She moaned and coughed, floating from her quiet, dark world of nothingness. Immediately, she felt a dull aching from her temple to the base of her scull. There was nothing like pain to confirm that you’re alive.

"Come on, it’s time for you to open your eyes, sweetie." The voice continued to intrude on her drowsy state of consciousness and she forced herself to comply. "That’s my girl."

"What’s happened?" Sera thought her voice sounded foreign, even to her own ears. She pressed her hands to her temples as coughing racked her thin frame. Greedily, she held on to the cup of water the nurse held close to her mouth, sipping through the straw with parched eagerness.

"My, you were thirsty, weren’t you?" The nurse removed the cup from her lips and placed it on the bedside table. "I will place your cup beside your bed. As soon as you drink what’s left in that pitcher next to your cup, we will remove your catheter."

Sera nodded her head and groan. "My head is killing me. You got an aspirin or something?" She continued to cough and moan. "Maybe a lozenge for my sore throat?"

"I’ll check with your doctor and see what you can have, but we need to keep you awake, now that we have you awake. Come, let me fluff your pillows a bit and I’ll raise the head of your bed so you can sit up for awhile."

"I guess I’ve been working too hard again. I get the flu every time I spend too many hours at the lab instead of sleeping." She smiled at the nurse and felt a wave of nausea hit her. Reflexively her hands went up to her head. "What the hell? Why is my head bandaged?"

"Sweetie, try not to touch the bandages, we need to keep the area clean. Now, if you don’t mind, I need to ask you a few questions," the nurse said calmly. "Can you tell me your name dear?"

"Sera Tibbs," She cleared her throat and lifted the plastic cup from the side table for another drink before returning it to the table.

"Excellent!" the nurse exclaimed. Pulling away, she asked, "Can you tell me what year this is? Who is the president of the United States?"

"Umm…the year is 2000 and Bill Clinton is in his final term," Sera answered with a sigh. "What about you answering some of my questions? Was I in an accident? And how long have I been here?"

"Don’t fret, dear. I will tell doctor you’re awake." The nurse patted her hand.

"Why are you looking at me like that? I was correct, wasn’t I?" she asked the nurse.

"Mrs. Tibbs-"

"Dr. Tibbs or Professor Tibbs," Sera corrected, hoping that if the nurse knew she was somewhat in the same field she would be more forthcoming with information.

"Well, Dr. Tibbs, I guess that leads us to my next question. Where do you work?"

Sera quirked a brow at the nurse and said, "I suppose you aren’t going to answer any of my questions."

"Now, Dr. Tibbs, you as know being in this profession that we have an exact order to how things are done. So allow me to perform my duties and then I can get your doctor in to address your questions."

Sera took in the elderly woman with her spectacles poised on the tip of her beak of a nose. Regardless of her Marilyn Monroe curves and legs to die for, not to mention the deceptive black-as-night edged haircut, she had some age on her.

She supposed if you were half-blind and looked at her from the back, at a distance, you could believe the bull she was trying to sell, but the moment she came close she was every bit of late sixties or older. Still, she had to give the older woman props for trying hard to hold on to her youth.

"Okay," Sera started out, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I’m a doctor, an author, researcher, wildlife biochemist, and contributor at the Foundation for Biomedical Research." Sera’s voice raised an octave. She didn’t mean to be snappy, but she worked hard for her career and job titles. It was hard to be anyone’s "Mrs." when she never had the time to go out and socialize. "Everything but a Mrs. Somebody, I might add."

The nurse stared at her over the rims of her glasses and smiled. "I see. Maybe we need to get that catheter out of you right now. Bothersome, isn’t it?"

Sera bit her bottom lip to keep from smiling. "I apologize, my head is hurting me." She lifted her hand up towards the bandages. "Also, I’m not used to my questions being ignored."

The nurse reached out and gently guided her hand away from the bandages replacing it in her lap with a motherly pat. "Understandable. Everyone knows doctors make the worst patients. Therefore, I will be forthcoming and tell you that it appears you have some memory loss, for it is two thousand and six and President Bush is in his second term."

"Bush was before Clinton," Sera corrected the nurse gently, treating her as if she was the one with memory loss.

"You’re thinking of his father, dear." The nurse smiled politely as if she was speaking to an errant child.

"Oh, Lord," was all Sera could say.

"I’ll tell you one thing, the Lord has had nothing to do with the madness that’s been going on in the world these past few years."

The older woman placed her hands on her wide hips and shook her head, the lines in her face deepened with woe.

"You know, Dr. Tibbs, I thought I had already lived through some tragic things, but, Sweetie, we are living in the days of madness. Everyone is angry about something or another and I don’t envy your rediscovery."

Sera didn’t understand, but the sadness in the nurse's face told her that she spoke the truth. It also told her she had to face the facts that she has lost the past five years of her life.

Anything was possible in that amount of time. The nurse called her Mrs. Tibbs, why not Miss or Ms instead? Could she have met someone, fell in love and married during these lost years, a co-worker perhaps?

"Nurse, what has happened to me? Why can’t I remember the past five years of my life?"

"I think it would be best if I let the doctor go over your chart with you. He can answer any questions you may have."

Sera eyes watered as she shook her head in growing awareness. The implications were overwhelming. "You know, I thought my life was hopeless when my adopted parents died in an accident a few years ago, well, more than a few if this is 2006.

A half smile came to her lips. "Anyway, I wondered at that time what else could possibly happen that could make me feel any more cursed than being left alone in this world after it took years to find a loving couple to take me into their home." She turned her glazed stare on the nurse. "You know, I think I got my answer."

