Before he knew it, James' foot slipped and he went rolling down the mountain.
"Oh fuck—!"
James first instinct was to protect his child, and he wrapped a protective arm around his stomach. With his other hand, he casted a shield spell around his head.
'Screw this useless magic power! I can't protect anything but my head!'
After cursing his weak magical power, James used both of his hands to protect his stomach as he continued to roll down the mountain. In his mind, he mourned his poor choice of the road, but this was the fastest one.
Suddenly, he felt something grab him by the neck and stop his fall.
"Ah!"
He yelped and tried to turn his head around, but he was dragged upward easily and found himself atop the mountain in no time.
When he was finally able to turn around, he saw a large, black wolf staring at him with piercing pink eyes.
'What the hell? Pink?'
The wolf sniffed James' neck and scrunched his nose, as if he smelled something unpleasant.
"Hey! That's rude— oh wait. That's Arthur's scent."
James blinked and scratched his neck, then looked under his nails. The traces of the temporary mark that Arthur left on him were a sign that their bond hasn't faded completely.
'It'll fade soon enough, and I'll probably need to be more careful. Whether I'm pregnant or not, my scent is a weakness and a call for many predators.'
The amount of scent-masks and suppressants that he could afford was limited. James wasn't some rich guy who could afford endless supplies while traveling alone.
After a while, James realized that the wolf was still there.
"Oh. Hi. Umm… Thank you for saving me?"
The wolf stared at him for a while before taking a step back and turning into human—with tanned skin and pitch black hair, his pink eyes were still as mesmerizing especially when coupled with the furry wolf ears atop of his head.
"Why is an omega like you walking around all alone? And even climbing mountains."
"Umm…"
James swallowed his awe and scratched his head. It was his first time meeting a werewolf, and he only knew them from books and the old head nurse story.
'I can't tell him everything—there's no need to.Ijust need to state the obvious.'
"I'm traveling toward Arsadias. And um I don't really have anyone to accompany me."
Narrowing his eyes, the werewolf looked James up and down.
"Appearance wise, your words sound about right. But I can smell an alpha on you. So, where is your mate?"
"..."
'Um, sir, in such a situation, it's most likely that my mate is dead or something. So you really should be more sensitive with your words!'
However, not knowing whether this was common sense for the werewolf or truly a bizarre development, James refrained from voicing out his complaint.
"He abandoned me. Said our relationship was done. So I have no reason to stay in Emerald, and I'm going to Arsadias."
The werewolf shoved his nose again to James' neck and sniffed him.
"Hey–hey, stop it!"
"You—Are you pregnant?"
'Screw my life. I just had to meet a werewolf, a being with a supreme sense of smell. Lucky you are, James.'
Finding no way out of his situation, James just admitted. And to his surprise, he found himself carried in a pair of strong arms—princess style.
"Holy hell!"
"Pfft- is this how humans swear in surprise?"
"No, I, I'm sorry." James' face flushed and he quickly tried to hide it and get his composure back together, but it didn't work out as much as he expected.
The werewolf laughed loudly at the flustered omega and then slung James' bag on his right shoulder. He then introduced myself, "I'm Vance. As you can see, a werewolf. I can't watch an omega hurt themselves and their baby by accident. I'll take you to Arsadias."
"But you have no reason to…"
James looked up to the handsome werewolf with suspicion. The werewolf grinned at him, his sharp teeth shining under the sunlight.
"I prefer to not see a beautiful omega dying. Do I need any other reasons?"
"What the—then you can just leave this place."
Vance shook his head and started walking. "Consider this my territory, and I'm just fulfilling my responsibility towards it. You don't need to trust me, because I'll make sure you arrive safely regardless of your trust."
He ruffled James' hair and spent from the afternoon till evening chatting the poor omega's ears off, eventually making James too occupied with those little conversations to focus on his suspicion.
»»-----------¤-----------««
"So, would you tell me more about your ex-mate? Or at least why you two aren't together anymore."
James hummed while lying comfortably on a large tree root. Vance hunted a few rabbits for them earlier and James cooked them with some spices he brought with him.
Vance's words about this being his territory seemed to be true as he almost broke into tears after eating the rabbit soup and the grilled rabbits with spices.
He said it had been months since he had a decent meal.
Finding his reaction to be funny, James decided to make the food throughout their trip together. Not just to see more of Vance's funny face, but also because he believed his baby wouldn't be pleased at all with whatever Vance would be cooking.
Afterwards, they were now resting for the night. Vance arranged the tree root with plush leaves to make it comfortable for James and then started asking about him again.
"I guess I can tell you a bit," James mumbled. He then turned toward Vance and smiled.
"Human omegas are born with weak magical power. Emerald put a high value on how successful you are as a mage. That's how you gain status there. But I'm just a mere omega, so from the get-go, my fate was doomed."
He shrugged his shoulders, remembering how he felt when he presented as an omega. And the person who was next to him.
"My mate, Arthur, was my childhood friend. We started our relationship because I trusted him the most and so did he. In addition, he never looked down on me. Until the last moment."
"Then why is he not here with you now? And leaving you with a child inside you… Did something happen to him?"
Vance looked genuinely puzzled, which made James as he pointed at his stomach.
"Because I refused to tell him who this baby's other parent is, and also how I got impregnated in the first place."
"Hold up— this child isn't his?"
James shook his head. This baby wasn't Arthur's.
"Then who's the father-?"
Carefully avoiding stating the race of the so-called 'father', James chuckled. "Pfft. Calling that person a father will always be funny to me. It was a drunk female alpha."
"Shit. So you got ra-"
James nodded and cut him off, not really wanting to hear it stated so bluntly.
"It was my fault because I went to some place I shouldn't, while all alone. Or at least that's what I expected to hear. So I kept refusing to tell him until the end."
Vance looked at James silently, as if urging him to continue. So James did.
"He was an alpha, after all. His pride got hurt and he said he won't protect me anymore. In addition, his mother never liked me. I ended up in a dire need to escape hell, and that's how I came here."
After James finished speaking, he let out a soft, helpless giggle.
"I wonder if things would've been different if I was honest… In the end everything is my fault."
The next moment, James felt himself pulled into a warm, firm embrace. Vance's voice reached his ears.
"It was never your fault. What happened was their fault. These two alphas don't even deserve to breathe after what they made a weak omega like you go through."
"Vance…?"
"Never. Never blame yourself for being taken advantage of. You didn't want it, and yet you are protecting this baby. You're not at fault, so stay proud and never feel guilty about this."
Vance pulled slightly away as he stressed his last sentence while locking his gaze with James. Two pairs of eyes—one pink, and one red—stared at each other for a long while.
*＊✿❀○❀✿＊*