© 2014 SilverStream22. All Rights Reserved.

So....I reached a million reads on this story! YOU GUYS ARE THE BEST! Therefore, this chapter is dedicated to you: The reader.

Without you, I wouldn’t be able to make it this far. Thank you so much for your support on my story. So without further ado, I give you the next chapter of Lycan:

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A tampon?

Haha, I’m just messing with you. Here’s the real thing:

A necklace?

I reached forward, pinching the fine chain before lifting it up. A locket spun around, stopping slowly. I squinted my eyes to read the small scripture.

Erga Mea Lux

The locket was intricately designed, a rectangular shape with a glass wedged inside. I dug my nail in the side, the halves opening up. There was no picture. Instead there was a glowing dab of the most precious material any werewolf has ever known- moonlight.

The rumoured matter-changing gem that was only known to werewolves, the silky and milk-like texture that was like water in zero gravity. At the sharp knock from Stark’s side of the bathroom, I quickly cleared my throat and closed the locket, returning it to it’s spot back behind the soaps.

“Y-Yeah?” I croaked, clenching my fist around my towel.

“We’re going out.” he rumbled. “Now.”

“Now?” I gasped, “What? We just go to Spain-”

“Out as in public. Not out of the country.”

I cocked my hip at that, raising an accusatory eyebrow even though I knew he couldn’t see me.

“Are you sure about that?” I sang, keeping my voice harsh and thin.

He sighed heavily, “Yes. Now will you change?”

I bit my lip, tapping my foot quickly in thought. After a moment, I gave in. “Fine. Give me a second.”

I unlocked my side of the door, rushing to the closet in which was stacked with the clothes Lorena and Iris had purchased for me (all of us, really) while we were going to be hiding out in Spain. Pulling out a pair of blue jeans and a white tank top, I grabbed a cream cardigan as I walked out the door. Then I thought of something I should’ve remembered earlier-

Shoes.

I jogged back to my room and grabbed tan roman sandals, wriggling my small feet in them before walking out the same time Stark did.

I nearly dropped my keycard.

“What is that?” I pointed at his sculpted face.

He frowned, “What?”

“That!” I pressed, gestured to the thick black rectangular glasses on his face.

“Glasses?” he replied slowly, though it seemed as if he was questioning the both of us on it.

“Yeah.” I glared. “Why do you have glasses?”

He removed them, “I visited an optician. Apparently I need glasses. Which is quite strange considering that I have amplified vision as one of my affinities.”

“See?” I smiled faintly. “It wasn’t so hard to tell me what your affinity is.” I thought back on Iris’ rooftop when Stark refused to tell me about his affinity.

His silver eyes hardened. “That’s not the one I’m hiding from you, Katya.”

“Better than nothing.” I mumbled as he slipped his warm, rough hand with mine, pulling me to the elevators.

“Where exactly are you taking me? And can you let go?”

He shook his head, not even bothering to answer my first question as we entered the elevator.

“Why not?”

Stark tightened his grip a fraction, “I don’t see why I have to.”

Then I realized something.

“Where’s your wedding ring?” I voiced shakily, noticing his left hand- the one I was holding- didn’t have the gold band biting into my skin.

He looked at me, then back at the glowing numbers above the elevator doors. “Waiting for a scuba diver to find it.”

_____________________________________________________________________________

Our….whatever you wanted to call it- was cut short when the rain decided to drop right just as we got within fifteen feet of the hotel. Though instead of returning, we took shelter in a nearby house about a mile away. With Stark’s speed it felt about 5 seconds to get there.

The elderly couple there treated us with wine and tres leches. Stark wasn’t to keen on eating it and I found out why when he told Señora Francesa that he wasn’t too fond of sweet things. However when she got a bit teary eyed, Stark pulled the plate that we shared over to his side and took the largest forkful possible before shoving it into his mouth, swallowing visibly. He gave a weak yet assuring smile to Señora Francesa, then turned to look at me with a pale expression.

I still remembered his priceless expression even as we were riding up the elevator to out hotel rooms. He wasn’t as stiff as he once was when I first met him in the woods...he was loosening up.

“Do you believe in love?” he asked out of the blue.

“Yes.” I hid my smile behind a curtain of black hair, looking down on my feet. “My parents were very much in love. They didn’t go a day without professing their love to each other. What about you?”

His sneakers- I almost laughed at the thought of him wearing it on any other occasion- appeared opposite mine. “No.”

