Chapter 48 - Who's Emilio?

"By the look on your face and my assumptions, I doubt it's good."

"Well your doubts are correct," Xavier confirmed, "It's not good."

"So, are you going to tell me who Miles actually is and what you and him have to do with each other?"

"Surely you didn't..."

Madeline gasped, "I didn't know you were into men!"

"Is that why you're so hesi--"

After receiving glares from Xavier, Madeline stopped with the teasing.

"Tell me," Madeline coaxed.

"Make me," Xavier taunted.

Madeline didn't seem fazed, "I'll have you know I can be very convincing when I want to be."

"You just haven't seen that side of me."

"Just tell me," Madeline continued, still trying to get Xavier to tell her something.

"I don't know anything about what's going on, and I just want to know something," Madeline bit her lip.

"He tried killing me," she added.

After she'd said those four words, Xavier caved in.

"Fine."

"But this stays completely between us, you got that?"

"Mm," Madeline nodded, waiting in anticipation over what was he going to tell her next.

"That book in the library that you said fell on you."

"...it has something to do with it?"

Xavier nodded, "It does."

"Everything that happened is in that book," Xavier explained.

'So that's why he asked me if I read it.'

Continuing, he told her that it was strange she couldn't read the book.

"I'm not sure why you can't read it, but my best bet is that it has something to do with you not being a werewolf."

"So what you're trying to say is…"

Madeline couldn't bring herself to speak with the information still fresh in her mind.

"T-that…"

Xavier finished her sentence for her, "That Miles was the alpha before me, and my previous leader."

"H-how is he still alive?" Madeline asked.

It was then Xavier went radio silent. How could he tell her that this was all his fault?

With what he knew about her, she likely wouldn't blame him. Hell, she'd even take it as far as to blame herself.

And low and behold, he was right.

Madeline thought that to ascend to an alpha, one would have to kill the pack's current alpha. Turns out, she was wrong. Since, why else would he still be alive if that was the case?

Xavier deliberated how he'd tell her the only reason Miles was still alive was because he had lent him mercy. Perhaps it was a moment of weakness where Miles' pleas had got to Xavier's usually locked and impenetrable heart. Or perhaps, he thought death was too convenient a fate. After all, it was when Xavier was seconds away from killing him that he decided to do something else with Miles instead.

He sealed him away from the rest of the world, to spend centuries if not decades of solitary confinement in a cage created with the proper magic to detain him.

"Xavier? Xavier!" Madeline exclaimed, interrupting his train of thought.

"I did my part," Xavier spoke, refusing to say more. Although he told her everything she needed to know, he didn't tell her everything she wanted to know, but that was for another day.

"You've fulfilled your part of the deal, it'd only be fair if I fulfilled mine."

"Agreed," Xavier's tone turned to his normal, cold and unfeeling tone.

Madeline took notice of this but kept her resolve.

She told him everything that had happened

"He was pointing his sword at me and everything, and then--"

"Are you telling me a story or telling me what happened?"

Frowning, Madeline asked him in return, "Do you want to know what happens next or not? I could just as easily stop right here."

"Continue," Xavier said, regretting what he previously said.

Madeline fought back a snicker.

'That's what I thought.'

"How did you make it out of there alive?" Xavier questioned.

"Are you belittling me?"

"I'm not," Xavier shook his head.

Miles was not just any werewolf. He was powerful. More powerful than even Xavier, the current alpha. And yet, Xavier was the current alpha.

Madeline was unaware of that, as well as why he was so powerful. There was one detail about Miles that Xavier was keeping from her, one that was a game changer.

"Then why--"

"Is there something you're keeping from me?"

"Well if I am keeping something I can't really tell you if I am," Xavier reasoned, crossing his arms in an attempt to persuade Madeline he was anything but guilty.

"Fair point," Madeline admitted, "But you're hiding something."

"So Miles was the ex-alpha, there's something else," she quickly realized.

"His name is Emilio, not Miles. Miles was just a nickname some people used to call him," Xavier explained.

Madeline blinked.

Emilio.

There was something about that name, she just couldn't wrap her head around it.

'Emilio… I've heard that name before.'

'I don't know where I heard it from but I've heard it somewhere.'

"Were you close to him before you became the alpha?" Madeline asked, fidgeting in her spot.

She felt a tad bit warm.

"Close to him…"

"I was his advisor," Xavier admitted.

"Woah."

Xavier looked at her questioningly.

"I'm just… shocked because I did not expect that."

"Then what did you expect?"

It took some time before Madeline answered his question.

"Well, I expected you to be some fierce warrior or something. But not an advisor though," Madeline admitted albeit she found it impressive.

"So, moving on from that, who is he?"

"Emilio?"

"Yes, Emilio."

"Something's up," Madeline said.

"So what is it?"

Xavier kept quiet.

He had the answer to her question. Everyone in the pack knew of him actually.

Emilio was the previous alpha of the pack, so not many were there when he was still the alpha but those that were still remembered him till this day.

Why?

Because Emilio was special.. For he was not only the ex-alpha of Eudora, but a direct descendant of the first werewolf that ever walked across Alaric.