The night had ended with Lucas and Malena eating the dinner I prepared and teleporting back to home. My night was it's usual way and getting up at the crack of dawn was the same as well.

The day continued as it always did and I was eventually clocking out for the day and about to go home to enjoy the rest of my day and my day off tomorrow. Rhoda had said that I deserved a day off and that she wouldn't take no for an answer. If I were to show up tomorrow she'd fire me- or so she says.

Having stepped outside of the diner, I looked up, expecting to see him there. But he wasn't. The storefront was empty and I was confused as to why.

Once I turned to my left though, I knew why. Because he sat at a street table, looking directly at me, waiting. The seat across from him was pushed out as if he were expecting someone. That someone being me.

I knew I could no longer fight it. I couldn't pretend that I didn't see him or that he was, in fact, waiting for me. I knew it and I wish I could ignore it but regardless of how the nervousness set in my body, there was something about him that enthralled me. I felt an undeniable attraction, much deeper than physical appearances, and I didn't know why.

His aura was one that was a mixture of deep red and a slight translucent gray. The red came from him being grounded and a realist. Someone who is strong and independent. While the gray meant he was guarded, protected from things that he felt he had control over. He had other mixtures but those two colors were the most prominent and that, again, made me nervous.

Sighing while I toyed with my necklace, I walked over to him, sitting down without a word. He didn't say anything either and it the situation tense to me. To him, he seemed relaxed, calm, heartbeat steady. That confused me but also made me even more enthralled.

What was it about him?

"I think it's about time we talk," he started, his voice completely taking me off guard. It was deep, very deep. It went through my body in waves and made me shiver from how deep yet melodic it was. I could listen to him talk all day.

"Do I pretend that I don't know why that is?" I question, surprisingly sounded as if I wasn't as eager to be in his presence.

I saw a faint smirk show on his face. "It depends," he replies. "Something tells me you don't know everything that I do."

Oh, how I beg to differ. "Try me."

"Well for starters, we both know that you're the rogue that my pack has been searching for. We both know that for some reason you don't have a scent so that I wouldn't have been able to figure it out that it was, in fact, you. There you have me beat as to how I cannot smell anything except your perfume."

"So exactly where to do you think you know more than I do?"

"I'll reveal my secret once you reveal yours."

"Well, I'm not revealing my secret here."

"Then your place it is." I raised an eyebrow in question at his forwardness. "Unless you want to come to the pack house where I can interrogate you there."

Something about the way he said it made me make up my mind quickly. Standing up, I began to walk to my apartment with him in tow. The silence between us wasn't awkward, it just wasn't something I was used to. Granted, all the men I was in presence with I never had such an attraction like I did with him.

I wasn't sure if we'd discuss why I felt the way I did, something in my body told me I would figure it out in time but the inpatience I felt overpowered the need to be patient.

Once reaching my floor, I stepped out of the elevator and walked to the end of the hall where my apartment was. He followed close behind and once he was inside and the door was closed and locked, I instantly waved my hand to have the candles become lit. He noticed almost admittedly when he didn't hear the noise of the outside anymore. Though it was a privacy spell, it helped close me off from the outside world, sometimes it getting overbearing. I had spent nine years in utter silence, sometimes just the small constant talk of people outside irritated me.

He looked around in confusion before settling on me.

"What are you?" he asked.

"I'm like you," I said. "And not at the same time."

"I don't like riddles."

I snorted unladylike. "I don't either." He didn't find it amusing. Sitting down on the golden loveseat, he sat down on my pink couch. He didn't lean back into relax, he remained upright, posture somewhat stiff, elbows on his knees.

"What are you?" he questioned again.

I sighed. "I'm a half-breed," I answered. He waited for more information. "I'm a mixture of a wolf and a witch."

Recognition went across his face and he began to lean back in slight shock. "I thought that was just a myth."

"It's funny how humans believe that werewolves such as ourselves our myths and yet we have a problem accepting wolves and witches can be combined."

"Why are you on my territory?" he asks.

"Change of scenery," I said easily.

"Your name?"

"Emerald."

"How old are you?"

"Nineteen," I respond.

He nods his head. "How come I cannot smell your scent?"

"I masked my scent. I could reveal it anytime I want but I didn't risk it for fear of being found out."

"How long have you been on my territory?"

"Little over six months." He looked shocked. "Yeah, I don't know why it took you so long either."

"So what else can you do? Since you're a half-breed."

"Everything that a witch can do."

"And your wolf?"

"I haven't shifted since my first transformation."

"Because..."

I shrugged. "I'm not sure and there aren't many answers as to why. I had to train a lot in my human form and that's it. I still have my wolf senses though just can't hear her nor channel her." He nods his head like he understood even though I knew he was confused. We sat in silence for a while, waiting for him to process what little information I gave him.

This was going a lot smoother than what I had anticipated and I appreciated the fact that he wasn't interrogating me like I had feared he would. But that only made me confused as to why I wasn't being treated like a regular rogue. Maybe it was the fact that he was more curious as to why I was different from the rest and wanted to get understanding before he locked me up. But looking at him, and his aura, I knew that wasn't his intention. So then what was?

I finally broke the silence after a while, coming to realize that he had previously said that he had something over me that I didn't know. At this point, I still didn't believe but I was curious to see what he thought it was.

"What else do you know?" I question. "That I supposedly don't."

The faint form of a smirk came back as he got off my couch and kneeled in front of me. My back was rested against the back of the loveseat, I looked at him waiting to see what he'd do.

His hand reached out to mine and when he firmly brought my small, delicate-like hand into his rough and callous one, I began to feel like I was on fire. But a good fire, nothing like the hot flashes I had for weeks on end. It ignited something in my body and made me yearn for him much more than I had previously felt.

Mate. Something said within me. If it weren't for the vague familiarity of the voice I wouldn't have thought twice about it.

Lilly.

It was the first time I had heard from her in three years. And yet all she said was something so minuscule as the word mate.

Then I realized.

I had a mate.

It was Garret.

And now I understood why he hadn't captured me.

"I Garret Johnson," he started. Even though I tried to remain neutral, I couldn't help but feel petrified as he began to speak. Was he going to reject me because of my other half? Because I wasn't completely like him? My heart began to feel like it was breaking and even though I couldn't entirely feel Lilly, I heard her whimper. His eyes widen in realization. "Oh no Emerald, I'm not rejecting you. I'm accepting you. As my mate. If you'll accept me."

All I could do was stare.