Marriage Contract with my Cursed Alien Mate

Chapter 122: Chapter 122

Four days.

That’s how long it had been since Tempest last heard Dron’s voice.

It was long enough for her to know that she had to be going insane.

Every last sound she heard, she imagined it was Dron coming home. Coming to tell her that it was all over. Of course that was never the case. Every time she got her hopes up, they were just dashed and plummeted to the ground.

She’d already lost count of how many times she’d fallen to sleep with tears on her cheeks. She missed him desperately, but she refused to let anyone else see that she was breaking down.

"We could go into town and do a little shopping. That would be good, don’t you think?" Mexyn smiled and shifted from foot to foot in front of Tempest.

Mexyn had been taking her job of keeping Tempest company seriously. She hadn’t been away from Tempest for more than a few hours since Dron had left. Part of Tempest was grateful for the company, but at the same time she wished the woman would just leave her alone. She wanted to wallow in her grief.

Mexyn was not giving her the opportunity to do that. Every day she had another place that they should go visit. Museums and nature walks.

Today it was a shopping trip.

"Sure, that’ll be fine." Tempest smiled as best as she could. She was trying to move on with her day. Trying to take things one day at a time.

Mexyn gave Tempest a tight smile and moved to the side so she could get up. Tempest walked in the direction of the door. Before Tempest could even make it there the lights in her home flickered.

She groaned and tossed her head back; she already had enough to deal with trying to be socially acceptable with Mexyn.

She huffed and made her way the last few inches back to the front door. She pulled the door open to see Gerax standing there. Tempest tilted her head to the side and narrowed her eyes on Gerax.

"Let me guess, you have some super important reason for just showing up here.

Over the past few days Gerax had come to visit with her several times, always under a guise that he had something very important to show her or check.

"Uh, yes, of course," Gerax started.

"Save it. We’re going shopping. Are you going to come with us?" Tempest waved her hand in the air to dismiss what he was about to say. She didn’t want to play this game with either of them anymore. She knew that they would be here to check on her, but she didn’t think it would be this involved.

She found herself losing more and more patience. It wasn’t like her in the least. She wanted to talk to Gerax about it, but she was sure that the minute she mentioned something was off with her, Gerax would want to run a million tests. Tempest wasn’t up for doing any of that.

"Sure, that sounds like a good idea. "Gerax shrugged his shoulders and stepped to the side to let Tempest walk in front of them. Mexyn followed behind.

The three of them stood in front of the large house that she and Dron once shared. A house that felt unexplainably cold recently.

None of them spoke a word as they waited for the transport. Tempest could feel the weight of what all of them wanted to say dragging on her like a cape made of lead.

Silently, she got into the transport, sitting opposite Gerax and Mexyn, who were doing all they could to make it seem like they weren’t staring at her. Waiting for the moment she would crack. Tempest didn’t want to admit just how close she was to that.

The transport was quick, thankfully. Tempest couldn’t wait to get out of there. Tempest wondered what Dron was doing at that moment. Wondered if he was somewhere safe or if he was already deep within a battle. Her heart rate started to increase, and there was a subtle beep that came from Gerax’s wrist device. He looked down briefly before he looked back up at Tempest.

"Are you unwell? He asked.

"I’m fine." Tempest snapped at him.

She did her best to calm herself. There was one point where she thought the fact that Gerax could check on her health at any given time was a good thing. Now was not one of those times.

Slowly the transport lowered to the ground, and Tempest all but ran out of the small capsule. A small sigh escaped her mouth when she looked out at the crowd of people. Everyone was walking around. Shopping, living their lives as if nothing were going on. No one else was concerned with what was going on at the poor class. No one was concerned that Dron was out fighting the good fight.

Everyone’s life was going on.

Tempest was the only one who felt as if the world had somehow stopped spinning.

She took in a deep breath and followed behind MExyn, who was unusually peppy. She was probably trying to force Tempest into a better mood, but there was nothing that she could do to get Tempest out of this funk. The only thing that would make her happy again was Dron.

Unfortunately, Mexyn seemed determined to test every other possibility before accepting that truth.

"Oh, look at this." Mexyn rushed over to a display covered in small pieces of shimmering fabric. She picked up one that changed colors as she turned it from side to side. "This would look beautiful on you. It matches your eyes when you’re angry."

