Chapter 53 Followed
fifty-three
Followed
*FELIX*
Ever since I met Gwen, I’ve learned and experienced something new every day. Today is no different, though I am still struggling a little with entirely grasping what happened. But all’s good that ends well. Celine is unharmed, and she and Marius spend almost the whole day with Faye.
They show her around, take her to the playground, and Marius shows her a small treehouse he has started to build.
When Faye, in her overexcitement, asks if he would give it to her, he simply answers with yes.
Celine even shifts to her beautiful, white wolf so that Faye can play around with a shifter counterpart.
It’s something I know she hasn’t experienced a lot.
We all have afternoon coffee together before getting ready for our trip back. Faye is nestled in Marius’ arms, not even moving an inch when they settle in the car.
Celine puts an additional bag in the trunk. “I called Alpha Elden,” she tells us. “I won’t be able to stay the night, but Marius will.”
At that, Faye raises her head, her eyes lighting up. “You are not leaving me alone?”
“Never,” Celine promises her.
“Oh, I had a fantastic idea,” Marius says. “I looked up a recipe! We can make cool cookies together! Have you ever baked cookies?”
“I helped Gwen,” Faye explains.
“Do you want to help me?”
She raises her arms. “Yes.”
Celine chuckles. “You might need to supervise him, Faye.”
“What’s supervise?”
“It means to make sure he doesn’t mess up.”
“Someone here thinks I am a bad cook,” Marius whispers into Faye’s ear.
Faye giggles. “Don’t worry! I will supermise you!”
Celine settles in the car as well, tapping Vincent’s shoulder. “Thank you for waiting, Vince.”
“Don’t mention it!” He grins, steering the car away from the parking lot. “By the way, I called Elden and told him what happened here earlier. He is fuming.”
Marius takes a small notebook out of his pocket and scribbles down a sketch before giving it to Faye. “Like that,” he whispers.
Faye giggles. “Can I keep it!”
“Of course.”
She turns to me. Gwen and I have taken the seats in the second row to give the others more room. Also, I enjoy cuddling with Gwen, which is just so much easier when no one else is next to us. “Gwen, look!”
Gwen and I look at the drawing, both of us grinning wildly when we see it. It’s Dad in chibi-style with fumes coming out of his ears. “Something tells me Dad would love it,” I grin.
Gwen chuckles. “Flora too.”
For the first half an hour of our drive, Faye demands all types of drawings from Marius, which he obliges happily with, sketching whatever she wants. After a while, however, Vincent steers the car past the left turn at the junction we were supposed to take.
“Wouldn’t that have been our way home?” I ask.
“Yes,” he mutters, staring into the rearview window.
“What’s wrong?” Edward asks.
“The car behind us. It has been following us for a while.”
Edward frowns, looking over his shoulder. Marius and Celine do the same, both of them much more tense all of a sudden.
“Gwen and I had our scents masked,” I point out.
“Was Faye’s scent masked, too?” Marius asks.
“I don’t know,” I admit.
He furrows his brows. “Alright,” he says. “Stop the car!”
“Are you sure?” Vincent asks. “I was about to suggest something similar. We might outnumber them, but, well…”
“It’s our best bet,” Marius says.
Vincent slows down the car until it comes to a halt. The car behind us stops as well. “They really aren’t subtle,” Celine says.
Marius unbuckles his belt. “You can all wait here,” he says.
“Are you kidding?” Edward mutters, unbuckling his belt as well. “Luna Flora will have my head if I let you go on your own. And I am sorry, my luna‘s orders outweigh yours.”
“I am coming, too,” I say. Before Marius can argue, I shake my head. “Gwen is my business.”
Marius sighs. “Fine.” He bends forward towards Celine. “Are you okay with me handling this?”
“Of course,” she smiles and takes Faye into her arms. “I feel like I did my part today already.”
Marius grins. “Right.”
