「 Chapter 7 」

                                    

                                          


                          
➳ 
                          
Matthew woke up, feeling a light weight top of him. Raising his head, he looked down to see his little mate resting her head on his chest, still asleep. He mentally smiled as his hand brushed her chestnut-brown hair away from her face, revealing her pretty features. No matter how many times he had seen her, her beauty always took his breath away.
                          
His smile diminished when he saw traces of dried tears on her face. She almost never cried in front of him anymore, but he would sometimes hear her sniffling during the night or whenever she was alone. It was clear that she missed her brother deeply. As much as he wanted to help her, he knew only time would heal her wounds.
                          
He gently placed her head on the pillow so he could get up. As usual, he had a busy day of work ahead of him today, starting with a meeting with his Beta.
                          
...
                          
"Good morning, Alpha." The Beta bowed his head slightly, before entering his office. He paused for a second, sniffing the air.
                          
"Is something wrong?" Matthew asked.
                          
"You have a human's scent on you." They stared at each other for a moment.
                          
"Yes, a human lives with me."
                          
"Is it sergeant Nathan's 'sister'?" He asked, gesturing quotation marks at the word sister.
                          
"Yes, do you have an issue with that?" The Alpha retort, a hint of irritation in his voice.
                          
He gulped, frantically shaking his head. "No, Alpha."
                          
"Good. Now let's discuss the actually important subjects..."
                          
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Several hours later, Matthew decided to check up on his mate. His house was pretty big, and he had not gotten a chance to properly show her around. There were many rooms he did not want her to venture in, and he hoped she hadn't done so yet.
                          
However, he could not feel her presence when he walked into the house. Worry clouded his mind as he went up to his room to find her. Her scent wasn't fresh, suggesting she had left hours ago.
                          
"Madeline?" He called out, going back downstairs. Maybe she was in the kitchen? She loved baking, and a sweet scent was coming from there.
                          
Walking in, he found a platter of sugar cookies on the counter, but no trace of his mate. All of the baking equipment was neatly put back into place, meaning she had time to clean up after making the cookies.
                          
He ran a hand through his hair, frustrated. Where could she be? Did she leave the house? He walked out of the door, trying to track down her vanilla scent.
                          
There she was, sitting at the cemetery and talking to her brother's grave again. He did not like eavesdropping, but he was quite curious as to what she was saying to him.
                          
"I can't believe you left me here alone. I barely know anyone in this Pack, you know? And no one likes me here. Every time I talk to someone, they ignore me or give me weird stares. The only people who are nice to me are Edith and Matthew, but I can barely speak to them because they're always working all day..."
                          
Matthew glowered at her words. He had no idea she felt this way about his Pack. How could people dislike this angel? She was an absolute gem. Even a man like him, who almost never smiled, felt his mood brighten by her mere presence. 
                          
Madeline gasped in surprise as she felt someone grab her from behind.
                          
"Oh, it's just you." Her tense muscles relaxed when she realized it was Matthew.