Seren smiled as she closed the curtains, rolling her eyes in amusement at the sight of a wolf and a woman walking off down the street together. "Well, I don't think Zane's gonna be back anytime soon," she commented, returning to curl up with Dorian on the couch, wrapping her arms about him as she nuzzled close. "Tell me what?s wrong," she urged him softly. "I need to know, love, if I'm going to be able to help."

Dorian had gone quiet ever since Emrys' near fatal attack on him. His face looked pale and strained, and it wasn't just from his illness. He wasn't the sort of person to let life get him down, and yet, he was a master of deception in that he rarely removed his mask and let anyone know what he was really feeling. Even though he had only known her a few hours, he already found it hard to hide his true self from her, as if somehow she would only see right through him.

"I don't know," he explained, his voice ragged and weary. "I don't understand any of this. I feel like I've known you all my life, but it's only been a few hours. How is that possible, Seren" And ....I'm ashamed of what I almost made Emrys do, but I'm tired of feeling weak and useless. I'm not afraid of Zane. Not really. What I'm afraid of is ....I'm afraid of living a meaningless life and dying a senseless death. That's the truth of it, Seren. I don't want to die this way. I don't. I know I seem to have accepted it, to be at peace with it, but I'm not. Especially not now that I've met you." And then, there was his brother to think about - a brother he'd never even met.

"Oh, sweetheart ..." She curled closer to him, nuzzling against his throat for a long moment. "You're not weak, and you're not useless. And yes, it was a mistake to goad Emrys that way, but nothing bad happened. If I'm not mistaken, you may actually have helped him tonight." She smiled faintly, remembering what she had seen in the street below. "I don't think he's fully changed his form before tonight. There was just too much joy in the way they were running together ....Anyway. Now he has, he has the ability to turn you, if that really is what you truly want." She stroked his cheek, drawing his gaze to meet hers. "Dorian, even if you do make the turn, Zane has a lifetime of experience. He'd kill you without a second thought. But ....being a wolf yourself would cure your illness and give you a new lifetime to live. With me."

He searched her eyes, as if he could find the answers there, needing to know what to do, what she wanted from him. His entire life depended on this decision, and it was not one to be made lightly. "And what if Neville ....my brother ....is sick, too' What then?" he asked, unsure of the answers. It was hard enough to decide for himself, much less a brother he'd never met.

Seren's expression gentled as she looked into his eyes, wishing she had all the answers for him. "Then it will be his decision as to what he does," she told him softly. "But he will have options. I very much doubt Emrys would deny a request made for the right reasons."

He continued to meet her gaze, unflinchingly, ready to admit something he had not admitted to anyone - not even his closest friends. "I lied before, Seren," he told her, frowning sadly. "I'm not as brave as I seem. I'm scared. I said I made peace with Death, but I lied. I don't want to die, not like this. Maybe that's why I stood up to Zane and why I challenged Emrys. It's hard to worry about being killed when you've already got a death sentence."

"Well, you can start worrying about it again," she told him firmly. "Dorian, I know it's a lot to take in, but what?s a few days of waiting" Give Emrys time to make sure he has control - the last thing any of us want is for him to kill you by mistake. One bite is all it takes, but it's a painful process. It'll change you at the most basic level of your physical being. So you need to tell your friends that you'll be out of action for a couple of days, and you'll need to make sure that they know you won't be performing on the full moon ever again. This is something we can plan, Dorian. It won't be an accident, or the result of an attack. It'll be a choice, and that gives us an advantage."

"Performing?" Dorian echoed, chuckling at the irony, but there was no humor in it. "It's a traveling theater troupe, Seren. We don't stay in one place for long. Once summer is over, they'll be gone." Which meant he was going to have to make another decision - or maybe she was. "And I'm not sure how they'll feel about having a ....a werewolf in their midst." Then again, if he didn't go with them, it wouldn't much matter.

"They?" She blinked, drawing back a little to study his expression carefully. "But you love performing with that troupe. It's right there in your eyes and in your voice when you talk about it. I would never ask or expect you to give it up. I-I would travel with you, if you asked me to."

"I don't know, Seren," he said with a sigh, shoving his hair back from his face - a nervous habit. "I don't think we should worry about that yet." He wasn't even sure if he was going to live long enough to make any of these decisions, so what was the point' "Tell me something?" he asked curiously, but almost tentatively.

