The Alpha's Soul

18

Tan locked the door to their room so Luke had space from the rest of the house. He watched as his mate climbed into their bed and curled up in the cold sheets that hadn't been used in a few days, closing his eyes and breathing slowly. Tan wanted Luke to shower or do something to help him feel free of the touches from the other wolf, but Luke didn't look too inclined to move.

"Come here," Luke muttered after he'd settled into their bed, his eyes closed. "Please?"

Tan hummed and sat on the side of the bed, letting out an embarrassing, high pitched sound when Luke grabbed his mate and pulled Tan on top of him.

"What's going on?" Tan asked, his face a little red from their current position.

Luke let out a small whimper. "I... I feel vulnerable. I don't smell like you or this pack and I feel gross and used..." He cut himself off with a weak sob. "Fix me, please."

"I can't, Luke. This isn't something I can just fix," Tan said in a sad tone, looking down at his equally upset mate. "But I can support you and care for you."

Luke rolled into his stomach and shoved his face into one of the many pillows on the bed. He ignored Tan falling beside him and continued to whine into the pillow, making sure Tan knew he was upset and needed comfort.

Tan picked up on that and opened the door to their attached bathroom. "I'm going to run us a bath," he said, getting an affirmative groan from his mate.

Tan turned off the lights in the bathroom and instead lit a eucalyptus candle, turning on the tub and pouring soothing bath salts into the water. He waited for the tub to fill up before adding unscented bubbles to create a warm, bubble bath effect because Luke seemed to love bubble baths.

"Come on, bath is ready," Tan said, watching Luke tiredly crawl from the bed and walked to the bathroom with his shoulders slumped.

Tan helped Luke strip his clothes off and left small, butterfly kisses all over his neck and shoulders.

Luke eased himself into the bath, Tan settling behind him.

"How mad would you be if I peed right now?" Luke asked.

Tan growled. "I swear to the goddess-"

Luke chuckled, and the sound itself made Tan's heart warm.

He hadn't expected to hear it so soon, but he also knew Luke was more of a "repress now, panic later" type of guy.

Reaching over, Tan grabbed a washcloth and filled it with soap bubbles, rubbing it over Luke's chest and leaving soft kisses all over the back of his neck.

"When are we having our mating ceremony?" Luke asked out of nowhere, leaning into Tan and showing off his neck so Tan could wash him even further. "I want to do it sooner rather than later."

Tan bit his bottom lip. "Uh... are you sure you're ready?" he asked, hoping he didn't trigger any bad memories.

Luke huffed. "Yes! We don't have to do the sex part yet, just the ceremony and all that fun stuff. I swear, your dad will probably have an aneurysm if we wait any longer," he said, turning around and looking at Tan hopefully.

"Luke..." Tan cooed, but Luke huffed.

"If you don't want to mate with me why don't you just fucking tell me?!" Luke snapped, his voice suddenly loud and filled with anger. "You think I'm gross now, don't you?!"

Tan gaped at Luke as he stood up, climbing out of the bath and wrapping a towel around himself.

"I never said that!" Tan exclaimed.