My Mate's Touch

Chapter 6 - Luca

Aspen showed me around the pack territory for literal hours. I would normally be exhausted, but the feeling was amplified because of my injury. By the end of the tour, I was panting slightly and put most of my weight on Aspen. She patted my shoulder, looking around as if she was trying to find out where else she could take me. It scared me to think I hadn't even seen the whole pack yet.

Like a lightbulb went off in her mind, Aspen gasped and jumped slightly. "Oh my goodness, I still have to get you a place! Come on, let's go."

As she dragged me along the busy walkways, we ended up at a tall building. Great, I thought. Stairs.
We went into the building and entered the lobby. I was surprised and grateful to see that it had an elevator. I wasn't sure how technologically advanced this pack was since it still seemed to retain many aspects of its glory days from the last couple of decades.

Aspen stood at the front desk for a moment as I sat down on a bench in the lobby. When she returned to me, she had two room keys. She pulled me up and walked us towards the elevators, pressing the button for the 4th floor.

We walked out of the elevator and into an empty hallway. It was clean and neat, with wall lamps in between every other room door and a simple patterned carpet. What a nice hotel.

Aspen handed me one of the room keys with a bright smile on her face. "Here you go!" She then grabbed a similar one and unlocked the door right next to mine.

"Um, why are you staying at this hotel? Don't you live here?"

She stared at me and then giggled a bit. "This isn't a hotel, Luca! It's an apartment complex!"

"Oh." It didn't look like any apartment complex I had ever seen. It really did look like a hotel, but maybe that was just the way things were here.

I opened my door to find a nice, standard couch and coffee table. After opening a few more doors, I discovered a queen-sized bed with clean white sheets, and a small wooden desk and chair on the opposite wall. There was a nice hall closet, bathroom and kitchen in the apartment, too. It was a nice place.

Aspen came in after a moment, looking around until she found me. "We're neighbors now!" She grinned.

I couldn't help but return a smile. Her positive personality radiated and spread to the people around her. I was lucky to have a friend like her.

"Ok, let's go do something!" Aspen said, making her way to my front door. "I might have some clothes you could change into."

What more could we possibly do? I was extremely tired from running around all day and touring the pack. And it's true that I needed a change of clothes since I was still wearing the white shirt and pants set from the infirmary, but what clothes did Aspen have for me to wear?

She went over to her apartment. I could hear her opening a door or two and the sound of another voice. When she came back over to my apartment, she had a black t-shirt and some black sweatpants.

"Um, thank you," I replied, taking the clothes. "What are we doing now?"

"Get dressed and I'll tell you."

"I'm scared." She smiled and I quickly got dressed, tired but eager to see what she had planned.

When I opened my door, Aspen was there and a boy was next to her. His dark brown eyes were exactly like hers, but his red hair was more fiery and he seemed a bit younger than she was. We looked at each other in curiosity.

"Who are you?" He questioned skeptically.

Aspen hit the back of his head, not too hard but enough to give him a warning. "Hey, be nice." She turned to me. "Luca, this is my little brother Leo. Leo, Luca."

He gave a small wave and I returned it. He was being a little stand-offish towards me, but it was obvious that he was just protective of his sister.

"Ok Luca, I'll tell you what we're doing now. We're going to go train!"

My eyes widened a bit. "W-what?"

"Yep, let's go! Come on, boys!"

Leo and I looked at each other and sighed, then walked with Aspen to the training fields.

By the time we got there, at least 50 Shadowclaw warriors were practicing fighting each other, some using blades and others just their fists. Some were even fighting in their wolf forms, clawing at each other and trying to pin their opponents down. Many of them were sweating profusely, but Aspen said we were only fifteen minutes late.

Apparently they had cubbies there, as Aspen said she was going to change really quick. I stood awkwardly near her brother Leo. Their resemblance was so strong, I couldn't help but stare.

"Did you need something?" I guess I'd been staring too long.

"No, sorry. Um, is Aspen a warrior?" I never knew her role in the pack, and I was curious so I decided to ask.

"Yeah, we both are. She's stronger than she looks."

I smile at how he praised his sister. I wondered what it would be like to have siblings, and to have a close relationship with them.

"You look a lot like your sister," I said. "I didn't know she had any siblings."

He glanced up at me from tying his shoe. "You're not from around here, are you? I've never seen you around before. Like, ever."

I laughed and averted my gaze. "No, I'm not from here. But I'm going to be living here now, I guess."

"Oh. So, were you a rogue or something?"

Before I could answer, Aspen came back, wearing black athletic clothes and with her hair in a ponytail. Thank goodness. She waved for us to come on to the training grounds and I hesitated. She expected me to train like this? I could barely walk without her lending me her shoulder. Leo went out and I decided to try, too. As I walked out, I realized my leg wasn't nearly as sore as it had been.

"My leg feels weirdly better," I tell her. "Is it really ok if I fight?"

"Yeah, werewolves heal faster, you know. You're far enough down the road to recovery, just push through it and you'll be fine."

I did know that, but I'd never seen it in action like this. And to think that an injury so nasty could heal within a few days was almost too shocking.

Leo did his own training while Aspen showed me how to kick, punch and defend myself properly. As I practiced throwing a punch, I looked over my shoulder and made eye contact with Xander practicing with another werewolf. He stood up from his fighting stance and, with an annoyed look on his face, he walked over to Aspen and I.

"What the hell is he doing here?"

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Hopefully Luca and Aspen won't get into too much trouble with head Beta and head warrior Xander... If you enjoyed this chapter and the story so far, please don't forget to leave a vote and comment! They mean a lot ♡ - D