His eyes light up in warmth when he sees me. “Don’t address me so formally,” he says. “You are my son’s mate and part of the family.”
“I will try,” I promise. When I hear footsteps behind me, I notice another man approaching us. He is tall and broad, has ice-blue eyes, and oozes a similar power to Elden. He looks more serious, though, and a bit more stoic. Another alpha?
“This is my oldest son,” Elden says. “Liam.”
“Felix’s oldest brother?” I exclaim.
A smile lights up his otherwise serious expression. “It sounds like he only said good things about me.”
“He admires you,” I say. “But don’t tell him I said that.”
“I won’t,” Liam chuckles, before reaching out his hand to shake mine. “I am happy to meet you, Gwen. Just for the record: Felix talked a lot about you, too, and only mentioned good stuff.”
“I asked Liam to come,” Elden explains. “He is fantastic in feeling a person’s bonds and in reaching their buried wolf spirits.”
“You can do that?” I ask curiously.
“Dad is better at it,” Liam says. “But yes, I can do that.”
“I just have more experience,” Elden says. “But it was you who successfully reached out to Marius when he needed it.”
“Do I have a wolf?” I hear myself say before I can stop myself. “I am sorry,” I blurt out. “This is not the right timing. We are here for Marina.”
“This is exactly the right timing,” Liam assures me.
“He is right. We are going to try to reach Marina, but since we are already on it, we can do it with you, also.”
A relieved sigh escapes me.
Elden lets me open the door to the apartment and step in first. The nurse is already expecting us. She has moved Marina to the living room, where she is sitting in a rocking chair. “Hello, Marina,” I say softly, approaching her to gently squeeze her hand.
As usual, Marina’s eyes remain empty; she doesn’t react at all. It almost seems like she is even farther away than usual. “Something‘s changed,” I mutter.
“Yes,” the nurse says quietly. “It was harder for her to get up today. She usually goes through a certain routine, but today I had to help her with it.”
“Is that unusual?” Elden asks me.
“Yes, otherwise, I don’t know how I would have managed looking after her,” I admit. “Or go on the run with her. She goes through the motions. I assume it’s some sort of daily routine she is accustomed to. She stands up at a certain time, goes to thebathroom, eats at a certain time, and then sits either in front of the TV or on a chair for the whole day, before she goes to sleep. I just had to get her used to her new surroundings.”
“Unbelievable,” Elden says quietly before turning to the nurse. “Thank you for your hard work, Cindy. Why don’t you take a break? We have it covered for now.”
She smiles, her cheeks heating up from his kind words. “Thank you, Alpha,” she says, before she grabs her jacket and heads out.
Liam, Elden and I move to the kitchen and sit down there to continue our talk. “What does it mean that she is having difficulties now?” I ask. “Could it be the change of location?”
“You said she didn’t have any troubles while on the run?” Liam asks.
“Everything was as usual, just had to acclimate to the new situation.”
“Then, I doubt it’s the location,” Liam says.
“I agree,” Elden turns his gaze back towards Marina, a worried look in his eyes.
“Can you tell us what happened, Gwen?” Liam asks. “As much as you know.”
“I don’t know anything,” I say bitterly. “That’s the worst part. Marina is older than I am. Around five or six years ago, when she just turned eighteen, she met her mate during a party. She immediately disappeared with him, only saying goodbye to me briefly. I tried reaching out to her throughout the years, but I heard nothing from her. Her phone didn’t work, and I didn’t know where she went, so I had no other way to reach her. Then, around a year ago… or maybe a bit more than a year, she was suddenly standing at the pack borders with a small bag and Faye next to her.”
“Was she already unresponsive by then?” Elden asks.
