He waits patiently for me, knowing I’ve never been one to be rushed. I guess some things don’t change. Huh.
“Yesterday afternoon I was driving into town to get some supplies. I stopped on my way because I caught a scent, one I reacted to,” my words are slow while I try and get my thoughts together.
“Reacted how?”
“I slammed on my brakes and no matter how much I wanted to keep driving, my body wouldn’t cooperate with me.” The questions in Karloff’s eyes are so damn easy to read, it’s almost laughable. “It smelled like blueberry muffins and oranges, both of which I love. It reminded me of home.” I let out a self-deprecating chuckle. “Not a lot feels like home, but this scent did,” I rub the back of my neck and correct myself, “does.”
“What was the scent?”
“A woman.” Karloff is hanging on every word. “Dakota. She’s new to town. She came out of the house I was parked in front of, unable to go any farther. When she looked up at me,” I rub my hand on my chest over where my heart is pounding, “something happened. Something shifted? I don’t know how to describe it, but I wanted her. I’ve never wanted a woman before,” I whisper the last words.
“Sexual attraction is normal, Jace,” his voice takes on a matter-of-fact doctor tone which is different from his excited mad scientist tone.
“It’s more than that.” I close my eyes, unable to bear holding his gaze when I keep going and lay all the facts at his feet. “I kept fantasizing about grabbing her and biting her.” I reach up and touch the place where my neck and shoulder meet. “Right here. I want to bite her deep enough so that my mark will always be there. I want to do it while she’s coming all over my dick,” I scoff a little because I didn’t mean to say all of that.
Karloff makes a humming sound and leans back in his own chair. “And you say you’ve never experienced anything like this?”
“No,” I bark. “Never. I’ve never wanted to fuck a woman, not really. I thought they were attractive, but this is different. It’s more than attraction. It’s a craving. There’s this pull I feel to go to her and it’s always there. I’ve been following her while keeping my distance and watching her. I need to make sure she was safe.”
“You’ve been stalking her?” There’s no judgement in his tone, only curiosity. “You feel like you can’t leave her?”
“Sure, we can call it stalking.” I shrug and the chair groans at the shift in my weight. “I don’tfeellike I can’t leave her. Ican’tdo it. The only reason I was able to come here now is because she’s in her house, locked up and alone. It wouldn’t be enough by itself, but I also marked the property as my territory.”
“Is she your territory as well?”
“Yes,” I growl, the truth so easy to find in my heart, the feral part of me rising the closer I get to a realization about Dakota’s place in my life.
“Have you talked to her?”
I blow out a breath, not exactly proud of the way I treated her, but I wasn’t prepared for her to walk into me. I didn’t expect for her to be feeling the same pull and not being able to ignore it. She’s human. A gorgeous human who I desperately want to make mine.
“Yeah,” I croak out before clearing my throat. “I was watching her this afternoon at the shop she’s fixing up to open her pet treat business.” Karloff presses his lips together, but I can see the amusement in his eyes. If I wasn’t freaking the fuck out, I might find it funny as well. “I didn’t make the best first impression. Her scent was driving my instincts and I was afraid of what I might do.”
“Your instinct to bite her? Not to hurt her, but to mark her? You said mark, right?”
“Yes,” I growl, my primal nature taking a front seat, the words coming from the darkest parts of the monster I’ve become, “I need to mark my mate.”
“Mate,” Karloff breathes out. “Oh my. Oh my,” he starts chanting and I can see the gears in his head spinning. “You said mate.”
I shake my head as if shaking off the baser part of myself and take a deep breath. “What the fuck does that even mean? It’s like this,” I clench my fists, trying to ignore that he’s at fault for what I am, “creature I am now is trying to tell me something I should already know.” Each word starts getting louder, "How the fuck am I supposed to know anything about me? About the monster? I shouldn’t even fucking exist.”
Karloff’s eyes turn soft as he nods in understanding. “I know, Jace, and I know sorry isn’t going to turn back time.” I give a curt nod, the need to go back to Dakota and see her starting to ride me hard. “I think you’ve met your fated mate.” My eyes widen and I blink at him. “There’s a lot of lore out there and I think some of it may apply to you. Fated mates are unique, special, your perfect other half. Maybe,” he sighs and shrugs one shoulder, “this is the way to find a balance and to get back something I took from you.”
“A fated mate,” my voice is full of awe. I don’t even know what the fuck to say to that. “I’m not sure I know what that means.”
Karloff looks me dead in the eye. “She’s your soulmate. Cherish her. She’s yours. Not your property, but the only person in this world who is your match.” I stand up quickly, his words making, surprisingly, perfect sense while igniting my need to see her even more. “Trust your instincts. You are what you are, it’s time to accept it.”
I snarl at him, but I don’t tell him where he can shove accepting this bullshit. I force my face to relax, and I give him a nod before giving into what everything inside of me is screaming to do. I need to see my woman.
CHAPTER 4
DAKOTA
The knock at the door has my heart racing and not in a good way. Is it possible that Macneal has followed me here? Would he go that far? He was obsessed with me while I was in Denver, but he should get over that quickly. Out of sight, out of mind.
Right?
When the knock sounds again, softer this time, I find myself curious about who is on the other side instead of being scared. I get the hint of a scent in the air, but I’m still wearing what I was today because there’s the smell of Jace on me. The idea of changing or showering made me sick to my stomach.