Someone to Protect

Vance waited patiently until Melva calmed down, crouching in front of her who was sitting on the ground so he was at her eye level. He was careful not to leave her line of sight until she evened out her breath and fully recovered. He was making sure that she knew he was not abandoning her by not breaking their eye contact and she was really grateful that he went out of his way to do that. Staring into his icy blue glowing eyes was somehow slowing down her heartbeat until it was back to normal.

It was after a few minutes of comforting eye contact and silence until Vance broke it and began speaking. "Will you allow me to take you home now?" He broke into a grin and cocked his head towards his lower body, which was completely naked. "I look rather unflattering at the moment, so I will appreciate it if you let me go home and get dressed."

Melva couldn't help but crack into a smile at his remark. She had been staring into his eyes and struggling not to look down because of that reason. She weakly nodded as her answer to his question.

"Finally," joked Vance as he crawled closer to her and placed one hand under her knees and the other hand on her back, then he got to his feet, lifting her up to carry her back towards the manor.

"There is absolutely no need for this. I can walk by myself," gasped Melva in embarrassment, but she was still clinging onto his neck for dear life, linking her arms around him even if her arms were threatening to go limp at any second from now. She was lying when she said she could walk by herself, because she was obviously unable to when she had lost all her strength. She was not even strong enough to hold onto him.

Vance was only gaped at her and not taking her words seriously. It was even more embarrassing that he knew she had only been bluffing. He had seen through her lie and discovered just how vulnerable she was actually that he had decided to spare her feelings. Abashed, she tore her gaze from his and looked down, but it only made it worse because she was now staring at his bare chest. In the end, she looked back up and focused on his neck instead.

"I did not leave," said Vance suddenly.

"What?" Melva had no idea why he had said that out of nowhere.

Vance then explained what had happened earlier without being asked to. "You were thinking that I left you. Well, I did not. I was only carrying the wounded woman to the carriage which was parked right outside the forest. I asked Wilber to take her back and call a physician to take care of her."

"Why are you telling me this, Your Grace?" asked Melva in bewilderment.

"Because you look like an abandoned puppy." Vance quickly added before she found his comment offending, "It is a compliment. I actually prefer this look on you."

Melva was holding herself back from snapping at the insult. No matter what he had claimed, she would take it as an insult directed at her. "How is looking like an abandoned puppy preferable, Your Grace? I'm afraid I do not understand."

He sighed out loud before answering her question. "I want to apologise. It was wrong for me to leave you, alone and injured, and run off with the wounded woman. I assumed you would be alright on your own, because you have always been a very strong woman in my eyes. I should have known better. Every strong person has a weakness."

"I appreciate your apology. But I am really alright. I was just panicking a little because I have never been attacked by a werewolf before," reasoned Melva, although it was not very convincing. It was clearly not the werewolf that had caused her panic. It was the feeling of being abandoned that overwhelmed her, but she hated to admit that she had a weakness.

Admitting aloud that she had a weakness to him would only mean that she had willingly given him a means to use the information against her. A means to threaten her.

"Still, it does not explain why looking like an abandoned puppy is preferable," added Melva thoughtfully, unable to connect the dots.

Vance began explaining his reason to her. "It is preferable for me. Because all this time, I have been feeling like I am not worthy of being an alpha. The curse only made my insecurity worse. And after you came along, I was determined to be a proper alpha who protects his mate. But you always seem like you want to do everything alone."

"I can protect myself," said Melva determinedly.

He nodded to agree with her statement. "Yes, I believe you can. But as an alpha, I am a failure if I am unable to protect my mate. Which is why I like to see you troubled and needing my help. I can finally be useful that way. I need you to be someone for me to protect. I want to protect you."

"In other words, you need me to make you feel good about yourself," deadpanned Melva, after hearing and knowing what Vance had meant. He needed her to boost his pride.

"Why do you always twist my words into the worse ones? Do you think I am not capable of showing sincerity and sympathy?"

"I am just saying what you are implying to make it easier to understand."

"And I am being serious," insisted Vance. "If you do not allow me to protect you, it is not going only your life is at risk. It is also the lives of everyone in my pack. And I cannot let that happen. Not on my watch."

Melva could merely nod to that, because his words were true. Arguing with him further would do nothing good. She had no choice but to allow helim to protect her at all costs.

Vance was taking his time while walking out of the woods, as though he was savouring the moment and he wanted this to last as long as possible. He must be taking this opportunity to recharge his warmth. She was resting her head on his chest and she could feel warmth radiating from his body.

The sky was very dark and the thick trees were not helping in lighting the way. However, Vance didn't have any difficulties in finding his way out of the forest even without any lighting. It made her wonder just how much time he had spent running around in the woods to be able to memorise the way. Or was it because he had his wolf's sharp senses even in his human form? She wouldn't be able to tell.

It was probably way past dinnertime, because she could hear her stomach rumbling embarrassingly. At the moment, there was nothing she wanted to do more than digging a hole and burying herself in it.

Wilber was already waiting for Vance's return by the entrance of the forest with a long robe in his hand. It was probably for Vance to wear temporarily while on the way home. He had come with the carriage, meaning the young woman had been carried back into the manor.

Vance put Melva down on the seat of the carriage while he took the robe that Wilber had prepared for him and put them on temporarily. After wearing the robe, he went inside the carriage to sit next to her.

"How is the young woman, Wilber?" asked Vance concernedly. "Do they know what caused her to stop healing herself?"

"The physician said that she might be an omega who is either deserted by her pack or she was the lone survivor in a fight that killed her entire pack," explained Wilber who was sitting in the front part of the carriage, together with the coachman, Mr. Horgan. "Either way, she is now very weak. Her healing ability is also so weak it is not doing much."

"Has she regained her consciousness?"

"No. She was still unconscious before I left to fetch you and Lady Melva from the woods, Your Grace."

Melva was only listening to the conversation between Wilber and Vance and she understood nothing from their interaction. She was silently demanding Vance to elaborate. For starters, what was an omega?

"Werewolves are a lot stronger when they do everything in packs," explained Vance to her, as though he knew she was asking him questions in her mind. "A werewolf that is casted away from her pack or a werewolf that is a lone survivor in the pack is called an omega. Omegas are the weakest amongst the other ranks because they do not belong to any packs. Most women are omegas because their alphas will not let them join their packs, but there are quite a lot of special cases when the women are turned into alphas. If you were a werewolf, I am sure you would be an alpha."