UNTANGLING HERSELF FROM Darius' arm, Ophelia turned to face him. She didn't know why she was disturbed by what she just heard.

It wasn't the killing, the taking of humans, and neither was it the constant confusion dancing in her mind.

It was the idea that Darius had a soulmate who he must be waiting for, or had possibly found. Everything inside of her wanted to ask him to confirm or deny her doubts.

"It still doesn't explain why you have decided to tell me all these," Ophelia said instead. "Why are you here with me instead of at home with your soulmate?"

The sides of his lips tilted up into a smile." That's because you are my mate, Ophelia. You are the other half of my soul. The one I am destined to be with."

"What? How?" Ophelia blurted out in shock. She shifted back so there was some space between them.

Darius took her hands in his. "You have no idea how long I've been searching for you. Even now, I'm unable to believe that the one I've been searching for, all my life, was just right here in New York City."

Shaking her head, Ophelia took back her hands. "But that's not possible. I am human. "

"Every one in a thousand mates is human. It isn't impossible, just not too common," Darius responded.

Ophelia still wasn't convinced. "How sure are you that I am your mate? How can you tell?"

"Each mate has a scent unique only to their soulmate. Yours is the scent of wild berries and rain. Also, the attraction I feel for you is undeniable and I assume you feel the same?" Darius said, his voice hopeful.

Indeed, she felt an attraction for him, and as he said, it was undeniable. She just wasn't sure if this was a good or a bad thing.

"Regardless of whether or not I feel the same way about you, it doesn't change the fact that I am human and you are a Werewolf. I don't think I belong in your world, Darius. "

Darius was quick to respond. "No, Ophelia. We may belong to different species but nothing has felt more right. "

Ophelia said nothing for some time. She was unable to think clearly, as every cell in her body was trying to convince her to accept him.

She hated how even without much effort, he seemed to always be able to affect her thoughts. But most of all, she hated how she couldn't find any reason to reject him.

With that last thought in mind, she stood up from the bed.

"I have to go," she announced, looking around for her bag and boots. She found her bag on the bedside table and grabbed it.

Darius got up too, walked to the door and came back with her black boots.

"I just want you to know that for me, it is either you or nobody else. I will be waiting for you at the hotel's car park tomorrow evening by six.

"If you don't show up, I will take it that you've decided to reject the mate-bond, and I will return to Montana the next day.

"Whatever you decide to do about us, I will understand and accept it," he said, staring intensely into her eyes.

Ophelia swallowed dryly, her throat becoming dry all of a sudden. It was getting harder to hold herself back.

Her fingers tightened against the strap of her bag and despite the resistance from her body, Ophelia left the room without another word.

~•~°×°~•~

Closing the door behind her, Ophelia leaned against it. Throughout the journey home, she felt that someone was following her but she knew it was probably Darius' men.

"Where have you been, Ophelia?" A voice suddenly asked from the living room.

At the sound of the voice, Ophelia's mood instantly dampened into seething annoyance.

"Hello, Mother," Ophelia greeted dryly, taking off her boots and coat. She walked into the living room to find a woman, sitting on the couch, staring blankly at her.

Pauline Monroe was a beautiful redhead with light brown eyes. Even at the age of fifty-four, she could easily pass as Ophelia's sister. Ophelia inherited her mother's long red hair but her blue eyes were from her father.

Staring into Pauline's face felt like staring at a slightly older version of herself yet Ophelia couldn't see the resemblance.

"I ask again, Ophelia, where have you been?" Pauline repeated, standing up and walking up to where Ophelia was standing by the doorway.

She sniffed the air around Ophelia and immediately, a look of distaste appeared on her face.

"Who were you with?" Pauline asked again.

"The last time I checked, who I go out with is my business, and not yours," Ophelia responded.

Suddenly, Pauline gripped both Ophelia's arms and jerked her a little.

"Answer me!"

Ophelia knew then that her mother was not in the mood to let her off for her rudeness that day, but Ophelia could care less, and shoved her mother's hands off her.

"It doesn't concern you."

She then stepped into her room, leaving her mother in the living room. As she changed into another set of clothes, she wondered what could be the reason for her mother's strange behaviour.

Ophelia knew Pauline to be a temperamental and short-tempered person but Pauline was always straightforward about what she wanted and didn't want.

Not once did Pauline try to control her life. Besides showing up once in a while, Pauline pretty much left Ophelia alone. Even when Ophelia would act up to get her mother's attention, Pauline would never reprimand or punish her.

Everything Ophelia knew was taught by her aunt, Isobela. At the age of fourteen, Ophelia just stopped caring.

"You didn't come home last night," Pauline said from the door. "Where were you and who were you with?"

Sighing, Ophelia veered around to face her blank-faced mother with her own blank face on.

"Don't you think you are seventeen years too late to be a mother and ten years too late to care?" Ophelia asked, not intending to sound taunting but she did anyway.

Pauline looked taken aback. "It seems like my little sister did a worse job than I thought in taking care of you."

"Do not speak of her that way! She is more of a mother than you will ever be in two lifetimes!" Ophelia snapped, pointing a finger at Pauline.

The anger Pauline felt was evident on her face. "How dare you?!"

"No, Pauline! How dare you?! How dare you waltz into my life once again with your false concern about my well-being?

"And what's worse, you're trying to act like you have been a mother to me for the past seventeen years... Wait, that's not right," Ophelia paused with an unamused chuckle.

"Twenty-two years. The last twenty-two years. You stopped being my mother the moment you gave birth to me and decided that I was too weak to be your daughter!"

{•}

Thank you for reading.