Territorial Creature

"I think it has not been established yet. Is it not, Lady Melva?" Corbett shifted to look at Melva over Vance's shoulder.

Melva furrowed her brows in distaste. Vance's selfishness was not tolerable this time. Even the cunning Corbett was not that awful. Yes, he might be cunning, for trying to get information from her by bargaining, but at least, he kept his side of the bargain. While Vance was all threats and orders without leaving her any freedom to choose.

"Yes, it is true," agreed Melva determinedly. "I'm afraid I have to agree with Lord Corbett on this. I am not a thing for you to possess, Your Grace. I am my own person."

Vance seemed so livid that he was about to explode in anger. He was growling, as though he was slowly becoming more wolf than human. He stood firm before her, not wanting her to be seen by Corbett. She had seen him angry before, but he had never been this angry.

Corbett was laughing, taking light of the situation and not being the least bit intimidated. "Are you trying to make me submit to you, my dear brother? I am sorry for disappointing you, but that will not work as you are not the only alpha around here."

Corbett apparently was also an alpha, meaning they were two leaders for two different werewolf packs who lived under the same roof. She didn't think that two different werewolf packs could live together. Wouldn't that only cause more fights for territory?

From what she had observed in the woods, wolves were very territorial creatures and highly aggressive in order to protect what was theirs. Apparently, Vance wrongly thought of her as his territory. His aggression was to drive intruders out, which in this case was Corbett.

It was foolish for Vance to behave this way when she was merely talking with Corbett. Why did he despise it so much? It was not like Melva would suddenly marry Corbett instead of him. She was bound to Vance, whether she liked it or not, so there was no need for him to be this disturbed. He should rest assured, for she wouldn't be able to run away from him.

Even so, it was wrong to let this stupid brawl and display of power continue until a fight broke out. Melva thought it was better to just return to her chamber and practise with her daggers. After all, both of them were ruining her peace and the air was no longer fresh here.

Placing her half-empty glass of wine on the table near the railings, Melva bowed politely to Corbett. "Thank you for your company, Lord Corbett. We shall continue our conversation tomorrow at breakfast. I will return to my chamber for now."

Corbett offered her his friendly smile. "The pleasure is mine. Good night, Lady Melva."

Without sparing a glance at Vance, Melva walked into the manor and headed straight towards her chamber. She could sense Vance was following closely behind her, but he didn't try to talk to her nor hold her hand as he would usually do. It was better, because she couldn't promise she wouldn't snap at him if he did. Her patience was very thin and approaching its limit.

Vance only started talking when they were in front of Melva's chamber. "I wanted to apologise."

"Apology accepted. Now would you please leave me alone, Your Grace?" pleaded Melva tiredly.

She had no interest in arguing with him. It was already a very tiring day. She had met more people today than she had during her years in Ichorhold. She was not sure she could handle having that much interaction with new people for days to come.

Vance stood before her when she was about to open the door, blocking her way. "Will you at least listen to me?"

"Go on then. I am listening. It is not like I can decline, can I?" said Melva spitefully, forgoing the formalities even if she was talking to a duke.

"Can we talk inside?" asked Vance after glancing around to find there were butlers and maids doing rounds along the corridor.

"There is no need to act like I actually have a say in this." Melva walked past Vance to enter her chamber.

It was infuriating to hear him ask pointless questions which her answer wouldn't make any difference. A constant reminder that her words meant nothing to him. More than anything, she despised having her freedom limited.

Melva noticed the two wooden boxes were already placed at one corner. It was at least calming to know she had weapons to protect herself inside the manor, because clearly it was not a safe place for her now that she found out some of Vance's enemies were also living under the same roof as her.

She turned around and glared at him when the two of them were inside her chamber. "Alright. What is it? I prefer to be alone as of now, so I appreciate it if this does not take long."

Having to be polite all day made her exasperated. Inside her chamber and with a person who had made her life a living hell, she had more than good enough reasons not to show manners. If Vance was offended by her rebelling, he didn't say anything about it.

Vance was avoiding Melva's gaze, as though he was embarrassed with himself. "I am sorry for my awful behaviour. I guess Corbett's presence really disturbs me. Seeing him made me lose my calm. I am not normally like this."

"Good that you know," replied Melva shortly, trying to finish the conversation as soon as possible. "Will you finally leave me to myself now?"

"One more thing. If you let me scent you, I will not come into your chamber tonight."

At the odd request, Melva raised her brow in confusion. Vance had mentioned that he would need to scent her if she wanted to go somewhere without Vance's company. However, they were only going to sleep in their own chambers after this. Why would he need to scent her? Wasn't the purpose of scenting only for him to be able to find her?

"Why do you want to scent me?" asked Melva curiously. "I am not going anywhere. You know exactly where to find me."

Vance seemed to find it difficult to explain to her, because he took a very long while before speaking. "You smell like him and I cannot stand it. You are going to be my mate and yet, you have another alpha's scent on you. I don't think I will be able to leave your chamber without having my scent on you." He paused to look at her with her beautiful glowing eyes. "You might not understand the importance of scenting for us werewolves. Just know that it already clouds my judgement, as you have seen earlier. It might drive me crazy sooner or later. I am barely holding myself back from going berserk."

Melva somehow understood. Werewolves were much alike the wild wolves she had seen in the forest. They were also territorial creatures. Vance had seen her as his territory and he wanted to mark her as his by leaving his scent. With another alpha nearby, he must be anxious about getting his territory taken from him, although that was very unlikely. Her marriage with him was pretty much decided by the King. And as far as she knew, no one could disagree with the King's orders.

"You know our marriage is an order from the King. Corbett will not be able to do anything about it. What are you so afraid of?" asked Melva impatiently. She failed to understand why he was so anxious about something that was clearly going to happen.

"Just please, let me. I cannot bear to smell him on you." Vance sounded desperate. Such a strong man like him was reduced to this anxious werewolf just because another alpha's scent was on his future mate. When he had mentioned that werewolves took mates seriously, he had meant it.

"Alright. Fine. Do it. As long as you promise you will not come back here tonight." Melva gave in eventually. If Vance lost his focus, it could be dangerous for her as well. People who wanted his position would think that it was the time to attack.

"I promise. Thank you."

Vance took a hesitant step closer towards Melva, narrowing the gap between them. And then he took another as he completely removed the distance until he was nearly touching her. He looked her in the eye, as though asking for her permission one more time. Melva nodded curtly, allowing him and wanting it to finish soon.

Firstly, he wrapped his arms around her, surprising her that it involved something as intimate as hugging. Her cheeks immediately reddened and her heart raced as she had never been hugged before by anyone. He then embraced her, resting his chin on her shoulder, his arms around her waist. The intimacy caused her to feel so nervous as she felt like her heart was going to burst through her chest.

What he did next made her even more flustered, feeling hot all over her body. This was totally unexpected. She had no idea what scenting was and how he was going to do it, but she had never thought that it was actual scenting like how animals usually did.