surface of the water at least four times since Carmendi had started speaking. She sobbed and cried out under the protection of the water, sputtering for air with each ascent. She had left him, rejected him. She prayed that he wouldn't succumb to the same fate as that young guard. He was stronger than that. She knew that he was stronger than that. As she listened to her sister's words, for a brief moment she tried to convince herself that she could just go back to that apartment building, that he would be enough. Damn the consequences. She was a realist, always had been. She knew that she would go back and she had to make them come back with her, all of them. She had to tell them, tell them what was at stake. She extended her arm out, hand up, halting Carmen's words. "We're going back for Stephen. If we don't go back..." she tried to hold it back, tried to keep her expression indifferent, but they all saw it. They all saw the slight crack in hard façade. "Stephen will never be like us. He's sick." They all blanched at her wording. "I don't mean he's sick as in dying. Stephen is human. He's nearly completely human. He may live a longer time than a normal human, but he will never have abilities like us. He's useless to the doctor." "How do you know this?" Zach's deep voice rumbled. "Before we left, the doctor came to me and told me that if we didn't come back, all of us, including Santana, he would 'dispose' of Stephen. But if we followed directions, if we all came back, he'd let him go." Aara filled them in on what she had been told the night before they left for their mission. "What's wrong with him?" Zach asked, a defeated look on his face. "Remember that doctor that was fired around the time that Stephen was born? He apparently missed the fact that the female breeder was a carrier for muscular dystrophy. Stephen inherited the gene. The genetic disease has halted the natural abilities of his other half so, for all intents and purposes, he's human." "So, if we go back, our little brother will be set free and if we don't..." Audrienne began. Aara merely nodded. -Santana- I kept my eyes closed, pretending to still be unconscious. I knew immediately that I wasn't with Alex. Everything was different from the scents in the room to the bed beneath me. The last thing that I remembered was going up to see Aaron and Aara. Aara. That bitch kidnapped me. I sensed three distinct scents in the room, and knew that there was no way that I could defend myself against all three. I needed to think this through. There had to be a way out. Those Eyes Ch. 11 I listened to them talking, taking special care to keep my breathing even and quiet. I knew that the individuals in the room were my siblings, and I fought the part of my being that was drawn to them. The room was quiet, and I briefly wondered what they were all doing, what they were thinking, what they looked like. I listen to everything that was said, fighting to keep my emotions under control. For a moment it had seemed like they were going to let me go. There was hope for a moment that I would see Alex again, but then it was crushed with Aara's words. If I didn't go back, their brother—our brother—would be killed. If I willingly gave up the only thing that had made me happy in the last five years, I would save the boy I had never met. His life was suddenly in my hands, and the thought was overwhelming. No longer could I control my breathing. There was suddenly not enough oxygen in the room, and I felt as if my lungs would explode with the effort I was making to inhale and exhale. Alex. I'd have to leave Alex. My very existence cried out at the thought. I felt the familiar stinging behind my eyes and closed them tighter. It was as if two sides were warring in my subconscious. He is our brother, our family, one side said. Our mate is our family, the other argued. Then suddenly it was if both sides came to a conclusion, a resolution. This boy is our family too. Our mate, he will find us. I felt a calmness in the corner of my mind and reached for it, letting it consume me. A tingling feeling started at my head and moved down my body, leaving a soothing warmth in its wake. It was like nothing I had ever felt before. It was then that I heard the gasps around the room. I could sense four sets of eyes trained on me, staring intensely. I forced myself to open my eyes and meet their gazes. They were all looking back at me, shock and awe in their expressions. "Santana?" the redhead asked, her voice nothing more than a whisper. I tried to say yes, I tried to respond but nothing came out except for a high pitched "yip." I tried once more, and the same sound occurred. I looked at my siblings, hoping they read the confusion on my face. I watched their eyes peruse my body in astonishment. Once more I tried speaking, tried to ask what was wrong, why they were staring at me with those strange expressions and all I heard was a strange whining sound. A sound that reminded me of a dog... I lifted what I had believed were my hands and nearly screamed when I saw paws and fur! I fought to control my breathing, a panic attack was surely on the horizon. Calm down, something inside of me whispered. Let me take over for a bit. I suddenly realized that this was my wolf speaking. The revelation was strange but reassuring, and I couldn't help but relent to her request. "None of us can do that." I heard the blonde whisper. "Not even the hybrids who seem more