The voice called out to me like a sound from Heaven. It was Casper’s voice. I hadn’t heard it in ten years, but I knew it was him. I had to contain myself from sprinting forward out of the darkness of the trees where I was hidden, and racing into the enormous house I’d tracked his scent to.

What was he doing in a place like this? Was he some sort of kingpin or something? The mansion was unlike anything I’d ever seen, at least the size of the main building of Mrs. Brown’s, and something like you see on TV on those shows about the rich and famous. And Casper was here?

I opened my mouth to call back to him, but the sight of the suited men in the driveway and at the door stopped me. There was something not right about the whole place, and who was that enormous, cigar-smoking man who had been talking to him in the driveway?

I had a funny feeling about the whole thing, so I kept quiet. If this was really Casper’s home, he’d have no problems coming outside to greet me. But if there was something fishy going on, like he was a prisoner here or something, it was better to remain unseen.

My eyes scoured the windows of the mansion, searching for the source of his voice, and then I saw it. On the third floor, a silhouette, backlit by the light inside the room – it was Casper.

“Casper…” I whispered as tears began to well up in my eyes. How was this possible? I’d only just begun really thinking about him again a few days ago, when Mikey and Jet’s child was born, and now here he was less than a few hundred feet away from me? If there was ever a sign from the universe that two people were meant to be together, this was it.

I looked down and wiped the tears from my eyes and cheeks, but as I looked back up at him, I saw the window was empty. My heart leapt in my chest and I searched the other windows for any sign of him. But I saw nothing.

“Shit!” I cursed under my breath, feeling my fox cry out for action. I wanted to shift and race past those men and into the house and find my fated mate, but I had to be patient. There was definitely something…off about the place, and if I did something now to screw things up, I might lose my chance of being with him again.

Something moved in Casper’s window. I looked up to see a monstrous shadow, the silhouette of the enormous cigar-smoking man I’d seen earlier. He was peering out into the darkness.

Searching for me?

His scent drifted down to the ground like a toxic cloud. It was thick, acrid and pungent, like a day old sweaty shirt that desperately needed a wash. That, combined with the stink of his cigar, was enough to make my stomach turn.

“Who are you…?” I whispered as I backed up slowly, moving deeper into the shadows. My scent wouldn’t reach that far tonight, not without a strong wind. He was inside, where Casper’s scent and his cigar would overwhelm him. But it was clear he was searching the air. Somehow, this man had power over Casper, and I felt the anger rising within me.

“Hmmm…” I heard him muse. He stepped back, slammed the window shut and locked it. My entire body tensed up as my fox screamed at me to leap into action, but I forced myself to remain still.

Just wait, I told myself over and over. Let him come to you.

I can’t be sure how long I sat there, crouched in the darkness, waiting for my fated mate to come outside, but it was long enough that the men in the driveway had a shift change and were replaced by others.

When the light to Casper’s room went off, I almost gave in and rushed over to the house, but when the side door opened, and I saw his silhouette as he stepped outside, I couldn’t even move.

There he is!

I watched as he looked around – searching for me.

“Red?” his voice called out, barely audible.

“Casper!” I called back softly. But he didn’t hear me. I tried again, louder this time. “Casper!”

That did it.

He turned, and slowly I inched forward out of the shadows. He saw me. Instantly, he was running through the snow in my direction. I wanted to race out to meet him halfway, but I stayed still and out of sight. It wasn’t until he reached me that I allowed myself to move.

He leapt into my arms and I hugged him so tightly I had to stop myself before I snapped him into pieces. My lips found his instantly, and as they met, the rest of the world ceased to exist entirely.

Where my soul was once half, it was now whole. Everything about me that had been incomplete was now complete, like the missing final stanza of a poem – the perfect rhyme I’d been searching for for so long.

His body was like a glowing ball of energy in my arms, and I held him tighter than I’d ever held him, or anyone else in my life.

I kissed him like I could eat him up, devour him and bring us together as one. Because that’s what we were – not two separate people, but a single being made from nothing but love.

“Red!” he gasped between kisses. “How? How – are – you here?”

“Your scent!” I gasped back, my hands on his cheeks. “I was at Mrs. Brown’s.”

“So was I!” he stammered. Tears streamed down his cheeks and onto mine, mixing with the ones that were already there. We were both unapologetic blubbering messes. My love and lust were swelling inside me like a wave, giving me that fuzzy feeling I hadn’t felt since I was a teenager.

“But why!?”

“I – I don’t know!” he tried to explain. “I just – I was thinking about you, and I wanted to go reminisce.”

“That’s exactly what happened to me!” I laughed, trying to stay quiet. “But – what are you doing here? Where have you been all this time?”

Casper paused and leaned his forehead against mine. His legs were wrapped tight around my waist, and his arms clutched my shoulders like he was afraid he was going to lose me again.

“That’s, uh…that’s a long story.”

My heart sank. “You’re married…”

“No!” he gasped, pulling my eyes to his. I’d forgotten just how beautiful they were. “No, it’s not like that! I’m…basically a prisoner boy-toy.”

Boy-toy!? I snarled and felt my fangs extend as I realized who the big fat man with the cigar was.

“He’s…paying you?” I asked, afraid of the answer.

“No!” Casper replied quickly. “Look – this is what happened. I was working for a trucking company, and they were owned by the mob. I stumbled upon something I shouldn’t have seen, and they were going to kill me. Sonny told me he’d take me in, protect me, and not let the bosses know I was alive – just as long as I was his and gave him children. If I left, he’d kill me. That’s – that’s why I never came back to the orphanage.”

“And…have you?” I said slowly, asking another question I didn’t want the answer to.

“Have I what?”

“Given him children.”

“No!” he replied firmly. “Casper, I haven’t even slept with him. I haven’t – I haven’t slept with anyone.”

My heart leapt for joy and I kissed him, pressing my tongue deep into his mouth. I wanted to eat him up. I wanted every part of him, inside and out. My fated mate had been returned to me.

Just then, a sound came from the house and we both looked over to see the front door open and the enormous fat man, who must have been Sonny, step outside.

“You guys seen Casper?” he said to the two men at the door. They both shook their heads but didn’t reply. “Shit-fuck.”

Sonny spat on the ground and closed the door behind him. Casper looked back at me as he let go of me and dropped to the ground.

“I have to go!” he whispered. “Sonny wants to take me to bed tonight – but I’m not going to let him, Red! I’m not! I just have to make up an excuse so he’ll leave me alone, and then I’ll come to you. I will come to you soon, just wait here!”

He moved to run back to the house, but I took him by the hand and pulled him back. “Make sure you wash my scent off you!” I told him before kissing him. “I’ll wait right here for you.”

“Promise?” he asked timidly.

“I waited ten years, Casper,” I smiled. “Another ten minutes won’t kill me.”