Your Taste.

The hours of the day from that morning till 5:30 pm are spent worrying about what to wear for this date. It angers her that she is so worried the whole time. When she asks the elusive radio station host where he plans to take her, he only said that it is a surprise.

How am I going to decide what to wear if he won't share tidbits of information with me?

Five o’clock rolls around and after a vigorous workout, she had to change into another pair of pants and shirt. Nothing is different from this morning; except this time, she let her shoulder-length burgundy locks dry after a good shower. It made her hair extra wavy at the ends, framing her jaws nice enough.

No matter how hard she tried to move her locks around her head, there is no way to appear any more feminine. Her muscles will always eat away at her femininity, but this timeline of beauty standards is a bit cruel to the individual, especially on women. Idonea remembers a time where what they call imperfections in the 90s were highly preferred after hundreds of years ago. Even being muscular was sought after by the Vikings. She remembers training so hard with her mother to keep this habit and figure. She used to be referred to as a Flame-Haired Valkyrie in her younger years. Now they scorn a woman too strong to be raped and used.

She rolls her eyes at the thought, jumping when she hears a knock at her door. Her yellow eyes look up at the clock on the wall, frowning. It reads ‘ 5:15 .’ Who would be knocking on my door? Her nose catches a whiff of cigarettes and the heavy perfume of a certain angry landlady. She kept the chain on just to creep it open, so to keep Mrs. Rombart from thinking up something reckless.

"Mrs. Rombart…how can I help you?"

"I don't know why…but someone is waiting for you outside." Mrs. Rombart grumbles, pocketing a wad of cash in her cheetah print jacket.

Nea’s gaze focuses on her rummaging, thinking of a few reasons why the old lady is being discreet. A bit of panic set in her immortal heart, thinking of all the enemies she had created from her past. Some civilizations have been long lost in the waves. Any one of those people can be the one to seek her out and in this suspicious manner as well. Quickly she changes her thoughts when Mrs Rombart adds. "A young handsome man asked me to get you. I don't know why he would waste his time with you…but if it means to get you out of my hair, I'll gladly do it again."

The old lady sniffles and clanks away. Her footsteps fade down the hallway.

Idonea sighs, this landlady's animosity knows no bounds. It isn't like Nea refuses to pay the bills or even cause a scene to deserve the animosity. The only thing that Nea had done wrong is shedding all around the apartment because of her wolf side. She'd relish the days when she use to be free from scrutiny and had her own property to crash at. If it isn’t for her stupid pack rules, she might have never left.

So…annoying. Now that she no longer had to worry about her aggressive landlady, she unhooks the chain and walks right out, locking it right behind her. A certain bold male is waiting for her. Treading to the very first floor, then out the door, she recognizes the silver MR2 and the very handsome owner that leans against the vehicle with tattooed arms cross. He changes down to a loose teal t-shirt that shows off a bit of his pale cleavage. She can see chest hair and even his freckling forms around his shoulder blade. Denim jeans that are baggy, black sneakers to accent his attire. He looks ready for a leisurely walk and regards her with such sweetness that matches his already intoxicating aroma. "Hello again, Idonea."

The she-wolf pause, intimidated by his beauty and his sweetness. This isn't fair . She gathers all the annoyance from the altercation she had earlier, "Money doesn't solve everything…"

"True…" He cocks his head, his cute smile out in display an innocent front. "But your landlady had to be dealt with…and this is the least violent solution, right?"

She approaches the vehicle with a deep-seated scowl. She is not liking how correct he is about Mrs. Rombart and wants to hide away in the car to avoid the conversation. The sooner she can get these dates done and over with the better…

Already on the first date, this man is causing her trouble. He isn’t going to let her in on her own by opening the passenger door for her to enter. His chivalrous nature is annoying, but her heart aches for more of this kind of attention. Attention like this is hard to come by and she didn't know that she had been missing it for some time.

"Thanks…I guess…" She sat down on the passenger side, avoiding eye contact to control the bit of giddiness in her. Good thing too, she would have noticed the playful little grin on his pretty face.

"My pleasure." He purrs and she can smell a bit of mischief in his sweet scent. What is he planning?

He shut the door and gets in on the other side, now sitting in the driver's seat. He somehow fit his long legs into the MR2, starting the vehicle with the twist of the key. The car's headlights pop up and lit the streets before it, and he U-turned it to go in a specific direction. Of course, he hadn’t said where though.

The ride there starts with silence. She'd watch out the window to keep her mind off their situation. As the skies darkens for the evening, with the sun hiding on the horizon and painting the skies purple and pink is when he starts to speak.

"About your landlady…I didn't mean to overstep. She wouldn't let me park there unless I paid her."

Sounds like an excuse . "She told me she was sent up to get me." Nea challenges his statement, eyeing him fiercely. What is he trying to pull while lying? However, he didn’t smell like he is lying and the expression on his face proves it. So, she groans. "Never mind me. Just in a bad mood."

"Hmm. Why does she hate you so much?" He finally asks, his body relax while his fingers grip the wheel tight. He even drops the smile on his face.

