Alisa glanced at the bewildered Marvin beside her and then back at the phone. She couldn’t believe that these two brothers would openly express thoughts related to love.
She thought Aldrich might come up with some other reasons to convince Marvin to stay, similar to how she struggled to bring Maggie back to their human world.
She gestured for Marvin to take the phone back.
“Stay with your father and you?” he repeated, “You already have Maggie, and soon you’ll have your own children. I shouldn’t matter to you.”
On the other end, there was a low sigh, “Maggie is my partner, my lover. Children are children. But a brother is irreplaceable. Just like I can’t, and have no right to, keep Maggie away from her family or dictate her life, even if I don’t particularly like Alisa.”
Alisa hadn’t left yet, and these words left her puzzled.
“You’re my brother, and regardless of whatever preconceptions you have about me, I’ve always considered you my favorite elder brother. Back then, besides you and my mother, no one cared if I was happy. No one treated me as a child burdened with the future of the family but just as a child.”
Marvin had never heard such words before.
“I’m not leaving you or Father,” he suddenly became hesitant, almost stuttering, “It’s just that for many years, I’ve been Elwin’s son, Aldrich’s brother. Marvin isn’t himself; he’s a derivative of someone else. Not that I dislike these relationships.”
He scratched his face, and there was a stubble that had grown overnight. Since coming to the human world, his biological clock had slowly synchronized with that of humans.
Alisa watched him with her arms crossed. From the first day they met, she knew that this person was different from the one her sister liked. He was more easily hurt, and therefore, softer. His belly, heart, and ears were all soft. He couldn’t bring himself to harm others or hurt himself. He’d rather make himself an outsider than disrupt established relationships.
Just like how he, so unwillingly, came back to help Aldrich. He didn’t really enjoy being known as someone’s something. He just didn’t want to fight, didn’t want to cause harm that would hurt everyone.
“But I still want to be myself the most, so that when people mention Marvin, even if they don’t know who I am, they can be sure that the person behind this name is not understood through someone else. Just me, just Marvin, not Elwin’s son, not Aldrich’s brother.”
There was no response from Aldrich, only the electrical noise and the sound of breathing, proving there was someone alive on the other side.
It felt like an eternity had passed. Aldrich, as if finally remembering he could speak, said, “Before that, tell me, Marvin, did Alisa secretly instigate you to stay in the human world?”
Alisa couldn’t take it anymore. While she was still present, this person was continuously speaking ill of her.
“I didn’t try to kidnap your brother. In fact, I initially tried to stop him from staying here! But I know how to respect others, so I let him come and talk to you about this himself.”
She knew this suspicious guy would have something to say about it. Damn it, being associated with the Barret Group never led to anything good. She should hurry up and find a beach to ditch Marvin, maybe he’d end up wandering off, and with luck, he might drift into the seas of the Southern Continent.
“I understand, Marvin. If this is what you truly want, then go ahead. Do it as you wish. Father won’t blame you; I think he’ll be happy you’ve finally found yourself. But remember to come back to visit your kin and your future nephews.”
Marvin’s face visibly lit up.
“Of course. Can I get a human ID now?”
Aldrich didn’t understand what he was saying, “You can apply for an ID; just fill out the required documents. Don’t you have a citizen card and a passport?”
“…,” Marvin glared hatefully at Alisa. He knew she deliberately delayed getting it for him!
Alisa, feeling guilty, turned her face away, pretending not to understand what they were discussing.
Aldrich thought of having Charlie or Jolie come over to help Marvin with the necessary documents for living in human society, but Marvin refused. “They’re busy right now. You focus on managing the Blue Moon Pack. Don’t let Ethan find loopholes and cause us trouble.”
“You don’t need to worry about that. Someone has been monitoring his every move. If anything happens, I’ll know immediately.”
“Oh, by the way, did you find Grace or not? Is she still alive, under that jerk’s control? When can we bring her back?”
Aldrich couldn’t help but sigh at this, “I was just about to tell you about it.”
The intelligence gatherers returned, reporting they hadn’t found Grace. When the first group remotely surveilled Ethan, he had already returned to the Frost Moon Pack. They could confirm there were still two sets of footprints on the way back, ensuring that Grace was alive before entering the Frost Moon Pack. However, after that, they hadn’t seen any trace of Grace.
Whether it was in Ethan’s room or any potential secret room, at least in their surveillance range, they found no sign of Grace.
“They aren’t sure if Ethan kept her in an underground secret room or if he took her back and killed her. We’ve lost track of Grace now.”
Marvin remained silent for a long time.
“I’m deeply sorry,” Aldrich said softly. “I should have protected her.”
Marvin’s eyes were turning bloodshot, his teeth and nails gradually wolfing out. Aldrich was worried he’d expose himself like this in the human world. A lone wolf in the human world wouldn’t fare well.
“Marvin, are you listening?” he called out anxiously. “Marvin, calm down!”
“He’s not listening; his ears are almost standing up,” Alisa calmly took over. “Marvin, be rational. There’s still no evidence proving she’s dead. Don’t do anything useless!”
For almost two minutes, Marvin couldn’t hear anything from the outside world.
Until Alisa grabbed his wolf ears and shouted loudly at him, he almost thought he had gone deaf.
What did Alisa shout? Oh, she said, “Dead wolf cub, the one you like isn’t dead yet. Turn back for me!”
He covered his ears. “Why are you shouting so loud? I haven’t wolfed out.”
Alisa sneered, “Wait until you wolf out, then it won’t be okay. Not only will you be caught, but I’ll end up in jail too. Besides, when you turn back from wolfing out, you’re still a naked guy. I’m not interested in naked guys.”
“…,” he thought this woman’s focus was inexplicably and strangely novel.
Aldrich sighed on the other end, thankful that it didn’t escalate into a big issue.
“While I appreciate you saving Marvin, aren’t you afraid the neighbors will complain about the disturbance due to your loud argument?”
“It’s okay; we can always say it’s a couple’s quarrel.” Alisa was now quite adept at handling these situations.