Esme

Chapter 23

Esme's POV

After dinner that night i planned on spending most of my time with my mate. I walked up to were he was sitted with his friends and whispered something to his ear-'Enola wants to meet your wolf'-he stared at me for a second and excused himself from his friends. "Does she really want to meet Max?" I stared for a second looking confused before I then realized who Max really was. I held his hands and looked deep into his eyes. "Of course, she's ready to see the wolf she's mated to, would you please come shift for her. She's uneasy and won't stop jumping around in my head" I said to him and he only laughed at me

"Okay baby, I'll shift later, just tell her to take it easy" he said before going back to his friends. They had finished their conversation and he was heading back to me. "Are you ready?" He asked and I nodded as he took my hand and motioned for me to walk upstairs, I did and he took me to his bedroom. "We first have to change to something a lot more casual" he said as I nodded. I went into my room to find some shorts and a singlet top, I decided to wear a strapless bra because of the top. I got dressed and went into Luciano's bedroom he was already dressed and was waiting for me. "You done?" He asked and I nodded. We left the house and went to the back to shift. He started to get undressed and I needed to do the same but I wasn't quite comfortable with him watching me so I went to the back of the tree to do my thing. It was time for me to shift but I somehow forgot how to. "Umm Luciano" I called out for help.

"What is it princess? You need me to come?" He was already approaching the tree were I was before I stopped him "no no, umm, I kinda forgot how to shift" he laughed at me yet again. "Okay princess, you just need to picture yourself doing it in your head and stay focused" he said from way over there. I sighed and did as he said and I felt my bones bend and break, I whimpered a little as the process was painful. Not long after I was on all fours. I emerged from behind the tree to see that Luciano had already shifted and his clothes were now in his mouth, I did the same. "You look beautiful princess" he said through the mind link, which I could now understand because I was now a member of the pack. "Do you always have to be this sweet? Not that I'm complaining, it's just really cute" I said and he only seemed to smile in my head. "For as long as I live princess I will always be sweet to you, c'mon, let's run" he said as he started to run, I ran after him and soon we were both running through the woods side by side. My wolf was although a little bit smaller than his since he was an Alpha, but I didn't mind. We were quite close to a cliff when Luciano stopped. He caught a whiff of the air and I tried to do the same, the air smelt a little putrid. "Rogues, don't leave my side princess" he said. "How do you know they are rogues?" I asked through the link.

"Rogues will always smell the same princess, like rotten meat" I wasn't going to deny that, that was the exact scent I got from the air. And since we were not in the pack's border it was going to be a problem for us. "You should probably call the pack warriors and warm the pack members too" just as I said he replied immediately. "Warn the pack members, I'll call the warriors" not long after he replied the rogues started to show themselves one by one. I immediately alerted the pack members and I'm sure Luciano already called for back up. Luciano shifted back and put on his clothes. He motioned for me not to shift and I agreed. A brown rogue, who seemed to be their leader came forward and shifted, standing Stark naked in front of Luciano and I, making me feel uncomfortable.

"What are you doing on this part of the forest?" Luciano tried his best to calm himself down. "My mate and I were only running, we are not here to cause trouble, we were only running and we didn't know we left pack borders. We would be on our way now" he said and turned to me. "C'mon princess, let's go" he said as the other guy stopped us. "I'm sorry to burst your bubble but you can't leave here unharmed. Unless you're willing to sacrifice something for your safety that is." He said making Luciano fringe. "What do you want in exchange for us peacefully leaving here?" Luciano asked making the rogue stare in confusion. "I didn't mean both of you, I meant only you. And I want your mate in exchange for you leaving, I never got a mate so why not take yours. Although I'll have to put my claim on her and take away her innocence, judging by the way she smells you haven't done much" Luciano was already really angry and I wouldn't blame him.

"I will not let you speak of my mate like that again and I will not give her up" the rogue seemed disappointed but not quite surprised. "You want to fight your way out then?" He asked, Luciano smiled and I was now worried. "What's your name?" Did he just ask that; hello, they want your mate and that's what you're asking. "Jefferson, why are you asking?" For the love of the goddess, what is wrong with him. "I just want to know the man who dared to challenge me"

As he said that the warriors showed up and the rogues were now in the open. "Take the Luna back to the pack, Chris" Luciano said. "No I don't want to go, I don't want to leave you" I wanted to fight by his side. "You have to go, I don't want you getting hurt" I agreed and decided to follow Sam. "Please take care of yourself" he simply nodded and I left the scene with Sam. Not long after we got to the pack house and everyone who came for the party had left. I shifted and put on my clothes and ran into the house. Danny was in the living room, so was Alley, Fania was in the kitchen and I just slumped on the couch. "Are you okay?" Alley asked. "No, I'm not. I didn't want to leave him" I said as they all came to hug me. "He'll be okay, my brother will be fine Esme" Danny assured

"Yes, Luciano has always been a strong headed person, he never puts the women in his life in war front... Well except Lara, he never really cared about her" Fania said making us all laugh. We talked for a couple of minutes and I was already losing my sanity, I couldn't help but worry about him, then Lara walked in. "Ohhh brother... What do you want now?" She walked closer to me and looked me in the eye. "To get rid of you" she said as she plunged a pocket knife in my tummy, it hurt a lot but then I started healing. "Did I forget to tell you I already have a wolf, so no, your little charade won't hurt me" I said before punching her in the gut. "I thought you were warned not to come here again" I said before hitting her in the gut again. "Why are you here?" Just as I asked Luciano walked in, slightly covered in blood which didn't seem like his. "Hey Princess, miss me?" He asked as I ran to embrace him. "I thought I'd lose you, you're okay" I said pulling away. "You shouldn't doubt me princess, I'm here now. I'm okay" he said before kissing me

"Baby what's going on?" He asked assessing the environment.