My heart suffocated as if someone had shoved their hand past my lungs and had a my heart in their unforgiving fist. I slammed my eyes shut, willing myself not to cry. I did enough of that when I found out that he had a wife and a child.

“But…” he whispered softly, clasping the necklace around my neck. “I do believe in us.”

Cheesy was the first word that came to my mind, but then my eyes watered and I covered my sob with my hand, burying my face into his chest. Honest. That was the appropriate word.

That was our word.

_____________________________________________________________________________

Stark and I sat down- more like I sat down criss-cross applesauce while he lounged on the couch like a cat- while I tried various card tricks with him.

“Pick a card, any card,” I announced after a series of shuffles. I spread the cards across the glass table.

He peeked an eye at me before reached forward to grab a card.

“Not that card.” I blurted.

Stark let out a short burst of laughter. It was the single most perfect sound I’d ever heard. “Why? Have you got this game rigged, Katya?”

I shifted in my seat, sending him a lopsided grin. “Maybe.”

How stupid was I, to forget my anger so easily just by knowing that he was trying to put away his past.

I rounded up the cards back into a thick deck, slipping the card back into the packaging box. “Stark?”

“Yes?” he answered softly.

“Can you take off your shirt?”

He gave me a full-blown smirk, turning his head to look at me. “Already undressing me, Katya?”

I startled, my cheeks staining red. “No! I just want to see it- your tattoos.”

I noticed the tightening in his chest- the still level of his breathing. With a groan, he pulled himself up, swinging his legs off the couch until his bare feet touched the cream carpet.

“Are you sure?” he said quietly.

I brought my knees up to my chest, nodding quickly.

Gripping the edges of his red v-neck, his pulled his shirt over his head, tossing it on the bed. I stood up, walking over to his side. I kneeled on the couch, pressing my palm against his shoulder to signal him to lean forward.

He did so cautiously, and the sight available to me drew a gasp from my mouth.

“Oh my Goddess,” I breathed, tracing the swirls and curves.

“What?” he muttered, rolling his shoulders.

“They’re faded.” I whispered.

He sat straight, eyes widened as he looked up at me. “Are you serious?”

“Yes! Look!”

Stark grinned, laughing once more. “I can’t, it’s my back, not my chest.”

He stood up, his hands enclosing around my waist as he lifted me up, swinging me up and around.

“What does that even mean?”

He lowered me until his arms were caged around my waist, my hands looped around my neck.

“I’m one step closer to being with you, mea lux.”

I noticed his eyes flicker down to my lips, then back at me.

I thought girls were supposed to do that.

I curled my fist into his hair, my other hand removing his Superman glasses.

“Kiss me?” he asked, giving me a lazy smile.

I laughed, thinking back on the time in the shower. “No way, you’ll end up doing something more than just putting your mark on me.”

“Have I ever told you how beautiful your eyes are?” he whispered. “Such a vibrant green.”

I frowned. “What do you mean? My eyes are brown.”

The crease between his eyes deepened. “I know that, but I figured they changed occasionally. I mean they’re green right now.”

“That’s impossible-”

Stark then dropped me onto the couch, cupping my face. “Damn it. Shit. Shit.”

“What?” I asked, blinking.

“Iris!” he roared. “Get in here!”

I gripped his wrists as his hands turned my face side to side. “What’s going on?”

He blurred forward next to the door, pulling it open as Iris stormed in, Lorena and Castor on her heels.

“What’s wrong?” Lorena gasped, rushing to me. “Your eyes…”

I jerked my face from her hands, glancing at the three of them. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on?”

“Look at me, Katya.” Stark demanded, tilting my head up, his thumb pulling down at both of my lower eyelids. “Did any vampire blood enter your system?”

“Not that I know of,” I answered, confused at their extreme panic.

Iris pushed down Stark’s hands, doing her own examination of me. “Damn it. They’re blue. Someone get Jazz. Look at me, Katya, only me, alright? Keep your eyes on me.”

Out of the corner of my eye, Jazz entered with Draver trailing behind him.

“What happened to her?” Draver shouted.

“Jazz, you need to hurry! Remove it!” Iris rushed just as my vision became like multicolored filters. “We’re losing her.”

“I can’t.” he whispered. “I don’t know how to remove it at this stage.”

“Remove what?!” I cried out.

Jazz looked crestfallen when I broke my gaze on Iris to look at him.

“I can’t save you from the toxins of vampire blood.”