Chapter 16

Samantha’s Pov

Luca. He was here, and his eyes were fixed on Tyler and me. I removed myself from Tyler's group and stood straight. Luca stood there immobile, his eyes sending daggers to where we stood.

He looked between Tyler and me before his eyes dropped down to where my hand held my rib.

“What happened?” he asked.

“We were just about to go to the pack doctor for that. It could be a broken rib,” Tyler said before I could.

“Hmm. I'll take her.”

I wanted to resist, but my wolf was happy to see Luca. I wanted to pounce on him and envelope him in a tight hug—his scent was like a toxin that only I could inhale. I strode toward him without a glance at Tyler. He took my hand, still keeping his eyes on Tyler, before we both walked out of the garden.

Luca didn't say a word. Was he mad at me? We just walked in silence to the pack doctor's office. While she checked and asked questions, Luca stood beside me without saying a word.

“Okay. All you need to do is apply this on your rib, and you'll be fine,” she said, handing me a small container that contained a cream-like substance. She was petite and young to be a pack doctor, with a beautiful smile and an amazing set of brown eyes.

“Thank you, Milene.”

“Thank you…” we both said at the same time.

“You're welcome. Just take care of yourself, and you'll be fine in no time. Training can be a lot of work, but I bet with his support,” she looked back at Luca with a smile, “it'll be easier.”

They were familiar with each other, and although I didn't want to obsess over what she meant to him and why he looked at her with a smile and at me with disdain, I couldn't shake off the gutting feeling in my chest.

We'd walked for a few minutes, and I couldn't take it anymore! Why was he ignoring me? Didn't he hate that we hadn't been together for days? Didn't he at least miss me like I missed him?

“Enough! I've had enough!” I stopped in my tracks with my hands on my hips.

Luca looked at me with a straight face, not minding what I was about to say. He continued walking—leaving me standing on the path like a fool.

“Are you seriously doing this? So you're not going to talk about what you did?!” I shouted after him, but he kept walking.

“Luca!” He stopped in his tracks but didn't turn back. I strode to where he stood and watched him with his back turned toward me.

‘Please look at me,’ I begged through our mindlink. He eventually turned, and for what felt like hours, I could finally breathe.

“You've been ignoring me.”

“Please, let's not do this. Not here,” he dismissed.

Let's not do this? Does he seriously mean that?

“First, you ignore me for days and don't even come into your own room. Then you send your friend to babysit me, and now you won't even acknowledge me walking beside you.”

I didn't care about Luca. I didn't give a fuck about his actions, but I couldn't ignore that ache in my chest—the pain I feel and the urge to kiss him… the way I want to taste him. The way I want to hold him tightly in my arms.

“Samantha, I've had a long day, and I just want to rest. I haven't been ignoring you. I’ve just been busy.”

“So what about the mindlink? When you were having that meeting and that… that thing happened between us. Were you so busy you didn’t notice that too, or do you just take me for a fool?”

He sighed while I patiently waited for him to speak. Say something. I was going crazy, and my wolf wasn’t having it either. She wanted her mate.

“Tell me… I can't avoid it… Don’t you feel it too? Don’t you feel this pull between us? I can't get my mind off it. You're the only thing I think about every hour of the day. When you're not here, I crave your touch—your presence. When you distance yourself for days and then show up without saying a word, all I feel is pain, Luca.”

“So I'm sorry if I'm an added weight to the list of your worries. I'm sorry if I promised this wouldn't happen—but I can't just shake it off. I can't! I don't want to feel this for you; I don't even understand exactly what I'm feeling, but unlike you, I can't go silent and ignore this painful ache in my chest when you're not near, and when you are, I can't see anything or anyone but you,” I breathlessly confessed.

He avoided looking at me, as if something wrong could happen just from meeting my gaze. He could look at the doctor with a spark in his eyes, but he wouldn’t even spare me a glance.

I swallowed and nodded in realization. “Alright. If you don’t want to say anything, then at least look at me.”

He closed his eyes and opened them again. His gaze drifted over my head, focused on something else but not on me, because I don’t matter to him.

“Okay,” I whispered, trying to ignore the hollow feeling in my chest. He hates me, and I had been thinking otherwise. I was letting myself feel instead of using my head.

I was letting this bond control me, blurring the line of reality; Alpha Luca would only ever see me as nothing more than his fake muse, an added liability he needed to get rid of.

“Thank you for escorting me to the pack doctor. I’ll continue the training with Tyler tomorrow,” I announced, leaving him standing in the middle of the path. Every step I took away from him felt like walking into hell. My heart clenched in agony—my eyes pooled with tears that could fall at any moment.

I won't cry, definitely with him watching me leave.