wolf than anything else." "I know," the tall man said with an audible gulp. "What do we do?" Removing my gaze from my paws, I looked at the faces of my audience. I was immediately struck with how beautiful they all were. Each of them was unique, but they all shared the same upturned green eyes that I possessed. This was my family, the very thing I had been missing my entire existence. I suddenly remembered Alex talking about his siblings once. He had referred to them as "pieces of his soul in different bodies." I wondered if these people would be that for me. I wanted these people to be that for me. Go with them, the voice in my whispered once more. What about Alex? That was my immediate thought. Go with them, he'll find us. Those Eyes Ch. 12 Epilogue Hello All, I apologize for the long, long wait. I've actually had this story finished for a very long time but kept going back and forth on whether an epilogue was needed. I went with a yes, obviously. Anywho, please offer feedback and (constructive) criticism. Thank you to archangel for editing chapter 12. If there are errors in the epilogue, I apologize. Best, SRB -Santana- She visited me every chance she got. She didn't say much, just sat there, watching me. Words weren't really needed. Her mask of stone and apathy fell in those moments. She watched me with so many emotions showing across her perfect face, sadness, anger, regret, longing. They were all so clear. I was to stay in the cage until I turned back into my human form. Doctor's orders. She begged me with her eyes, begged me to change back. I wished that I could oblige her. I desperately longed to be out of the small cage, able to stretch, to bend, and to get back to Alex. "Aara?" Audrienne's sudden appearance broke our intense staring match. The emotionless visage returned immediately as Aara's gaze moved from me to that that of our blonde sister. "Your lesson begins soon, I was sent to remind you." Without a glance in my direction, Aara stood and left the room. "Hi, Santana." Audrienne's melodic voice broke the brief silence. I barked by way of greeting. Audrienne seemed uncomfortable in my presence, often opening her mouth as if she wanted to speak but couldn't find the words. "He let Stephen leave yesterday evening. He seemed a little confused but I'm glad that he's not here any longer, he didn't belong here." None of them belonged here. None of us belonged here. "Zach misses the presence of testosterone in the pod and Carmendi misses her mini-me," she said, confirming what I had realized on my own. Carmendi and Stephen were full siblings, the matching olive skin and bright red hair gave it away. "I... I don't think we ever thanked you," she said, running her elegant fingers through her long, white-blonde hair. I tilted my head in confusion, unsure of why she would feel the need to thank me. Understanding she clarified. "...for coming back with us without a fight. For helping us save our little brother. I...I know that you probably feel as if we're nothing to you, just strangers with the same colored eyes and you came anyway. So, thank you." She extended her hand and touched the bars of the cage briefly before leaving the room. She was so wrong. It has been five days since we'd arrived back at the compound. Five long days, spent in this cage. Randomly, I would feel Alex. He'd send his love through our bond, his affection and his determination. I knew he was coming for me. *** Not for the first time since arriving in Rhode Island did Epic realize how much colder it was here than at his home in South Carolina. Pulling his coat closer to his body, he watched the compound. It was so well hidden that Epic knew that, without the mate connection felt by the Carlisle males, it wouldn't have been discovered so soon. Epic desperately hated reconnaissance. He preferred the attack. The love of the kill had been bred into him and his men by the former alpha of the Otto pack, his father. His father had controlled the pack with an iron hand, forcing the art of fighting on each and every member and eliminating those lacking the propensity for destruction including Epic's sweet natured mother. That was why Epic agreed to help the Carlisle family. The idea of this "doctor" controlling those hybrids and using them at his whim hit too close to home. The doctor was a tyrant and all tyrants deserved to fall. He and his men had been out here for four days, watching, gathering information, going unnoticed by the very human guards. With the aid of his stealthy, technologically savvy betas, the perimeter, the exterior, and interior of the compound was now fully mapped out. They were ready for the attack. He smiled as he dialed Alex Carlisle's cell phone number. Now the fun was beginning. -Alex- I watched the young alpha and his even younger team of betas enter the conference room. They had been outside of the compound, mapping out entrances, pinpointing weaknesses and guard posts, and placing in a few moles continuously for the past few days without sleep. The expressions were serious, their stances disciplined. Epic approached the table and sat, meeting the gazes of the other seated individuals. "The guards are all human, but they're heavily armed. If my team goes in first, we can surely take out a good number of them before the alarms go off. What I'm afraid of, however, is the hybrids. We don't know where their loyalties lie; we don't know what they're capable of. My team has