The Beast's Substitute Bride

Chapter twenty-three

There were no words between us as he tied the cloth around our wrists again. The tension between us was thick and I prayed that the women would call us out.

They didn't. Not for a long time and we had to sit together while acting like what happened few minutes ago didn't happen. A few times, I had a feeling he wanted to say something but he never did.

Finally, after what felt like ten hours, they opened the door. Brayan and I stepped out with the binds on our wrists and they cheered.

"You have completed the second ritual successfully" Gwyneth smiled at us.

Ramona came over and loosened the bond. She held it up and the others clapped. Elowen came over to me and hugged me.

"Congratulations" she smiled at me.

"Congratulations" she turned to Brayan but he walked off without saying a word to her.

"Brayan" she called after him but he ignored her. He was probably still upset. Either because I stopped things from going any further or because it happened at all. I wasn't sure.

Dryden and Nouria congratulated me and so did Dakarai.

"You claim you both have not gotten closer" Nouria whispered in my ear as we walked home.

"We've not"

"The smell from inside the room says differently"

I frowned as I processed her words. The smell? She could?

"I'm sure everyone did. It's why everyone is so excited. I think that's the point of this ritual"

So they wanted us to be intimate?

"Did you go through this ritual?"

"Yes. The second and final ritual is the only one necessary since my mate is not the alpha"

She took my hands and rubbed it.

"It's okay. It's just tradition and it'll be over soon" yes. It'll be over soon but for now, I had to avoid that male.

"Want to go out for coffee?"

"I hate to decline but I have to lay down for a bit"

"It's okay. I totally understand. These things can be a bit overwhelming" she gave me a warm smile.

I followed Elowen back to my side and retired to my room as soon as I got back. I buried myself under the cover and tried to get some rest but it seemed like and impossible task. My mind kept drifting to what happened earlier today. The way he touched me, kissed me. The things he did with his mouth, I was going to have a hard time staying away from him.

I moved to find sleep until it was time for dinner. He wasn't at the table and he didn't come back to the roomy night. The next morning, I noticed his side of the bed was warm. He must have come back after I had slept.

I still didn't run into him throughout that day and he also didn't show up for dinner again. The next morning when I woke up and the bed was warm again, I concluded he was avoiding me. I frowned at the thought. Why was he avoiding me?

That shouldn't bother you. You planned to avoid him right? Well I did but I wasn't expecting him to avoid me. I shrugged. It shouldn't bother me. It was a good thing anyways. I didn't have to go through the stress of avoiding him since he was already avoiding me.

My phone rang and I stared at the unregistered number. Who could it be? It was a new phone and mama was the only one I called with this number.

I watched the phone ring until it ended. It started ringing again immediately and I picked it.