19 A loving werewolf

"I'm a werewolf."

I stared at Luke with my eyes wide, my mouth agape. What kind of joke is he pulling right now? "Are you jo—"

"I'm not joking," Luke cut me off as he tightened his grip on me, "I really am a werewolf."

I gulped my saliva down my throat as I stared at him. His confession made me notice how similar he was to a certain wolf. Black hair and red eyes. The similarities were impeccable. How could I not notice this before?

That time when I was dragged out of the house by a rogue, Wolfie was the one who helped me. But then Luke came to my room as if he knew what had happened to me. He was also hurt the night of the party, where Wolfie helped me and got hurt because of the fight. He hurt his arm... and Wolfie hurt his front leg. I always brushed the questions regarding these events away from my mind as I thought there was probably nothing important. But now, everything just matches perfectly.

"Are you Wolfie?" I asked him.

He nodded, "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have hidden it from you."

It never crossed my mind that Luke was a werewolf, moreover, Wolfie. I feel awkward now knowing that I did a lot of embarrassing things to Wolfie. I didn't even know how many hugs I had thrown at him.

"No... don't be sorry. It must be hard to tell me this." 

"I feel like I've deceived you," he lowered his head as he stared at our intertwined hands.

"Did you know that I was your mate from the very first time we met?" I asked.

He nodded with his red eyes staring deep into mine, giving me all of his attention. He has always given me all of his attention whenever we were together, without caring about our surroundings. The kindness, warmth, attention, praise, everything he offered was very new and strange.

"That's why you helped me, and have always been so kind to me?"

"Yes," he smiled. "I've waited for you all my life. You don't even know how happy I was that night. The night where we first met each other. I finally found you, the love of my life."

"H–how can this happen? I am a human. How can I be your mate? I—I think you've got the wrong person," I said as I tried to free my hand from his grip, but failed to do so as his stubborn hand was still on me.

"It's rare for a werewolf and a human to be mates, but it's not impossible," he explained. "I'm sure you are the right person, Violet. The sparks that I felt whenever I touched you and this warm feeling in my chest prove it all."

Never in my dreams have I ever thought of having someone by my side. I was prepared to live my life alone, away from people. I was scared, scared that I would be hurt by someone again, scared that they would leave me. I didn't want to be attached to someone, to have feelings for them. I didn't want this.

I opened my mouth to answer him, but nothing came out. What should I even say to him?

"Do you hate being my mate?" He asked softly, as if he was scared of my answer. His eyes trembled ever so slightly as he stared at me.

"I-I don't know," I let my eyes wander around the room, anywhere but the man in front of me. I couldn't look at him straight in the face when he was looking at me with such sad eyes, "I don't wish for a mate. Do you... love me?" I asked him. The word 'love' was so strange to my mouth, but this question kept running in my mind the moment he confessed that I was his mate.

He gave me a tiny smile and nodded his head, "I love you. I have always loved you."

My eyes went back to the man who was looking at me with glimmering eyes. I can feel the truth of his words just by looking at how he looks at me. It was the opposite of the look people usually gave me. It was not disgust, hatred, or hostility. It was pure endearment.

Warm tears trailed down my cheeks unknowingly as I heard his answer. It has been so long since I last heard someone say such words to me. Have I been longing for it all this time?

"Why are you crying?" He wiped my tears away gently as he cupped my cheeks.

"I-I don't know," I blinked my eyes to stop the tears, but they wouldn't stop. I felt like all the sadness that was building up inside me was bursting out. I thought I was used to being abused and tortured, that I was immune to it. But the truth is, I was only building up walls to hold my emotions, to not break down. Yet all the walls surrounding me were shattered to pieces just by these few words of affection.

"Can I be greedy and keep on loving you?" he inquired while stroking my cheeks lightly.

"No..." I shook my head, "I-I don't deserve your love."

"What nonsense are you spouting?" he asked. "You deserve all the love in this world."

"Everyone back in my house always told me that I am a spiteful person," I sobbed as the hateful words people sent me came back crystal clear in my mind, "I left my mom to die, so I deserve all the beatings that I got. They said I should live all my life in torment, to repay the sins of killing my own mom. I don't deserve to be happy, much less to be loved by someone again."

"Don't listen to them," he growled. The annoyance and anger were clear in his voice, "That's bullshit. No one is supposed to live their life being beaten. Those people are insane. Everyone deserves to be happy—including you," he assured me.

I looked away from him to hide the tears and my quivering lips. Salty water coursed down my face as sorrow rushed over me. A few sobs escaped from my mouth through the suppressed sound of hiccups.

"I-I can't," I said in between my tears. "I can't be your mate."

"Don't reject me... please," he mumbled, "I don't think I will stay sane if you do so." He tightened his grip on my hand as if he never wanted to let go.

I peeked over at him and was a little surprised to see his condition. It was the first time I saw him being so dejected. His shoulders were slumped down with his head lowered, his rosy lips turned downwards.

"But I don't know how to return your feelings..." I breathed out, "I forgot how it feels to love someone. It has been so long."

"It's fine," he said as he brought me into his embrace. "You can stay how you are right now. I will be the one who loves you, and you can learn slowly."

I pushed my body away from him to look at him, "Can I... do that?"

"Yes, you can," he caressed the back of my head as he looked at me. "You can even take an eternity to learn, and I will still wait for you."

Can I really be happy again? Can I love and be loved by someone again? Is that true?

"I wouldn't want any other mate but you," he pulled me into another embrace. "I love you, and will always do."