done all we can but in that regard, we're essentially going in blind." I nodded wishing in that moment that I could warn Santana. I looked around at the gathering of vampires and werewolves assembled to ensure that my brother and I got our mates back. "I appreciate the presence of each and every one of you but I would understand if you wanted to back out and leave now. He's right, these hybrids are enigmas. Yeah, we know where the guards are located and the layout of the facility but we truly do not know what we're about to walk into. Many of you have no ties to me or my family so, if you got up and walked out of this conference room right now, I would understand- We would understand." I leaned back in my chair, watching the different packs and covens whisper and argue before me. I felt Aislyn's hand reach for mine beneath the table and was thankful for the support in that moment. I did my best to keep my anxiety down. They could all leave right now, leave it up to just me and my family to get Santana and Aara back and I'd have to be understanding; I had promised to be understanding. A woman with long, flowing brown hair and laugh lines around her eyes stood. I recognized her immediately as Evangeline, the oldest of our kind. I leaned forward, curious to what she had to say. "Allisar," she began looking straight at my father. "You know that I am your friend, that you and I have so much history," the older female vampire spoke, her voice poured out like rich honey. She sighed deeply, remorse in her whiskey colored eyes. "...but my coven is small; we cannot take the risk of losing even one member for a cause that is not our own. We are old, the oldest of our kind. We have fought too many battles, shed and lost too much blood. Some of our members feel that these hybrids that you speak of are unnatural and do not deserve our aid." She paused then, her expression becoming more apologetic. " I am sorry, but I must do what is right for my coven. I wish you and your family the best," she said in an unrecognizable accent right before she and five others exited the room. "Does anyone else wish to leave?" I heard Aaron ask from behind me, in a cold tone. No one stood or spoke. "Good. Epic please proceed with the plan." Hours later, I sat on the large bed of the hotel room, staring at the ceiling. My life had changed so drastically in such a short period of time. Meeting Santana was like being hit by lightning or suddenly realizing that what you thought was living before that moment was merely a ghost of the real thing. I had gone twenty-five years without her and I'd been just fine but after meeting her, going five days without her was torture. I ached for her, to feel her soft body molding into mine as we slept, her sweet laugh, her huge smile. I missed everything with such intensity that it hurt. I knew that she could feel what I was feeling right now. She knew exactly how much I loved her and needed her, and she felt my determination to get her back. I'd have her back by the end of the day tomorrow. -Santana- I woke up suddenly, torn from my fitful slumber in the too-small cage. What had woken me? The room was still cast in darkness, the prompt 6:00am alarm had yet to go off. I suddenly felt anxious, like I was waiting for something. The anxiety danced with motivation and a hardness I had never felt before. I realized then that these were not my own emotions but those of my mate. Suddenly an alarm different from those I had heard before sounded. This wasn't a wake-up call. This was danger, there was something wrong. I strained my ears, pushing to hear more than I ever had before. I heard the boots of the guards running through the halls towards what, I wasn't sure. Muffled orders were being called. I jumped as I heard the first signs of gunfire and what sounded like snarls and growls. The hardness I had felt from Alex intensified. Deep down, I knew what was happening, the lab was under attack. He was there to get me back. Out of nowhere, the knob of the door began to shake and the door was pulled off of its hinges. Moving further back into my cage, I began whimpering. The light was blinding as the shadowed figure moved forward into the room. The bars of the cage dug into my back painfully. The figure kneeled and placed his hands on door of the cage, pulling swiftly until the door was no longer in place but in his hands. "Let's go," was all the shadow said. He voice deep and demanding. I didn't move, afraid of what would follow next. "I'm not going to hurt you, little wolf." He backed away and went to the entrance of the hall. I moved slowly, leaving the small cage that I had spent five days in, and walked to the hall. I stretched slightly, attempting to relieve the aches and pains all over my body. In the hall, I could now see the features of my savior. He was young, no older than 19, with medium brown skin and gray eyes. Had I not been so alarmed at the situation, I would have taken a moment to take in his strong, handsome features, but this was not the time for that. "Can you change back?" he asked, looking at me with concern in his eyes. I shook my head, no. "Well, I hope you can fight in this form." He said over his shoulder as he began moving down the hall towards the growls, snarls, and gunfire. *** Zach woke up the moment the alarms sounded. He looked around the pod and his siblings jumped up also, panic on each of their faces. The noises in the hall alluded to the