The three of us climb out of the car, which needs a bit of shuffling around, but eventually we find ourselves right in front of the black SUV that’s been following us. The windows are darkened, and it’s a top-end make. I link Edward. It’s an expensive car.
Yes, I noticed. Whoever owns it has a shit ton of money. I‘ve noted the license plate.
Good idea.
Join Marius. I will walk around it to see if I can see anything weird about it. Maybe there is a badge or a sticker that will give a clue where they are from.
I nod, split from Edward and my brother. Marius walks forward, knocking at the window of the driver’s side. “Lower it, or I will punch a hole into it!” he snarls. “Fresh air will be good for you!”
For a while, nothing happens, then somebody lowers the window.
He is wearing sunglasses, sports a perfect hairstyle and looks overall more like a businessman.
Inside the car, I see three more men. Vincent was right, they are outnumbered by us.
All of them are shifters, and while I don’t recognize their faces, I recognize their scents.
It’s the same scent that was lingering around Gwen’s stalkers and the wolves who attacked Maddox and me.
“Can I help you?” the man asks politely.
“Yes,” Marius hisses. “You can tell me what you are doing here. What do you want from us?”
“We just passed by coincidentally.”
“And you coincidentally stopped at the same time we did?”
“We figured you might have an emergency and need help.”
“Alright.” Marius rests his arms against the open window, folding them.
“I‘ll tell you what you are going to do. You are going to shove your fake attitude and excuses up your ass, and tell me what the fuck you are doing here.” Behind his sunglasses, I can tell the guy is frowning. “If you don’t, I will rip your head off your shoulders.”
The guy’s lips tug, either in annoyance or in anxiety. I can’t tell.
“Just so we are clear,” Marius continues. “If you don’t comply, you are facing off against two royal lycans, two lycans of high rank and an alpha wolf. I would advise you to make a wise decision.”
The other guys exchange a look, whispering something. “But Thomas said-“ one of them mutters.
“Shut up,” another hisses.
Thomas.
Without alerting them, I nudge Marius’ leg with my foot. He furrows his brows, giving me a small nod. “So, what does this Thomas want from me?”
“He has no concern for you,” the driver says.
“Ah, I am relieved,” Marius says, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “He must be so proud of how skillfully you were following us. You were barely noticeable.”
I try to hold back a grin. He is right. They weren’t subtle at all. Actually, they also weren’t subtle when following Maddox and me, though they at least had the element of surprise on their side.
“So, who in my car is the one you have an issue with. Him?” He turns and points at me.
“No, he-“
“Or one of the women?”
The guy looks confused at this question, surprising me. If he wanted Gwen, he wouldn’t react like that, would he? He would deflect more and not look so lost.
Marius frowns before slamming his hands down against the car. “Tell me!” he growls.
“The child you have in your car,” the man blurts out. “We heard she was abducted!”
“Who said that?” Marius snarls, grabbing the guy by his collar and almost pulling him through the car window.
“Thomas-“
“Give me a full name, or I will rip your insufferable tongue out,” Marius growls. I have never seen him this angry. I have seen Liam furious and Dad, when their families or mates were endangered or disrespected, but never Marius.
“Thomas Jackson!” he blurts out.
Thomas Jackson. Thomas J… TJ?
Before Marius or I can say any more, the tires of the car screech. Marius releases the guy and pushes me back before the car can run us over. “Should we chase after them?” Edward yells.
“No, we need to get Faye to safety,” Marius' eyes darken. “And we have a name now.”
“It’s more than that,” I mutter. “We have more than just the initials. Marius is right. We need to get back asap and alert Liam and Dad.”
“Contact them, please,” Marius tells me, while stepping towards Edward and asking him if he found something.
I swiftly follow his command and dial Dad’s number.
Meanwhile, Celine has gotten out of the car.
There is a spark in her eyes when she looks at Marius.
“I might have just fallen for him all over again,” she says all of a sudden.
“I thought I couldn’t love him any more than I already do, but it seems my heart is able to give more. ”