Tempest narrowed her eyes on the fabric. "My eyes change color when I’m angry?"

"No, but there’s something about them that becomes more intense." Mexyn shrugged her shoulders and held the material closer to Tempest’s face. "See? Perfect."

Tempest wanted to tell her that she didn’t need another piece of clothing. She already had more than enough back at the house. Dron had made sure of that. He’d filled the storage space with everything he thought she might need, even when she told him that he didn’t have to. The thought of walking back into the room and seeing all the garments he’d chosen for her made her chest tighten. She could practically hear his voice explaining why each color looked good against her skin. She didn’t want anything else. Didn’t want to replace anything he’d given her with something Mexyn thought would make her smile for a few minutes.

"It’s nice." Tempest forced the words through her teeth.

Mexyn’s smile faltered slightly. She placed the fabric back onto the table and immediately moved on to another display. Tempest knew what she was doing. Mexyn could feel her pulling away and was trying even harder to bring her back. Under different circumstances Tempest would have been grateful. She loved Mexyn. The woman had done more for her than Tempest ever expected anyone on this planet to do. That didn’t change the fact that every question, every smile, and every attempt to distract her felt like another hand pressing against a wound that was already struggling to close.

Gerax followed behind them with his communicator held in front of his face. He was pretending to read something, but Tempest noticed how often his eyes lifted to check on her. He wasn’t even good at hiding it. At least Mexyn was being honest about what she was doing. Gerax kept finding reasons to examine her without admitting that he was concerned.

Tempest stopped suddenly, causing both of them to nearly walk into her.

"Can you both please stop staring at me?"

Mexyn blinked. "I wasn’t staring."

"You were."

"I was looking in your direction."

"For the last ten minutes?"

"You were in front of me."

Tempest pressed her lips together and started walking again before she said something cruel. Mexyn didn’t deserve that. Neither of them did, but knowing that didn’t make the irritation burning underneath her skin disappear. She felt as if she had been trapped inside her own body for four days. Every emotion had nowhere to go. Fear, anger, loneliness, and the aching need to hear Dron’s voice were all fighting for space inside of her. At some point one of them was going to win, and she had a feeling it would happen in the most embarrassing way possible.

They moved farther into the market, stopping in front of a store selling decorative household pieces. Mexyn picked up a small glass sculpture shaped like one of the flying creatures Tempest had seen in the forest.

"What about this? You could put it near the window in your room."

Tempest stared at the sculpture.

Her room.

Mexyn didn’t mean anything by it, but the words still irritated her. It wasn’t just her room. It was the room she shared with Dron. Their room. Their home. Everything there belonged to both of them. Just because he was gone didn’t mean she was suddenly alone in the life they had been building.

"I don’t want it."

Mexyn slowly placed the sculpture down.

"Maybe we should get something to eat," Gerax suggested.

"I’m not hungry."

"You haven’t eaten much today."

Tempest turned toward him. "How would you know that?"

Gerax’s eyes flicked down to his wrist device.

Of course.

"You’re still monitoring me?"

"I’m making sure your levels remain healthy."

"I didn’t ask you to do that."

"Dron did."

The words hit harder than Gerax probably intended.

Tempest looked away quickly, refusing to let either of them see the tears gathering in her eyes. Dron had made plans for everything before he left. Mexyn would keep her company. Gerax would watch her health. Maznik would visit. Even Rynax, apparently, had been told to stay nearby, though Tempest didn’t know that yet. Dron had created an entire wall of people around her because he was worried she wouldn’t survive without him.

Maybe he was right.

The thought only made her angrier.

"I don’t need to be watched every second of the day."

"We aren’t watching you every second." Mexyn replied carefully.

"It feels like it."

"We’re worried about you."

"I know."

"Then why are you acting as if we’re doing something wrong?"

Tempest spun around. "Because I’m tired, Mexyn. I’m tired of everyone looking at me like I’m going to fall apart. I’m tired of Gerax’s device making a noise every time my heart beats too fast. I’m tired of pretending that shopping or looking at some stupid piece of glass is going to make me forget that my husband is somewhere I can’t reach him."

Mexyn’s mouth opened, but she didn’t respond.

The guilt arrived immediately.

