My Long Lost Mate

"Look, we are back in Wonsvile," Luke said, glancing out to the window. I followed him to look outside, seeing that we were by the end of the dark and dense forest. It took us nearly five hours to get out of the forest, finally reaching back to our homeland.

Similar to Gordom, Wonsvile also had a huge wall surrounding its vast grounds, marking the start of Wonsvile's territory. There appeared to be several entrances to Wonsvile, as I discovered a sign reading 'Gate One' by the top of the gate we were currently passing through. 

"Are there other gates besides this one?" I asked. 

"There are two gates to Wonsvile, as our land is divided into the upper part and the lower part. Do you know about that?"

"No..." there seemed to be too many things that I didn't know about the world I'm living in. 

Hearing it, he smiled, ruffling my hair, "It's okay. I'll tell you all the things you don't know and take you to all the places you've never been to before. I promised you that, didn't I?"

"You did," I smiled. 

"Well, unfortunately for us, I will be a little busy for the next few days because there must be a pile of work waiting for me on my desk. I won't be able to fulfill my promise before I finish all of them, so you will have to wait for a little while."

"Do you need me to help you?" I asked, feeling bad that he would have a lot of busy days because of what happened to me, "After all, I was once your secretary," though I didn't remember doing anything related to a secretary's duties. 

He burst out laughing when he heard my remark, leaving me confused as to what was funny about what I had just said. 

"What?" I asked him. 

"It sounds funny to me to call you my secretary," he continued to laugh, shaking his head, "I was only using that as a reason for you to stay with me when you said you were going to leave. I had no intention of making you my secretary, as I don't even need one. But—there's no way that I would let you leave just a few days after I found you when I've searched for you for years."

Ahh, so that was the reason. I used to be very perplexed as to why he never ȧssigned me any work and only asked me to ȧssist him with trivial tasks that he could complete himself. But when he did ask me to do something, it was something as bizarre as feeding him food. At that time, I was feeling very uncomfortable and awkward. I was scared that I might have bumped into someone weird just after my escape.

"Not that I would ever let you leave me in my lifetime," he added. 

"You seem to be very possessive of me," this time, it was my turn to laugh. This reminded me of what Luke's mother, Ysabelle, said to me when she pulled me into her painting. She told me that werewolves are extremely possessive of their mates, even more so for the Alpha wolf. Though Luke hasn't really done much to show his possessiveness of me, the sign was already there.

"You tell me, Violet," he said, putting one of his palms on my cheek, "How can I not be when I have you as my mate?" he smiled, and then all of a sudden, my stomach felt funny. 

"D-don't say that," I quickly glanced sideways, to the window, where I wouldn't see how he was staring at me with that smile of his, "Flattery will get you nowhere."

"Will it not, really? I don't think the same. I think it will get me everywhere," he chuckled, leaning over to see my face, "See, it gets me to see you with flushed cheeks—though what I said was not flattery, but more of a fact."

This man tends to be too forthright in expressing his affection for me that I often found myself at a loss for words. How am I supposed to respond?

"A-are we there yet?" I cleared my throat, pushing his face away from me. "Ah! Is that the village you are looking for?" I leaned closer to the window, pointing out where there were a few houses in sight. 

"It's not," he pulled my body away from the window for me to sit right back, "There should be a good ten minutes before we reach our destination," he said, peering at his pocket watch. 

It was around noon when we first started our journey from Gordom, and it had been approximately six hours since then. It was almost time for the sun to set, and the blue skies had turned crimson and orange. By the time we reach the village, I'm afraid the day would turn dark already.

I noticed that the winter in Gordom was much, much colder than it was in Wonsvile. Back in Gordom, I needed three layers of clothing to keep my body warm, but in Wonsvile, I only need two layers, or else it would be too warm.

"I have a question," I said, then Luke nodded his head as if to allow me to ask away, "That time... when we first met, why did you hide the fact that you are a werewolf?"

"Because I was afraid you would be scared of me, scared that you will reject me," he smiled sourly. "For werewolves, getting rejected by our mate is the worst thing that could ever happen to us. In the worst case, we could die from the pain of rejection."

"It's that bad?" I gasped. 

"It is, but it also depends on how well the person takes the rejection," he nodded, then pinched my cheeks, "That's why you shouldn't leave me unless you are planning to kill me, okay?"

"I won't leave you," I pouted, "I don't even have a place to go." 

"Then what if you do have a place to go? Will you leave me?"

"Hmmm," I narrowed my eyes, looking upwards as if I was thinking hard, "I guess it depends on—ow!" Luke pinched my cheeks harder, stopping me from saying what I was about to say. 

"Not a chance, rabbit," he shrugged, "I won't even let you say that you are going to leave me. You are going to stay with me forever." 

"It's only a joke, okay?" I giggled, "I won't leave you, so can you please take your hands off my cheeks? You're going to make my skin sag if you keep on pinching me."

He made a face at me and then released my cheeks, grunting. His hand then moved to mine, keeping it secure on his own. It seems like he wouldn't even give me any opportunities to run from him. 

"Here," Luke took out an object from his pocket, offering it to me, "Keep it in your pocket."

He handed me a pocket knife, and I accepted without asking any questions. It was obvious that things could turn sour when we were doing something related to a witch, and he was telling me to be prepared for the worst—which would be when he couldn't protect me, and I had to protect myself without having him around me. 

"And wear this as well," he added as he handed me a cape, "We don't know how many witches are out there, so it's best if they don't see you. It could be dangerous, especially when they are currently going after you."

"Okay," I complied, wearing the cape over my dress. The cape reached all the way to the bottom of my dress, hiding my whole body and at the same time adding warmth to it. Luke also wore another cape that he had prepared beforehand, then helped me put on the hood on my cape to hide my face.

"Another reason is that I don't want people to be enchanted by your beauty when they see you. It could be bad for you—and for them," he mumbled, making sure that his voice was loud enough for me to hear before smiling and winking his eyes at me.

Seriously, this man really took every chance he got to tease me. I wonder what he would do if he got jealous? I couldn't stop myself from being curious about it. 

Just then, the coachman pulled the carriage over, signaling that the ride was over. We have arrived at our destination, and it was time for us to get to work. Just a few seconds after the ride ended, the coachman pulled the door opened, allowing us to step down the carriage. 

Luke, as usual, was the first to get off the carriage before reaching out his hand to help me get off the carriage. Done with helping me, he stretched his hands upwards, preparing his body for the upcoming events.

"Ahh! It's finally time to go witch-hunting," he grinned.