Her Devilish Alpha

"Were you brought food before?"

Emilio asked her, "Honest answer?"

"Honest answer."

Then, Emilio went on to admit, "I wasn't. I'm starving."

Madeline felt concerned. Sure, locking Emilio up was fair. But starving him? Seriously? That wasn't okay.

Her hand flew to her mouth. 

'Woah, why am I so worried all of a sudden?' 

"Then eat," she insisted, not wanting Emilio to starve.

"I brought you food for a reason."

"I am!" Emilio exclaimed, not wanting Madeline to worry. 

Madeline frowned, wondering why she was getting all irritated.

"Want me to get you something else?" She asked him, fiddling with her fingers. 

"No thanks," Emilio replied, taking a sip of the wine Madeline had brought him and generously gifted him. 

'That's delicious. And what about the cupcakes?' 

He happily munched on the cupcakes Madeline brought him which tasted even better than it should have been since it was her who had brought him them. 

Madeline and Emilio sat across each other in silence, one of the hut's walls separating them although they felt each other's presence regardless.

They didn't feel the need to speak. 

Emilio questioned, "Why did you do this?" 

"You didn't have to bring me food. You could've left me to starve for all you cared."

Madeline crossed her arms, "I'm not heartless, Em—"

She debated on what to call Emilio, deciding to call him Emilio before reckoning that'd be rude. 

'He's still my dad, I shouldn't be calling him Emilio.' 

"So, what do I call you?" Madeline asked him. 

Emilio seemed fazed on what to get Madeline to call him.

Dad? She would definitely refuse. 

Father? No. 

Emilio? Wouldn't that be extremely strange? 

Emile? No. 

So what was he supposed to answer? 

Mister? Oh come on, they'd gotten past the point of talking to each other so formally. 

However, they weren't close enough to talk to each other informally as well. 

"I'm not sure either," Emilio answered truthfully. 

"What about…"

"Err," he hesitated. 

"Emilio?"

Madeline furrowed her brows. 

"Alright," she agreed. 

Knowing that she had lunch with Briar and Indiana coming up in a bit, Madeline was prepared to bid Emilio and - as the modern kids called it - dip. 

[Author's Note: Dip means leave.] 

Emilio then went on to ask her, "And what do you want me to call you?"

As awkward a conversation it was, it was definitely better than not speaking at all. It was an improvement. 

'Baby steps,' Madeline thought, cheering herself on.

She could do this.

'I can do this.'

'This is what I signed myself up for.'

"Madeline, or Maddie's fine," Madeline answered, her voice muffled. 

Emilio wondered if he was wasting her time. 

After all, she had been sitting outside his hut for quite a while. 

He hoped she didn't find this time-wasting. 

Albeit it was, he found it great that they were finally spending some time together - just like he had been hoping for. 

When Xavier returned, he knew he and Madeline would have less time to spend getting to know each other as she seemed to have taken quite an interest in Xavier in what he had seen and heard. 

He was weakened, not blind. He still knew there was something between Xavier and Madeline.

Emilio considered himself a love expert, of sorts. 

'I know a great deal about love, don't I?'

'I mean, I was in love with Cornelia. I probably still am. Shouldn't that make me an expert?' 

He knew exactly what it was like to be in love with someone that wasn't his mate. That accounted for something, shouldn't it?

Many people had never fallen in love before.

Whether Madeline had was unknown to him, but he hoped to find out if he could. 

'Maybe I could give her some pointers,' he said, unaware that - just like him - Madeline also thought she was some expert.

Hmm, Madeline didn't think of herself as an expert. That would be overkill.

Madeline simply thought that she had read enough novels and watched enough romance movies and TV shows to be considered someone that was experienced in the arts of love. 

How she was wrong. 

One knew what being head over heels in love felt like, the other thought books and movies made them informed of anything love related. 

Funny, it seemed like the apple didn't fall too far from the tree when it came to this. 

Beginning a deep conversation with Madeline, he inquired, "Have you ever been in love before?"

Her ears perked up. 

'Did he just ask me if I've ever been in love?'

'Is he looking for people to kill or something?'

Blinking, she replied, "I don't think so."

It was Emilio's turn to be confused.

"What do you mean 'I don't think so'?"

"What kind of answer is that?"

Madeline shrugged, "I'm not sure if I've ever been in love before."

"Wow," Emilio remarked. 

"I don't know what to say."

Madeline scoffed, "Neither do I."

"Why do I sense a long spiel coming?"

Shrugging, Madeline admitted, "I mean, I do have room for a long spiel. Lunch with my friends isn't till about…"

"Not sure, an hour?" 

Emilio found his curiosity piqued. 

"Go, speak."

"I'm not stopping you," he said to her, wondering what it was she had to say. 

Hey, he was willing to listen. And if she wanted to rant or vent or speak or whatever, she could. To him. 

Things may have been awkward, but Emilio had all the free time in the world.

Not to mention, Emilio had no one else to talk to but her. No one else was willing to have a proper conversation with him other than her. 

Heck, no one treated him seriously other than her. 

And at first, she didn't treat him seriously either. She was one of them.

But now, she was beginning to treat him the way he wanted to be treated.

Fairly, and just like everyone else. 

Alright, everyone else was an obvious exaggeration, but it was nice, feeling like he had someone that didn't talk to him like he was a useless jerk.