Chapter 41 Maddox
forty-one
Maddox
*GWENDOLYN*
Charlie hurries out of the door and down the staircase. I chase after, trying to keep up with her as well as I can. “Charlie? Slow down a little.”
“It’s just...“ She halts so that I can catch up with her. When she looks at me, I swear something purple flashes in her eyes. “That scent. It’s… he is here!”
“Your mate, right?”
“It has to be!”
“Then let’s search for him.” I pause. “This floor is inhabited by members of the alpha family and their ranked members.”
“Yeah, no use staying here,” Charlie agrees. “A lot of them are mated. And those who aren’t definitely aren’t my mate either. I know all of them.”
“Good, then next floor,” I command. “If you smell him here, he has to be in the packhouse.”
Together, we hurry down the staircase to the next floor. The warriors live here, but unfortunately, Charlie’s mate isn’t among them. The next floor brings us no success either. Once on the second floor, however, Charlie halts abruptly. “Here,” she says.
I look around to check where we are. Since I am relatively new to the pack, I still lose orientation easily, especially in the packhouse. Once I‘ve checked our surroundings, I can’t help but furrow my brows. “The meeting rooms and offices are here.”
“Right,” Charlie says before looking at me. “And?”
“I am not sure.” I shrug. “Doesn’t necessarily mean anything. A lot of pack members come here to talk to the betas or the luna, or even the alpha.”
“True,” Charlie says. “And?” She asks once more.
“Today they have an important meeting,” I point out.
“Oh, I forgot! The one Felix went to. Then it might be a guest!”
A guest? It can’t be, can it? What are the chances…
? No, I am getting ahead of myself. It could literally be anyone who is here at the moment.
Maybe a warrior joined the meeting, or a few of them.
Maybe not all ranked members are in the said meeting and have their regular office hours.
It could even be that someone from another pack arrived to deliver something, or that they invited more guests to join them.
I didn’t know about Silas joining us until Charlie told me, so he might not be the only additional guest.
It doesn’t necessarily mean-
“There,” Charlie whispers, pulling me into a hidden corner of the corridor. Further away, I can see a tall young man with broad shoulders and wavy brown hair walking around, his eyes almost frantic as he looks around.
“Maddox,” I say quietly.
“Wait a moment. That name rings a bell,” Charlie mutters.
“He is the alpha’s son who helped me escape,” I say.
Charlie nods. “You told us about him… It means he is from your old pack, right? You barely like anyone from your old pack…”
“Yeah, I have mixed feelings about him due to my past, but I have mixed feelings about everyone in my old pack. Maddox himself isn’t a bad person.”
“He didn’t stand up for you, though.”
“Yeah, and my mentor – one of the very few in the pack who had my back – called him out on it. The thing is, he did come around and act. I wouldn’t have been able to run without his help.
Now that I know how shit his father is, I doubt he had many options.
” I pause, thinking back to the moment at the party many months ago, when he asked Brandon so many questions, all the while looking at me.
He didn’t intervene directly, but he made sure of me finding out that Brandon was a major asshole. “He watched out for me in his own way.”
Charlie stays quiet. “But his pack is full of bullies, isn’t it? And they are somehow involved with Marina’s fate.”
“Yes. It looks like it. However, obviously, Maddox is here to help. And I guess he is taking a huge risk in doing so.”
Charlie is unusually quiet, which makes me instantly worried.
Maddox and I might never become friends, as too much happened.
He was never directly involved in my bullying, but he never did anything to stop it either.
I get that he had his own problems; Daniel hinted at it plenty of times, but obviously, I don’t want to be his best friend.
However, I will be eternally thankful to him for making it possible for me to have fled the pack.
Without him, I would have never been able to meet Felix.
“Everyone deserves a chance,” I say quietly.
“I know,” Charlie agrees. “But his pack is shit. Obviously, there is room for improvement for him, too, but at least he is trying. His pack, however…” She grimaces.
There is no time to discuss this further because footsteps are coming closer. Charlie takes a deep breath and steps into the corridor again, right before Maddox walks past us. “Hello,” she says.
Something in her eyes flashes again, while Maddox’s eyes turn pitch black. “Mate,” he growls.
I almost expect him to walk towards Charlie and grab her, but to my surprise, he doesn’t. Instead, he pushes his beast back and smiles at her, reaching out his hand. “I am Maddox,” he says, his eyes pinned to Charlie’s face while his expression is softening. “My beautiful mate.”
Being in his presence obviously has an effect on Charlie; of course it does. And I need to give credit where credit is due, Maddox is behaving well, and doing it all right with her. She takes his hand, a look of surprise on her face once she realizes what she did.
Behind Maddox, I can see Silas and Aurelia approaching. “You just took off, Mads,” Aurelia says with a chuckle.
She names him so informally, even gave him a nickname? Guess he must have made a good impression on her.
Her gaze wanders down to Maddox’s and Charlie’s hands. “Oh,” she says, instantly catching on. “You are mates!” she adds. “Well, that’s a surprise!” Her tone doesn’t give it away, but she sounds a little worried to me.
“Yeah, how wonderful,” Silas mutters, his voice dripping in sarcasm. “That’s Charlie,” he tells Maddox. “My niece.”
