Schadenfreude at its finest. I don’t even try to hide it. Both Lucian and Marcellus grin. “Can’t say I don’t feel like gloating, too,” Lucian admits.
“Come on,” Marcellus chuckles. “She is young and made a huge mistake, but we all know more than anyone else that people deserve a second chance. It seems she is suddenly working really hard for the pack. She even asked Nova to let her help more.”
“Nova is a do-gooder, too,” I mutter. “She probably said yes.”
“She did,” Marcellus grins. “So, here comes therealnews. I only began with Isla to distract both of you.”
“That better be good now,” I warn. “Because you are certainly raising the tension."
“Flo is expecting,” Marcellus says.
Lucian and I both stare at him. “What?” I exclaim. “Cassian is going to be a dad?”
“Yes, it wasn’t planned to happen so soon. She only recently became luna, and started a new class at college after all, but well, it did,” Marcellus says. “Cass and Nova are making plans so Flo can finish her education despite that. They are clearly overjoyed.”
“So, Isla offering her help is actually a good thing,” I conclude.
“It is,” Marcellus says. “Who knows, maybe she will surprise us. She can’t allow herself to fuck up another time.”
“That’s true,” I admit.
Marcellus looks at his watch. “When is your family coming?” he asks me.
“Well, Alex is dropping by any minute,” I say. “And Sheila and Maddie will join, of course.” I am beyond happy that I finally don’t need to hide my relationship with Maddie anymore. I canofficially treat her as my niece. My nephew and his mom moved to the pack, as well, and they have enriched my life even more by doing that. “Dominic and his mom will also come,” I say.
“I am surprised they decided to stay,” Lucian says. “I thought they would be wary about vampires.”
“They are,” I say. “But they appreciate the wolves. It was a wolf pack that hid them after all. I am truly lucky Dominic’s mom didn’t disown the whole family.”
I look up when I feel a breeze coming through the window, playing with the curtains. Lucian and Marcellus still chat, but I stand up to gaze out of the window, noticing Alex standing in the parking lot. Next to him, there is a young lycan man I know very well. That’s Marius. Alpha Elden’s second-oldest son and lune of a werewolf pack. He is the one who works closely with us, as he leads a shelter for victims of abuse and sexual assault.
“Marius is here,” I say absent-mindedly.
Marcellus blinks, joining me to gaze out of the window. “I didn’t know he was coming.”
“Weird how he is with Alex,” I observe, my interest clearly piqued. “Let’s make sure to greet him.”
“I will take that as my cue to return to training,” Lucian says. “I am training our new group of elite warriors today,” I say.
“I am counting on you,” Marcellus says. “Make sure my wolves learn something.”
Lucian smirks. “I will,” he promises, and I do feel a twinge of pity for the poor wolves who join his training for the first time. At least Benjamin is training with them, too, and he already knows Lucian’s methods.
Marcellus and I, meanwhile, go to greet our guests. “I apologize for coming unannounced,” Marius says.
“It’s my fault,” Alex says. “I sought out his help last week.”
“Now I am intrigued,” I admit.
“Let’s have this talk in my office,” Marcellus offers, leading us into the room and closing the door behind us.
“I am still tracking down some vampires who were fleeing from Aloysius,” Alex says, coming to the point immediately. “You know he was merciless in hunting down any vampire he thought had betrayed him.”
I nod. “I know.” Some of the vampires decided to join me instead of staying with Alex. The trauma is probably too deep for some of them to trust a completely new leader.
Alex looks at Marius. “Your turn.”
“Well,” Marius puts a picture in front of us. A young boy and an even younger girl are on it. “It’s an orphaned sibling pair,” Marius explains. “Aloysius killed their parents.”