Genevieve

Chapter 7: (Not) Goodbye

Gen gave Markus an ultimatum: gain his pack's forgiveness or never speak to her again. And for some reason it worked, however, she was still unsure why. Gen just knew that Markus had to step up and resolve this issue, anyhow. Markus had two options: offer a public apology or visit everyone privately. Visiting everyone privately didn't seem to work, so he decided to go for the former.

The public apology received a lot of backlashes. The rogues were enraged and fuming. They called Markus a monster, a murderer and blamed him for everything that happened. Markus tolerated everything. He had to, otherwise he wouldn't be able to spend the last few days with Genevieve. But during the public apology, an incident occurred which nobody would've imagined.

"Gen this is all your fault! It was you who kept bugging Markus to do this and do that? Look at what you've caused!" Bella lashed out at Gen who had no clue what was going on. Markus entered the hall with big bruises on his face and his body, and Gen had a horrified expression as she examined him.

"The rogues were livid, and they attacked him even before he could finish. I told you that we should just give them money and end this. But you-" Bella kept rambling on, but Markus interrupted her mid-way.

"Enough Bella. It was not Gen's fault. This situation couldn't be fixed with money, and what I did was the right thing to do. I probably deserve all of this so it's fine." Markus surrendered as his eyes met Gen's.

Gen felt apologetic. The apology was meant to improve the relations between Markus and his pack, but the outcome was unexpected. She felt hurt to see Markus injured and partially blamed herself as well. Before Gen could approach the topic for first-aid, Bella brought it up.

"Markus, you should sit. I'll bring the first-aid kit and dress your wound." Bella offered.

"No, it's fine. We, werewolves, heal quickly. Besides, I have a house to visit." He told Bella and then looked at Gen. "Gen, would you like to come with me?" He offered and she nodded.

Gen had no clue where they were going but she just needed some alone time with him so she could apologize to him. His wound looked bad, and she was also sad to see the constant frown on his face.

"So where are we going?" she questioned.

"There is a lady who lost her son in the accident. She has cut herself off from the pack so I doubt that she would know about the public apology. I'm just really tired so I wanted you to be with me." He disclosed and Gen just nodded in response.

The lady, like every other person, shut her door as she recognized Markus. But this time, Markus stood outside and waited patiently till she would give him a chance and listen. Gen surely acknowledged the change and appreciated it as well. But that was not it.

When the lady finally let the two in, Gen studied her, and she was quite old. For a second, Gen questioned whether she was the grandmother.

"I had my son when I was fifty." She spoke and they listened. "He was my little ray of sunshine. I still remember the day when he was born, and he held my finger as tightly as he could. And I knew I'd love him forever." Their eyes filled with tears as her voice broke. "It took a second for Moon Goddess to take him away from me. He hadn't visited in days, and I just kept waiting and waiting and waiting. Now he's never coming back, and I'm alone, old and helpless."

Markus hugged the lady as she wept in the memory of her child. It was an incomparable loss. "I am so sorry for your loss ma'am. I can't bring him back, but I can assure you that such as incident will not happen in the future. I am here to support you and take care of you. You can think of me as your son."

Gen was touched to hear his words. Not only did he sound sincere, but also as a true king. He was kind, considerate and compassionate. That is when Gen realized how wrong she was about Markus, and that she had been really rude to him. It must've been hard for Markus to console everyone and also control his own emotions.