My Mate's Touch

Chapter 37 - Luca

I couldn't help but feel bad for Elias. With the new seating arrangement, the poor boy had to sit right in front of Xander, who constantly showed his distaste for everyone in this room. I wanted to try and be inclusive so that Elias didn't feel uncomfortable or awkward.

Whenever I could, I would try to invite Elias into the conversation that Felix, Aspen and I were having. I could tell he was quieter than usual, and who could blame him when he was sitting across from that broody hothead?

When Aspen and Felix were deep in conversation, I would occasionally sneak glances at Elias and Xander just to make sure everything was alright. They were mostly sitting in an awkward silence. The tension between them could've been cut with a knife.

Before we knew it, a few attendants came in with our meals. My mouth instinctively watered since I'd skipped lunch today. As one of the attendants placed my meal in front of me, I struggled to maintain my composure and not stuff my face with the delicious food I had been served.

"I decided we should have something different from last time," Felix said. "This is roasted lamb with green beans."

I licked my lips. It looked so tender and smelled like heaven. As I was about to cut the meat, I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Elias's plate, making Felix pipe up.

"Oh, right," Felix smiled. "Elias, I made sure that your meal was vegetarian this time. I hope it suits your tastes."

"T-Thank you, alpha Felix," Elias responded gratefully.

I turned my gaze towards him and smiled at his thoughtfulness. It was kind of him to remember something like that, especially when being vegetarian was almost unheard of in the werewolf world. When Felix caught my eye, his smile became even warmer and I could see that his cheeks were beginning to take on a pink tint. At this, I could feel mine doing the same and I averted my gaze quickly.

As everyone started to eat, the talking in the room lessened. Sounds of cutlery, quiet chewing and occasional moans of approval were all that could be heard for a moment. From my peripheral vision, I saw movement on the table. I realized that Elias and Xander were both trying to reach the salt shaker. Before I could help them, they both went to grab it. Xander gasped slightly and pulled away.

"I-I'm sorry," Elias said. "Did you want it first?"

Xander averted his gaze and scratched the back of his head. "It's fine, just give it to me when you're done."

Nervousness decorated Elias's features, but he complied. "Um, ok."

I couldn't pinpoint it, but something felt off. I didn't know him for too long or very well for that matter, but Xander didn't seem like the type to let Elias have the salt shaker first. If anything, I would have expected him to growl and snatch the salt from Elias. I sighed and dropped the thought, continuing to eat my dinner. Maybe I'm looking too far into it.

As I took the last piece of lamb into my mouth, I looked around the table to see that everyone else was either doing the same or had already finished. I felt so full, but at the same time I knew I could eat more just for the flavor. The food here at the Shadowclaw pack headquarters was incredible. It almost made me want to live here just so I could eat it everyday.

"Thank you for inviting us to dinner again, Felix," Aspen said. "It was really delicious!"

"Of course," Felix smiled. "Elias, did you like your meal?"

He jumped ever so slightly at the mention of his name. "Y-Yes, it was very good. Thank you so much."

Felix nodded and I could see his eyes move to Xander, who seemed like he was having a hard time. It wasn't difficult to tell that he didn't want to be here, but he seemed like he really didn't want to be here right now.

That realization made me remember Felix's words a few days back. He didn't want us to tell Xander that we were having dinner today. Is that why he seems even more disgruntled than usual?

His brows were deeply furrowed and his gaze was focused downwards. His leg was bouncing, and I could almost feel the tension and anxiety radiating off of him. Between this and the salt shaker incident, it seemed like something was definitely strange. Maybe it's just a coincidence.

We sat and talked casually for a while after the attendants came back to take away our empty plates. After a moment, Aspen turned her head towards Xander, her expression quizzical.

"Hey, Xander? You ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine."

I internally gasped. Ok, so maybe it wasn't a coincidence. There was no doubt that Aspen knew the ill-tempered head beta better than I did, which made it even clearer that something was wrong.

Throughout the dinner, his snarky comments and snide remarks were very minimal, and he looked uncomfortable. I looked towards Felix since I knew he would care if his friend was struggling, but I was surprised to see the smallest of grins on his face for a split second.

Before I could mentally question anything further, Aspen got up and smoothed out her clothes, signaling to Elias and I that it was time to leave. The two of us stood up in response, and I thanked Felix again for the amazing dinner. Elias waved goodbye shyly, and then the three of us headed back to my place for the night.

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Luca is a little too perceptive in this chapter... what in the world could be the cause of Xander's odd behavior? If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a vote and comment what you thought! - D ♡