The nurse refilled her cup with water. "That’s why you can’t dwell on such things. There is nothing else to learn from this experience. What you do is accept the fact that you are still alive and God don’t make mistakes. So there are still some things for you to do."

"Will you please get my godfather, Dr. James Ryan, and tell him-"

"I’m sorry, honey, but Dr. Ryan couldn’t make it here, so he’s conferencing with our attending physician Dr. Meeks. He’s overnighting your medical history to us."

"Has my godfather been called out of town on an emergency?" Sera asked, thanking the nurse for making her more comfortable.

"Well, he’s in Alabama and he couldn’t fly here because he’s has several patients on the critical list and he just couldn’t get away. I’m sorry."

"I don’t understand, you mean I’m not in Alabama anymore?"

The nurse was shaking her head before she finished asking her question. "Dr. Tibbs, you are at Tahoe Forest Hospital."

"In Truckee, California?"

"Yes, so obviously you must have been in this district before." The nurse clapped her hands together. "Most people have never heard of Truckee, it’s easier just to say Tahoe."

"I wonder why I’m here, visiting my parents’ gave site maybe, unless I’m scouting new wildlife reserve areas?" Sera released a deep sigh. "Hard to tell, considering I’m basing all my thoughts on what I was working on five years ago. Tell me, was I in an accident or did something go wrong with one of my wolves?"

"Wolves?" The nurse balked and shuddered. "You must live an interesting life indeed. No, my understanding is, you collapsed at the airport and were MedEvac-ed to our facility." The nurse’s voice softened once more. "We were fortunate to get you here in time."

Sera couldn’t stop the trembling of her hands no matter how hard she pressed them together. She surmised losing short-term memory was nothing to the alternative. From the sound of things she could have just as well died.

"This is like waking up in an episode of The Twilight Zone," she mumbled, dropping her head and closing her eyes to keep the tears from flowing. "I feel that I will wake up in a minute, in a bed I’ve slept in for the past ten years, in my townhouse.

"I’m so sorry, hon. I know all of this has to seem surreal to you. I will get Dr. Meeks and I’m sure your husband will be delighted to see you are awake."

Sera’s head snapped up in surprise. She opened her eyes to look at the nurse. For a moment, everything blurred around her. "Husband? That’s not possible."

"Oh, trust me, it’s possible, because he is very much for real. Never have I seen a man so in love and protective. Your husband has been here day and night. He’s worse than a guard dog in heat holding on to his last bone. Lord, the way he scowls at every male nurse and orderly that cared for you-," The older woman shook her head and her eyes crinkled at the corners with mirth as she continued.

"Those poor fellows were so intimidated they refused to come near you except to drop off your flowers and run. Now, mind you, our female attendants are tripping over themselves to get a closer look at your husband, especially Amy." The nurse giggled and quickly added, "But, I assure you, your man only has eyes for you, dear."

Sera’s brow lifted. "So that’s where all these vases of flowers came from."

"These are only the fresh ones that were brought in early this morning." The nurse looked around her arms folding across ample breasts. "Sweet man that he is, he has fresh ones brought in every day for you, and the others distributed throughout the hospital to the other patients."

"My husband does this, for me?" A feeling of warmth coursed through her body. She couldn’t believe she had been so fortunate in love but was sad that she couldn’t remember him or any of the time they had shared together.

"Yes, and much more. He asked that the staff and those that the flowers are given to pray for you. He believes that with so many voices asking for the same thing, you couldn’t help but be allowed to remain with him." The nurse sighed. "Isn’t that something?"

"I don’t think I’ve ever heard anything more wonderful." Sera couldn’t stop the smile that came to her lips. "I don’t know what to say to him. I never thought I ‘d be so lucky as to find a man this caring."

"Sweetie, you probably won’t have to say a word. He will be so happy to see you have finally come back to us."

"I feel so bad. I don’t remember him," she replied in a small, frightened voice. Fear stark and vivid, glittered in her eyes. "How do I tell the man I must have once loved that I don’t remember him?"

"Don’t worry about something that is beyond your control. He remembers. Take your lead from him, I guarantee," she winked. "You won’t have a problem falling in love with him all over again."

After the nurse left, Sera had time to ponder her situation. Feelings of detachment lingered as she tried to make some sense of what she had learned so far. Somewhere in the past five years, she had met a man and married.

Sera’s frown turned into a smile. Her dark eyes drifted over the bouquets of flowers. She reached out, pulled a purple rose from the arrangement beside her bed, and held it to her nose. "How can I not remember a man that loves me this much?" she whispered aloud.

"Sera?"

At a snail’s pace, she opened her eyes to see a tall, attractive Caucasian male standing beside her bed. Her eyes grew round with surprise as she took in the man’s shaggy, overly-long dirty blond hair and unshaven appearance. For some reason, maybe it was the aging throwback from the ‘50’s nurse, but she assumed Dr. Meeks would be an older man.

Things sure have changed a lot over the years when a doctor can walk the halls of a hospital looking like a heavy-metal musician after a three-day binge. He wasn’t even dressed appropriately. How could he breathe in those jeans; they were so tight she could see what he was packing beneath the closed zipper. She could swear his legs looked like they went on forever and then some. Oh, mercy.

"Hello, Dr. Meeks. Maybe now I can get some answers," Sera said releasing a long breath. She saw his bushy eyebrow arch in surprise and forged ahead. "Maybe you can tell me why I can’t remember the past five years of my life?"

