Author's note: this is from Seraphina's point of view

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I remembered Duke's bruises magically disappearing after his fight with Lazarus… and the fact that he was unrivaled in sports in high school… Duke's fight with four muggers, and with Lazarus…

My breathing hitched.

No wonder Duke looked at me smugly when I spoke on the phone with Calista. Actually, for every phone call I did in his presence, I had a feeling he knew what the other person said. My feeling was not wrong. He heard it.

I rested my forehead in my hand as all pieces came together, answering the questions I didn't know I had.

How come I didn't see it?

Why did I always justify him as being perfect, superior?

Why didn't I think he is more than human?

I shook my head helplessly.

"Jasmine, Japanese wisteria, rain…"

"What?", Aldus asked, and I raised my head to look at him.

"Jasmine, Japanese wisteria, rain. That's how I smell to him." I let out a shaky breath. "When did you find out?"

Aldus rubbed his chin. "I had my suspicions since our trip to Paris when we met with Vesper for managing your pheromones."

I was flabbergasted. "That was three years ago. Did you meet with Duke then? I mean… Drago. Mateo."

Crap! I was so confused that I didn't even know how to call him anymore. I decided to stick with Duke. No matter who his parents are, he is still my Duke.

Aldus shook his head. "I didn't meet with him. You did."

I did? What was he talking about? Did he take one of his experimental drugs?

"Come again."

"In the apartment. On the terrace. You said that you felt his touch and heard his voice."

I remembered the event, but… "That was just my imagination. It lasted no more than a few seconds, and when I turned around, no one was there."

"The experience you described is called Soul Echo. It happens when two individuals share an extraordinary connection, and they want the same thing. I remember that you told me how you wanted to be with him, and I believe that he wanted the same, hence, you established the connection. There is not a single case reported of humans accomplishing this because human bodies don't contain enough energy to make it happen."

I frowned. "You are saying, that was real."

Aldus nodded and I remembered that it was not only that one event. I had many dreams about Duke that allowed me to spend my nights in his embrace. It all felt real, too real, but I believed it's a dream because I couldn't see him, and I rejected the possibility of something like that happening.

What about all our conversations? All those were real? Does Duke remember them also, or was that just me?

Wait a minute! I remember Duke telling me that he dreamed about me many times!

Aldus was talking again, and I focused on his words.

"I knew that it was Soul Echo, but I was not sure what he was. You were still adapting to the existence of creatures, and I didn't want to add to your anxiousness by talking nonsense without confirming it. I was curious, but I decided not to approach the boy unless he becomes a permanent presence in your life. I didn't know anything about him, but if my hunch was correct and he was a powerful creature, he would probably have others of his kind in his surroundings and if I made my appearance, that might cause a ripple effect whose consequences I couldn't predict. So I waited."

Aldus let out a long exhale and continued. "When I met the boy last weekend, I noticed his extraordinary vitality, I confirmed that he is not human. In order to get some clues into what Drago is, I had a chat with Sergio, and I connected the dots. I acquired the last piece of the puzzle when I went to check their apartment building for the defensive arrays. I entered Drago's apartment and I took some samples. DNA test confirms that the man living in apartment 5D is the same person who came to me as a boy two decades ago."

I nodded absentmindedly and my head was a mess as the information sank in.

Duke has a blood of a werewolf running through him.

And not just any werewolf. He is the son of the Supreme Alpha.

How is it possible that he grew up into his mid-twenties without knowing he is special? Actually, he is probably aware he is special, but without knowing about creatures, he would not think about werewolves.

I laughed at myself. I'm aware of creatures, yet I always came up with an excuse for his peculiar behavior and traits.

When Lazarus challenged Duke's right to be with me, I wanted to persuade him to stop. If I knew he has werewolf blood, I would probably give up on that useless struggle. Duke was territorial about me.

My mind was in a tizzy, and Aldus waited patiently for me to finish processing what I just heard.

Part of me was happy. Between me and Duke, I was not the only non-human weirdo.

Werewolves. I remembered how massive Fynn and Lazarus are in their wolf form. As the Supreme Alpha, Duke's wolf should be larger, right? Too bad that he can't shapeshift. But maybe Aldus can help him.

"You said that Mateo was in your lab, and you examined him."

"In one of my labs, nineteen years ago. I went through my notes.", Aldus said and placed one folder on his desk, telling me that he understood where I was going with it, and he was ready. "At that time, I felt a faint presence within the child, but I couldn't do any tests because he was too young."

"What about now?"

"I can do the tests, but I can't make any predictions on the outcome at this time.", Aldus responded. "I can confirm that he has at least a few centuries of lifespan left. I will need him in my lab in order to find out more, but it will be difficult to do all that without telling him about what his father was. Of course, we can knock him out, but the tests might take days and we will need to come up with some reason why he was out for so long."

I stifled a laugh. Aldus was already planning to knock out Duke and drag him into a lab for experiments. That's my father.

"Do you think it will be easy to drug the son of the Supreme Alpha?"

Aldus looked at me and smiled. "You took this better than I thought you will."

Did I? I probably did. "To be honest, knowing that Duke is a werewolf makes me feel better. He is not a human who jumps ahead of the curve every time, but there is a reason behind his perfection. Duke being a werewolf fills in so many gaps and things make sense now."

Aldus's brows furrowed as he chose his words carefully. "Are you not worried if you are his mate?"

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