impending war. Moving to the door, Zach placed his ear against the cold steel. The doors to the pods didn't open until the six a.m. alarm sounded. There was a battle being fought and they were locked away in their suite. She felt him; his presence was almost as tangible as her own. He was near, there somewhere in the facility. Before she could stop herself, get her emotions under control, Aara was banging on the steel door of the suite. Banging so hard that she broke her skin and blood smeared the reflective surface of the door. There were dents but she had made no real headway. "Aara! What are you doing?!" Audrienne screamed as Aara picked up the dining table. "We've received no orders to leave our pods!" "Fuck the orders." she replied in a cool, calm voice right before heaving the table at the door. The metal buckled but not enough to pull it away from the wall. Staring at her failed attempt, she fell to the floor. "He's here." she whispered. "He came for me." *** The orders were clear. Don't kill any human unless it's necessary. Epic scoffed as he punched an approaching guard hard enough to knock him out. He looked down at the small wolf, checking on her. She followed him obediently; the fear that he'd seen in her eyes at first had bled into hard determination. "Don't kill anyone. We disarm and take down, but we leave them breathing," he said, making sure she knew the orders. The look she gave him made him worry. This little wolf was out for blood. They made their way through the hall, Epic taking out guards left and right, not trusting the wolf to leave them alive. She alerted him to their positions, warned him of any approaching danger. She leapt, scratched, bit, distracting them long enough for Epic to disarm and incapacitate them. They passed other weres, some in wolf form, others in their human forms. They passed vampires. The scene was quite phenomenal. It looked like a battle between angels, gods and soldiers. Blood stained the walls and floor. In more macabre scenes, body parts littered the ground. This was war; this was what Epic was made for. He moved swiftly, delivering a swift punch to the gut of a particularly scrappy guard. Distracted by a banging sound coming from behind a metal panel, he created the perfect opportunity for the guard to strike him in the jaw. Faster than the guard could have ever anticipated, Epic snapped his arm, cleanly breaking the bone. The whimpering cries appeased the beast within. "Stay, or I break the other one and a leg. I could do a lot of damage and still keep you alive, asshole." Satisfied that the guard wasn't going to move, Epic turned to see the small, black wolf staring at the metal panel, the one that the banging was coming from. She pawed the door and nudged it with her shoulders. She rested her head against the cool metal briefly then stared him dead in the eyes, begging for something he didn't understand. He heard more guards coming; he didn't have time to move at the whims of some wolf who didn't even know how to control the change. Looking over his shoulder, he listened. They'd be there in less than two minutes. "We need to go, wolf," he said, moving towards the approaching opposition. His movements halted as he heard her whimper. Sighing he turned back towards her. "We don't have time for this." His anger was rising then immediately dissipated. He felt it, sunshine breaking through the clouds on a chilly day. That's what it felt like. Whatever caused that feeling was behind that dented metal panel. There, a button on the wall beside the panel. Without thinking, he pushed it and stepped back just as a bullet whizzed past him. Turning, he grabbed the end of the closest gun and shoved back into the body of the guard holding it, cracking bones. The guard fell to the ground. Looking to his left, following the sound of the barking wolf, his gaze met an emerald one. He only had time to notice the bright eyes and flaming red hair before the stomping of boots alerted him to at least six guards turning the corner. It was the gust of wind that halted his advance. Something fast had just moved past him. Shaking away the confusion, he watched what looked like an angel disarm seven guards in a matter of seconds. The men were blatantly muddled but before their confusion could wear away, a flash of red hair was all that could be seen before the men began falling one by one. Epic stared at the pile of unconscious men in awe. He was impressed. Taking down that many men in such a short amount of time wasn't even possible for his betas and they were the best. Feeling a presence behind him, he turned swiftly, only to gasp. She was right there, so close. Her green eyes stared up into his own slate-colored ones. He used that moment to look at her, really look at her. She was amazing. It was the only word he could think to describe the masterpiece standing before him. She stared at him like she knew exactly who he was. The intimacy of their eye contact made him a little uneasy and he looked past her, to see a petite, dark haired woman stroking the fur of the raven-toned wolf. He looked beyond that scene to a golden hued man. He looked angry, confused but angry and he stared at the angelic one with open hostility. "What the fuck was that Audrienne?" He asked in an even tone. "That was our chance." It wasn't the one who resembled an angel who spoke but the dark haired one. She continued to speak, not looking up from the wolf. "This. This