An unexpected journey

[Luke]

When the wolf ran off Luke thought the wolf wouldn't come back, or if it did it would come back with friends that might not be as friendly with him than this wolf had been. So Luke looked around to see if anything needed to be grabbed and once he felt secure that he had everything he needed he was about to leave when a woman popped out from the woods.

The woman looked quite beautiful, stunning even. And she pulled off the black hoodie quite well, the question reverberated in his mind as he looked at this beautiful woman. He felt as if he was in a daze when a beam of direct sunlight poked through the trees and punched his skin, it can't kill him but it does hurt him. He felt the pain and immediately jumped to the side. "Ahh yeah, coffee sure sounds good. Sorry direct sunlight stings a little." Reaching out and grabbing the hoodie dawning it he felt it was a little tight, although it seemed to be the same size as the girl which would make sense to Luke as to why it was so tight.

"A little tight but thanks, my clothes got shredded when I came after you but there should be a shop in the near town, there is also a little coffee shop near there. And nice to meet you Adele I don't know if I said but my name is Luke."

Luke laughed a little on the inside because he realized that never in his life had a girl asked him out to get coffee, he had always done the asking out and it usually ended in rejection but he quickly remembered that this isn't his old life anymore, and this girl probably wants more information out of him and as beautiful as she may be she probably isn't asking to get coffee for that reason. So Luke went along with Adele.

[Adele Holst]

Adele looked behind her briefly trying to follow Luke's gaze before realizing he was staring at her. She smiled a little and watched Luke's frantic reaction as the sun hit his skin, and the young woman bit her lip. She hadn't even thought about that, but as a Hybrid this man would have some Vampire in him. It hadn't even occured to her that he might be vulnerable to sunlight. "Are you sure you're going to be ok in the daylight, Luke? Do you have anywhere safe you can go?"
Shifting the weight of her backpack, Adele led the way out of the forest, purposefully not looking at the dead hunters nearby. She knew she didn't have to kill then them, but when she was the Wolf she had trouble caring about the affairs of Humans. And lately, even in her Human form, she was beginning to lose empathy with her humanity, but she wasn't ready to admit that to herself just yet.
As they neared the end of the forest, Adele remained standing in the long morning shadow of the trees for a moment, looking to the Hybrid she was with. She wasn't comfortanble enough with him to invite him back to Perrin's Villa, but she could set him up in a hotel nearby if he said the sunlight was going to be too much of a pain. She waited for his response.

[Luke]

When they reached the edge of the forest, it seemed to come quicker than Luke remembered but it didn't matter much to him. "The sun is fine but I can't exactly go tanning. Geoff tried to explain it a little bit but he wasn't exactly sure on how it was going to work but he said since I was part vampire, part lycan, I have the strengths and weaknesses of both, but they don't hurt as much. I can stand in the sun and it feels like a slight sunburn, but it won't kill me like other vampires. So long as it hits my clothes then I should be completely fine. It just takes some getting used to."

Luke had often thought on what he was loosing as not being a human anymore, the sun, the normal food, the normal life. "I know it probably would have been easier for everyone if I had become either a full vampire or a full lycan, or even if I stayed human. But here I am now and I guess now I have to figure out how to live with it. And thank you for not killing me back there by the way."

[Adele Holst]

"Ok..." Adele shrugged as Luke insisted he would be alright in the sun and stepped out of the shadows, walking toward the town nearby. She nearly tripped when the Hybrid thanked her for not killing him, but caught her balance quickly. That's all he thinks I am, a murderer... Her face reddened slightly, but she forced a small laugh out, "Yeah, well, the day is still young..." She hoped he would understand her humor, but if not, it wouldn't be the first misunderstanding between them, and probably not the last either.
Leading him through the streets, Adele looked around for a coffee shop. The businesses on the block were all slowly coming to life as the sun began to rise higher into the sky. The young woman pulled up her hood to shield herself from the bright sun. The sun didn't hurt her as it did a Vampire or Hybrid, but it was too bright for Adele. Stopping abruptly, Adele turned and grabbed Luke by the arm, "Those hunters don't know what your Human form looks like, do they?" The coffee shop was just ahead of them, and the young woman was prepared to take Luke there no matter what his answer was, but she hoped that the humans had no idea what Luke looked like.

[Luke]

Luke laughed a little bit at her joke about it not being the first time. Luke was sensible enough to tell that she was trying to ease the tension between them as she led him to the coffee shop. As he was walking down the street with this girl he could start to feel some sense of a normal life coming back to him. Luke and a beautiful girl walking down the street together going to go get coffee with her. Even though he had never had much of an experience like that before he felt that for a second or two that he was living a normal life again. And when she reached around and grabbed his arm he let himself go into a mindset of someone who is living a completely normal life. But then she reached her question about whether or not the humans would recognize Luke in his human form and for a second he chose to block the question in his mind but then he felt a sense of urgency rising so he decided to return to reality. "No they wouldn't recognize me, if you have seen the signs you can see that they are all in my nonhuman form. The one thing I've been very good about is making sure when I change that no one can see me when I do."

