Chapter 28 - Her Name's... Briar

Love.

A mysterious force as is.

In Alaric, everyone was believed to have a soulmate.

If you didn't have one, things could go either one of two ways.

One, you meet the love of your life, and you fall in love.

The other, you remain lonely and either make peace with it, or you spend the rest of your life with no one by your side.

Briar had dreamt of meeting her soulmate, ever since she was a little girl and her mother had told her tales of what love was like, and what it felt like.

Obviously, she wasn't too keen on looking for anyone as of now, and she had Madeline, although... after so long, she'd begun to give up on the possibility that she was meant for… love.

Briar laughed softly, remembering the time Madeline had brought up dating apps. Madeline had desperately tried getting her on there, and to start meeting people when she discovered Briar felt ready for a relationship.

At that time, she didn't know Briar had decades of time to prepare herself and to find a soulmate, but nevertheless, her efforts were in vain. No one was to Briar's liking.

'They don't deserve you anyway,' Briar remembered Madeline saying after Briar had gone on numerous, unsuccessful dates.

'Some people aren't cut out for... this kind of lifestyle,' Madeline said in the nicest way possible, trying not to offend her friend when Briar never felt offended in the first place.

Briar exhaled lightly, sucking in her cheeks.

She was glad to have Madeline back in her life again. Especially when things had begun turning boring and old for her.

She couldn't fathom how Xavier had survived hundreds of years of this sort of torture, mateless and duty-bound. He'd been the alpha for ages, she never knew a time where there'd been another alpha in the frame.

Who knew that the day Madeline stumbled upon Eudora would be the day Xavier found his long lost soulmate.

The alpha's mate.

Many ladies vied for his attention. To be the one he cast his gaze on when he walked past the crowd. To be his one and only.

They would've given anything they had to be with him. To have the alpha as their soulmate. And now, he'd finally found his soulmate, and that would definitely cause a stir amongst the female werewolves. Especially those that didn't have a mate.

They'd do anything to make sure Madeline would get out of the picture - and Briar had a feeling that played a factor in why Madeline had encountered a feral. Someone had done it to rid her.

Briar had never personally taken interest in Xavier. To put it frankly, he was never her type of ideal guy.

Whether or not he was Madeline's on the other hand… Briar had no idea. Madeline had never discussed what she desired in a man. She was a diehard romantic, that was definite, but she'd kept it to herself. Briar never bothered to ask either.

Before, finding someone to date was the last of Madeline's priorities. Now… She already had a soulmate, and it was the last person Briar ever thought fate would've paired Madeline with.

Briar thought back to a moment during the picnic.

'Madeline, could you humour me for a moment?' She asked Madeline.

Madeline turned to look at her, 'Sure.'

'Why weren't you upset when you discovered that I was a werewolf?'

Her friend didn't reply for a moment.

'Well, I was upset for a moment, before I thought about it and realized it wasn't as bad as I was making it out to be. You're my friend, and we've been growing distant lately. I didn't know what you were up to and when I'd discovered Xavier was my soulmate… the first person I thought of telling was... you.'

'I'm glad you're here - and not because I just need someone to talk to,' Madeline shook her head.

'Because you're my friend, Bri.'

Briar was moved by Madeline's words. She had to stop herself from getting teary.

Something she hadn't told Madeline was how she'd missed her too.

Madeline had treated her like no one else did. Everyone else knew she was a werewolf, but when they'd met, Madeline didn't know a thing.

She treated her like she was a friend, and only that. She didn't get upset when Briar had to bail on plans during the full moon.

Back to reality, Briar reminded herself it was getting late. It was best she got some sleep right about now so she'd be cheery in the morning.

Meanwhile, with two other werewolves that were still awake and working…

"So you think this happened on purpose?" Adrian questioned.

"Yes," Xavier nodded.

He knew from the start Madeline being his soulmate would make her a target for malicious doings, but he didn't expect this to have happened to her.

"What do you want me to do?" Adrian asked from the sombre look on Xavier's face.

"You can tell me what you're thinking," Adrian reminded.

"Mhm," Xavier grumbled, tapping his finger on his desk.

"Assign someone to guard her," he decided.

"E-Eh? Guard her?" Adrian blinked.

He didn't think Xavier would take those measures for Madeline.

'Consider me shocked,' he thought.

"Do you think she'll consent to being followed all the time by someone she doesn't even know?" Adrian reasoned with Xavier.

"Right."

"Then you do it," Xavier decided.

Adrian became even more shocked.

"M-ME?!" He nearly yelled.

"Keep your voice down," Xavier chided.

"You're going to draw attention with how rambunctious you're being."

"If I'm so rambunctious then why did you just assign me to watch over Madeline?"

"Are you objecting?" Xavier inquired, staring Adrian in the eye.

Friend or not, Xavier was the alpha.

His alpha.

'Not like I have a choice,' Adrian thought, lowering his head.

"I'm not. Of course, I'm not," he sighed.

"I'll do what you ask me to."

Xavier looked surprised.

"I'm messing with you," he said casually.

Adrian frowned.

"Seriously?"

"You called me a tight ass, remember."

"And my words bite me back in the ass."

"So who'll you get to protect Madeline?"

Xavier asked, "What's the name of that friend of hers she's constantly with? She's a delta in this pack if I recall."

Adrian seemed to have forgotten her name as well.

"Briar," he recalled.

"Her name's Briar."

"Alright then, let Briar do it."