She Wolf

Chapter Two

Hungary - Years 2000, some times before the first Underworld movie

The bullets shone intensely in the half darkness of the Lycans lair, glowing of a beautiful silvery blue shade. The best warriors of the clan were reunited around the armoury table, observing with some diffidence the new weapons their Alpha male had just brought them.

A large black skinned man extended a hand and carefully took one of the bullets in between his powerful fingers.

"So...these are made of light?" Raze's deep voice was veined by doubt.

"I already told ya twice." Lucien growled, observing his warriors with his arms crossed upon his chest.

"Yes but..." Raze still wasn't fully convinced. "I mean, can we....trust him? He...is a Vampire after all and....this stuff looks....incredible?"

"You said so even the first time Lucien brought us guns, remember? You said that stuff would have never worked, around 1570. And then when they invented bullets, you said it couldn't work-and when you tried shooting then you hit yourself in your foot." (ahahahaha XD)

A roaring laugh resembling a howl exploded in the armoury when a feminine, silky voice spoke those words. Lucien didn't allow himself to laugh, but he couldn't avoid a little smile and a warning look to the Lycan who had spoken, the girl named Sharona.

Raze of course didn't find it that funny, and growled at her, baring his teeth.

"Relax man, I was just attempting some humour, we need it." Sharona calmly explain, lifting her shoulders. Then she turned her attention to her Alpha male. "However I must say I don't trust that Tannis dude much. We should test them."

Again when she was done with her speech the Lycan warriors wooed and roared their agreement, to stop immediately when Lucian waved his hand.

"Tannis isn't one to trust, that's true, but I've made sure he can't fool us." he said with an imperious tone. "However these bullets surely need a test. Raze, Sharona, Juri, Igor; you'll load your guns with our new munitions and come out with me. We have got some testing to do."

Immediately the ones whose names had been called started to settle their guns. Lucien had never really become fond of the guns as some of his warriors; he preferred physical fights or blades.

Someone's guns was lying forgotten on the table, and he absently run his fingers over it. The steel was cold and smooth, but there was no elegance whatsoever in those weapons. The supreme art of fighting was reduced to pulling a trigger-to him, an undeniable sign that those times were becoming less and less civilized.

Sharona's voice sounded from behind him.

"You should have got yourself one."

He took the gun and handled it out to his warrior.

"Not my stuff." he said "I'll leave this to you and the others. For me it isn't satisfying enough."

She pushed the revolver in the holster down her right tight and nodded her agreement, moving her long locks around.

"As much as I like the guns I have to agree on this. It's not satisfying. Too quick. Way too quick." she lowered her voice, so that what she had to say could be listened only by her Alpha male. "Actually if I finally had the chance of facing him....I wouldn't use the guns, but my bare hands. I would want to feel his blood on me."

An understanding look was exchanged in between green eyes and blue ones.

"Of course you would." murmured Lucien. "Of course you would."

***

The young Lycan let out a growl from the depth of his throat, his eyes burning as he watched his Alpha Male and the head warrior of his squad. It wasn't prudent to look at two superiors like that, but he just couldn't avoid it.

His mate, an older Lycan, noticed his gaze.

"Ryon, dude, lower your eyes and behave yourself."

Ryon regretfully obeyed, his spirit boiling with a mixture of feelings he couldn't even fully understand. With the corner of his eye he saw Lucien and Sharona pulling away from each other.

"I've never been that close to her, Max." he whispered to the other Lycan. "Never. And I've been going after her since when I became a Lycan!"

Max smiled with the wisdom of his elders, and patted the other's back.

"Sharona has never indulged in such things since when she's been here. With no one. And you surely know our Alpha male's story...he won't do it."

"And yet the whole female Lycan population is literally fighting over his bed." Ryon growled with resentment. "They want something they can't have...I mean, the other girls...surely they won't ever succeed but I must admit I've wondered about Sharona."

The older Lycan arched an eyebrow and lowered his voice.

"Well....prior your arrival there had been words running around about Lucien and Sharona. I've never known if to trust it or not. Never seen or heard anything that has made me think it's true."

"But I bet you also have never had a proof it isn't."

