The Lycan's Mark

Chapter Forty

Chapter Forty

Luca gave me a small sad smile which I didn't return. Why was he here?

I began wiping my wet and snotty face with my hands and was stopped when Luca clasped both my wrists with one hand and used the other to wipe my face with a tissue.

My eyes immediately darted over to Vladamir who was watching with no expression on his face however his jaws were clenched and so were his hands. When he noticed my gaze on his hands, he unclenched them but his jaws was still tight.

"Thanks." I croaked out, moving away from Luca's touch. It was an innocent touch but it felt wrong and I didn't want him touching me.

I wanted Vladamir's touch.

Shaking that alarming and disturbing thought away from my head, I sat up and looked at both the Lycans. "Why are you here?" I probably sounded very rude but Luca didn't seem to mind.

"Vladamir called me." Luca answered, his face holding a pitying look.

He did? My eyes flickered back to Vladamir who was watching our interaction carefully. Why did he do that?

"He told me what happened." Luca continued causing me to snap my eyes back to his.

"I don't want to talk about it!"

Luca nodded. "I understand, you do not have to talk about it."

After a couple of seconds of silence Luca spoke again. "I do however want to talk."

I really don't care what you want to do!

"You do not have to say anything, I only want you to listen. Can you do that?"

Not really. "Okay."

Luca turned around to face Vladamir and nodded. With one lingering glance at me Vladamir turned around and began exiting the room only to suddenly stop.

"Do not touch her."

Luca looked at him as if he was crazy before nodding. Vladamir seemed satisfied with the result and left the room leaving me alone with Luca.

"Can I sit down?" Luca asked pointing to the edge of the bed.

"Sure."

Our interaction was different from the other times, usually it was more light-hearted and a lot of flirting from my end. Nothing heavy, just some fun. Now heavy filled the air between us.

"Did I mention that I had a mate?" Luca softly asked.

His question had me stumped slightly as it was something I hadn't expected him to talk about, especially to me. "Er, Nina mentioned it once."

"Did Nina tell you what happened?"

I paused for a few seconds before answering. "I know she died and that she was pregnant at the time."

Luca nodded and though his face didn't give away his pain, his eyes did. I could see the raw pain in his eyes. "I met her when I was a child, I must have been around ten years old and she was seven. She was beautiful, no other words to describe her other than beautiful."

"I believe I fell in love with her the moment I met her." Luca let out a sad chuckle. "Life was...different during those times and I knew I could not mate her."

"Why?" I questioned, I wasn't talking to be polite anymore I was genuinely interested in his story.

"Hierarchy. It exists even to this day in packs and even so in humans. Her family had a low status and rank and I was part of the Alpha family. So we became friends, completely platonic and not what 'friends' mean now. Arrange matings was the norm however that did not mean all matings were arranged and I wanted to love my partner before I mated with them not after."