Chapter 16
Silver’s POV
I had framed my “exclusive” painting of Elliot on the wall in our bedroom right next to his model car collection. I smiled up at the painting, feeling satisfied with my hard work. Elliot walked into the room just then and froze when he saw it.
A bemused look crossed his face as he examined the picture and then his eyes found mine.
“You framed it?” He asked, noticing the golden frame I placed the portrait in.
I nodded.
“What do you think?” I asked him.
He thought about it for a moment, staring at the portrait intently before looking back at me. There was something in his expression that I couldn’t quite read and for a moment, my stomach knotted.
Did he not like it?
Was he upset that I framed it and hung it up?
It’s not like anyone would see this portrait besides us. Elliot doesn’t like it when others are inside of our bedroom, including the maids.
“Did you frame Gavin’s painting as well?” He asked, his tone indifferent.
I furrowed my brows at the question.
Why would he bring up Gavin right now?
“I painted that photo a long time ago,” I told him, glancing up at him. “It was hidden in my closet at my father’s house until recently. It was meant as a gift to Gavin, but I was too shy to give it to him.”
I noticed Elliot’s jaw tick and I raised my brows at the notion.
Did he only agree to be my model because he saw that painting and was jealous? Would Elliot be jealous over something like that?
“And where is the painting now?” He asked, narrowing his eyes at me.
“Still in my studio,” I admitted; I’m honestly not sure what to do with it.
“Hmm,” he hummed, turning away from me and walking towards the bed.
He was quiet as he took off his shirt and threw it in the laundry basket before removing his pants and doing the same.
I raised my brows while he got ready for bed, his silence speaking volumes.
“You aren’t jealous, are you?” I asked him, my tone a bit mocking.
I couldn’t help it; the big bad Alpha wolf was jealous over something so mediocre. I had to bite my lower lip to keep from chuckling as his body stilled.
“I’m not jealous,” he said sternly, without looking at me. “I don’t do jealous.”
“Is that so?” I asked him, folding my arms across my chest and staring at his back.
He finally turned to look at me, his face unamused.
“Just go to bed,” he muttered, clearly not wanting to discuss this any further.
This time, I did laugh.
A couple of days had passed since Elliot showed his jealous side and I still found it humorous each time I thought about it. He refused to say anything more on the topic and to save him the grief, I decided to get rid of the painting of Gavin.
I noticed there were a lot more people in the kitchen than usual and when I walked in to see what was going on, I saw Mariah speaking to a large group of workers. I assumed they were the kitchen staff at the packhouse.
They appeared to be going over a large menu for some event that was meant to take place soon.
Leo was also present for the meeting and when he noticed my curious and questioning looks, he joined me at the doorway to explain.
“The full moon is approaching, and we are going over the meal plan for the event,” he explained.
I raised my brows.
“What event?” I asked him.
“Elliot insists on a pack gathering for this month’s full moon. It’s a way to introduce you as their Luna. It’ll be held at the packhouse and everybody in the pack will be there,” he explained.
My cheeks burned as Leo explained the event.
A pack gathering? The night of the full moon?
This couldn’t be happening right now. I couldn’t attend a pack gathering during the full moon. I couldn’t attend any gatherings during the full moon.
That was the one night of the month that I transformed into the monster I am. Nobody can know about this secret I harvest deep inside. They wouldn’t want me as their Luna if they found out the truth. They would probably hunt me down and kill me… or banish me. Elliot would never look at me the same.
Panic started to consume me, and I bit my lower lip to keep from going into a full panic attack. Noticing my displeased face, Leo cocked his head to the side.
“I’m just not into large gatherings,” I told him, which wasn’t a lie, but not the full truth either. “Maybe we could do this another time? Or maybe I don’t have to attend…?”
“The gathering is for you, Luna,” Leo reminded me, his brows knitting together. “Elliot had been preparing for this all month.”
“Right,” I said, chewing on my bottom lip. “I just don’t think a big gathering is necessary.”
“This would be your first event as the pack’s Luna. You must be there.”
I nodded, forcing a smile on my lips.
Later that evening, I tried to have the same conversation with Elliot during dinner. When I brought up having the gathering on a different night, he looked at me like I had gone crazy.
“What’s wrong with the full moon? That’s when we are at our strongest. It’s most appropriate to have the gathering during that time. Besides, the preparations have already been made and the pack is alerted of the gathering.”
