Those Eyes

Ok guys, here's chapter 8. I hope that it's enjoyable. Thank you all for the feedback. Keep it coming. I do proofread my work but sometimes things escape my attention so, I apologize for the errors. I hope they're not terribly distracting. I'm sorry that the last chapter was so short. I was sick while writing it and just wanted to give you all something to read until I was able to write something more substantial. Here it goes.

SRB

**

Staring out the window at the passing scenery, Carmendi sighed loudly. She turned slightly and met eyes that matched her own. "You know the plan right?" Zach asked, staring at his baby sister. She nodded. They were heading back to the lab in Chantilly.

"It's nice here, this area. Lots of people." She whispered, still looking out the window.

"Hm." was Zach's non committal reply.

"I wonder if she likes it here. She seems happy. She's so pretty too. Do you think she's pretty?" Zach let out an exasperated sigh as his sister's topic of conversation.

"Carmendi..." He said, his tone warning.

"Geeze, I was just saying."

A few minutes passed in silence. "She's...beautiful. You've got her eyes, you know." Carmendi looked over at her big brother and couldn't help but laugh, he joined in a second later.

Suddenly the laughing ended and the atmosphere became serious.

"You need to get your head in the game, kid." Zach said quietly but stern.

"I wish I could just say...fuck it to the game." Carmendi replied, crossing her arms over her chest, her attention once more returning to the window.

"We don't belong out here, kid. It's not what we were made for."

"That's bullshit and you know it." Carmendi said, starting to pout like the 17 year old girl she was.

"They'd find us." Zach said, making a turn. "You know they wouldn't just let us go. Is that how you want to live?"

"Either option sucks."

"You're right about that kiddo. " It wasn't that Zach never thought about leaving, he just hadn't thought of a smart way to do so, a way that ensured the safety of each and every one of his siblings. He parked the car and sighed deeply. "You know what to do." He said, not looking in the direction of the girl. He watched her for a moment before he pulled away from the side of the road and headed back to DC.

Carmendi was in the building in no time, moving along the corridors unnoticed.Her footsteps made no sound as she moved. Hearing someone approaching, she leapt up, crouching in a corner. A buxom nurse with a pretty face walked by, none the wiser that she wasn't alone in the hall. It was after six, the building was nearly empty. She pulled back her scent and moved through the halls until she sensed her sister, moving closer to the door she scaled the wall, perched in the corner, and listened in.

-Santana-

I watched the needle as the blood was extracted from my arm. It was the only way that I could get blood drawn, I had to watch. The doctor moved with swiftness, I had barely felt the needle penetrate my sensitive skin. We had already been there for a while talking about me and the things in the files.

"How much do you need?" I heard Alex ask.

"I'm going to take a pint. I know that seems like a lot but I'd rather have more than enough than not enough." I looked up at the face of Dr. Otto. Alex had told me was a were but I couldn't sense that, he just looked like an attractive middle aged man. I appraised his dark blonde curly locks and light green eyes. His nose seemed a little big but it fit his face nicely. "Okay, all done." He said with a smile as he pulled the needle away from my skin and placed a band aid over the area.

Alex, who had backed away to a corner during the process was once again at my side, the pained expression on his face no longer there. "Is it that bad?" I asked, referring to the presence of my blood.

"Yes." He said through gritted teeth. "I have never smelled anything as divine as your blood. It calls to me just like everything else about you does." He smiled down at me and reached a hand out to stroke my cheek lightly. I leaned into his hand and sighed contently. I loved his touch. A cleared throat brought our attention back to the other man in the room. We both looked in his direction without relinquishing our physical contact.

"Not many people know this but weres, vampires, and humans used to be able to reproduce without changing." That caught our attention. The doctor smiled slightly at our changed demeanors.

"What happened?" I asked, staring intently at the attractive man.

"Evolution. Natural Selection. Darwinism. Whichever term you prefer."

"So, each has evolved to prevent such offspring?" I asked, not sure if I understood.

"The offspring would die after a few years. They were unstable, mentally. Many were executed but most just died.None actually survived puberty. Hybridism was like a lethal genetic disease."

