My Mate's Touch

Chapter 11 - Luca

I had no idea where I was headed. All I knew is that I wanted to be as far away from the Shadowclaw pack as I could, as far away from Felix as I could.

I crossed over the river bordering the pack territory a while ago and was fairly deep into No Man's Land by now. As much as I'd hated it when I ran away from home a week or so ago, being alone in the unruly forest environment was the perfect escape from civilization and the constant rhythm of daily life. I felt free amongst the green shrubs and wild grass and mighty oak trees. Quite literally, it was a breath of fresh air.

Once I felt that I'd gotten far enough from the packlands, I began to slow my pace, walking and taking in my surroundings. I tried to walk straight forward so that I didn't get lost entirely. After about a good mile and a half, the Shadowclaw pack was barely in sight and I couldn't hear the running river anymore.

Ahead of me, I saw a giant mossy boulder. It looked majestic and stood out greatly in the vast forest, but it also seemed to grab my attention because I was tired from being on my feet all day. I sauntered over to the big rock and sat down on it, the surface of it warm from the sun.

I shifted on the rock to lay down and get comfortable, but I heard an extra rustling sound that didn't sound like it came from me. A rogue? I looked around and didn't see anything among the trees, so I readjusted on the boulder and closed my eyes.

Within five minutes, I heard another noise, shuffling grass. That definitely wasn't me, so I was getting concerned and had a nervous sensation that I wasn't alone.

The shuffling kept sounding closer and closer, making my heart rate increase until it was almost beating out of my chest. When I turned my head to look this time, I saw someone running up to me quickly. I hopped off of the stone and stood in a defensive stance, facing the figure. After focusing a bit, I saw that it was a girl, slightly shorter than me. I squinted my eyes to see vivid red hair, unmistakable red hair.

"What the fuck were you thinking, Luca?" She said, panting and standing with her hands on her knees.

My eyes widened and I got out of my defensive state. "A-Aspen? What are you doing here? Why did you follow me?"

"You're such an idiot! Why wouldn't I follow you into No Man's Land?" She walked closer, huffing and jabbing her pointer finger into my chest. "You don't even know your way back! And if you ever leave me some shitty note that you're running away again, I'll lock you inside of your apartment! You know I have your other key, you shithead!"

I had never seen Aspen so... enraged. The girl was fuming. Maybe I had fatigued myself too much but I'm almost positive I saw some steam coming out of her ears. I could only assume it was out of worry, as she frowned disappointedly and tears barely pricked her eyes.

"I'm sorry," I said sincerely, making no effort to hide my guilt. "I know my note wasn't enough and I should've talked to you when you made an effort to be there for me. I was having a hard time coming to terms with everything and I'm sorry I didn't come to you first before running away."

Aspen calmed down by the time my long apology ended, and she placed her hand on my shoulder. "It's ok, Luca. I understand that it's probably been really hard on you with your life completely turned around within a week," she smiled. "I'm sorry for lashing out at you, too. I was just worried you'd gone off and gotten yourself hurt."

We gave each other a short hug and she broke it off first. "Well, now that you've cooled down a bit, we should get back to the pack before sundown. You traveled far for only being in your human form, I'll give you that."

She started walking, ready to go back to the pack but I grabbed her wrist, making her face me.

"I don't think I'm ready to go back yet, Aspen," I admitted hesitantly. "I still need a bit more time. What happened between head alpha Felix and I... it was my first heat, too. I just need a bit more time to clear my head."

She listened to me, but it was obvious she was dealing with a mental conflict. "Ok, then what do you want to do?"

"Could we keep walking some more?"

She pursed her lips and then sighed. "Fine, but we need to be on our way back to the pack by sundown. I mean it."

I smiled brightly and Aspen turned away with a pout. She was such a good friend; I had no idea what I would do without her at this point.

We kept walking for a while and after miles of endless forest, I spotted a building. We kept walking closer and one building turned into a few. After miles and miles of what seemed like endless brush, shrubs and trees, we had encountered another civilization.

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Unrelated but I really want to do a Q&A soon! If you guys have any general questions about the story, characters, etc. (no spoilers though!) that you would like me to answer, please ask and say that it's for the Q&A so that I don't answer it right away lol

Meanwhile, how will Luca and Aspen react to finding another civilization, and is that the only thing they will encounter? As always, please comment your thoughts and don't forget to vote if you enjoyed this chapter! Thank you all for reading ♡ - D