A hush came to her lips as her gazed locked with his. Sera didn’t know why but she had a great desire to touch him. She reached out her hand to take his, just to say ‘thank you,’ she told herself, and as their fingers touched, she gasped from the immediate attachment she felt. She found herself drowning in the hold of his stare.

He grinned, a show of teeth. "I ‘ve waited all my life for you."

"What?" She cocked her head to the side in question, but whatever he was about had to wait.

"Excellent! I’m delighted to see you’re awake and alert. Dr. Tibbs. Maybe now this husband of yours can finally go home and stop upsetting the hospital staff." He chuckled and cleared his throat when he realized he was laughing alone. "Yes, er, how are you feeling, my dear? Any blurry or doubled vision?"

Sera flinched and released the hand of the man she had assumed was the doctor as Dr. Meeks shone a bright penlight into the pupil of one eye. When he pulled back to jot down some information on her chart she turned her attention back to the stranger who had moved away from her bed.

He was leaning nonchalantly against the wall allowing the doctor and nurse to maneuver around the bed to take her blood pressure and temperature.

"So you must be my husband." For some foolish reason, she felt heat spread across her face as his lips curved into a sensuous, slow smile.

"I’m Justus, your eternal mate."

"Please, Dr. Tibbs. I need you to breathe in deeply for me."

Sera took a deep breath and blew out as instructed but she kept her eyes on ‘Justus’. She liked the sound of his name. It was a strong, fitting, masculine name.

"Well, your heart is beating strong. Seems to be a bit fast, but I don’t hear anything unusual," the doctor announced

"I could have told you my heart is just fine, Doctor." .

"As well it should be. Her heart beats for me." Justus smiled at her over the doctor’s head and once more, she felt the flame of fire on her cheeks.

Sera cleared her throat, with a bit of effort pulled her attention from Justus, and focused on getting some answers. "Now my head, that is another thing, Dr. Meeks."

"The nurse explained that you seem to be experiencing some short-term memory loss. As you know, this is not a rare occurrence for someone that has experienced a ruptured aneurysm. As you know, it’s a miracle you survived and in your current condition." The doctor paused and pushed up his bifocals.

"You, Sera, are a talking marvel. With all the hemorrhaging I found in the compartments surrounding your brain, well, let’s just say…"

"I should be in a coma or worse…dead." Sera finished for him. She sensed Justus reaching out to comfort her before he actually moved back to her side. She welcomed the warmth of his nearness.

"I’m afraid so." Dr. Meeks agreed. "I‘ve seen people with less damage, and, yes they either died or, at the very least, they’re in therapy relearning to use all of their normal motor functions."

"Trust me doctor, I’m not complaining. It’s just a bit disconcerting." Sera looked up at Justus as she felt him gently squeeze her shoulder. She leaned into him. "I can’t begin to imagine the wealth of information I have gained over the past five years. Thank God, I’m someone who is very analytical about my research. Maybe when I go back through my things, it will bring back something."

"The mind is very fragile, Sera; you can’t hurry such things." The doctor placed his hand on top of hers and she felt Justus tense.

She hid her smile behind a cough as the doctor stepped back and picked up the chart from the foot of her bed where he has placed it.

"Let’s see here…you appear to have no speech problems, no visual difficulties, your eyes are clear and you are fully capable of understanding what is being said without hesitation or confusion." Dr. Meeks spoke without removing his eyes from her medical chart.

"I need you to be straight with me, Dr Meeks. Will I get my memory back?"

"Sera, in a normal situation such as this, I would be remiss in giving you false hopes. However, your current recovery is already one of the most amazing things I have witnessed in my thirty-odd years of medicine."

"So there is a possibility that this is a temporary condition?"

Sera stirred at the sound of Justus’s voice, moving too quickly, pain flickering across her face. He brushed his fingers against the nape of her neck, turning a caress into a gentle massaging; soothing away the pressure.

Voltage ran through his body to her, guttered through his fingertips, and lashed through her blood flow. Her inner muscles contracted and she suppressed a moan.

"If Dr. Tibbs keep healing at this rapid rate, I believe her chances are better than most." The doctor crossed his arms across his chest as he stared at her in deep thought.

Sera broke the growing silence. "What are you not saying Dr. Meeks?" She became more suspicious as the doctor continued to steal glances at her husband. "Look at me, Doctor. I’m your patient, not my husband. What are the two of you keeping from me?"

The doctor rubbed at the bridge of his nose causing his spectacles to slip back to the tip of his long nose. He released a deep sigh. "I already know how Mr. Apollon feels about this-"

"Doctor." Justus’s voice held a note of warning. "I thought I told you, it wasn’t going to happen."

Sera looked from her husband to the doctor. "Justus, please. I want to know. If it’s about me I have the right to know what’s going on." She caught at Justus’s hand on her shoulder and held it against her chest.

"Sera, he is out of line in his request."

"Honey, please. I don’t know what I’ve been like as a wife, but I know, I’ve always been a woman who likes to make her own decisions."

He grinned.

"Why are you grinning?"

"I like it when you call me honey."

"Okaaay. I will remember that." Sera ducked her head sheepishly, a blush spreading across her shoulders. "Finish what you were saying, Doctor."

Even with her consent, Sera saw the doctor look at Justus for permission. The subtle gesture shouldn’t have irritated her, but it did and she wondered how she’d come to marry a man who appeared to be as authoritarian as she was.