"What about Adam?" I asked, feeling uneasy.

"Well, as your father's notes say, Adam was little more than an animal. He naturally wouldn't have occurred in nature and if he had, he would have died early. That appears to have been the problem with the earlier experiments."

I nodded my head in understanding but another thing was wearing on my mind. "What about the mate thing? Alex said that only mates can reproduce."

The doctor nodded while opening the file on my birth mother. "It appears that they have cracked the code behind soul mates. Not only are mates essentially perfectly compatible but there's another chemistry involved. It's the biology of attraction, scents, oxytocin levels, brain patterns, major histocompatibility complexes... immune systems." He added at Alex's confused face. "Essentially Adam and your birth mother's bodies were tricked into recognizing their mates in each other. It's brilliant, really. Bloody brilliant." Doctor Otto said with awe in his voice and a clear appreciation for the science involved.

My inner scientist was silent as I thought about what I had just learned. "Wow." was all I could say.

"Wow, is right." Alex said, once again stroking my cheek.

It was quiet for a while as the information sunk in. "Can...I make a suggestion?" The doctor said with hesitance in his voice. We both nodded, unsure of what his next words were going to be. "Santana, you can't control your abilities." He said more as a statement than a question. "From what I've gathered from the letter your father left, you're not as far along as the others may be." I looked at him unsure of what he was getting at other than pointing out all of my deficiencies.

"What are you getting at Dr. Otto?" Alex said, obviously getting as annoyed as I was.

The doctor seemed a little more uncomfortable as he rubbed his hands together and cleared his throat. "I...I don't know if this would work exactly as I imagine it and I know that this may be uncomfortable to hear but...I believe that mating would ground you, Santana. It'd...decrease your humanity, make you less unstable."

The room was silent for what seemed like hours. In the past week, mating with Alex had been at the front of my mind but now that it was being suggested, it lost some of its magic. I didn't know what to think. I looked over at my mate, he seemed as unsure as I was.

Aware of our apprehension, Dr. Otto broke the silence. "There was a young couple in my pack. The girl, she had issues changing. The parents even resorted to cognitive behavioral therapy to help her overcome this issue. She had basically accepted never being in control of her wolf and figured that because she was 'weak' no male would ever want her. Well, she found her mate. A young man from another pack and the strangest thing happened. After the two mated, the girl gained full control over her wolf and to this day can change at will."

"So you're using an example with wolves to justify what you just told us?" I asked, my vision sharpening, my anger rising.

"Well, you are part were, Santana and as I said, it's merely a suggestion."

Alex and I left the lab hand in hand, no words passed between us. It gave me time to think about what we had just been told. As we exited the lab, I got that strange feeling again but shook it off. I already had enough on my mind. There was no doubt that I wanted to mate with Alex. I couldn't wait to be his and I couldn't wait for him to be mine. I had just figured that we'd have more time to get to know each other. I almost laughed at that thought. As I had told him earlier, I was already his forever and I had forever to get to know him.

I stopped walking and pulled his hand back towards me. He stopped and looked at me with a confused expression. "What is it? Did what he said upset you?" I was instantly in his arms, a shiver passed through me as he kissed my temple. "Baby, we don't have to mate anytime soon. I'll wait for when you're ready. Please don't feel like we have to rush things now." His words further made up my mind. I leaned back in his embrace and looked up at his gorgeous face. There was so much adoration in his eyes and something else, something that looked like...love.

"Tonight." was all that I could say and it escaped my breath on a whisper.

"Tonight? Tonight what?" He responded. I could tell that he had an idea of what I meant but wanted to get confirmation. He needed me to say it.

"Tonight..." I paused. Saying this was going to be hard. I took a few deep breaths and smiled up at him. He gave me a look that said "take your time." After one more deep breath, I was ready. "Tonight...I want you to make me yours." I fought my immediate urge to look at the ground and watched the emotions flicker across his face. He smiled at me and kissed me once more on the temple.

"Geeze, Ana. I had no idea that you were the type of girl who gave it up on the first date."

