Chapter Four

 Ryan's eyes fluttered open slowly as the sunlight hit his face from the small window behind him. He quickly tried to push himself up to examine where he was but was stopped midway when a sharp pain from his stomach area hit him. 

He looked down at his injury and the first thing he noticed was the weird looking ointment that seemed to have dried into his wound. He tried recalling who it was that could have helped him out and that was when everything hit him. 

He had finally met his mate. 

A feeling of pure embarrassment hits him as he realised that not only did he look horrible, he was also completely naked with only a sack covering the lower part of his body. 

He looked around him, trying to make sense of where he was but he couldn't come up with anything. He tried pushing himself up one more time so he could take a proper look around and maybe find whoever it was that had helped him out in the first place. 

"No, no, no, no, you shouldn't be getting up yet," an unfamiliar voice yelled from behind him and Ryan immediately turned to see who the voice belonged to but was slightly disappointed when he sensed that she wasn't his mate. 

"I...I'm sorry but, who are you?" he asked slowly, wondering how he had ended up with a total stranger. 

"Isabel. The name is Isabel but I doubt my identity is of any importance right now sir. What you should be doing now is getting some rest and lying on your back so you don't worsen your condition," Isabel replied, raising her voice a little more than she intended to.

Ryan could not believe he was getting yelled at but for some reason, it didn't exactly bother him. 

"Did you treat me?" he asked. 

"Well, not exactly but I most definitely did a lot of work to keep you alive so you better do me the favour of lying back down or I'll make you," she threatened and Ryan couldn't help but chuckle at her brashness. 

"Did you just laugh at me? Are you being serious right now?" Isabel yelled in frustration and Ryan decided against infuriating any further since she was only looking out for him. 

"I apologise miss, I didn't mean to laugh and I also apologise for troubling you," he replied, doing as she instructed and lying on his back. 

"Well, at least he's obedient," Isabel muttered under her breath but Ryan had clearly heard what she said and was even more confused by her. 

"May I know who it was that treated me?" he asked. 

"Oh, she probably went to get some water to clean you up so I'm sure she'll be back soon," Isabel replied, staring back at him with curious eyes. She couldn't help but wonder how he had gotten himself injured and more importantly, who he really was. 

"Is there something on my face, miss?" Ryan asked, feeling uncomfortable under Isabel's intense gaze. 

"Well yes. Yes, there's definitely something on your face and as the expert that I am, I can tell that it's nothing but trouble. You're definitely going to be a problem," Isabel replied with a confident look on her face that confused Ryan.  

"Isabel, do you need some...," Amelia was about to ask but was stopped as soon as her eyes met with his. 

"I'll excuse you two now," Isabel drawled and walked out of the room as soon as she noticed the way they both stared at each other.

"Y...you're awake," Amelia muttered, not exactly sure how she would react to him.

Ryan still could not believe his eyes. At a point, he had started to think that maybe meeting his mate was only a part of his dream but as soon as his eyes met hers, he knew he wasn't dreaming. 

"H...hi," he greeted shyly, not knowing how else to react to her. Ryan, asides his mother, had never really been around a woman and he barely remembers having a conversation with one since his mother died. The last woman he had met ended up severely injured because he could not control his anger. 

"How are you feeling? Does your back hurt? Are you uncomfortable?" Amelia, rushing beside when she noticed him trying to move slightly. 

"I don't think I have any right to complain about being uncomfortable though. I should be grateful instead," he replied, suddenly feeling conscious of the fact that he was stark naked in front of a woman and that she probably already saw him naked. 

"Am I making you uncomfortable?" Amelia asked. 

"No, no, of course not. Why would you even think that?" Ryan replied, quickly debunking her claim.

"You looked a little uncomfortable which is why I asked but if you say you're not, then that's good cause it's time for me to clean up your wounds and apply fresh herbs and ointments. If you don't mind, can I go ahead?" she asked, hoping she wasn't making him feel weird in any way. 

"Yes, of course you can. You really don't need to ask," he assured, although a huge part of him felt awkward and embarrassed. 

"This might sting a bit though," Amelia said, soaking a piece of cloth in water and using it to carefully clean off the wound. 

"It's finally healing as fast as it should," she muttered under her breath and Ryan simply stared back at her, watching her nursing him. 

"If you don't mind, may I ask what your name is? I need to at least know the name of the person I owe my life to," Ryan asked and Amelia chuckled. 

"I didn't save you for your own sake you know," she said and Ryan furrowed his brows in confusion. 

"What do you mean by that? Is there some other reason why you saved my life?" he asked. 

