As said before, Cornelia was practically omnipotent so she must''ve known who Madeline was to be in the future, right?

    Was that why she made the decision to give her away and to hide her from Emilio?

    Would something change if Emilio knew he had a daughter all along?

    Now Emilio couldn''t stop thinking about Cornelia and her actions.

    That woman never did anything without a purpose. Everything she did was strategically thought out. She wasn''t a simple person.

    That was what he loved about her.

    The centuries that passed didn''t change his feelings for her. As much as he resented her, he still loved her.

    His urge to kill overpowered the part of him Cornelia fell in love with. It was also the thing that drove the two of them apart. The thing that drove a wedge between them.

    He killed because he wanted to. She killed when absolutely necessary.

    There were many differences between Cornelia and him, but it was said that opposites attracted each other. So why weren''t they compatible?

    Why did their whirlwind love story end on such a horrible note? Were they really doomed from the start?

    Emilio remembered fondly of the time he met Cornelia. The time he sensed she''d be different than everyone else.

    And just like her mother, he sensed the same about Madeline.

    She was meant to do greater things. She was capable of doing better things. Things even Emilio couldn''t imagine doing because he paled in comparison to her.

    Imagine if Madeline were to discover she inherited a fraction of Cornelia''s power. That''d end up horribly if she didn''t manage to quickly learn how to use said powers.

    The powers of the supreme sorceress in a werewolf? Unheard of.

    That was what made them so unique.

    Just like a human and a werewolf pairing was unique, so was a sorceress and a werewolf.

    Emilio wondered how Madeline and Xavier came to meet in the first place.

    What a coincidence, that his daughter was mates with the person who stole his job from him.

    He knew the error to his ways and how his ways had affected those in Eudora. Not that he ever stopped to consider it''d backfire on him, of course. Had he done that, he wouldn''t be here.

    "Huh, how funny."

    "If I had stopped to think about what I did, I wouldn''t be in my current situation and trapped here."

    "And maybe… just maybe… Cornelia would''ve stayed."

    He slumped on the door of the room he was stuck in as he felt his knees weaken.

    ''I''m so weak now. It''s pathetic.''

    Thankfully, Madeline didn''t take after him when it came to this. She was a strong girl, he could easily tell.

    And she had a mean grip.

    At one point of him being trapped in the room, he had nearly left, wanting to teach Madeline how to hone her powers - if she had any of course.

    "I''m stuck here till the hunt''s over."

    What Emilio didn''t know was that Xavier had purposely locked him in that spare room way before he left just to spite him.

    Way before he left, he had Emilio locked up to ensure the safety of his pack - and Madeline.

    It proved that Xavier still didn''t trust Emilio around her. And he admitted it himself.

    Emilio wasn''t to be trusted. No matter what truth he shared, or anything he told anyone… He was dangerous. Very, very dangerous.

    There was a reason Briar was advised to stay. Someone had to watch over Emilio.

    Well, watching over Emilio wasn''t the right way to put it. It was more like guarding Madeline.

    And whilst Madeline could probably handle herself in a dangerous situation, it was better to have someone there with her. One never knew if anything would happen.

    And Madeline didn''t mind having Briar at Eudora with her. She never liked being alone in the first place.

    When she was alone at home, she felt alright. After all, she had her books to accompany her through everything.

    But in Eudora? With Emilio?

    Knowing her track record, nothing good would come out of it.

    For some reason, Madeline was constantly in danger, again and again and again.

    She blamed it partially on herself.

    Everytime something happened, she wondered what could''ve happened instead had she not been there.

    Had she never stumbled upon Eudora, met Xavier and discovered Briar was a werewolf.

    That, and also discover Emilio - the man that tried killing her multiple times - was her father!

    Madeline had a lot going on, and now Xavier and everyone else in Eudora was going on a hunt.

    Well, not everyone.

    Indiana had been forbidden to join the hunt for her actions.

    Xavier had also considered the possibility that Indiana would take out her anger and frustration on Madeline so he made someone stay with her. That someone being Briar.

    He wanted that someone to be a person Madeline trusted, and Briar was the perfect person for it. Not to mention, Xavier had a feeling Briar wouldn''t be too dejected missing out on the hunt.

    Speaking of Briar, it seemed like she and Adrian had been getting quite close lately.

    Was there something between them?

    Or would they claim to be just friends?

    Briar told Madeline, "Thank god I get to stay here with you."

    Madeline chuckled, asking, "Oh? Why is that?"

    "Do I have to tell you? You know how much I despise killing."

    "And it''s not guilty people who deserve to be killed, or beheaded or tortured to death. It''s animals that did nothing wrong."

    "And it''s a whole pack of werewolves hunting them down," Briar said, her eyes twitching.

    She seemed flat out terrified just thinking about the hunt.

    And now? The opportunity to miss out on the hunt and spend time with her friend was too amazing to pass on. It was killing two birds with one stone.

    If that wasn''t all, she also got to avoid Adrian.

    It wasn''t that she had something against him. She simply didn''t want to see him brutally kill a harmless, innocent animal. She couldn''t fathom why she was against the idea of seeing him do such a thing when she already had seen him do it many times in the past, but she just did.

    Perhaps now that she had gotten closer to him, she didn''t want to see him doing such a horrible feat.

    Or perhaps it was something else.

    "Makes me relieved I''ve never got to witness a hunt before," Madeline admitted, nodding solemnly.

    ''Poor creatures,'' she thought, clearly ignoring the elephant in the room that was waiting to be let out of its tiny cage.

    What was that elephant in the room? One asked.

    What could Madeline possibly be worrying about other than the hunt?

    Why, the person leading said hunt, of course!

    Madeline never expected the Xavier she knew to be the type of person who led hunts and killed and feasted on the corpses of those he slaughtered.

    But, who was she to comment?

    She was still an outsider.

    Safe to say, Madeline knew nearly nothing about how a pack worked, and the inner workings of a pack in general.

    But, like Briar, she was totally against killing.

    Unless necessary or deserved, of course.

    Madeline couldn''t deny that in some cases, some did deserve the fate given to them, even if that fate was death.

    However, when it came to her father Emilio… She couldn''t say much.

    Sure, he was her father, but whatever fate had planned for him, she knew he probably deserved it.

    He had missed out a lot in her life, and by that, one meant everything.

    He had missed her teen years, her goth phase, her cutesy girl phase… All the times she needed a real father to put it frankly. Or someone to be there for her.

    Madeline never blamed Emilio though, since he wasn''t given a choice. He missed out on her life because he didn''t know she existed. Not because he chose to.

    If only he had… Life would''ve been incredibly different for Madeline.

    She would''ve grown up with an actual father. Maybe that would have affected her personality, her lifestyle, and her mate.

    Who knew if Xavier would''ve been in the picture had she grown up knowing Emilio was her father?

    ''No. I mustn''t think about this.''

    ''Fate made me and Xavier meet. It wasn''t just a coincidence. It was fate.''

    __

    Author''s Note: So sorry for the lack of updates these days, I''m currently traveling and I''ve got little time to write these days. Although, for the mass release on Christmas, four chapters will still be released, so stay tuned for that!

    And also, what do you think is going on between Briar and Adrian? Share your thoughts in the comments down below and who knows?

    P.S.. I try to like and respond to each comment, do share your thoughts and I''ll try my best to read each one of them and respond hastily.