Alpha Luke and His Unwilling Mate
Chapter 19

~Nyla~

It’s not often that I envy werewolf abilities. If someone gives me the option to switch one of my powers with theirs, I would definitely ask for the mind linking ability.

Wyatt had told me the alpha of the pack could communicate with his pack members over long distances. He used to leave the pack borders and wander off very far and still stay in touch with his mom. Any false alarms or bad news, his worried parents were able to know immediately and update me.

Of course, we had cellphones, but either there was no reception or he was too busy to answer calls most of the time. Whenever I called, it was Vance or someone else who would tell me Wyatt would call back soon. Soon was after several hours while his pack members could reach out to him any moment by just opening their mind link.

I had no idea where Luke went to or how he was doing. I asked Rachel, and all she knew was that he went away for some pack affairs, which he usually let Ryder or Finn handle. He probably wanted to stay away from me.

Who told him he could decide these things on his own?

I suppose he was sulking at me for the slap because he refused to look at me for more than a second when he got back from training. Walking in with that hot sweat-drenched face and looking out of breath, he thought that was the best time to ignore me, while my body was screaming to go close to him, real close, and make up for pushing him away.

Ari kept me busy, but that was not enough to push his thoughts away. I did a lot of things to fill my days with things and people. Car shopping with Rachel, a trip to the grocery store with Olivia, and rearranging the garden beds with Ren. Nothing was enough to make me forget him for more than a few seconds.

Rachel brought him up in her conversations and lot. My heart skipped a beat when she said, “He asked me if you were okay.”

“Of course, doing better than ever!” What else can I say? That I miss him like crazy and can’t go a minute without thinking about him?

Staying away was supposed to help me clear my thoughts. Maybe it was helping him. My chest suddenly tightened at the thought of him forgetting me and not giving a damn about my existence.

I’m supposed to make him suffer. I already know he would lose his mind if anything happens to Rachel. With his mom and Leah gone, whatever bit of humanity remains in him is because of his chirpy little sister. I should take her down next. But the thought feels as painful as imagining something happening to Wyatt’s sister, Skylar.

Skylar is no more because of Luke. He deserves the pain and nothing else. But Rachel is innocent, just like Skylar. I have unknowingly added her to the list that already had a few other people: Olivia, Ren, and the wet nurse… the people I wouldn’t harm.

After spending a thousand days doing a thousand things to distract myself, it was still Monday. Thursday was another two hundred years away.

I was returning with Ren from the garden when I saw many she-wolves walking back to their lockers after training. Finally! Found a reason to talk to Luke. I had nothing good enough to call him all these days.

Rachel had a class at 9 AM. So I ran to the dining area to catch her.

“Are you sure? I mean, can you exert yourself already?” She looked at my stomach as if I had three giant pups inside.

“Come on, doctors recommend regular exercise to get back in shape. It’s already been more than two weeks anyway. I’ll wake up when you do and join you in the training grounds after feeding Ari.”

“Okay, sure. It will be fun! I’ll see you after class.”

“Er… Rachy, wait! Don’t I need permission from your brother?”

“For training?” She giggled. “You would need permission to skip training. He will never say no if you want to.”

“I think I should still ask him.” God, Rachel! Just give me his number already!

“Didn’t know you were the type who needed permission to do anything.”

Whatever that was supposed to mean. I absolutely needed to hear his voice and a yes from that sexy mouth.

“What are you doing?” Rachel was talking to him over the mind link.

“Checking with him of course, silly!”

“Oh, call him. I want to ask. It’s my training after all.”

She looked at me like I lost my mind before pulling her phone out from her back pocket.

“Texted you his contact. Call him. I’m running late.”

“Wai—” Pfft!

I looked at the text from Rachel. There was no way I was going to call him. I was saving his name and wondering if I should name him a*****e or PITA for the pain in the a*s he was, and my phone suddenly went off. I almost dropped it when I saw his number.

It got me so excited and scared about what to say to him that I ended the call involuntarily.

Crap!

I was acting like a stupid teenager again. What am I afraid of? I called him back.

“What?!”

Jeez! Since when did he start barking like this?

“What what? You are the one who called me earlier.”

“Rachy links me and says your name and then, oh, never mind. What do you want?”

“I want to train with your sister from tomorrow morning.”

“Yeah, so?”

A*****e! He doesn’t miss me at all.