After a moment’s hesitation, he gave the doctor a half-hearted nod to continue.

"Dr. Tibbs…Sera, since you have short-term memory loss, you most likely aren’t aware of your condition."

"What condition are you talking about? I was sick before the aneurysm?" Sera balked.

"Yes. In the past year, it seems that you were being treated for cancer and, after a good fight, Dr. Ryan recently diagnosed you as terminal." Dr. Meeks moved in to give comfort and halted. He stepped back as Justus lifted his piercing gaze from his wife’s bowed head. "So…sorry."

"It’ll be okay, Sera," Justus reassured.

"Oh, my God." Sera’s face became ashen. Blindly, she gripped at his sweater and pulled him to sit next to her, needing the comfort of his strength and embrace more than her next breath. "Justus, I can’t believe that after all of this, I’m dying."

"Dr. Tibbs, please, you must calm down. That is not what I’m saying at all." Dr. Meek’s voice became louder with pending excitement. "What I’m saying is we ran the test three times."

"Doctor, get on with it!" Justus bellowed. "Can’t you see you’re making a mess of this?"

"Oh, my…" The doctor spluttered. "I apologize. No…no, Sera, you aren’t dying." The doctor’s jowls shook with excitement. "Far from it. Somehow, within the 72 hours of your collapse, surgery, and awakening, your system is healing itself."

Sera’s mouth dropped wide open and she shook her head, saying, "That’s not possible."

"I know…I know." The doctor nodded and shrugged his shoulder. "If someone had told me this before seeing it for myself, Dr. Tibbs, I would wholeheartedly agree with you. However, as I was saying, the lab ran three anti-malignin antibody tests and there is no trace of your doctor’s original diagnosis to be found."

"There has to be a mistake with the original diagnosis," Sera argued. The woman in her was happy, but the doctor in her needed to know the how, when, where, and why’s.

"When I went in to staunch the bleeding, I saw the tumor, Sera. I completely concurred with Dr. Ryan’s diagnosis. If we were to try and surgically remove the cancerous tumor, the surety of your death would have been immediate."

"How?" Sera smiled through her tears. "This is so crazy."

"No, it’s a wonderful finding for you and the medical community. The how, is what I want to find out. With your consent we can start testing immediately and-"

"As I said before doctor, it’s out of the question," Justus interrupted.

Sera sighed, turning a hard gaze on Justus. "Do you have any idea the impact this could have on countless lives?"

"Mr. Apollon, let me be blunt. We found some interesting and most unusual marking in Dr. Tibbs’ blood-work. It could be the reason behind her healing." The doctor drew closer to Sera during his explanation, halting abruptly as Justus stepped in his path.

"Mr. Apollon," the doctor began, spreading his hands with despair.

With the mention of her husband’s surname, Sera looked down at her hand. She saw no ring and the doctor had called her by her maiden name. Was she really married to this man or was the arrangement something more popular such as living together? Well, it was popular back in the 90’s.

She shrugged off her suspicion. The emergency room nurses would have removed her jewelry if she wore any and it wasn’t unusual for a female doctor to practice under her established maiden name.

Either way he needed to understand this was her decision in the end, but she would find out first why he was against the testing before making any commitment to the doctor.

"There is a chance we could isolate this healing antigen, break it down, and create a synthetic serum that could combat cancer, speed up the healing time on surgical patients and God only know what else," Sera heard the doctor explaining to Justus as she return her full attention to their conversation.

"If we go forward, Dr. Meeks, I insist on being in the lab and working with the team."

"Sera." Justus’s gaze narrowed in protest, bored into the doctor’s face. "I’m sorry, Doctor, but since my wife is healing, I don’t believe these tests are necessary for her well-being and must deny you your request. Sera, you have already been through enough."

The doctor cleared his throat, looked away from Justus’s aggressive stare, and trained his gaze on Sera. "Well, uh, I understand how you feel, Mr. Apollon; however, we are talking about a medical breakthrough that could cure millions of people-"

"Doctor, what I’m hearing is, you want to use Sera as a guinea pig so that you can get your name in the history books for a miracle that has nothing to do with you or your medical expertise and I’m…not…having…it," Justus declared. His voice, though quiet, had an ominous quality.

"Well…sir…you have my personal guarantee that your wife, Dr. Tibbs, would receive equal recognition in all our findings."

"That is not the point, Dr. Meeks, and you won’t like it if I must force you to see reason, Doctor." A low growl emanated from Justus and Sera put her hand on his shoulder, her eyes wide with surprise. Would he really resort to violence, she wondered?

He turned his agitated scowl on her but she didn’t feel in the least bit intimidated, by his bullying. She shook her head, tsking at him as if he were an errant child. He had the decency to appear abashed as he leaned against the headboard of the hospital bed and sulked in silence.

"Doctor, if you and the nurse would give me and my husband some time alone to discuss this matter, I will give you my decision shortly."

"I understand," Dr. Meeks mumbled, shuffling towards the door and placing a safe distance between himself and Justus, who swiftly came to his feet, towering by at least four feet over the doctor.

"You heard her, Doc. Get out," he snarled.

Sera waited for the door to close behind them, then patted the side of her bed for him to sit. Arching her head to look at him was causing her head to ache once more.

"Okay, tell me what’s going on with you. If we can find a cure to help others, that’s a good thing, honey."

She noticed he didn’t smile this time when she called him "honey," so obviously he was very serious about her not submitting to more tests. "Justus, I feel blessed to be alive and, maybe, I’m alive so that I might find a cure for others like me. So give me one reason why I shouldn’t share it with the world."