"Are you forgetting you're my mate? Why would any girl watch her own mate die? Of course I had to save your life," she replied, carefully applying the ointment on the wound surface and surprised that he didn't seem to be feeling it one bit. 

"So, you wouldn't have bothered saving me if I wasn't your mate? Interesting," Ryan said, not exactly offended by her words. 

"I may have tried to help but the effort I put into saving you, I wouldn't have done it for just anyone and just so you know, you're my first ever patient," she told him and he chuckled internally at how proud of herself she looked.  

"I guess I should be even more grateful then. I definitely didn't think I'd ever meet my mate in this lifetime, especially not under such circumstances," he replied, watching her rinse off the cloth in clean water. 

"You didn't think we'd meet? Why, though? Don't you like the idea of running into your assigned soulmate? Weren't you curious?" she asked and Ryan let out a sigh. 

He'd most definitely be lying if he said he had never actually thought about it. He had always wanted to meet her and have a normal life with whoever it was but at the same time, he knew he didn't deserve such luxury. He already knew whatever curse was hovering over him would hinder him and he could not imagine himself being happy with anyone. 

What if he ended up hurting her or even worse, killing her in his angry state? Or what if she ended up running away from him when she saw how terrible he was? Ryan knew he wasn't a typical werewolf and at some point, he even believed that the moon goddess probably left him out of the mating process to protect any woman from him but now he knows just how wrong he was and her sudden appearance was definitely scaring him. 

"Let's just say I didn't, I would ever be that lucky," he replied in a low tone and Amelia could sense the sadness in his words although she decided against asking why he sounded so sad. 

"If you say so. By the way, you still haven't told me your name and yet, you expect me to tell you mine. As the person who saved your life, shouldn't I at least know my patient's name?" Amelia said suggestively and Ryan smirked. 

"I'm Ryan, pretty lady," Ryan replied and Amelia rolled her eyes. 

"Hmm, Ryan, nice name. I'm Amelia by the way," she introduced and Ryan deadpanned. 

"Did you just say your name's Amelia?" he asked and Amelia frowned slightly. 

"Yes, I just said that. Why? Is that a problem?" she questioned, feeling slightly uncomfortable with his intense gaze.

"No, of course there isn't. It's just, my mother's name was also Amelia but unfortunately, she died years ago. I'm just surprised that you both have the same name, that's all," he explained and Amelia's stern expression relaxes. 

"Oh, sorry about that. I thought about something else for a second. My bad," she quickly apologised, mentally laughing at herself for almost overreacting. 

"What did you think?" Ryan asked curiously. 

"Nothing really. I just thought that maybe, you've been with someone who had the exact same name and that's why you looked surprised and all," she replied honestly and Ryan decided against laughing out loud to avoid making her feel even more embarrassed. 

"I've never even been with anyone before," he muttered shyly. 

"You don't expect me to believe that, do you?" Amelia hissed. 

"Why wouldn't you?" he asked.

"Most men don't exactly enjoy the idea of waiting till they meet their mates and all so they decide to have flings and short term relationships and surely, a good looking man like yourself has definitely had his fair share of a good time," she said confidently and Ryan didn't know whether to be embarrassed or proud of himself. 

"I'm not most men though. I haven't had any flings, never being in short term relationships and honestly, I didn't even think I'd ever get to meet you. You could say that I've lived a pretty boring life so far," he told her confidently and for some reason, Amelia could tell he wasn't lying. 

"If I may ask, how old are you?" she asked. 

"I'm 25? Why do you ask?" he replied. 

"For a second there, I thought you were a teenager with a mature physique. Thank goodness you're not," she muttered and Ryan smirked.  

"Aren't you the teenager here? How old are you?" he asked. 

"I'm 20 silly and as far as I know, I'm not considered a teenager," she responded and Ryan could not help the smile that spread across his face.  

The last time someone called him silly was twenty years ago before his mother died and he also could not remember the last time he had such a comfortable conversation with anyone. 

"I think it's time you get some rest Ryan," Amelia said, getting up to leave. 

"Didn't I just wake up though?" Ryan wondered out loud and Amelia chuckled. 

"Well, you need to rest as much as you can and talking for too long isn't going to help you recover very quickly. Isabel and I need you to get better so we can get back home and show our parents that we're still alive," she replied. 

"Oh, that makes sense. I apologise for delaying you two," he said and Amelia is quick to dismiss his apology. 

"You don't have to be sorry Ryan. Just focus on getting better for the time being. I'll be back to check on you soon," she replied and just when she was about to leave, Ryan quickly stopped her. 

"Thank you very much for everything Amelia," he said, genuinely grateful for her help and Amelia simply nodded before walking out the room with Ryan's eyes fixated on her till she was out of sight.