***

Hungary - 1821

With a growl deep enough to make the stone walls of the caves tremble, Lucien walked inside the biggest cave of the den, the one that served as their common room. The Lycans immediately ceased the fuss that had been going on before their arrival of the Alpha Male, each one trying to hide from the burning gaze of those intense blue eyes.

"What the hell is happening now? I hope you have a good explanation."

No one dared to speak a word. Group of Lycans moved away from their Alpha Male path as he crossed the room, their eyes fixed on the floor in shame and fear. Slowly, Lucien got to the centre of the room where he found an apocalyptic scene.

There was blood everywhere, on the floor, on the ceiling, on the bodies of the Lycans closest to where the slaughtered bodies of three turned female Lycans were now lying. One had her throat ripped open, another had a hole in her lower body from where her intestine were dropping out, and the last one had clearly had her neck broken. A muscle in Lucien's jaw twitched, and he turned to face the guilty.

Sharona was still in her Lycan form, and stood a few steps away from the women she'd just slaughtered. She lowered her head and growled out in disease, and because of the dead silence that had fallen in the room that growl seemed as thunderous as Lucien's previous roar even if it was barely more than a moan.

"Turn, Sharona. Now."

He knew she was uncomfortable with being seen naked by the clan, and he'd asked her to turn in front of everyone just to punish her. Of course, that was just the beginning of her punishment. She might have been one of the best warriors, she might have been one he called a friend; but she had just behaved like a rabid brainless animals and Lucien was not one to indulge upon such behaviour. The whole clan, including Sharona, had to be clear in mind that they were not animals and that there was no point in killing each other-except that giving the Vampires a big pleasure.

She still was in her Lycan form, and Lucien had to bare his fangs menacingly and roar once more; just then Sharona's wolf like aspect slowly merged into that of the blonde girl he'd met five hundred years before. She lowered her head, trying to hide herself with the length of her hairs and doing his best to ignore the eyes fixed upon her body.

There was a large slash on her stomach, and her tight had been cut nearly to the bone; obviously she needed medical care, but Lucien just ignored it. A small pool of blood was starting to form at her feet.

"Explain yourself." he said, his voice so sharp that she almost felt physical pain when he spoke.

"They offended me." Sharona answered, her voice never before been that weak and uncertain.

"They offended you?" Lucien shouted, pointing to the three corpses. "And you slaughter them like animals? You're a Lycan, a Lycan not a beast! In any way they might have wronged you, this is not the way a Lycan behaves. You could have tried settling your differences, you could have come to me, you could and should have done anything but not slaughter three clan members right this!"

Sharona was now shaking, he didn't know if it was because she was humiliated or scared or if it was the blood loss; probably all that and even more.

"Your punishment will be severe. It needs to be to match the gravity of your crime." he hissed.

He had to admit that Sharona's misbehaviour had hurt him more than what he'd thought it would have. In five hundred years, she'd never failed his expectations, not even once. Never. She had became a respected clan member, a glorious warrior, and even a friend of his-especially after that year, 1419. And now, it all lied on the stone floor with the three females' corpses. His trust in that girl would have never been the same. Never.

The thump of Sharona's knees against the floor when she fell down made Lucien avert his eyes from the dead bodies to her. The blood pool had grown larger and she was growing paler and weaker. A smell of pain and regret was permeating the air, but he ignored it.

"Lucien." Raze's voice came from somewhere behind his shoulder. "She needs Singe's help now. She's gonna die from blood loss. You can punish her later."

He didn't answered, didn't move. Just looked at her for a little time longer, then suddenly turned his shoulders to her and faced Raze.

"I want her fixed as soon as possible, I don't care if she hasn't fully recovered. When she'll be able to stand still without crawling miserably, send her to me."
***
Lucien wouldn't have been able to say how much time had passed from when he'd returned to his room to the moment where Raze's strong banging had shaken his door.

He told them to come in, and Raze opened the door and stepped in, followed by Max who was holding Sharona from an elbow. If he knew her enough, she probably had refused to be touched more.

"Wait outside the door."

Raze looked slightly worried, but he was wise enough not to oppose him when he was that angry. He and Max quickly left, leaving a pale and weak Sharona to face her Alpha Male.

