Finding His Mate... Ch. 03

"Thanks." Ducking her head in embarrassment, Madison quickly put on her shoes and reached for her coat. Turning around, she looked up at Dante.

"Ready?" Nodding her head, she walked through the door and waited for Dante as he locked it.

Grabbing her hand, Dante led her down the short hallway to the elevator and pushed the first floor. He started preparing himself for the outside world and mentally went over everything he needed to do in the next weeks, including telling Madison what he was. He knew she wouldn't hold out much longer because the mating pull was getting so strong, but he had to find a way to show her everything slowly, if that were even possible. He just couldn't push this though. Sighing, he leaned his head back against the elevator wall and closed his eyes.

Madison looked over at Dante and watched as he entered boss mode. Gone was the sweet, joking man she just saw all yesterday, and in its place was a serious boss. She didn't know exactly what he did, but she did know that it dealt with something related to business. 'Whoever called him was in for it,' she thought to herself. She heard the bell ding, signaling to them they were on the bottom floor and was immediately pulled to Dante's side.

As they were walking through the lobby, Madison noticed that it seemed as though everyone was looking at them. She even noticed that a few were, once again, sniffing the air. Shaking off that weird feeling, she walked outside with Dante and waited for him to open the car door. Once she was inside the car, she watched as Dante walked around to the driver's side, stopping to give the valet boy a tip.

Getting inside the car, Dante immediately pulled away from the curb. As he was driving away, he realized he didn't even know where she lived. Stopping at a stop light, he looked over at Madison. "Where do you live?"

So lost in her thoughts, Madison didn't realize he was talking to her until she saw a tanned hand wave in front of her face. Startled, she looked over at him with wide eyes and smiled. "I'm so sorry. I didn't even realize you were talking to me." Telling him her address, Madison sat back and closed her eyes. There was so much she needed to do, including seeing if she still had a job. After the little encounter that happened the other day, she wouldn't be surprised if Moe started to resent her or even if he fired her. 'Serves him right,' she thought to herself. She looked out the window and noticed they were almost at her house. Grabbing her keys from out of her purse, she waited until the car stopped and reached for the handle. She was just about to open her car door when the doors locked. Looking over at Dante quizzically, she watched as he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, as if he didn't just lock the doors on her.

Stepping out the car, Dante walked over to her door and unlocked the car. Opening the door, he helped her out. "What was that about?"

Taking her hand, he walked up the steps to her building, walking in through the lobby. "I don't want you touching my door. A lady should wait for the man to open the door for her." Smiling, Madison walked them over to the elevator, happy that it was working and pushed the button. Pressing her floor number, she looked up at Dante.

"I thought chivalry was dead?" Shaking his head, he led them out of the elevator when they got to her floor, stopping to let Madison take over once they were out. As they were walking down the hall, he watched as each door passed them, looking specifically for one door. They were almost to her door when he immediately tensed smelling what could only be described as mildew or some kind of nasty, earthy smell. Noting the door number, he stopped behind Madison once they were in front of her door. Waiting for her to unlock the door, he smelled inside her house, making sure her scent was the only scent he smelled and relaxed. The last thing he needed was for someone to be in here.

Turning around, Madison looked into Dante's eyes and realized she didn't want this to end just yet. She liked spending time with him, even if she did fall asleep on him most of the time. She just hoped he wasn't like the rest and promised her something that he knew he couldn't commit to. Biting down on her bottom lip, she waited for what was to come next.

Dante looked down at her and smiled. Although he could only hear some of her thoughts, she was so easy to read. Gently grasping the back of her neck, he bent down and placed a kiss on her lips, silently promising her that he would never leave. Taking in her sweet taste, he lightly placed little kisses on her lips before rising up. Moving his hand to her cheek, he rubbed his thumb against it. "I'll call you and tell you when we will have dinner." He watched as she nodded her head, still dazed from the kiss, and was about to leave when he remembered something. "But I can't call you if I don't have your number."

Smiling at him, Madison ran inside her house, quickly looking for a pen. "You can come in if you want," she yelled over her shoulder, groaning in frustration when she could not find what she was looking for.