is our chance to be free. She..." she said, gesturing to the wolf. "She brought this to us. Don't you understand, Zach? We need to fight for our freedom. It's time to change back now, Santana." -Santana- Feeling Aara's small hands snake through my fur was comforting. I looked towards the man who had saved me and released my siblings, wishing that I could speak. He was a wolf; I could sense it on him. As if reading my mind, Carmendi spoke. "Tell her how, mate. Tell her how to change back." He stared at her and smirked, her words not seeming to shock him. "Epic. My name is Epic." I watched the shy smile spread across the face of my youngest sister. "Carmendi." was her short reply. They looked at each other like the whole world had suddenly opened up. I knew that feeling and longed to feel it again. "Okay. Now that introductions have been made, care to tell Santana here how to change back? She's been like this for days now." It was Aara who broke the moment. She stopped stroking me and moved back, giving me room for whatever was about to happen. Slowly turning his gaze away from that of his new mate, he looked straight into mine. I couldn't help but be happy for Carmdendi; he was quite beautiful and obviously a skilled fighter. "Santana?' he asked, stepping forward, I nodded the best that I could. "You're Alex's mate. You must be pretty spectacular for him to call in so many favors, to arrange all of this just to get you back." He looked back towards Carmendi. "I guess a mate is worth all of this." I nodded once more, believing with all of my heart that a mate was worth all of this. I'd do this in a heartbeat for Alex. "You need to think about something you can only do in your human form. Block everything out but that thought, that's how you'll turn back." He looked at Audrienne. "Angel-face, will you go grab some clothes for her? She'll be naked when she changes back." I heard Audrienne move behind me but didn't look back, I simply racked my brain to find that perfect thought. It was holding Alex, and having him hold me while we slept. I thought about molding to his body, lying in his arms, kissing him on his chest right before falling asleep. I thought about the noises he made in his sleep, the sighs of contentment like he couldn't possibly be any happier than he was in that moment. I wondered if I made those same sounds because I couldn't possibly be any happier than I was when sleeping in his arms. Tingling began all over my body then slowly receded. I felt something being draped over my shoulders. I was still on all fours; peering down at my arms, I now saw that brown skin had replaced the dark fur. Looking up, I saw that everyone had turned to give me privacy. I stood and quickly slipped on the shirt Audrienne had placed over my shoulders. I looked towards her as she extended her hands behind her, a pair of sweats in one and a pair of sneakers in the other. I took the items gratefully and finished dressing. "You guys ready?" I asked. They all turned to face me once more, huge smiles on each of their faces except for Zach's. I looked in the direction of Epic; who seemed to be keeping an eye on Carmendi and the other on the curve ahead in the hallway. There was someone coming, but this time the stomping of boots didn't precede their approach. These weren't guards. It was HIM. I moved around Epic in time to see Alex turn the corner, followed by Aislyn and Aaron. Each had seen better days. Blood splattered their clothing and skin, and Aislyn had a gash below her right eye, marring her perfect face. Aaron held his side as if he'd been injured. I had never seen a more glorious sight. He stopped when he saw me. I subconsciously ran my fingers through my hair, trying to relieve some of the matting and tangles. I knew I looked a mess; blood covered my neck and limbs from the earlier fighting. I held my hand out for him and he moved towards me without hesitation. The second our hands touched, electricity danced through my body. No big scene was necessary. No crying and excessive kissing needed. "You ready to go home, Ana?" He asked me, kissing my forehead. I nodded and we made to move. Those Eyes Ch. 12 Peeking over at Aara and Aaron, I watched her awkwardly hold his hand as she stole glances in his direction. Though uncomfortable, she seemed settled somehow. She looked up at that moment, her eyes meeting mine and she simply nodded. It was as if she was silently saying, "Yes, it's all going to be alright." *** "How are we looking in terms of casualties?" Epic asked as he pulled a very anxious Carmendi through the halls. They had only run into a small group of guards who had been quickly taken down by Zach and Audrienne, her speed and his strength creating a deadly combination. "No major casualties on our end. A few gunshot wounds, one or two missing limbs, but everyone will walk out of here," Aislyn spoke as she pulled her gloves tighter onto her hands and flexed each finger. "We have two things left to do before we can meet everyone at the rendezvous point." Aaron said, looking down at his small mate. "Take down the doctor and release the hybrids. Do you know where he'd be right now? He obviously wasn't out there fighting with his men." The disgust in his voice was obvious. They all stopped walking and looked to Aara. "Did you search his office and the surveillance rooms?" she asked, looking at her mate. He nodded. She sighed, that only left one other place that he'd