My Long Lost Mate

Did I perhaps hear correctly? No—I think it must be my ears playing tricks on me. Yes, that must be the case. I sighed in relief, ȧssuming that it was an error that my ears had just made.

"I said I will help," he smiled.

Hearing it for the second time, I immediately choked on my porridge. Coughing, Luke handed me a glass of water to help me ease them. I spent a good few minutes coughing while Luke patted my back.

"Are you okay?"

"No," I replied in between my cough. I glanced up, looking at the man who looked like he was genuinely concerned about my well-being. Was he serious? "Please don't."

"Don't what?" he asked, not understanding what I meant. "Don't... pat your back?" he asked again, at the same time raising his hand to stop patting me.

"Wash my head," I answered, shedding some light on him, "I can do it just fine on my own."

"Are you sure?" His brows drew together, a look of doubt on his face upon hearing my words.

"I am a hundred percent sure," I nodded my head vigorously to his question. To show him the certainty of my words, I attempted to get out of bed, trying to show him how good my current condition was and how I was fully capable of doing things by myself.

But, as my feet touched the ground and had to bear the weight of my body, they didn't do justice to my expectation. Instead of standing, I collapsed to the ground due to the lack of strength I had in my legs.

Luke caught me just in time before my knees scraped the floor. His lopsided grin was on a full show when he questioned, "Are you still a hundred percent sure, Violet?"

And so, instead of convincing him about my capabilities, I convinced him otherwise. The plan backfired, but I had no plan on going back on my words, "...yes."

"Such a stubborn little rabbit," he chuckled.

Following his remark, he swept my body off the ground, carrying me in his arms without any warning. I stared at the man, my eyes wide in disbelief, "What are you doing?!"

"Helping you."

"I-I don't need your help," I urged, wriggling in his hold, "Luke, put me down!"

"Stop wriggling," he cautioned, but I didn't heed his words. A few seconds passed, and I still didn't stop.

He sighed, finally complying, "Then show me that you don't need my help." He put me down on the floor, then walk a step away. "Try standing," he demanded, fully knowing that I had no strength in my feet to do so.

"Well, I—" I tried to reason, but he quickly cut me off.

"You can't, right?" he folded his arms, "See? You do need my help. You can't even walk to the bathroom on your own."

"I can crawl," I retorted.

"And end up with new wounds on your legs? I don't think so, Violet," he huffed. He then squatted down to level with me and asked, "Is your head still itchy?"

I nodded to his question, immediately receiving a pinch on my cheeks, "Then stop being so persistent and let me help you, okay?"

I opened my mouth to say something but then closed it again, realizing that no words could change his mind from helping me out in doing my activity—I mean, most probably, activities.

Hearing no response from me, he smiled, ȧssuming that he was now permitted to help. He then lifted me up, again carrying me to the bathroom after our previous delayed visit. Arriving at the bathroom, he laid me down on the empty bathtub, then took a towel and placed it over my shoulders to prevent my clothes from getting wet.

"Lean your head here," he said, pulling my head back to lean on the edge of the bathtub. He pulled a chair, sitting right behind me, "Is this too hot?" he asked as he slowly poured a little water on my head.

I flinched a little when the water touched me, surprised by the contact. Actually, I didn't know if it's the water or Luke's fingers that were gently raking through my hair that surprised me more. "No, it's perfect," I replied, fidgeting my fingers.

"Are you sure?" he quizzed, "Your face is red."

"R-Really? It must be my blood pressure," I blurted out, laughing awkwardly to hide my embarrassment and nervousness away, "Are you done?"

"Rabbit, It's not even two minutes since I started," he answered, combing my hair.

"Right," I inwardly cursed, hoping for the time to pass faster. I started to think that enduring the itchiness for a few days wouldn't be all that bad after all. I should have been more patient.

Though my mouth was silent the whole time Luke washed my hair, my mind was shouting like mad. I couldn't help but be aware of every movement that he made with his fingers. Even the sound of his breathing couldn't seem to get out of my head.

But as time went by, I finally started to relax my previously tense shoulder. It was thanks to the way Luke massaged my head, not too hard, but also not too weak. It felt so relaxing, and I soon found myself getting drowsy.

"Are you dozing off?" he chuckled.

"I am not," I snapped my eyes open, "I was just resting my eyes for a moment."

"That's why you should have accepted my help from the start," he boasted, ignoring my previous answer, "I can do it longer if you want. I have all day."

"Thank you for your ȧssistance," I quickly got up from my previous position and tried to get out of the bathtub, forgetting my lack of strength to do so. Hence, I fell back down.

"Such impatience," he laughed.

I covered my face with both of my palms, scrunching my whole face behind them. Regardless of my current position, Luke picked me out of the bathtub, then went straight to the bedroom.

I felt a soft cushion under me when Luke put me down, "You can put your hands down now."

"No," I shook my head, "I need to cover them for a few more minutes."

I wish I could run as far as possible to hide, but unfortunately, I can't even stand up straight. The best I could do right now was to hide behind my palms. Just when will my legs return to normal? I need to quickly run from this embarrassing situation.

"Okay then," he laughed heartily. I heard his footstep going further away from me before coming back again. Luke placed a towel over my head, gently drying my hair with it, "Still not yet?" I shook my head again to answer his question.

"You're so adorable," he said in a small voice, as if he was whispering to himself. Hearing that, I finally dropped my hands, noticing that I was sitting in front of a dressing table.

"Stop," I gushed, glaring at Luke's reflection on the mirror, "Stop making me feel even more embarrassed."

"I did no such thing, rabbit," he shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, his mouth curved up into a smile. If he was in his wolf form, I bet he would be wagging his tail right now.

I decided to take a deep breath to calm myself. I closed my eyes, feeling that if I didn't see him then I wouldn't be as embarrassed. Feeling calmer, I opened them again to take a look at my reflection in the mirror. Scrutinizing my current condition, I noticed that my face was clean from wounds, but there were some on my body.

Weird, why do I only have such little wounds? If I remember correctly, I was beaten up pretty badly. There was no way that all those beatings would only cause this many wounds. Not that I wanted more, I was just curious.

"Did I only have this many wounds from the start?"

"No, there were a lot more. They are all healed now," he replied, brushing my hair, "What's left are the deeper wounds that need a little more time to heal."

"In three days?" I frowned, confused at his answer, "How?"

My wounds healed in three days? That was incredibly fast. I've never healed that fast before. Luke stopped brushing my hair when he heard my question and scratched his nose awkwardly before answering, "I applied some medications on your wounds."

"What medications?" I asked, curious to know what kind of medication works that fast. It would be nice if I had known about it earlier. I wouldn't have to suffer the pain from my wounds for weeks, or even months.

He didn't answer immediately, pondering for a few seconds before finally giving the answer to my question.

"...my saliva?"