Chapter 5: Meet Giselle (1)

In the air, the stench of other wolves kept Marcus’s inner wolf unresting. It kept crawling back and forth, growling. Marcus was a fighter, so when he had to smell wolves who didn’t belong to his pack loitering in his area made him feel frustrated.

Recently, these wild wolves had appeared and wandered around his pack’s territory more and more. Did they not know this was his area? Or, did they know but did not seem to care at all? Had someone ordered them to do this?

Marcus hissed. If it was either the second or the third reason, Marcus could have had understood. Marcus's pack did not have an Alpha.

Although Marcus was Alpha's son, and in the upcoming full moon, he would take after his father to be the Alpha of the Bailey's, that was not enough for other wolves not to stalk. After all, soon-to-be-Alpha did not mean he would be one hundred percent sure to become one. And even if there was still a Luna in his pack, then what?

But soon, Marcus would officially become an Alpha. His wedding was almost here. It was only a few days away.

Marcus thought of the wedding, and he couldn't help but smile happily. He really could not wait any longer. What could be happier than marrying someone you love?

Marcus hoped that day reached a little faster. When the day was due, he would no longer have to hide in the shadow of his mother anymore but come out like an Alpha. Marcus didn't hate his mother at all. He respected her and loved her with all his heart. However, respect was far different from having to hide in her shadow. Every important thing had to be agreed upon by her. He could not do anything affect the pack without her permission. The wolves obeyed her orders, even though he was their future leader.

"Marcus!"

At the mention of Dorris, she showed up.

Marcus looked outside of the bar to see Dorris quickly stormed to him. Her face was white, and she sounded frightening. Raiz Bailey, who was Marcus's uncle, followed her inside.

As soon as Marcus saw Raiz, Marcus's inner wolf started to go in caution mode. Marcus's inner wolf saw Raiz as its enemy. Not only was Raiz another candidate for the Alpha position, but also Raiz gave off a devilish vibe to his appearance. Marcus's intuition told him that Raiz had something to do with those lone wolves intruding.

Raiz had sharp eyes with a hint of intrigue, quirky eyebrows, high cheekbones, and a voice full of judging tone: "Where are they?"

He asked about the wild wolves. He did not seem pleased to find those intruders had been chased away by his niece but rather annoyed.

Dorris frowned at him: "What do you care about them now? Are you okay, Marcus?"

Marcus did not even have time to say anything before Raiz interrupted:

"If we could hold them captivated, it would be useful, Dorris. A pack of wild wolves appears in our area. Not only that, but they also attacked someone from another pack. Dorris, do you understand what does this means? They're trying to start a war!"

Lady Dorris Bailey turned to look at Raiz right behind her. In contrast to Raiz's anger, Lady Dorris was strangely calm. She looked Raiz in the eye, seriously saying:

"I know for myself the seriousness of the problem. But Raiz, did you see any casualties here? Marcus handled the situation well. Don't try to make things more complicated than they should have been. Leave it!"

Dorris said that, and Raiz had nothing to argue. He angrily left, leaving Lady Dorris and Marcus behind.

Dorris waited until Raiz had gone, then turned her focus at Marcus's broken-down bar. Dorris frowned, asking:

"How many of them?"

"Five." Marcus snorted, recalling the number of wild wolves.

Dorris sighed, eyeing the battered bar for another look, then asked: "You're okay?"

Marcus sensed Dorris's distress. He jumped off the bar, walked up to her, reached out, and hugged her tight in his chest:

"Mom, it's okay. It's a little bit of a mess. When I become an Alpha, things like this are an inevitable part. This ordeal could be a good rehearsal."

Lady Dorris did not respond. However, she quietly decided in her head.

Marcus needed the Browns more than ever. That was the only thing that could protect his throne.

***

Brighton Hotel, second Floor, Irish Café.

Dorris looked at her watch, unamused, quite annoyed. Edsel was late again. This time, he was more than thirty minutes late. If it had not been for Dorris in need of his help, Lady Dorris would have had left twenty-five minutes ago.

For Dorris, time was gold. If there were five minutes late, it would be enough reason for her to leave. A person who does not respect the time of others is someone who was not worth socializing.

Edsel Brown was not only a man who did not appreciate the time of others, but he was also a fake man.

Edsel Brown, Alpha of the Brownson pack, had once abandoned his fiancée and daughter to marry Brenna Brown, daughter of the previous Alpha. To express his sincerity, Edsel had even changed his last name to Brown.

How could a power-hungry man like Edsel ignore such benefits of marrying a Bailey?

Dorris despised such people. Again, if it was not because of the sensitive situation, Edsel was certainly not on her list of options.

Such an irony!

"Lady Dorris."

Dorris Bailey raised her head, her bewilderment fleeting in her eyes, and quickly disappeared. In front of her, Edsel Brown dressed in a formal suit. His greyish hair seemed glossy with overused hair wax. His face showed a smile that looked overly joyful, and friendly but hidden in it was mere selfishness.

