Chapter 57 The Old Pack
fifty-seven
The Old Pack
*GWENDOLYN*
Ifeel like it’s been years since I left my old pack, when in fact it is only months.
I don’t even feel a sense of belonging or nostalgia when the car I am in crosses the pack borders.
The only good memories I have from here are connected to Dad, or Daniel, or Evelyn.
They are all people I don’t need a place to connect with.
The place itself holds no value to me.
“Thank you for coming with me,” Charlie says into the silence. “I feel better with both of you here.”
“There is no way we would have let you do this on your own,” Felix says.
“I agree,” I add. “And your father is here too, don’t forget that.”
Charlie nods. “True.”
“When did they arrive?”
“He went with Uncle Liam and Maddox yesterday,” Charlie explains. “To detain Maddox’s dad. It must have been so difficult for Maddox. I feel like I should have been there with him, but, goddess…”
“I can’t say for sure,” Felix says. “But I don’t think he would have liked you to come with him, not because he wants to keep you at a distance, but because it means putting you in harm’s way. But I am sure he’ll be happy to have you around today.”
“Maybe you are right,” Charlie says. “Besides, all of them asked me to stay back and come with you today.”
“Do you know if everything went smoothly?” I ask.
“As smoothly as detaining an alpha can go,” Charlie says. “Maddox called me yesterday late at night. He sounded so drained, but also kind of relieved, if that makes sense.”
“It does,” I reassure her.
“He said, the warriors from the Council were a great help. They also detained some of the ranked members. Only the beta seems to have been clueless. Maddox said he was shocked at the revelations.”
“The pack must be completely in shock,” Felix mutters.
“They are,” Charlie explains. “But Maddox wasn’t able to tell just how much they genuinely were.”
I remember what Felix told me about his visit, and about my own experience with the pack.
I don’t think the pack members would have minded if their alpha gambled.
I doubt they would have cared for Marina or Faye.
However, I want to believe that the trafficking allegations, at least, would have upset them.
There is a lot of work ahead of Maddox if he wants to turn this pack into a better place. Bullies like Brandon were allowed to do what they pleased. It’s always difficult to rein such people back in.
Beta Edward, who has been driving and barely joined our talk, now turns to look at us. “We are here, everyone.”
We indeed are. He parks the car right in front of the packhouse, and I spot Liam and Dante.
Maddox and Beta Vincent are with them, and some warriors I don’t know.
They must be the guys from the Council – an older man is with them too.
I don’t spot my old alpha or gamma, but a bit further away, talking to some warriors, is Beta Mateo.
Charlie is right, the beta looks shaken. Daniel is with him, and my heart leaps for joy. Finally, a person I actually like!
“It’s a beautiful place,” Charlie says quietly when we get out of the car.
“But you don’t like it?” I ask.
She shrugs. “It’s not… very me. But it’s beautiful. I just wish the pack itself wouldn’t suck so much. I come from Red Claw Pack, where Uncle Liam is a great alpha, and Annie is amazing, too. And the pack is great and-“
“I know,” I say quietly. “I know too well.”
“I don’t know if I have it in me to become luna,” she adds.
“I think you would do well. If it helps, the last luna really set the bar low.”
Charlie chuckles before her face falls again. “I am only telling you two, so please don’t tell anyone else.”
“We won’t,” Felix reassures her.
“I can’t reject Maddox. I thought I could, but I can’t. I like him. I know you are not his biggest fan, Gwen, but…”
“That doesn’t matter,” I tell her. “I am not the biggest fan of anyone in this pack except for a very few people. But it’s a fact that without his help, I would have never been able to run. He is working on himself, and he is a great mate to you, that’s all I need to know.”
“His father’s behavior was abhorrent towards him,” Felix adds. “I saw for myself.”
“Yeah, I wish Maddox would be openly mad at his father,” Charlie says. “But whenever he talks about his parents, he appears to be so detached.”
“Must be his coping mechanism,” I say quietly. Man, what a shitty life he must have had. “He has always been like that.”
“When we are alone, he is much more talkative,” Charlie explains.
“He is actually cute. I never expected him to be like that. And he is interested in what I have to say. He doesn’t give me the feeling that I am weird or too much, and goddess-“ she groans.
“Fucking mate bond, and fucking feelings. If it were just one of them, I could maybe act rationally, but now I really want him.”
