Chapter 56

Elliot’s POV

“Why is my head chef crying, Marco?” I asked, ignoring his request to sit down.

“Because you chased her away!” Mariah sobbed. “How could you hurt her like this? She was so sweet, and she did nothing wrong.”

My blood went cold from her words. What was Mariah talking about? Chased who away. I looked around the room and I felt a chill creep up my spine. She couldn’t be talking about Silver, could she?

Panic consumed my chest, and I was finding it difficult to breathe.

“Marco,” I said, my tone warning. He better start talking and he better start talking now.

I’ve known Marco since we were young and though we don’t talk as often as we used to, he still knew me well enough to know that I’m not very patient and that he had better start talking quickly.

He sighed and ran his hands through his messy hair. That was another thing about Marco, he didn’t like to dress up even though he was a lawyer. He never puts gel in his hair, and he’ll wear jeans more often than not. His shirt was always half unbuttoned, showing his pecks, which he says is for the ladies. Since his divorce, he’s gotten around. He doesn’t just date women in his pack, but others as well.

“Look, Man. I’m saying this as your friend, you fucked up,” he said, looking up at me from the couch.

“What the fuck are you talking about?” I asked through my teeth, my patience running out completely.

He grabbed a set of papers that I hadn’t noticed on the coffee table and handed them to me. The papers were upside down in his outstretched hands and I stared at them like they were on fire or something.

“I don’t know exactly what’s going on between you and Shirley, but your wife seems to think it’s more than you're saying. So much so she wants to walk away, Elliot,” Marco said.

My hands pathetically shook as I grabbed the papers from him and flipped them over. Before I glanced down at the words, I knew were going to destroy my life, I met Mariah’s eyes. She had never looked at me as coldly as she was at that moment. Mariah had been my family chef for as long as I could remember; she is pretty much a part of my family and isn’t afraid to slap me across the head and call me an idiot.

It was no secret that she had gotten close to Silver over the months we’d been married, and Silver had gotten close to her as well. I knew the look she was giving me right now was on Silver’s behalf and my heart cracked at the thought.

I finally spared the papers a look and just as I thought, my entire world fell apart.

I nearly dropped the papers as if they scorned me.

I stared at the big bold words, disbelieving what I was reading.

Divorce Agreement.

Silver had filed for a divorce?

Why?

“Where is she?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

“She packed up and left,” Mariah spoke as coldly as she looked. “She didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye, so she gave me a hug, grabbed her suitcase, and took off with her friend.”

“What friend?” I asked, glad that my voice was shaking like I knew my body was.

“My cousin Rebecca,” Marco answered.

I knew Rebecca was Silver’s best friend, I didn’t realize she was also Marco’s cousin though. That was interesting news but also unimportant right now.

“Did she say why?” I asked, feeling numb.

“You spent more time with Shirley than you did with her,” Mariah said, folding her arms across her chest. “She felt neglected, Alpha.”

“Shirley had been helping me figure out these rogue attacks,” I said, fury bubbling inside of me. “That was all. You know I’ve been working closely with the nearby Alphas.”

“We know that you’ve been held up in your office all night and nearly every night,” she shot back. “Do you have any idea how that made your wife feel?”

She was only my contracted wife; we had an agreement. That was all… wasn’t it?

No. Of course that wasn’t all. I was stupid and I took her for granted; now she wanted to leave. Silver was leaving me.

“Was it true?” Marco asked, breaking the silence that fell between us. I looked at him, my vision turning red with anger. I knew I shouldn’t be angry with Marco because he was only doing his job as a lawyer. But I couldn’t help but hate him; he was the one who drew up these stupid divorce papers. He was representing Silver and because of that, I hated him with every burning passion inside of me.

“Is what true?” I asked through my teeth, trying desperately to not claw his eyes out. My wolf was furious at the situation and desperate to break free from me. He wanted to go out there and find Silver more than he wanted his next breath.

He was also furious with me for letting it get to this point. He never liked Shirley and now he hated her even more for driving our wife away.

“Is Shirley really your mate?”

That snapped me back to the present moment; my eyes glared at him, and I knew my wolf could be seen through the windows of my eyes.

“What the fuck are you talking about, Marco?”

Marco narrowed his eyes at me and held up his hands like he was trying to settle a rabid animal… or an angry wolf.

“Woah, I’m just asking about what I heard from the mouth of your soon-to-be ex,” he said, talking slowly and trying to calm my temper. “Shirley told her that you were mates and that you should divorce. I just wanted to know if it was true.”

“What??” I asked, I wasn’t able to comprehend what he was saying. Shirley said what to her? No…. Shirley wouldn’t have said that to her.

Would she?

I thought back to all the stupid and cruel things Shirley had done since she’s been back in town. Drugging me and lying about Silver giving her permission to do so, all the cruel names she’s called Silver, and how she’s been trying to get me to break up with her since she found out that we were married.

Shirley absolutely had enough balls to do something like this… but I thought I made it clear to her that nothing would ever happen between us.

“Silver thinks you lied to her about finding your mate,” Marco continued. “As a lawyer, I’m not supposed to be telling you this because she is my client. But as your friend who doesn’t want to see you lose your marriage and a friend to her because I know she doesn’t want to lose you either, if it’s not true, you need to set things straight. So, I’m asking you… is it true? Is Shirley your true mate?”

“Alpha, if it’s true. Then divorce Silver and let her,” Mariah whispered, lowering her gaze to the ground, defeated. She looked as if I had just kicked a puppy.

I couldn’t believe she would actually think I had found my mate and that it was Shirley, and I wouldn’t tell her about it. I was so numb from the fact that Silver was filing for a divorce, that I couldn’t even go to Mariah to comfort her and assure her that I would never keep something like this from her. I sure as hell wouldn’t lead Silver on like this.

“No,” I said sharply, keeping my eyes locked on Mariah who tensed at the forcefulness of my tone. She lifted her gaze to look into mine and I knew she could see the sincerity in my eyes. My wolf was calming now that he knew what the misunderstanding was; it meant we still had a chance to set things right. “Shirley is not my mate and I refuse to entertain the idea of it.”

She looked relieved to hear that and I looked back at Marco.

“I’m not signing those goddamn papers,” I told him, handing them back to him.

He took them immediately.

“I didn’t think you would. But you should know, she’s willing to sue for a divorce,” he said, raising his brows at me. “She was pretty broken when she left and even if you do set the record straight with her, it might not be enough.”

“I won’t divorce her,” I said with finality.

“She told me this marriage was just a contact. Something is telling me it’s more than that though,” Marco said with a smirk.

Goddammit; was there anything she hadn’t told him? What was her relationship with Marco? I now know he’s her best friend’s cousin, but was there more going on between them than that? Has there ever been?

The green-eyed monster was very evident in my eyes; I was sure of it. I swallowed him down, knowing now was not the time to show my possessive side.

“I need to find her,” I said, turning and walking away.

“Why is this so important to you?” Mariah asked, causing me to freeze. “If you’re just going to keep hurting that sweet girl. Just leave her—”

“I won’t leave her because I—” love her. The words almost slipped from my lips so easily but thankfully I managed to stop them.

I knew at that moment how true those words were; I did love her. I was in love with my wife. At some point, I had fallen in love with her, and I hadn’t even realized it.

But I didn’t want to say those words for the first time out loud to Marco and Mariah. Those words were only for Silver to hear.

“Because I’m not ready for my marriage to end,” I settled on.

On that note, I turned and left. I needed to get my wife back.