Tempest knew she had gone too far. She could see the hurt in Mexyn’s expression, though the omega tried to hide it by straightening her shoulders.

"I’m sorry," Tempest muttered.

"No, you’re right." Mexyn looked away. "Maybe I have been trying too hard."

"That’s not what I meant."

"It is."

Tempest rubbed her hands over her face. This was exactly why she wanted to be alone. She didn’t know how to exist around people without making them feel responsible for her grief. Every kindness felt suffocating because it reminded her that Dron wasn’t there to give it to her. That wasn’t fair to Mexyn or Gerax, but Tempest couldn’t force herself to feel differently.

Gerax cleared his throat and gestured toward another stand. "Perhaps we should simply purchase the supplies we came for and return home."

Mexyn nodded once. "Fine."

The three of them continued walking, though the mood between them had changed. Mexyn no longer pointed out clothing or decorations. Gerax stopped pretending not to monitor Tempest and focused his attention on the merchants instead. The silence should have been what Tempest wanted, but somehow it made everything worse.

They stopped at a food stand selling grains and preserved vegetables. Gerax began questioning the merchant about the price of a large container while Mexyn inspected the quality of the food. Tempest stood a few feet away, barely listening until the conversation between them grew louder.

"That is nearly twice what it cost a cycle ago," Gerax complained.

"The cost of transportation has increased," the merchant replied.

"That does not justify this amount."

"It does when the outer routes are no longer safe."

Mexyn picked up the container and examined the seal. "The amount inside has decreased too."

The merchant frowned. "Inflation."

"That word doesn’t explain everything," Mexyn snapped.

Gerax stepped closer to the stand. "Technically inflation would explain the increased pricing, though it would not necessarily justify decreasing the amount of product."

Mexyn turned toward him. "You’re taking his side?"

"I’m correcting your understanding of the term."

"I know what inflation means."

"Clearly not."

The argument continued, quickly shifting away from the food and into whether the royal class manipulated pricing in the outer districts. Tempest watched them for several seconds before glancing toward the path behind her.

Neither of them was looking at her.

She knew they would be upset if she left.

She knew Gerax would probably panic the second his device showed that she had moved too far away. Mexyn would lecture her for slipping off alone after everything that happened.

Tempest didn’t care.

She couldn’t stand there for another minute listening to them argue while people brushed past her and the noise of the market pressed in from every direction. She needed somewhere quiet. Somewhere she could stop forcing herself to appear stronger than she felt.

Tempest slowly backed away from the stand.

When neither Gerax nor Mexyn noticed, she turned and slipped between two stores.

The narrow passage was darker than the main street. Large crates were stacked against the walls, and the sound of the crowd faded with every step she took. Tempest continued until she reached the back of the buildings, where there was nothing but an empty stretch of dirt and a high stone wall separating the market from the neighboring district.

No people.

No questions.

No one watching her.

Tempest walked behind one of the stores and lowered herself to the ground. The wall was rough against her back, but she didn’t care. She pulled her knees to her chest and wrapped her arms around them as the tears she had been fighting finally escaped.

She didn’t cry loudly.

She didn’t want anyone to hear.

The tears simply rolled down her face while her entire body shook.

Four days.

How was she supposed to survive longer than that?

Dron could be gone for weeks. Months. He might never come back at all. Tempest hated herself for thinking it, but the possibility had been sitting in the back of her mind since the moment his transport disappeared into the sky.

She pressed her face against her knees.

"I miss you," she whispered.

The words felt useless in the empty space.

Dron couldn’t hear her.

He was too far away.

Tempest closed her eyes and allowed herself to imagine him sitting beside her. He would tell her that the ground was too dirty and insist she move. Then he would lift her whether she agreed or not and carry her home. She could almost feel his arms around her. Almost smell him.

A sound came from somewhere behind her.

Tempest’s head snapped up.

She wiped the tears from her face and searched the empty space. For a moment she saw nothing. Then a tall figure stepped from behind one of the stacked crates.

Tempest scrambled to her feet.

She hadn’t been expecting anyone besides Mexyn or Gerax to come looking for her. Imagine her surprise when the person standing in front of her was none other than the flashy alpha she rejected at the choosing ceremony.

Rynax smirked and looked down at her.

"We’ll look at what I found."

Tempest’s heart slammed in her chest.

This was bad; this was very bad.