I smile at her words. Her gaze drifts to Maddox, and suddenly she has that gleam in her eyes. Yeah, there is no chance she can let him go.
“I won’t reject him,” she adds. “Although I know this place here won’t make me happy.”
“We won’t leave you alone,” I promise her. “You are not alone in this.”
“Gwen!” Daniel’s voice interrupts us as he leaves Beta Mateo’s side and comes running towards us. He pulls me into his arms. “I am so happy to see you! I can barely believe it!”
I smile brightly. “It’s really me!”
“But you are not coming back, are you?”
I grin. “This is a joke, isn’t it?”
Daniel winks at me. “Of course it is. I am happy to see you so well and cared for.” He looks at Felix’s arm around my back and raises his brows. “So, my gut feeling was right.”
“I apologize,” Felix says. “I couldn’t tell you when we met.”
“I understand,” he reassures him. “I am just relieved to see Gwen so happy, and obviously with a mate who cares for her.”
“I guarantee you, she is my favorite person on the planet,” Felix says in his usual, sunshine-Felix-way. Anyone else would sound cheesy, but he can pull it off. “Now that everything is settled, I hope you will visit us plenty of times.”
Daniel’s eyes light up. “I would love to.”
“You are always welcome,” I tell him, hugging him once more. I am so happy to be able to see him again. He has been the only constant in my life, the only one aside from sweet and lovely Evelyn, with her mate who remained at my side. “I need to say hello to Evelyn, too.”
“She will be over the moon to see you,” Daniel says. “Yesterday, when Maddox arrived with Alpha Liam and his beta to detain our alpha-“
“Oh, shit, right. You must be completely in shock,” I exclaim. “Sorry, I was so in my own bubble I didn’t think how you would feel.”
Daniel looks amused. “Do I look shocked? I am beyond the moon that this awful man is finally gone, and I am glad Maddox found the support he needed to do this.” He turns to Felix. “I assume you had your hand in this?”
Felix grins. “Liam is my oldest brother.”
Daniel raises his brows. “Right, a fellow Alcott. I should have made the connection.”
“We wouldn’t have been able to act so fast without Maddox,” Felix admits. “He was an insider and ready to risk his life for this.”
“I am glad he is finally free,” Daniel says quietly, before his eyes finally wander towards Charlie. “I have to apologize. I was so happy to see Gwen, I forgot to introduce myself. I am Daniel, the doctor of this pack.”
Charlie smiles at him. “I am Charlie, short for Charlotte,“ she pauses. “Beta Dante is my dad and...“ She gazes at Maddox again before taking a deep breath. “Maddox is my mate.”
She fucking said it! She said it out loud!
Maddox must have heard it, too, because he tilts his head to the side slightly. He is obviously pretending not to have noticed us yet.
“That’s why he was...“ Daniel lets out a deep breath. “When I talked to him yesterday to console him about his father, he was surprisingly at peace. Now it makes sense.”
“I doubt it’s because of me,” Charlie mutters.
“It’s definitely because of you,” Felix says.
I nod. “I believe so, too.”
Charlie shifts around, her cheeks flushed. “We have been standing around here way too long. We should say hello to the others.”
I bet she doesn’t care so much about the others, but about seeing Maddox.
Daniel smiles. “It’s just been getting interesting,” he explains. “The elder from the Council, a man named Bernard, arrived earlier today, and they have been discussing the fate of the pack.”
“Mateo is really innocent?” I ask while we finally continue our walk to the small group around Maddox. They have noticed we are approaching and turn towards us.
“It seems like it,” Daniel says. “It’s hard to say for sure, but he definitely appeared completely in shock when he heard what his alpha did. He also had no idea what had happened to Marina, unlike our former gamma.”
“They really will need to restructure the whole pack,” I mutter.
A group of younger pack members passes us, and I barely pay them notice until one of them suddenly halts. “Gwen?”
I would be able to tell that voice apart from any other, mainly because it makes my hair stand up. “Brandon,” I mutter. “What an unpleasant surprise.”
“Oh, that’s Brandon?” Felix asks, putting an arm around me and pulling me close.
Brandon stares at him, before his gaze wanders to his hand around my shoulder. “You are the royal lycan who visited the pack.”
Daniel gestures towards Liam. “He is Alpha Liam’s brother.”
