Chapter 19

Samantha’s Pov

I couldn't sleep. Everything Mikala said kept ringing in my head. And Luca was still ignoring me, so I couldn’t take any more of it. I got up and showered quickly early in the morning, then stood in front of the room where he was sleeping.

I knocked, and after what felt like hours, he finally opened the door. I couldn’t bear to look at his face, so I waltzed into the room without waiting for an invitation. His face had that early morning look—disheveled hair I was itching to run my hands through, swollen full lips I so desperately wanted to kiss.

“Good morning to you too,” he said, closing the door and turning his attention to me.

“Why didn’t you tell me about the sickness?” I didn’t want to waste time and dived right in. He avoided my eyes and moved toward his bed.

“Um… hello? I’m still here.”

“I know.”

“And? We talked about everything except the sickness? Are you kidding me? It’s clear you’re avoiding the topic,” I said. Luca just looked at me with a straight face and said nothing else.

How dare he? I am his mate, and alpha or not, he should give me the respect of listening and acknowledging everything I say.

“I am avoiding the topic. There’s nothing to discuss… why are you here, Samantha?” The deep ombre of his voice echoed in the room. It made Aldrina growl for her wolf at the back of my head.

Get it together, girl. I want him to.

“Isn’t it obvious? I want us to talk about it and figure out what to do. Maybe do the needful?”

“Which is?” he asked.

I rolled my eyes aggressively. “You know what I’m talking about. Don’t make me repeat myself.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” At times like this, I feel like he’s deliberately getting on my nerves. Luca isn’t dumb; in fact, he’s the type to analyze and figure out a situation before anyone else does. So he knows exactly what I’m implying.

“I’m serious, Luca.”

“You come to my room this early in the morning—”

“Oh, sorry, I decided to wake up Miss Sleeping Beauty from her slumber.”

“I’m not done talking,” he seethed. “You come into my room—uninvited—and demand we start a discussion I do not want to have. What part of ‘there’s nothing to discuss’ did you not understand?” He strode to where I stood, towering over me.

“I want to talk about it. I deserve to know if Silver Rose is in danger or not.”

“This isn’t your pack.” His words wounded me more than his eyes did. Like I didn’t mean anything to him. Like I should know my place.

“But you’re my mate, so Silver Rose Pack is also my responsibility,” I fired back.

“See, that’s where you’re wrong, and you know it,” he disagreed. His gaze was cold—daring. It made me feel scared and hot all over, like I enjoyed that cold, calculative, and dark look of his.

Did I? I didn’t notice he was barely dressed, and I unintentionally ran my gaze over his body. He was bare-chested, revealing those big biceps and six-pack abs. Is that six or eight? I’m not sure if I should be counting. Luca was bulky, but not too bulky. His pale white skin was just too smooth and beautiful—my gaze lingered, and I noticed the scar that ran from his abs down to his waist.

I clenched my fists, fighting the urge to trace my fingers over this manly skin.

“Eyes here,” he ordered.

“Are we clear? There’s nothing to discuss, and matters of Silver Rose people do not concern you.”

I wasn’t backing down easily either. I know how to act mean and tough. “Let’s complete the bond. Take me as your Luna, please. I want that.”

His gaze faltered, and he looked at me as if I had completely lost my mind. I think I have—there’s no doubt. Then he did something I had never seen him do before—Alpha Luca laughed. A wide grin spread across his face, and rolls of laughter came from his mouth.

“What’s funny?”

“You, Samantha. You amaze me every single time.” I appreciated the compliment, but not in the situation we were in at the moment. I loved that I made him laugh… that meant progress, right?

“You don’t want to complete the bond?”

I paused for a second. “You don’t see me fit? Don’t you find me attractive enough to be yours?”

His eyes glistened and darkened as if he was fighting an emotion—an emotion I desperately needed to see.

“That isn’t the reason.”

“Then tell me what it is. Tell me why you don’t want to complete the mating bond and mark me. Is it because we’re from different packs? Is that it? Mikala mentioned something like that was forbidden, so I need to know.”

“Yes… it is forbidden.”

I looked down at my feet and trembling fingers.

“Hey,” he said, holding my chin gently with his index and middle fingers to make me look up at him. I avoided his eyes. I didn’t want him to see how much that realization hurt me. Why do I always have to be so unlucky with mates?

I don’t know what else to believe anymore.

“Talk to me. Say something.”

“If it’s forbidden… why haven’t you rejected me yet?”

I swallowed, waiting patiently for his confession. Just like Killain, Luca wasn’t my fated. At this point, I wasn’t sure I had a fated at all. Why mate me with someone else I’m forbidden to marry? It just didn’t make sense.

And it hurt more than I could handle.

“I… I don’t think you’re strong enough to handle it, with everything you’ve gone through,” he said. There was a softness in his eyes that I wanted to drown myself in. There was a warmth, an enveloping safety that Luca always exuded around me.

“Don’t get me wrong, you are strong. And fuck, I… I…”

“You what?” I whispered.

“There’s nothing I want more than to fucking put my mark on your soft skin. I want that so much.”

“Then do it,” I whispered, taking another step closer to him, leaving no space between us. His forehead rested against mine, and he cupped my cheeks aggressively with both hands, silently cursing before his lips touched mine—claiming my mouth as his.