How could I tell him that I couldn’t go to an event on the full moon? How he looked at me right now left me no room for debates. I decided to drop the subject for the time being and hide away in my art studio for the next couple of days.
Elliot was so busy with the gathering preparations and his duties as the Alpha that he didn’t even notice that I’ve been absent and quiet lately.
However, Rebecca noticed.
She barged right into my art studio with her hands on her hips and her lips pressed in a thin line.
“You haven’t returned any of my calls,” she said, her brows furrowed together. “What’s going on with you?”
I explained to her a little about the gathering. Rebecca doesn’t know about my full moon transformation, and I wasn’t going to tell her about it. The last thing I needed was for my best friend to start looking at me like the monster I was. However, I did express my apprehension about the event and how I was trying to get out of it.
“Why would you want to get out of it?” She asked, sitting on one of the nearby chairs. “You should be happy that your husband wants to show you off to the pack.”
“I am,” I confessed. It was truly an honor that Elliot wanted to introduce me to the pack as their Luna. But if they found out the truth, I would be done for. “I just don’t like crowds.”
“Since when had crowds scared you?” Rebecca asked, raising her brows. “You’ve never been stage fright before.”
“I’ve never been in front of a crowd of people I hardly know,” I told her. “With the responsibility of being their Luna. I’ll probably have a target on my back. I’m sure Elliot has plenty of suitors that are after the Luna title.”
Rebecca nodded.
“Well, when you put it that way. I get why you are nervous,” she said, watching me carefully. “You could always pretend you are sick.”
The thought occurred to me, but I’m not sure how well I could pull it off.
I suppose it couldn’t hurt to try.
The following day, I remained in bed for most of the morning. Normally, I would be awake early so I could work on some paintings in my studio. But today, I was pretending to be incredibly sick so that Elliot would let me miss the gathering happening in a couple of days.
I placed a hot cloth over my face and when I heard the bathroom door opening, I quickly took the cloth off my face and shoved it under my pillow.
When Elliot saw me still in bed, he frowned.
“Why haven’t you gotten up yet?” He asked as he finished getting dressed for the day.
“I don’t feel so good,” I told him, making myself sound sick and pathetic.
His brows furrowed together.
“You were fine yesterday.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat.
“I was feeling off yesterday too. But it really got bad today. I think it’s getting worse, and I’ll probably be sick for at least a week,” I told him, moaning in pain.
“Is that so?” He asked, not sounding very convinced.
“Feel my head; it’s very warm,” I told him.
He stepped toward me and placed his hand on my forehead, a frown marring his lips. Then he cocked his head to the side.
“And what might this be?” He asked, reaching around me and grabbing the cloth that I stuck under my pillow.
I silently cursed myself for not making sure it was completely hidden. He pulled the cloth out and his eyes narrowed at it.
“A hot cloth?” He asked. “Is this the reason you feel warm? Do you take me as a fool?”
I bit my lower lip and sat up.
“No,” I murmured. “I’m really not feeling well. I put a warm cloth on my head because I have a headache.”
“Then I’ll get you some medicine. I’m sure once you get up and shower, you’ll feel better,” he told me.
He turned and left the room. A few minutes later, I heard a knock on the door. I sighed and slid out of bed to open it. One of the maids stood on the other side with a glass of water and a medicine bottle.
“The Alpha told me to give this to you, Luna,” she said, handing me the medicine and water.
I thanked her and closed the door, bummed that my plan didn’t work.
Later, I knocked on Elliot’s office door.
“Come in,” he said.
I opened the door and stepped inside. He glanced up at me.
“Did you need something? Or are you going to stand there all night?”
I flinched at his cruel words before mustering enough confidence to say, “I have a work commitment on the full moon, so I don’t think I’ll be able to attend the event.”
He narrowed his eyes at me.
“Do you forget that I’m the owner of the gallery?” He asked. “You have no other commitments other than the one to this pack. You will be at the ceremony, Silver. That’s final.”
My cheeks flushed and I lowered my gaze.
There was no way I could get out of this event. What was I going to do?
Noticing the sorrowful look on my face, Elliot sighed.
“Look, I get that you are nervous. But there’s nothing to be afraid of. The pack will be accepting of you and treat you with respect. It’s just a gathering, Silver.”
I nodded, keeping my eyes fixed on the ground.
Little did he know that it wasn’t the gathering I was afraid of.
