"Yes?" He asked.
I opened the door slightly and poked my head in.
Shirley was sitting on his desk with her leg crossed over the other and Elliot was seated on his chair, facing his computer. He barely looked up to see me.
"Well, look who it is. Is Luna work too much for you?" Shirley asked mockingly.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtI pressed my lips together in a thin line. I expected to see Beta Leo in here as well, but he wasn't. It upsetknowing that Elliot had been locked away in this office alone with Shirley. "No, it's actually going great," I told her as I looked at Elliot.
He paidno attention and that irritated me.
"I chere to see if Elliot was hungry," I said, talking to Shirley but looking at Elliot.
He looked up at me.
"Shirley and I just finished eating a bit ago. Have you not eaten yet?" He asked, narrowing his eyes at me.
His words were like a punch in the stomach, and I had to keep from flinching.
"No, I haven't," I murmured. "I've been so busy I hadn't had the time. I'll go eat now." I was about to leave when Shirley said from behind me, "We are going to work a lot this evening, so don't bother waiting up for him." That tI did flinch, but my back was turned toward them so neither of them saw. At least, I hoped they didn't. "Noted," I muttered before leaving the office.
What hurt wasn't what Shirley said, but the fact that Elliot didn't deny it.
She was also right because he didn't chuntil almost 2 in the morning. I pretended to be asleep when he got into bed. I didn't want t to speak with him or start any arguments about why he was strolling into the room so late at night. I was too exhausted mentally and physically, to speak up. So, I just closed my eyes and tried to sleep.
Elliot was gone by the tI woke the next morning, and I felt a ping of agitation. I got dressed, ate my breakfast and this tI spent a bit of tin the art stuworking on my latest painting. Watercolor always put my mind at ease and madethink more clearly. Once I was done, I went straight to the packhouse to get swork done there.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmLater in the afternoon, I found Beta Leo and asked if Elliot had finished his training for the day.
"You just missed him; he took Shirley into town for sshopping," he told me. "He toldto tell you that he'll be late again this evening and not to wait up." My stomach twisted into a tight knot, and I managed a nod. However, Beta Leo could see the hurt evident on my face.
"It isn't what it seems; Shirley needed snew equipment and-" "It's quite okay," I said, holding up my hand and stopping his words. "I'm not worried about it." He nodded, but the look on his face was unconvinced.
Elliot didn't return to the packhouse, and he didn't return home.
Throughout the last couple of days, it's been about the same. I would just miss him at the packhouse, and he would return hlate. He would spend most of his twith Shirley or sof the other Alpha's for training, but no twould be left for his wife.
I suppose I was just a contract wife, but I thought we had made sprogress in our relationship since the banquet. I guess I was wrong.
I heard chuckling in his office as I walked by and I paused outside the om door, knowing, I shouldn't be eavesdropping but unable to help myself. I knew the chuckling was coming from Shirley. "This necklace is beautiful, Elliot. Thank you so much for buying it for me," she said, her voice almost flirtatious.