3. FINDING DAHLIA

Xavier Knight woke up sometime later in the day, blinking rapidly to clear the harsh glare of the sunlight that instantly hit his face as he faintly tried to recall everything that had gotten him right to this moment.

He remembered his very bad morning, his unexpected stop at the club…

The mystery woman.

The tall, dark and handsome man sat up in the bed with a start when the memories hit him, and almost instantly, his heart pounded in eager anticipation as he took in the now cold, empty space beside him.

Where was she?

With his supernatural hearing, he listened to see if she was perhaps in some other part of the huge penthouse he had brought her to for the night, but even before he physically confirmed it, he knew it deep in his heart that she was long gone.

For a split second, Xavier Knight wondered if he had dreamed her up… if perhaps he hadn’t met her at all, and this was some impressive figment his mind had conjured to induce his sleepy state, something that, mind you, rarely happened—but no.

The lingering scent of her perfume still clung faintly to the air, a mix of jasmine, and vanilla and something else he couldn’t quite place, something darker, akin to midnight rain on a warm, unsuspecting night.

She had been here, as real as the heartbeat now racing in his chest.

Knight really couldn’t believe he had fallen asleep.

The concept was foreign to him, unusual, terrifying even, because he never slept.

Sleep was something he had long resigned himself to living without. Insomnia was practically woven into his very existence; it was part of being a creature like him, a supernatural being navigating the human world, and some of the atrocities he had committed in his time hadn’t really helped matters as well. It was his new order of the day.

But then something about her had soothed him, lulled him. Her presence and their vigorous night had wrapped around him, calm and comforting, until his in-built resistance had crumbled, and he’d succumbed to sleep.

Dahlia.

He knew the name was fake.

A charming, creative alias she’d chosen for herself to keep from giving who she really was away. But still, he couldn’t help but think that she had picked the perfect name, because the Dahlia flower stood for beauty, kindness, resilience, love, dignity— all qualities he had sensed within her, even in their short time together.

The werewolf felt a fierce urge rise in him.

He had to find her.

There was something about her, and no, it wasn’t just because he had fallen asleep for the first time in a long while at her side.

No, there was something real about her… something rare. She was confident; a feat fewer women in her skin possessed.

She was also brilliant, witty with a subtle hint of no-nonsense. And she was incredibly funny and comfortable in her own skin, and goddess, don’t get him started on her insatiable sex drive.

Very few women could handle him, but she could.

She had matched him in every way, surprising him with her strength, her stamina, and her almost predatory hunger. He’d never met anyone like her—human or otherwise.

The more Knight thought about her, the more he felt compelled to find her, to understand who this woman really was. There was a power about her, something magnetic and mysterious that he couldn’t shake.

Xavier Knight swung his legs over the edge of the bed and stood up with a burning purpose, shaking off the remnants of sleep as he reached for his phone. That brief, unexpected sleep had done wonders for him, clearing his mind and filling him with a determined energy that he was going to channel into this cause.

A few calls, a few favors called in, and he could find anyone.

He had the money, and the connections, after all.

Besides, humans, no matter how meticulous they were, always left trails, even if they took careful measures to cover up behind them.

I mean, how difficult could it possibly be?

**************

It turned out, that tracking down the mysterious Dahlia—or rather, Barbara Neil Aryan, as he had come to find out that she was called—was proving much more difficult than he had anticipated.

Xavier had returned to the club to track her and get his car, and honestly, the preliminary stage had filled him with so much hope, because he had been able to extract some information from the bartender, who had remembered the name she used on her ID.

He had been excited to continue with the search, but everything else had led to a series of disappointing dead ends.

She had no social media presence, and every other aspect of her life was off the grid, top notch, hush hush, almost as if she didn’t exist.

Every lead slowly slipped away, leaving him no closer to finding her than he had been the moment he woke up.

Of course, rather than give up in the face of the new setbacks, Xavier only became more intrigued, more invested in his search for this mysterious woman who had come into his life when he had least expected it.

He had cashed in on favors from friends in top places, put his extensive network, especially his best friend, to work, deploying every resource he had for the search, but days and nights passed, and yet they were unsuccessful in their search.

There was just no trace of her.

And so, when Xavier’s best friend, Beta and confidante burst into his hidden apartment just at the outskirts of the city almost a week later, unannounced and breathless, the Alpha had felt a powerful surge of hope fill his veins.

“What did you find?” He asked eagerly, but then the somber expression on his friend’s face gave him a moment’s pause.

“Yo, you're gonna want to take a look at this, man,” Carter held up an iPad, showing him a grainy photo of a woman.

Xavier’s heart leaped when he saw the face.

“This is your girl, right?” The Beta asked, watching him with a hesitant look.

“Yes, yes, that’s her.” Xavier nodded eagerly, taking the device from him. “What did you find out about her, Carter? Any explanation for the interesting lack of social media presence?”

His excitement turned to a sudden anxiety at his friend’s unreadable expression. “What’s going on?”

Carter took a deep breath, not really sure how to break the news to his friend.

It was the first time he had seen the powerful Alpha that interested in a woman, and a human woman nonetheless. He just went right into it, his heart aching for the poor man. “I'm really sorry, man... but the girl you’re looking for—she’s dead.” He hit his friend with the news.

“There was a weird fire at her house, about a few days ago. She... she died with two other people, her boyfriend and her best friend.”

The words hit Xavier like a physical blow.

Dead?

It just couldn’t be.

No.

There was no way in hell he was believing this shit.

He could barely register the rest of Carter’s ramblings, for in that moment, the room blurred as a loud ringing sound filled his ears. His pulse hammered hard in his chest, sending a cold chill running through his entire body as he stared at his friend in sheer, absolute disbelief.

But this was no insane prank. Carter still had that stupid sympathetic look plastered on his face, and the sight of it slowly had the Alpha coming to terms with the devastating revelation.

She was dead.

His beautiful, mysterious woman… his Dahlia, who had seemed so full of life just days ago, was now dead.