Dorris's inner wolf felt unbearable at the faint scent of him. Dorris grimaced.

"Hello, Mr. Brown."

Dorris stood up, reaching out her hand and waiting for him to shake. However, Edsel instead grabbed her, turned the back of her hand upward, and put a polite kiss on it.

This abrupt action made Dorris's inner wolf go wild. She was fuming.

That bastard!

But on the outside, the Luna just made a straight face at him. She dropped his hand immediately, then wiped his kiss away: "I'm not used to this. Sorry."

Edsel shrugged, seemed not to care. After that, he pointed to his side, introducing:

"This is my daughter, Giselle Brown. Giselle, this is Lady Dorris. Say hello."

"Hello, Lady Dorris."

A girl named Giselle reached out her hand. Dorris raised her head and glanced at Giselle. The unwanted child of Edsel had auburn hair color. Her beauty could not be described as beautiful as Tina or other girls Dorris had seen Marcus with. Yet, Giselle brought a different type of pleasing. Those freckles on the sides of Giselle's pinkish puffed cheeks up to the bottom of her nostrils were the highlights of her adorable round face. Giselle has beautiful eyes, too. Giselle's eyes seemed to contain a whole star sky. Giselle's eyes were sparkling, and they caught Dorris's mind in awe.

The girl looked lovely, to say the least.

Dorris's inner wolf felt pleased with this girl. This girl was indeed different. And even though Lady Dorri had seen Giselle's photo taken by her private investigator, meeting Giselle in person still made her feel new.

Giselle pursed her lips, lowering her eyes. As she wanted to pull her hand away, Lady Dorris quickly caught up:

"I'm Dorris Bailey. Call me Mrs. Bailey is enough. Sit down, please."

Lady Dorris smiled as she signaled Giselle to sit down.

Just as Edsel wanted to sit down, too, Mrs. Dorris quickly shooed him:

"Can I talk to Miss Brown privately?"

Edsel was a little stiff. Obviously, he did not expect Lady Dorris to make such request. However, he couldn't switch to his Alpha's voice and threaten Dorris.

Two reasons. First, Dorris was a beta and a Luna. Second, she was not only the Luna, but she also was the one temporaily hold the supreme power at her pack. It was not easy to get her to obey.

Edsel had no choice but to give a faint smile that couldn't have been more bizarre. Then he did his best to muster out a simple sentence: "Okay."

Concurrently, Edsel turned toward Giselle, trying to avoid Dorris's sight. He let out a dry laugh and spoke, but the words were visibly threatening:

"Have fun talking to Lady Dorris, Giselle. I'm sure you don't want to ruin this marriage, do you? Your mother is looking forward to it too."

Giselle gritted her teeth as tightly as she could, trying not to let the growl get out of her throat.

Edsel finished speaking, politely saying goodbye to Lady Dorris and leaving behind the two women sitting across from each other.

Giselle lowered her head to look at her hot cup of tea, and though she didn't raise her head, she could still feel Lady Dorris was staring straight at her.

Giselle took a sip of the hot Earl Grey tea down her dry throat. Giselle felt uncomfortable knowing that Lady Dorris was staring at her. Maybe she was judging Giselle, too. The feeling inside her was not the nervousness of whether Dorris liked her or not. But preferably, the discomfort of having to be an object for others to judge.

"Your name is Giselle?"

Giselle heard Lady Dorris calling, yet she didn't lookup. She hesitantly replied:

"Yes, ma'am."

"You know why we are here today, right?"

Dorris took a sip to form her cup of tea, eying Giselle.

Unlike the unpleasant feeling when the Luna first saw Tina, Luna's wolf felt much more comfortable and pleasant with this Giselle girl, even if they had just met.

If it was Giselle, who would be the Luna's daughter-in-law, then it was not that bad, Dorris thought to herself.

"Yes, ma'am."

Dorris said nothing for a moment. At first, Edsel offered to marry his daughter and Marcus. Dorris Lady Dorris wanted to refuse, but when she found out Marcus had an affair with Tina, Lady Dorris also turned a blind eye. Edsel then offered to marry his first daughter, Giselle.

Even the fools knew that Edsel was calculating something.

"Pardon me, but if someone forced you, or for some reason, you had to marry my son, then be honest. I need a powerful daughter-in-law who could support my son, yes. But I don't want to force anyone. So if someone forced you to do this, tell me straight away.”

Indeed, Lady Dorris did not want to force anyone. She just deceived them.

She deceived her son into this. And then, she even had in her mind some tricky ways to have this young girl as well.

Dorris liked the girl. And Giselle seemed like she was not into this at all. If Dorris could know whether her guess was correct or not, she could have had figured out another way to lure the young girl in.

Giselle was Dorris's best choice at the moment.