Justus sighed heavily. "It’s because of me you are healing. The unusual traits in your blood are mine and they’re not human."

Sera threw back her and laughed. "Okay, show’s over. Now, I know for sure I must be on one of those hidden camera shows, and this entire day has been a setup. Did my co-workers put ya’ll up to this?"

"I’m serious, Sera."

The laughter died on her lips. Something in his eyes told her he was being sincere. She paled. "If you aren’t human what are you?"

"Lykian."

"Lykian." She repeated.

"Sera, I only gave you enough blood to keep you alive. The healing is temporary. It will take three more bleedings to prepare your body to accept my semen." His eyes begged for understanding. "And heal you completely, making you immortal."

"This is not happening." She shook her head in denial. "You’re trying to tell me you’re some fucking vampire!"

"Vampire, no. I’m Lykian, Bloodwolf."

"Oh, wow, that makes a real big difference." She threw her hands up in disgust. Not at him, but at the feeling of helplessness she was experience. "Did I know this about you before I lost my memory?"

"No. There wasn’t enough time. You collapsed in my arms."

Sera saw that he wanted to say something else but she didn’t encourage him to continue. She wasn’t sure if she could take any more news today.

"By all that is your right, this should have been a decision that was yours to make after I told you what I am, but unfortunately it wasn’t meant to be." He touched her hand. "I couldn’t let you die."

Instinctively she felt the urge to flinch from his touch, but how could she spurn the man that had saved her life? Did it matter if the means were unorthodox? Without doubt, it counted for something in her book. Still, the entire concept that he wasn’t what he seemed and she was walking around with this non-human blood in her system was too surreal to not feel some form of apprehension.

Sera leaned back against the stack of bed pillows easing her hands from his. He let go without complaint, yet his wide shoulders slumped forward with open disappointment.

"Sera, say something," he pleaded as the silence stretched between them.

She hugged her arms to her. "What can I say? The last thing I remember is telling my lab partners I would see them tomorrow and going home to bed in my little townhouse in Alabama." She shrugged.

"I wake up to find my head killing me, looking at the face of a woman I don’t know. I find out I nearly died, but wait, I’m alive. I just can’t remember the last 5 years of my life. I’m married…mated…whatever to a creature that shouldn’t even exist. Still, I should be happy I didn’t die.

"Oh, wait, I still may die unless I continue this blood ritual and I won’t even ask what the sperm thingy is about," she ended on a screech. "So tell me, what on earth do I have to say about anything anymore?"

Justus flinched. "I’m here to help you acknowledge your destiny."

"Destiny to be what? I can become whatever you are or die. That’s my destiny."

"Your destiny is to be my one and only love throughout eternity. Do you think being my mate is worse than…death?" he asked, his deep voice barely above a whisper as if he had to ask but was scared of what her answer might be.

Sera heaved a sigh and felt shame sweep through her. How ungrateful could she be? She was only alive because of him; that was the truth of things. What was she actually giving up by spending eternity with him?

He had proven he was kind, thoughtful, protective, and she had no doubt that he would be loyal and yes, even love her like she had never been loved before. All she had to do was accept her…fate

"I apologize. I didn’t mean-"

"It’s understandable and I wished we had more time." Justus lifted his head to look at her. "But it is something you no longer had. I do not regret or apologize for the choice I made."

"Are you my husband?"

"I am much more. I am your eternal mate and there can be and will be no other woman for me. You are my first, my last, and my everything." He said so passionately; Sera forgot to breathe.

"Oh, my," she held a hand to her burning cheeks and he smiled. She was instantly mesmerized as she watched him slowly run the length of his tongue across the full curve of his bottom lip.

Her pulse pounded as warmth spread over her body, as if her flesh was calling to him. Was it his blood or hers that caused her to ache for his touch? "Tell me about yourself. What do you do?"

Without hesitation, he answered her question in a very matter-of-fact tone. "My birth name is Justus Marius Ares Timon Onur Apollon. I’m an immortal shifter, a hunter born of the Lykian breed. We are the descendents of the immortals Apollon and Ambrosia, daughter of Lycaon, cursed to walk the earth as wolf and man."

"This is crazy," was all Sera could manage as she closed her eyes, willing him to go away.

"Sera."

She opened her eyes slowly. He was still there and she could see his concern was genuine.

"I wish I could tell you that everything you’re going through is a dream and you will wake up to life as you once knew it." He reached out a hand and thumbed the corner of her mouth. "But, remember, if I hadn’t found you when I did you would have died in the midst of strangers in an airport lobby. I have no regrets for saving your life by any means necessary."

Sera sat captivated listening to what he said without further assessment. A part of her found pleasure in knowing he wanted her. Yet, another part of her feared the unknown. She was accustomed to planning every aspect of her life and now her options were gone. She didn't want to die.

"What do you hunt?" she questioned remembering he had called himself a hunter.

"I hunt renegade Lykians."

"Why? What makes them renegades?"

"We live in a secret society and have obligations as members of the Darkworld to uphold not only human laws, but also our own. The law above all others is you do not harm anyone from the human race. When one of my kind breaks the law it is my duty to find him and bring him to justice before the council."

"Are you hunting someone now?"

He remained silent; a haunted look came to his eyes before he turned away from her questioning gaze. "Yes, and I haven’t been doing a good job of it."

