My Mate's Touch

Chapter 48 - Elias

A couple days later

After we all woke up, Felix, Aspen and Luca went to grab breakfast for us, giving Xander and I a bit of alone time. It was much appreciated, and it made me realize how wonderful it would be to wake up to him every morning. I usually slept well, but Xander made me feel protected and warm, something that I didn't know I'd ever needed. Looking down at him I could tell that he also had a good night's sleep, as he groaned when I sat up.

"Mn." He slowly moved his arm towards me and grasped at the air, making me giggle quietly.

"I'm not going anywhere, don't worry," I said, smiling at Xander, my mate.

I mentally blushed when I thought about that. Xander's my mate. I have a mate and I'm human. I'm so lucky.

Xander and I felt so close even though it had been a little over a day since we addressed that we were mates. It didn't help that we shared a bed—which definitely wasn't meant for two people—for the last couple of nights, but on the inside, it felt as if I was whole. The feeling was strange and almost inexplicable; it wasn't like I'd found my other half, but more like I was already complete and Xander doubled my happiness.

What made me even more ecstatic was knowing that Xander was going to be discharged from the infirmary today. Even though he still needed to be careful for the next week or so, a nurse informed us that his major injuries were nearly healed. As I rubbed Xander's head, Aspen, Luca and Felix walked in the door with platters of pancakes, bacon, eggs, fruit and more.

"Good morning, lovebirds! Breakfast is here."

Xander growled at Aspen's comment as I scrambled to catch the blueberry muffins she threw at me. I took a big bite out of the delicious muffin and then got up to get more food for Xander and I. As soon as I went to the small table where the breakfast was, I realized that I didn't know what Xander wanted.

"Um, Xander? W-What would you like?"

He groaned as he sat up and looked pensively at the food. "A couple of pancakes, please. And some eggs. And lots of bacon. No fruit, though."

I nodded, made his plate and then got started on my own, adding a couple of pancakes and lots of fruit. When I handed Xander's plate to him and sat back down on his bed, I heard him scoff and I turned my head to see a small smile planted on his face.

"What is it?"

"This isn't nearly enough bacon."

My eyes widened. "What? I gave you five strips!"

"Hmm, well, I guess that is a lot... for a vegetarian."

I huffed and pouted at his remark but I couldn't help forming a smile as I watched my mate in amusement. "Fine, I'll get you some more once you finish what you have."

Xander and I ate and chatted with Luca, Aspen and Felix. While our earlier conversations were full of laughter, we soon enough got on the topic of Ryland. Even though I still felt like he was close and could hurt me, I knew that he wasn't and that my friends and mate deserved to know what I'd been keeping from them.

"You don't have to talk about anything you're too uncomfortable with," Felix said, "but the more you can talk about, the better. We won't judge you, Elias."

"I know, thank you. I think I'm ready to get it off of my chest. I'm sorry for keeping you all in the dark until it got so serious."

And then, I began to tell my story. I explained to everyone what I'd been going through from the time I met Ryland to right before Xander and Felix came to help. I watched all of their faces fluctuate between concern, sadness and anger as I mentioned what Ryland had put me through; his blackmailing me into raiding Felix's office, how he assaulted me in the bunker, all of it. It was cathartic being able to tell them what had been happening to me without fear of Ryland tormenting me further.

Near the end of my confessions, I remembered my parents. Ryland said he would hurt them if I failed to get what he needed, and I did just that. After I brought it up, alpha Felix said that he stayed a bit longer after Aspen, Luca and I left to question Ryland. To my relief, Felix said that Ryland hadn't hurt anyone except for me.

"I... I knew something was wrong," Luca muttered after I had finished, obviously troubled. "All this time, I knew you seemed depressed. And I didn't do anything."

"It wasn't your fault, Luca," I assured him, my heart starting to break. "And yes, you did. You asked me several times if I was ok, and I didn't budge."

"I can't believe this," Aspen started. "I'm so sorry."

"I'm the one who's sorry." I took a deep breath as I tried to ignore the watery film setting over my eyes. "Luca, Aspen, I know that you were both concerned for me. And Felix and Xander, I should have told you what was going on. I thought that staying quiet was in everyone's best interest. I put the whole Shadowclaw pack in jeopardy and I'm sorry for not speaking up about it."

Felix furrowed his brow. "It's not your fault, so don't think that it is. He shouldn't have been here in the first place. Thank you for sharing everything."

I nodded as Xander held me, his expression unreadable. His strong, tattooed arms held my waist in a comfortable grip while his head rested on my shoulder. I was sure that keeping the whole Ryland thing a secret probably killed him the most, knowing that his mate was suffering and he couldn't do anything about it until the very end.

Hesitantly, I turned and placed a soft kiss on Xander's forehead. He squeezed me tighter in response and snuggled his head back into the crook of my neck, giving me goosebumps.

Within an hour of us talking about Ryland, we finished the rest of the food and got ready to leave the infirmary. As Luca, Aspen and I cleaned up the room, Felix helped Xander up from the bed. As they walked towards the door, Xander stopped.

"Hey, Luca, Aspen?"

Luca stiffened and Aspen paused what she was doing, both of them turning around to face him.

"Thank you both for protecting Elias," Xander said genuinely. "I... I don't know what I would've done if he wasn't ok, so thank you for being there."

"Of course," Luca said, his eyes widened in complete shock at Xander's unexpected gratitude.

Aspen chipped in, too. "Yeah, no way were we just gonna let Elias fend for himself!"

Xander nodded and began to exit the room with Felix as his crutch. I made eye contact with him as Felix opened the door, making me want to run to him but ignoring the strange urge.

"I'm going to take Xander back to the Shadowclaw headquarters," Felix spoke. "You three should go home, too. I think resting for the remainder of the day would be good for all of us."

The three of us nodded as Felix and Xander left, and we headed back to Luca's apartment soon after.

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I'd like to formally announce that the Ryland/rogue drama is officially over! I don't know about you guys, but that whole arc felt kind of long 😂 Mayhaps a little more drama might come soon, but you didn't hear it from me... As always, please leave a vote and comment your thoughts if you enjoyed this chapter! - D ♡