Chapter 25
Silver’s POV
I decided not to bring up what I overheard yesterday morning. Things were going really well since he returned home last night, and I didn’t want to ruin it. He didn’t ask me why I altered the painting; I think he just thought I was playing a joke on him.
I woke up early the next morning, surprised to see that he was still there and fast asleep. I took the painting back into my studio and I spent the next hour fixing it, turning it back into its original portrait. By the time I was done, Elliot was leaning against the doorframe, staring at me.
When I turned to look at him, my cheeks flushed when I saw that he wasn’t wearing a shirt; however, he was wearing pajama bottoms. But still, he was so hot standing at the door of my studio with all his abs on display, that my mouth was watering again.
How was it possible to be this turned on by someone? It was like there was something inside of me clawing to get out, wanting to go to him and claim him as mine.
I never felt this way about anyone before, not even Gavin.
He looked at the portrait that I had just finished fixing and a smirk was placed on his lips as he looked at me.
“I’m going to be at the packhouse today,” he told me, cutting through my thoughts. “I have some business to take care of. Will you be okay here?”
I nodded, biting my lower lip as I forced my eyes away from his incredible body.
“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” I told him.
He nodded, still looking at me thoughtfully for a moment.
“Was there a reason you were there yesterday?”
The question caught me off guard; I wasn’t expecting it. I didn’t realize he knew I was there; then again, both his Beta and Gamma knew I was there so one of them probably mentioned it. Heat surfaced around my cheeks, and I suddenly felt incredibly hot.
“I baked cookies and cupcakes for the pack,” I told him. “I wanted to apologize for leaving the banquet early. That’s not how a Luna should behave.”
“You had good reason to leave.”
“But they don’t know that,” I reminded him. “I also wanted to meet some of them. I think I made a new friend.”
He corked an eyebrow.
“And who might that be?”
“Cara,” I answered. “She seems really nice. She introduced me to some of her friends. They are interesting.”
I thought about her friend Alison; it was going to take some time for her to warm up to me and I feel it’ll take time for me to warm up to her too. But Emma at least seemed really nice in her shy way.
“Erik’s mate?” He asked, raising his brows.
I nodded.
He didn’t look displeased by that.
“I’m glad you got to know someone. She’s a good choice for a friend,” he admitted.
I smiled but I didn’t say anything more about it. After another moment, he asked, “Why didn’t you come to see me?”
I didn’t think he was going to be so forward and ask that question. My heart skipped a beat when I looked up at his face. His eyes poured into me like he could see the answer in my eyes. I swallowed the lump in my throat and kept my eyes on his.
“You seemed busy,” I told him, my voice coming out a bit breathier than how I’d like. “Shirley was in your office, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”
“Leo said you were outside my office door,” he said. “Were you spying on us?”
I mentally slapped myself; I should have known Leo would have said something about me snooping outside of his office door.
“I heard voices inside the office, and I turned around to leave,” I quickly stated.
He looked at me questionably for a moment before he conceded.
“I’ll see you later then,” he said, turning to leave. “I’m going to get dressed and then I’ll be out of here. If you come by the packhouse later, come see me.”
I was stunned by this; he wanted me to walk in on him and Shirley? He was gone before I could say anything.
At some point during the day, my phone started to ring. I was busy in my studio working on some other paintings when it rang on my desk across the room. Sighing and wiping the sweat off my brow, I stood from my stool and my way across the room and to my phone.
I frowned at the number displayed on the screen; I didn’t recognize it.
“Hello?” I asked, answering the phone.
“Hello, is this Mrs. Silver Crown?” Asked a man on the other end; I was still getting used to people calling me Mrs. Crown.
“Yes, this is her,” I said, sitting on my desk chair.
“This is Edmond Wilson calling from Hope’s Art Gallery. How are you doing Mrs. Crown?”
My heart leaped in my throat; Hope’s Art Gallery was huge in this region. Not as big as Pandora’s Bloom; but it was still pretty known. It was also one of the art galleries that I submitted my work to a few weeks ago and it got rejected. I wondered why they were calling me now.
“Please, call me Silver. I’m doing fine; and yourself, Mr. Wilson?”
“I’m doing good; thank you for asking. I’m calling because your portrait at the auction had blown up. I’m the manager at Hope’s Gallery and I have been searching for new artwork for our new exhibit. We would like to feature some of your paintings.”
My brows rose at his words.