be. "Does anyone have the time?" Confused by her question, Aislyn looked down at her watch, surprised it hadn't broken. "It's five til six. Why?" "At six these metal panels will open and the other hybrids will be released. They'll probably be anxious; they've most likely heard what was going on out here." The situation could escalate very quickly and she needed to think of a way around it. "Audrienne and Carmendi, if any attack, incapacitate them. Then calm down the rest. Epic, lead them out of here. Zach and I will lead the Carlisles to the doctor." Epic watched the way that she handed out orders. It seemed that these hybrids would be a perfect addition to his pack which gave him an idea. He smirked to himself as he nodded. "There's only one place that he'd be now: the lab with the true hybrids. He's protecting his greatest assets, most likely behind an excessive number of guards" She watched the apprehensive looks pass between the siblings. She began walking towards the lab, hoping that they'd follow. Aislyn tried shaking the anxious feeling away. She needed her mind right for what they were possibly about to face. Taking a deep breath, she followed behind Aara, ignoring the restlessness that had suddenly overtaken her. The scene before them as they entered the room was one that caused surprise. There in the center was a middle-aged man with white hair. He was tall and lanky; his skin was pale but weathered. Surrounding him was at least 50 guards, and beside him was a young boy with olive toned skin and red hair. Stopping abruptly, Aara looked into the eyes of her baby brother. The doctor had lied, used them all. "You son of a bitch," was all she could say as she stared at him with an incredulous expression. "Tisk tisk, Aara Belle. Did you really think it'd be so easy? "The smirk on his face was sickening. "I saw how good of an incentive little Stevie was in getting you all back here. I figured he would have other purposes, like punishment for when you misbehaved. And you and your siblings have been very, very bad, little one." In one swift motion, Stephen was kneeling on the ground, a gun to his head. His frightened expression caused her to move forward and she felt Zach at her side move also. "No no no. You do one thing that I don't like and I'll kill him. He serves one purpose to me and that's to hurt you." "What do you want?" It was Aislyn who spoke. She saw the anguish on the faces of Aara and Zach and couldn't take it. She knew that if it had been one of her siblings in this situation, she'd do whatever she had to. The crazed doctor looked in her direction and smiled slowly. "Ahhh, Aislyn Fate Carlisle, the infamous Washington socialite. What I want is for my three lovely hybrids here to hold you and your siblings down while these hybrids..." he said, gesturing to the glass panels behind him. They held men and women, otherworldly in looks but their eyes spoke of the primal nature within them. "...tear you all apart. Only then will I let this failure of science go." Slowly, he met the eyes of Aara, then Zach, and finally Santana. "I'll count to three. One...two... Oh, who am I kidding, you'll never do what I've asked." Those were his last words before the gunshot rang out. The world seemed to slow down in that moment. Steven's body swayed to the left before collapsing to the ground. Blood splattered the floor in an elaborate pattern. "Stephen!" Zach bellowed out in an anguished scream before charging towards the doctor. The guards unfortunate enough to be in his way were thrown, dismembered, broken, and left in a heap of unconsciousness on the floor where Stephen's blood poured out. Aara joined in seconds later, followed by her mate, creating a path to the man who had just torn her world apart. Bodies flew through the air, fell to the ground. Screams of pain rang out, both of emotional and physical nature. The scene before her was almost too ghastly to watch but Santana rushed to the aid of her siblings, followed quickly by Alex and Aislyn. They made quick work of the human guards, obviously not trained for this sort of onslaught. Aislyn swung at a guard as she dodged a bullet intended for her head. Her fist made contact with his nose and the crunch was more than satisfying. He fell to the ground before her and left her staring at a man behind a glass wall. He watched her with deep brown eyes, the kind of eyes she had dreamed of looking into her entire life. Hesitantly, she stepped towards the glass. He was tall and broad-shouldered, wearing nothing but a pair of low slung sweat pants. He was beautiful. Soulful brown eyes, nearly black hair, pale peach colored skin, a well-trimmed beard that did little to hide the deep dimples in his cheeks and, full, red lips. He moved forward and placed his hand on the glass. Following suit, she placed hers on top of his. The glass was an unwelcome barrier. The battle continued around them but they were lost in their own realm. Jade eyes met nearly black ones and they both knew that their worlds would never be the same. Alex looked around him. Each guard had been taken down. Now only stood the doctor, a look of panic on his face as the three hybrids advanced on him. For this reason, when the shots rang out he was confused. Aislyn felt each of them, the four bullets that lodged themselves into her back. She especially felt the one that hit her heart. Staring up at him, she thanked God that she had least gotten to see him