She looked like she wanted to speak, but couldn't process the word correctly; in the end she just bite her lips and lowered her head again, waiting for him to do something, say something. Anything was better than the cold silent disapproval he was showing her in that moment.

"Why? Why did you do something like that?" Lucien finally asked.

"I already told you." she croaked, her voice almost breaking.

He banged his fist on the arm of the wooden chair he was sitting in, and she flinched before his eyes.

"Does it looks like a good reason to kill three members of your own clan?" he yelled angrily. "Out of all people, you! Never since when you've became a Lycan you have indulged in animal like behaviour!"

"I had to. You don't know what they were saying!" she hurriedly answered back, her breath fastened. "It wasn't only an insult to me but also to you. And to...to...So--"

In an instant Sharona found herself pinned against the wall, with Lucien's hand around her neck. He was barely controlling himself, his Lycan form on the edge of merging, his voice nearly a wolf like growl.

"Don't you try it Sharona! Don't you trying using her name as an excuse for your behaviour!"

"It's not an excuse." she whispered, the air in her lungs almost out. She felt something wet on her stomach, and she figured out the pressure of Lucien's body on her had re-opened the freshly stitched wound. "Let me explain." she prayed.

Deeply breathing, Lucien slowly gained enough control to let go of her. Free from his hold, Sharona wasn't strong enough to stand still and crawled down the stone wall until she was sitting at his feet, her back to the floor.

"Those women...we were talking..." she whispered. "Talking about this and that and then...they started discussing about males....in a sexual way. And they started to ask me why I never...you know, mated with anyone." she inhaled, hissing in pain behind clenched teeth, and then went on. "All of a sudden they started to hint that I never did it because...because...." her voice lowered even more, and Lucien had to listen carefully to hear her. "...because I mate with you. I said I didn't. They said I'm...I'm an ungrateful whore because...the whole female Lycan population would kill to be your mate, and...and that...I wasn't worth it....I repeated I didn't mate with you, told them again and again. They wouldn't stop it. I got angry, so angry. And a moment after we were turned and fighting and I slaughtered them."

Silence. Again. Silence, but this time the vein of despise of minutes before was gone. It was enough for Sharona to feel better, even if her whole body and soul ached.

"You attacked them because they said you were my mate?" Lucien repeated slowly.

"Yes. It was disrespectful. Of me, of course...but that I can live with. I mean, they've never really liked me. I couldn't stand that they were disrespectful of you. And of..." a flash of green when she lift her gaze to his face for a moment.
"...of Sonja."

Suddenly, Lucien was on his knees in front of her. He still was angry with her and her excessive reaction, but a part of him was deeply touched by the devoted respect she paid to him and to Sonja, who she had never met. Yes, she'd made a big mistake and had forgot all of her dignity--but she had done it blinded by the fact that she had to defend his dignity, actually even more than hers.

"Don't carry the burden of my fate on your shoulders Sharona; it's enough that you have to carry your own." he said softly, pulling at her chin to force her to look at him. "You understand that I have to punish you, don’t you?"

She told him that she did.

***

Raze was worried. He'd never seen Sharona cry before, never in all those centuries she'd been with them. He'd told Lucien, but their Alpha Male had just nodded and said she was overreacting a bit.

That evening it was Max who had to carry the food into the cell where Sharona had been confined for three months, while he had to wait outside. When the other Lycan came out, Raze asked him:

"How's she today?"

"She didn't eat much." Max answered, showing him a plate with half the food still on. "She wasn't crying when I arrived, but her cheeks were still wet, as if she'd just stopped. Just not to be seen."

Raze nodded silently, and then he and Max left the detention zone of the caves.

Back in her cell, from where she'd heard the entire conversation, Sharona confusedly thought she was glad that most Lycans were men. If there had been more women....if there had been more women, she would have had to kill them all, just like she'd done with the three females. Not because of that dignity stuff, not at all.

But because being women just like her, they had immediately understood the truth she was trying so hard to hide. The truth that was eating her alive, the truth that was making her cry useless tears, the truth that burnt and hurt deep in her battered soul.

And the truth was that much to her dismay and notwithstanding her vows of never let it happen again...she'd fallen in love with someone who would have never loved her back. Hopelessly and helplessly in love.

With Lucien.