My Mate's Touch

Chapter 38 - Elias

Aspen spent the night with Luca and I at his apartment last night. We all crashed because of how full we were from the dinner, and even I was full, which was a bit surprising considering I didn't eat any meat. Aspen made us some muffins again this morning and the three of us had sandwiches for lunch. After we left the kitchen with our sandwiches and chips, we made our way back to Luca's couch and had casual conversation.

"You know," Aspen said, dramatizing her tone. "Xander was acting kind of weird last night."

I perked up slightly at the mention of his name. For some odd reason, thinking about him lately made me feel weird. Usually when I thought about him, I would internally shiver in intimidation, but for the last week or so I'd been feeling inexplicably strange. I'd feel my cheeks heat up and I'd become uncomfortably aware of my quickening heartbeat.

In fact, I felt myself doing these things now. I wasn't sure what was going on, but it was a bit concerning. Still, I tried to suppress my reaction as Aspen and Luca carried on. Luca began to speak, and I put my cold hands on my cheeks in an effort to stop myself from blushing.

"You noticed, too?" Luca said, his eyebrows raised excitedly as if he was happy that Aspen had shared his thoughts.

"Yeah! He wasn't as snappy as usual yesterday. It almost made me uncomfortable. He's rarely like that!"

"And he was kind of jumpy. When he and Elias both reached for the salt, Xander let Elias have it first! I just knew he would snatch it from him or something."

My eyes widened at Luca's statement. I had expected Xander to snatch it from me, too. And if anything, I'd never expected him to jump back in the first place. To top it off, when our hands touched on the salt shaker, it felt almost... magical. It was like his fingertips sent a heatwave throughout my body. I decided to speak up.

"I-It felt weird," I said bashfully, "when Xander and I's hands touched."

"Like what?" Luca said in genuine curiosity, him and Aspen both listening to me with their full attention.

"It... it made me feel, um, like butterflies were in my stomach almost." I couldn't help but blush at my own words.

Aspen held her hand on her chin in a pensive gesture and after a moment her eyes widened a bit. "Is there anything else that's been weird?"

"Um... when you guys say his name, I feel funny..." I knew even without a mirror that my cheeks were beet red at this point, and I quickly covered them with my hands in embarrassment.

Aspen gasped. "No way," She said with wide eyes. "I think you might be... Xander's mate!"

"What?" Luca and I responded with simultaneous shock.

I gulped at Aspen's seriousness as she spoke to me. "Xander was acting weird, and you're feeling weird. Luca saw that something was off when you touched each other on the salt shaker," She said, and I could tell that she was trying not to show all of her excitement. "Was that your first touch?"

"No, it wasn't," I responded. "It was at the training grounds when... it was about a week ago." I couldn't tell them that he was trying to make me confess why I was going through Felix's things in his office.

"And is that when you started feeling weird?"

"Yeah, but the dinner last night was the weirdest I'd been."

"Wow," Aspen commented. "Xander's probably been dying."

My eyebrows furrowed in concern at Aspen's statement. "What do you mean?"

She sighed. "Well, Xander's never wanted a mate since he, you know, likes to sleep around."

"Oh," I muttered, trying not to sound too deflated. It didn't work.

"Don't worry! I'm sure he'll stop doing those things now that he knows you're his mate. And another thing is," she continued, "is that he doesn't like humans, as you already know. I'm sure he's struggling to accept the fact that his mate is one."

"Why does he hate humans so much?" I'd always wondered, and I felt bad that I was his mate now even though I couldn't control it.

"It's not my story to tell. But, even though he hates them, you'll always come first to him. In fact, I'm sure he's probably dying to smother you in a hug right now!"

"I highly doubt that," Luca muttered, pouting his lips.

Aspen and I laughed at Luca's lack of enthusiasm. My mind was still focused on the new information Aspen had just spewed at me, and I was struggling to comprehend it all. As hard as I tried, I could never imagine Xander showing anyone affection, much less me. And even if he hated me, why didn't he tell me that I was his mate if he knew already? It was probably hurting him this whole time, and even though he hadn't treated me the best since I'd come to the Shadowclaw pack, I couldn't help but feel sympathy for him.

"Seriously though, Elias," Aspen huffed, wiping the tears out of her eyes and trying to calm down from the laughter. "Even though Xander's an asshole, the mate bond will completely change how he feels about you. Nothing can stop him from loving his mate, even if that mate is a human."

"Thanks, Aspen," I smiled.

Even though this was a big shock to me, I couldn't help being happy that I got to experience a mate bond. I thought that only werewolves could have them, which made this whole thing so much harder to grasp. After this long discussion, I realized that I needed to get away and think about everything.

"I think I'll go to the library," I said on a whim. "Do you two want to join me?"

"No thanks," Aspen and Luca responded in the same deadpanned tone.

I smiled at my friends as I lifted myself up from the couch and made my way out of Luca's apartment and to the library. As I walked outside, I noticed that the sun was starting to set. I paused at the front of the apartment complex but decided to still head to the library. I still have a little time before it gets dark.

I open the main doors to the Shadowclaw Library. It was massive; bookshelves reached from the floors to the high ceilings of the building. Some of the columns supporting the structure had bookshelves built into them, as well. There was an intricate painting on the ceiling of what I assumed was an illustrative interpretation of werewolf lore, and there was a small cafe near the front of the building. This place was heaven.

After taking everything in, I excitedly went around to explore what this place had to offer. As I was about to hone in on the fantasy books, the "Werewolf Anatomy and Life" section caught my eye. I walked over towards it and ran my fingers over the spines of the books. I saw a title that read "Being a Lycanthrope: A Fundamental Guide", grabbed it, and sat on a plush beanbag chair.

I flipped the first few pages until I reached the table of contents, and I decided to go to the "Mates" section of the book to see if I could learn more. Before I knew it, I had gone through several books from cover to cover. I couldn't satiate my thirst for reading, especially when the books pertained to such fascinating yet relevant topics. I looked up in the middle of reading my seventh book and realized that I was the only one in the library save for a woman working at the cafe.

I knew it was late, so I decided to head back to Luca's place. I closed the book I was reading and stretched my arms out with a yawn. Before I could get up to put the books back on the shelves, I felt a couple of taps on my shoulder, startling me and making me turn around sharply. My eyes widened in fear at the familiar man before me. He smothered my nose and mouth with a cloth that had me losing my consciousness within seconds, but before I blacked out completely I heard his words.

"Did you miss me, kitten?"

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Elias finally finds out that he's mates with Xander! But who encountered him at the library, and what else will unfold? If you enjoyed this chapter, please leave a vote and comment what you think could happen next! - D ♡