It didn’t take long before Vincent stopped beating up the two werewolves who hit on me. Eventually they ran off, all bloody and mangled and Vincent looked over at me, smiling triumphantly, as if he did right by beating people up and by forcing a kiss on me. And it was a nasty kiss too!

“Let’s go Mate,” he smiled as he grabbed my hand in his giant one, leading me down a path.

“Where are we going?” I asked, knowing that it was a smart thing to just leave the kiss ignored. If Vincent thought that I didn’t think anything of it, then he most likely won’t do it again as it won’t elicit a reaction. Smart, right?

“I’m going to get you some breakfast,” he clarified.

My stomach growled and I gripped at it with my free hand. Knowing how horrible this omega community is, I probably won’t receive a lavish breakfast, but maybe just like an apple slice. Eventually we made it to this little hut that looked all run down, being composed of rotting, gray wood.

Vincent let go of my hand and turned to me. “Stay here, and be quiet,” he whispered, so low that I had trouble hearing him despite standing right in front of him.

I rolled my eyes, but stayed in place anyway.

Vincent ignored my eye roll and walked up to the wooden shack. Maybe it was another house, seeing as how all the homes here are all run-down and crappy. He reached it and put his ear up to the wall, listening carefully. Personally, I couldn’t hear a thing, but that was probably due to my weak human ears.

Vincent sighed and looked back at me, running his eyes up and down my form. “Comfort Mate,” he growled and burst through the door to the shack. There was a bunch of clattering noises and then I heard a low growl and a lot of snarls.

Great. So this was house, and Vincent just broke in, pissing off the werewolf inhabitant.

Vincent and whoever it was who lived inside the shack wrestled around for a bit, slamming into the walls, and roaring at one another. I just stayed put in the place Vincent designated for me, figuring that now was the perfect time to listen to him as I don’t want to be involved in a werewolf fight.

Soon Vincent came running out of the shack, towards me. I stared at him, confused, but not for long because soon he flung me over his shoulder and kept on running.

As he carried me off, I saw the owner of the shack pop his head out, flipping us the bird as he snarled loudly.

“What’d you do?” I asked, my voice all bumpy due to Vincent’s run.

“I got you food,” he answered, still running in the direction of our shack. When he reached it, he carried me inside and set me down gently onto the mattress. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out an apple. At least it was whole.

I took it and eyed him.

“It was all they had in there,” Vincent said, looking down at the floor. “Sorry I couldn’t get you more.”

I stared at the apple and began to laugh. “You stole an apple for me?” I giggled.

At first Vincent looked confused, but then he relaxed and began to chuckle a little bit. “Yeah,” he nodded. “It must taste good too because that wolf sure fought hard for it.”

I bit into the piece of fruit, juice squirting down my chin. I like the green apples better than red, but I was hungry so anything tasted delicious now.

“Wanna bite?” I asked Vincent, holding it out to him. I guess it’s the least I could do. I mean, he practically committed burglary for me, so I could let him enjoy some of the spoils.

Vincent shook his head. “No, that’s all yours,” he said.

I shrugged and finished the apple, throwing the core out the front door. Hey, it’s natural, so it should totally decompose. Plus, I don’t think omegas care that much about littering, seeing as how they’re surrounded by trash all day.

“So,” I began, a little unsure how to ask what I wanted to say next. I sat back down on the mattress and Vincent followed me, taking the spot right next to me.

He leaned into my body, resting his head on my shoulder. “Yes?” he said.

I bit my lip for a brief second. “Are we poor?” I blurted out.

Vincent jerked up and looked at me, cocking his eyebrow.

“I’m only asking because I’m thinking you spent all your money on my clothes because you had to steal an apple!” I rushed. “Besides, don’t you have your money in the other territory? I can ask Danni to wire it over if we are poor!”

Vincent put his hand over my lips, shutting me up. “Mate,” he said, “don’t worry about our finances. I’ll take care of you, no matter what.”

So I guess we are poor. That sucks. The only reason why I’m concerned is because if we’re poor, how are we going to make it all the way to Florida at the end of the week? Are we walking there?

“But yes, Mate,” Vincent went on, wrapping his arms tightly around me, “I did spend most of our money on your clothes. But, I also spent the rest of it on a surprise I have for you tonight. So I need to set it up, and in the meantime, I’m going to drop you off at someone’s house.”

I looked at him, shocked. Vincent’s actually going to give me some time away from him? Of course I’m going to be supervised, but still! I’ll have a few minutes away from the obsessed dog!

“Who?” I wondered.

“I met this couple when I was getting your clothes,” he explained. “They’re a mated pair, and the girl’s a human like you, so I figured you could hang out with her for a while, while I set things up.”

Wow. Just, wow. I’ve been dying to get some time away from Vincent, and now that it’s here, I really don’t know how to feel about it. A main part of me was excited, but there was a microscopic part that was a little apprehensive. There’s no way I like Vincent, NO WAY, but he’s all I have at the moment. So I suppose it would kind of suck to lose him…at least before he escorts me to Florida, then he can go off and do whatever.

There was loud knock on the door, making me jump.

Vincent pushed himself off the mattress. “They’re here,” he smiled. HE opened up the door, revealing two complete opposites. The werewolf guy was freakishly tall. He towered over Vincent and his shoulders were even broader. This guy was giant! The girl was petite, making it to my shoulders. She was like a twig and she wore dark sunglasses that took up a majority of her tiny face.

I shyly smiled. The werewolf moved a little in front of the girl, as if I posed some sort of threat to her.

Vincent walked back over to me, wrapping a possessive arm around my waist. “Mate,” he said, his voice all deep and authoritative, “this is Jack and his mate Blair.”

