Chapter 11 - Maddox
I wanted to stay and chat with Jillian a little more, but I was already late for the meeting with the guys.
I left my office a little late and found Jillian's car was parked just across the street.
I decided I would just do a quick look to see how she was doing.
I wanted to make sure she was at least doing okay, that no one was bothering her.
I hadn't expected to see her with some shopping bags, looking perky. She looked happy, like she was in her element, and it threw me. I had expected to find her confused and unsure of what to do with herself, but she seemed to be finding her footing.
I pushed the door open to our meeting room and found all the guys were already waiting. Frank had a coffee while he was working. Jones and Aaron were talking to each other while Jay and Henrik were looking at their phones. All eyes snapped up to me when I walked in.
Jay waved a hand. "Look who decided to grace us with his presence."
"Oh, shut up," I grumbled, taking my seat.
"You were the one who wanted to have the meeting here in your town. The least you could do is be on time." Aaron said with a smirk.
"I was deep in my paperwork, and I ran into Jillian on the way."
Aaron smirked. "Sure, ran into. We all know what that means." Aaron made a jerking motion with his hands. The guys all laughed.
"Jesus no," I said, shaking my head. "Not like that. Literally like ran into. She was leaving a store, and I was on the sidewalk."
Jay laughed. "Sure, it's not."
"It's not," I said with a sigh. "We're getting off topic."
"Well, the topic is the mating operation, so I think we're on it," Jones said, holding his neutral expression.
"Yeah, we all shared our experience. It's your turn." Frank said, a wicked grin plastered on his face.
"That's not happening, and if I remember correctly, you all," I pointed my finger at the guys. "Didn't give a shit for details. I am not sharing any more than you did."
"It's your honeymoon phase. We all know what's going on. You don't have to lie and deny it."
Aaron thrust his arms like he was banging a woman with a smirk on his face. "So, where did you stop and nail her? In an alleyway or in the car?"
I turned to Aaron. "Even if I had, I wouldn't be telling you."
Aaron pulled his hands up. "Okay, but you're not denying it."
"And correction, Maddox, you would share the details. If you've forgotten, you are the type of person to kiss and tell. You were the one who was spotted with a woman riding with him in the car."
"How about the time we had the fair going and we heard the rumors about the couple who were doing it on the Ferris wheel?"
"Or the time we had a party and someone found you getting a blow job in the bathroom."
I scowled. "That last one was when I was eighteen."
Henrik frowned. "The fair was two years ago."
I rolled my eyes. "You're only pointing out that I probably have more sex than you guys do."
"No, our point is we knew about it because you shared details. So, why not now?"
Because I actually had sex then.
I rubbed my forehead and sighed. "Can we move off of me and onto the meeting?"
"You know, for someone so unhappy about not being picked, we thought you'd be talking about it a lot. I thought you'd be rubbing it in our face that you were finally chosen."
I thought I would as well, but Jillian and I were on a rocky road. I wasn't finding it as easy as I thought it would be.
"It's new," I stated. "And Jillian and I have a lot to learn about each other still. I doubt any of you were magically perfect."
They all fell silent, which told me I was right. Each of the guys stated things were fine at first, but I had a feeling it was just like how mine was going. It was a shit show, and you had no idea what was going to happen next.
"Alright, let's move on to the mating operation," Jay said, leaning forward in his chair. "Four out of the six have been married now. Three of whom have children. I think Katie said she was going to have another name in a month or so."
"Can't she just get everyone's name done?" Aaron asked, raising an eyebrow. "Why the wait between?"
"Because it isn't the only part of her job," Henrik stated. "She's balancing several projects at work. Or have you forgotten about the darkness and the infertility issue?"
"Not to change the subject, but I did get some more information about the story behind the guy."
All eyes went to Frank. "Which is?"
He slid a photo across the table, and we all looked at it. I was stunned to see we were all there. We were all smiling at a camera, looking happy as ever. We weren't all the same age, but we were close.
"Hold on a second. Why don't I remember this?" Jay asked, grabbing the picture and squinting at it.
"I don't remember this." Henrik grabbed the phone, staring at it. He then looked at all of us. "Does anyone?"
We all shook our heads in unison.
Jay shook his head. "I remember meeting you, Frank. We were damn near twelve years old. This is…. I don't remember this. We look like we're about five in that photo."
Frank took the photo and laid it back down on the table. "The kid in the middle died. We were all swimming in the river, and the dam broke. He drowned."
"Shit," Aaron said, leaning back in his chair. "How the hell do we forget something like that? Wait, how did all of us forget about it?"
"Here comes the fun part. The Council covered it up. Had each of our parents sign NDA's and wiped our minds."
"What the fuck!" Henrick snapped. "You're joking."
Frank shook his head. "No. The dad was furious and lost his temper. Wouldn't let it go, told the Council he was going to make everyone pay. The Council did what they do best. They covered it up."
"This doesn't make sense. Why? It was clearly an accident." Jay asked. "We were kids. Why go to the extreme?"
Jones shrugged. "All of us Alpha came back, but the one kid who wasn't? Doesn't paint a pretty picture for us. I imagine a big scandal would break out."