"You can’t blame yourself for another’s crime, no more than I can for the crimes of other humans." Sera reached out and placed a comforting hand on his arm. The tips of her fingers seem to tingle as skin met skin. She pulled her hand away.

"It is harder to bring someone to justice when it’s someone you know and care for, especially when they kill because it's beyond their control," he confided

"So the one you’re hunting is a friend. Did they kill a human?"

"You can say that, and not only did he kill humans, his first murders were my parents."

Sera’s breath caught in the back of her throat. The open vulnerability she saw on his handsome face nearly broke her heart. The loss of his parents put them on a common ground; even if the circumstances were different, their painful loss was the same. She reached up and placed her palm against his face. Their eyes embraced in a quiet understanding.

"Okay." Her voice was barely above a whisper.

Justus cocked his head to the side, his eyebrow arched into the locks of hair across his broad brow. "Okay, what?"

She bit down on her bottom lip. "Okay, I will tell the doctor I decline his offer of more tests."

"Sera, I need to hear you say that you accept me as your eternal mate. It must be your will."

She felt sick, her stomach churning. "It doesn’t feel like it’s my choice if dying is my only other option."

"I’m sorry."

"Don’t be," Sera sighed. "It’s not your fault that I was dying of cancer and I should stop taking my frustrations out on you. I owe you my life."

"I want your love, not your gratitude." Justus’s voice was husky, almost hoarse with emotions.

"You must give me time. Even if you are my husband…mate…whatever, I don’t know you."

"Ask me anything and I will tell you."

Sera couldn’t help but smile. He looked like an excited boy anxious to please his favorite teacher. She reached out, caressed an unruly strand of hair off his face, and tucked it behind the curve of his ear.

Justus grasped her hand and turned his lips into her palm. Lightning streaked in her veins, bubbling her bloodstream, causing her to feel a longing she never felt before. She hated this feeling of vulnerability he brought out of her.

She could sense Justus needed her to need him; Heaven help her, she did. She needed him if she wanted to stay alive but she didn’t want them to be together out of necessity on her part. She wanted to know someday what it felt like to be in love. The question was could she love the creature that appeared to all to be just a man?

Justus’s roughened shadow of whiskers nuzzled an abrasive trail against the soft, sensitive skin of her inner arm. She felt as if he were marking his territory and the thoughts of his desire for her aroused her deeply. So why was she hesitant about giving in to the change?

"You’re trembling," he said against her skin. His breath blew hot against her skin as he spoke. "Now that you know I’m not human, do I frighten you?"

"No, the way you make me feel scares me," Sera admitted and received a devastating smile for her honesty. Her stomach fluttered.

His hand caught her chin. "I have never loved before. Tell me now that you would have me and I promise you’ll not be disappointed."

"I don’t know if I can share my time and space with another. I’m a loner and my live is already full. I have my research. What about my wolves?"

"What about this wolf?" he smirked.

She giggled. "Seriously, Justus, the first thing I need to do is come to terms with what has happened in my life during the past five years. I can’t handle being in a relationship now."

"I’m not something you handle, Sera. I‘m your eternal mate. We were in this relationship before you were born."

She lifted a brow at him. "Justus, you know how crazy that sounds to me! You know how many times I dated in my entire life? Once in college and finally when I decided to have sex because everyone else was doing it. I didn’t like it," she admitted, waiting for him to call her a frigid prude like her boyfriend had before he dumped her.

How was she to know women usually lie about such things or that he wasn’t man enough to handle the truth that she never had an orgasm with him? Of course, he blamed it on her lack of experience.

"I have never made love to anyone, but I know with you it will be wonderful. Because our bodies were born to please one another."

Sera couldn’t ignore the thrill it gave her to know she would be his first. But how was it possible. He was gorgeous; he had to have women throwing themselves at him. It hurt her feelings that he would lie to her. "I don’t believe you. I don’t think I can believe anything you’ve told me, including that nonsense about you changing into a wolf."

Justus was silent a moment. "Sera, I haven’t lied to you…not really."

"Then tell me how is it that you’ve never made love but you’re supposed to be my husband?"

"I never said I was your husband. What I said is I’m your eternal mate." His deep voice indicated is growing frustration.

"Well you obviously allowed the medical staff to believe you were and you didn’t bother to correct me when I assumed you were," she said accusingly.

"That’s because amongst my kind we are much more than the silly documentation that is created by mankind. Because it’s what you are accustomed to, I will respect it and we will wed as soon as we leave the hospital, but you are mine, Sera, bonded to me heart and soul." He grasped her upper arms and pulled her closer. "Do not believe that you can ever rid yourself of me now that I have found you."

"No man owns me. Not now…not ever." She gave back as good as she got.

"I don’t want to own you, woman. I want to love you," he announced in a burst of unleashed passion. He leaned into her, kissed her hard, possessively. "Let’s start anew. Right here and right now, we begin our life. I’ll give you time to get use to the idea of making love with me. But you shall be my mate, my lover, my wife, my everything, Sera."

Flames licked over her skin from the heat of his voice. She loved the way he sounded. Sure. Powerful in his belief that she was the only one for him. She was the mate of his soul. He had a way of making her believe him. "Will you understand it if I tell you I don’t like having sex? Can you accept the fact that I may be frigid?"

"What the hell is this…frigid? You can’t make love to me if you’re cold?" His face subdued puzzlement. He placed her hand on his face. "Feel me, Sera. I will make you as hot as you make me."

"Justus," she managed.

"See, I feel you growing hot already." His boyish smile dominated his face. "It’s because you were born for me. We will fit. I promise."

