Page 78 of Claimed By My Fiancé's Brother

I shook my head, unwilling to get caught up in whatever this was.

“I’m fine. Please excuse me.”

With a small incline of my head, I walked away from the couple and headed down the hallway.

It took a few seconds before I heard the soft pattering of steps, and then Micah’s voice reached me.

“Eleanor, wait!”

I paused, turning to face a slightly out-of-breath Micah.

She took my hand, a fragile smile on her face, and for a moment, it was almost like seeing my best friend again.Almost.

“Look, Eleanor, I know we can never be friends after everything that happened, but I…I want to make things up to you.” Her free hand dropped to cradle her belly, and her eyes were steady on mine.

“As your luna, if you’re ever in need of help, I’ll do anything within my capacity to assist you.”

I didn’t know what to say to that.

I wasn’t sure if I even believed her.

Micah seemed sincere right now, but she’d also seemed sincere during the years she’d pretended to be my best friend.

I nodded once, avoiding her gaze as I pulled my hand out of her grasp.

“Thank you.”

I didn’t return to the party.

Instead, I went home, took a shower that did nothing to quiet the turmoil in my mind, and lay on my bed until I heard Alexander return.

I wanted to confront him, but I stopped myself.

How could I confront Alexander about his relationship with Anastasia when we’d never had a real relationship?

I couldn’t.

I couldn’t sleep that night either, at least not until the wee hours of the morning, because my traitorous body was so used to falling asleep in Alexander’s bed with his scent enveloping me that my bed felt cold, foreign, and uncomfortable.

When I woke from my fitful sleep, Alexander was gone.

Lily said he had business outside the pack and would be back in two to three days.

Once more, he’d left without a goodbye.

Not that it bothered me.

Last night had been a weak moment that would not repeat itself. Alexander meant nothing to me, and it would remain that way.

“...left to sign the treaty,” West was saying to Seraphina, but I was only half-listening.

Instead of focusing on my post-training stretches, my mind was leagues away, dwelling on the last person I should have been thinking about.

Focus, Eleanor,I tried to tell myself, to no avail.

Despite all my efforts, the memory of Alexander’s callous gaze from the night before refused to leave me.

“I think Father would be proud of the decisions he’s made,” Seraphina agreed, a soft smile on her face.

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