"Anything," she promised him, smiling a little at the tentative curiosity in his voice. They had plenty of time to make those decisions, after all.

"Why me?" he asked, unknowingly echoing the question his brother had posed to his own mate not long ago. "I mean, I'm not questioning the bond I feel between us, I'm just trying to figure it out."

Her smile deepened at his question. "It's a little difficult to explain," she admitted thoughtfully, resting her cheek against the couch cushions as her fingers played with his. "Humans have the cliche of love at first sight, don't they' With weres, or at least with my race of weres, we have an instant connection with the person we are meant to mate with. I knew as soon as I smelled you that you were special to me. I don't usually challenge men to kiss me the moment they show some interest, you know." She laughed, a little embarrassed by how bold she had been with him only a few hours earlier. "There is something in you that calls to me, that completes the person I am. I knew you the moment I met you, knew you were mine and I am yours. To be honest, I didn't think it was even possible for me, with my defects. But it is. It's you."

"Okay," he replied, willing to make a leap of faith and take her at her word. After all, he had no reason to doubt her. "So, is it a physical thing ....a biological thing ....or something else?" he asked further, just trying to understand. A short while ago, he didn't really care, but that was before he met her brother and the implications of everything had come crashing down on him.

"Well ..." Here Seren shifted awkwardly. "A basic mating is a biological urge. Every species has it, the urge to procreate. But with weres, it's not just biological. It's tempting to call it love at first sight, but it's more than just love. It's need. I could live my life without you if we never met, but now we have, I need you in my life. You're a part of me. I will feel your absence whenever we're apart, and it will be like a physical ache. It's love, but it's deeper. If I loved you, I could walk away, or I could let you walk away from me. But you're my mate, and I will fight tooth and claw to keep you. I have to. I'll break without you."

"And if I die?" he asked, knowing it was a very real possibility. Even if he was cured of his illness, there was still Zane to worry about, and no one lived forever. There was also the question of choice, but despite having only met her a few hours ago, he couldn't deny the hold she had on his heart.

"Mm, so I can take full advantage of you when you're sleeping, huh?" she laughed, curling her arms about him as the soft folds of her shirt rose with his hands. "Good to know." Her lips touched his, sharing her smile with him tenderly. "Wishes. Cough it up, pookie."

"I can't be held responsible for what my body does or doesn't do while I'm asleep," he pointed out with a grin, as he peeled her shirt off her and tossed it over her shoulder. "Pookie?" he echoed, chuckling against her lips. "Now I'm not sure I want to tell you," he teased.

"Can't I persuade you?" She pouted playfully, heedless of her shirt now decorating the coffee table as she wriggled in his grasp. His own shirt was not exactly putting up much resistance to her busy hands as she sought out his skin to tease and caress.

"Mmm, maybe," he said, though he wouldn't say how. If she kept going the way she was going, she was going to find out sooner or later, and he had already told her his wishes weren't much different from hers. They weren't so hard to figure out.

His shirt soon joined hers, and it seemed as though she had given up on teasing the answer from him if the teasing kisses she offered to his skin were anything to go by. But ...."What if I don't do more than this until you tell me?"

"There's nothing to tell," he replied, as he reached for her, content to trade kisses and caresses for the moment, though they both knew where this was headed. He didn't really want to talk about his wishes now; it only dampened his mood to think about the reality of the situation. He had to make a choice which was a matter of life or death, and it didn't really leave him much choice at all. "I don't want to talk about that now," he told her, shifting his weight to lay her back on the couch.

She giggled as he laid her down, only too happy to help him forget for a little while the heavy situation that lay over his shoulders. After all, they'd only had a few hours together so far. There was still so much to learn about him, and she fully intended to learn every last nuance. It could take years.

For a man who claimed to be dying, he didn't seem to have any trouble doing what came natural. It might cost him later, but he didn't want to worry about that now. The price was worth every second spent with Seren, every stolen moment. For Dorian, it wasn't about dying so much about making the most of every moment he had left, and now that he'd found her, he wanted those moments spent with Seren. He was like a candleflame flaring to life just before it sputtered out, burning with the desire to discover and memorize her all in one night.

But they had more than one night. No matter the looming dangers, be they illness or a threat from without, Seren was determined now that there would be many nights to share over the coming years. She shared that hope with him over and over again, willing him to believe it, until finally they slipped together into oblivion, sated and content in each other's arms. For one night, at least, they were safe.