Chapter 86 - Why Didn’t You Tell Me Sooner?

"I'm allergic to cats," he said to her. 

Madeline furrowed her brows.

"Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" 

Xavier asked in return, "How do you tell someone you're allergic to cats when their cat's in the room?" 

"Good point."

Xavier distanced himself from Lily, unaware the being had a name in the first place. 

Before Madeline questioned how werewolf allergies worked, she wondered about Emilio. 

"Hold on."

"What about Emilio? You're going on a hunt soon so what about him?"

Xavier hid a smirk, "That's already been arranged."

Tilting her head, she wondered what Xavier could have meant. 

Would he be locked up somewhere?

Would some werewolves be left behind to guard him?

Did everyone in Eudora know he was there already? Or were only some of them aware?

Word spread fast around Eudora, but did it spread that fast? Did everyone know that not ONLY was Emilio here, but that Madeline was his daughter? 

What a coincidence.

It was marvelous and jaw-dropping how this could've happened. It was a one in a million opportunity.

Xavier was still stumped as to how Madeline could've been Emilio's daughter. They were nothing alike. 

The apple fell so far from the tree that it wasn't even considered an apple. 

Or in this case, Madeline fell so far from Emilio that one could easily get confused as to how Emilio and Madeline were father and daughter respectively. 

Funnily enough, Xavier had thought of this punishment for Emilio on the spot. It didn't take much thinking for him to figure what to do when Eudora was left unguarded and there'd be no one to babysit Emilio. 

Emilio was still dangerous, and Xavier wouldn't be able to leave Eudora without stressing over what Emilio would get up to if he were to be left unsupervised or left free to roam Eudora freely. 

So he wanted to get to know Madeline better, he still could have had ulterior motives. Nothing was out the door. Nothing was impossible and off limits, not to Emilio. 

He didn't care if someone was guarding him, he could easily charm or persuade or kill them with his bare hands. Just to… Say, visit his daughter or wander around Eudora to see everything that's changed before critiquing Xavier about it.

So leaving him alone wasn't an option Xavier could possibly consider. 

Instead, Xavier opted to keep Emilio locked up in a spare room in Eudora. One Emilio had no idea how to leave and even if he did… He'd face dire consequences. 

And since Xavier knew Emilio wouldn't care if he threatened to kill him, he did something else. 

"You take one step out of this room, and your daughter dies," Xavier threatened.

Xavier knew he wouldn't be hurting Madeline, even if he tried, the red string that connected them both together prevented him from doing so. 

But Emilio knew that he'd find a way (not that Xavier considered hurting Madeline because of Emilio). 

Emilio wasn't sure what Xavier would do. Would he actually hurt Madeline? Would he not? Was Xavier only bluffing? 

And out of both doubt and lacking assurance, Xavier knew Emilio would stay in that room. 

A part of Eudora's current alpha believed Emilio did love Madeline. He just figured out he had a daughter and was still reeling from shock so he didn't know how to behave. It was part of the reason as to why he hadn't yet killed Emilio.

If he knew Emilio couldn't care less that he had a daughter with Cornelia, Emilio would've been dead ages ago. 

Xavier would've never spared a second thought about it. 

He had to admit, Madeline was the sole reason why Emilio was still standing here, and that placed Madeline in a lot of danger as well. 

Xavier had quickly sensed the tension that had built in Eudora. Others doubted him. 

They had already begun doubting him ever since Madeline entered the picture. And ever since they discovered he was mates with her. 

Why hadn't they started a rebellion or spoke out about it? Either they were terrified of what he'd do, or he was overestimating them.

They kept in mind that Xavier overpowered Emilio. He was even more powerful than a descendant of the first ever werewolf, even if that power he used to beat Emilio wasn't all brawn. That had to be something to be taken into account before anyone did anything rash.

Look at Indiana! 

Indiana had returned to her friends a disappointment instead of a success. 