**

She knew that she should have left. She knew that she should have just gone back and reported to her siblings everything that she had heard but she couldn't. Maybe it was her young age, maybe it was her rebellious nature but she couldn't leave. She didn't understand what she had just heard, she didn't understand what they meant when they spoke of mates. She didn't understand how copulating would help her sister be more stable. She had watched her sister and who she had ascertained to be her sister's significant other exit the building and saw the expressions that they wore.

With all of the stealth that she had been born with, Carmendi dropped from her perch and walked into the lab that her sister had just left from. She watched the man for a while as he worked, completely unaware of her presence. After a few minutes passed, she reached over and knocked on the edge of the door.

"What the..." the doctor began as he turned around suddenly. "Excuse ma'am but we're closed." The doctor said, once more turning his back on the pretty girl in the doorway. He was slightly shook that he hadn't heard her approach. Shaking it off, he blamed it on being distracted.

"I..." Carmendi began. She should have left. She should have turned around and left but she needed her questions answered. She walked into the room and stopped a few feet from where he stood, working. "I...have a question."

Without looking at her, he spoke. "If you're here for an internship or for a school project, come back in the morning. The receptionist will be able to assist you, sweetheart. "

She sighed, slightly peeved that he was ignoring her. This was one of her first encounters with someone outside of the compound and it wasn't going well. Maybe her brother was right, they didn't belong out here. "Sir..." She began. Why didn't she just leave.

"Sweetheart, as I said before, we are closed." He said, finally turning around to face her, his gasp causing her to step back slightly in alarm. The doctor stared at her for a moment before he spoke. "What can I help you with?" He said, studying her face.

The action made her feel uneasy, she knew what he saw there. She knew she should have left. "I know you've probably figured it out. I know my eyes gave it away but please, before you tell them, answer my questions." She pleaded, approaching him slowly. "I'm not here to hurt her...or you." Seeing the sincerity in her eyes, the doctor nodded and gestured for her to have a seat. She complied with an uneasy smile and looked at the man a moment before speaking. "I just want to know...what a mate is."

-Alex-

On the drive back into DC, I discreetly texted out orders for the night. I wanted it to be perfect. I wanted it to be everything that my beautiful mate had dreamed about. I loved the little looks that she would give me when she thought I wasn't paying attention. I looked up from my phone and was met with a particularly heated gaze. I covered up my groan with a cough, the promise in that look was enough to make me start hardening in my jeans. It was a brief look and was soon replaced by adoration. I smiled at her and my stomach flipped as she smiled back before blushing and looking at the floor of the vehicle. I took that opportunity to really look at her. She wasn't what I thought my mate would be like. She wasn't even close.

Before I met Ana, I had an affinity for leggy blondes. I liked the all American girl. Large eyes, long hair, large breasts, slim hips. I liked girls who knew they were attractive and used it to their advantage. Ana was nothing like that and not just physically. She was awkward and didn't fully understand how beautiful she was. She had no idea that her beauty was worthy of praise, she had no idea that she was worthy of praise. I felt a lump in my throat at that moment and my heartbeat quickened. When this night was over, Ana would be mine completely.

She looked up then and her shining green eyes looked as if she had known exactly what I was thinking about. In case she didn't, I decided to fill her in. "You're beautiful, you know. Absolutely perfect." She smiled an uneasy smile and stared at me intently.

"I love that you think that." She said, her smile broadening.

"I don't think that. I know it to be a fact."

She moved until her side was flush against mine. "I'm nervous." She whispered.

I pulled her into my arms and laid my head on top of hers. "Don't be." was all that I said. I felt her body relax slightly and knew that that was all that I needed to say.

**

"Did you find out anything?" Zach asked as soon as Carmendi got into the car.

She shook her head. "No, not much." She lied. "All that I learned was that she's unstable. She isn't in control of her abilities."

"What do you mean by that?" He asked, keeping his eyes on the road.

"They're apparently linked to her emotions, strong emotions. She has no real control of them. She also only started exhibiting her abilities a few years ago and it was only once. They didn't make an appearance again until a couple of weeks ago."