“Hi,” I said, unsure if I should ask them about their day or something nice like that. I suck at meeting new people.

Jack just smiled back, turning a little red. I almost laughed at the thought of this menacing giant werewolf being a shy guy. He looks like he can take on anyone and come out on top. Blair just smiled in my direction. Great, two shy people, so I’ll probably be spending my day in silence with them.

“Jack’s going to help me set things up, so Blair’s going to be hanging with you,” Vincent told me, squeezing my side a bit. He then wrapped his other arm around me, giving me a tight hug. “I love you and I should be done in a couple hours.”

“Sure,” I muttered.

Jack hugged Blair as well, completely engulfing her tiny body in his muscles. He whispered something into her ear.

“I’ll be fine Mate,” she sat, patting his chest to reassure him of something.

Jack nodded and looked over at me, then to Vincent. “Tell Nora to keep an eye out for Blair, please,” he said. Why can’t he tell me himself? Oh yeah, the odd possessive male werewolf b.s.

Vincent turned to me. “Mate, keep-”

“Keep an eye out for Blair,” I rushed. I moved out of his hold and pressed my hands on his wide back, pushing him towards the door. “Don’t wanna keep you waiting, so bye!”

He growled but let me guide him out of the room anyway. “Behave,” he ordered before I slammed the door shut.

“Finally!” I cheered. I noticed Blair standing there awkwardly. “Sorry about that,” I murmured. “I’ve been dying for a break for a while now.” I nervously laughed.

Blair nodded. “It’s okay, I understand.”

She shuffled her feet a little bit.

“You want to sit down?” I asked her, patting the mattress that I had been relaxing on.

“Sure,” she almost whispered. When she moved over to the mattress, she shuffled her feet making it here at a snail’s pace. When she finally sat down, she turned to me. “So, um, your mate wanted me to tell you how I met Jack. He said you’d find it romantic.” He turned red at the last sentence.

I scoffed. “Did he really say that?” I asked.

Blair hung her head. “He said it’d get your head out of your ass.”

Normally I’d be mad at that statement, but now I was just so happy to be hanging out with a human with no werewolf around. Therefore I laughed.

“Okay, fine,” I laughed. “How’d you meet?”

Blair cleared her throat. “Well, I should probably start out by saying that I was a college freshman. I was struggling to pay tuition for my very first semester…and I was already married.”

I jerked up.”You got married in high school?”

Blair nodded. “Yeah. My parents arranged it because they said that if I as chosen to be a werewolf’s mate, then I could stay with my human spouse, thus staying safe.”

Wow, that’s a smart idea. Now why didn’t my parents set up an arranged marriage to save me from this predicament?

“My husband’s name was Hunter,” Blair mused. “Well, now I suppose I should say he’s my ex-husband, but anyway. To make a long story short there, let’s just say Hunter was mean to me.”

“Did he put his hands on you?” I interrupted, getting sucked into this story.

Blair began to wring her hands together, shyly. “He was bad person,” she whispered. “But I was married, so yeah. Then one day I was at the river and I felt this hand on my shoulder, and this man introduced himself to me as Jack. He was all concerned because my arm was in a cast…you can probably guess why too.

“Jack didn’t tell me he was a werewolf, and I had revealed that I was afraid of them. My parents fed me all these stories about how they were bloodthirsty animals and they’d eat me the very second they got. So I thought I was just talking with a human guy. I told him I had broken my arm by slipping in the tub. He didn’t sound convinced, but he left it alone. After we talked for a while, he walked me home, where he met Hunter, who was drunk.”

“What did Jack do?” I wondered.

Blair smiled to herself. “He asked who the hell the drunken idiot at my home was. I told him Hunter was my husband, and not to talk about him like that. I was very committed to my marriage because I believed it would save me from getting eaten by a monster. Well, Hunter then made things worse by cussing at me to make him dinner, and then Jack grabbed my arm, yanking me towards him. He had wrapped his arms around me, and started yelling at Hunter that I was his now and to back off.

“Hunter called him a dog and told him to fuck off because I was his property.” Blair let out a low chuckle. “He actually called me his property. Well, Jack’s possessive instincts must have kicked in and then I felt him get bigger. Like his arms on my felt heavier, and a lot fuzzier. He then started snarling and Hunter started screaming.

“I never saw Hunter again. Jack told me he was werewolf and that I was his mate. He told me he’d protect me from the world and support me. And he has. He’s paying for my college education and to this day, I haven’t even gotten so much as a single scratch with him around.”

That last part was lame.”Okay, but his canines are frickin’ huge! How the hell couldn’t you tell he was a werewolf?” I asked, throwing my hands up into the air. Seriously, that was one of the first features I noticed on Vincent.

Blair smiled. “I probably should have told you that too.” She took off her sunglasses and looked at me. Her eyes looked all gray and clouded over. “I was born this way. Can’t see a thing.”

Holy crap she’s blind! “I’m so sorry about that last remark!” I hurried.

Blair laughed. “It’s okay,” she said.

After that we sat around and talked about real human stuff like friends and school. The whole time I couldn’t help but think about her story. Like me, Blair had been warned against the dangers of werewolves. Then she met Jack, one of the biggest werewolves I’ve laid eyes on. And that werewolf, from the get go, takes care of her, despite the fact that she’s blind or that she’s married. He fights off her own husband just to get her.

That’s love.

Then that got me thinking: is that how powerful the pull werewolves have when it comes to their love for their mate? Does Vincent love me that much?

I thought about that for a while until I heard another knock at the door.

_____

A/N: I'm sorry that this chapter was a little slow. But hopefully the next one picks up the pace a little more because I plan on them having a date and Jason should make an appearance as well.