It had taken awhile for the rabid part of his brain to shut off but it hadn’t been without him causing some problems for some bystanders. Those innocent bystanders were probably what had kept him from actually reaching Noelle in that specific time frame before the magical curse had worn off. Now that it had the wolf felt terrible for the problems he had caused. He couldn’t remember much as a lot of it was fuzzy but he had known he had done something. Even the taste of Noelle’s blood was in his mouth that had mixed with others.

He had gone home and thought about leaving it there until the next day but he worried himself. His mind was racing with the what-ifs of what he could have actually done to Noelle. Had he severely hurt her? Was she even okay? He was angry at what had happened at the ball but particularly he was angry at himself for letting it get to him. There, of course, was no way he could have controlled it and subconsciously he did know that. He knew it would have happened whether he wanted to or not but at the same time he knew he shouldn’t have gone. If he had actually hurt her he wasn’t sure he would be able to forgive himself for it.

The night had been perfect, almost too perfect, and usually, when that happened it meant something was going to sour it. There were no good nights for the assassin. For people like him, those were just buffers of false hope. People like him didn’t deserve good fortune and happy endings because look at all the problems they do cause.

Throwing on some clothes he decided he couldn’t just sit there and wait for the night to pass. He was sure he had more control over himself now. Whatever it was it lasted for what seemed to only be an hour.He hadn’t felt a tingle of any kind of side effects so he was sure he was probably okay. So he went hunting down her scent again which brought him to a house. She smelt like she was on the inside and though he probably could have somehow snuck in he supposed that would be the second option if need be – should they not allow him in. Heading to the door he knocked and was greeted by a man who he assumed was her father. He asked for her and with luck, he was allowed in and shown to her room.

He stood in the doorway for a moment, his eyes glinting off of the small bits of light in her room causing them to almost reflect with a golden hue. ”Noelle…. Can I come in?” he asked quietly. He wasn’t sure how she felt on the matter or if she wanted to see him but he at least wanted to apologize and see if she was okay.

He stood there pretty much at her mercy on whether or not if she would talk to him or shoo him away. Standing there a little awkward he took in a moment to look around her room before fully stepping in when she agreed and told him to shut the door. He did as he was told, quietly pushing it shut behind him as he stepped backward. Her question caused him to fumble around with words in his head. ”Checking on you… I guess.” Finally stepping away from the door he headed towards her and fell into a seat in a chair close to the bed. She looked like she was okay and wasn’t all that badly hurt, thankfully. ”And apologize.” he said. ”I don’t-... I have never done something like that. Not since I was young…. Lose control. I just don’t know what came over me.” He was a man of nothing but control. He lived his life that way in order to avoid messes like this but it seems his training, his hard work hadn’t been enough.

”Your scent isn’t that hard to track.” he gave her a weak but humorless smile. ”Wolf.” he pointed at himself before sinking back into the chair and furrowing his brows. He kept replaying the night over and over again in his head. ”I didn’t hurt you too badly did I? I don’t remember much.” and what little he did remember was her screaming and the taste and smell of her blood. He breathed through his nose feeling a stress headache coming on him. ”Was probably a mistake coming here. Wasn’t it? I’m sorry…. I just-- I don’t know.”

It was a mistake to come but he couldn’t stop himself from showing up. He was even surprised he was allowed to come in. The man at the door didn’t seem all that enthused he had but he wouldn’t have stopped him anyway. Romeo would have made it in. Having the abilities he did could only have made that possibility even easier. He sat in the chair across from Noelle and was trying to keep his breathing steady. There were plenty of things that were beginning to build there and make it harder to breathe but he didn’t want to gush it all out. That wasn’t his style. The man remained in control of everything he did but with Noelle, she made it hard to keep that control. The longer he sat there and the more she spoke he felt the urge push harder. He was glad though she understood that it wasn’t entirely him. He didn’t mean to hurt her or anyone else that got in his path. Even his wolf felt shameful and he could feel it. The canine had his tail tucked between his legs like a master was scolding him …. Especially to Noelle.

He chuckled when she laughed and he nodded his head. ”Everyone's scent is completely different. It’s kind of like fingerprints in the animal world.” he explained. ”not one person has the same smell.” he wanted to say more but he stopped himself there. Besides what he could have said was something that would have made a nun blush. Her smell was entirely different than other peoples and it was the easiest to follow. It was engraved in his head that even when he wasn’t looking for her, he still found her. He rests his chin atop his hand as he continued to watch the woman in the bed. He was so happy that she was okay. He knew he kept going back to that same thought but the weight of the situation had rested heavily on him. He wasn’t a man that killed without a reason. His job, his code that he lived by, and the way his life worked.

