My Mate's Touch

Chapter 44 - Luca

Elias and I both panicked at the sight of Ryland charging towards us, his fangs exposed. His wolf's eyes were somehow more vicious than his human ones, and his claws looked like blades on his soiled paws. While Elias froze helplessly in his fear, I moved instinctively in front of him to guard him from the inevitable blow.

I closed my eyes, wincing as the giant wolf in front of me got closer and opened its jaws wider. Even with the strong, fearsome beast about to remove my head from the rest of my body, I felt a sudden, strong emotion of rage towards it.

Ryland took Elias away from us. He was in danger, and he could have been seriously hurt or even killed. We're lucky that wasn't the case. No, I growled mentally. Ryland's lucky that wasn't the case.

At this point, Ryland's wolf form was almost inches away from me, our eyes on the same level as his vision began to hone in on the area between my neck and shoulder. Before he could take his fatal bite, I felt a rising burning sensation within me, starting in my core and quickly moving throughout my body until I could even feel it in my fingertips.

Oh no, I thought. Am I going into heat? My eyes widened as the pain in my core increased, running through me like an electric current. My vision started to fade in and out slightly, and I began to pant heavily. This feels stranger... As I stared at the large wolf in front of me, I felt something sharp emerging in my mouth.

Before I could process what was happening, I felt a sharp crack in my body and yelled out in pain. Another excruciating jolt came soon after, and then another. Soon enough, I opened my eyes when I'd realized that the heat in my core and the cracking of my bones was gone. I felt slightly shorter and could tell that my senses were heightened.

No way. I just shifted.

Ryland used my shock and confusion to his advantage, locking his teeth down on my side in an iron grip before throwing me a few feet, making me skid across the ground. My wolf form whimpered as I slowly adjusted to try and get used to my vision and sensitive hearing.

"Luca, are you okay?"

My ears twitched at Aspen's voice, but it sounded as if it was in my head. No, I swear it was in my head.

"Can you hear me?"

I looked over towards her wolf to see that she was returning my gaze. She could tell that I was disoriented and stunned by my sudden transformation, and I could tell that she was trying her best to keep her excitement in and her demeanor calm.

"How are you talking to me? In my head?"

"When you're in wolf form, you can use mind link to communicate," she explained.

Our conversation was cut short when Ryland moved to claw at my leg. Reflexively, I stumbled back and dodged his next few attacks. When she had caught her breath enough, Aspen ran over to help me and bit at Ryland's tail, making him growl deeply as he was turned away from me and in a different direction.

Aspen whimpered to get my attention. "Swipe your paw at him!"

I looked over at her hesitantly and tried to control the front legs of my new form. As I moved my paw slowly, I noticed that I could also control the extension of my claws. With a new burst of confidence, I swiped my paw at Ryland, who was distracted by Aspen's stunt. My claws were quick but barely scratched the pelt of his shoulder blade.

Ryland kicked Aspen with his back leg and turned towards me again, snarling viciously and narrowing his eyes. I might have been inexperienced with my wolf from still, but I could definitely tell that Ryland thought I was mocking him with my pitiful excuse of an attack.

He quickly bit at me, taking off small tufts of my fur but narrowly missing my skin. Aspen nipped at Ryland's tail again while I jumped back and tried to regain my bearings. His ferocious gaze kept shifting between Aspen and I, but when she yanked his tail again, Ryland locked his attention on her.

He lunged at Aspen, his claws connecting with her shoulder blade and making deep cuts. She howled in pain but returned the attack, grazing Ryland's ribcage. I stood off to the side, wanting to go back into the fight and help but not wanting to throw Aspen off. The two of them were going strong; her fiery resolve was getting stronger by the second, but I wasn't quite sure that her stamina and agility would match its pace.

I noticed Aspen's reflexes begin to slow, her leg faltering because of her injured shoulder. Knowing she needed help, I braced myself and went back into the fight, scratching Ryland behind his ear and then on his side. As I went in for another attack, Ryland's jaws locked on my side, making me whimper and stumble backwards.

With me temporarily out of the way, Ryland was about to deal a fatal blow to Aspen when he stopped and looked up, making Aspen and I turn and do the same. There were two other wolves standing next to each other. While I was nervous about them and Ryland seemed hostile, Aspen's hope returned to her eyes. She moved closer to them and one of them howled, lifting its muzzle towards the sky. Aspen began to talk to them and let me listen in on their mind link.

"Go report back to alpha Felix and head beta Xander that we found Elias. Let them know that we need help fighting off the rogue."

The two wolves nodded simultaneously and then ran off together towards the Shadowclaw pack. I wagged my tail, more than grateful that it was Shadowclaw scouts who found us and not a group of rogues to further our trouble. Soon, Felix and Xander would be here, and we would be able to defeat Ryland and take Elias home.

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This chapter was action packed! And Luca FINALLY shifted! I hope you liked it because there's more to come, and you won't want to miss it 👀 If you enjoyed this chapter, don't forget to vote and comment your thoughts! - D ♡