Byron:
“I say we opened my pack for her,” I said, turning around and opening my arms to give Sean a smile.
He watched me in silence, almost as if waiting for me to say it was just a joke.
“What do you say?” I asked him again, my hand still open and my body moving slightly to show my excitement.
“Do you want our pack to get banned once again?”
That ruined my mood.
I lowered my hand, rolled my eyes at him, and turned around with my hands on my waist.
“Look, what I'm saying is that we have worked really hard and waited for the moment to get our files back so we can be welcomed once again. Now that we have the chance, we need to make sure our pack thrives instead of getting banned or letting a rogue stay with us,” Sean explained, reaching over to place a hand on my shoulder, but I dodged it and stepped away from him with a stunned look on my face.
“We were already doing fine. I mean, nobody's going to do business with us anyway.” I began to look around.
“So why keep a pack that cannot even help someone so innocent?” I whispered, trying to put emotion into my voice to convince Sean.
I mean, of course, I was the alpha. I could do whatever I pleased, but I needed some help from Sean. It was pretty much the two of us.
“Byron, you're just being emotional. And if you think that by bringing her here, you will have a chance with her, then forget about it. She’s married,” he snapped at me, his lips pressing into a tight line while his eyes warned me not to mess with a married woman.
“I know that,” I replied, pulling away and scratching the back of my neck before rubbing the back of my head.
“Then why are you so desperate to help her?” he asked from behind me while I continued toward the window.
“Do you really want to know why?” I whispered.
“Because my mother suffered the same fate. When she was running on the road asking for help, nobody listened to her. Nobody cared about her, Sean.”
I turned around and watched him look at me in silence.
I clenched my jaw and placed a hand on my chest.
“Even my father could not help her. None of these packs, Sean, none of these packs stepped up to help her. She was crying and holding a baby, just like Madeline was. These people, these council leaders, are all brutal. They hide behind power and gold, but they are nothing but dirty people. Authority is supposed to help vulnerable people, not leave them at the mercy of monsters,” I finished, watching for Sean's reaction.
“Wow, what a speech. Did you forget I grew up with you and I know none of that happened to your parents?”
As soon as he said that, I zoned out and slapped my forehead.
“Shit, I forgot you were there with me. But listen, wasn't it heartbreaking? This is exactly what happened to Madeline.”
“How are your wounds? Did you get treated?” I asked, gesturing for her to sit down, but she gave me a small shake of her head and a hand gesture to show she was fine.
“I'm fine. The nurses treated me well,” she whispered, mentioning the scratch marks she got during the struggle with Elgin and the stab wound on her thigh that she said was accidental.
But I did not believe her.
I had a bad feeling that Elgin had stabbed her, and she was only saying this so things would not escalate.
If that was the case, I was going to make sure Elgin suffered.
“Um, you should rest. I have prepared a guest room for you. In fact, I have prepared a room for your family. You can move in whenever you want. Or maybe we can go—” I started, turning to grab my keys.
“And bring your family here.”
As I finished, I saw hesitation on Madeline's face.
“Actually, I don't think that will be the right thing to do. Your pack will get banned again and...” she paused and looked at Sean, and I realized she had heard our conversation.
“And I don't want the pack members to suffer because of me. I cannot be selfish, Byron.”

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