After they mated. Not if they mated.
That tiniest detail in his words roused a soft smile on Vivian's expression. Perhaps she wouldn't be discarded or rejected after all and Ronan might just accept her as his mate.
Yet another question remained in Vivian's mind: other than to fulfil her duty as his fated omega, would there ever be another reason she fervently wished for his acceptance?
Vivian shook her head, continuing to observe Ronan's gentle care with her feet. She savoured a moment to admire the way his muscles rippled beneath his sun-kissed skin as he worked his hands, his shirtless torso on full display.
She didn't understand why he abandoned her the previous night and fled, nor the shift in his demeanour. The Ronan in the intimate moment between them last night was more bold and unrestrained in his desires. He wasn't averse to touching her or expressing the first thoughts of want that crept into his mind.
Meanwhile, the regular Ronan was somewhat cold at times in their interactions and refused to kindle any sort of mating connection between them.
Vivian needed to know what was responsible for those spontaneous changes.
Ronan looked up at her, seizing her gaze with his own when he caught her pretty emerald eyes wandering all over the contours and sculpture of his body. His mouth curled into a half-smile, forcing her to look away shyly.
"Enjoying the sight, little wolf?" Ronan teased, deciding to sever the previous night's tension between them.
Vivian sneakily trailed her gaze back to him from the corner of her eye, noticing a lock of his dark, curly hair fell across his forehead, and she fought the urge to reach out and brush it away.
Ronan's smile flattened, turning serious once more when he stood up and offered her his hand.
"Come on, we have to get going," the Lycan urged, interlocking their fingers as he guided her downstairs out of the house.
"I'm going to shift into my Lycan skin," Ronan said, stopping to turn to her once they were outside. "You'll climb on my back. It'll be much faster than both of us on foot."
"I could shift," Vivian offered, not too keen on the idea of sharing the same proximity of Ronan's Lycan form.
She reminded herself of the moment of terror she experienced before she fainted from his arrival when Ronan first found her.
What if he devoured her whole without remorse once he shifted?
"Shifting will accelerate the draining of your shifter power. Right now, your human side is acting as a buffer, protecting you from the full onslaught of the magic," Ronan explained, divulging more information about her dire state.
"That's why the pain was so much worse when I shifted." Vivian realised just how risky and reckless her last shift was, however, she was granted no other choice.
"Yes, that's why. Listen," Ronan stepped closer, "I know my Lycan is scary if you've ever seen one up close, but it's me, I'm in full control. Don't be afraid."
Ronan attempted to ease her anxiety with a gentle smile, his hands raising up to tenderly cup her face.
"I know you're afraid of me, Vivian," Ronan shared his thoughts for once. "But I promise I will never hurt you. Can you trust me?"
Vivian was still unsure about Ronan's intentions. As much as she readily wanted to trust him after his meticulous care for her in the past few days, it was ingrained in her to be sceptical and doubtful of every man she'd ever known in her life.
"I can try," Vivian answered him with a nod and for a moment, his eyes flashed amber when he replied, "That's my little wolf."
He guided her back to the threshold of the house.
"Stay here while I change," Ronan urged, hands on Vivian's shoulders pushing her gently to lean against the door for the house and handing her the backpack with his supplies. "Promise me you won't run, and try not to faint."
"I won't run and I won't pass out. I promise." Vivian playfully rolled her eyes and Ronan realised that the little she-wolf had some hint of sass to her. She wasn't some human who'd never seen a shifter before.
The Lycan, however, was an entirely different case.
Ronan eyed her for a long time before bidding and moving back, leaving a large space between them.
Closing his eyes, he reached his hands up and stretched. It offered Vivian a wonderfully pleasing view of the Lycan Alpha's body.
Ronan inhaled a deep breath to relax. Then he began to shift.
Vivian had never witnessed a Lycan's transformation nor any other shifter and she'd certainly never seen them shift while standing up.
Ronan was showing off.
She heard the odd but familiar sounds of muscles and bones snapping and transforming, then the sprouting of black onyx fur across the rippling, shifting skin until before him stood a tall and beastly bipedal Lycan.
Ronan's torso muscles were still visible even in Lycan form and his beastly side exuded a terrifying aura, which even informed the other lesser creatures in the forest to flee into their burrows and disquiet.
Even the birds screeched and took off and the forest went dead silent.
Vivian swallowed hard, clutching tightly onto the backpack of supplies as Ronan dropped onto all fours and crawled towards her. She was glad for his pep talk from moments before, as every instinct, every cell in her body, told her to run.
However, the panic began to subside when the reflection of his eyes reassured her that he was completely in control.
When Ronan was a few inches away from her, Vivian reached out one hand to touch the Lycan's cheek. His fur was rough beneath her fingers and Ronan turned his head, pressing his nose into her palm.
A moment before, Vivian had been certain that Ronan's tale about them being true mates was just a hopeless fairytale—nothing more than a story.
But now, what she was feeling... spoke to something more.