After he had answered her question he let his mind drift back into a human life, a normal life, a life he could return to. But every time he kept letting his guard down inside his mind he started to feel a slight burn on his face, taking it at first to feel the warmth of the sun but after a few minutes it starts to feel a bit too much agitation and was forced to snap to. It was at this point that Luke came to the decision that no matter how much he would try to go back to his previous life, no matter how much he wanted to go back to his human life before everything happened, that he would have to accept this new life and stop dwelling on the past and what can never be again. He began to realize that he had to try and make the best of his new life and figure out how to be the best hybrid he can. "Do you ever wonder what your life would be like if you were still human?" He didn't even realize he was saying that question during his pondering but once he realized it was out there he began to attempt to try and play it off as if he meant it to be that way.

[Adele Holst]

At least he'd been careful about his transformation. Adele smiled quietly, pleased with his answer, and removed her grip on his arm, turning back toward the coffee shop nearby.
"Tch, no." Adele snorted at his question. If she was still Human she'd probably still be living in bumfuck Wurzburg, still putting up with Mathias' shit, and now, having to deal with her dad getting out of prison. If she'd been Human she wouldn't have been able to get rid of the old man, and then what would happen? She'd have that psycho waiting at home for her to lay into her again for this thing or that. To deal with everything she'd probably have found harder and harder drugs to play with. No, Adele did not ever wonder what her life would be like if she were still a Human.
Realizing she sort of killed the conversation, the young woman tried to explain without giving too much of her life story away, "I don't come from very pleasant circumstances. When my Sire bit me and welcomed me into this life, he saved my life. I owe my existance to him. I wouldn't change who I am for the world." After a moment's pause, Adele asked, "It's really tough for you, huh? Getting used to being a Hybrid, I mean."
The shop was just opening, and the fragrant smells of freshly brewed coffee flooded Adele's awareness as she opened the door and entered the quaint place. They were greeted in Greek with smiles, and shown to a table as far away from the window as possible, as per Adele's request. Adele placed her backpack on the back of the chair and plopped down unceremoniously across from Luke, ordering a standard frappacino from the waitress.

[Luke]

As she began to answer his question about her human life he began to feel a bit out of place with this lycan. She seemed to hate her human life and would not wish it on anyone. She seemed to choose to view this as a gift rather than a curse. Luke admitted to himself that he should start to see it more that way so he can be happier in life nodding along as he listened to Adele's story. "I had a relatively normal life before all of this, nice family, nice friends back in America, a promising future, not a wealthy future but a promising one. I went to college but it didn't work out for me. So by that time I decided it was time for the next step in life, to move away from my parents once I had saved up enough money. I contacted Geoff here in Europe and we agreed that I could live with him. However when I got here he had me wait in a hotel, time went by and I eventually started my own life here, learned the language and everything. Then in one night all of that was gone, my new life and my old life were both gone in a single stroke, or should I say two bites. Yes it has been a rough adjustment to this new life, I feel like it may have been easier at times if I had just become a lycan or a vampire, either way I would have been more easily accepted by one side or the other. Now the only side that has shown any kindness towards me is the side of the lycans. It could be that as I have learned how I am and what I am I seem to be more lycan than vampire, which is why I can stand the sun for a while before it starts to burn a little, but silver gets me more so than the sun which is why I think I might be more lycan than vampire. But one thing about the vampire side has given me something I always loved to do, flying. But the hardest thing about being a hybrid is that I'm not really accepted with open arms anywhere and that's what I am looking for right now, yes I am with Geoff and he accepts me because he is my cousin but the other lycans there are a little more hesitant to say the least." The smell of the coffee shop filled his nostrils as they were awaiting their orders, "Funny thing about human food, I eat or drink anything human and it makes me a little nauseous, however I have learned to put up with that because I try to put off feeding on people as long as I can, I've never liked the idea of being a vampire other than the flying thing so I try to resist the vampire side as long as I can. Some people say that when you are a lycan or a vampire you have to learn to control your beast side or your vampire side, well I have to learn to deal with two beasts in me in a way, so that's why it would be a bit harder for me. And based on who bit me it proves that the beast and the vampire in me are really strong. I was bitten by Geoff and a vampire named Ahmad, he's apparently thousands of years old and really strong."

