Ella's P.O.V.

What have I done?

I watched the flames dance in the hearth of the fireplace. They climbed the brick walls, only to be pulled back down into the coals that glowed beneath the logs.

That's how I felt, like I'd been floating on the highs of my daydreams and suddenly yanked back down into reality.

I couldn't believe I had been naïve enough to believe that Cain had liked me. It was a hasty assumption that I made based on one action he'd later admitted that he regretted making.

I couldn't believe that Zak was right. I shouldn't have followed those men in the car that night and I never should have left my home and family to chase ghosts.

It'd gotten me nothing but a concussion and false hopes.

There was only one reason that I still sat in Cain's dark bedroom on the couch staring into the fire. That was to assure myself that I wasn't lousy enough to bail on something just because my emotional investment in it had backfired.

Taking interest in Cain was a stupid move. I was there to find my grandfather. I wasn't there to get a boyfriend or fall in love.

I needed to focus on finding him and when I did find him, I was going to leave and not look back.

My grandfather's books sat next to me on the couch, where they had been for several days.

The green one on Lycanthropy proved to be an amusing read. However, it wasn't something I would have ever thought my grandfather would have taken interest in.

It wasn't the fantasy novel I had expected it to be. It was an anthropological perspective on the social and biological aspects of creatures otherwise known as Lycanthropes.

What surprised me the most was how convincing it was, like the person who wrote it actually believed in what they were writing.

There were diagrams sketched out of the prehistoric creatures they'd evolved from and even timelines dating back to the late-Cenozoic era.

Supposedly, Lycanthropic evolution from early Canis species began a few million years after humans began to evolve from primates. Eventually, as the race Homo sapiens formed, the descendants of the first wolves were killed for their fur.

To survive, the Lycanthropes became nocturnal animals to better hide themselves from the world that wanted to kill them.

This was when the book began to lose its credibility.

According to the author, the Lycanthropes learned to disguise themselves as humans.

Over time, their skin had developed the ability to shed its fur almost immediately when exposed to sunlight. However, when the moon rose and the sun set, their fur would grow back to protect them from the cold nights.

But, their furry advantage wasn't the only evolutionary privilege they earned. Gifted with the ability to morph into their prehistoric figures when in fear, Lycanthropes turned the food chain upside down and began to hunt the very things that had once hunted them.

This, I assumed, was where the fairytales drew their inspiration.

To help eliminate the risk of extinction, Lycanthropes lived in packs like their sister species, Canis lupus, otherwise known as the wolf. Also like the wolf, Lycanthropes remained very community-oriented when reproducing.

Ultimately, this led to an underground society that grew rapidly, unchecked.

Hundreds of thousands of years later, Lycanthropes still roamed the earth, disguised as humans and could morph from man to monster at will.

To look through the book and see detailed explanations of physical traits such as immense strength, one could be persuaded to believe that what the author was saying was true.

If I believed in conspiracy theories, I might would have considered believing it myself.

I sighed before closing the book.

No matter how much I tried to distract myself with fairytales, I couldn't keep my mind from wondering to Cain.

If I was honest with myself, I needed to focus on finding my grandfather for more than just the purpose of finding him. I needed the distraction. Which is why, for the next week, I disregarded the doctor's warnings against cognitive stimulation and I worked on finding him.

I went up to Cain's office every morning before anyone got there and looked through the documents that contained information vital to his recovery. I studied them until I knew them word for word.

This distraction, however, was not a very good one.

I couldn't help but feel extremely disappointed that Cain had disappeared. I hadn't seen him since that night in the kitchen.

I knew this was a good thing. But, there was a part of me—admittedly a large part of me—that wanted to see him.

- - -

Narrative P.O.V.

"You can't stay down here forever."

Jai was standing in the doorway to the small office where Cain had been for the past few days.

Cain brought his work with him in the mornings to the small office before Ella would wake up and he would only return late in the night when he knew she had left.

Sometimes he would return to his office and her scent still lingered in the air, torturing him.

When Cain said nothing in response to Jai's comment, Jai ventured further into the small office and sat down in front of Cain.

"I don't understand why you can't just be a man and deal with it," he said.

Cain looked up from his paper to glare at Jai.

"So you're equating my desire to protect and care for the wellbeing of the love of my life with being a coward?" Cain asked him.

When Jai said nothing, Cain's glance returned to the folder in his hands.

"I don't need to put her in harm's way just to prove my masculinity," Cain said.

Jai crossed his arms against his chest.

"Explain to me exactly why you think that being around her puts her in harm's way," he said.

Cain closed the folder and threw it on the makeshift desk in front of him.

"The urges aren't as frequent when I'm not around her."

"Urges?" Jai asked.

Cain nodded.

"You can't mean that you want to kill her," Jai said incredulously.

"Not kill," Cain said quickly.

Jai leaned forward and put his fingers to his lips in thought.

"You want to turn her..."

Cain nodded slowly.

"Jesus," Jai said under his breath, shaking his head.

"Do you think it's because you're mates?" Jai asked him.

"I'm not sure," Cain answered honestly. "Obviously the Lycan aspect is there; I want to mate and mark her. But, it's the other side that bothers me."

"You don't want to kill her accidentally," Jai guessed.

Turning someone from human to Vampire wasn't easy from what Jai had heard. It was a long process and a painful one at that.

"Do you think that there's a chance she could have some Lycan in her?" Jai asked.

"I don't know for sure," Cain answered. "I would assume so, but there can't be much if there is any. She doesn't carry it in her scent."