"You aren’t going to allow me to walk away from you, are you?" she asked, already knowing the answer. She already knew in her heart that she didn’t want to walk away from him; she was curious to find out if what he said was true.

Were they destined to be together and could she learn to life her life with the capabilities of becoming one of the creatures she adored? What would it be like from a scientific point of view to be able to communicate on a wolf’s level? Would she be able to communicate with the wolves dying from unknown diseases and hear them put their ailments into words?

Could this be possible, or would she wake up one day to find all of this, including Justus, a figment of her damaged mind. Was he an illusion of facts and fantasies allowing her to associate impart a physical aspect to the creatures she grew up around, the same wild creatures to whose survival she was dedicated. She read about shifters in romance novels. He couldn’t be real.

"Sera, I will do anything for you; except allow you to die or leave me. I would die without you. I couldn’t bear to live with all these new feelings and the ability to see the world with all this color without you being in my life to keep me grounded."

Sera shook here head in denial. "Men, don’t say things like that, Justus, and they aren’t virgins waiting their entire life for that one woman to come along and make them whole. This isn’t real. You aren’t real."

"Sera, I am not just a man. I’m a Lykian and I’m several centuries old, so forgive me if my words are as old as I a; however, can’t you feel me? I’m as real as you are. Your hand is over my heart. Can’t you feel how it quickens from your touch?"

Her steady bold gaze bore into him in silent acceptance. She saw the heart-rending tenderness of his gaze and her heart turned over in response, matching the steady beat of his.

"Show me. If what you say is true, change for me right now," she urged him.

"Ladies first," he urged, as his eyes twinkled with lingering mirth.

Sera’s eyes grew wide with excitement. "I can change right now? I thought there was more to go through before I could change.

He chuckled. "I’m teasing, sweetness. Even though you say you don’t believe, what I say I am is true. A part of you knows it’s true and a part of you can’t wait to join me."

Sera narrowed her eyes at him in warning even though she had to admit what he said was true. She didn’t know if she truly believed him as much as she wanted to believe him. She was a doctor and a scientist; the possibilities of this being a fact instead of fiction would intrigue anyone on a professional level, of course.

She voiced as much, ignoring her nagging inner desires to believe him. "I’m a doctor, it would be intriguing to study the biological changes taking place in your body during such a transformation. Do your organs maintain a more human factor even in your wolf state?"

"Sera, as I told the doctor you would not be his lab rat, I don’t intend to allow you to treat me as one." Justus brow furrowed.

"Well, first I got to see it to believe it. If what you say is true then I should be able to run some tests on myself after I change, right?" With a snort Sera quirked, an arched brow at him as if daring him to tell her she couldn't.

"You minx. You’re baiting me, aren’t you?" His frown turned into a delighted smile. "By all that is ancient, I can’t wait to begin my life with you. You stimulate a wit I thought died a long time ago."

"Dr. Meeks will be pounding on that door soon for an answer. Now, Justus Apollon, put up or shut up. If you are telling the truth, you should be able to change, into a wolf. If you do, I’ll have to believe everything you have told me so far is true and I’ll know it’ll be in my best interest to become your…eternal mate."

She waited for him to retract any lies he may have told her. He remained quiet and she continued. "However, if you can’t do as you say, it’s over and whatever scam you are running you can go and peddle it on another heiress who has lost part of her memory."

He appeared completely affronted by her speech. "I don’t want or need anything you have or own. Except you heart to listen to me, your body to bear my children, your soul to blend with mine and for you to love me as I have loved the thought of you all my life."

"Wada…wada…more words." She crossed her arms across her breast and leaned back against the stacked bed pillows. "Bring on the wolf-man."

"You aren’t prepared to handle the beast," he said with honest smugness. With fluid ease, he stood and strolled to foot of her hospital bed. "I will shift completely into my wolf state. It’s easier to control inside this limited space than the beast that lies between the two."

Sera swallowed deeply and licked her dry lips in anticipation of the unexpected, one of them being his need to remove his clothing in order to accomplish the seemingly impossible miracle. Her first instinct was to look away from his nakedness but she couldn’t; what woman wouldn’t appreciate a beautiful athletic male body? Besides, he didn’t seem to have a shy bone in him.

As she watched, Justus tugged his black turtleneck sweater out of his black jeans. He lifted it over his head, shaking his shaggy hair until it became a halo about his face, coming alive, as the room seemed to crackle with growing charged energy. She could feel the light hair on her arms and the moistening lips of her pussy standing on end.

Sera couldn’t take her eyes off him. She liked what she saw. His powerful lean-muscled body moved with easy grace as a well-developed chest cover with crisp brown hair rippled as he cast his sweater aside. Her fingers dug into the bedding of her hospital bed to keep from coming up on her knees and crawling across the bed towards him.

Ever so slowly, his big square-tipped hands worked at the button of his jeans, before moving lower to ease down the zipper. Sera licked her lips as he turned a well-formed backside towards her as he leaned over to untie and remove the thick- soled boots. She started to offer her help as he struggled for a moment to get them off his feet; yet, before she could speak, a shoe dropped, followed with a limp black sock.

Sera admired his long feet, with square and clipped toenails. She found his feet sexy for a man, that is. She didn’t dwell on them too long; he shimmied his jeans over his lean hips, his briefs dropping to the floor along with them, and he kicked them aside, before he turned to face her in full-frontal nudity.

She felt stunned by her own arousal more than by seeing that he was just as excited.

