Chapter 2
She paints a prettier picture than hope ever could.
The soft, feminine angles of her face, her high cheekbones, plump pink lips, and brown eyes with hues of gold ringed in thick, dark lashes enamor me.
I’m caught.
I’m frozen.
And I’m terrified.
My hands tighten around her waist, and I don’t miss how perfectly she fits in my grasp.
Time seems to stand still as I become locked in her confused gaze.
Her hair is in a messy bun placed on top of her head, and by the loose, night-colored strays framing the delicate edges of her face, the strands are very long.
I want to tug on her hairband and watch the length tumble down her back while my fingers take their time running through the silken tendrils.
I want to sit in a room and watch her move.
I know Nariko would captivate me with every gentle, angelic motion.
She’d be my television, the show I could never miss an episode of. My own personal art.
The wind blows, tickling my senses with her scent. A low growl rumbles in my throat when the scent of rain mixed with a new spring of blooming flowers infiltrates my blood.
Someone from her group clears their throat, and it pulls me out of my trance. Much to my dismay, I straighten, lift her onto her feet, and take a step away.
I take off my hat since I’m in the presence of a few ladies, especially Nariko.
“Sorry to intrude on your property,” she speaks, her voice as gentle as a breeze drifting over a delicate rose petal.
“We didn’t mean to upset you. We were following a storm, and I get so excited, you know?
When it comes to the chase.” She toes the ground, glancing down, a smile toying on her lips as if she isn’t sorry at all for what she’s done.
Nariko’s delicate fingers twirl a piece of hair, and I watch with hunger, wishing it were me she wrapped herself around.
“I’ll pay to fix your gate. I shouldn’t have blown through it like that. That was rude of me.” She bounces on the heels of her feet, excited, yet nervous.
Listening to her heart race, smelling her curiosity when it comes to me, gives me enough hope to know that I’m not alone in this. Nariko feels the bond.
Her words fade together, sounding distant when anger and annoyance replace the excitement that was once buzzing through my veins. I turn my attention to the group of people standing there awkwardly.
There’s a man who stares directly at me, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms.
I could kill them all in less than a second and take Nariko away to have her all to myself.
But I won’t.
These people clearly mean something to her, even if they mean nothing to me.
Still, I am a gentleman and pride myself on how I treat others, even if I don’t like them.
Her scent is too much for me. I take another step away from her, needing as much space as possible. My fangs tingle in my gums, threatening to drop and reveal my existence.
“Nariko.” The man in the group tugs her to his side, taking a protective stance.
What would he know about protecting her? He isn’t capable of mass destruction like I am. He can’t kill hundreds in the blink of an eye like I can. He can’t crush human bone in his grasp like I can.
Not that I would. I’m a gentle giant, but when it comes to what belongs to me, I’ll be the demon that breaks someone’s mind into madness.
The willpower it takes to control myself causes a tremor through every limb.
Holding in the transformation is difficult.
My nails lengthen as the instinct to rip his throat out has fury boiling in my blood.
Taking a deep breath, the sharp points press into my palms. The slight sting helps me regain control of my emotions.
Barely.
How can I focus when the soul meant for me is standing next to another man?
I don’t say a word while staring at her.
“Maybe we should go.”
The shaky sentence comes from a young woman who has short red hair and big, round glasses that take up most of her face. Her discomfort is easily felt, especially by me.
Not only can I smell emotions, but I feel them deeply, as if they are my own. They are debilitating, depending on how intense the emotion is. When I was a human, I considered myself to be a sensitive soul. Empathy ruled me as an individual, and when Alaska turned me, that was amplified.
“Let’s not be rude.” Nariko steps forward and holds out her hand. “Can we start over? I’m Nariko Ohtani. This is my brother, Ruka.” She points to the guy beside her, who still stares at me with untrusting eyes.
Her brother. Good. I won’t have to kill him.
“Then, this is Reina, Millie, and Jessica. We are the Dust Bunnies. Maybe you’ve heard of us?”
Like I’d ever pass up the chance to touch her. “I’m Oklahoma Richards.” I wrap my hand around hers, and the moment our palms collide, a massive wave of relief fills me.
Finally.
Finally, I exist for a reason.
“And this guy is Van Gogh.” I scratch behind my horse’s ear.
He has swirls of brown and white all over him, which reminds me of Van Gogh’s painting style.