Walking into her apartment, Dante shut the door and looked around. He noted all the mixture of colors she had going on and smiled when he saw a picture of her and her dad on the coffee table. Walking over to it, he looked down at it and saw how happy she was. Although she was happy just a few moments ago, there was something in her eyes in this picture that wasn't in her eyes in those moments. He had this feeling that she was still battling with the lost of her father and felt his wolf call out for her.

"Yes! I found it." Walking over to Dante, Madison stopped when she saw that he was looking at the picture she took with her dad. "That was the last picture that we had together." Dante turned around and looked down into her eyes.

"I can tell that he was a good man." Nodding her head, Madison cleared her suddenly dry throat and held up her pen.

"Well I found my pen. Give me your hand." Scrunching up his face, he reluctantly offered out his hand to her and smiled when he saw how small his hand was compared to hers. He watched as she wrote her number on the palm of his hand and shook his head. She was too cute. When she was finished, he looked down at his hand.

"You know there is such thing as a piece of paper? Now I'm going to be the laughing stock of my colleagues when they see I have a number written on my hand like a teenage boy." Laughing, Madison placed the pen on her coffee table and shrugged her shoulders.

"Yea, but you have a better chance of losing it with a piece a paper and they can laugh all they want. Take it as pay back for teasing me all this weekend." Nodding his head, he bent down and took one last kiss from her, bringing her body close to his. Walking to the door, he opened it up and waited until Madison was standing in front of him.

"I'll call you tonight. I promise." Bending down, he kissed her one last time and walked down the hall. He heard her door close behind him and smiled at the thought of seeing her another day. Just as he was about to let his mind drift away, he was hit with that foul smell again, this time it was a lot stronger. Looking over, he watched as Dylan slowly crept out of his house, pausing at the door. Bringing his wolf forward, he stood up to his full height and walked pass.

Dylan looked at this wolf and felt his fangs elongate. 'What was Maddy still doing with this wolf?' Looking into his eyes, Dylan hissed.

Dante smiled when he heard Dylan hiss and stopped in front of him. "You have a lot of nerve hissing at me." Taking a step forward, Dylan looked into Dante's eyes.

"And you have a lot of nerve coming around here. Stay away from her or else." Laughing, Dante took a step away, feeling his wolf wanting to come out and tear this worthless vampire apart. Taking in a deep breath, he turned around.

"If I were you, I would never make idle threats against me. I don't like them that much." Taking one last look at Dylan, he walked down the hall and into the elevator, trying his best to calm his wolf.

***

Madison took in a deep breath and sighed. Walking over to her couch, she flopped down on it and smiled. It seemed that is all she has been doing all day and there was only one reason why. She knew she had to call Tiffany and tell her everything that happened over the past day and reached for her phone. She was about to dial Tiffany's number when she heard a knock at her door. Suddenly nervous, thinking it was Dante, she quickly jumped up and walked over to open her door. Seeing that it was just Dylan, she walked back inside, leaving him to close the door.

"Hey Dill! What's going on?" Walking over to her couch, she sat down and kicked her feet up on her coffee table. She turned her head when she felt the couch dip beside her and looked into Dylan's blue eyes.

Dylan looked over at her and sniffed the air, making sure he didn't smell sex on her body. Relieved that he only smelled the foul scent of wet dog, he leaned back against her couch and relaxed. "Nothing much. Just thought I should stop over and see how ever thing was with you, seeing as how you didn't come home last night."

Smiling sheepishly, Madison looked at her blank T.V. screen and shrugged her shoulders. "Nothing really. We just had dinner at his place and then I fell asleep." Looking over at him, she saw an emotion pass before his eyes, but he quickly masked it over with indifference. "What's going on with you?"

Dylan looked down when felt his fangs come out at what she just said. Just the fact that she confirmed what he speculated happened the other day really didn't help his anger at all. Why would she spend the night with someone she barely even knew? He knew that he couldn't come straight out and ask her, already seeing where that conversation would go, but he certainly knew that he had to get rid of this guy she was seeing before anything else happened between. There was no other option. He had to keep his Maddy pure for him. Clearing his throat, forcing his fangs to go back in, he looked back into her eyes. He was about to speak when he heard her phone ring.

Looking down at her phone, Madison hoped that it was Dante calling and couldn't help but feel disappointed when it wasn't. Answering the phone, she quickly put it up to her ear.