"Uh, forgive that. My cock has never done this before. Only since, I first saw you. But, my father had regaled me with enough tales about the mating game between a Lykian and his she-mate that I assure you it’s normal."

"Well, I’ve seen a hard penis before Justus, being a doctor, more than I care to admit, but…uh…" she licked her lips and tried to move her gaze above his navel. But since IT lounged about a half an inch above his navel in its erect state, she might as well not bring too much attention to her flushing face. "You are a bit larger than what one would consider…er…normal."

Justus brow lifted and he spread his hands on his lean hips, leaning over and pushing his pelvis forward as he stared down at himself. "Really? Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

Sera pressed her lips together to keep from giggling like a silly schoolgirl. "Well, to each her own; I don’t think any woman would find yours disappointing."

He lifted his eyes looking at her cocking his shaggy head to the side. "I don’t care what other women think. Is it good enough for you?"

"Just…Justus," Sera spluttered. "You know you shouldn’t ask questions like this."

"You are my alpha bitch. We should be able to speak of anything." He sighed impatiently as if she should already know these things.

"Because I know what you mean by that alpha bitch statement, I won’t hang you by your rather large balls," she murmured and saw him blanch from her statement. She decided to leave him wondering if she truly could do such a thing.

Still, she realized no matter what he was or how he said it, it was true; if you plan on spending your life with someone, or are even considering becoming intimate, you should be able to talk about any and everything.

"Well, I told you that I wasn’t that impressed with the entire sex thing. So I suppose it’s as good as any other," she fidgeted and scratched at her bandaged head, crossing her eyes in childish frustration. "Don’t you think you better get on with it before someone interrupts us?"

"The door is locked," he reminded.

"That’s not the point." She snapped, tugging at the hospital gown collar trying to get a little air to her heated flesh. She must have been too active; she felt a fever coming on. "Get on with it, already, so you can put your clothes back on."

His hand encircled the head of his cock to cradle it in his hand. His full bottom lip dropped in awe, and for a moment, his eyes closed.

Sera held her breath as a wave of sensations whooshed through her. A crazed kind of hunger caused her pussy muscles to clinch.

"Justus? What are you doing?" Hell, what was he doing to her? Sera had done a thesis on human male arousal in a comparison study; so seeing a man touching himself or even masturbating wasn’t new to her. She always saw it from a clinical point of view.

Admittedly, there was nothing clinical about her watching Justus touching himself. His handsome face alight with the discovery of his manhood was touching and strangely arousing. Her nostrils flared as she caught his arousing scent, or maybe it was her own, for his head shot up and his eyes opened and locked on hers with a knowing closed-lip smile.

"It gives me pleasure." His voice was husky. A dark flush color spread across his tanned skin. There wasn’t a tan line in site. "You’re in heat. I smell you."

Sera could feel the heat from her toes to her bandage covered roots; if there were still hair up there, even it was on alert. "I’m not!" she protested too loudly for her own ears.

"You lie," he accused, with a tight grin on his face as he gasped from the movement on his own hand discovering the concept of a downward stroke.

He moved his free hand up and touched his nipple and it blossomed beneath his touch.

Her nipples hardened to achingly sensitive points brushing against the rough material of her hospital gown. Her fist twisted the bed sheet in her hands. She really should explain that this wasn’t something he should be doing in public, that usually if the urge comes upon you, one should go to the bathroom…alone.

She wanted to tell him all those things, but she couldn’t. She had never seen anything so fucking gorgeous or exciting as watching him touching himself. She continued to watch him and lick her own lip as he licked his.

She was imagining her hands touching him. He swept his hand over the ridges of his abdomen. Her lips parted and she settled lower on her bed pillows. His hand smoothed over his belly as his other hand moved with slow, even strokes.

Her hands smooth up the hem of her gown resting over her thighs. Sweat gathered between her breasts and she could see beads of moisture on his arm straining with each muscular movement as he pumped.

Her hand found the top of her pussy, fingers delving into the hair, as she pressed against her high-setting bone, careful not to allow her fingers to touch her clit or get close to the catheter that they had yet to remove.

Any residual pain she may have been feeling pooled into a driving need for release between her spread thighs. With each stroke he made, she pushed up against her pressing fingers, matching him move for move. The room permeated with their musky sexual fervor as they stared at each other.

Sera arched her back, her eyes closing as she placed a fist in her mouth to suppress the scream that tore from her as her pussy twitched and rippled her intense release.

As she felt the foot of her bed dipped and even in her sated embarrassed state, she knew she had to face Justus eventually. There was no way to hide how he affected her now that she’d made a fool of herself.

She loved watching him and yes, she desired him. She didn’t even care if he was lying about what he was in order to gain entrance into her personal space. After all, she was a public figure.

Everyone who had ever read Forbes Magazine, a medical journal, or visited one of the wildlife reserves dedicated to her deceased parents knew she was a wealthy woman, even if she chose to live modestly.

She had to give this man a high score for originality. The thought of possibly meeting a real man who could become like the wolves she adored caught her attention. She had just found out she nearly died; of course, his promise of immortality as a shifting human and wolf would be intriguing. Still, enough was enough, she would pay him to forget this little indiscretion and send him on his way.

Sera felt a long swipe of moisture between her sweaty breast and her eyes sprung open. She gasped, "Holy shit!"

She received another whimpering swipe of tongue from the huge and beautiful russet colored wolf, this time across her chin and cheek. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his deep soft fur. "Justus," she whispered.