I was speechless. What was he talking about? I immediately started asking him questions, unsure where to even start.

“What do you mean I’m your mate? And betrothed? I’m not promised to anyone. That very idea is crazy!” I hissed at him.

He gestured toward the couch, “Let’s sit down. We need to talk.”

“No. I want explanations now. Tell me the truth Osmar. So there was never a threat?”

He shook his head, “I just needed a way to get close to you.”

“That’s it?” I said bitterly, “You wanted to get close to me so you did so by being deceitful? You think that’s okay with me? You think that would make me love you?”

He was silent, speechless, for once. That satisfied me to no end. Finally, he didn’t have a snappy comeback and it was because there was nothing he could say to make things better. And he knew it.

I didn’t bother trying too hard to hide how I really felt. I was shocked. I felt so betrayed and most of all, stupid.

I walked away from him and when he tried to catch my arm, I turned around and screamed at him. “Just leave me alone! Go away!”

“Cameron, please, just listen to me.”

I was done listening as I moved to my bedroom door. I walked in and slammed it behind me. I needn’t have bothered because he was suddenly in the bedroom with me, standing next to the bed where we had made love countless times.

Immediately, I became angry. So this was what it was like to get into an argument with a warlock? It meant that you never got any space.

“So tell me about all your lies. All the times I asked you about this so-called person who was coming after you. What about that?”

“I had to lie, Cameron. If I hadn’t, you wouldn’t have gotten to know me. You would have turned me away. So yeah, I lied. I did what I thought was best.”

I was too angry to pick his words apart, “But why Osmar? You couldn’t just walk up to me and ask me out on a date like a normal person? And what’s this about you being my mate? I’m a human. I don’t have a mate. I have a partner. Or a boyfriend or a husband, for goodness sake.”

“You are my mate. Do you want to know the real reason beings like me show up in this town?”

I crossed my arms and just stared at him, knowing I was acting immature, but at that point, I didn’t really care.

“No. Why?” I said grudgingly.

“To find our mates. For some reason, this town, this area, calls to us. It’s a draw that we cannot ignore nor shake off. When I arrived I realized that my mate, the one I was meant to be with, was a human. I saw you walk out of the bank and I just knew my mate was you. And I felt as if I knew you. My desire for you emotionally, physically, was so strong it hurt.”

I could only stare at him silently, because I had felt the same way.

“I never felt that way about anyone else. I talked to Jackie about you and she made it clear that you weren’t interested in my kind, so I had to find a way to get you to give me a chance, to get to know me.”

“Let me reiterate; you could have just knocked on my door like a normal guy and took me out on a date.”

“Please. You would have taken one look at me, realized I was one of the ‘others’ and wanted nothing to do with me.”

“You don’t know that.”

“Be honest with yourself, and with me, Cameron. You wouldn’t have given me a chance.”

I didn’t want to admit he was right so I threw his words back in his face, “Why should I be honest with you Osmar, when from the beginning, you’ve been lying to me?”

“I shouldn’t have lied, but I didn’t know what else to do. I’m sorry.”

“So all that was a ruse? The blood? The wound? They were all fake?”

He nodded, “Go ahead and be angry, but I did what I had to do to be with you. I just find it ironic that all of it was worthless; because of what I’ve done, you don’t even want me in your life anymore.”

He seemed angry now and exasperated. He sat down on my couch and raked a hand through his hair, “I’ve been looking for you my whole life. Something, I don’t know what, drew me here. To you. I spent so much time trying to come up with a way to approach you, but I couldn’t think of anything. I knew I had to do something to make it seem like I needed you, something convincing where even if you knew what I was, it wouldn’t matter.”

“And so your plan was to show up naked at my door?” I said incredulously.

He laughed ruefully, “I figured that I might as well use all my assets. If I was going to lie, at least I was going to give you something nice to look at.”

I was silent for a second and then said, “I understand why you lied.”

He looked up at me in surprise, “You do?”

I nodded. “You’re right. I wouldn’t have even entertained your interest. Even though I’ve spent my whole life living around your kind, well not a weredragon or warlock, whatever you prefer to be called, I would have been too scared to start something with you.”

I sat down next to him, “So you knew from the beginning that you wanted to be with me?”

He shook his head, “No. I didn’t want to be with you. I had to be with you. I felt something immediately. When I saw you for the first time, it was as if you had part of my soul.”

My hand shook as I reached for his, “I guess I should say that I know the feeling. At first, I thought it was just lust. But no, I want so much more from you. I was just too afraid until now to tell you.”

I wrapped my arms around his neck and kissed him softly, hoping that with my kiss, he could feel the emotions that I still had not spoken. I hadn’t said how his smile brightened my day. I hadn’t said how much I enjoyed talking to him, how his mere presence relaxed me. I didn’t mention that I felt that he was my soulmate. However, I did mention that I loved him.

As I pulled my mouth away from his, we said it together and then laughed. He stared down into my eyes and I stared back into his, “Does this mean you accept my apology?” He ventured.

I shrugged my shoulders, “No, it means I forgive you for now, but be prepared to spend your whole life being reminded of how much you screwed up.”

“The rest of my life?”

“At least,” I said as I brought my lips up to his again for another heartfelt kiss.