"Yes Tiff."

"Well, well. The dead has arisen. You know, I called you all yesterday on your house phone and you certainly didn't answer. I stopped by, and you still didn't answer. Then I started to become worried until a thought popped into my head. My young one was out on a date with Mr. Dante, weren't you?" Biting her bottom lip, Madison was about to lie to her, but decided against it. Tiffany would know she was lying anyway even if she didn't see her face. She had this strange ability of knowing when someone was lying. Sighing in defeat, she heard Tiffany squeal and removed the phone from her ear. After a few moments passed, Madison put the phone back to her ear.

"God Tiff! Do you always have to scream?"

"No, but I do when I have a feeling that my baby got laid." Attempting to once again run her fingers through her hair, Madison looked over at Dylan, whose eyes were closed. She didn't know if he was listening, but she certainly didn't want him to hear what she had to say. Bring the phone closer to her mouth, she whispered.

"I did not get laid Tiff. Far from it. Look, come over and I will tell you everything. And bring a movie! It's Sunday." Groaning because she hated Madison's little Sunday movie nights, Tiffany sighed her consent.

"Ok, but does Dylan have to be there? I don't think he would really enjoy hearing about your little outing." Getting up from her seat, Madison walked to her bedroom. She walked over to her dresser and picked up her brush, trying once again to get the knots out of her hair.

"Yes, Dylan has to be here. I started this Sunday movie night with him and it wouldn't be right to not invite him. Fuck!"

"What's wrong? Did Dylan do something? Are you doing something inappropriate right now? Because if you are, tell me now so I can hang up the phone." Laughing, Madison placed her phone down on her dresser and put it on speaker.

"No I'm not doing anything inappropriate right now. I'm trying to brush this hair of mine and it's not working. I really think I'm just going to cut it off." Gritting her teeth, Madison forced her brush through her hair, cursing under her breath each time she hit a knot. "Yea. I'm cutting it. I'll call you back in a little while. I have to go down to the shop and get this cut. Be late!" Hanging up her phone, she quickly walked back into her living room and found Dylan in the same spot.

Opening one of his eyes, Dylan looked up at Madison. "I'm guessing I should be late too?" Nodding her head, Madison walked back to where she was sitting before and sat down. Reaching for her shoes, she quickly put them on.

"Yea. I have to get my hair cut. I can't take it anymore. It's too much." Looking over at her, Dylan frowned up his face. He reached over and lightly touched her hair, loving the coarseness of it.

"I don't think you should cut your hair. I like it." Shaking her head, Madison scoffed lightly.

"Of course you like it. All guys like long hair. It's like a fetish that the man species has. I don't care. I'm getting it cut." Rising up, Madison looked around for a hat she could wear. Finding her beanie, she stuffed her hair inside of it and grabbed her purse. Grabbing her coat, she looked over at Dylan. "You could come with me if you want?" she said in a cheerful voice.

Groaning at the thought of actually being inside a hair salon with her, Dylan shook his head. "No thanks. I don't think I could bear sitting in a place filled with horny women, which smells of hair supplies, while you get your hair done. I think I will pass." Getting up, he walked behind Madison as she walked toward her door. Reaching past her, he opened the door and watched as she went out. Walking out behind her, he closed her door.

"Ok so you will get the pizza and wings and Tiff will get the movies?" Watching him nod his head, Madison gave him a quick hug and walked toward the elevator. Before she got in, she turned back to him, "Don't forget the wings! You know how much I like my wings." Smiling at her, Dylan waved his hand and walked inside his house. He had things to do.

**

"Girly! Your hair!" Tiffany screamed as soon as Madison opened up her front door. Moving over to the side, Madison let Tiffany inside, laughing at her.

"Yes. My hair! Do you like?" Spinning around so that Tiffany could see the full product, Madison modeled her new hairstyle.

"Do I like? Of course I like! You look fabulous darling, just fabulous. You look like Halle Berry; well at least your hair does." Laughing, Madison pushed Tiffany into the living room, closing the door behind her. She walked over to her couch and she fell down on it, closing her eyes.