“Do you have any problem with that?”

“Stop calling me for such things and do whatever you want.”

“You are the stupid alpha who has a problem with everything I do, so I wanted to check with you.”

The a*****e hung up. My heart was thrumming like crazy. I guess he could hear it over the phone, but he was acting like I interrupted his hot makeout session with some chick. Did I really?

I gasped in horror. He went away to get laid! And he already forgot about me.

“Are you f*****g someone right now?” I obviously couldn’t rest without calling him back to confirm.

“Yes. Don’t call me again.”

Oh, the nerve! He hung up twice on me. When he returns and knocks on my door, I won’t open it for him, ever. Something about his behavior told me he won’t bother me again. It got me so restless and insecure that I wanted to cry.

I kept myself busy counting days and then hours. Thursday morning never felt this exciting. After training with Rachel and a few other girls I became friends with, I showered and put on my best but most casual clothes to not look overdressed. Walking into the dining area to get some breakfast, I ate as slowly as possible, but he didn’t return.

I waited for Rachel as well. She never came out of her room after training. Didn’t she have a class at 10.30 today? I walked up to her room and heard her sobbing when I was about to knock.

“Rae!”

She continued to cry without answering the door.

“Rae, can I come in? What’s the matter?”

I tried her door, but it was locked. It flung open when I was about to knock again, and Rachel came out with a tear-soaked face and hugged me.

“What happened?” Please tell me it’s not about Luke.

“Rex is injured. They got him this time.” She burst into tears, and my heart dropped to my toes. Tears welled in my eyes watching her cry.

“They who?”

“The Skinwalkers.” The bodyguard who accompanied me replied.

No idea who they were. All that mattered was Luke was in danger.

“Where is he?”

I ran down the stairs and froze when Luke’s dad stepped out of his office with Ryder and a few others. I turned around and waited for them to leave, waited for my heartbeat to get steady before anyone could hear it, and suspect me to be Luke’s mate.

“Oh, Ren! Who are Skinwalkers? What happened to Rex? And the Alpha? Is he okay??” I asked her in a low voice after Luke’s dad disappeared into the elevator.

“They are male witches who can take the form of a wolf. This place is enchanted mainly to protect against them. They can mask their scent and pretend to be one of us. The Alpha gets to know about their presence if they step into any of the protected grounds or buildings.”

“So they attacked him today?” When? How? My head was spinning.

“There are a lot of forests between this city and the neighboring one in the east. Skinwalkers often hide there and attack at night. They can kill the wolf with magic.”

Oh my God. I turned around to see my bodyguard join us while Ren continued. He looked me over with curiosity.

“I don’t have all the details because the Alpha’s wolf is too weak to use the mind link. Finn’s wolf died first and then he died too.”

“The Alpha just arrived. He’s injured and his wolf is not responding, but otherwise he’s fine I think. Just needs to heal.” Ren heard the bodyguard’s words and excused herself to be at Luke’s service.

I went back to my floor and stood by the balcony to wait for him. The pack doctor, his dad, Ren, nurses, Ryder, and so many people went in and out all morning. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, and my tears made it all blurry. I never got my turn and had to return to feed Ari.

“He’s resting and shouldn’t be disturbed,” Ren repeated Luke’s dad’s instructions when I wanted to go see him in the afternoon.

I paced back and forth in the hallways, waiting for my turn, but he was heavily medicated and his doors were locked most of the time. I couldn’t wait any more when it was past dinnertime and the nurse who stepped out told me to leave him be.

My legs turned to jelly when I got a glimpse of his face when I slowly opened the door after the nurse was out of sight. He was in deep sleep and his face was bruised, lips a pale shade of blue. I leaned down to push the mop of hair off his forehead to see if there were more bruises.

I couldn’t feel Rex! There were no tingles. The pain in my chest doubled, and I failed to stop the sobs that I was holding back for so long. His condition was worse than I imagined.

He g*****d and turned in his sleep when I forgot to wipe my tears off in time and let them fall on him. I wiped them off his bare shoulder and moved the blanket down to see that there were more bruises.

Rex has to come back to heal him faster. I placed a small k**s on his cheek and begged for his wolf to be okay. Not wanting to leave his side, I locked the door and laid next to him. Kissing his chest softly and holding him in my arms, I found my peace and drifted off to sleep.