"Not exactly me. Just dogs. She thinks I have a dog in the apartment which isn’t allowed." Nea shares this information, careful not to mention being a werewolf and turning into her wolf to sleep at night. The shedding this woman is finding belongs to just Idonea. Unfortunately, she is sloppy in not making sure all her hair is picked up.

"Did you?" He asks, his cute little smile returning.

"No. Just hair from me working with dogs a lot. It isn't abnormal, especially when I don't have a convenient washer and dryer…" She mutters; her half-truths came out of her so naturally that she starts to believe it herself. He hums, checking her from the corner of his eye, then back at the road again. Even in this light, he looks extremely handsome.

How would his beautiful face look if he ever saw me as a wolf? Would he still smile? Or would fear take over and suddenly he isn't interested in me anymore?

She can't ever tell him. Not because of her own safety but the fact that it will hurt her to see that fear and disgust from someone with a kind deposition like him. This isn't her first rodeo with a human; the last human found out the hard way and betrayed her. Ever since then, she had kept her furry side a secret.

Speaking of fur… Her sharp eyes study every part of the car, remembering that he did wear a pelt like a coat the first time they met. "Hey…do you wear your fur coat often?"

He blinks at the question, forcing a chuckle out, as if this is an awkward question for her to ask. "No…My family lives somewhere very cold and I wear them all the time there. It's…my favorite pelt coat. Had it since b-I mean-I was a child."

Huh? She scrutinizes him closely, smelling that whiff of deception from him. He is hiding something about that coat. Is he worried that he might offend her by being a dog-person? Animal activists are big now and will more than likely faint if they saw that coat. "Um…right. Well. What's it made of? Don't worry, I am no activist."

He coughs in his hand, shimmying in his driver's seat. A lot of nervous energy for a simple fur coat. He caves, "Seals."

"Oh. That's interesting. Are you perhaps descendants of Icelandic people?" She inquires genuinely, scanning him from his blond head to his hands. Stories of people from Iceland are once Norse travelers that adopted the very secluded island. Wearing seal skins was just something they did to survive the winters. He didn't really have one specific heritage latch to his physical traits, and his name had more of an Irish touch to it. His blond hair can easily be from any Eastern country. Those tribal tattoos on his arms tell a different story. She had dealt with enough Norse to know the symbols well. Many meant power to the individual. And many runes that can give the individual magic. Such ideas are silly to her now, but she is certainly a core believer in them back then. Idonea wears the mark of combat on her left breast.

"Heh, was it that obvious?" He chuckles then, quickly admitting that she is right to believe so. "My oldest relatives currently live in Iceland."

"Is that where you have been going for six months?" This question made this man all sad, with a puppy-like expression on his face. She felt bad for probing, opening her mouth to apologize.

"No. I reside on a different island." His sad face vanishes into a brilliant smile. As if he was never offended in the first place.

The only other island she can think of is none other. "The UK?"

"Wrong again." He chuckles, he either finds amusement in their little guessing game or he’s loony.

She didn't like to be toyed with and starts to pout. "Maybe you just don't want to admit that I am right…that way you protect the identities of your other lovers."

"My~! You sound more jealous than angry~!" He teases, laughing harder when she crosses her arms and pulls her face away in sheer annoyance. "Me having lovers is the biggest lie this place has ever pinned on me."

"And yet, with your looks alone, you can have any woman you want." Why me? Her brain wrack trying to get the answers out of their weird relationship.

"Hmm. I could but…barely any of those would be genuine. " Leas purrs, using one hand to tap at his chest where the heart is. "And my heart is pining for someone in this car."

Her face twists, his sappiness so sugar sweet that it tastes sour. Her heart dances at the statement despite how cringy it sounds, and she felt her skin burn for more of his attention. Even his sweet smell carries hints of lust lacing into it. It is getting harder to tame the beast inside her which wants to climb on top of him and take him for a ride. So, to lessen the strength of his aroma, she rolls down her window, breathing in the outside air instead. She scoffs with that same twist of her nose, "So what makes this more genuine than any of your other relationships?"

"Easy. No one before would ever criticize me. They either want what I have, not what I am… You've not held back your statements once during our exchange. That makes you more beautiful than any woman I have ever met.”

Oh boy…this damn sweet talking is too much. This human will never think so if he ever knew her secrets. The actual kind of creature that she is born to be is not romanticized in the slightest and this will only lead to a heart break if she becomes too truthful.

Her body tense towards the attention, and she had to keep herself from imagining some of the more nefarious activities. Her face starts to feel cold from all the wind blowing at it, cooling her raunchiness away...hopefully.

There is another awkward silence but this time the handsome man came prepared. Leas turns the radio on, and the first song plays is "Enjoy the Silence" by Depeche Mode. Idonea knew the song right away and nearly chortles at the appropriateness of this song. It is a beautiful song, and she even caught herself humming along with the lyrics. Nea forgets that he is in the car with her all this time, blushing hard when the song ends, and he comments on her humming.

"Hm, like to hear you sing the words next time." His grin is a wily and playful one, and he smells of want again.

"I wouldn't want to cause your ears to bleed."

Leas laughs, the next song playing after some choice words between two radio station hosts blaring out of the speakers. The ride fills with music, and it lightens her mood and distracts her enough to not notice their next destination.