once. -Alex- We both ran to her as she fell to the blood-covered floor. Aaron reached her first, pulling her limp body into his arms. "Aislyn, don't you dare die on us!" She sputtered as blood dripped down the side of her lips. I couldn't speak; there were no words for what I felt in that moment. She reached up, touching a hand to my face and then to Aaron's. A small smile graced her perfect face. Her gaze remained on the glass wall in front of us. The man behind the glass looked rabid as he slammed his fist into the barrier with more intensity than I had ever witnessed. The glass was soundproof, but I could tell from his expression that he was screaming out. His reaction confused me but my attention to him was shattered by the sound of breaking bones behind me. I watched as a despondent Santana shoved her foot into the chest of a man with a bloody face, the one who had shot Aislyn. Her eyes met mine; so much remorse was there that I had to tear my own away. Tears blurred my vision as I looked back to my dying sister. Even in this state, she was beautiful. Her red-brown hair spilled out around her head like a halo. Tears poured from her eyes unremittingly as she continued to watch the man behind the glass. The light slowly drained from her eyes and I felt my heart break. A snapping noise alerted me to the death of the doctor. A broken neck, it was a clean and quick death, much more humane than he deserved. I refused to look away from my sister. I felt Santana beside me, her hand reached out, stroking Aislyn's hair. She didn't speak. She didn't need to. Aara moved to stand behind Aaron; she placed her hand on his shoulder giving all of the comfort that she could in that moment. She knew what he felt, the loss of a piece of his soul The simple gesture was all that she could manage. I hoped Aaron realized that it was enough. We all sat there, Aislyn lying in both my and Aaron's arm; Aara behind him, Santana beside me. Their brother was off somewhere to the side. No one spoke, the only movement in the room coming from guards regaining consciousness and the hybrids behind the glass walls. The one before us had stopped screaming and pounding the glass and now he sat against the window, sobbing. A movement to my right caught my eye and I looked up the see the young, red haired boy standing beside me covered in blood. My gasp alerted the others to what I was seeing. "Stephen? What the..." Aara said as she began to move towards him. He put his hand up, halting her actions. "Shh..." Kneeling down, he stared at Aaron and then me. "May I?" I had no idea what he was asking for with that simple question, but I nodded my consent, trusting him. We all watched in awe as he pulled up the sleeve of his shirt and presented his wrist to me. "Would you mind giving me a hand here?" I didn't understand his request. "Cut my wrist open, vertically." I began shaking my head vehemently. He'd surely bleed out if I did that. "Let me save her before it's too late." Before I could react, Aaron reached over and used a talon to slice into the young boy's wrist. He understood what I had yet to. Nodding his thanks, Stephen placed his wrist above Aislyn's mouth, urging the blood to pour inside and down her throat. The blood pooled in her mouth. Lifting her head slightly, she coughed faintly but began swallowing. No one took their eyes off of her. Suddenly it dawned on me, his blood was meant to keep her alive. I prayed under my breath, asking God not to take her but it seemed that prayers were not to be answered. She had only swallowed a small amount before she turned her head to the side and closed her eyes. She was gone. "I don't understand." Stephen was the first to speak. "That should have worked, she shouldn't have..." He stopped and looked up, once more looking at Aaron then at me. "I'm sorry." It was only a slight cracking noise at first, that's what got our attention. Looking up, I watched the hairline crack web throughout the window, growing and spreading. The harder the man pounded, the more cracks appeared in the glass. Sensing what was about to happen, Aaron gathered up Aislyn in his arms and we all moved back, away from the window. In the silence the noise was ear-splitting. We shielded our faces as shards of glass flew everywhere. Stepping through the frame, the hybrid moved towards us, his eyes never leaving Aislyn. He reached for her and I stepped in his path. His gaze flickered from my sister to mine. Anger flared in those deep chocolate depths but quickly retreated to be followed by anguish and loss. I knew that it was the same feelings reflected in my eyes. He was her mate. "Give her to him." Realizing what I had, Aaron handed our sister's body to the stranger. He held her with such gentleness. "Do you speak?" I asked him, never breaking eye contact. "Yes." His voice was deep and gravelly. "Her name..." I nodded to the body in his arms. "...was Aislyn Fate. Our sister." He looked down at her with so much adoration and longing that I had to look away. It was too much, this was all too much. "If we let them go, the other hybrids, will they attack?" Aara asked, holding Aaron's hand with one hand and Stephen's with the other. I really looked around for the first time. Behind seven other windows were men and women, watching the scene with docile expressions. "Not if they're not ordered to." Nodding, I moved towards the exit. "Let them out and follow us. You're all fee." I wouldn't think about it here. I couldn't, not yet. Today, in this godforsaken lab, I had gotten back my soul mate but lost a part of my soul. Epilogue *** One Month Later... Zachary leaned against the counter watching his new family uncomfortably interact. Aara held Aaron's hand beneath the table. She seemed at odds with the action but she was trying to offer him the type of comfort only a mate could give, albeit awkwardly. Carmendi and Epic sat together in a window seat overlooking the city. They shared a pair of ear buds, while watching each other; their nearness and the music putting them in their own world. Alex and Santana sat quietly at the table; her eating, him staring off into space. