I try to gauge Maddox’s reaction a bit without being too obvious. He seems to be even quieter than before. His father talks and talks, basically chewing my ear off as he goes on about how amazing his pack is, his beta is, his gamma is, his organization is and mostly about how amazinghehimself is. All I hear is me, my and myself. The only one he doesn’t mention is his son.
Yeah, the guy sucks.
“Maddox will be at your service as long as you are here,” he tells me, while shooting his son a glare. His tone is annoyed at best, obviously not meant as a friendly suggestion. It’s also the first time the two have looked at each other. Maddox’s expression doesn’t change; he just nods.
I have only been in the dude’s vicinity for ten minutes, and I am already tired of his narcissistic tendencies. I don’t want to imagine what it would be like to be this man’s son!
Time to lay it on thick again. I lock arms with Maddox and grin. “This is going to be fun. You have to show me everything, Maddox! I am so glad I got paired with you for that project. I am counting on you, clearly you bring the brains to the table.”
Maddox looks slightly surprised but then nods. “I will try to be as helpful as possible.”
“Well then,” Alpha Jacob stands up. “I will leave it to both of you. Feel at home here, Lo-“ he stops, “Felix. There are no off-limits for you in this pack. If you need something, just ask for it.”
There are no off-limits, huh? Good to know. In case I get busted for snooping around, I will at least have a small excuse.
I still have my arm linked with Maddox’s when we leave the office, only letting go once we are at a safe distance. Maddox leads me a few stories up to a beautiful guestroom. “It’s our best,” he says.
“It’s beautiful, thank you.”
Maddox closes the door behind us, helping me unpack.
“You are good at that,” Maddox says out of the blue.
I look up at him. “At what?”
“With how you handled Mateo and my father. They didn’t even question you. One smile and you won them over.”
“I guess Iamgood at that,” I muse. “I think this was my mask for many years. It’s weird… Now, I feel like constantly being goofy and fun is exhausting.”
“But your kindness isn’t a mask,” Maddox says, much to my surprise. “It’s why you can sell this whole thing so easily. Makes sense that Alpha Liam wanted you to come with me.”
The only time he seems to be even slightly talkative is when he talks about Liam.
“You really admire my brother, huh?” I ask with a grin.
Again, Maddox is silent for a long while. “Well, he has a certain reputation and is living up to it. It’s hard not to respect him for it.”
Once I have put everything in its place, I turn to Maddox. “And now?”
“I could show you the pack,” he says.
“Yes, then we probably should sit together somewhere where people can see us and pretend to work on our so-called project.”
In complete silence, Maddox leads me out of my room to the alpha suite, where he apparently lives.Stillin silence, he rummages through his room, retrieves some notebooks, books and pens, and then silently we make our way out of the packhouse.
I don’t think I have ever spent time with someone who was so quiet for such a long time. Dario is an introvert, but he is nothing like Maddox.
The pack is beautiful. There is nothing wrong with the place itself, but the apple is obviously rotten from within.
“I wonder how I should do it,” I muse.
Maddox looks up from his notebook. “Hm?”
“Snoop through your father’s place.”
“You really want to do that?”
“Of course, that’s what I am here for. Obviously, we won‘t get far by subtly looking through the pack.” I pause. “I am sure you did that already.”
