My Mate's Touch

Luca made things so difficult for me sometimes, but I couldn't stop going easy on him. I didn't understand why, but accidentally using my alpha voice on him, Aspen and Elias made me feel so horrible. It felt awful bottling up my anger at Luca's actions inside, but it felt even worse to let it out at him even though he was in the wrong.

It had been a few days since Xander and I lashed out at them and I had stayed in my room to try and process everything. I wasn't able to think of a solution so I huffed and walked over to Xander's room, which was down the hall from mine. I knocked on his door. It wouldn't have been surprising if he didn't answer since he had such a bad temper, but he opened the door with a small scowl.

"What?" He asked begrudgingly.

"Can I come in?"

"Yeah."

I walked in, closing the door behind me, and then we both sat on the end of his bed. I could tell that Xander was stewing on the situation, probably much more than I was. Despite his fiery temper, Xander was a good problem solver and, when he wasn't raging, he dealt with important issues from a practical standpoint. As my best friend and my head beta, I respected him for that and always had him give me his insight before I made a serious decision for the pack.

To my surprise, he spoke about the situation first. "How do you plan on handling this?"

"You already know that's why I'm here," I grimaced slightly. "I'm sure you have some idea of what to do."

He turned his head to face me. "Yeah, we throw that fucking human out of our goddamned territory!"

"It's not that simple," I responded calmly, trying to diffuse his anger. "Yes, he's human and it isn't ideal for him to be here. But, he is from Timbers Cross, so he knows that werewolves exist and that he most likely isn't here to cause harm."

"Well if he didn't cause harm in Timbers Cross, there's no damned reason for him to be here so he should go back to where he fucking came from."

I sighed. Xander hated humans, well, more than he hated most things. He had a bad experience with them in the past and now he loathed all of them. His trust issues in general were deeply rooted. It was hard for werewolves to gain his trust; a human would never have a chance.

"Why would you want him to stay, anyways? He can't contribute to the pack, he'll be a damned liability and a fucking burden."

There Xander went again with the troubling questions. Why did I care if Elias stayed? I searched deep inside of my mind, and the only reason I could come up with is that he seemed to make Luca happy. There's no fucking way I could tell that to Xander, so I mustered a more reasonable response.

"It would be more troublesome to take him back. He'd have to cross No Man's Land and it could bring out rogues," I said, hoping Xander would accept my answer.

He sighed, furrowing his brow. "You've been fucking strange lately, you know that?" Yeah, I know, but I wish I knew why. "But, whatever you decide, even if I don't agree with it as your friend, I will support it as your beta."

My eyes widened. He'd never been so... diplomatic before. "Xander? Is that really you?"

"Don't push your fucking limits," He said, gently punching my shoulder and then looking at the floor. "It's just, something tells me that you're not going to bend on this one."

I sighed. Xander knew me too well, it was almost scary. "I won't forget this moment," I said.

"Shut up."

"Come on, let's go," I said, getting up from his bed and smoothing out my shirt.

"Where?"

"The dining hall should be serving lunch right now."

"Damn, I totally forgot." He rubbed the back of his neck. "Let's go."

When we made it there, the dining hall was packed. I didn't really like feeling superior to other werewolves, but the perk of having a separate, less-crowded lunch line made me forget about it completely.

Once Xander and I got our food, we headed to our table. We ate and talked for a good twenty minutes before getting up to throw away our trash, and that's when I saw Luca, Aspen and Elias sitting and eating across the dining hall. I turned to Xander and he gave me a confused look.

"We need to tell them what we've decided," I said.

"What the hell? Do that yourself!"

"I know you're not happy with him staying here because he's human," I said. "But Elias isn't a complete outsider, either."

Xander scowled and averted his gaze, making me smile. He only did that when he knew I was right.

"Still doesn't mean I have to be there with you to break the fucking news," He muttered.

I sighed dramatically. "You have to accompany me, head alpha's orders."

He groaned, unable to refuse my command. "Fuck you."

We walked over to the three of them having an animated conversation. Their bright smiles faded when they saw Xander and I coming. It made me feel hurt, but I brushed it aside knowing they would appreciate the outcome of the situation.

"Hi, alpha Felix," Aspen said nervously. "Have you made your decision yet?"

I nodded. "Yes, I did." I turned to Xander. "Tell them what I've decided."

"Why me? You fucking piss me off."

I hid my smile and he continued. "Fine. You can stay," He said, glaring at Elias. "But fucking cause any trouble and I won't hesitate to take care of you myself."

Elias flinched at Xander's harshness but his fear quickly went away as he registered what Xander had said. "T-Thank you so much," He beamed. "I won't cause any trouble, I promise!"

The three of them smiled as we walked off, and I couldn't help but smile, too.

✩｡:*•.─────  ❁ ❁  ─────.•*:｡✩

Felix makes Luca and his friends smile and Xander shows his soft side. Which one makes you happier? If you enjoyed this chapter, make sure to vote and comment! I love seeing what you guys think ♡
- D