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that the loss of Aislyn was killing him inside. Her absence was felt in every corner of the room, seen in each of their expressions. He remembered watching them when he and his siblings were trailing Santana; they had all seemed so exuberant, and full of life. Now each of the Carlisle siblings appeared as only a shadow of their former selves. The funeral was held less than a week after her death. He supposed that the family wanted to begin their healing process as soon as possible. Only the immediate family was in attendance, even Santana stayed behind in DC while the family flew out to the mid-west to bury their Aislyn. His eyes shifted as he watched Rain sitting among her youngest siblings as they played with an iPad. Though these children were strangers to the situation, their awareness was seen in the way their tiny heads lifted and watched the adults with open concern. Ash and Adam had offered to show Stephen around the city in an evident need to get out of the apartment complex. Zachary knew exactly how they felt. The sorrow and budding love was suffocating. He had made up his mind the night before. He would be gone before anyone woke up the next morning. -Alex- I sat and watched her. The thoughts going through my mind were unsettling. Each time I looked at her, I saw my sister dying. Images of Aislyn falling to the floor, the bright red blood pouring out around her, flooded my brain. I shook my head to scatter the thoughts knowing it was useless. They'd be back. They always came back. I had promised her everything, promised to keep her safe. I had fulfilled that promise but at the expense of part of my heart. The guilt and blame were weighing down on me so heavily that it was hard to breathe at times. Each time I looked at her, my mate, I saw what she had cost me. It was happening again, the uncontrollable swirling of thoughts. Blood. So much blood. Jade eyes that had been so bright and shining, now dull and lifeless. The sound she made as she hit the floor echoed in my ears repeatedly. The crying stranger, banging on the glass as he watched his soul die like I had. It was too much. Everything was too much. All of these new people in my home, those bright green eyes that watched me constantly, and her absence. Suddenly, I was standing and walking, leaving the suite with a loud crash of the door. *** Zachary wished that he had Carmendi's aptitude for stealth in that moment. He knew that his footsteps had already woken at least three people. He excited the apartment quickly hoping that no one would investigate the noise. He knew that he should have said goodbye, but that would have been too hard. His siblings had so effortlessly molded into this new world and he felt like an outsider. His decision would hurt them but he knew it was best for him. He was finally able to live for himself and he wasn't going to pass up this chance. Once in the garage, he perused the array of cars, bikes, and trucks. His gaze settled on a black motorcycle. He had seen Aislyn ride this bike several times when he was trailing her and her family. He felt like an asshole when his immediate thought was that she wouldn't need it now. He had been riding for days with no destination in mind. He had never felt this kind of freedom. It was intoxicating. Each time an emotion he didn't want to deal with entered his mind, he pushed it away and pushed the bike harder. Noticing that the gas tank was getting low, he rode until he found a small diner with a few pumps out front. Once the tank was full, he went inside for what he hoped was a decent meal. The menu was filled with typical diner fare and he settled on pancakes, bacon, and scrambled eggs hoping they were better than the ones served at the lab. "Are you ready to order sir?" a soft, feminine voice asked. He turned from the window where he had been watching a bird while sipping from a glass of much needed water and was met with blue eyes tinted with green. He gasped causing himself to choke a little. The girl patted his back softly, her concern evident. "Are you alright?" He looked up at her for a moment completely confused. Her eyes watched him, a perfect reflection of his. "Do I know you?" she asked as she smoothed back the auburn hair that had fallen from her messy bun. "It feels like I should know who you are." Before he had completely thought out his reply, he responded. "No. We've never met." They watched each other for a few more moments before he cleared his throat and extended his hand. "I'm Zachary." She watched him with open curiosity before returning the gesture and placing her hand in his. He noticed that her hands were bruised and covered in healed scars. "I'm Anna Brown. It's very nice to meet you Zachary."