My Long Lost Mate

"I'm a werewolf."

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

"I'm not joking," Luke cut me off as he tightens 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 is to a certain werewolf. Black hair and red eyes, the similarities are impeccable. How can 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 happened to me. And he was hurt the night of the party, where Wolfie also 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 it 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."

I have always wondered who Wolfie is but it never crossed my mind that it was Luke. I felt awkward now knowing that I did a lot of embarrassing things to Wolfie. I didn't even know how many hugs I've thrown at him.

"No, don't be sorry. I was the one who asked you to not tell me who you are."

"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, praises, everything he offered was very new and strange.

"That's why you helped me, and has 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 ċhėst 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 will be hurt by someone again, scared that they will leave me. I didn't want to be attached to someone, to grow feelings for them. I didn't want this.

I opened my mouth to answer him, but nothing comes 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 wandered around the room 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've last heard someone said 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 it won'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 be dead, so I deserve all the beatings that I got. They said I should live all my life in torments, to repay the sins of killing my own mom. I don't deserve to be happy, moreover 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 ȧssured 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 mȯȧns 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 wants to let go.

I peeked over to him and was a little surprised to see his condition. It was the first time I saw him being so dejected. His shoulder was 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 to his embrace, "You can stay how you are right now. I will be the one who loves you," he patted my back softly, "We will learn about it slowly."

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

"Yes, you can," he ċȧrėssed the back of my head as he looks 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 to another embrace, "I love you, and will always do."