Grace’s intelligence commanded respect from men. Few men didn’t admire her. She was agile, sharp-witted, and back in the Blue Moon Pack, hardly any man could match Grace in a fight.
“I liked Grace back then, but not because she was smart.” Marvin felt that admitting this was akin to confessing that he was a petty man who couldn’t handle intelligent women. “We grew up together, and the Moon Goddess said we were a pair. I never really thought about why I liked her. I just found her beautiful and composed, capable of handling many things I couldn’t. She was like my mother and sister; whenever I had an issue, I’d go to her. She’d help me solve it, and that’s how we stayed together until the Moon Goddess separated us.”
What did he like about Grace? Aside from her beauty and the shared childhood bond, it might be because Grace took care of him meticulously, even in a somewhat foolish manner.
“For me, perhaps her greatest virtue isn’t her intelligence. I wasn’t drawn to her because of her intelligence. I liked her because, in her heart, I was always the first priority.”
Jolie shrugged, “Those who love others must first love themselves. Your perspective isn’t entirely flawed.”
Marvin took a sip of his cappuccino, finding it a bit too sweet, leaving a bitter aftertaste. “But I don’t love her enough.”
Transitioning from talking about Ethan to discussing Grace, Jolie felt she should mention the matter that alpha specifically asked her not to reveal. Despite alpha’s request, Marvin was, after all, a member of the Blue Moon Pack, and he needed to know sooner or later.
“There’s something else I haven’t told you, something alpha explicitly told me not to say.”
Marvin looked at her, “Why didn’t you listen to him?”
Unlike her partner Charlie, Jolie had a rebellious streak. She never followed orders from above. Whenever it went against her values, she did things her way.
“I think his advice isn’t always correct. I’ll do what I believe is right.”
Marvin thought, it seemed Aldrich wasn’t having an easy time, and his subordinates weren’t particularly obedient.
“Go ahead, then.”
“It’s about Grace and Ethan.”
Not very long, Jolie shortened the overly dramatic parts, such as the scene where Grace held Ethan’s lifeless body. She also omitted Ethan’s desire for Grace to take his blood back to transform him back into a pureblood werewolf.
However, the fact that Grace could turn back into a werewolf was worth mentioning.
“It’s said that Grace still has a chance to become a pureblood werewolf.”
Marvin’s attention shifted, “How?”
“Ethan’s blood seems to be the key to the ritual. Because he shares the blood of both a vampire and a werewolf, performing the ritual with another person with the same lineage can transform Grace back into a pure werewolf or a pure vampire.”
Of course, the willing sacrifice of that person was also necessary, but that was less important. Given Ethan’s many misdeeds, it was something he ought to do.
“Has Grace transformed back now?”
“Not yet.” Jolie deliberately concealed the fact that Grace still had Ethan’s blood but hadn’t used it. In her view, falling in love with a villain wasn’t hard to understand, but there was no need to mourn for a villain. Ethan probably anticipated his fate before he died. “We don’t have Ethan’s blood.”
Marvin nodded knowingly, “Was Ethan’s body brought back by his people?”
“That’s correct.”
“Did their alpha have any reaction?”
Jolie thought for a moment, based on the information she received, there was no mention of Alexander.
“Not at the moment.”
“He’s quite an incompetent father,” he sighed.
Not everyone could raise and love a child not biologically their own as Elwin did.
“Do you want to go back?”
She asked the question again, and Marvin remained silent. Every time someone asked him whether he wanted to return, he didn’t know how to answer. If Aldrich needed him, he would willingly go back, but it was never when Aldrich truly needed him. He felt Aldrich could manage pack affairs well alone, and there was no need for him to return and cause trouble.
Even with Grace… well, the problem now was he had no idea how to face Grace if he went back.
Every time Grace needed him when she was injured, he wasn’t there. How could he show up now, asking about her well-being? If Alisa found out he went back to bother a woman who had just escaped from a painful situation, especially when she was in need, Alisa would probably give him a good scolding.
Forgot to mention, Alisa had a bit of extreme feminism in her. She was indignant whenever she saw unfair treatment towards women.
“I think they might not need me right now.”
Jolie raised an eyebrow; she wanted to say Blue Moon Pack was short-handed, but whether Marvin went back or not wouldn’t affect the overall situation. Moreover, Aldrich seemed intentionally to grant him freedom, so there was no need to bring it up.
“Grace’s recovery will probably take some time. Why don’t you try asking Alisa if she can research a way to overcome Grace’s fear of light and her instinctual craving for blood? If she can develop a drug to suppress lycanthropy, overcoming Grace’s half-vampire gene shouldn’t be too difficult.”
Marvin said, “I’ll ask her later.”
After parting ways, Marvin found a dessert shop, took a few bites of a crepe, thinking about Grace’s situation. He lost his appetite again, so he took out his phone and called Alisa, “Aren’t you coming out for dinner?”
Alisa was busy, swamped with experiment data. There was too much to do, and she wished she had dragonfly eyes and spider hands to handle it all. To receive a call asking about dinner at a time like this irritated her.
“I have a pile of experiment data to review tonight. Aren’t you going home? If not, get back here and help me.”
Actually, if Marvin just said he was going home, Alisa wouldn’t continue making him go to the lab. But, inexplicably, he said, “Then I’ll come to the lab and help.”
There was a satisfied sound from the other end, “Hurry up. On your way here, bring me an Italian espresso. Bitter, the most refreshing. Also, get a chicken bacon sandwich.”
Marvin obediently brought a coffee and sandwich back to the lab.
Seeing him enter, Alisa remarked, “You ran off in the afternoon, why are you back again?”
“You haven’t gone home either.”
Alisa glanced at the messy lab, “I work here. I stay until the work is done. Have you had dinner?”
“I have. How’s the progress now?” He wanted to ask about Grace but didn’t want to hear a negative response from Alisa.
Seeing through him, Alisa bluntly asked, “Do you have something to tell me tonight?”