“Celine just arrived to pick me up,” Marius says to me before he leaves the room as well. “We will take her to the packhouse and have her eat something and play a while with her.”
“Thank you so much, Marius. Just really… thank you, thank you!”
Marius smiles at me. “Don’t mention it.”
Once he has left, I finally walk towards Marina. Flora makes room for me, putting an arm around my shoulder while I sit on the edge of Marina’s bed. I am not sure if she can hear me, but in case she can, I want her to know. “I swear, I’ll bring justice for you,” I whisper while taking her hand. “And I will make sure Faye is taken care of, that she will be happy. It’s okay, I have it covered. Thank you for being my friend, Marina. You were the best. I will never forget you.” I pause, swallowing thickly. “You can rest now.”
thirty-nine
Grief
*GWENDOLYN*
Idon’t even know how late it is when we all eventually leave Marina’s hospital room. She has taken her last breath. I knew I had to let her go, but it still feels like I failed her so much.
Felix holds my hand. “We will make sure to find whoever did that to her.”
“Yes,” Elden agrees. “That’s why Marius met with us in the first place. The kid will visit us tomorrow.”
“The kid?” I ask, confused.
“Maddox. Your former alpha’s son.”
“Wait, really?!” I exclaim. “You managed to reach him so soon?”
“Actually, Liam did,” Elden explains. “He reached out to the contact you gave us – Maddox’s cousin. Through that, he was able to safely contact Maddox. The rest, apparently, was simple. Maddox is surprisingly eager to meet us.”
“Could it be a trap?” Felix asks.
“That’s what we are trying to figure out,” Elden admits. “We know that Gwen was followed, but we don’t know if Maddox is involved. We don’t even know if the guys were from his pack.”
“Unfortunately, I don’t know either,” I admit. “They didn’t seem to know me, but that alone is not proof for anything, considering I was pretty much living secluded from everyone else.”
“So, it’s possible they don’t know what you look like?” Aurelia asks.
“Yeah, definitely.”
“But you haven’t seen anyone spying on you recently?” Elden wants to know.
“No, but I didn’t leave pack grounds, and it’s highly unlikely that someone got past the borders.”
Elden and Aurelia exchange a look. “We have to be really careful,” Elden mutters. “I don’t know Maddox. If he wants to help, I will happily accept it, but if he wants to harm Gwen, I am taking no chances.”
“Where should we meet him?” Flora asks.
Elden gestures for Aurelia to answer. She just shrugs. “Here,” she says.
Felix looks at her, his eyes wide in surprise. “You want to invite him onto pack grounds? But he might see Gwen here.”
“Exactly. I want to see his reaction. The size of our pack and the fact that Gwen is mated to a member of the alpha family will be daunting for him. In case he wants to trick us, he will know that it’s a major risk for him and his pack. Also, we are on home turf here, and can react quicker. We will immediately knowwhen someone else steps onto pack grounds. If we meet outside the grounds, we might be followed.”
“What about Liam’s pack?” Felix asks.
Aurelia is quiet for a while. “Liam has taken a lot of risks for us and our allies during the last couple of years. I don’t think it’s necessary to involve his pack in this. If Gwenwasfollowed, they would know her whereabouts sooner or later, anyway.” She looks at Elden. “What do you think, Dad?”
“Risky,” he says. “But I would have decided the same. We need to be quick, and the sooner we can gauge Maddox’s intentions, the better.” He looks at me. “You don’t need to do anything, Gwen. Take a break. After today, you really need it.”
“Are you sure? If you need me-“