Man, he sounds threatening when he says the word ‘niece‘. I wouldn’t want to be on his bad side, ever!
Maddox doesn’t even seem to notice his tone however, he just smiles at Charlie. “Charlie,” he repeats.
“Short for Charlotte,” Charlie says.
“I see, but I think Charlie fits you well.”
Charlie’s eyes light up. I don’t know what it is that makes her so happy, but he certainly said the right thing.
Meanwhile, I‘m wondering if I should steal myself away when finally Maddox’s eyes raise, and he catches me.
“Gwen!” he says, his eyes widening. “You are here! Goddess, I am so glad you are safe! Daniel and I didn’t dare to snoop around too much. We just hoped you made it to safety.”
I feel like there is a lot of information in what he just said. “Why?” I ask. “Did something happen for you not to be able to reach out?”
“Brandon went crazy,” he says.
When Charlie wants to pull herself free and step to the side, Maddox just pulls her closer to him, until she is standing right next to him, his fingers suddenly intertwined with hers. Yeah, girl, you are obviously not going anywhere.
“Maddox told us a lot,” Aurelia adds. “We need to be careful, though. It’s not safe for him to stay for too long.”
“What do you mean?” Charlie asks, her eyebrows furrowing deeply. “Why is he not safe?” She turns to look at Maddox. “Why are you not safe?”
In the distance, I can see Elden and Felix approaching as well, both halting for a moment when they spot us. No way! Felix links me.
Yes way, I say. I was shocked, too.
“Why is it not safe?” Charlie pushes.
“They are looking for Gwen,” Elden finally answers as he approaches. “And it seems like that stupid boy, Brandon, created quite the ruckus.”
“For real,” Maddox scrunches his nose. “My father already suspects me of being involved. I can’t alert him any further.” He pauses. “He is dangerous when he is angry.”
At that, Elden scowls, and Charlie just tightens her grip around his hand.
“I managed to lay some false trails, so there is that, but they won‘t suspect me again,” he says.
“But why?” I ask, dumbfounded. “Why am I so important? They never gave a fuck!”
“I don’t know,” Maddox says. “Frankly, I was surprised, too. But when they noticed you were gone, Dad threw a tantrum. He even had his warriors look for you.”
“Good thing I didn’t have a scent for them, since I wasn’t a pack member.”
Maddox stares at me. “What?” he exclaims.
“You… you didn’t know?”
“No! How could you not have been a pack member?” He brushes through his hair. “Goddess, what a mess! I am ashamed to admit it, but I don’t know how to solve it.”
“Of course you don’t,” Elden says. “How would you? You obviously need help with that. There is no shame in accepting it.”
Maddox is silent for a moment. “Maybe,” he says.
He has the same look as before I left the pack, that broody, thoughtful one.
Originally, I thought he was just not interested in what was going on, but now he looks more defeated than anything else.
I had my own shit to struggle with back then, so I never noticed, but now that I feel safe and happy, it’s pretty obvious.
Charlie must have noticed too, because she frowns again and tugs at his hand. It seems to startle Maddox awake from his thoughts, and he smiles at her. “Nothing that isn’t solvable,” he says.
“How about we grab some lunch?” Aurelia offers. “I think this would be the right timing. Come, Silas.” She grabs the vampire’s arm and tugs him along. “You can join Arden and me. I think Celine might join us, too.”
“Oh, young alphas,” he mutters. “You are all so pushy.”
“I don’t fuck with mates,” she says firmly. “They need to have some privacy now that they just met each other.”
Silas sighs. “I guess you are right.”
Meanwhile, Elden leads us in the other direction. “Liam will join us,” he says. “He wants to chat more with Maddox.”
With Felix next to me again, I feel all fuzzy and happy, especially when he puts his arm around my shoulder.
“Oh,” Maddox says. “So that’s how it is.”
“Yes,” Felix says. “She is mine!”
“Congrats, Gwen,” he says. He pauses. “I… I am very sorry about Marina. I just heard about it.”
“Thank you,” I say quietly, surprised that he even remembers her name.
On the way to the private dining room, Maddox catches me up on what‘s happened since I left. Fortunately, Daniel is safe, although they suspected him, too. Since he didn’t have the finances to help me, and his mate vouched for him, he is not in the spotlight anymore.
“I am relieved,” I say. “Though it still doesn’t make sense to me why they bother.”
“All of us are surprised,” Elden says.
“I should have protected you much more,” Maddox tells me. “I am sorry I acted so late.”
“Well, thanks to you, I was able to run and meet Felix. It would have been impossible without you.”
“Still…” Maddox’s voice trails off, and he has that signature look in his eyes again.
“Did they realize some of your money was missing?” Elden asks.
Maddox is silent for a long while, again. “It doesn’t matter,” he says.
Gwen, Elden links me. What is he hiding?
I don’t know, I admit. But I remember that Daniel used to say it was like he was walking on eggshells all the time.
I thought so. Let’s hope he is right, and he really is safe.
You think he isn’t?
Elden is quiet. I am not sure. My gut feeling says he’s been trying to remain in the shadows for a reason.