7-My Daughter Is Missing

Madeline:

After I settled into the house, I left the babies in the care of the nanny I brought from the human land so I could attend the dinner at the Dark Silver Pack's mansion. I knew it would be hard for me, and I would feel all sorts of emotions, not because I still had feelings for the men who betrayed me, but because there was too much history.

We once had good times, until they ruined it. So of course I was bound to feel something. I didn’t take my babies with me. I wasn’t comfortable bringing them there, mostly because I knew Graham's father was far from an ideal man.

"I’ve been wondering where I’ve seen you since the minute you entered my mansion," he finally spoke after ten minutes of silence.

The food was impeccable, as always. They dined on luxury while the Omega community suffered with little to nothing. I sat with my back straight in a black knee-length dress.

I had curled my hair and drawn my eyeliner long and sharp. I raised an eyebrow at Mr. Eldon and gave him a cheeky, confident smile.

"Ah, you’re that clingy friend of Graham, aren’t you?"

As soon as he said that, Graham finally lifted his head and leaned back in his seat. He had barely touched his food. He just sat there, elbow on the armrest, fingers grazing his chin and bottom lip.

He kept staring, observing everyone. By everyone, I mean his father, Mr. Robinson, the Royal Beta, and the Royal Beta's daughter sitting beside him. I had no idea why she was there. No introductions were made.

They only said I was the woman sent to research the illness and find a cure. That was their custom. They weren’t allowed to say much before the food, and only once they had eaten halfway did they start talking.

I knew this well. I had been here many times before, always leaving with tears in my eyes.

Alpha Graham's father was the worst. The woman next to him was his new wife. They had married three or four years ago, after I left, but I remembered her vividly. She wore the same bored expression, acrylic nails tapping against the utensils.

“What was her name?” Mr. Eldon snapped his fingers, and I clenched my jaw, but someone else spoke first.

"Madeline West?" Mr. Robinson's daughter asked, raising her head.

"Exactly. That poor girl. Wait, how did it happen? How did you go from being nothing to being so important that we send you millions of emails and you finally respond after laying out terms?" Mr. Eldon tried to look amused, but I knew he was annoyed seeing me sit among them, posture upright.

"Madeline Sawyer," I said, reminding them I no longer went by my father’s name.

"Married?" Mr. Eldon smirked. I nodded, focusing on the steak on my plate.

"You know, Kaylee, Madeline used to come home every night to do your husband’s homework."

The moment Alpha Eldon said those words, my fingers clenched hard around the fork. She was Graham’s wife?

I raised my head to look at her more intently. So this was who he had left me for. He wasn’t ready to settle with me. Now I know why. He had a beta lined up. Why would he choose an omega over a beta?

"Well, if only I had let him do his homework, today he wouldn’t need me here to help with the sickness, right?" I murmured, trying to make a joke, though really I was taunting him.

Graham took a deep breath, lowered his hand, and reached for a glass of wine.

I could tell Mr. Robinson was a little bothered because his daughter kept silently staring at me and occasionally looking over at Graham. I didn't understand why.

Nobody else knew about what had happened in the months before I left, except the Alphas. And I could tell Graham was too disgusted by the idea of sleeping with me to have told anyone, especially his wife. So why was she so bothered?

“Why didn't you bring the children with you?” Mr. Robinson asked, changing the subject in his soft tone. His manners were impeccable. I could tell where Kaylee got her uptight ways.

“Oh, they were tired, so I left them behind. They don’t do well at dinners. They're children, of course,” I said, glancing down at my plate. I didn't want them bringing up my children.

“You have babies? Oh wow! look, a human girl was able to conceive. More than once. And here a royal beta's daughter is dry,” Alpha Eldon shot at Kaylee. She started coughing and covered her mouth.

Her father looked upset by the comment. Honestly, I didn't expect Alpha Eldon to do that to her. I thought she was his favorite because she came from a well-ranked family. But I guess they had problems.

Was Graham having trouble having children with his wife? I wouldn't know. Soon Graham adjusted his posture, reached for his wife's hand, and held it. She suddenly stopped being anxious, as if a wave of comfort had passed over her.

“I will choose my wife over any human or other werewolf, no matter what,” Graham said, looking at his father and daring him not to disrespect her again. Then he looked at me, reminding me he had once rejected me.

It felt like a stab in my chest. I hadn't asked him to sleep with me. They ruined our friendship. They ruined me that night, and then they acted like I was the desperate one.

“That is exactly what my husband says,” I uttered, trying to save face.

Before I could stand and excuse myself, someone else stood up, more clearly hurt than I was.

“Excuse me, I don't want to disrespect you, but the human scent is too much for me and my wolf. I'll be in my room now,” Kaylee said in a harsh, stern tone that humiliated me with sugar-coated words. She walked away, and all I could see was Graham, looking proud of her for insulting me and standing up for herself.

“Anyway, thank you so much for the dinner. I’d like to go. My children are waiting for me,” I retorted in a stern tone, not hiding my dislike for Kaylee's attitude. No one else seemed ready to stand up for me, so I stood up for myself.

I rose, grabbed my purse, and walked toward the door. Dinner was already over, and I could tell Lord Eldon had enjoyed annoying two women with his cockiness while ignoring his young wife completely.

Then my phone rang. The call shook the ground from under my feet.

“Ma’am Madeline, I’ve been trying to look everywhere—for Gina, but she’s not in the mansion,” the nanny told me. The shocking news of my baby girl missing was enough to steal my breath.

“What? How did you lose my daughter?” I cried in panic, raising my voice.

As I turned, I saw Graham standing behind me. He had probably followed me to walk me to the door out of alpha duty, and now he looked just as shocked by the news.