Instead of being the bearer of good news, she was the bearer of bad news. 

Everyone mocked her, poor girl. 

What had she done to deserve this? 

She thought she deserved being treated like this, when all she had done was speak her mind. 

Indiana was uninformed. Even Madeline thought her punishment was a tad bit on the overkill side. 

However, imagine her shock and surprise when she found out the reason behind Xavier's reaction to seeing Lily in her quarters for the very first time. 

'He's allergic to cats?' 

'Well that was incredibly unexpected. I thought it was something else.'

"So you came to say goodbye?"

"Right, I did."

They exchanged goodbyes, and Xavier quickly explained what would happen to Emilio. 

"Ah, got it," Madeline nodded, a look of understanding now on her face. 

She never planned to visit Emilio anyway, sure she was looking to fix her and his relationship, but not now. She still needed time. 

And she doubted Emilio wanted to see her so soon again anyway, despite her being his daughter and all that. 

"I guess this is goodbye then," Madeline said to him, frowning. 

"Why do you look so sad?" 

"Because you're leaving."

"Only temporarily," he reassured. 

"It's for a couple of hours or so anyway." 

Madeline tried not to seem so dejected. 

"I suppose," she pursed her lips. 

"I'll be seeing you soon then," she said to him. 

He said to her, "Yeah."

He'd miss her when he'd lead the hunt, but he knew it wouldn't be for too long.

And besides, a couple of hours were practically like a couple of minutes for an immortal like him, no?

He wasn't supposed to be this… dejected over something like this. That's what he told himself, at least. 

Xavier reassured himself, telling himself that Emilio was taken care of, Madeline would be fine with Briar and without him, et cetera et cetera. 

Speaking of Emilio, he wasn't too pleased with his current situation. 

"I can't believe he threatened to hurt Madeline," he said to himself, his arms crossed. 

"I mean, who does he think he is to threaten me? So what if he's Eudora's current alpha? No one could threaten me and get away with it. Not without facing my wretched wrath."

"Then again, if he hurts Madeline…"

He shook his head, he couldn't let that happen. 

Madeline was already in danger because she was his daughter. Imagine if Xavier actually followed his promise and did as he said he would if he left the room?

Would Madeline be brutally killed like he killed all those innocents? 

'No! I should stop thinking about this.'

'Xavier is probably bluffing. Right? He wouldn't actually do that to her.' 

'They're soulmates, so he can't hurt her. But he could get someone else to. Like that pest, Ariel. No, Adriel. Wait, no that's his name.'

'Adrian! Right, Adrian. That's his name.'

'I nearly forgot him. That's how forgettable he is, goodness. Xavier needs to have a change of beta.'

'Where was I? OH RIGHT. Madeline.'

As much as he didn't want to admit it, he felt guilty. 

Out of all the families Madeline could've been in, she had a father like him, and a mother like Cornelia. 

Cornelia was never even present in her life, and Emilio? 

Did anything else need to be said? They weren't exactly parents of the year. Heck, they weren't great parents at all. 

Cornelia was busy someplace else minding her own business. She never checked in on her daughter when she knew damn well she had one. 

It was her choice to hand her daughter away. 

It was her choice to hide her daughter away from her father for decades till he had to find out himself. And Emilio still resented Cornelia for it. 

Who'd do such a thing?

And he thought they ended things on a good note.

Had she found someone else?

Knowing her, she probably forgot about him already and moved on to someone else.

Someone on her level. 

Someone that didn't need to spend centuries trapped in a cave.

And yet, Emilio still thought and worried about Cornelia.

Was she doing well?

Was she eating properly?

Did she wake up with a smile on her face everyday?

Did she have someone loving her properly?

What was she doing right now? 

Did she know Xavier and Madeline were mates?

Did that have something to do with why she gave Madeline away in the first place? The fact that she knew there was much more to Madeline than being the daughter of a supreme sorceress and direct descendant of the first-ever werewolf?