My Mate's Touch

Chapter 4 - Luca

I woke up in a cold, white bed with stiff sheets. The room stretched long, with several other identical beds next to mine, and wires hung out of the wall next to them. I was in the infirmary.

As I tried to lean over, I forgot about my wound and winced when I moved too much. I reflexively gripped my thigh to feel that it was bandaged tightly. I'm really not curious as to how they got that monstrosity of a bear trap out of my leg.

As I groaned slightly, a woman sitting by the door quickly got up and left. Seconds later, Aspen came in.

"Good morning, Luca. How are you feeling?" She greeted me kindly.

"I feel better," I answered honestly. "Thank you."

"Of course. Xander didn't come, said his back was sore."

"Sorry," I looked down, slightly embarrassed. I've always been pretty unweight for my age, not to mention I didn't eat regularly while running away and landing in No Man's Land for a few days. It must have been the bear trap in my leg. I sure felt lighter after having it removed.

"It's ok, Xander complains about everything." She smiled, rubbing the back of her head. "Sorry if we were awkward yesterday. It's just unusual for Alpha Felix to tell us to bring home a rogue."

"Your alpha had me brought here?"

"Yeah, he hates rogues. He's new in command, so he has no tolerance for trespassers that could do harm to our pack. He has a lot of weight on his shoulders, trying to keep up our several-decades-long reputation."

That must be extremely tough. I couldn't imagine being such a leader at my age. I was so mediocre and had lacking social skills. If I was lucky, it'd probably take me a week to get assassinated. I couldn't even begin to imagine the expectations people have for him.

Aspen looked up in thought, putting her hand under her chin. "Now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure you met him yesterday, didn't you?"

I looked at her in confusion but it cleared after a moment. I remembered the man with pale blond hair and sun kissed skin saying to take someone to a medic or something like that. I guess that must have been him, and that "someone" must have been me.

"The man with the white hair, is he your alpha?"

"Yes," Aspen chuckled. "Don't worry, it's not from stress. He likes it that way."

I remember him reaching out to take my hand. He looked so kind thinking back, but I was too scared to notice. I wish I would've taken his hand.

"Why don't we go to the dining hall?" Aspen said, looking at the clock in the room. "It's 9:30, so they're serving breakfast right now. It's really good!"

"Um, ok." I was pretty hungry after being out in the forest for days, and food did sound nice right now. I looked down. My clothes had been changed while I was asleep. I was now wearing a white shirt and pants instead of a soiled t-shirt and bloodstained jeans.

I pushed through my pain and sat up, putting some slippers on that were on the floor beside my bed. Aspen helped me up and let me throw my arm over her shoulder so I could walk better.

We walked for a while until we reached doors that lead out of the infirmary building and into what looked like a bustling town square. People of all ages were walking around, going to and from different buildings with their friends or family. This was so much different from my home. This was a community, a truly united pack.

"I know, it's overwhelming," Aspen chimed. "Don't worry, the dining hall is straight ahead."

The dining hall was almost as busy as the outside. Many people were in line for the buffet with continental breakfast. My mouth was almost watering just smelling the waffles and bacon. Aspen sat me down and got me food, saying to people that she was "serving someone summoned by the alpha himself" so she could cut in line. It was a pretty bold move, but my stomach growled fiercely and reminded me that it was what had to be done.

By the time she returned, the dining hall had cleared a bit and she came bearing two plates full of waffles, eggs and bacon. We dug in immediately. I had forgotten how amazing good food was. Everything was warm and flavorful, and the maple syrup was fresh. As we were eating, Aspen tapped my shoulder.

"Look," she said, a forkful still in her mouth.

I looked over my shoulder to see Alpha Felix and Xander talking as they got breakfast in a different area of the dining hall. Felix wore a serious expression as he listened to Xander, who seemed to be talking much more than he did yesterday. I wondered how they got so close.

"Why is Xander talking to your alpha?"

"Xander is his beta," Aspen responded, casually sipping her coffee. "They're together a lot."

I didn't realize Xander was so important. I wonder why Felix told him to stay behind and bring me here.

"Xander is also the head warrior of the Shadowclaw pack," Aspen said.

"Really?" I couldn't hide my shock at this. Not only was he second in command for the entire pack; Xander also was in charge of the pack's warriors and defenders. "I can kind of understand why he was scowling so much now. Two important jobs like that, it must have been busy work for him to bring me here."

"Like I said before, he thinks everything is annoying. Don't take it too personally."

I did have to admit that he looked much less tense when talking to the alpha. I could tell even from a distance that they spoke like friends even though they had different ranks and were probably discussing important pack matters.

Soon enough, Aspen and I got up to leave. I leaned on her shoulder again and tried to head towards the door we came in from, but she had different intentions and we headed straight towards Xander and the Shadowclaw pack's head alpha.

As kind as he seemed yesterday, it was still difficult to be in the presence of such a powerful person. Aspen was too strong and I was injured, so I couldn't turn around.

By the time we reached them, they had already been staring at us for a minute. Aspen looked straight towards the alpha.

"Good morning, Alpha Felix. This is Luca, the rogue we found in No Man's Land near our borders yesterday."

Alpha Felix looked me up and down, his direct gaze finally settling on my eyes. I gulped and bowed slightly.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you," I said nervously, averting my gaze.

"Hello, Luca. Did you sleep well?"

"Y-yes, sir."

Xander scoffed and Aspen glared at him, and then she turned to tell me that I could drop the formalities.

Once she was sure I'd been introduced properly, she spoke to Alpha Felix again.

"What would you like me to do with him, alpha?"

Alpha Felix looked at me again. His piercing gaze made me feel stuck in place, unable to move without his eyes following me. His lips formed a small, kind smile, and then straightened again as he turned and spoke to Aspen.

"Take him throughout the town. Do whatever you want, just make sure he has a place to stay by sundown."

"Yes, alpha."

As Aspen and I turned to leave, I heard bits of Xander and Alpha Felix speaking as they continued their conversation.

"I thought you didn't take in rogue wolves," Xander said.

"I don't," Felix responded without hesitation. "Something about him is different, I can tell."

✩｡:*•.─────  ❁ ❁  ─────.•*:｡✩

Luca and head Alpha Felix finally meet properly. The next update will be some important info about the story (READ IT!) and then it will be in Felix's POV! If you enjoyed this chapter, leave a vote and comment, I'd really appreciate it! - D