My Mate's Touch

Chapter 28 - Elias

A beta attendant led Aspen, Luca and I to the Shadowclaw headquarters' private dining hall. She opened the doors for us and then left promptly, not allowing us to thank her properly. Luca and I were in shock, our mouths dropped open in awe at the massive room in front of us. There was a long dining table that took up the vast majority of the room. It was set up perfectly, with intricately threaded placemats, golden cutlery and glass plates placed neatly in front of every seat. There were centerpieces with floral arrangements in increments along the table, and a long table runner that had to stretch a mile to be able to run all the way across. Well, maybe not a mile, but it couldn't have been very far off.

Aspen pushed us into the dining hall, which was probably for the best considering the fact that Luca and I probably would've just stood at the entrance ogling the entire time. She walked in the front while Luca and I followed her across the room and to the far end of the table. Once we got closer, I could see that one of the centerpieces and floral arrangements had been moved from the end of the table, and alpha Felix and head beta Xander were already seated. Alpha Felix greeted us brightly when he saw we had arrived.

"Good evening, Aspen, Luca, Elias," He said warmly. "I'm glad you could all make it."

"Of course, alpha," Aspen responded energetically. "We wouldn't miss an invitation like this for the world!"

He chuckled and then glanced at Luca, who then quickly looked downwards with reddened cheeks. It made me smile watching his unusual bashfulness.

Alpha Felix was seated at the very end of the table, and I sat next to him with Luca at my left. Aspen sat in front of Luca and I stiffened, looking up to realize that if Xander was sitting next to Aspen on the other side of the table, it also meant he was sitting in front of me. I looked up hesitantly and he returned a deeply annoyed glare once he saw me looking at him. I immediately looked away, intimidated by his fierce gaze.

"Hey, what the fuck!" Xander whispered harshly, his eyes burning holes into Felix.

"Be nice," Felix said, his voice stern, looking back at Xander with narrowed eyes.

"I was," Xander muttered disgruntledly, crossing his arms like a child who didn't get his way.

Even though he scared me most of the time, I could tell that his constant aggression was mainly just a front he put on. It was entertaining when that front fell down, even though it wasn't common, and it was usually alpha Felix's doing.

After making some small talk and eating delicious appetizers, a couple of attendants brought out our main dishes, expensive cuts of steak with mashed potatoes and baked asparagus. Everyone dug into the steak quickly, but I poked it with my fork and then pushed it to the side, eating my vegetables. I ate them fairly quickly and then sat for a moment, cutting into the meat a few times but not eating any. It didn't take long for the four of them to finish their steaks, and Aspen looked up at me quizzically.

"Why aren't you eating your steak, Elias? Do you not like it cooked medium rare?"

I felt kind of called out since her comment made everyone else look up at me, but I knew she meant well.

"U-Um, I'm actually vegetarian," I said quietly, fiddling my thumbs together under the table in a nervous gesture.

"Oh no, I totally forgot! We've never really had a human here before," Aspen said sheepishly, genuine apology in her tone. "You know, I don't think any werewolves are vegetarian, so it's not common for anyone here to not eat meat."

"Would you like something else?" Alpha Felix asked, seeming eager to accommodate my dietary practices.

"That's ok, the potatoes and asparagus filled me up," I responded, not wanting him to go through the trouble. "I-If anyone wants my steak, they can have it."

Felix declined and Aspen and Luca were asking the other if they wanted to split it down the middle. While their compromise was going down, I saw a quick movement and looked up to see that Xander had snatched the steak off of my plate and already had a bite in his mouth.

"You idiots were taking too damn long," He said in between chews.

Aspen slapped Xander's shoulder and Luca looked a bit deflated. Xander chewed even louder just to annoy Aspen, who then glared at him and made a futile attempt to steal the steak off of his plate, making him growl. Alpha Felix looked at me, a small amused smile on his face. Our friends really were a mess.

After the attendants came back to take away our plates, the five of us continued talking. Our conversation went in several directions but ultimately landed back onto pack matters. I guess that would make sense considering the head alpha, head beta and a beta warrior were seated at the table.

"Xander informed me the other day that there's been a rogue wolf around the territory," alpha Felix said, looking at Aspen and wiping his mouth with his hand after taking a drink of water. "Apparently it was circling around near the river for a few days."

"Really? That's odd, usually our border defense makes them back off," Aspen responded with a perplexed expression.

"The fucker just snarled in their faces and left when the border patrol tried to scare it off," Xander said, angrily gripping his glass. "That bastard rogue left when it wanted to. It didn't come any closer than the river, though. That shithead was probably all bark and no bite."

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat due to the topic at hand. It reminded me of why I was here and made all of the enjoyment from earlier in the evening fade into the back of my mind. My eyes widened a bit when I truly registered what they were saying. A rogue snooping around the Shadowclaw territory? They couldn't have been talking about...

"U-Um, alpha Felix, where is your restroom?" I asked, wanting to get some air from this conversation but also needing a diversion so that I could get into his office.

"When you walk outside of the doors, it's to your left. You can't miss it," He answered. "And just call me Felix."

He smiled and I returned it, making my way through the giant room and outside into the hallway. I went towards the restrooms to see if there was a stairwell or an elevator, making sure to try and avoid any attendants that might be passing through the corridors. I found a stairwell at the end of the hall and made my way up, thinking that it would probably be quieter than taking the elevator and that I would have less of a chance of getting caught.
I tried to remember what floor alpha Felix's office was on when I saw a directory in the stairwell.

Determinedly, I made my way up and snuck down the vacant hallway to his office. As I got closer to the end of the hall, my mood deflated, seeing that the door was shut. To my surprise, I tried the handle to find that it was unlocked, and I snuck in quietly. His computer was still on, too. I guess he's going to do some work after dinner, even though it's his off day.

I made my way over to his desk. His computer was passcode protected but even if it wasn't, I'd feel too guilty going through it. Instead, I got to work on his immense stack of papers, sifting through them quickly. I can't be gone for too long, I thought. I have to be back soon or else they'll know I wasn't in the restroom. Before I could even make a dent in the stack of papers, I heard heavy footsteps down the hall.

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The dinner was nice, but now it's time for the drama again. Will Elias be able to get the information he needs and not get caught? And who is walking down the hallway towards Felix's office? If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a vote and comment what you thought! - D ♡