“If you remember correctly, Mr. Wilson. I did submit some of my artwork a few weeks ago but they were rejected,” I reminded him.
He was quiet for a moment.
“That was done out of error,” he said calmly. “My associate doesn’t know great art when she sees it.”
My frown deepened.
“Then, why is she working in an art gallery?” I asked.
“She won’t be much longer,” he muttered. Then he changed his tone as he moved on from the topic of his associate. “I am willing to pay you handsomely for your artwork. We can set a time to meet his week and go over the details in person.”
I grabbed my planner and a pen.
“Yeah, we can set something up,” I agreed.
“Excellent,” he replied.
Elliot’s POV
My wolf was content after the night we had with Silver. It was a strange feeling because he hadn’t felt like this in a long time. I slept better than I had in a long time as well. Leaving her today was not something I wanted to do, but with these recent rogue attacks, I had no choice. I had some meetings I needed to take care of.
We needed to figure out why these rogues were targeting not only my pack but nearby ones as well.
Shirley has been helping me investigate a bit further because her pack has been in jeopardy as well. She was already in my office when I got there. She was dressed in a button-down red blouse with her cleavage on display and a short business skirt that hugged her thighs tightly with black studded heels.
It was her normal attire. She was leaning against my desk with her arms folded across her chest.
“You are later than I thought you would be,” she said, narrowing her eyes at me.
I froze at the doorway.
“Do I need to alert you when I’m going to be late to my own packhouse?” I asked her. “Don’t you have a pack to run yourself?”
She rolled her eyes.
“My pack is fine,” she said. “I’m here to help you like we agreed upon.”
“And I appreciate your help as always. But I don’t think I’ll need it today. I have meetings I need to take care of—”
“I know,” she said, handing me a planner. “I took it upon myself to organize your meetings for today. I’ll sit in on them and make sure there’s no funny business. These other Alpha’s can’t be as trusted. Especially the Alpha from the Stormwind pack.”
The Alpha from the Stormwind pack was Silver’s father; I couldn’t agree more. He couldn’t be trusted. But right now, we needed alliances to help protect our packs from these rogue attacks. We were all dealing with the same issue, and it was time we came together and resolved the problem.
I nodded my thanks to Shirley and she gave me a small smile as I took my seat at the desk.
She walked around my desk, and I felt her hands on my shoulders. I immediately tensed at her touch; my wolf scowled, and I had to fight back the growl that emerged from my throat. Something about the way she was touching me… or maybe it was just her touch in general, I did not like.
“You are so tense, Elliot. Remember when we used to go to parties together and everyone thought we were the cutest couple,” she said, chuckling.
I shrugged her hands off my shoulders.
“We were never a couple,” I told her, my voice turning cold.
“I know that, but they didn’t,” she said. “We were voted the best couple by our peers. Don’t you ever wonder what it would be like to actually be a couple?”
“No,” I told her, my voice coming out short. “We have always just been friends, Shirley. Plus, I’m married. It would be a waste of time to think of such things.”
She rolled her eyes and sighed as she leaned against the desk, facing me.
“You can’t be serious about that marriage, Elliot,” she said, folding her arms across her chest, and pushing up her breasts in the process. I didn’t make it a point to notice; I just stared at her face, not wanting to discuss this any further but Shirley was stubborn, and I knew she wasn’t going to drop the subject. “She’s not good enough for you…”
“She’s my wife and the Luna of this pack, Shirley. I won’t tolerate disrespect. Speak about her again, and we will have an issue,” I told her.
She opened her mouth to respond, but thankfully Beta Leo interrupted when he knocked on the door.
“If you’ll excuse me; I have meetings I need to tend to. Sit in them if you’d like, but keep Silver’s name out of your mouth.”
She looked stunned but she said nothing more on the subject.
By the time I got home later in the evening, I was exhausted. I went to my bedroom first, hoping that Silver was there getting ready for bed. But when I saw that the bedroom and bathroom were empty, I decided to check her studio instead.
I could feel her presence behind the door before I opened it.
Silver was seated at her stool, hard at work with her painting. I leaned against the doorframe, watching her as she worked tirelessly. I wondered if she even left this stupid at all today.
Her clothes were covered in watercolor, and she had paint smeared all over her face.
It made a smile twitch at the corner of my lips when I saw sweat, mixed with different colored watercolors, trailing down the nape of her neck, right along the red markings that I left on her skin last night.
She never looked more attractive to me.