Control.

”Nothing would have happened to me. People were more scared of me and ran. Luckily I didn’t get in a head-on collision with a guard or anything. I guess at least I had some common sense.” he forced a small smile on his face. No his wolf was more worried about tracking Noelle down and tearing her apart but he wouldn’t tell her that. In rage of losing sight of her was only then when he tried to go after other people. ”The feeling that I had when it happened is so unexplainable. I had this incurable rage over nothing and there wasn’t a thing I could do to relieve it.” he remembered the feeling it had on his head and how thoughts were blocked. He couldn’t think correctly. ”Even though I knew it was entirely wrong but all control was lost. I couldn’t communicate all I could do was act like a wild animal.” He rubbed his forehead feeling a little embarrassed but it was the truth after all. That was all he could do. All he knew how to do in that entire moment. He winced when she said he nearly yanked her arm off. ”I’m sorry.” he said quietly.

Her next set of words confused and startled him and though he knew he should say no as he wasn’t feeling entirely 100 percent but who was he to deny such a request from a woman he practically owed because he almost ripped her to shreds. The idea of laying in bed with her though was a lot for his heart to take. It thumped loudly in his chest cavity but he complied.

Slipping into bed next to her he rested his head back as she spoke once more. His eyes moved towards the door not sure what would be said if they saw him in bed with her, his mind going to everything else that made him nervous about this situation. ”How I feel about you?” he repeated. ”I feel a lot of things and a lot of them I don’t understand.” he never actually felt the way he does for anyone but Noelle and it was so strong and so real it was hard to put into words. ”It’s strong, whatever it is. “ he started it. ”And it’s a good feeling.” almost pleasurable but without the actual pleasuring part. Just being in her company was like a reward. ”You just feel different than a lot of the other women I have been around but most of them weren’t all that interesting.” he gave her a soft snort as he glanced at her. ”It never lasted long. They made me uncomfortable but you….” he rolled onto his side one hand holding up his head while the other found her unhurt hand and collapsed his fingers with hers. ”You make it easy to be around. Easy to feel and breathe and yet make me lose my breath all at the same time. It’s all very confusing really if I am being honest.”

He had a feeling she had a power. Most of the people he did know did but there, of course, were those random rare few that didn’t. However being a mermaid or part mermaid whichever it was she was, he figured she did. No less he was curious about it. ”So you can tell what I am feeling?” he asked her. His head tipped to the side as he looked down at her on the bed. That was a little intimidating. He ran on the idea of being unreadable but if she could detect his feelings that obviously meant lying would be a little harder. Not that he was going to try to lie to her but it was apart of his job, part of who he was. The truth wasn’t something he always went by because if he did that meant a lot more trouble for him than he was honestly willing to deal with. ”Don’t most merfolk have some complicated power like that though? I figured most were sirens or something….. I always pictured ya’ll luring unsuspecting men and drowning them.” he scrunched his nose. ”Doesn’t help my fear of the water any.” he chuckled to himself despite how very true it was. He was a land dweller and only dealt with water when he had to. The moment she found him floundering around in the water passed out was about the closest he had been to it. ”Either way I find it pretty cool. I mean…. It’s better than just being able to turn into an animal.” He frowned a little and started to fiddle with the material of the blanket absently. ”People aren’t so welcoming to werewolves especially ranchers. There is a lot of hostility when they find out you are a wolf. A lot of racism.”

A lot of people weren’t so open to his species. Of course, they had more protection than the hybrids but it wasn't much more. Not from what he had experienced anyways. The moment someone knew you were a wolf they would naturally go out of their way to ensure you regretted it.

She nuzzled into his shoulder listening to her speak again. Their relationship wasn’t one he had felt before. The feelings were in-depth and complicated and nothing he had ever thought he could feel for someone. ”I suppose you can feel it ain’t a lie. Hmm?” he questioned her. How confused but how drawn he was. He supposed that was the good thing to come out of it. He wasn’t the best with his feelings let alone admit to them. She asked him if it was supposed to feel this way and he shrugged. ”I don’t honestly know.” he said admittedly. ”I haven’t felt it before.” But of course it wasn’t something he really needed to answer and he knew that but he wanted to. He wanted her to know he wasn’t toying with her feelings and that he genuinely didn’t know what it meant to be so head over heels for someone he barely knew. He had seen her only a handful of times and yet he felt like he could tell her everything she needed to know about herself. True he dreamt about her but that wasn’t anything he could go off of. He was never able to talk to her in his dreams. She was always there though. A side character, someone ever present but never the main idea in them.

”I guess I do now though.” he said lowly.