“He’s beautiful,” she says, releasing my hand, and it takes all of my power not to yank her wrist to my mouth and sink my fangs into her tender flesh.
“We will pay for your gate, Mr. Richards,” Nariko offers. “It’s the least we can do. Plus, it’s my fault. I told my brother to run through it when I knew I wouldn’t be able to unlock the chain.”
“The storm was too perfect, you know?” Reina chimes in, doing her best to sway my favor for her friend.
For my beloved.
“You’re storm chasers?” I finally ask, the answer glaringly obvious when I take in their vehicles that are built to withstand a mild tornado.
I grind my teeth together in frustration, in absolute anger and devastation. Of course, this fucking universe would do this to me. When Alaska gave me a crash course about being a vampire, he informed me of the lifespans we have.
Two hundred years and we die.
Or.
One thousand years if we mate someone who isn’t our beloved.
Or.
We meet our beloveds. The other half of our soul. The reason for our existence. A blessing to have that kind of love and a curse to live forever.
I never thought much about finding my fated mate. I never thought that was in the cards for me. I’m barely getting my life together after losing my brother, and it’s been twenty years.
The last thing I want is someone obsessed with thunderstorms and tornadoes. I’m done with that life. I’ve had it take, take, and fucking take from me until I wished for death.
Hell, there are days when I still do. I still wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat, gasping for breath after seeing my brother die for the millionth time in my dreams.
I’m barely living.
I barely have my life together.
Thunderstorms took everything from me. My humanity, my brother, the sense of safety when it comes to living life. Now, I wake up and go through the motions. I have my animal rescue and my ranch. That’s all I need.
Maybe I can figure out a way to break the fated mate’s bond with Nariko. The thought alone sends a blade through my heart that steals my breath, but it’s the best thing for both of us. She deserves to continue to do what she loves without being worried about me hating what she does.
Because I do hate storm chasers. I hate tornadoes.
There’s a lot of resentment in me still I haven’t come to terms with. I’m happy living the rest of my life in the solace I’ve found here. I’ve created something that helps me get out of bed every morning.
Oklahoma Rescue: bringing love to where storms are.
I found love in animals. My friend, Kentucky, helped me buy the two hundred and fifty acres that surrounded my family’s small ranch.
All I want to do is rescue because it gives me purpose. I like to keep to myself and the animals. Anything that requires more of me, I can’t give. Losing my brother damaged me in ways immortality could never heal. I don’t care to live forever. I don’t even care to live happily.
I don’t even care to live.
But I do.
I press on and on and on, hating who I am while trying to figure out a world where my brother no longer exists. Every time I blink, I see his face, his blood, the tornado coming right at us.
“Oklahoma?” Nariko calls out my name, pulling me from my thoughts.
I blink, my vision focusing on the five people in front of me, leaning against bright pink cars in the middle of my pasture.
“Don’t worry about paying me. Please, get off my property and don’t come back. I don’t want your money. I don’t want your apologies. Chase your storms anywhere but here.” I grab the horn of Van Gogh’s saddle, swing my leg over, and grab the reins.
“Hey, there’s no need to be an asshole. We are apologizing and offering to pay for your gate, which is the right thing to do.” Ruka challenges me, stepping in front of his team as if he is protecting them.
It would be sweet if the sound of his heart pumping didn’t lie. He’s terrified. He senses something is different about me—the creature sitting on top of a horse.
I respect that about him. He’s being brave even though his blood is full of fear. Nariko is in good hands. They all are.
Perhaps, he can do what I failed to do all those years ago.
“If you were smart, Ruka, you’d take your sister far away from here and protect her at all costs.”
He scoffs, shaking his head. “If you were smart, you’d stop speaking about her like you know her at all.”
“Oakley!” Westin, my friend and ranch manager, shouts from the closest hill. “Tornado destroyed a good section of fence. All animals are accounted for.”
“It’s nice meeting you all, but I need to get back to work.” It’s luck that I was out this far in the pasture. A strong force pulled me nearly to the back of my property line, and now I know why.
“You want us to go?”
The hurt in Nariko’s voice is almost enough to make me jump from my saddle and pull her into my arms.
What I want to say is, no. I don’t want her to go. I want her to stay. Forever. I want her to somehow love me even though I’ll need her blood. I want to wake up to the sight of her beautiful face every single day.