3. Fancying Him
1087 Words
Every each way Serena looked, each time she saw a lean and yet fit man, she could almost daydream it was Gregory – was it even his name? – coming for her, coming to claim her as his.
After the wild and raunchy night with Benjamin, the guilt came on to her, strong, like never before.
She reasoned it wouldn’t hurt to indulge, seeing as her mate never sought her out after their encounter at the clinic. One ought to not forget that he didn’t care for a mate to begin with. Warlocks had different priorities, it would seem, than getting partnered with someone for life.
She couldn’t blame him. He and she were different in many aspects although they belonged to the same world. She wasn’t even sure they were compatible… but then again, if their destinies were intertwined, and they were meant to be, there would be no escaping the mate bond.
She had to believe that.
She just had to, lest she went mad with sorrow and despair. Going berserk wasn’t an option or even on her to-do list.
Getting the attention she longed for from Benjamin – even if he wasn’t her fated one – made her less insecure, if only for those few hours she shared with him.
“On a scale of 1 to 10, how determined are you to get him?” Benjamin asked her the morning after as he prepared coffee for them both.
“8 maybe?” She said with a little bit of a pout.
“Maybe?” He echoed after her.
“8,” she repeated on a sigh. “He’s my mate.”
“Well, how about I help you out?” He offered.
She raised an eyebrow and straightened up, suddenly more alert and less languid. “How? I don’t even know whether he gave me his real name. The private detective I hired didn’t find any trace of him. The only Gregory Merrywell he found is way too old according to the picture I received in his report.”
“You met him at the clinic, is that correct?” He mused as he placed the coffee pot in front of her, and she poured some in her mug and his.
“Yeah, so?”
“Search for the patient instead, and that’ll surely lead you to him, one way or another,” he said in a suggesting manner.
Her eyes widened. Why hadn’t she thought of that?
“Brilliant!” She exclaimed.
“Yes, I can be,” he told her smugly, a smirk tugging at the corner of his lips.
“Don’t be a smartass,” she said in a chiding manner, even as she rolled her eyes at him.
“Anyway, I can help you get your fated mate,” he began and she nodded at him, all ears. “You can show him what he’s missing out on by fake dating me.”
“Nah, risky,” she shook her head negatively.
“But necessary,” he retorted. “I don’t see him pursuing you, unless you give him a reason to fight for your favors.”
“Elaborate,” she instructed.
“Warlocks more often than not get married, as you know,” he said simply, a shrug accompanying his statement.
She stiffened at the reminder. “Are you saying he could be married?”
“It’s a possibility,” he conceded. “But what I’m trying to say is that they never look for mates, given that they’re not the party for whom the mate bond is most dominant.” She nodded even as she sighed. “And if they do meet their mates by some twist of fate, they’re not easy to convince.”
“I know that,” Serena all but bit out.
“How about convincing him by igniting the fire of jealousy in his heart?”
“Tempting but risky,” she pouted. “What if he takes it the wrong way?”
“I’m not sure of his abilities, but I will stand my ground and fight him should he come for my head,” he retorted jokingly.
“I meant to say that he might become totally indifferent instead,” she clicked her tongue in dismay, the very possibility sorrowful to her.
“If he’s a hot-blooded man, he will not be able to resist your charms.”
“What’s the catch?” She then asked, already halfway to taking him up on the offer.
“I want you to be my date for my stepsister’s wedding,” he said. “They’ll try to play cupid on me. And I have close to no patience for that kind of nonsense nowadays.”
His stepsister was human, blissfully unaware of their kind, and both she and her mother often urged him to get married, not understanding his motives to remain single.
“Deal,” she accepted, seeing the distress in his eyes.
He truly didn’t want anyone to take on the matchmaker role.
He flashed her a grateful smile at that.
** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** ** **
Benjamin helped her find her elusive warlock of a mate. And almost as soon as he texted her the address, she found herself driving there – never stopping till she reached her destination.
She reread the text once she arrived there, making sure she wasn’t mistaken.
She wasn’t. Only the building appeared to be in shambles almost.
Could it be that Gregory was not the prince of Oblivion, but rather some common warlock pretending to be someone he wasn’t?
Benjamin’s report was short and straight to the point when he had called her earlier, “Your dear mate is called Gregory Marshall. He is the only brother the Merrywell sisters – Emily and Charlotte – have. I’ll text you his address shortly.”
She was about to get out of her flashy car when her body reacted in ways that were most expected and most delicious upon sensing him near.
Indeed, she soon enough saw him leaving the building with a small husky.
Her mate was a true warlock. Nature-loving, and into animals.
Her desire to be with him, to look into his eyes and get lost into their depths, to have him hold her close – as if to never let go – had never been as strong as that moment.
Her eyes stung as she briefly lost control over her beast.
Oh, how she fancied him!
- Writer