"Hm, that all?" He asked.

"Yes, that's all."

Carmendi had never lied to her siblings. She had never lied, period before today but inside she felt it was necessary. She secretly hoped that after tonight, Santana would be stronger, that she'd be able to fight back, that she'd fight to stay and win. The doctor's word's were ever present in her head. A mate. A soul mate. The other half of your soul. Santana had that and they were there to take it away from her. The doctor, their creator, had never educated them in the ways of vampires and weres. He simply trained them, pushed them to the limit in their abilities. They barely knew anything outside of the compound and what they were allowed to know. How could he not tell them that they had mates out there somewhere. She mentally scoffed. She knew why. He was afraid that they'd leave. He was afraid that there'd be an uproar. Maybe she should tell.

"You okay little sister?" Zach said, looking in her direction.

"Yeah...just thinking is all."

-Alex-

I was lying on the blanket watching Santana stare up into the sky. It was nine but still fairly light out. "I love warm fall nights." She said with a small smile. I couldn't help but smile at her expression. We had finished out picnic half an hour ago but had been lying on the ground, holding hands enjoying being in the company of the other.I leaned up on my elbow and stared down at her, she smiled at me and blushed slightly. "What?"

"Just enjoying the view." I said with a grin. She rolled her eyes but didn't break eye contact with me. "You ready to go to see some animals?"She nodded and I stood, helping her up after. We packed up everything and made our way back to the car.

"So how is it exactly that we're able to go to the zoo at this time of night?" She asked as we climbed into the car.

"I know a guy." I said with a cheeky wink.

We walked through the zoo hand in hand with our own personal guide. We were even allowed in the enclosures. I enjoyed listening to Ana's squeals of delight at all of animals. She especially liked the larger animals like the hippos and elephants. We had almost seen the entire zoo and all of its inhabitants and I tried to contain my excitement at how the night would end. All she wore was a simple black and white striped maxi dress with a low slung belt and gladiator sandals. I adjusted myself in my jeans as I imagined how she'd look completely naked and underneath me. I only prayed that she liked my surprise.

We thanked our guide, a fellow vampire as we climbed back into the car, heading to the National Air and Space Museum. I could tell that she was anxious but there was also excitement in her expression. "Thank you for all of this." She said quietly, leaning into my body.

I couldn't help but smile. "Don't think me just yet. Our night is far from over." She simply nodded. "You still nervous?" I asked, looking into her eyes for any signs of hesitation.

"Yes but I'm more excited than anything. It's all I've been thinking about since I met you." She responded, looking up into my face. I leaned in and pressed my lips lightly to hers. She returned my kiss with an intensity I hadn't expected and we were soon fully making out in the backseat of the car. Her moans as our tongues dueled made me want to take her right then and there but I knew she deserved more than that. I pulled back, her sweet whimper at my actions almost broke my resolve.

"We're here, baby." I said taking a deep breath. She nodded and I climbed out of the car, helping her out after. She gasped and I couldn't help but smile at her reaction as she noticed the small candles lighting the way into the museum. I nodded in acknowledgement at the man at the door, another vampire who I now owed a huge favor.

"Really?" was all that she said and I couldn't help but laugh.

"Yes, really. Come on." I said, reaching for her hand. We followed the candles through the building and to the entrance of the planetarium. "Close your eyes." I whispered into her ear. I waited until she complied before I opened the door. "No peaking." I admonished when I saw her eyelids flutter. "Ok. You can open them now." I stared at her face, eager to see every flicker of emotion pass thorough her expression.

"Oh. My. God." She said looking around at the scene before her. I watched shock, disbelief, amazement, appreciation, and adoration transition on her beautiful face. She looked up and gasped once more, a single tear falling from her glistening eyes. I leaned over and kissed that tear away. "The stars...Alex..."

"I wanted to make love to you beneath the stars." I said, leading her over towards the bed that I had set up. The screens held a scene of the brightest, stars imaginable and the bed was draped in white silk. There were two glasses of wine and a bottle of champagne cooling by the bed. What she didn't see was the blue box with white ribbon hidden beneath the pillows.