“Say, Maddox, you never talk about your mom.“ I feel bad talking about his family, but I need to be prepared now that we are almost at our destination. “She is the pack’s luna, isn’t she?”
“She is still alive, if that’s what you are asking,” Maddox confirms. He doesn’t say any more. Goddess, this is like pulling teeth!
“Is she very active in the pack? Do I need to be prepared?”
“She is somewhat present,” he says. “But not really a lot. She also isn’t really family-oriented, so we won’t see her much.”
“Alright.” Obviously, there is no use in asking any more. “For your dad, I will act like the naïve, shallow guy everyone thinks I am.”
Maddox shows me something that I could interpret as a smile, with a lot of goodwill. “Is that your reputation?”
“Sunny boy, you know?”
“Hm, it will work well on my father. The less he suspects anything weird from you, the better.”
I wait for him to maybe tell me more, but he falls silent again. Well, fortunately, he gave Liam a proper rundown of his dad’spersonality, and Liam was able to brief me a little. I am not supposed to be too prepared, anyway. Liam told me the more natural I act, the better.
I guess Maddox’s private relationship with his parents isn’t my concern, so I shouldn’t bother about it.
But fuck, I am bothered by it! Why is he that way? What’s happening in this pack? First, Gwen tells me how they shunned her, then we realize she wasn’t even a pack member, and now the alpha’s son himself acts completely defeated.
I wish it didn’t bother me. Maddox wasn’t a good friend to Gwen; he wasn’t a friend at all, and he did the bare minimum once he realized she was reaching her breaking point, but still… I can’t help but care.
“Here we are.” Maddox parks the car behind the packhouse, and we both get out, stretching our limbs.
“It’s a bit cooler here,” I say. “The air feels fresh. It’s nice.”
Maddox tilts his head. “Yeah,” he finally says.
Before I can embarrass myself further by pushing for a conversation, footsteps come closer. “Young Alpha!”
“Beta Mateo,” Maddox greets him. I thought he might put on a smile for the ranked members, but he doesn’t. He is equally as quiet and distant as he is with me. For once, I can’t help but appreciate that he doesn’t put on a mask. “You didn’t need to welcome us officially.”
“Your father insisted,” the beta says.
Maddox gestures towards me. “This is Felix Alcott. We need to work on a project together.”
Now it’s my time to shine, quite literally. That’s what I am good at! I put on my best smile and excitedly shake the beta’s hand. “Thank you for having me here. But Maddox is right, I am just a normal guy, like any other.”
My fake humble brag works. It seems like the beta was exactly hoping for it and can act the way he finds appropriate, byreassuring me how happy they are to host me. That it’s an honor. And blah. He leads us towards the packhouse while doing so, and I make sure to hold a light conversation with him.
Around us, I see curious pack members. To them, it must look like their future alpha just popped up with a spoiled little prince. But even that fits our agenda. Goddess, it makes me realize I am almost too good at playing my part. I guess I did mask my insecurities a lot when growing up.
Beta Mateo stops once we are in front of the alpha’s office. He gives it a short knock, opening it when the alpha’s voice reaches us. “Come in.”
With that, he opens the door and lets us in. Alpha Jacob stands up once we enter. He is smiling, but looks cold as fuck. Yeah, that’s not a real smile, and certainly not a real friendly person. But whatever, I am not here to become his friend; I am here to bring justice to my mate, Marina and Faye.
Dario once told me my signature expression is friendly and warm, and I am relying on it to be that now. As with the beta, I happily accept the alpha’s hand, shaking it with a bright, slightly dumb smile.
“We are happy to host you here, Lord Felix,” he says.
Lord!Goddess, barely anyone calls me by that title. They do it with Dad and Liam a lot, and sometimes with Marius, but forget about the rest of us – and we are all fucking thankful for it.
However, someone must have laid it on thick for him to call me by that title. Maybe it was Liam or Dad. Maybe both.
I beam at the man now. “Please, just call me Felix. I am very thankful for your kind welcome. You have an amazing pack.”
That triggers the guy into starting a whole-ass monologue about his pack and his reign. Alpha Jacob has coffee and sandwiches brought while he sits down with us, bombarding me with all kinds of details about his pack.