"You don't know how tired I am right now. First I go down to the salon and there are so many people in there. And then I went to catch the subway to come back and there were a lot of people on the subway. And then, on top of that, I had to walk up the stairs because the elevator was broke." Breathing in deeply, Madison slowly let it out. "I'm just so tired." They both turned when they heard Madison's front door open.

Dylan walked into Madison's apartment and immediately was hit with the strong scent of Tiffany's perfume. Feeling his nose start to burn, he raised his hand up and rubbed it. Looking over to Madison, he stopped dead in his tracks. "Maddy. Your hair." Kicking the door closed behind him, he walked over to her. "Here take the food Tiffany." he said while shoving it at Tiffany's chest. Ignoring her groans and mutters under her breath, that she probably thought he didn't hear, he walked over and sat down beside Madison.

"You like?" He looked at her short hair that was cropped at the sides and smiled. 'God she's sexy,' he thought to himself. Although he liked her hair long, he really liked her hair short. It brought out the beauty in her face. The downside of this was that he wouldn't be able to pull her hair once he had her from the back, but he could get over that. Shaking himself, he focused back on her eyes.

"Of course I like it. You look..." He was about to say sexy, but stopped. He knew how she felt whenever he called her that because they were "just friends", but damn it if he really didn't want to say it right now. Clearing his throat, he looked over at Tiffany. "Hey can you bring that over here? I don't think we want to keep walking to the kitchen to repeatedly get a piece of pizza."

Muttering under her breath, Tiffany picked up the pizza and wings and walked to the living room. Placing the boxes on the table, she looked over at Dylan, who was staring at Madison as if she was a juicy piece of steak and frowned. Waving her hands in the air, she walked over in front of them. "Hello you two! First I have you, Madison in a daze, and then I have your weirdo over there looking at you like some creepy stalker."

Snapping his neck over at Tiffany, Dylan narrowed his eyes. "At least I don't smell like some flaming whore!" Madison quickly stood up between them, already seeing where this was heading. The last thing she needed right now was her two best friends fighting.

"Calm down you two. Let's just sit down and watch a movie, ok?" Making sure that they both nodded their heads, although reluctantly, Madison sat back down on the couch. "Tiffany can you put in the movie?" Madison moved to the edge of her couch and opened the pizza box. She rubbed her hands together when she saw how cheesy the pizza was and licked her lips.

"I can see that you are hungry." Smiling over at Tiffany, Madison took the first slice of pizza and bit into it.

"This is so good. You guys just don't understand. I am so hungry," Madison said with a sigh. Leaning back on the couch, she looked at the T.V. screen.

"Speaking of eating, tell me how your little date with Dante was." Groaning at the thought of having to listen to Madison explain every little detail to Tiffany, Dylan held down his urge to demand that Madison never see this Dante guy again. Stuffing a piece of pizza into his mouth reluctantly, he tuned out Madison's voice and watched the movie.

"It was good. He just picked me up from work and made me a homemade meal at his house." She looked down at Tiffany, who was now sitting at her feet and scrunched up her face. "You do have a lot of perfume on, Tiff."

"Yea well, I have my reasons for wearing so much perfume, but that doesn't explain why you didn't have sex with him." Shaking her head, Madison looked up at the T.V. screen.

"I didn't have sex with him because I am not that kind of girl, Tiffany. I want my first time to at least be special; planned out. I don't want it to be rushed and having sex with him on the third day is definitely rushing it. And besides, I fell asleep on him, twice." She heard Dylan laugh and looked over at him. "What? Are you laughing at me?"

Dylan was certainly laughing at her, but shook his head. "Nope. I wasn't even listening to you. I'm laughing at the movie." Looking at the screen to see what was so funny, Madison frowned up her face.

"There is nothing funny about a man getting his head cut off Dylan." Shrugging his shoulders, Dylan continued watching the movie, swallowing down what he could only describe as being a big clump of fat.

Madison watched as Dylan once again tuned her out and tilted her head to the side. 'What was so funny about what she just said?' Shaking herself, she looked back over at Tiffany. "Yea, but I feel asleep on him and then we just sat there and talked."

Tiffany looked at Madison for a long time before she turned around and watched the movie. Taking a bit of her pizza, she continued watching it. "You know, I know that you aren't telling me everything."