Chapter 26: New Dead End

**Elliot’s Point of view**


I walk home dragging my feet. Leo is angry with me because I hurt Alice's feelings and I feel terrible. First thing in the morning I will go to her and apologize. This decision does not appease Leo and he cuts off communication between us.
I knock at Owen's room but he doesn't answer. I do it again but still nothing.
*"Owen, where are you?"*
*"In my room. Why?"*
*"Because I've been knocking on your door 20 times, and my fists are embedded in it!"*
He finally opens the door and I see the dark circles under his eyes. 
"You look like shit." 
He turns around and walks over to his desk. "If it's to tell me sweet words like that, you can go back."
I walk in and close the door behind me while he puts his headphones back on and continues playing on his computer. I wait patiently for him to finish his game because I remember only too well the last time I dared to interrupt him. I wince at the memory of his pencil cup blowing up my nose. 
When he's done, he finally turns to me.
"Have you started playing League of Legends again?"
He frowns. "I never stopped." 
"Are you playing with Sam?"
His face hardens and he turns around, ready to start a new game. But he's not going to get off that easily. I stand up and rip off his headphones.
"No, no, no. It's too easy to run away."
"Leave me alone!" He says, pushing me away.
"No, I'm not leaving you alone." I say as I fight him.
"Let me go!" He says as he tries to hit me, but I dodge.
"Never." I say softly.
He keeps hitting my chest but I don't let go and hold him against me. He screams at me and after a few minutes, he starts to cry. I don't say anything and just hold him while he calms down. 
"You know, you can cancel your rejection. It won't be final until the next full moon. It's not too late."
"I don't want to cancel it. Rejecting him is the best thing I've ever done."
"Then why are you crying?"
"I'm not crying." He says with a broken voice. 
"That's right. You're going to make me believe that you don't care? That you don't feel anything?"
He pushes me away and wipes his nose with his sleeve. "The truth is, I don't know how I feel. I should be relieved but I'm just angry. No, I'm furious actually."
"Angry at who?"
"At him, at the Moon Goddess, at you, at me." He says as he counts on his fingers.
"The whole universe if I understand correctly." I say with a laugh.
"I don't understand. I should feel free, right? But I can't sleep anymore and I can't eat either."
"Because you blame yourself. Deep down you want to be with Sam."
"But that's nonsense! I don't even know this guy!"
I sigh. "I don't understand. Why do you keep pushing him away like that? Your wolf Rex must be mad at you, right?" He looks at me, surprised. "What? You're forgetting that Alice didn't want me around much in the beginning and Cassiopeia was angry with her. So I guess Rex must be mad at you."
"She didn't want you at first? So does that mean she changed her mind?" He asks.
I sigh and run a hand through my hair. "I don't know. It was okay but we fought."
"What happened?"
I roll my eyes "Long story. I'll tell you and Simon all about it but I have a favor to ask you first."
"Sure. Anything you want."
I laugh. "Wait before you say that. Because it's illegal."
He chuckles. "That's not going to stop me."
"And I can't tell you why."
He looks both surprised and pained. "You won't tell me why?"
"No. You shouldn't know."
"Why?"
I frown. "Why what?"
"Why won't you tell me why?" He says with a mischievous smile.
"To protect you. I got the information illegally. You would be my accomplice and I can't do that to you."
He laughs loudly. "You're funny! You don't want me to get in trouble for revealing your illegal source but you need me to do something illegal?"
I laugh with him. "I know it's absurd but I assure you it's better this way."
He shrugs. "Okay. Go ahead and tell me."
"You know about computers, right?"
He raises an eyebrow. "Dude, I study that all day in college."
"Could you hack and retrieve a bank account?"
"Of course I can! Who do you think I am?" He says while typing on his computer.
He opens an app and starts typing codes that don't make sense.
"Did he made a payment or got some money out of a cash point?"
"A payment at the Shiny Shoe."
He stops typing and slowly raises his head. He opens and closes his mouth several times. "You know this is a luxury shoe store in town, right?"
"Yes, I know."
He laughs. "You're asking me to hack into a shoe store?"
I frown. "Uh, yeah? Is that a problem?"
He laughs to tears. "No, it's not. I thought you were going to ask me to hack into a bank or the NASA, but not some little store! This is going to be a lot easier than I thought."
He starts typing again then asks me what to look for. I tell him what model the rogue bought and he cuts me off before I can give him the date of purchase that Alice and I had estimated. It's a very low-selling model and when I see the product photo, I understand why. How something so ugly can be so expensive? And I didn't even see that the blonde rogue was wearing them...
After a few minutes, he finally gets a result. "So. The credit card is in the name of Rudy Foley. Do you know him?"
I deduce that's the name of the Alpha of rogues but I keep it to myself and shake my head. 
"Wait that’s weird. The money is in an offshore account." He says, glancing at me. "But it doesn't seem to surprise you." He sighs and starts typing on his computer again. "Wow, it's too complicated for me. There are layers and layers of encryption that will take forever. I'm sorry." He says to me with an apologetic look.
I sigh, disappointed. Another dead end.