"If she's a Lycan, turning her would be easier and a lot less risky," Jai said.

While turning someone from human to Vampire was a difficult and dangerous task, turning someone who was a Lycanthrope into a Vampire wasn't as hard. Lycanthropes were stronger and healed much more quickly than humans. There was also a higher chance that a human body would reject the disease whereas Lycanthropes adapted to it.

While there were plenty of Lycanthropes out there in the world who had been bitten and had turned, there was only one being who was a perfect, genealogical mix of both Vampire and Lycanthrope. That was Cain.

"How do you expect to mark her if you can't get close to her?" Jai asked him bluntly.

Cain didn't answer him.

"I still think you should tell her," Jai said. "Maybe if you explained all of this to her she would be understanding."

Cain raised an eyebrow at this.

"And if she's not?" He asked. "If she finds out and leaves and never comes back, what do I do then?"

Jai could admit that it was a compromising situation for Cain to be in.

"I think if Ella didn't feel threatened by you, she would be less inclined to leave when you tell her," Jai said.

Cain stared at him like he was an idiot.

"It's hard not to make someone feel threatened when your body's natural response to close physical proximity with them is to grow fangs."

Jai shrugged.

Touché.

Jai stood from his chair and walked back to the door.

"Your parents are returning from Australia tomorrow," Jai reminded him. "I think it would be good if you introduced her to them."

Cain watched as Jai left before he shook his head.

He hated how Jai and Daniel made him feel as though he was the one making the decision to stay away from Ella.

He had no choice.

It was either stay away from her, or chase her away. And now that they had met, Cain had no intentions of letting her go.

Suddenly, a headache hit him and he knew only two things:

He needed to feed, and he needed to see Ella.

- - -

Ella's P.O.V.

I stepped out of the shower that night feeling productive.

That day Daniel and I had discovered some interesting connections between the hospital and a few local funeral homes. I hoped this was an important new lead.

Wrapping a towel around my body, I wiped the steamy mirror and brushed my damp hair.

I grabbed a robe from behind the bathroom door and put it on.

It was likely Cain's seeing as it was nearly four sizes too big for me. Nonetheless, I tied the rope around my waist tightly and opened the bathroom door.

The sun had set a few hours earlier so the room was dark.

I walked over to the fireplace and lit a match to light a fire. The flame spread quickly and I added a log to the hearth.

I watched as the fire grew and I was relieved the feel the heat that it provided.

I felt the need to remind Daniel and whomever else it concerned that it was the dead of winter. The temperature in Cain's home was freezing which was why I lit a fire every night to keep myself warm.

I rubbed my hands up and down my arms and sighed.

"Cold?"

I gasped and turned around quickly.

Cain stood less than four feet away and I nearly had a heart attack.

"Stop sneaking up on me!" I said, trying to catch my breath.

I looked at him warily.

"What are you doing in here?" I asked.

He shrugged.

"It's my room."

I huffed.

"Well, I'll go find another one."

I walked around him and he reached out and grabbed my arm, stopping me.

"I'll go Ella, I just came to apologize."

I turned and looked at him.

"Apologize for what?"

He took a deep breath.

"I was an ass the other night," he said.

"You think?" I asked sarcastically.

"I shouldn't have said that trying to kiss you was a mistake and I apologize for that."

I bit my lip anxiously and backed away.

"You don't have to apologize, you were right," I said.

You're such a liar, I told myself.

Saying that hurt... a lot.

Not only did I not believe the words that came out of my mouth, but I knew I was potentially letting him know that the invitation to kiss me was officially no longer extended.

"I was right?" He asked me, letting go of my arm.

I nodded.

"Y-Yeah," I said nodding. "I'm only here to find my grandfather."

Cain nodded slowly.

"Well," he said. "That was all I came to say."

With that, he turned and left the room.

I pulled my robe together tighter as he left and, as soon as the bedroom door closed behind him, I sank down into the couch.

Why did I have to say that?

The next morning, I woke up early as I normally did.

I got dressed and went up to Cain's office.

However, as I walked up the stairs, I heard someone was already up there.

My heart leapt in my chest at the thought that it might have been Cain.

I walked up the stairs quickly only to be met by a petite woman who looked to be in her late thirties or early forties.

She turned to look at me as I walked in.

"Hi," I said awkwardly.

She smiled brightly.

"Do you know where Cain is?" She asked, placing her hands on her hips. "I've been looking for him all morning."

I shook my head.

"I'm sorry, I don't."

She shrugged.

"Oh well, I'll see him eventually."

The woman turned back around and began to open the drawers in his desk.

"Don't mind me," she said, noticing that I was watching her. "I'm just being nosy."

I nodded slowly and walked over to my desk, although I still kept watching her.

"So how do you know Cain?" She asked as she snooped through the top drawer of his desk.

"I'm just here helping him look for a few people," I said. "What about you?"

She laughed and sat back in the chair.

"Sweetheart, I'm his mother."

- - -

A/N: If you couldn't tell by now, I'm not going the typical "magic and moon goddess" route with the Lycanthrope origin story in this book. I wanted it to be fairly scientific and as close to reality as I could get it. On another level, I enjoy the thought of them being creatures like everything else, not some descendants of the moon or whatever. I feel like it's pretty original, which the werewolf genre needs more of. Plus, I'm one of those people that thinks astrology is about as useful as a squeaky grocery cart so I tend to lean more realistic when writing fantasy books.