Deucalion slowly pulled his teeth from his lover's hip. He had done all he could and the only thing left to do was wait. Wait to see if it would take, if the strength he forced into her blood would keep her alive. Wait to see if he had given her enough of himself. Eyes locked on the bite, he grabbed her by the waist as she tried to crawl away from him.

Isla whimpered below him and shoved at his shoulders. Searing heat blossomed over her hip bone and radiated down her leg, but she could take it. She had been in pain most of her life, but the betrayal was new to her. It was a fresh kind of hurt that she was unprepared for as she stared up at the man she had shared her bed with, shared her life with for the past eight weeks. Her hands trembled and her heart pounded in her chest, unsteady and loud in the man's ears.

Swallowing, Isla squirmed beneath him. "Get off me!"

The Alpha ignored her and pulled her back between his legs. Prodding the bite, he growled low in his throat. It wasn't healing. With all the strength he had given her, it should have been healing. With a hint of desperation, Deucalion leaned forward, ready to bite her a second time.

"Stop!" Her hands caught him by the hair and Isla yanked him away with all her might.

His gaze snapped to hers. The young woman went still, shocked and frightened by his red eyes and fanged teeth. Panting, Deucalion watched the bruises on her face heal with a smile. The redness along her chin and jaw disappeared in a mere blink. The dark blue under the gash lightened and faded into her natural pale skin tone. Relief made his shoulders sink, but he didn't tear his eyes from the cut that ran the length of her cheek. It closed seamlessly. The Alpha chuckled with pride as he thumbed her hip. The bite healed under his harsh touch. His plan had worked and she would live.

To Isla, he looked completely crazed. Grinning with delight with her blood still staining his teeth, hunched over her like a wild animal. His lover flinched as he slowly eased his weight off her. The Alpha towered over her, peering down at her in a way she couldn't comprehend. As he reached for her with a clawed hand, Isla flinched. "Don't! Don't touch me!"

Any relief the man felt disappeared at the fear in her voice. Heart sick, he reached for her again only for Isla to shuffle back. She barely got a few feet from him before she stilled. Anxious, Deucalion hovered over her and waited for it to happen. It only took a moment. He winced sympathetically as Isla's entire body convulsed.

The redhead retched, spewing black goo across the cheap linoleum tiles. Before she could suck in another breath, it happened again and again. One of her long legs kicked up to her chest from the force of it. Her buxom frame jerking violently and her fingernails dug into the floor, clawing at it in a desperate attempt to gain some stability. Dazed, Isla laid there a moment, the black liquid slowly slipping from her lips as she sputtered.

With a sigh, Deucalion slid his hands under her. Before Isla could comprehend what was happening, Deucalion had begun to guide her to the bathroom. The young woman shoved his hands away and stumbled toward the toilet. Shaky fingers forced the lid up as her stomach twisted once more. The redhead coughed, choking on the thick black bile as it forced its way up her throat. Her entire body ached. Her hands were shaking so badly they were little more than a blur and her heart- her heart felt like it was about to explode. Hot and slamming against her ribs with every frantic beat, Isla could barely breathe as she lurched forward once more. It hadn't felt so bad in a long time; not since before her surgery.

Hiccupping, the redhead whimpered as her lover touched her back. "Am I dying?"

"No," Deucalion told her, his voice soft and sad as he brushed her long hair from her clammy neck. "It just feels like it."

Shaking her head, Isla cringed and leaned forward once more. Deucalion eased away from her. He watched her shoulders shake as she heaved, but said nothing. Instead, he simply reached out and took one of the hand towels from the bar beside her shower. They were mismatched, peach and lime green, and badly worn, but he paid that no mind as he ran it under the faucet. The bathroom was cramped but clean. The walls were a strange, ugly shade of salmon pink and the paint was so old it had begun to peel.

The woman winced as he pressed the cold cloth to the back of her neck. Glaring at him out of the corner of her eye, she ignored the bit of black ooze that ran down her chin. "What's happening to me?"