[Adele Holst]

When their orders were brought to the table, Adele sipped lazily at her coffee as Luke talked. It was interesting to hear the Hybrid talk of all this. She could understand his plight for acceptance somewhere, and was glad he'd found something like it in his cousin Geoff. Biting the inside of her cheek briefly, Adele offered, "I can see why it would be hard to find acceptance... You kind of have the taint of the enemy, no matter which race you're trying to befriend." Thinking on it a little more, she said, "You know, I don't really have anything against your cousin; he was nice to me at the Den. It's just... our Alpha gave orders. I don't know what I'd do if I ran into him now. It's probably best I never see him again..." Fuck, that didn't come out how I wanted it to sound... The young woman scratched her head trying to think of what to say to make it sound better, but nothing came up. It was strange she was talking this much to a stranger anyway; but with how open Luke was being, he didn't seem like much of a stranger at all. He seemed like someone she could trust.
As he talked about learning to control the beast within, Adele nodded. "Werewolves really have trouble with that, especially when they're fresh to the race." She understood that perfectly. There were still occasions when her own beast would get the better of her and sneak up out of nowhere. The Vampire Ahmad was one she was unfamiliar with, but if he was as old as Luke said, it was no wonder he was having trouble controling himself.

[Luke]

As she sat and listened Luke wondered what kind of response he would get from her, and after his long story all he got was a response about Geoff. He didn't quite understand what she meant about the alpha giving orders but Luke decided to give it his best shot. "I don't know much about this, what did you call it, Alpha? But if you will allow me, I would like to tell you what Geoff did tell me some short time ago about what happened to him. Maybe then you will understand more once you hear his side of the story."

Luke paused and collected himself while sipping a cup of coffee. "Now you probably know Geoff quite well, he was a well respected leader of a den once or so I understand it. Now he did have a thing with one of the lycans there, I believe she was the one in charge there. Geoff led an attack on some vampire den and had a great victory or something like that. But when he was about to talk to his people about the attack, it might have been before or after. But he talked with the woman about something and Geoff found out that the lycan leader killed his family specifically to turn him into a lycan. Now Geoff is a lot like me in a way. When he heard that the woman betrayed him and killed his entire family and lied to him so she could have him all to herself, that was just too much for Geoff. Now I know that it may sound like the human in him that leashed out, but I would have to disagree. One reason why I prefer the lycans over the vampires is because of their sense of morality. They don't kill senselessly or needlessly as the vampires do. But when I heard that, I began to doubt that all lycans had that sense of morality. So I stick with Geoff as much as I can because even though everyone there may not fully trust me, I know that they will still try to do the right thing."

Luke took a quick pause to recollect his thoughts before continuing. "I know I must sound like I'm trying to recruit you or something. I don't know where you stand, truth be told I'm not even 100 percent sure where I stand. I only learned about this whole thing some time ago let alone even beginning to make a choice on this issue. All I know is that whether or not we win or lose I want to be on the side that continues to try to do the right thing, because even if we lose, even if I die in the fight, I would die knowing that I didn't compromise, I stood up for what's right in the end."

Luke took another sip of his coffee, "Now that I have told you everything that I know and can think of on this topic, I hope you can at the very least understand Geoff's side of things. He isn't trying to pick a fight, truth be told he would wish for peace, all he wants to see is this woman apologize for what she did and admit that it wasn't right. Geoff is willing to forgive if she is willing to ask."

[Adele Holst]

This conversation had taken a turn that was making Adele uncomfortable. She knew what had happened between Geoff and Alena, and while it was really unfortunate, Lycan nature was violent and sometimes people died. She tried looking at it from Geoff's point of view, but it was incredibly hard for her to put herself in the man's shoes for some reason; and she couldn't be all that angry with the Mother of Lycanthropy for it either. Alena had taken Adele in, no questions asked when the girl arrived in Sweden years ago, and for that, she was grateful. Truth be told, if the Queen of Werewolves had chosen her as she had Geoff, Adele would have been ecstatic. But she hadn't. Instead, on their first meeting, Alena had left Adele alone in the forest, still Human, still craving release. True, she had been chosen by Perrin, the 2nd in command, and that was good enough for the blonde. The only thing she would have wished differently now, was for Perrin to still be alive. Her experiences had taught her the importance and duty of being chosen by one of the leaders; she was still coming into her own powers. Geoff had taken some of that for granted, Adele felt.
Throughout Luke's monologue, Adele kept her eyes on the table, fixating on a small pile of sugar that had been scattered on the table. She couldn't look him in the eyes, but she was listening. Her face flushed slightly when he mentioned the merits of Werewolves over Vampires. If that was what he believed, then it was no wonder he thought her nothing more than a murderer. Yet here he was talking to her. Biting her lip, Adele considered all he said, but she was at a loss for words. How should she respond to all this? She didn't want to say anything against Alena, but as Luke neared the end of his explanation, she could begin to understand. A little. Finally, knowing she had to say something, Adele put in, "That's good of Geoff to forgive Alena." If she ever asked for his forgiveness... That was unlikely, the girl thought, especially if Alena didn't believe she'd done anything wrong. "Um, I'm sorry... Geoff was really nice to me, but I... my allegiance is to Alena, er, the leader he had his dispute with. I don't really know what to say..."