LEILANI ***Under Editing***

⚫Chapter 6⚫

It had been nearly three weeks since we all went out to eat. The girls and I had spent quite a bit of time together. We also hung out with the boys too and when we had it was chaotic. I also never said a word to Elias whenever we were together. He was often in a bad mood, and I was sure it was because of me. He avoided me and I avoided him. But I couldn't deny the connection we had. It was impossible to ignore. I felt so drawn him. He always acted as if everything was ok though. As if he and I were not mates, but I knew he was suffering more than me. His wolf must be driving him crazy.

One time, we all went out to eat and we had bought nachos to share. Elias and I were conveniently sitting near each other. I remember laughing at something Neha had said as I reached for the nearest plate. As soon as I felt the sparks, I retracted my hand so quickly. I looked to see Elias moving his hand away too. We had both reached for them at the same time. I had felt his gaze from the corner of my eyes as if he had forgotten for a second what it felt like whenever we touched. I remember Nathan gave me a weird glance, which I chose to ignore.

Every time we had hung out, that flirtatious girl I had seen with Elias at the restaurant was always there too. Apparently they weren't dating, but they were close. It irritated me so much and I was sure he knew that. She was always whispering in his ear or had her arms tightly locked around his. What made matters worse was that he simply didn't care. He allowed her to kiss him on his cheek and go on his phone too. In fact, they were often giggling and every now again he would look at me as if he was hoping for a reaction. It was as if her job was to make me jealous, even though she had no idea about our situation. I was convinced he was encouraging her behaviour.

I was trying my best to understand what he was doing. He had unofficially rejected me, somehow became close with my friends, and had a girl that he was messing with too. On top of that, he fully knew that he was deliberately allowing his wolf and him to suffer and in the process was humiliating me as well. I couldn't figure out what his intentions were but he was doing a very good job at making me feel like I was the issue, when deep down inside I knew that wasn't true.

I was curious to know how his parents viewed him and his behaviour. His 'girl friend' was a werewolf too. I was uncertain if they were a part of the same pack or not, but wouldn't it be disgraceful for them to hang with each other? Wouldn't his father forbid such a thing? Perhaps Elias didn't allow anyone to tell him what he should or shouldn't do. Maybe his parents had no idea.

Jasper was also in the same boat. He also hadn't met his mate yet, but he wasn't hooking up with girls. In fact he was the most decent man I had ever met. His focus was on his family, friends, pack duties, and school. He had his priorities straight. Why couldn't Elias be like him?

-

The next time Jasper and I had class together, I couldn't help but stare discreetly at him. He must've spoken to Elias before. Perhaps they had a deep heated conversation about him messing around with Ella. I sat there imagining it all in my head.

"You okay?"

"Huh?" I asked blinking my eyes. Jasper curiously looked at me. "You've been staring into space, but our professor is talking about our midterm coming up in a few weeks."

"Oh," I said sitting up straight. "Oops." I heard him chuckle as I touched my laptop, before I continued to work on my notes.

After class, Jasper asked if I was okay for the second time. "You seem bothered by something. You know you can talk to me about anything, right?"

As we walked through the halls, I felt grateful that he cared. Deep down, I wanted to ask him about Elias. I wanted to know why his best friend didn't want me as a mate. The sole reason couldn't possibly be because I was human. There was something that I didn't know, but maybe Jasper did.