Paige Tyler | How to Know When You’ve Found the One

From Zane’s Point of View “You want to know how a werewolf realizes when they’ve found The One, that one-in-a million soul mate that’s supposed to be out there for all of us?” Zane Kendrick repeated, sure he must have heard the question wrong.

When the woman sitting across the table from him nodded,
all he could do was stare, not sure how this situation had turned so personal.

Zane had arrived at the SWAT compound that morning
thinking a local reporter was there to interview him about the narcotics case his pack had
helped with recently, but instead he’d walked into the training room to find a blogger from a
website called Fresh Fiction waiting for him. Everything had gone pear-shaped in a damn hurry
after that. Especially when it became obvious the woman knew he and the rest of the Dallas
PD SWAT team were all werewolves.

“Yes,” she said. “I’ve heard it’s already happened to several
of your pack mates, so I thought it would be a good question to start with. And I have no doubt
my readers are going to find it interesting. In fact, several of them have already asked how
they can snag a hunky werewolf mate. So, any tips you can give me would be
awesome!”

Bloody hell, she knew all their secrets. And wanted him to
spill even more for the readers of her blog. He was tempted to get Gage Dixon, their pack
alpha and SWAT Team Commander, but then decided against it. Gage had agreed to the
interview so he must know she was aware of their secret.

Unfortunately, answering her question was easier said than
done. For him, at least.

“Why do you want to talk to me about this and not one of the
guys who already found their soulmate?” he asked, sitting back and crossing his arms over his
chest. “Wouldn’t that make more sense?”

“Probably,” she agreed. “But my readers love that sexy
British accent of yours, so they wanted me to get the scoop from you.”

Zane had no idea why, but women were always asking him to
read stuff—menus, recipes…arrest warrants. “How are they going to know I have a British
accent if they’re reading a blog?”  

She smiled. “Because I’ll make sure I mention it at the
beginning of the article. And maybe a few more times throughout so they don’t
forget.”

 

He sighed. There was no getting out of this so he might as
well get it over with. “Okay, what do you want to know?”

She glanced down at the list of questions on her iPad. “First,
what’s your soulmate status? Is the future Mrs. Kendrick already on your radar?”

“Not that I’m aware of.”

“Has there ever been anyone you thought might be The One?”

Zane shook his head. He didn’t like thinking about that part
of his past. Remembering what it had felt like when his fiancée had walked out on him at the
absolute worst time in his life was too painful.

The woman typed something on her keyboard. “Have you
given any thought to what your real soul mate might be like? Do you think you’d recognize her
if you met her?”

“Probably,” he said after considering the question for a
moment. “The other guys in the Pack who’ve already found their soul mates said they were
extremely attracted to the other person from the first moment they met and felt very
protective of her. Some even mentioned their claws and fangs make an appearance for no
reason whenever they’re around their soul mate. I think I’d notice something like that. Then
there’s the whole scent thing, of course.”

She leaned forward expectantly. “Scent thing?”

“Supposedly, a werewolf’s soul mate has a scent that stands
out in a crowd, I’d guess you’d say. It drives our inner wolves absolutely bonkers, or so I’ve
been told.”

“Bonkers, huh?” She laughed. “So, what scent does it for
you? What is Zane Kendrick looking for in his soul mate?”

He opened his mouth to reply, only to realize he had no idea
what to say.

The woman from Fresh Fiction frowned. “Sorry if that was
too personal. You don’t have to answer that if you don’t want to.”

He shook his head. “It’s isn’t that. I’m just not sure I have a soul mate. I think I’m going to be the only werewolf who doesn’t find The One.”

Her expression was suddenly sad. “Why’s that?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know. I guess because I’m a little
broken. People like me aren’t supposed to find soul mates. We’re meant to be alone.”

Zane expected her to launch into an impassioned diatribe
about how everyone deserved happiness, but instead she merely regarded him thoughtfully
for a moment.

“For purposes of my blog, let’s assume you’re wrong about
that,” she finally said. “Which brings us back to my original question. What kind of woman
would be your soul mate?”

Regardless of the fact that he didn’t believe he had a soul
mate, he’d actually thought about that question a lot—even if it was insanely hypothetical.
“Sometimes, I imagine she’d be all kickass—like a cop or a firefighter. Other times, I see her as
quiet and reserved—like a schoolteacher or librarian.”

“Talk about opposite ends of the spectrum!”

He chuckled. “I suppose. It’d be just my luck that I’m
completely wrong about everything and she’s nothing like I imagine at all.”

“What about her scent? What do you think she’ll smell
like?”

Zane grinned. This was something else he’d thought about
quite a bit. “Definitely like roses and chocolate. Those are two of my favorite scents.”

The woman typed some more stuff, then slipped her iPad in
her messenger bag and gave him a smile. “Thanks for agreeing to the interview. I know my
readers are going to love it!”

He pushed back his chair as she got to her feet, walking her
to the door. Once there, she stopped and looked up at him. “I know you believe you don’t have
a soul mate, but I think you’re wrong about that. In fact, something tells me you might find her
sooner than you think.”

Zane started to tell her that was crazy, but before he could, she slipped out the door, leaving him to wonder if she could possibly be right about him finding The One. Was it too much to hope she was? ***