"This was the first time we all met. Jones, you were younger than the kid, but you still managed to survive the water. I guess there were seven of us and only six packs to be monitored."
"Well, yeah, that doesn't paint us in a good light," Henrik said. "But still. We were fucking kids. People couldn't honestly believe we would do this."
"Tensions were high back then. Everyone wanted their kid to be Alpha. Anything could happen."
I rubbed a hand over my face. "So, this guy…. he's the dad then of this kid?"
Frank nodded. "Yeah, and he wants revenge."
That was the missing piece we were all trying to figure out. Who was this guy, and what did he want? He wanted us all dead.
"Well, that's not great."
"What exactly is his plan? To keep bringing this dark fog around until he eventually kills us all?"
Frank shook his head. "That I don't know.
We just know the father is angry and wants us all dead.
I imagine us all having children, and thriving is probably only pissing him off more.
He brought the infertility, but the Council countered that with us mating with humans.
I'm sure now, he's looking at other angles. "
I ran a hand over my face. "Why the hell didn't the Council just tell us this? Why keep this hidden?"
"Probably because they didn't want us to know about their dirty messes," Jones said, shrugging at us. "And they were likely the ones that had our memories wiped."
I felt like my mind was spinning with this information. "Do we know where he lives? What he does?"
Frank made a face. "We don't know anything about where he is. We know their old family home, but that's been abandoned for years. Nothing but dust collects there now. And as for the job…well…"
"Jesus Christ," Jay said. "Wow, that…that explains a lot."
"He's been planning this for years, then," Aaron said, shaking his head.
We all fell silent, and I tapped my fingers on the table. "What do we do?" I asked, looking at each of them.
Frank shrugged. "I don't know. You can't ever track the guy. It's like he doesn't exist except in people's heads or dreams."
"He has to be somewhere," Jay said. "We all should search our towns."
"And say what exactly?" I asked, "We know our people. And this guy could be anyone."
The room felt tense, and Jones added. "Well, we know it's a man. We can start there. Anyone who suddenly joined a town over 20 years ago. We can start looking through records and try to pinpoint the person."
"Are we even sure he's here?"
Jay nodded. "Magic can only go so far. Even someone who's mastered their technique has to be within a certain radius. So, he's living here."
I glanced outside the window and felt my body tense up as I spotted Jillian.
She was near her car. She had her trunk open before shutting it and turning.
I watched her for a moment, taking in the way her body moved with each step and how her hair swayed.
I felt a tug to be near her, and with the topic in mind, I suddenly worried.
"Maddox, do you agree?"
"Huh?" I looked back at the guys.
"We stated we would all do a search through the town to see if anyone came up as concerning."
I nodded, knowing it was a good idea. I didn't like the idea of having to think one of my people was causing all of this, but they were right. We never knew who was doing this, and we needed to figure it out.
The meeting ended a few minutes later, and I headed out looking for Jillian. Her car was still parked where I had seen it just a few moments ago, so I knew she was still around.
I scanned the streets until I found her walking into a store. I had already seen her with some bags, which begged the question. What was she still shopping for? She had a closet full at the house. Did she not like what I bought? Yet she was wearing one of the dresses.
Or was she planning on running for it again? But this time, she was planning better. She wouldn't get far since the bond wouldn't allow it, but maybe she didn't care about that.
I followed behind her and headed into the store. Jillian walked around, her eyes scanning the space. I followed closer when her head turned to me. "Are you watching me?"
I looked at her, trying to think of all the bags she'd had with her earlier. "Just checking to see if you're trying to run for it again."
She rolled her eyes. "The bond won't allow it."
I shrugged as she walked around a rack of clothes. "Never know. You might try."
She heavily sighed and grabbed at a shirt, looking at it. "Don't you have better things to do than watch me shop?"
"I do, but I'm making sure you’re not doing anything secretive."
She gave me a look and hung the shirt back up. "I'm just shopping, Maddox. Is it a crime to shop?"
"It is when you have tons of clothes already to wear. And from all the bags you had earlier, it looked like you already bought tons of other stuff."
She frowned. "I found some nice gifts to give the girls since I was out. I decided to splurge a little."
She walked away, going towards another rack of clothes. I followed her. "Are you a shopaholic? Is that what I'm hearing?"
"Oh, Jesus Christ," she sighed and rolled her eyes. "Fine, since you won't stop pressing me. I'm looking for pajamas."
I raised an eyebrow at her. "Pajamas?"
She gave me a neutral expression and nodded.
"Yes. Pajamas. I lived alone in my own place with no one else, so I don't often wear…
" She paused. "I don't wear pajamas. I normally sleep in the nude, but that's not exactly going to work now.
So, I'm out looking for pajamas. I've found some at other stores, as well as other things, but I want more selection. "
I felt my jaw just hang open slightly, and I stared at her, stunned. Did she just say she slept naked? Like with no other clothes? Just…bare?
"Now, excuse me." She moved past me, and I watched her walk away. She went straight for the door and shoved it open, slipping outside. I blinked and held back a laugh. There was something new I didn't know about her.