"You're healing." Deucalion bent down on one knee and gently pressed the damp cloth to her sweaty forehead. Eyes and voice soft, he eased the rag down her temple. "Once your body expels the illness, you'll be fine."

The woman regarded him skeptically, but was too exhausted to fight. Bottom lip quivering, she fell away from the toilet. Back against the bathtub, she sniffed as Deucalion followed her. He carefully wiped at her face with a gentle touch, cleaning the strange ooze from her lips and chin.

Tears pricked at her eyes at his tenderness and she found her voice once more, "It was all a trick, wasn't it? To see how far you could get with the stupid little human."

The man's lip parted as his brows furrowed. Dropping the cloth, he eased his hand under her jaw and pressed his lips against her own. She tasted like death; the bile leaving her mouth cold and putrid, but the soft, steady beat of her heart was music to his ears. Shaking his head, he dropped his forehead to hers. "It wasn't a trick and I never thought you were stupid."

Isla pulled away from him. Her resistance was weak and her expression pained as she went on, "I should've known you were too good to be true." The redhead bit her lip as the tears she had been fighting cascaded over her lashes. "They all warned me not to get attached, that there was something wrong about you but I didn't listen." A hand went to her hair and she fisted the red strands between her fingers as she began to sob. "I couldn't help it and I wanted you so badly, god, I'm such an idiot."

Deucalion frowned. He had spent a long time fantasizing about Isla; about how she looked when she smiled and how she would look splayed out before him in his bed, but he had never wanted to see her cry. "I know you're mad now-"

"I'm not mad, Duke." Isla pulled her hand back to look into his eyes and Deucalion was struck by how utterly bereft she looked. "You broke my heart."

The Alpha hung his head and for a moment he wished he was blind again. Wished that he couldn't see her blue eyes bloodshot or the flushed skin of her cheeks or the inky silt that marred her pale throat. With a sigh, he fell to sit beside her. Together they stared ahead of them for a long moment.

"I couldn't let you go." Deucalion tilted his face in her direction but didn't meet her gaze. Instead he stared at her fingers, long and slender and still shaking, as they gripped her bare knees. Her short, clean fingernails dug into her skin, leaving deep indents and thin pink lines. "I need you. I need you to help me to be human again."

Isla sighed and shook her head. "I wouldn't have gone."

Her words rang true, despite the fact that they were a lie. There had been no stutter of her heart, no sharp scent of a lie, but she would have left him. Maybe not of her own free will, but she would have died. Her death would have left him to his own devices once more and the very thought of being alone after being with her made his heart ache. The Alpha nosed at her cheek a moment before he kissed her forehead.

"What I did, it saved your life." Deucalion leaned away from her to peer down at her melancholy features. "You'll never have to go to another hospital again. Never need another doctor."

Isla shrank back from him with a hint of meekness. "But I said no."

The man's jaw clenched as he eyed her. He stood gracefully and offered his hand to her. After a moment's hesitation she took it and Deucalion eased her up and led her to the mirror. Calloused hands turned her to face it and the young woman met his gaze in their reflection. The Alpha stood behind her, eyes proud and a small, pleased smirk on his lips as he slipped her fiery hair from her shoulders.

Her tank top was a seafoam green and complimented her ivory skin beautifully, but Deucalion didn't allow himself to stare. Ignoring how she tensed, the werewolf slipped an arm around her waist and pressed himself against her back. A clawed finger rose to her chest and pulled the material down.

"See?" Deucalion smiled at her awed expression and with tender fingers stroked the smooth skin where her incision scar had once been. "I wouldn't do anything to hurt you. You can trust me."

Isla winced, unable to take him at his words with her blood still staining his lips. Swallowing, the young woman dropped her gaze from him. "I think I'd like to be alone."

The Alpha nodded and stepped back from her. Immediately missing her body heat and the press of her curves against him, he told her he'd wait for her in the den before he left the bathroom.