“And a friend of Maddox,” Charlie adds.
I smile sweetly before pulling down my sweater slightly to reveal my neck. “He is someone who deemed me worthy enough to be a wolf’s mate.”
He has such a punchable face, Felix mutters. Let me punch him.
I would love to see him get hit, but I think hearing that Maddox prefers you over him, and that you marked me, is pretty much a knockout already.
Felix pulls me into his arms and kisses me, before he turns us around to meet Maddox, Liam and Dante. Charlie doesn’t waste any more time and is instantly next to Maddox. Fortunately, he doesn’t disappoint and takes her hand.
“I am so happy to see you,” he says to her.
“I wish I could have been here yesterday,” she says. “Actually, I still think I should have.”
“No way,” Dante and Maddox say in unison.
Liam just looks amused. “Well, you already found one thing in common,” he teases. “But really, Charlie, we had Maddox’s back, as promised.”
“Everything went surprisingly smoothly,” Maddox agrees. “You should have seen my father’s face when he realized I was his downfall. Right, Daniel?”
Daniel nods. “He was stunned.”
“He always thought of me as useless,” Maddox muses. “So, it was kinda funny.”
Judging by Liam’s and Daniel’s expressions, nothing about yesterday’s altercation was funny, but I guess it’s Maddox’s own coping mechanism.
Somehow, I can sympathize. I used to do the same – pretend that Brandon wasn’t as bad as he was, that my relationship with him wasn’t that bad, that the pack wasn’t that bad, that I wasn’t that unhappy – all to protect myself.
I just hope Maddox can find a way out of this loop, too.
There is no time to worry further as Liam introduces us to the elder, and vice versa.
Elder Bernard looks like an incredibly kind man.
“As I said before,” he now says. “I am sure we will find a good solution for the pack to support you, Maddox. Your father has been detained for now, and we will find out what he knew and who else was involved.”
For a moment, Maddox’s face looks crestfallen. “I can’t believe what he did,” he mutters. “Despite everything he did or said to me, I still thought…” his voice trails off, and he gets that detached look on his face again. Felix is right, it truly looks like he is someplace far away at times.
Charlie wraps her arm around him, which seems to do the trick, because Maddox becomes more alert all of a sudden. “Actually, Elder Bernard, there is something you need to know about my plans. I was just waiting for my mate to be here.”
“And what’s that, my boy?” Elder Bernard asks warmly.
“With you here, and with Alpha Liam as my witness,” Maddox says. “I want to officially reject the alpha position.”
At his words, all of us just stare at him. It’s as if the world stopped moving.
Elder Bernard widens his eyes. “You don’t know what you are saying, child! This pack is your birthright.”
“I know,” he says. “And I am very well aware of what I am saying. I have thought about it long and hard. I never felt at home here, I don’t have any good memories, and I don’t even like the pack much.
I have developed a habit of detaching, or rather dissociating.
For an alpha that’s not good. I have already talked to Alpha Liam about this-“
At that, Dante’s mouth drops open, and he stares at Liam in surprise. “You did?”
“Yes,” Liam says simply, an apologetic smile on his lips. “But it was a private conversation that had to remain a secret.”
Maddox nods. “I will move to Red Claw. Alpha Liam offered me a position in his team of advisors. One thing I know for certain is that I am a very good warrior and a good strategist, but I am not one for the front row. An advisor to a royal lycan alpha is exactly what I would love to do.”
Charlie stares at him, wide-eyed. “You… you didn’t even know I would accept you, yet you decided to move to my pack?”
“I made the decision for myself,” he says.
“But meeting you helped me find purpose. Even if you reject me, no one is going to take this new revelation away from me.” He smiles.
“And I heard you talk to Gwen earlier. Didn’t you do the same?
You thought we would stay here, yet you were ready to accept me. ”
“I did!” Charlie grins. “We both did the same, huh? Aren’t we generous and humble?”
Maddox smiles. “So, if you want me, I will happily move to Red Claw with you. If you don’t want me, I will still move to Red Claw, albeit less happily.”
Charlie throws her arms around him. “I am not letting you go anywhere.”
Liam turns to Dante. “And what does Dad think?”
“He has nothing to say,” he mutters. “Who could go against a young man who is ready to sacrifice something so big for my girl?” he pauses. “He is a good guy and makes her happy. Everything else comes secondary.”