“I knew it, but now that there is proof...“ Maddox takes another sip of his drink, nodding thankfully when the waiter brings him a long drink. “He lost a lot during one of his gambling nights. There are numbers, but he crossed them out, and instead he put Marina’s name next to them.”
“Wait a moment, he sold her to pay his debts?! He knew that guy was a bad deal. He had to know, or he wouldn’t have mentioned his bad reputation.”
“Yes,” Maddox says quietly. “I bet he knew it all, more than we can see in the notebook. On the day she returned, there was a new entry mentioning her name and a pretty hefty sum, this time one Dad had received.”
My mouth drops open. So, that asshole of an alpha gambled, lost and took a bad deal, which in the process, killed one of his former pack members.
He sold out Marina. And when she returned, he accepted money to stay silent.
Maddox is gripping the glass in his hand so tightly I am afraid he will crack it. “Just for money,” he laughs bitterly. “Just for money! Fuck!”
I don’t know what to say. What can possibly comfort someone when they hear that their father sold someone whom he was supposed to protect? Someone who happened to die as a consequence of it. And all that just because of a gambling addiction.
There are no words.
“Hello, Maddox!“ A tall man approaches us, and for a moment I am worried that it might be one of the pack’s elite warriors, or someone close to his dad. Someone who will put us both on edge.
But Maddox raises his head, surprise in his eyes. “Daniel?”
“I see you are with a friend,” Daniel says. “The whole pack is talking about him.”
Maddox stays silent, and to my surprise, Daniel just sits down. It’s then that I remember that Gwen kept talking about a Daniel, her only support. Though that’s not true. It was him and a woman named Evelyn.
“Do you happen to be the pack doctor?” I ask.
Daniel looks at me, surprised. “Yes. I am Daniel. It’s an honor to meet you-”
“You don’t need to pull that shit,” Maddox tells him.
Daniel just stares at him before turning to me. “Alright. Explanation?”
“IamFelix,” I say. “My background is real. But my reason for visiting the pack is a different one.” I stop at that, not sure how much I am supposed to tell him.
Maddox rubs his face. “Sorry for letting it out on you, Daniel.”
“It’s okay.” Daniel gestures for the waiter to bring him the same drink as Maddox, before turning back to us. “What happened?”
I am still searching for the right words. I don’t know how much he knows, and how much he is supposed to know.
“Felix is here for someresearch. The topic of saidresearchis exactly the same as ours, from last year.”
Daniel’s eyes snap wide open before his expression softens tremendously. “So, he is involved?” He reaches out his hand, squeezing Maddox’s shoulder. “Do you want to tell me what exactly happened?”
“I am not sure it would be safe,” Maddox says.
“Me neither,” I admit.
“Do we know how Marina is doing right now?” Daniel asks.
This time, both Maddox and I are silent before we share a look. Maddox grabs his glass tighter, looking down into it. “Marina passed away, Daniel.”
Daniel’s expression turns somber. “Fuck!” he mutters before rubbing over his head. “Fuck it!”
“Yeah.”
“How about Faye and Gwen? Do we know anything about them?”
Again, Maddox and I are silent. This time, it’s me who has to decide how to answer. “They are well. For now, it’s better to keep knowledge to a minimum,” I say.