The door closed and Isla took a deep breath as her hands fell to the sink. For a few moments, she braced her arms, staring blankly ahead as she thought over everything her lover had done. He was a murderer. A liar. A monster. He had ruined countless people's lives. Still, she had forgiven him for those things before Deucalion had even bit her. It had been so easy to forgive him for all the foul things she hadn't seen; for the horrors he'd done in another lifetime to other people.

Squaring her shoulders, she looked back at her reflection. Curious fingers poked at the strange black goo that stained her throat. It was cold and tacky to the touch. Deucalion had wiped away most of what had dripped down her chin, but she could still taste it.

It tasted like disease.

Grabbing her toothbrush, she applied a liberal amount of toothpaste as she thought over what she should do. The reasonable thing to do would be to leave him. Deucalion had hurt her; he had thrown her to the floor, held her down and took away her humanity. Blue eyes flickered up to her chest as she ground the bristles into her tongue. Unable to tear her gaze from where her scar had sat for so long, Isla thought about what he had said. About never needing another doctor or trip to the hospital and felt a pang of gratitude.

Shame bubbled in her at the idea. She should have hated him for what he had done to her. She should have been angry and she was, but not to the degree she should have been. Isla was more disappointed, more hurt, than truly angry.

It was her own fault. She never should have believed Deucalion could change in the first place. People- animals, her mind corrected, like him didn't change. They made pretty flowery promises but they didn't change. Perhaps it was a little late for her to be learning that, but he had seemed so sincere. Worse, he had seemed so surprised that Isla would be willing to help him try. Like he expected her to turn her back on him after all they'd been through.

True, they hadn't been together long, barely eight weeks, but it felt…real to her. The redhead thought back to how Deucalion had blushed in the diner when she teased him about the twins and how he had put off their physical relationship until he was sure her body could handle it. Worse, she couldn't put off his expression from the hospital. The quiet, worried frown he wore when he thought she was asleep.

Isla spit into the sink and cringed at the sight of the black laced foam. Wiping her mouth, she took a deep breath and steeled her resolve. With one last glance at the clear skin of her chest, the young woman left the bathroom.

Deucalion waited for her in the den. He was holding one of her books in his hands, carefully skimming through the pages and simply touching the words he had so long since seen. The man raised his head to greet her, but was silenced by her expression. Isla's head was held high and her eyes wet, but her features were strikingly defiant.

"You expect me to believe you want to change?" She demanded, gaze fierce as she met his dead on. "After what you just did, are you still going to try to be a good person?"

"I'm going to try-"

"Then you can change." Isla kept her posture stiff as he approached her. "If you can change into a murderer, you can change back…but it will be harder." Her eyes softened slightly before sharpening once more. "So much harder, but if you can't I'm not going to let you hurt innocent people. Do you understand?"

With a hint of amusement, Deucalion asked, "Are you threatening me?"

Blue eyes blinked with surprise a moment before darkening. "Do I have to?"

He moved to cup her chin but the young woman stepped out of his reach. The Alpha let his hand fall back to his side. The realization made his stomach clench. "You're afraid of me."

Isla let out a bark of a laugh that hurt the both of them. "Yeah, yeah, I am."

"You don't have to be."

"Right, because you got what you wanted, right?" Her eyes grew misty once more as the anger returned to them. "I'm a monster now."

"You're not a monster, Isla." The man shook his head. Fiddling with the spine of the book, he told her, "Only your actions will make you a monster."

"Like yours did?"

Deucalion didn't shy away from her rage. "Yes. Like mine did."

For a moment, she was quiet. After carefully considering her words, Isla told him, "I don't think you meant to hurt me." Her bottom lip quivered slightly and she pointedly looked away from him. "I think you wanted to control me, and I don't know which is worse."

Voice and eyes low, he asked, "Do you hate me?"

"No, Deucalion, I could never hate you." Isla swallowed and stepped back from him. Away from his hopeful smile and pleased eyes as she went on, "You tricked me into caring for you and I'll never forgive you for that, but I don't hate you. I just don't like you anymore."

She left him with that, retreating to her bedroom and locking the door behind her.

A/N: I just want to thank my betas, SomeoftheFame and PriorToMe for all their hard work!