The Exiled Alpha

Chapter fourty-three

The tension between me and Elliot was so thick that you could cut it with a knife. He waits for me in the living room, his figure resting against the armrest of the armchair. His hazel eyes look up to my figure as I come down the stairs and I can smell regret coming from him. I don't spare my mate a second glance, so I head for the garage door to get into the car and meet Amelia.

"Are you going to drive?" Elliot's question is left unanswered, as he follows me into the cold space of the garage. I walk right past the dangling keys on the wall, which makes the male sigh through his nose. He grabs the SUV's keys and heads for the car that is parked all alone. At the far end of the garage sits the motorcycle that hasn't been used ever since mom died. I doubt it still works.

I wait to hear the doors unlock, to sit into the passenger seat. I buckle my seatbelt and turn my head away from my mate, looking out of the side window. The car shakes a little when Elliot sits inside, closing the door behind him. He turns the ignition on and the SUV roars to life. I watch the garage door slowly rise, my head resting against my open palm.

"Are you going to ignore me the whole day now?" Elliot mutters as he drives out of the garage. Like his previous question, I ignore him. It's easier to pretend that the car is driving itself than facing the reality of my mate sitting beside me and sneaking me side glances. I can hear him sigh again, but he doesn't try to convince me to talk to him anymore. Elliot's hands stay on the wheel, as we drive towards the school.

I press my lips in a thin line, turning my head more to the side, so my lips press into my open palm. Elliot's breaths are the only thing I can hear, the radio completely turned down. I could smell how anger suddenly swirls in his veins. My heightened hearing catches the sound of his hands clenching the stirring wheel just a little tighter. I can hear the brush of his palms against the wheel. I don't know if he's angry at me for ignoring him or at himself.

I breathe in through my nose and lift my head from my hand, watching as we pass the school. There are so many cars parked in the lot. I catch the black sedan in one of the back rows, while the pickup truck is completely in the front. My friends and family are at school now and I'm dealing with mate bond problems and the Midnight pack.

"I don't know how to be close to you." I finally speak up, making the male glance over at me. Elliot's lips are pressed in a thin line and his jaw looks as sharp as a knife. His nose ring catches the sunlight and it makes my eyes jump to look at it. He turns to the road again, his knuckles completely white from the tight grip on the wheel.

"I don't know how to be close to someone so distant." I repeat, making one of Elliot's hands shake against the wheel. He looks over to me again, a shocked expression replacing his stoic one.

We park in a nearby parking lot that belongs to a market. The school isn't so far from it and we can cut straight through the woods to the well from here.

"What?" Elliot whispers, his face turning to look at me. I stare in front of myself, stopping myself from looking into his mesmerizing hazel eyes and getting lost in them. I'm too afraid to go soft if I look at him.

"You're here but you're not here, Elliot." I start, watching as people walk from and to the market. "You're still stuck in the past. There's something in the past that you're hanging onto for dear life and you don't want to tell me about it. And that's why you're distant." I explain, finally turning to look at my mate. His lips are parted in a shocked expression, one of his hands still gripping the wheel, while the other rests against the door.

"I don't know what it is, I'm not a mind reader. I'm just observant enough to see that there is something that you're not telling me. Something that most likely happened in the past and is making you distance yourself from everyone." I see how his eyes are jumping from one side to the other, like he'd be looking for something on my face. His look doesn't want to connect with my own, he's avoiding every chance of eye contact, which just tells me I read the signs correctly.